Thich Nhat Hanh's....attempts to distill from what Christians say and believe about Jesus Christ a picture that comports well with a similar picture of ...Buddha — someone interested in the health and welfare of all sentient beings. —Books & Culture: A Christian Review

``Next time you are caught in a traffic jam . . . sit back and smile . . . a smile of compassion and loving kindness.'' While such sappy Zen advice from a Buddhist monk, a Vietnamese resident in France following his exile in 1966, could send Western seekers of enlightenment into overdrive, fortunately most of the suggestions offered in this slim guidebook are of more substance. In a series of vignettes and short passages, e.g., ``Cooking Our Potatoes,'' Nhat Hanh outlines techniques for living mindfullly, that is, in the present. Emphasizing that all things are interconnected on personal and political levels, he notes, for example, that the wealth of one society is based on the poverty of others. This book of illuminating reminders bids us to reorient the way we look at the world, turning away from a goal-driven, me-first modality toward a humanitarian perspective. (Feb.)

Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Naht Hanh is one of the most respected and revered religious figures in the modern world. During his lifetime he has engaged in a dialog with important Christian figures like Thomas Merton, Dan Berrigan, and Martin Luther King Jr. Here Thich teaches that, contrary to Pope John Paul's assertion of the narrowness of Christian salvation, the concept of mindfulness is the common ground that Buddhism and Christianity occupy. The Buddhist monk explores the ways that each religious community enacts its beliefs, faith, and practice through love, understanding, acceptance, and interbeing. The book is marked by the beauty and simplicity of Thich's mindful wisdom, his evocative prose, and his lucid insights. Highly recommended.