Thich Nhat Hanh was a world-renowned spiritual teacher and peace activist. Born in Vietnam in 1926, he became a Zen Buddhist monk at the age of sixteen. Over seven decades of teaching, he published more than 100 books, which have sold more than four million copies in the United States alone. Exiled from Vietnam in 1966 for promoting peace, his teachings on Buddhism as a path to social and political transformation are responsible for bringing the mindfulness movement to Western culture. He established the international Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism in France, now the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe and the heart of a growing community of mindfulness practice centers around the world. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 95 at his root temple, Tu Hieu, in Hue, Vietnam.

Jason DeAntonis is an award-winning polymathic Bay Area artist, known for his fine carpentry and detailed woodwork. He has also worked in sculpture, costume design, glass blowing, painting, printmaking, and book illustration. His work has appeared in Parallax Press books Mindfulness in the Garden and the Mindfulness Essentials series, among others. He lives in Berkeley, California.