Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World

Creating True Peace is both a profound work of spiritual guidance and a practical blueprint for peaceful inner change and global change. It is the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh's answer to our deep-rooted crisis of violence and our feelings of helplessness, victimization, and fear. As a world-renowned writer, scholar, spiritual leader, and Zen Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most visible, revered activists for peace and Engaged Buddhism — the practice he created that combines mindful living and social action. Having lived through two wars in his native Vietnam, he works to prevent conflict of all kinds — from the internal violence of individual thoughts to interpersonal and international aggression.

Now, in this new book, perhaps his most important work to date, Thich Nhat Hanh uses a beautiful blend of visionary insight, inspiring stories of peacemaking, and a combination of meditation practices and instruction to show us how to take Right Action. A book for people of all faiths, it is a magnum opus — a compendium of peace practices that can help anyone practice nonviolent thought and behavior, even in the midst of world upheaval.

More than any of his previous books, Creating True Peace tells stories of Thich Nhat Hanh and his students practicing peace during wartime. These demonstrate that violence is an outmoded response we can no longer afford. The simple, but powerful daily actions and everyday interactions that Thich Nhat Hanh recommends can root out violence where it lives in our hearts and minds and help us discover the power to create peace at every level of life — personal, family, neighborhood, community, state, nation, and world.

Whether dealing with extreme emotions and challenging situations or managing interpersonal and international conflicts, Thich Nhat Hanh relies on the 2,600-year-old traditional wisdom and scholarship of the Buddha, as well as other great scriptures. He teaches us to look more deeply into our thoughts and lives so that we can know what to do and what not to do to transform them into something better. With a combination of courage, sweetness, and candor, he tells us that we can make a difference; we are not helpless; we can create peace here and now. Creating True Peace shows us how.

Author of the national bestsellers "Anger, Living Buddha, Living Christ," and "Peace Is Every Step," Thich Nhat Hanh is the world's foremost Zen Buddhist teacher and one of the world's three great spiritual leaders. This is his magnum opus, now in paperback.

Thich Nhat Hanh (tik not hahn) is a world-renowned writer, poet, scholar, and Zen Buddhist monk. He lives in the monastic communities he founded in France, Vermont, and California, and his lineage is traceable directly to the Buddha himself. The author of the New York Times bestseller Anger as well as numerous other books, which have sold well over a million copies, he conducts public workshops throughout the world and peace-making retreats with Vietnam veterans, Palestinians, and Israelis.

Contents

Chapter One: What Is True Peace?

Chapter Two: Turning Arrows into Flowers:

Practicing Inner Transformation

Chapter Three: Peace Begins with Us:

Taking Your Practice into the World

Chapter Four: Right Action Comes from Right Understanding

Chapter Five: Reconciliation:

Peace Practices for Individuals and Partners

Chapter Six: To Love Means to Be Truly Present:

Practicing Peace with Your Child

Chapter Seven: Protecting Peace:

Community and Sangha Practices

Chapter Eight: A Call for Great Compassion

Epilogue:

A New Global Ethic: Manifesto for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence