Peace Is Every Step: So Far The Best Book On Meditation and Mindfulness
Simple And Practical Ways To Daily Mindfulness
Peace Is Every Step- It is the simplest book on meditation that I recommend to my students at Doon Yoga who are new to the concept of mindfulness. In this article, I am giving a detailed summary of the book. I hope you enjoy reading it.
About The Author
Peace Is Every Step is a book by the world’s most revered Zen master- Thich Nhat Hanh. With more than 100 books to his credit, he has done a wonderful job of articulating and disseminating the teachings of Zen buddhism around the world. His contribution to human rights work during the Vietnam War is commendable. It led Martin Luther King Jr. to nominate him for a Nobel Prize. He died back in January 2022. On his death, Dalai Lama wrote,
“Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh lived a truly meaningful life. I have no doubt the best way we can pay tribute to him is to continue his work to promote peace in the world.”
A Note Before You Dive Into The Summary
This book’s teachings are very easy to understand but not so easy to practise. This book goes a long way in turning around your life gradually. It is nothing like “The Secret” and doesn’t give you quick fixes because there are none. Read this book when you are ready to let go of quick fixes and can put some work into mindfulness.
Book Summary (Part 1)
We humans are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living itself. We very well know how to sacrifice years for a degree or diploma but it is difficult for us to be able to enjoy the fruit of our labour because that requires us to be in the present moment. As a matter of fact, happiness is only found in the present moment, not in the reminiscence of the past or the fascination of a bright future. It is in this very moment.
Start Your Day With A Smile
If we start our day with a smile, everyone around us will benefit from it, including us. A smile affirms our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. If you don’t feel like smiling, breathe consciously once or twice and you can recover your smile. Take everything around you as a reminder to smile.
Mind Your Breath
Breathing is the link between your mind and body. When your mind is thinking one thing and your body is doing another, your mind and body are not unified. It is the reason for all the stress in the world. By consciously breathing or paying attention to our breathing, we can bring back our mind and body together in the present moment. When we are breathing in, we could say “In” and when we are breathing out, we could say “Out”.
We can practise conscious breathing not just while sitting in a meditation room, but also while working at the office or at home. We can practise meditation wherever we are, at any time throughout the day. As a matter of fact, I am consciously breathing while writing this summary!
Should I Not Think About The Future?
Thinking is important but quite a lot of our thinking is not just useless but also harmful. For instance, worrying is a form of thinking that is useless and harmful. Moreover, it is difficult to stop. It is as if a cassette tape keeps running in our head, day in and night out and we don’t have a stop button. Conscious breathing is that stop button that we are looking for as it stops the tape and brings us back to the present moment.
Selectively Opening Our Senses
Our senses are our windows to the world. Just like a cold wind can enter the house through an open window and scatter everything in the house, the noises and sights of the outside world can penetrate our senses and disturb everything within. Some of us keep our senses open all the time to the outside world. For instance, sometimes we can’t stop watching an awful TV programme made by producers looking for easy money. We expose ourselves to social media and advertisements trying to guide us to their ideologies of exploitation. We leave our faith in the hands of those who are not acting responsibly. Having said this, we are not supposed to entirely shut our windows as there are many miracles in the world like a clear, flowing stream, beautiful music or an excellent movie. If we are aware of the ourselves and our breathing, not completely lost in the stream, the music or the movie- we can save ourselves from most of the dangers. This way, the stream will be purer, music would be more harmonious and filmmaker’s soul completely visible and we would know if we need to shut the window at some point in time.
Finding Peace Amid Chaos
Those who are troubled and want to start meditation, often want to leave the city and go off to a countryside to close the windows that trouble their spirit. But sometimes, leaving the city is not possible, and we have to find the refreshing and peaceful elements right in the middle of chaos of the city. We can choose to visit a good friend or go for a walk in a park to nourish our awareness in each moment.
Conscious Breathing Anytime, Anywhere
While sitting is the most stable position to practise conscious breathing, you don’t necessarily need to sit in order to breathe consciously. Even if you are in a line waiting for groceries, or at an airport waiting to board your flight, you can practise conscious breathing and smiling just standing there. Every moment is an opportunity to breathe consciously.
Sitting Meditation
Coming back to sitting meditation, you can practise it whenever you have an opportunity to. You can sit in half lotus or full lotus position with back straight, eyes half closed and hands comfortably folded on your lap. You can even sit on a chair with hands resting on your lap. Alternatively, you can lie down on the floor, on your back, with your legs straight out, a few inches apart, and your arms by your sides, preferably palms up.
Should We Move During Sitting Meditation?
In some meditation centres, you are not allowed to move during periods of sitting meditation, resulting in great discomfort. But Thich Naht Hanh found it unnatural. We sit in meditation for peace and joy, not to endure physical strain and injure our bodies. Hence, you should feel free to adjust your position when your legs or feet fall asleep or begin to hurt.
Not Using Meditation To Hide From Life
Sometimes, we use meditation to hide from our problems and troubles. For instance, if we practise our meditation very intensely, we may feel a kind of relief as we exhaust ourselves and divert our energy from confronting our difficulties. But when your energy returns, so does our problems and troubles.
Use Of Buddhist Temple Bells
Did you ever wonder why do buddhist temples have those bells? They act as a reminder for us to come back to the present moment. Every time we hear the bell, we are supposed to stop thinking or talking and return to ourselves, breathing in and out, smiling. The author mentioned that when he used to give lecture in Switzerland, he would make use of church bells to practise mindfulness. You don’t need any particular sound to remind you to come back to the present. You can use any sound to remind you to pause and enjoy the present moment. Even the sunlight coming through window can be reminder of mindfulness.
Eating Mindfully
It is possible to enjoy our meals slowly and joyfully, the way kids do. In fact, eating mindfully is the most important practice of meditation. When we look deeply at our food, life becomes real at that very moment. What is the purpose of eating breakfast? Is it to get energy for the day? As per Naht, it is also to simply eat. When you have to eat, put down the newspaper, turn off the TV and be done with any other distraction. When the food is on the table and everyone is seated, practise conscious breathing thrice. Look at each other as you breathe in and out, in order to be in touch with yourself, as well as everyone at the table. After that, offer an authentic smile of friendship and understanding before you look at the food on your plate.
An excerpt from the book-
“Each bite of the food contains the life of the sun and the earth. To what extent the food reveals itself to us, depends on us. We can see and taste the entire universe in a piece of bread. Contemplating our food for a few seconds before eating, and eating in mindfulness, can bring us much happiness.”
The opportunity to sit with family and enjoy food is not something that everyone has. When holding your food, you should acknowledge yourself as being fortunate and feel the compassion for all those who have no food to eat or are without family and friends. This way, we are able to cultivate seeds of compassion and understanding in ourselves to strengthen us to do something to help the hungry and lonely people.
Some days you can enjoy silent eating. Other days, we can talk to your family members while you all eat together. You should not talk about other people. You should talk about the things that nourish your awareness of the food or your being together at the dining table with your family. Talk about how delicious the food is, or what a wonderful feeling it is to end the day with everyone eating dinner together.
Why It Is Important To Pay Attention To Mundane Tasks Like Washing The Dishes
People often rush through the so called “boring” or “mundane” chores such as washing the dishes. But if you are rushing and thinking about eating your dessert while washing the dishes, you are training yourself to get dragged into the future. Even if you rush through the dishes and get to eating your dessert, you won’t be able to enjoy it as you are trained to not be in the present. You can only enjoy your dessert when you are able to be live in the present moment. Each task, no matter how mundane, gives you the opportunity to live in the present. If you can enjoy washing dishes, you would enjoy a dessert too. Washing the dishes is a means and an end at the same time. You do the dishes to have clean dishes, and you do the dishes just to do the dishes.
Walking Meditation
Similarly, when you are walking, you are meant to enjoy each step, not thinking about the destination. You can even coordinate your breathing with your steps.
Telephone Meditation
When we receive a call, it create a kind of vibration and maybe some amount of anxiety. We can’t resist being pulled towards the telephone. We become a puppet, meant to pick up the phone as soon as possible. Nhat tells you to stay where you are, the next time when you hear your phone ring. Breathe in and out consciously, smile to yourself and recite, “Listen, listen. This wonderful sounds brings me back to my true self.” Repeat it twice more. The person who is calling you, can wait for a few seconds, before you pick up the call.
Driving Meditation
Whenever we want to get away from ourselves instead of confronting something that is bothering us, we go for a drive. When you start a car, the author urges you to recite a poem-
Before starting the car,
I know where I am going.
The car and I are one,
If the car goes fast, I go fast.
It can be like a guide to us, and we may see that we don’t need to go anywhere and where ever we go, we can not escape our own self. It may be more pleasant to instead go for a walking meditation. In last several years, substantial amount of forest land has been destroyed, partly because of our cars. Go if it is a necessity for you to go. Otherwise, don’t!
The last line of the poem implies that you are not the master of the instrument you are using. You change from the effects of the instrument. A person with a gun is dangerous, a violinist with a violin- beautiful. Hence, the author urges you to drive only when needed.
Even while driving, you can be mindful while driving. Instead of getting angry at red lights, use them as a reminder to return to present- breathe in and out and smile.
You need to bring out meditation from the confines of a meditation hall to your home, office, and pretty much anywhere you go. Whether you are working, or attending a phone call, driving a car, walking- everything is an opportunity to meditate.
Aimlessness
People are goal oriented and hence they forget to enjoy themselves along the route. There is a word in Buddhism that means “wishlessness” or aimlessness”. The idea is that you do not put something in front of you and run after it, because everything is already here, in yourself. While practising walking meditation, we do not try to arrive anywhere. We make peaceful and happy steps. Same applies for sitting meditation or any daily activity that we we do. We should do it in a way that is aimless.
We always tell ourselves not to just sit, but to do something. Sometimes, just sit, don’t do something. Humankind’s survival depends on our ability to stop rushing. We have more than 50,000 nuclear bombs and yet we cannot stop making more. “Stopping” is not just meant to stop the negative but to allow the healing to happen.
People are looking to profit off their every interaction with a person or a thing. If an artist is looking at a flower, he wants to make most of it for his art. The author tells you that if you look at the flower in such a way, you can not be in touch with the flower. When you are looking at a flower, you should be with the flower with no intention of exploiting it or getting something from it. Same to be done when you are interacting with people. The idea of looking at things with the intention of getting something is called “pragmatism”. This is the very opposite of peace.
Hope As An Obstacle
Everything we want is here in the present moment. Hope is the foundation of the western world and many religions hinge on the idea of hope. However, it takes you away from the present moment and therefore, presents itself as an obstacle for you to experience peace.
Breathing Room
The author recommends the readers to set up a small room in their home that they can call “Breathing Room” meant to practise breathing and smiling during difficult moments. Children can also use this room, maybe after breakfast, to breathe in and out as many times as they wish to. It can be a wonderful start to the day for both children and adults.
Thank you for reading the Part 1 of detailed summary of “Peace is Every Step”. I will come up with Part 2 soon. Let me know in comments how you liked the Part 1.
