From Italy to France I go
Recommendations for reading on Plum Village, Tich Nhat Han, and Game of Thrones
Hi friend!
I can't believe it's been only a few days since we last spoke. In the few days, I've been roaming around Italy gorging on delicious food and basking in the sights of glorious cathedrals. It's marvelous! (Though I have to agree with many of my friends… Florence > Rome. You just can't beat Florence!)
I am heading off to my fifth meditation retreat in southwest France at Plum Village. As a part of my mindfulness reading, I have been following this popular Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist named Thich Nhat Hanh. Some say that he ranks second to the Dalai Lama as a Buddhist influencer. (He even has an Instagram!) Little did I know, he founded Plum Village in France after his exile from Vietnam. (His exile due to his peace activism work with the West during divided times)
More to come.
In the mindfulness video this week, I share a lesson learned from my time in India. What do all living things have in common with each other? We strive to be happy, but at the core, we want not to suffer.
We have pleasures (food, sex, material possessions) that suspend the suffering we endure. And once the pleasure wears off, the pain continues, and we move on to "bigger" and "more" without understanding why.
The mindfulness tip is to leverage this insight in connecting with people that may have hurt us or who we don't get along with. Rarely do people have pure malicious intent. They were probably trying to stop their suffering with short-sided thinking.
The Documentary That Inspired Me
I was looking through Netflix for films to watch last year and stumbled on this piece. At the time, I had no idea what this was about. The cover intrigued me.
Walk With Me follows the lives of monastic life in and outside of Plum Village. You catch a glimpse of all the mindful things they do, including the mindfulness chime, singing, and meditations. Though I'm curious how next week will turn out. Promise to report back.
My Favorite Thich Nhat Hanh Book
His book, Peace in Every Step (4.34 on Goodreads), is a practical guide to finding joy and happiness in our everyday. I fell in love with this book from cover to cover. A relatively short read and I guarantee that you will leave smiling more. I ended up highlighting so many parts of this book for future reference.
Have you been watching Game of Thrones?
I confess… I absolutely love GOT. The suspense, cinematography, and DRAMA! Recently, one of my favorite podcasts Happier with Gretchen Rubin did a bonus episode on GOT predictions.
Usually, each episode covers a concept of human psychology and how we can be happier in our every day. But when my favorite psychology podcast collides with my favorite TV show, I had to share.
If you haven't seen it yet - Coldplay wants to make a Game of Thrones musical. It's hilarious.
As always, thanks for reading!
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Have a beautiful day!
Metta (loving-kindness),
Steven