Path of Emancipation: Talks from a 21-Day Mindfulness Retreat

Thich Nhat Hanh

"This is a book of wise and wonderful teachings, a breath of fresh air for the heart. It opens the doors to an awakened life. " —Jack Kornfield, author of After the Ecstasy, the Laundry

"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

The Path of Emancipation transcribes Thich Nhat Hanh's first twenty-one day retreat in North America in 1998, when more than four hundred practitioners from around the world joined him to experience mindfulness. This book deliberately preserves the tone and style of a retreat, including soundings of the bell, meditation breaks, and the question-and-answer sessions. This not only provides a genuine feeling of a retreat for those who have not had the chance to participate in one, but it also preserves this wonderful practice time for those who have attended. In The Path of Emancipation, Thich Nhat Hanh translates the Buddhist tradition into everyday life and makes it relevant and transforming 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. When Thich Nhat Hanh discovered this discourse, he said,"I felt I was the happiest person in the world."

Excerpt: "It is so common to struggle in daily life. We are rarely at ease in the here and the now, always struggling, trying to attain something. The first element of the practice is to stop struggling. Just allow yourself to be. The Sangha is like a flowing river. Allow yourself to be a drop of water in this river, and just flow together with that river....When you allow yourself to be in a Sangha the way a drop of water allows itself to be in a river, the energy of the Sangha can penetrate you, and transformation and healing become possible."

288 pages, Paperback

Add Path of Emancipation to your cart