Opening the Heart of the Cosmos

Insights on the Lotus Sutra

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh uses the Lotus Sutra, one of Mahayana Buddhism’s most revered texts, to illustrate the Buddha nature inherent in everyone. With great passion and clarity, he demonstrates how each human being has the capacity to transform their own individual suffering, develop compassion, and help create more peace in the world.

Nhat Hanh’s insights invoke a wide range of contemporary topics and concerns, from war and the threat of terrorism to individual anxiety and the degradation of our environment. He proposes a radical new solution to current conflicts, encouraging each of us to work on our own mindfulness practice to create greater peace and harmony. His accessible analysis of the sacred text demonstrates its practical and direct applicability to today’s concerns.
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.

About

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh uses the Lotus Sutra, one of Mahayana Buddhism’s most revered texts, to illustrate the Buddha nature inherent in everyone. With great passion and clarity, he demonstrates how each human being has the capacity to transform their own individual suffering, develop compassion, and help create more peace in the world.

Nhat Hanh’s insights invoke a wide range of contemporary topics and concerns, from war and the threat of terrorism to individual anxiety and the degradation of our environment. He proposes a radical new solution to current conflicts, encouraging each of us to work on our own mindfulness practice to create greater peace and harmony. His accessible analysis of the sacred text demonstrates its practical and direct applicability to today’s concerns.

Author

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.