I’ve recently returned to a daily meditation practice after a long period of non-practice, one more attempt to find peace and quiet in this very turbuent and unsettling world of today.  I had been in the habit of reading at least one book on meditation or mindfulness each month and had developed a fondness for a number of writers—-Pema Chodron, Tara Brach, Joseph Goldstein, and Dan Harris among them.  Another writer who specialized in brief topical books on mindfulness was Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who founded a series of Plum Village communities around the world and popularized the concept of engaged Buddhism.  Hanh died in 2022 at the age of 95 having published more than 130 books translated into more than 40 languages.

This particular volume focuses on a Sanskrit word for ‘a verse of poetry’, gatha, and provides the reader with 79 gathas dealing with the tasks of everyday living. These four line poems, akin to haiku in the Japanese tradition, are meant to be memorized and recalled to help us to be fully aware of what we are doing as the day proceeds so our mind doesn’t wander into the past or the future.  Beginning with waking up and continuing through brushing your teeth, getting dressed, etc. Hanh balances the quotidian in the historical dimension of real time with the deeper concerns of what he calls the ultimate dimension.

This was not one of my favorite Hanh books. Perhaps it was the thought of memorizing the gatha for ‘urinating’ or ‘rinsing the mouth’ or perhaps it was the repitition of the gathas, but I just didn’t see the relevance for my daily living.  Being aware and awake to every moment is the goal, and Hanh clearly had that ability.  I do not and don’t anticipate being able to develop it in the time remaining, but as usual, I came away from this book on mindfulness with one or two nuggets for my practice.  In this case, the very first gatha on ‘waking up’ which reads as follows:

Waking up this morning, I smile.

Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.

I vow to live fully in each moment

and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion,