Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, died earlier this year at age 95. I had a vague recollection of him meeting with the Trappist monk and writer Thomas Merton during the Vietnam War, but that was about it. But the obituaries about him intrigued me, and I learned that a friend had been on one of his retreats in upstate New York 30-odd years ago.
Then I was at my favorite local bookstore, and saw his How to Relax, and goodness knows I can use help with that. I had to smile when I opened to the first page: “You don’t need to set aside special time for resting and relaxing. You don’t need a special pillow or any fancy equipment. You don’t need a whole hour. In fact, now is a very good time to relax.”
I’m looking forward to learning more about relaxing, even in short snippets, this month.
What’s on your nightstand?
