Love Letter to the Earth

Description

The Zen monk argues for a more mindful, spiritual approach to environmental protection and activism-one that recognizes people and planet as one and the same While many experts point to the enormous complexity in addressing issues ranging from the destruction of ecosystems to the loss of millions of species, Thich Nhat Hanh identifies one key issue as having the potential to create a tipping point. He believes that we need to move beyond the concept of the "environment," as it leads people to experience themselves and Earth as two separate entities and to see the planet only in terms of what it can do for them. Thich Nhat Hanh points to the lack of meaning and connection in peoples' lives as being the cause of our addiction to consumerism. He deems it vital that we recognize and respond to the stress we are putting on the Earth if civilization is to survive. Rejecting the conventional economic approach, Nhat Hanh shows that mindfulness and a spiritual revolution are needed to protect nature and limit climate change. Love Letter to the Earth is a hopeful book that gives us a path to follow by showing that change is possible only with the recognition that people and the planet are ultimately one and the same.

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.

""Love Letter To The Earth" persuasively holds that our personal and collective happiness and well being are integrally dependent on the health of the planet, the soundness of the ecosystems that comprise our world, and the necessity of a mindfulness-based spirituality in order to limit the damage we inflict upon the world we to which we are so dependent. Articulate and thoroughly 'reader friendly', "Love Letter To The Earth" is highly recommended reading, especially for non-specialist general readers with an interest in environmental issues and in Buddhist thought.""The Midwest Book Review" We have to live in such a way that a future will be possible for our children and our grandchildren. Our own life has to be our message. - Thich Nhat Hanh in "A Love Letter To The Earth" "Thich Nhat Hanh addresses the root cause of the environmental crisis and, in doing so, offers a roadmap to an entirely new dream of the Earth." Wade Davis, Explorer in Residence, National Geographic Society, author of "The Serpent and the Rainbow" "Thich Nhat Hanh makes an eloquent, uplifting, and urgent call to recognize that our health and happiness are inextricably tied to Mother Earth and all of our kin, the other species that make up the web of life. We need this great wisdom if we are to move from our destructive path." David Suzuki, author of "The Sacred Balance" "In this clear-eyed, loving paean, Thich Nhat Hanh illuminates both our connection and our responsibility to the beautiful planet we call home." Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, author of "Coming Clean" "Understanding our unbreakable connection to the abstraction we call 'the environment' really is the first step to sensible action. In that sense, this is a very practical book!" Bill McKibben, author of "Eaarth" and "The End of Nature" " "We have to live in such a way that a future will be possible for our children and our grandchildren. Our own life has to be our message." - Thich Nhat Hanh in "A Love Letter To The Earth" "Thich Nhat Hanh addresses the root cause of the environmental crisis and, in doing so, offers a roadmap to an entirely new dream of the Earth." -- Wade Davis, Explorer in Residence, National Geographic Society, author of "The Serpent and the Rainbow" "Thich Nhat Hanh makes an eloquent, uplifting, and urgent call to recognize that our health and happiness are inextricably tied to Mother Earth and all of our kin, the other species that make up the web of life. We need this great wisdom if we are to move from our destructive path." -- David Suzuki, author of "The Sacred Balance" "In this clear-eyed, loving paean, Thich Nhat Hanh illuminates both our connection and our responsibility to the beautiful planet we call home." -- Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, author of "Coming Clean" "Understanding our unbreakable connection to the abstraction we call 'the environment' really is the first step to sensible action. In that sense, this is a very practical book!" -- Bill McKibben, author of "Eaarth" and "The End of Nature"