The Heart of the Plum Village Teachings

Book excerpt: Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh presents the 40 essential aspects of Buddhism in a series of beautiful, profound, and scholarly reflections on the nature of reality. Beginning with the First Tenet, "Space is not an unconditioned Dharma. It manifests together with time, matter, and consciousness," this book of principles contains the blueprint of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's renewal of Buddhist teachings. For almost forty years during his exile in France, Thich Nhat Hanh has been the guiding teacher of monasteries of monks and nuns in the Buddhist tradition known as the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism. During this time of teaching in the West, Thich Nhat Hanh identified, defined, and revised the teachings as a living, evolving body of Dharma. Underpinning their deceptively simple practices of mindful breathing, sitting, and walking lies a vibrant web of interconnected and poetic teachings. These teachings are a complete structure for a wholly modern Buddhism. The Heart of the Plum Village Teachings is a true textbook of refined contemplations on core Buddhist principles.