What do you think?
Rate this book
You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment
In this book Thich Nhat Hanh, the renowned Zen monk, author, and meditation master, distills the essence of Buddhist thought and practice, emphasizing the power of mindfulness to transform our lives. “Mindfulness is not an evasion or an escape,” he explains. “It means being here, present, and totally alive. It is true freedom—and without this freedom, there is no happiness.”
Based on a retreat that Thich Nhat Hanh led for Westerners, this book offers a range of simple, effective practices for cultivating mindfulness, including awareness of breathing and walking, deep listening, and skillful speech. You Are Here also offers guidance on healing emotional pain and manifesting real love and compassion in our relationships with others.
Simple, warm, direct, and startlingly potent, this book reveals the heart of the Buddhist path and helps us to reconnect with the joy and wonder of being alive, regardless of life’s changing circumstances.
Praise for Thich Nhat Hanh
“Among Buddhist leaders influential in the West, Thich Nhat Hanh ranks second only to the Dalai Lama.”— New York Times
“Thich Nhat Hanh writes with the voice of the Buddha.”—Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Based on a retreat that Thich Nhat Hanh led for Westerners, this book offers a range of simple, effective practices for cultivating mindfulness, including awareness of breathing and walking, deep listening, and skillful speech. You Are Here also offers guidance on healing emotional pain and manifesting real love and compassion in our relationships with others.
Simple, warm, direct, and startlingly potent, this book reveals the heart of the Buddhist path and helps us to reconnect with the joy and wonder of being alive, regardless of life’s changing circumstances.
Praise for Thich Nhat Hanh
“Among Buddhist leaders influential in the West, Thich Nhat Hanh ranks second only to the Dalai Lama.”— New York Times
“Thich Nhat Hanh writes with the voice of the Buddha.”—Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
143 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2004
About the author
Thich Nhat Hanh
936 books11.7k followersThích Nhất Hạnh was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who then lived in southwest France where he was in exile for many years. Born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo, Thích Nhất Hạnh joined a Zen (Vietnamese: Thiền) monastery at the age of 16, and studied Buddhism as a novitiate. Upon his ordination as a monk in 1949, he assumed the Dharma name Thích Nhất Hạnh. Thích is an honorary family name used by all Vietnamese monks and nuns, meaning that they are part of the Shakya (Shakyamuni Buddha) clan. He was often considered the most influential living figure in the lineage of Lâm Tế (Vietnamese Rinzai) Thiền, and perhaps also in Zen Buddhism as a whole.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 723 reviews
September 25, 2016
A slow read; I wanted to pause after every sentence to think and meditate! Very enjoyable, very insightful. I'm going to let this book sink in for a while hen probably re-read.
January 31, 2023
I started two habits more than a year ago. The first, to keep a journal. I write every night about the day. When I am done with the writing, it is usually about a page long, I turned to the next page and write the date for the next day. Then, I fall asleep. As if that day is gone and now I'm looking forward to the next one. The day that passed is already history, and the next one is still an unwritten, untold story. The second habit is to meditate. I've been using an App. It guides you through the meditation of the day, and narrates buddhist anecdotes from time to time. I start this review this way because reading this book was like meditating, focusing on breathing and being present in the moment. The book highlights the idea of mindfulness. The relevance of the book's message is very high. Nowadays, due to technology, we are available all the time, almost omnipresent. But at the same time this has blocked our ability to be present in the moment, of mindfulness; to be able to concentrate on the task at hand, to do one thing at a time. Society is asking us to be present in multiple places, it begs us to not maintain our concentration. It plagues our mind with the idea that the present is not enough, that happiness is somewhere else. In another place, in another time, but certainly, not right now. This book not only allows you to have peace in your heart and mind, but invites you to breath in each moment fully--to live it to the fullest, and then, breath out, in order to leave it in the past and start a new moment, a new inhale. After reading this book, I've become conscious of the presence that I have in the people around me--do I emit anxiety? Sadness? Do I ever really listen? Do I ever just listen? Am I selfless enough to be there for the other people--in the moment--and therefore for myself? I don't bring my cellphones to meals anymore. I taste every ingredient of the meal, and try to make it the best meal I've had, and will ever have. I listen and look at people in the eye, and smile more often than usual. I'm breathing more than every before, because before I didn't know I was breathing. The people around me have noticed this and have said, "you have such a calming presence." I have started a life's philosophy of living one moment at a time, one thing at a time. The benefits of meditation have been cited constantly on recent literature--they transfer to sports, classrooms, workplaces, and personal lives. This book will have you question how you do what you do everyday. It will make you mindful of what you do, how you spend your time, what food really tastes like. The value of this book is that your level of concentration will improve, if you start allowing yourself to be here. Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. Writing, I know I am writing.
January 27, 2011
This was my first Thich Nhat Hahn book, and I must say--I was really impressed. He takes Buddhist teachings and makes them relatable to people who live in our chaotic, 21st century world but who are looking for something a little deeper. And the way to really tap into your life is to be present in the moment (as challenging as that can be). He mentioned a metaphor that stuck with me...flowers use compost to grow healthy and strong. So why not use our own compost, our baggage, our junk, our past experiences and regrets, to build something really beautiful in our own lives? All of those experiences is what makes us unique and compassionate and allows us to move forward and learn. If you never experience pain and suffering, you never grow. He also talks about using your pain to show compassion to others, to be there for people you love. To be able to say, even when it's difficult (and the other person can even be outright awful), "I am here for you." We could all use a little more compassion, love, openness and gentleness in our lives--it's good to have Thich Nhat Hahn to remind me of that when I forget.
October 22, 2021
Na ovu slatku knjižicu možete gledati kao na proširenu vođenu meditaciju. Thich Nhat Hanh je jedan od najvećih budističkih učitelja današnjice koji nas vodi i ujedno podučava kroz svaku stranicu. Svjesnost i spoznaja sadašnjeg trenutka doprinosi promjeni i mijenja jako puno životnih segmenata.
Cijeli osvrt pronađite ovdje: https://knjige-u-svom-filmu.webador.c...
Cijeli osvrt pronađite ovdje: https://knjige-u-svom-filmu.webador.c...
November 1, 2011
"Some people live as though they are already dead. There are people moving around us who are consumed by their past, terrified of their future, and stuck in their anger and jealousy. They are not alive; they are just walking corpses. If you look around yourself with mindfulness, you will see people going around like zombies. Have a great deal of compassion for the people around you who are living like this. They do not know that life is accessible only in the here and now."
January 1, 2018
(3.0) would that we could all live like Buddhist monks.
Breathe mindfully. Focus on your breaths, but don’t try to alter them. He repeatedly comes back to mantras about breathing and knowing that your breathing. I like the walking meditation idea of one mindful breath per step.
Be mindful of and focus on the miraculous beauty around you.
Be mindful when taking drugs, alcohol or inappropriate media. You will soon learn that you don’t want to poison yourself.
Recognize that everything is impermanent. This means both that all pain, suffering and emotions will pass; as well as that your and your loved one’s time are limited. Live life and love.
Learn to observe your emotions. Embrace them but don’t let them control you. You can come to Love your anger, but it becomes a temporary and almost abstract entity that you merely observe (I’ve heard that very experienced meditators can similarly observe extreme pain in this way too).
Be present. Be mindful of another’s presence. Convey to them that you are present and here for them. If they are suffering, tell them you are there for them and ask what you can do (or what you may have done to create their suffering—as slights from a loved one take oversized proportion). If you are suffering tell someone you love and ask them to help (or what they have done to hurt you).
When someone is dying, bring their most pleasant memories back to their consciousness. Let them die remembering their happiest moments. It will ease their pain.
Breathe mindfully. Focus on your breaths, but don’t try to alter them. He repeatedly comes back to mantras about breathing and knowing that your breathing. I like the walking meditation idea of one mindful breath per step.
Be mindful of and focus on the miraculous beauty around you.
Be mindful when taking drugs, alcohol or inappropriate media. You will soon learn that you don’t want to poison yourself.
Recognize that everything is impermanent. This means both that all pain, suffering and emotions will pass; as well as that your and your loved one’s time are limited. Live life and love.
Learn to observe your emotions. Embrace them but don’t let them control you. You can come to Love your anger, but it becomes a temporary and almost abstract entity that you merely observe (I’ve heard that very experienced meditators can similarly observe extreme pain in this way too).
Be present. Be mindful of another’s presence. Convey to them that you are present and here for them. If they are suffering, tell them you are there for them and ask what you can do (or what you may have done to create their suffering—as slights from a loved one take oversized proportion). If you are suffering tell someone you love and ask them to help (or what they have done to hurt you).
When someone is dying, bring their most pleasant memories back to their consciousness. Let them die remembering their happiest moments. It will ease their pain.
July 2, 2015
What a treasure trove of inspiration, Buddhist philosophy and spiritual insight, in only 130 pages! Thích Nhất Hạnh writes simply but sprinkles delightful portions of spiritual knowledge for you to take onwards after completing this little literary journey.
January 24, 2022
You are afraid of the pain in you, and so whenever there is a gap in your day, you fill it up with books or television so these blocks of suffering do not come up to the surface.
I've never had the great pleasure of meeting the late Thich Nhat Hanh in person, but somehow he'd managed to call me out in this book. And I deserved it.
It's truly a shame that he recently passed away (last January 22, 2022). But as he thoughtfully discussed in You Are Here, birth and death are merely concepts - so we should not fear them. In fact, he wrote: There is only continuation, only manifestation, because birth and death are just ideas.
While some readers have criticized this book for being a tad repetitive (and I can see where they're coming from), I think sometimes advice needs to be told over and over before it fully sinks in. Each reiteration of practicing mindfulness - in breathing, in walking, and in doing - hit every single time. And it personally resonated with me.
Highly recommended!
🌻🍃 More bookish content on Shut up, Shealea 🍃🌻
instagram • pinterest • twitter • ko-fi
November 27, 2019
This was a very quick read that reminded me of many lessons learned on my Buddhist pilgrimage through India in February. Our teacher on the trip was a man named Shantum Seth who taught in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, so this book watered a lot of seeds that were already planted in me on that trip! I have read many “spirituality books” that also could fall into the category of “self-help” & some of them really changed my point of view & had a lasting impact. This book however, while I’d recommend it, I definitely wouldn’t think of it as “life-changing” at all. If you’ve never read about main Buddhist teachings, I’d suggest this book to you because it’s very comprehensible & easy to read. It touches on a lot of easily forgotten life lessons like presence & not dwelling on past troubles as well as went into more complicated topics like accepting death as we do life. I enjoyed this, but it wasn’t a next-level life changing read! Just a pleasant reminder & a calming book to read. Like a peaceful meditation.
January 24, 2021
You Are Here; when a paragraph turns into a book!
This book was off to a good start with some attention-grabbing insights, alas, it swiftly turned into a repetitive disarray.
I hate giving up on books so reading this one till the end was an arduous challenge that I struggled to overcome.
With less repetition and a bit more substance, ”You Are Here” could have been a stimulating read.
In a nutshell, this book was not for me, mainly because I have read better books on mindfulness and being present that this one seemed a bit too simplistic-same old same old, and slightly disorganised for my liking. However, that does not mean it won’t be someone else’s cup of tea!
You can check out my reviews on my blog
This book was off to a good start with some attention-grabbing insights, alas, it swiftly turned into a repetitive disarray.
I hate giving up on books so reading this one till the end was an arduous challenge that I struggled to overcome.
With less repetition and a bit more substance, ”You Are Here” could have been a stimulating read.
In a nutshell, this book was not for me, mainly because I have read better books on mindfulness and being present that this one seemed a bit too simplistic-same old same old, and slightly disorganised for my liking. However, that does not mean it won’t be someone else’s cup of tea!
You can check out my reviews on my blog
October 8, 2023
This book associates mindfulness with the rules of Buddhism. Although the book was brief, it contained a lot of repetition.
August 6, 2016
"The secret to happiness is letting go of your cows."
Simple but significant read. Going to carry with me everywhere for when I need a reminder to stop and meditate.
Simple but significant read. Going to carry with me everywhere for when I need a reminder to stop and meditate.
February 15, 2018
This book is not for me. Reading it there were occasional almost insights, but mostly I shifted between irritation and a vague uneasy feeling that little parts of my mind were being turned to mush.
July 3, 2011
thich nhat hanh makes Buddhism accessible and enjoyable to read. This book serves as a great reminder to live in and savor each moment fully. makes me wish i had a Sangha locally that i could work with.
quotes:
I have arrived, I am home,
In the here and in the now.
I am solid, I am free,
In the ultimate I dwell.
"After walking for a few minutes with the words of this poem, you will see that you are much more solid. The past and the future can no longer grab you and pull you away from life. As a result, you are much more yourself. You have more sovereignty. Thaking back your sovereignty is the practice. You are more sovereign and more free. The greater your freedom, the greater your happiness. [...] freedom from distress, from attachment, from anger, from fear. You are free from all that. Your happiness comes from that freedom. Through the practice of stopping, you cultivate that solidity and freedom. Through the practice of stopping, you will achieve it."
"If you are unable to take care of yourself, how can you take care of anyone else: how can you take care of the person you love? When you are here for yourself, when you have reestablished some basic order and peace within yourself, then you can take care of the person you love. But if you are not able to be here for yourself, it will not be possible for you to be here for them."
""I am here for You" means that I bring myself back to the present moment so that I can reestablish order, harmony, peace, and joy in myself. After that I am here to soothe suffering and to offer joy and happiness to someone else. Beyond that, I am here for the environment, for society, for all those who are suffering."
"You too are a tree. During a storm of emotion, you should not stay at the level of the head or the heart, which are like the top of the tree. You have to leave the heart, the eye of the storm, and come back to the trunk of the tree. Your trunk in one centimeter below your navel. Focus there, paying attention only to the movement of your abdomen and continue to breathe. Then you will survive the storm of strong emotion. It is essential to understand that an emotion is merely something that arises, remains, and then goes away. A storm comes, it stays a while, and then it moves away. At the critical moment, remember that you are much more than your emotions. This is a simple thing that everybody knows, but you may need to be reminded of it: you are much more than your emotions."
"My friends, do you know why you are happy? because you have no cows to lose. If you have some cows, you have to identify them. You think they are essential to your happiness, but if you practice looking deeply, you will understand that it is these very cows taht have brought about your unhappiness. The secret of happiness is being able to let go of your cows. You should call your cows by their true names. When you have let your cows go, you will experience happiness, because the more freedom you have, the more happiness you have. The Buddha taught us that joy and pleasure are based on surrender, on letting go. "i am letting go" is a powerful practice. Are you able to let go of things? If not, your suffering will continue. You must have courage to practice letting go. You must develop a new habit - the habit of realizing freedom. You must identify your cows."
"Perhaps you too are the prisoner of your own notion of happiness. There are thousands of paths that lead to happiness, but you have accepted only one. You have not considered other paths because you think that yours is the only one that leads to happiness. We should be free to experience the happiness that just comes to us without our having to seek it. Conflict and suffering are often caused by a person not wanting to surrender his concepts and ideas of things. It is important to train yourself to let go of your ideas about things. Freedom is cultivated by this practice of letting go."
I am becoming calm,
I am letting go.
Having let go, victory is mine.
I smile.
I am free.
Joy and happiness are born of concentration. When you have a cup of tea, the value of that experience depends on your concentration.
"Since that day, I have known how to close a door behind me. It must always be done with mindfulness - not for the sake of the Buddha, not for the teacher, but for myself. This is the way you create peace; this is the way you bring about freedom. You do it for your own happiness, and when you are happy, the people you relate with benefit from your presence and are happy too. A happy person is an important thing, because their happiness spreads all around them. You can be a happy person too and become a refuge for all the beings around you. Concentration is the practice of happiness. There is no happiness without concentration.
Little by little you must train yourself for life, for happiness. YOu probably received a college dree that you spent years working for, and you thought that happiness would be possible after you got it. But that was not true, because after getting the dgree and finding a job, you continued to suffer. You have to realize that happiness is not something you find at the end of the road. You ahve to understand that it is here, now. Mindfulness practice is not an evasion or an escape. It means entering vigorously into life - with the strength generated by the energy of mindfulness. Without this freedom and concentration, there is no happiness.
Most of our perceptions, the Buddha said, are false. Are you sure of yoru perceptions? This question is addressed to you. it is a bell of mindfulness. You have made mistakes; the other person has also made mistakes; and you need each other to let go of your false perceptions. Suffering and pain are born from wrong perceptions.
The deep insight of impermanence is what helps us do this. It is very useful to keep our concentration on impermanencd alive. You think the other person in your life is going to be there forever, but that is not true. That person is impermanent, just like you. So if you can do something to make that person happy, you should do it right away. Anything you can do or say to make him or her happy - say it or do it now. It's now or never.
quotes:
I have arrived, I am home,
In the here and in the now.
I am solid, I am free,
In the ultimate I dwell.
"After walking for a few minutes with the words of this poem, you will see that you are much more solid. The past and the future can no longer grab you and pull you away from life. As a result, you are much more yourself. You have more sovereignty. Thaking back your sovereignty is the practice. You are more sovereign and more free. The greater your freedom, the greater your happiness. [...] freedom from distress, from attachment, from anger, from fear. You are free from all that. Your happiness comes from that freedom. Through the practice of stopping, you cultivate that solidity and freedom. Through the practice of stopping, you will achieve it."
"If you are unable to take care of yourself, how can you take care of anyone else: how can you take care of the person you love? When you are here for yourself, when you have reestablished some basic order and peace within yourself, then you can take care of the person you love. But if you are not able to be here for yourself, it will not be possible for you to be here for them."
""I am here for You" means that I bring myself back to the present moment so that I can reestablish order, harmony, peace, and joy in myself. After that I am here to soothe suffering and to offer joy and happiness to someone else. Beyond that, I am here for the environment, for society, for all those who are suffering."
"You too are a tree. During a storm of emotion, you should not stay at the level of the head or the heart, which are like the top of the tree. You have to leave the heart, the eye of the storm, and come back to the trunk of the tree. Your trunk in one centimeter below your navel. Focus there, paying attention only to the movement of your abdomen and continue to breathe. Then you will survive the storm of strong emotion. It is essential to understand that an emotion is merely something that arises, remains, and then goes away. A storm comes, it stays a while, and then it moves away. At the critical moment, remember that you are much more than your emotions. This is a simple thing that everybody knows, but you may need to be reminded of it: you are much more than your emotions."
"My friends, do you know why you are happy? because you have no cows to lose. If you have some cows, you have to identify them. You think they are essential to your happiness, but if you practice looking deeply, you will understand that it is these very cows taht have brought about your unhappiness. The secret of happiness is being able to let go of your cows. You should call your cows by their true names. When you have let your cows go, you will experience happiness, because the more freedom you have, the more happiness you have. The Buddha taught us that joy and pleasure are based on surrender, on letting go. "i am letting go" is a powerful practice. Are you able to let go of things? If not, your suffering will continue. You must have courage to practice letting go. You must develop a new habit - the habit of realizing freedom. You must identify your cows."
"Perhaps you too are the prisoner of your own notion of happiness. There are thousands of paths that lead to happiness, but you have accepted only one. You have not considered other paths because you think that yours is the only one that leads to happiness. We should be free to experience the happiness that just comes to us without our having to seek it. Conflict and suffering are often caused by a person not wanting to surrender his concepts and ideas of things. It is important to train yourself to let go of your ideas about things. Freedom is cultivated by this practice of letting go."
I am becoming calm,
I am letting go.
Having let go, victory is mine.
I smile.
I am free.
Joy and happiness are born of concentration. When you have a cup of tea, the value of that experience depends on your concentration.
"Since that day, I have known how to close a door behind me. It must always be done with mindfulness - not for the sake of the Buddha, not for the teacher, but for myself. This is the way you create peace; this is the way you bring about freedom. You do it for your own happiness, and when you are happy, the people you relate with benefit from your presence and are happy too. A happy person is an important thing, because their happiness spreads all around them. You can be a happy person too and become a refuge for all the beings around you. Concentration is the practice of happiness. There is no happiness without concentration.
Little by little you must train yourself for life, for happiness. YOu probably received a college dree that you spent years working for, and you thought that happiness would be possible after you got it. But that was not true, because after getting the dgree and finding a job, you continued to suffer. You have to realize that happiness is not something you find at the end of the road. You ahve to understand that it is here, now. Mindfulness practice is not an evasion or an escape. It means entering vigorously into life - with the strength generated by the energy of mindfulness. Without this freedom and concentration, there is no happiness.
Most of our perceptions, the Buddha said, are false. Are you sure of yoru perceptions? This question is addressed to you. it is a bell of mindfulness. You have made mistakes; the other person has also made mistakes; and you need each other to let go of your false perceptions. Suffering and pain are born from wrong perceptions.
The deep insight of impermanence is what helps us do this. It is very useful to keep our concentration on impermanencd alive. You think the other person in your life is going to be there forever, but that is not true. That person is impermanent, just like you. So if you can do something to make that person happy, you should do it right away. Anything you can do or say to make him or her happy - say it or do it now. It's now or never.
July 16, 2017
"When you are dealing with pain, with a moment of irritation, or with a bout of anger, you can learn to treat them in the same way. Do not fight against pain; do not fight against irritation or jealousy. Embrace them with great tenderness, as though you were embracing a little baby. Your anger is yourself, and you should not be violent toward it. The same thing goes for all of your emotions."
Reading anything written by Thich Nhat Hanh is always submerging oneself into healing waters. His words are so refreshing and so revitalizing that I often find myself feeling more at peace lost in one of his works than at any other time.
As someone who's learning more about Buddhism and exploring the benefits of mindfulness (on and off for the past 5 years), I'm loving Hanh's perspective on both subjects. I started out by reading Jon Kabat-Zinn, stopped for a personal reason, and now I'm starting back up with both authors. And it's fabulous.
Hanh, in this book, gives readers very easy ways to integrate mindfulness into the daily lifestyle. I've been practicing it since I started reading this book and it's already enhanced my own daily experiences and my overall disposition. As someone who does struggle with past trauma, I'm learning how to, as Hanh puts it in the book "give up my cows."
I would recommend to anyone who wants more peace in their life.
Reading anything written by Thich Nhat Hanh is always submerging oneself into healing waters. His words are so refreshing and so revitalizing that I often find myself feeling more at peace lost in one of his works than at any other time.
As someone who's learning more about Buddhism and exploring the benefits of mindfulness (on and off for the past 5 years), I'm loving Hanh's perspective on both subjects. I started out by reading Jon Kabat-Zinn, stopped for a personal reason, and now I'm starting back up with both authors. And it's fabulous.
Hanh, in this book, gives readers very easy ways to integrate mindfulness into the daily lifestyle. I've been practicing it since I started reading this book and it's already enhanced my own daily experiences and my overall disposition. As someone who does struggle with past trauma, I'm learning how to, as Hanh puts it in the book "give up my cows."
I would recommend to anyone who wants more peace in their life.
July 27, 2013
I have a hard time giving this a "rating". I think there are some books that just aren't rate-able, because it's not about how well they're written, etc. That said, I feel like I only absorbed about 10% of what You Are Here had to offer, as I listened to it on CD going to and from work. To say that I was intrigued by what I did grasp is an understatement, and there are certainly ideas and ways of thinking here that will hang with me. In the meanwhile, I really think I need to get my hands on a hardcopy of this, because there's that other 90% that certainly deserves being pored over.
ADDENDUM: Have now read this a second time, and will certainly read it again and again. This is a very valuable book -- much of it I find very thought-provoking, inspiring, and fundamental in nurturing perspective.
ADDENDUM: Have now read this a second time, and will certainly read it again and again. This is a very valuable book -- much of it I find very thought-provoking, inspiring, and fundamental in nurturing perspective.
January 7, 2019
What am I missing? I thought this book was, from the very beginning, trite and full of pop psychology. I expected something wonderful, but what I found was a written Oprah or Dr. Phil show. To each his own, I guess.
September 2, 2024
The English translation of "You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment," by Thích Nhất Hạnh, was first published in 2009.
This book was a quick read for me; it contains all of the most important platitudes of Zen Buddhism.
Personally, I'd *much* rather read about healing childhood trauma, and stop treating maladaptive coping strategies as if they are simply a "choice" in behavior that can be easily changed by "making a different choice."
Thích Nhất Hạnh would have readers believe that maladaptive coping strategies are "a betrayal of your ancestors," and other such nonsense. Shaming language is peppered throughout this book.
I think teachers like Thích Nhất Hạnh caused me some damage as a teenager and young adult, because I picked up books like this really thinking that the beliefs I already held (concerning life, death, our daily behavior, and the importance of kindness) simply needed to be adopted by other people. Which is identical to the message in the book as well.
I am so grateful for trauma studies as an older adult. Now I can understand and appreciate why so many people are locked in the various states of suffering described in this book, and why getting out of them is nothing like what is described in this book, which treats 'being present' as being as straightforward and easy as flipping a light switch on in your house.
I now believe that being present exists on a spectrum, and (to quote Jacob Ham): I believe that 'trauma is the opposite of presence.' Being trapped in a trauma response, or solely functioning within the limbic part of your brain, is not a "choice" people make. It's a survival strategy that the brain makes without conscious input.
Those revelations are nowhere in this book.
I didn't hate "You Are Here." But I didn't enjoy reading it, either.
This one is just not for me.
Three stars.
This book was a quick read for me; it contains all of the most important platitudes of Zen Buddhism.
Personally, I'd *much* rather read about healing childhood trauma, and stop treating maladaptive coping strategies as if they are simply a "choice" in behavior that can be easily changed by "making a different choice."
Thích Nhất Hạnh would have readers believe that maladaptive coping strategies are "a betrayal of your ancestors," and other such nonsense. Shaming language is peppered throughout this book.
I think teachers like Thích Nhất Hạnh caused me some damage as a teenager and young adult, because I picked up books like this really thinking that the beliefs I already held (concerning life, death, our daily behavior, and the importance of kindness) simply needed to be adopted by other people. Which is identical to the message in the book as well.
I am so grateful for trauma studies as an older adult. Now I can understand and appreciate why so many people are locked in the various states of suffering described in this book, and why getting out of them is nothing like what is described in this book, which treats 'being present' as being as straightforward and easy as flipping a light switch on in your house.
I now believe that being present exists on a spectrum, and (to quote Jacob Ham): I believe that 'trauma is the opposite of presence.' Being trapped in a trauma response, or solely functioning within the limbic part of your brain, is not a "choice" people make. It's a survival strategy that the brain makes without conscious input.
Those revelations are nowhere in this book.
I didn't hate "You Are Here." But I didn't enjoy reading it, either.
This one is just not for me.
Three stars.
March 29, 2024
This was a slow read. I felt the need to pause and think each page. This was my first exposure to Buddhist beliefs. I really resonated with the concept of impermanence. I loved how the author deconstructed birth and death. It feels more like a flow or a transition than a hard beginning or end. This is something I have struggled with since leaving the religion I grew up in. It feels refreshing to have a new perspective! Loved this book and will continue to explore Buddhist principals.
December 4, 2023
I used to be big into mindfulness, and I’m trying to get back into it. One of the best meditation teachers and writers on the topic is Thich Nhat Hanh, so I’ll be reading a bunch of his books in the coming weeks and months. This is one of his most popular books, so I finally decided to read it. This book is a great starting point for anyone interested in learning more about mindfulness and meditation to better deal with the stresses of everyday life.
June 21, 2022
For those of us who live in the West, the works of Thich Nhat Hanh are probably the best and most simple introduction to Buddhism. You don't have to memorize a lot of Sanskrit terms: You just have to be mindful of what is here and now. You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment is one of many books Thich has written, and is one of the best.
It starts out by telling you how to be mindful of your breathing, then takes you to suffering, love, life, and death. I have read several books by him, and, God willing, I will read more. Each one is a reminder that living does not have to be complicated.
It starts out by telling you how to be mindful of your breathing, then takes you to suffering, love, life, and death. I have read several books by him, and, God willing, I will read more. Each one is a reminder that living does not have to be complicated.
April 4, 2024
Good little book on mindfulness and living in the present moment. Wish I would’ve read it instead of listened so I could’ve highlighted all the takeaways. But then again, it’s very wordy and might not have had the attention span. If you can find a summary I’d read that instead.
January 19, 2024
I want to thank my sister Lilly for giving this book to me as a gift. It took me a long time to finish reading because this small book is full of potent lessons. I have already used one of the lessons to good results. I am sure I will be revisiting this book soon.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in improving their life through meditation or interested in the teachings of Buddha. The practice of living well in every moment applies to all of us. Someone who has no previous knowledge of Buddhism can easily enjoy this book. I am a Christian and I find the writings of Thich Nhat Hahn to be respectful and accessible.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in improving their life through meditation or interested in the teachings of Buddha. The practice of living well in every moment applies to all of us. Someone who has no previous knowledge of Buddhism can easily enjoy this book. I am a Christian and I find the writings of Thich Nhat Hahn to be respectful and accessible.
June 9, 2016
To get people caught up who need it, I'm spending this summer reading a bunch of random books from my local library on Buddhism and meditation, ever since starting to practice a secular form of meditation in the last year and recently having a friend remark that my insights about it sounded "surprisingly Buddhist." (See my review of Start Here Now for the full backstory.) That book wasn't so bad, because it was authored by a middle-aged American who only came to Buddhism later in life, and so is written in a plain-spoken style that sounds natural to American ears; but Thich Nhat Hanh, author of today's You Are Here, is an elderly Vietnamese man who's been hardcore into Buddhism since he was a little kid, so his book sounds exactly like you would expect from such an author, containing advice such as to call ourselves "little dear one" when feeling down about ourselves, or to audibly laugh out loud while pouring tea as we exclaim, "I'm pouring tea! I'm pouring tea!" It's cute to picture some wrinkled old Asian man in monk's robes engaging in such behavior, but it's going to seem pretty ludicrous to most random Americans to do so themselves, one of many, many aspects of "Buddhism in practice" versus "Buddhism in theory" that turns so many people off from gleaning what could be some very practical secular life advice that is wrapped within all the rituals and foreign phrases and silly behavior. And of course it doesn't help that Hanh writes in a circular style that tends to repeat the same basic points over and over again, such as this pretty typical example right on page 31:
To be truly here, we have to bring the body back to the mind and the mind back to the body. We have to bring about what is called the unity of body and mind. This is very important in Buddhist meditation. Often, the body and mind go in different directions, and so we are not fully here. Therefore, we have to do what is necessary for them to come back together again.
Ugh, okay, I get it, we have to unite the body and mind! This example is the problem with the entire book in a nutshell, in terms of being just some secular American attempting to learn more about what Buddhist meditation is all about -- Hanh never writes a simple sentence when an entire paragraph of similarly worded simple sentences can be written instead, then does so in a way that makes him sound like that weirdo at the park who all the hippies gaze longingly at while beating on their tabors during their Saturday Drum Circle And Vegan Potluck. I've learned enough about Buddhism now to know that there's all kinds of interesting philosophical lessons to be learned from it, no matter what your particular spiritual leanings or tolerance level for New Age babble; so it's too bad there's so few books on the market that actually cut through this chakra chattel and present such lessons in the kind of casual, stripped-down vernacular that most Americans actually speak in the 2010s. This book is definitely not that, and I suspect will only be of use to existing Buddhists who are already used to this kind of way of speaking, a big reason why it's so hard for me to fully embrace something like Buddhism in the first place.
To be truly here, we have to bring the body back to the mind and the mind back to the body. We have to bring about what is called the unity of body and mind. This is very important in Buddhist meditation. Often, the body and mind go in different directions, and so we are not fully here. Therefore, we have to do what is necessary for them to come back together again.
Ugh, okay, I get it, we have to unite the body and mind! This example is the problem with the entire book in a nutshell, in terms of being just some secular American attempting to learn more about what Buddhist meditation is all about -- Hanh never writes a simple sentence when an entire paragraph of similarly worded simple sentences can be written instead, then does so in a way that makes him sound like that weirdo at the park who all the hippies gaze longingly at while beating on their tabors during their Saturday Drum Circle And Vegan Potluck. I've learned enough about Buddhism now to know that there's all kinds of interesting philosophical lessons to be learned from it, no matter what your particular spiritual leanings or tolerance level for New Age babble; so it's too bad there's so few books on the market that actually cut through this chakra chattel and present such lessons in the kind of casual, stripped-down vernacular that most Americans actually speak in the 2010s. This book is definitely not that, and I suspect will only be of use to existing Buddhists who are already used to this kind of way of speaking, a big reason why it's so hard for me to fully embrace something like Buddhism in the first place.
Read
March 22, 2022Don’t feel right giving this a rating, was definitely interesting though not sure I was in the right headspace to fully read and process.
November 8, 2020
“I think, therefore I am . . . not here.” (p. 33)
Thich Nhat Hanh is someone I read when I'm having a difficult time (as I have been during this election) or when I need a reminder of how I want to live my life. His messages are not much different, from one book to another, but it's like a prism for me – a different perspective helps me see things anew.
You Are Here is no exception. Much of this book, like most of his books, focus on presence. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, "Some people live as though they are already dead. There are people moving around us who are consumed by their past, terrified of their future, and stuck in their anger and jealousy" (p. 9). He asks us to come alive, come into the present, and become unstuck from our fears, anger, and jealousies. He offers several poems to help us do so. Here is one that even I can memorize (I'm awful at memorizing).
If you have never listened to Thich Nhat Hanh speak, find him on a video, podcast, or one of his CDs. I've listened to him frequently enough that I now read his books, hearing his voice. That's a gift, as I can't help but smile while listening to him.
* * *
I don't want people to cry at my funeral, to try to hold on me. This is one of a number of things that I'd like read at my funeral:
Thich Nhat Hanh is someone I read when I'm having a difficult time (as I have been during this election) or when I need a reminder of how I want to live my life. His messages are not much different, from one book to another, but it's like a prism for me – a different perspective helps me see things anew.
You Are Here is no exception. Much of this book, like most of his books, focus on presence. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, "Some people live as though they are already dead. There are people moving around us who are consumed by their past, terrified of their future, and stuck in their anger and jealousy" (p. 9). He asks us to come alive, come into the present, and become unstuck from our fears, anger, and jealousies. He offers several poems to help us do so. Here is one that even I can memorize (I'm awful at memorizing).
In; out.One of the things that I like about Thich Nhat Hanh is his systemic thinking, which he calls interbeing. We tend to think in terms of dichotomies for ourselves and others: Do not turn yourself into a battlefield, with good fighting against evil. Both sides belong to you, the good and the evil. Evil can be transformed into good, and vice versa. They are completely organic things (p. 3). As he says here: “This is, because that is” (p. 88). I am trying to think about interbeing in terms of the politics of this election, to think about how to transform the bad from the last four years into good, to see how the good and bad are related, but not getting as far with this as I would like. I need to go back and reread his story about pirates and child traffickers. When he talks, I understand.
Deep; slow.
Calm; ease.
Smile; release. (p. 67)
If you have never listened to Thich Nhat Hanh speak, find him on a video, podcast, or one of his CDs. I've listened to him frequently enough that I now read his books, hearing his voice. That's a gift, as I can't help but smile while listening to him.
* * *
I don't want people to cry at my funeral, to try to hold on me. This is one of a number of things that I'd like read at my funeral:
This body is not me, I am not caught in this body.
I am life without boundaries. I have never been born, and I shall never die.
Look at the ocean and the sky filled with stars, manifestations of my wondrous true mind.
Since before time, I have been free.
Birth and death are only doors through which we pass, sacred thresholds on our journey.
Birth and death are just a game of hide and seek.
So laugh with me,
hold my hand,
let us say goodbye,
say goodbye, to meet again soon.
We meet today.
We will meet again tomorrow.
We will meet at the source at every moment.
We meet each other in all forms of life. (p. 124)
December 10, 2022
"Szczęście nie jest czymś, co znajdziesz na końcu drogi, ono jest tu i teraz."
To jedno z przesłań, które wydobyłem z książki "Jesteś tutaj" autorstwa Thich Nhat Hanh wydanej przez Wydawnictwo Galaktyka.
Przychodzę dzisiaj do Was z bardzo ważna dla mnie kwestią wraz z poradnikiem rozwoju osobistego. Generalnie nie uważam się za Buddystę, może dlatego ze buddyzm traktuje bardziej jako filozofię i podejście do życia niż religię, a moje wszelkie wybory życiowe sprawiają, że dużo czasu spędziłem czytając o Buddyzmie - nawet w ramach pracy magisterskiej pisałem o Buddystach Karma Kagyu w Łodzi.
Warto na początku pamiętać, że buddyzm buddyzmowi nierówny i wszystko zależy od podejścia i szkoły z której czerpiemy przesłanie. Mi jest najbliżej do buddyzmu japońskiego ZEN, ale w Europie przede wszystkim można spotkać się z buddyzmem tybetańskim.
Jesteś Tutaj okazała się kwintesencją tego co bardzo sobie cenie w tej filozofii - czyli spokojnego podejścia do życia uważności z trwającej chwili. Są pewne kwestie, które niby są oczywiste ale przez uważność odbieram je całkowicie inaczej czerpiąc jak najwięcej się da z trwającej chwili obecnej. Wystarczy, że wezmę na warsztat zimę - niby każdy wie, że zmienia się pora roku ale są chwile, kiedy wewnętrznie czuję i zauważam tę zmianę i daje mi to poczucie pewnej stabilności, cykliczności i przemijania.
-Idę ulicą i zauważam jeden z ostatnich liści spadający na ziemię, czuje mroźny wiatr na policzkach i robię delikatny ślad w drobno usypanym porannym śniegu.
-Biorę głęboki wdech i wiem, że robię wdech - jestem tutaj, zbliża się zima, jestem bezpieczny i nic innego nie ma znaczenia, przeszłość to tylko historia, a przyszłość to tajemnica - uśmiecham się.
I to próbuje przekazać nam książka, w luźny ale i bardzo mądry oraz czytelny sposób zwraca naszą uwagę na chwilę w którą to czytamy. Podpowiada na co zwracać uwagę w chwilach gdy jesteśmy pochłonięci swoimi myślami tak bardzo, że nawet nie wiemy jak się nazywamy. To krótka, spokojna podróż ku powolnym odkrywaniu dnia dzisiejszego.
Ciężko mi napisać o tej książce coś więcej - najlepiej odkryć ją samemu i dowiedzieć się, czy przesłanie tam wspomniane trafia do Was czy nie. Myślę że wystarczy podejść do tego z otwartym umysłem i sercem. Wybrać to co ma dla nas największą wartość!
Dla mnie bezwzględnym mistrzem nauczycielem buddyzmu zen jest Shunmyo Masuno, który był dla mnie opoką w moich trudnych chwilach. Thich Nhat Hanh też na pewno na długo zapamiętam mimo delikatnie większego nacisku na buddyzm jak do religii, a nie zwykłego podejścia filozoficznego.
To jedno z przesłań, które wydobyłem z książki "Jesteś tutaj" autorstwa Thich Nhat Hanh wydanej przez Wydawnictwo Galaktyka.
Przychodzę dzisiaj do Was z bardzo ważna dla mnie kwestią wraz z poradnikiem rozwoju osobistego. Generalnie nie uważam się za Buddystę, może dlatego ze buddyzm traktuje bardziej jako filozofię i podejście do życia niż religię, a moje wszelkie wybory życiowe sprawiają, że dużo czasu spędziłem czytając o Buddyzmie - nawet w ramach pracy magisterskiej pisałem o Buddystach Karma Kagyu w Łodzi.
Warto na początku pamiętać, że buddyzm buddyzmowi nierówny i wszystko zależy od podejścia i szkoły z której czerpiemy przesłanie. Mi jest najbliżej do buddyzmu japońskiego ZEN, ale w Europie przede wszystkim można spotkać się z buddyzmem tybetańskim.
Jesteś Tutaj okazała się kwintesencją tego co bardzo sobie cenie w tej filozofii - czyli spokojnego podejścia do życia uważności z trwającej chwili. Są pewne kwestie, które niby są oczywiste ale przez uważność odbieram je całkowicie inaczej czerpiąc jak najwięcej się da z trwającej chwili obecnej. Wystarczy, że wezmę na warsztat zimę - niby każdy wie, że zmienia się pora roku ale są chwile, kiedy wewnętrznie czuję i zauważam tę zmianę i daje mi to poczucie pewnej stabilności, cykliczności i przemijania.
-Idę ulicą i zauważam jeden z ostatnich liści spadający na ziemię, czuje mroźny wiatr na policzkach i robię delikatny ślad w drobno usypanym porannym śniegu.
-Biorę głęboki wdech i wiem, że robię wdech - jestem tutaj, zbliża się zima, jestem bezpieczny i nic innego nie ma znaczenia, przeszłość to tylko historia, a przyszłość to tajemnica - uśmiecham się.
I to próbuje przekazać nam książka, w luźny ale i bardzo mądry oraz czytelny sposób zwraca naszą uwagę na chwilę w którą to czytamy. Podpowiada na co zwracać uwagę w chwilach gdy jesteśmy pochłonięci swoimi myślami tak bardzo, że nawet nie wiemy jak się nazywamy. To krótka, spokojna podróż ku powolnym odkrywaniu dnia dzisiejszego.
Ciężko mi napisać o tej książce coś więcej - najlepiej odkryć ją samemu i dowiedzieć się, czy przesłanie tam wspomniane trafia do Was czy nie. Myślę że wystarczy podejść do tego z otwartym umysłem i sercem. Wybrać to co ma dla nas największą wartość!
Dla mnie bezwzględnym mistrzem nauczycielem buddyzmu zen jest Shunmyo Masuno, który był dla mnie opoką w moich trudnych chwilach. Thich Nhat Hanh też na pewno na długo zapamiętam mimo delikatnie większego nacisku na buddyzm jak do religii, a nie zwykłego podejścia filozoficznego.
December 20, 2023
"Dear one, I know you are there, and I am going to take care of you." p.5
"You are here for life; and if you are here foe life, life will be here for you." p. 8
"If you cannot treat your own heart [with a great deal of tenderness, with understanding, love, and compassion], how can you treat your partner with understanding and love?" p. 15
"Breathing in, I know that anger is there in me. Breathing out, I care for my anger." p. 20
"The breath is like a bridge that links our body and mind. If you come back to your breathing, your body and your mind begin to come back together again." p. 32
"As you breathe in, you practice arriving. You have arrived. Your destination is the here and now." p. 35
"I have arrived, I am home,
In the here and in the now.
I am solid, I am free,
In the ultimate I dwell." p. 39
"In Buddhism, it is said that love and compassion are made out of one substance, which is called understanding. If you understand, you can love. But if understanding is not here, it is impossible for you to accept and love someone. Why did he act that way? Why did he say those things? You should look deeply into these questions, and then you will see the causes of what you are dealing with. With this understanding, you stop blaming and criticizing. Your compassion is born of your understanding of the situation." p. 63
"The more freedom you have, the more happiness you have" p. 74
"You do it for your own happiness and when you are happy, the people you relate with benefit from your presence and are happy too. A happy person is an important thing, because their happiness spreads all around them. You can be a happy person too and become a refuge for all the beings around you." p. 79
"'If only that seed wouldn't die!' you might feel. But if the seed did not die, the plant could not grow." p. 105
"The teaching of the Buddha tells you clearly and plainly to make this the most magnificent and wonderful moment of you life. This present moment must become the most wonderful moment in your life. All you need to transform this present moment into a wonderful one is freedom. All you need to do is free yourself from your worries and preoccupations about the past, the future, and so on." p. 119
"We are life, and life is far vaster than this body, this concept, this mind." p. 127
"You are here for life; and if you are here foe life, life will be here for you." p. 8
"If you cannot treat your own heart [with a great deal of tenderness, with understanding, love, and compassion], how can you treat your partner with understanding and love?" p. 15
"Breathing in, I know that anger is there in me. Breathing out, I care for my anger." p. 20
"The breath is like a bridge that links our body and mind. If you come back to your breathing, your body and your mind begin to come back together again." p. 32
"As you breathe in, you practice arriving. You have arrived. Your destination is the here and now." p. 35
"I have arrived, I am home,
In the here and in the now.
I am solid, I am free,
In the ultimate I dwell." p. 39
"In Buddhism, it is said that love and compassion are made out of one substance, which is called understanding. If you understand, you can love. But if understanding is not here, it is impossible for you to accept and love someone. Why did he act that way? Why did he say those things? You should look deeply into these questions, and then you will see the causes of what you are dealing with. With this understanding, you stop blaming and criticizing. Your compassion is born of your understanding of the situation." p. 63
"The more freedom you have, the more happiness you have" p. 74
"You do it for your own happiness and when you are happy, the people you relate with benefit from your presence and are happy too. A happy person is an important thing, because their happiness spreads all around them. You can be a happy person too and become a refuge for all the beings around you." p. 79
"'If only that seed wouldn't die!' you might feel. But if the seed did not die, the plant could not grow." p. 105
"The teaching of the Buddha tells you clearly and plainly to make this the most magnificent and wonderful moment of you life. This present moment must become the most wonderful moment in your life. All you need to transform this present moment into a wonderful one is freedom. All you need to do is free yourself from your worries and preoccupations about the past, the future, and so on." p. 119
"We are life, and life is far vaster than this body, this concept, this mind." p. 127
July 13, 2020
I read and reread this book slowly and carefully for months, as short and clear as it is. Much of it is nostalgic of my college years studying Zen. Much of it is finding new understandings of Zen after first encountering it 9 years ago. I reflected a lot on how much Zen changed my life, how it manifested and disappeared and reappeared and so on from the forefront of my consciousness, as I never established a Sangha outside of my time studying abroad in Japan--yet it has frewuently come back to me in times of deep contemplation, in happiness, in sadness, in anger, in confusion.
I hope I can carry more strongly within me the flame that Tich Nhat Hanh has rekindled to find peace and joy through regular mindfulness meditation and compassion for all things. I hope I can spread that flame to others. And maybe the shy introvert in me can find the courage to join a Sangha once more, so that I'm not maintaining this flame alone. I am sure I will find myself coming back to this book for small reminders, and perhaps find new wisdom in the same words as my person continues to change over time.
My one criticism of the book is I found the comparisons to the Christian God incredibly unnecessary, forced, and sometimes inappropriate or disingenuous. I am unsure if these analogies were in the original or just part of the English translation, but I would've loved not having them in the first place.
I hope I can carry more strongly within me the flame that Tich Nhat Hanh has rekindled to find peace and joy through regular mindfulness meditation and compassion for all things. I hope I can spread that flame to others. And maybe the shy introvert in me can find the courage to join a Sangha once more, so that I'm not maintaining this flame alone. I am sure I will find myself coming back to this book for small reminders, and perhaps find new wisdom in the same words as my person continues to change over time.
My one criticism of the book is I found the comparisons to the Christian God incredibly unnecessary, forced, and sometimes inappropriate or disingenuous. I am unsure if these analogies were in the original or just part of the English translation, but I would've loved not having them in the first place.
March 11, 2020
The value in this book is its fundamental approach to being. Thich Nhat Hanh explores the basis of existence as we experience it. His perspective is a reflection of the Buddhist truths written in simple eloquence. It is invaluable wisdom. There really is a path to a better life in it. Life can be lived free of its anxiety through the Buddhist detachments. This is a liberating realization. It opens the peaceful being to more love, presence, and empathy.
The book’s teachings on the self, presence, love, listening, death and being will be something I will carry with me. I will always have a copy of this book on me for its immense value. I hope everyone can experience the liberation of such teachings. I wish I had earlier.
The book’s teachings on the self, presence, love, listening, death and being will be something I will carry with me. I will always have a copy of this book on me for its immense value. I hope everyone can experience the liberation of such teachings. I wish I had earlier.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 723 reviews