A finalist for the 2001 Nautilus Award, Understanding Our Mind is Thich Nhat Hanh’s profound look at Buddhist psychology with insights into how these ancient teachings apply to the modern world. Based on the fifty verses on the nature of consciousness taken from the great fifth-century Buddhist master Vasubandhu and the teachings of the Avatamsaka Sutra, Thich Nhat Hanh focuses on the direct experience of recognizing, embracing, and looking deeply into the nature of our feelings and perceptions. Presenting the basic teachings of Buddhist applied psychology, Understanding Our Mind shows us how our mind is like a field, where every kind of seed is planted—seeds of suffering, anger, happiness, and peace. The quality of our life depends on the quality of the seeds in our mind. If we know how to water seeds of joy and transform seeds of suffering, then understanding, love, and compassion will flower. Vietnamese Zen Master Thuong Chieu said, “When we understand how our mind works, the practice becomes easy.”
A previous edition was titled Transformation at the Base.
Born in Hue, Vietnam, Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk, poet, scholar, and human rights activist. In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is author of more than one hundred books, and is one of the best known Buddhist teachers in the world today. Previous best-selling books include Being Peace and Buddha Mind Buddha Body. He lives at Plum Village, his meditation center in France, and travels worldwide, leading retreats on the art of mindful living.
Old Path White Clouds presents the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha. Drawn directly from 24 Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources, and retold by Thich Nhat Hanh in his inimitably beautiful style, this book traces the Buddha’s life slowly and gently over the course of 80 years, partly through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo...
Hermitage Among the Clouds tells the story of the fourteenth century Princess Amazing Jewel, the daughter of one of Vietnam’s greatest historical Zen master kings. This beautifully written story expresses the suffering caused by war and conflict, the transformative potential of a commitment to practicing peace and building reconciliation, and the simple beauty of a...
Engaged Buddhist Reader offers a comprehensive glimpse of the range of perspectives and insights on socially engaged Buddhism, a Buddhism that is not just in meditation halls but which pervades our everyday lives and concerns.
Have you ever wished for a simpler life or an opportunity to transform the stresses of the busyness and complexity of our fast-paced society? Stepping into Freedom offers us a look at Buddhist monastic life and shows us all ways to live simply, beautifully and happily while dwelling in the present moment. It is a...
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...
Mindfulness in the Marketplace suggests a reorientation of consumers from passive purchasers to aware, responsible citizens who see the dynamic connection between their purchases and their values. The Middle Path of Buddhism is not to avoid all consumption, but to consume mindfully in a manner that protects ourselves and all living systems. This anthology outlines...
Joyfully Together contains a wealth of ideas, thoughts, and practical suggestions on how to live happily with other people. The wisdom in this book draws from ancient Buddhist traditions to solve conflicts large and small. Thich Nhat Hanh explores the spiritual, emotional, and practical aspects of developing a community for life. He shows how using...
First Buddhist Women is a readable, contemporary translation of and commentary on the enlightenment verses of the first female disciples of the Buddha. The book explores Buddhism’s relatively liberal attitude towards women since its founding nearly 2,600 years ago, through the study of the Therigatham, the earliest know collection of women’s religious poetry. Through commentary...
The teachings contained in this The Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness are fundamental to the practice of meditation, and constitute the foundation of all mindfulness practice. The Sutra has been studied, practiced and handed down with special care from generation to generation for 2,500 years. In his commentaries Thich Nhat Hanh guides the...
This Plum Village Chanting and Recitation Book is a most valuable resource for anyone interested in liturgy and everyone who just wants to celebrate life and practice the art of mindful living. It contains chants and recitations for daily spiritual practice and for such occasions as blessing a meal, celebrating a wedding, comforting the sick...
Two Treasures contains two sutras: The Sutra On The Eight Realizations Of Great Beings and The Discourse on Happiness. They explain in practical detail how to progress step-by-step towards realization of the Buddhist ideals of simplicity, generosity, compassion, and ultimately enlightenment. Entirely in accord with both the Mahayana and Theravada tradition, The Sutra On The...
The Dragon Prince is a collection of 15 stories and legends from Vietnam retold by Zen master poet and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh. As in many of his teachings, Nhat Hanh emphasizes themes of cooperation and reconciliation, while providing a rich introduction to the mythical elements of Vietnamese culture. The stories range from creation...
Thich Nhat Hanh explores the connection between psychology, neuroscience, and meditation. He discuss the importance of creativity and visualization in a successful meditation practice, presents basic Buddhist practices (in particular walking meditation and sitting meditation), and writes about the importance of brotherhood and sisterhood in finding love, happiness, and living harmoniously with others. Buddha Mind,...
According to the Buddha’s teaching in the Anapanasati Sutra, maintaining awareness of our breathing is a means of awakening to the true nature of all things and arriving at spiritual liberation. Breathe, You Are Alive outlines 16 exercises of conscious breathing that were taught by the Buddha, together with commentaries and further exercises for practicing...
Though the original edition of Touching the Earth is deeply embraced by those already practicing mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, the revised edition seeks to make the exercises contained within more accessible for those new to Buddhist or mindfulness practice. Based on the loving kindness and compassion meditation of the Lotus Sutra,...
Peaceful Action, Open Heart shines 60 years of study and practice upon one of the crowning scriptures of the path of the Buddha, and is destined to be known as one of the most significant writings by Thich Nhat Hanh. The Lotus Sutra is one of the most revered of Mahayana sacred texts and is sometimes...
In Thundering Silence Thich Nhat Hanh presents the early teachings of the Buddha on not becoming so attached to his teachings that we don’t see reality clearly anymore and become stuck in notions and ideologies, however noble they may be. These teachings can liberate us from the prisons of our mental constructions and allow us...
The Diamond Sutra, a mainstay of the Mahayana tradition, has fascinated Buddhists for centuries because of its insights into dualism and illusion: the “diamond” can cut through any obstacle on the road to enlightenment. In the Diamond Sutra, the Buddha responds to a disciple’s question about how to become a Buddha. The Diamond that Cuts...
How do we learn to believe in ourselves and not just rely on our spiritual teachers? This question often directly posed to Thich Nhat Hanh as “Who will be your successor?” was answered in August of 2009 when over a thousand people came to Colorado to spend a week with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh...
This easily accessible translation and commentary by Thich Nhat Hanh on the Sutra on Knowing the Better Way To Live Alone, is the earliest teaching of the Buddha on living fully in the present moment. “To live alone” doesn’t mean to isolate oneself from society. It means to live in mindfulness: to let go of...
Awakening of the Heart is a comprehensive, single volume collection of the Buddha’s key sutras, translated with contemporary commentary by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. It is an essential complement to Happiness, the bestselling collection of meditation and mindful practices released in 2009. Awakening of the Heart captures the heart of Buddhist wisdom and Thich...
Path of Compassion is a collection of key stories from Thich Nhat Hanh’s classic Old Path White Clouds, a book celebrating its 20th publishing anniversary this year. It tells the fascinating life story of Prince Siddhartha, who left his family and renounced his carefully guarded life, and after many years of spiritual seeking became the Buddha, the...
One of the key tenets of the Zen school of Mahayana Buddhism is that each one of us is already a Buddha—our enlightenment is inherent within us, and the practice of mindfulness is the tool to bring this truth to our full awareness. While it can bring much relief, this simple statement does not preclude...
This beautifully designed book will be cherished for generations. Written in the summer of 2013, Inside the Now contains the most recent, never before published commentaries and reflections of Thich Nhat Hanh on living in stillness and timelessness. The book begins with an autobiographical reflection in which we hear the voice of the young monk, poet, and...
Before she became a Buddhist nun in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, Sister Dang Nghiem was a doctor. She’d traveled far in her 43 years. Born during the Tet Offensive and part of the amnesty for Amerasian children of the late 1970s, Dang Nghiem arrived in this country virtually penniless and with no home....
This new translation of the Buddha’s most important, most studied teaching offers a radical new interpretation. In September, 2014 Thich Nhat Hanh completed a profound and beautiful new English translation of the Prajñaparamita Heart Sutra, one of the most important and well-known sutras in Buddhism. The Heart Sutra is recited daily in Mahayana temples and...
Happy Teachers Change the World is the first official, authoritative guide to the Thich Nhat Hanh/Plum Village approach to mindfulness in education. Spanning the whole range of schools and grade levels, from preschool through higher education, the teachings, guidance, practices, and techniques are grounded in the everyday world of schools, colleges, and universities. Beginning firmly with teachers...
A finalist for the 2001 Nautilus award, Transformation at the Base is a profound look at Buddhist psychology with insights into how these ancient teachings apply to the modern world. Thich Nhat Hanh focuses on the direct experience of recognizing, embracing, and looking deeply into the nature of our feelings and perceptions. Presenting the basic...
Quotes from the Buddha are everywhere: on Facebook, Instagram, coffee mugs, posters. There’s only one problem: the Buddha didn’t actually say most of them. This humorous and informative book takes these fake Buddha quotes as a launching point for a discussion on what the Buddha really did say, and is a great entry point for...
ISBN: 9781888375305
Trade Pbk, 256 pages
Trim size: 9.000″ x 6.000″
Understanding Our Mind
50 Verses on Buddhist Psychology
Thich Nhat Hanh
Previous edition: Transformation at the Base
$18.95
In stock
A finalist for the 2001 Nautilus Award, Understanding Our Mind is Thich Nhat Hanh’s profound look at Buddhist psychology with insights into how these ancient teachings apply to the modern world. Based on the fifty verses on the nature of consciousness taken from the great fifth-century Buddhist master Vasubandhu and the teachings of the Avatamsaka Sutra, Thich Nhat Hanh focuses on the direct experience of recognizing, embracing, and looking deeply into the nature of our feelings and perceptions. Presenting the basic teachings of Buddhist applied psychology, Understanding Our Mind shows us how our mind is like a field, where every kind of seed is planted—seeds of suffering, anger, happiness, and peace. The quality of our life depends on the quality of the seeds in our mind. If we know how to water seeds of joy and transform seeds of suffering, then understanding, love, and compassion will flower. Vietnamese Zen Master Thuong Chieu said, “When we understand how our mind works, the practice becomes easy.”
A previous edition was titled Transformation at the Base.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Born in Hue, Vietnam, Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk, poet, scholar, and human rights activist. In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is author of more than one hundred books, and is one of the best known Buddhist teachers in the world today. Previous best-selling books include Being Peace and Buddha Mind Buddha Body. He lives at Plum Village, his meditation center in France, and travels worldwide, leading retreats on the art of mindful living.
Related products