Silence: The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise

Category: Books,Religion & Spirituality,Buddhism

Silence: The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise Details

Review “How do we practice mindfulness? As we have come to expect, Hanh’s instructions are accessible and concise: ‘You stop, you breathe, and you clear your mind.’” (Publisher's Weekly)“In his new book, Thich Nhat Hanh offers tips on finding some internal and external silence so we can hear the call of beauty. We discover how to pay attention, how to listen deeply, and how to be still. Silence, says Thich Nhat Hanh, is profoundly joyful and nourishing.” (Shambhala Sun)“How do we practice mindfulness? As we have come to expect, Hanh’s instructions are accessible and concise: ‘You stop, you breathe, and you clear your mind.’” (Sam Mowe, Spirituality & Health)“While not intended to be a reader’s first guide to Buddhism, Hanh’s newest title is a graceful contribution to contemporary Buddhist literature and one of the author’s finest works.” (Library Journal)“A powerful piece from an insightful and gentle guide who understands how to reach a broad Western audience through social media. Thich Nhat Hahn again shows how his brilliance shines in writing by demonstrating the eloquence of simplicity.” (Booklist) Read more About the Author Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist Zen master, poet, scholar, and peace activist who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is the author of many books, including the classics Peace Is Every Step and The Art of Power. Hanh lives in Plum Village, his meditation center in France, and has led retreats worldwide on the art of mindful living. Read more

Reviews

I picked this book because silence was what I was looking for and I found it in this book. It is a book on the subject of mindfulness. To skip to the point, if you have a learning style that requires structure, you can find a better book. If you have a learning style where you pick up things in bursts of activity whenever you can devote time to the subject, you will like this book.I discovered mindfulness after watching a video on YouTube with Jon Kabat Zin hosting a session he held at Google. I picked up his book Full Catastrophe Living. It read to me like enthusiastic 8 week boot camp that you have to follow or you feel like your doing it wrong in spite of the authors best efforts to remind you that you cannot truly do it wrong. I don't see this necessary as wrong approach. I've seen there are 8 week classes out there and my suspicion this would work better as a class rather than self taught. This would be the structured approach I was referring too and as a result I recommend this book for those sorts of learners.Ultimately I wasn't really interested in meditation. I was looking for a way to quiet my world. They are many paths to achieve the quiet I was looking for, that I'm certain. So far none had seemed to work. Never has a book had a title so appropriately for what I was looking for. So naturally I snatched it up. I found Hanh's methods to be simpler to apply than Zinn's. They didn't feel like homework assignments. There was no suggested pacing to imply that after so many weeks you have everything you need. Rather than encouraging one to set aside 30 minutes a day, as you progress through the book you eventually learn enough to practice mindfulness all day so should you chose. Hanh trying to help you shut off the Non Stop Radio in your head and 30 minutes a day doesn't help. You need a method that you can use whenever you need to shut that radio off. This felt more natural and was more useful. It was more helpful as I could practice this not only when ever I wanted, but whenever I needed.

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