Home
/
Non-Fiction
/
Fragrant Palm Leaves
Fragrant Palm Leaves
Oct 11, 2024 12:22 AM

Author:Thich Nhat Hanh

Fragrant Palm Leaves

'It isn't likely that this collection of journal entries will pass the censors. If it can't be published, I hope my friends will circulate it among themselves. I'll leave Vietnam tomorrow...' Thus Thich Nhat Hanh begins his 11 May 1966 journal entry. Since that time, he has been unable to return to his homeland but, now based in France, he has become one of the world's most respected spiritual leaders.

Fragrant Palm Leaves reveals a vulnerable and questioning young man reflecting on the many difficulties he and his fellow monks faced in Vietnam trying to make Buddhism relevant to the people's needs. We follow him, in 1964, as he helps establish the movement known as 'engaged Buddhism': starting self-help villages, a new university, a Buddhist order and many other efforts for peace. Fragrant Palm Leaves is regarded by many Vietnamese as Thich Nhat Hanh's most endearing and stimulating book. It offers readers a glimpse into the mind of a great thinker and activist and shows how to live fully, with awareness, during a time of challenge and upheaval.

Reviews

Thich Nhat Hanh is a holy man, for he is humble and devout. He is a scholar of immense intellectual capacity. His ideas for peace if applied, would build a monument of ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity.

—— Martin Luther King, Jr.

He shows us the connection between personal, inner peace, and peace on earth.

—— His Holiness The Dalai Lama

The message: Peace, love, and compassion are central to the teachings of Buddha and Christ, and people of both faiths should be tolerant of one another.

—— The Washington Post

Extraordinary and compelling

—— Victoria Glendinning , Daily Telegraph

She manages always to keep Pilate living and breathing in the text, and occasionally kicking and screaming

—— Independent on Sunday

A. N. Wilson's admirable and compelling biography should encourage many to revise their view of the Apostle, if only because, despite its sound scholarship, it is destined to reach a wider audience than most learned studies. Wilson shows clearly that without Paul, Christianity would have been impossible for us to seperate the two... One of the great strengths of Wilson's book is that it reveals the extent of our ignorance about the origins of Christianity.

—— Karen Armstrong , The Times

gloriously engaging and readable ... De Hamel wears his erudition lightly, and the reader is taken deeply into the worlds of individuals who lived across almost a thousand years of history

—— Richard Ovenden , Financial Times

The story of the people who created, saved and collected Europe's most sumptuous manuscripts, it's beautifully illustrated, a rich feast of scarlet and gold.

—— Dominic Sandbrook , Sunday Times Books of the Year

an eccentric but charming and instructive book which is oddly difficult to put down

—— Jonathan Sumption , Spectator

Extraordinary... She allows her book to grow and swell, like a symphony, expanding and deepening its themes until the traditional wisdom and life of the mountain envelopes you entirely. Rather like a spell, in fact.

—— Country Life

It soars with the luminous prose and unflinching honesty we have come to expect from this brilliantly gifted writer. Elixir is an extraordinary, profoundly moving book... Her prose is breathtaking, the stories heartbreaking.

—— Feminism and Religion

A joyous celebration of the Pomak community in southern Bulgaria.

—— Spectator, *Books of the Year*
Comments
Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2024 - www.zzdbook.com All Rights Reserved