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2000ace's review against another edition
5.0
I like collections of aphorisms, pithy sayings, and short poems. Sometimes the mind just needs a quick jolt of something different. For those times, this is a good book. It is divided into sections, with verses for starting the day, verses for meditiation, verses for eating mindfully, and verses for other activities. Following each short poem, there is a commentary by Thich Nhat Hanh. Here is the poem and the first paragraph for one selection:
Washing the Dishes
Washing the dishes
is like bathing a baby Buddha.
The profane is the sacred.
Everyday mind is Buddha's mind.
To my mind, the idea that doing dishes is unpleasant can occur to us only when we are not doing them. Once we are standing in front of the sink with our sleeves rolled up and our hands in warm water, it is really not bad at all. I enjoy taking my time with each dish, being fully aware of the dish, the water, and each movement of my hands. I know that if I hurry in order to go and have dessert, the time will be unpleasant, not worth living. That would be a pity, for every second of life is a miracle. The dishes themselves and the fact that I am here washing them are miracles!
Washing the Dishes
Washing the dishes
is like bathing a baby Buddha.
The profane is the sacred.
Everyday mind is Buddha's mind.
To my mind, the idea that doing dishes is unpleasant can occur to us only when we are not doing them. Once we are standing in front of the sink with our sleeves rolled up and our hands in warm water, it is really not bad at all. I enjoy taking my time with each dish, being fully aware of the dish, the water, and each movement of my hands. I know that if I hurry in order to go and have dessert, the time will be unpleasant, not worth living. That would be a pity, for every second of life is a miracle. The dishes themselves and the fact that I am here washing them are miracles!
imperfectcj's review
5.0
Last month I attended a women's retreat. At the retreat center, they had these little cards up all over the building with these great little meditations on daily living. All day, the meditations prompted me to pause and reflect as I washed my hands or looked in the mirror or took a step outside the front door. I loved the feeling of calm they facilitated.
My friend and I asked the women in charge of the retreat center where the cards were from, and they said they were Thich Nhat Hanh meditations, but the cards were out of print. Through the magic of the internet, I found out the meditations were from Present Moment Wonderful Moment and managed to find two sets of the cards and a copy of the book. I gifted one set of the cards to my friend and kept the other set intending to put them up around my house. But when my eight-year-old daughter saw the book, she independently suggested that we make pretty, hand-written cards to put up around the house. So we did.
One afternoon, we used a paper cutter and some pretty card stock my daughter got as a gift a couple of years ago and made eight cards, four for her and four for me, to put up around the house. We each have the Waking Up meditation by our beds, and I have the Ending Your Day one by my bed, as well. She has the Opening the Window on her bedroom window, the blinds of which she opens every morning first thing so she can look outside and read her meditation. We also have the Washing Your Hands, Looking in the Mirror, and Brushing Your Teeth meditations on our bathroom mirrors. We are enjoying them so much, we plan to make more. (See my blog for a photo of two of the cards we made.)
This is a gem of a book, and I love how it's brought these little moments of mindfulness to our days. I don't know if it's directly attributable to the book, but since we put up the meditations, my daughter has been joining me for a short sitting meditation every morning. It's such a lovely way to start our day! (And our cat Owen must think so, too. Every morning he climbs into my daughter's lap and offers her a purring meditation.)
The only thing missing from this book is a meditation for when my kids are squabbling over something that seems incredibly tiny to me.
My friend and I asked the women in charge of the retreat center where the cards were from, and they said they were Thich Nhat Hanh meditations, but the cards were out of print. Through the magic of the internet, I found out the meditations were from Present Moment Wonderful Moment and managed to find two sets of the cards and a copy of the book. I gifted one set of the cards to my friend and kept the other set intending to put them up around my house. But when my eight-year-old daughter saw the book, she independently suggested that we make pretty, hand-written cards to put up around the house. So we did.
One afternoon, we used a paper cutter and some pretty card stock my daughter got as a gift a couple of years ago and made eight cards, four for her and four for me, to put up around the house. We each have the Waking Up meditation by our beds, and I have the Ending Your Day one by my bed, as well. She has the Opening the Window on her bedroom window, the blinds of which she opens every morning first thing so she can look outside and read her meditation. We also have the Washing Your Hands, Looking in the Mirror, and Brushing Your Teeth meditations on our bathroom mirrors. We are enjoying them so much, we plan to make more. (See my blog for a photo of two of the cards we made.)
This is a gem of a book, and I love how it's brought these little moments of mindfulness to our days. I don't know if it's directly attributable to the book, but since we put up the meditations, my daughter has been joining me for a short sitting meditation every morning. It's such a lovely way to start our day! (And our cat Owen must think so, too. Every morning he climbs into my daughter's lap and offers her a purring meditation.)
The only thing missing from this book is a meditation for when my kids are squabbling over something that seems incredibly tiny to me.
akemi's review
5.0
I got this book when I was in college and I honestly did not “get it” at all. But, after I read A Tale for the Time Being and also learning about Ozeki’s face in the mirror experiment (I want to read that soon), I was reminded of this book and also inspired to think about how all of the repetitive tasks that I do at work can serve as mindfulness practices. Reading this book now really resonates with me and I find it very helpful. Some of my favorite ones are about hugging your child, taking time to look at and smile at family before meals, extinguishing the flames of anger, appreciating red lights, and more. I can imagine re-reading this or even just referencing specific parts in the future.