Book Review: You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hahn

Just when I thought that Thich Nhat Hahn, or simply, Thay, could not be any more credible in my eyes, I found out that he was personally nominated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the late 1960's for the Nobel Peace Prize Award; That is quite the person to recognize and admire your work related to peace activism that they personally hand-write the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Norway to nominate you. A recent book from Thay is titled, You are Here, and focuses on savoring the present moment while living as free and as peaceful as possible.

Throughout this book and many of Thay's books and lectures, he uses metaphors brilliantly relating philosophy and nature. When he does so it reminds me of taking a mathematical problem and inserting your computations into a seemingly difficult equation and finding out after verifying your work that you surprisingly got the correct answer. One of my favorite metaphors is when he compares emotions to clouds in the sky. Clouds will surface and be present for a short period of time and then slowly disappear. Emotions are exactly the same as they arise and similarly can be very powerful, but just as clouds they will shortly disappear. Such notions can be liberating in the sense that by understanding the nature of difficult emotions, we can reduce the negative impact and free ourselves from the burdens they cause by understanding that they will surface and then disappear because they are impermanent.

Impermanence is another major topic of this book, as well. Many of us tend to believe that it is a bad thing, but Thay has a different perspective when he states:

"When you look at the nature of things with concentration, you discover that they are all impermanent. Everything is constantly changing. Nothing has a permanent identity. This impermanence is not a negative thing. If things were not impermanent, growth would be impossible, and manifestation would be impossible. If things were not impermanent, you could not have children, and your children would never grow up. When you sow corn seeds, they would never be able to grow. They would remain corn seeds forever."

He then later adds: "Long live impermanence!"

We can begin to discover such notions of impermanence, which can lead to a deep-rooted happiness through the practice of mindfulness. This is mountain of a task as many of us mistakenly live our lives by focusing on the fruits of our labor. In other words, we focus too heavily on what our actions will lead to and not enough on savoring the actions themselves. Thay helps us savor the moment and guides us to the present moment by doing what should be so simple: following our breathe.

Breathing is the fundamental basis for our existence, but since we are so busy in our lives we tend to forget it is even happening. It reminds me of a forgotten band member whose work does not make the most noise, but holds everything together. Thay says we can enter the present moment, among other ways, by relaxing while sitting or walking and focusing on our breathing. This may be difficult at first, so he offers such ideas as reciting the following slowly to help:

In; out
Deep; slow
Calm; ease
Smile; release

Thay also gives a variety of other poems or sentences that contribute to this practice. I challenge you to try this for as long as possible. It takes serious training to pay attention to our breathes for long periods as our minds tries to occupy the moment, but this is a giant step in freeing the mind and finding peace. What is so important that you cannot offer 5 to 10 minutes for yourself daily?

Other ways to help enjoy the moment are simply to slow down! As you walk slowly and pay attention to your breathing, also pay attention to what is going on with your body and focus on those energy fields. Focus on each step you take by channeling the energy and impact of each step; put everything into each step, but stay relaxed. It is quite the experiment and you should begin to feel alive in that moment with more mindfulness of what is going on within and around you.

I will shortly be reviewing another book heavily related to this one titled, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle in the near future, but I believe I have gone on enough, plus I think I am ready for bed. I would like also leave you with one more quote from Thay when he says: "Life is only available in the present moment." The past no longer contains life and the future has yet to contain life. I feel that once you truly touch this notion and give yourself the time to breathe, you will in fact realize that You Are Here.

Thank you!

P.S. A recommended YouTube video from Thay if you wish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZKrl5n79hY

Stephen DeMent