Peace Is Every Step By Thich Nhat Hanh By May Monten on Dec 23, 2007 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk, originally from Vietnam. He's a peace activist, and was nominated by Martin Luther King Jr. for the Nobel Peace Prize.

This book is a collection of passages from his writings and lectures.

The book is deceptively simple. At first glance, when I saw something about flowers and smiling, and the simple declarative sentences, I thought the book was going to be cliched and sentimental. But as I read more, I realized I was wrong. The simplicity isn't that of someone with nothing to say -- it's the simplicity of a poet who has boiled a complex subject down to its essence.

I first picked up this book while browsing in the library, and later bought it because I wanted to have it on my shelf.

Part of the book is about how to become peaceful as an individual. Some of what he writes is surprisingly reminiscent of psychotherapy -- the way to deal with negative emotions is not to surpress them, but to experience them in a way that transforms them. He gives specific techniques for how to do this.

The other main theme of the book is how to bring about peace between people -- between individuals and between societies.

This is a wonderful, inspiring and useful little book.