Our Appointment With Life

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 the past and the future, and to look deeply and discover the true nature of all that is taking place in the present moment. To fully realize this is to meet our appointment with life and to experience peace, joy, and happiness this realization brings. A wonderful addition to the library of anyone interested in Buddhist studies. 

"Our appointment with life is in the present moment. The place of our appointment is right here, in this very place." Thich Nhat Hanh in Our Appointment with Life "In this slight but sagacious book, [Thich Nhat Hanh] gives his reading of the Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone, the earliest teaching of the Buddha. According to Thich Nhat Hanh, to live alone does not mean to be lonely or to live apart from others. It means to live in the present moment, deeply witnessing what is going on around us and within us."

-Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice Thich Nhat Hanh was a world-renowned spiritual teacher and peace activist. Born in Vietnam in 1926, he became a Zen Buddhist monk at the age of sixteen. Over seven decades of teaching, he published more than 100 books, which have sold more than four million copies in the United States alone. Exiled from Vietnam in 1966 for promoting peace, his teachings on Buddhism as a path to social and political transformation are responsible for bringing the mindfulness movement to Western culture. He established the international Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism in France, now the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe and the heart of a growing community of mindfulness practice centers around the world. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 95 at his root temple, Tu Hieu, in Hue, Vietnam.