Review of “The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching”

Introduction

Widely known as one of the greatest representations of Buddhist thought, this book is frequently perceived as the best source of inspiration in the world where suffering coexists with love and peace. Even though the initial version of the book was published in 1999, it still has considerable relevance in modern society.

Thich Nhat Hanh, the author and creator of this book, takes appropriate measures to introduce his target audience to the core teachings of Buddhism to demonstrate that they can be easily applied to life daily. In addition to the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, the author also pays attention to other important teachings, such as Three Doors of Liberation, Five Powers, and Seven factors of Awakening. Moreover, readers of this book have the opportunity to learn more about meditation and the practice of dharma.

At the same time, the book is based on the idea to determine the level of connection between the nature of suffering and various qualities of enlightenment. Nowadays, it is one of the main reasons why numerous people, regardless of their age, religion, or personal beliefs, tend to refer to this book. Thus, the subtitle of this book, which is Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation, perfectly highlights the main theme introduced by the author.

Contribution of the Author to the Book

As a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, the author of the book has made a considerable contribution to Buddhism as a whole and the discussed book itself. Born in 1925, Zen Master spent the majority of his life in Vietnam learning fundamental concepts of the local religion and applying its teachings to day-to-day life. As a result, Thich Nhat Hanh has managed to become the author of over 120 books, including the one that is analyzed in this paper. The majority of his books are written in English and sold throughout the entire world, which makes this activist an important figure in the area of Buddhism. Furthermore, Hanh is extremely interested in the promotion of nonviolent solutions to conflict, which is most likely a result of his long-term relationships with mindfulness, global ethics, and peace.

Suffering as Interrelated Part of Life (The First Noble Truth)

To give readers a brief understanding of the idea of Buddhism, the author begins writing the book with an explanation of why suffering is an integral part of our life and how it can help us to achieve the highest level of freedom, peace, and love. The author states that Buddha called suffering a Holy Truth, because «our suffering has the capacity of showing us the path to liberation» (Nanh, 1999, p. 33). However, numerous people misunderstood this expression, which is why the author provides a deep explanation of this phrase.

This idea is not based on the negative meaning, rather Buddha was trying to say that humanity can use suffering as a tool of evolving. Despite many debates, it is a well-known fact that all individuals suffer in some way. For instance, poor people suffer due to the lack of financial resources, whereas rich people suffer due to the fear of losing money and control over their lives. In the case of Thich Nhat Hanh, he has known the real meaning of suffering since early childhood as the future activist and author was raised during the Vietnam War. Extreme violence, aggression, destruction, starvation, and mortality were integral parts of life in Vietnam in the first half of the 20th century, which is why the local population was requiring some sort of faith that could be found in the teachings of Buddha.

At the beginning of the book, Hanh states that Buddha had faced a vast amount of suffering while being a human as well. Consequently, his teachings can be applied to the day-to-day life of individuals who are looking for support and, most importantly, hope. In turn, Buddha gives this hope by demonstrating that suffering is the only way to understand the true meaning of love, peace, and freedom.

Starting Point of the Suffering (The Second Noble Truth)

To achieve the highest level of freedom, people should first determine the causes of their suffering. Therefore, Hanh encourages his readers to analyze the cause of their hardship based on four sources that include food, sense impressions, intentions, and consciousness. When it comes to food, the author means the entire physical health of the person. Hence, sleeping 7-8 hours per day, eating healthy food, and doing the physical activity are the main conditions for living in peace. From the perspective of sense impressions, it is important to take into consideration social media, movies, news, and in-person conversations, as these elements significantly affect our emotional well-being.

Simultaneously, the author of the book pays a huge amount of attention to intentions and consciousness. For example, Thich Nhat Hanh describes consciousness in this way: «Human beings tend to chew the cud of their suffering, their despair, like the cows chew the regurgitated grass» (Nanh, 1999, p. 52). This expression is used by the author to demonstrate that we should control our consciousness as it has a considerable influence on our lives. Additionally, our intentions can frequently become the main barrier to unconditional happiness. For instance, the author admits that high status is usually perceived as one of the main goals in personal and professional life. In contrast, Hanh states that the uncontrolled intention to succeed usually leads individuals towards more unhappiness. It can be explained by the fact that people frequently make sacrifices to achieve a goal that is not worth it.

Accordingly, the author provides an easy-to-understand and simply written analysis of The Second Noble Truth. This style of writing can be noticed throughout the entire book, as one of the main ideas of the author was to publish a book that could be understood by both Buddhists and people of other religions. Simultaneously, the book lacks not one bit in depth.

Ending Suffering (The Third Noble Truth)

The author also takes into account the fact that suffering can be ended if it is faced directly by the person. This idea has been discussed by supporters of Buddhism since the development of this religion. Thich Nhat Hanh modifies this Buddha teaching into a 4-step model that is recommended to be used by human beings who are intended to transform suffering into qualities of enlightenment.

The first step of this model is based on the idea of accepting the fact that difficulties can be the result of personal irresponsible behavior. Second, the author encourages readers of the book to understand the fact that both positive and negative experience is an integral part of everyone’s life. Third, mindfulness should be the priority on the path of transforming suffering into peace and love. For instance, the author recommends taking into consideration mindful walking and breathing. Lastly, it is essential to accompany mindfulness with gratitude for health and life in general. Thus, Hanh interprets the meaning of The Third Noble Truth so that the modern population understands the significance that this teaching has.

Eight Right Practices of Buddhism (The Fourth Noble Truth)

The final phase of transforming suffering into positive energy is based on the process of following eight right practices of Buddhism, which are defined as The Noble Eightfold Path. Hanh does not miss the chance to analyze one of the legends related to The Fourth Noble Truth to increase the level of awareness of its importance among the target audience of the author. This legend highlights that eight right practices became known to humanity when Buddha was dying. A young monk visited Buddha in the period when he was dying to ask if there are other spiritual teachers he can refer to. In turn, Buddha said that the only thing young monk needs to do to achieve the highest level of liberation, peace, and joy is to follow the so-called Noble Eightfold Path.

Nowadays, these practices are widely used in the whole world as they are expected to help people accept their individuality. One of the main advantages of this book is the fact that the author avoids difficult terminology to describe the role that Buddhism has always played in our society. At the same time, Thich Nhat Hanh prefers increasing the number of supporters of this religion by providing a simple explanation of difficult theories.

The Central Theme of Karma in the Book

In addition to providing a comprehensive description of the main teachings, the author also dedicates time to discuss interdependent co-arising, which is also known in the world as karma. Hanh (1999, p. 81) clearly states that «everything is a result of multiple causes and conditions». For instance, the author states that the egg is in the chicken, whereas the chicken is in the egg. This example is used to provide a brief overview of the idea that the author wants to share.

If we combine the concept of karma and the concept of mindfulness discussed above, we can conclude that human beings are in control of interdependent co-arising. Taking into account that people become aware of the nature of their actions through mindfulness, they can change the concept of cause and effect. Accordingly, karma is the result of human actions, which is why Buddha highlights that it is important to provide regular analysis to understand the cause of a certain failure.

Simultaneously, the author admits that there are exceptions to this concept. For example, changing seasons and gravity should not be perceived as the result of a particular violation in the past. In other words, if some population group faces a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, it should not be considered a collective karmic punishment. In turn, this action should be regarded as a sign to join forces and become stronger in the future.

The Use of Metaphor

The entire book is filled with various metaphors that make the process of reading more exciting. However, there is a case when the use of metaphor appears to be extremely fascinating. For instance, when the author states that «the wave lives the life of water, while also living the life of a wave» (Hanh, 1999, p. 64), he introduces a huge meaning behind it. Hanh compares waves to human life by saying that it is important to remember impermanence and rebirth. If the wave did not know it was also water, the wave would think that it can die once it reaches the shores. The same can be said about human life, as people should not consider physical death as the beginning of nonexistence. If death is perceived as the beginning of non-being, the true colors of life will be ruined. Hence, the author encourages readers to analyze personal actions, while also taking advantage of the benefits that life can bring.

Conclusion

Nowadays, The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching can be considered an essential source of information related to Buddhism and its representation in day-to-day life. It is based on a variety of different themes, although the most important ones include right mindfulness, the cultivation of joy, and the practice of compassionate listening. In addition to the analysis of the most popular teachings, Thich Nhat Hanh pays attention to the practice the dharma and meditation. Considering that the presented information in the book is written in an easy-to-understand way, everyone, from the absolute beginner to the advanced practitioner, will be able to learn something new. It is the reason why the book is popular among readers of the whole world.

Reference

Hanh, T. (1999). The heart of the Buddha’s teaching: Transforming suffering into peace, joy, and liberation (1^st ed.). Harmony.