The Path of Emancipation: Talks from a 21-Day Mindfulness Retreat [Paperback]

Thich Nhat Hanh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

In The Path of Emancipation, Thich Nhat Hanh translates Buddhist tradition into everyday life and makes it relevant and transformative for us all. Studying in-depth the Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing, he teaches how mindfulness can help us reduce stress and live simply, confidently, and happily while dwelling in the present moment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Thich Nhat Hanh is a holy man, for he is humble and devout. He is [also] a scholar of immense intellectual capacity. -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in nominating Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize

Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the greatest teachers of our time. He reaches from the heights of insight down to the deepest places of the absolutely ordinary. -- Robert Thurman, Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University

Thich Nhat Hanh shows us the connection between personal, inner peace and peace on earth. -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

About the Author

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet and tireless worker for peace. Since the early 1980s he has come to North America regularly to lecture and give retreats on the art of mindful living. He leads a meditation community in southwestern France, and he is author of 35 books, including many national bestsellers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 279 pages
• Publisher: Parallax Press; 1st edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888375159
• ISBN-13: 978-1888375152
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #739,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese monk, a renowned Zen master, a poet, and a peace activist. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1967, and is the author of many books, including the best-selling The Miracle of Mindfulness.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Each of us is a river"--twenty one days in Vermont., June 14, 2001

By 

G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Path of Emancipation: Talks from a 21-Day Mindfulness Retreat (Paperback)

In May 1998, Thich Nhat Hanh led a three-week mindfulness retreat in Burlington, Vermont, at which he delivered dharma teachings on the "Sixteen Ways of Breathing" from THE DISCOURSE ON THE AWARENESS OF BREATHING. This 279-page book is the transcribed record of that retreat, including three question-and-answer sessions. Thay offers lessons here on cultivating "the seeds of mindfulness, enlightenment, understanding, joy and loving kindness" (p. 97).

It is no surprise that Buddhist scholar, Robert Thurman, calls Thich Nhat Hanh "one of the greatest teachers of our time." This book provides easy-to-read instructions on "how to light the lamp of mindfulness and shine it on each moment, each act of the day. You do everything in the light of mindfulness. Mindfulness is the presence of God, is the energy of the Buddha within us, the element of holiness within us" (p. 41). Anyone can practice mindfulness. "You don't need to be a Buddhist," Thay says; "you don't need to be a Dharma teacher" (p. 43). Mindfulness is "deep looking" and "living deeply" (p. 66). Like the sun, when it touches something, it brings about transformation (p. 109). For instance, it allows us to discover everything in the cosmos in a flower: "the sunshine, a cloud, the earth, time, space, everything . . . except . . . a separate existence, a separate self" (p. 172).

Through mindfulness, we walk "the path of emancipation:" "We are free from birth and death. Our true nature is no-birth and no-death. We realize the ground of our being by looking deeply and touching reality deeply. This is the only way to dissipate our fears. If we have this deep insight, we will be liberated from our anguish and fear of being and nonbeing. The Buddha said that all fears and cravings are born from ignorance. Through knowledge and insight, we gain emancipation. We cannot have insight if we don't practice looking deeply. Looking deeply is the practice of meditation" (pp. 208-9). I have read more than a half dozen of Thich Nhat Hanh's books, and I will be adding this one to my list of favorites: BEING PEACE (1988), LIVING BUDDHA, LIVING CHRIST (1995), THE MIRACLE OF MINDFULNESS (1996), and GOING HOME: JESUS AND BUDDHA AS BROTHERS (1999).

G. Merritt

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for long-time practioners and laymen as well, November 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Path of Emancipation: Talks from a 21-Day Mindfulness Retreat (Paperback)

I do believe, as others have said, that Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the greatest teachers of all time. While I have read and enjoyed many of his books on mindful living, I believe The Path of Emancipation ranks among his best including Peace is Every Step and Teachings on Love. Thich Nhat Hahn has the remarkable ability to make the teachings of Buddha and the practice of mindfulness fully accessable,and of benefit, to all people regardless of religious background or training. Surely Thich Nhat Hanh must be one of the most prfound and influential buddhas among us today.

What sets The Path of Emancipation apart from other similar books is the clear and simple prescription for happiness that Thich Nhat Hahn provides. Don't be daunted by the book jacket notes that proclaim an "in-depth" set of instructions. While the discourses are indeed comprehensive, they are in no way complex or intimidating. Instead, the discourses offer a very intuitive and easy-to-follow set of trainings; teachings that anyone can apply to his her daily life. As a result of reading and embracing this book, I believe it is possible for each and every one of us to learn to experience the peace of mindfulness and the joy of a truly awakened life.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Instruction in the "Sixteen Ways of Breathing", May 18, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Path of Emancipation: Talks from a 21-Day Mindfulness Retreat (Paperback)

In May, 1998, more than four hundred Buddhists from around the world joined Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poetry and peace advocate Thich Nhat Hanh's first 21-day retreat in Vermont for the purpose of experiencing "mindfulness". Comprising an in-depth instruction in the "Sixteen Ways of Breathing", The Path Of Emancipation is a transcription of Hanh's discourse and responses to questioners. This is a most remarkable and welcome addition to the growing library of Buddhist instructional literature available for western readers.