A beautiful edition of an essential Buddhist text, the Diamond Sutra—with Thich Nhat Hanh’s own diamond-sharp insights on living harmoniously with our environment, communities, and families.
The Diamond Sutra, a mainstay of the Mahayana tradition, has fascinated Buddhists for centuries because of its insights into dualism and illusion: the “diamond” can cut through any obstacle on the road to enlightenment.
In The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion, the Buddha and his disciple Subhuti teach us how to cut through our dualistic ways of looking at the world in order to have a deeper contact with the wondrous reality that is inside and all around us. In his lively and penetrating commentaries, Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how this understanding leads to a deep reverence for the environment, and he applies the Buddha’s teachings to our own experience, giving practical examples from community and family life, couple relationships, and social service.
"The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion presents a dialogue between the Buddha and his disciple Subhuti that illuminates how our minds construct limited categories of thought. Thich Nhat Hanh’s commentary on the text shows how we must move beyond personal enlightenment to become fully enlightened beings who work to alleviate the suffering of others. ... A beautiful edition of one of Buddhism’s central texts." —A Mindful Reader’s Guide
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.
A beautiful edition of an essential Buddhist text, the Diamond Sutra—with Thich Nhat Hanh’s own diamond-sharp insights on living harmoniously with our environment, communities, and families.
The Diamond Sutra, a mainstay of the Mahayana tradition, has fascinated Buddhists for centuries because of its insights into dualism and illusion: the “diamond” can cut through any obstacle on the road to enlightenment.
In The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion, the Buddha and his disciple Subhuti teach us how to cut through our dualistic ways of looking at the world in order to have a deeper contact with the wondrous reality that is inside and all around us. In his lively and penetrating commentaries, Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how this understanding leads to a deep reverence for the environment, and he applies the Buddha’s teachings to our own experience, giving practical examples from community and family life, couple relationships, and social service.
Reviews
"The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion presents a dialogue between the Buddha and his disciple Subhuti that illuminates how our minds construct limited categories of thought. Thich Nhat Hanh’s commentary on the text shows how we must move beyond personal enlightenment to become fully enlightened beings who work to alleviate the suffering of others. ... A beautiful edition of one of Buddhism’s central texts." —A Mindful Reader’s Guide
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.