This is a wonderful book, as are all this master’s books.

It is a tiny book, which is not very practical for reading, but then again it is really a practical size to put in your pocket and carry around with you.

There are four sections – mindfulness, enlightenment, emotions and relationships, and peace.

The author informs us of the importance of resting.

When we do sitting or walking meditation we should be resting. “The Buddha said, ‘My practice is the practice of non-practice.’”

Sitting is for the pleasure of sitting, walking is for the pleasure of walking, and eating is for the pleasure of eating. We need to be 100 percent present in every moment of our daily life – this is mindfulness and is the essence of true Buddhist meditation.

“Breathing in, repeat in the here, in the here, Breathing out – in the now, in the now.”

“You allow yourself to rest, to heal, to calm.”

“We all have the ability to walk in the kingdom of God, to walk in the Pure Land of Buddha every day.”

The Kingdom of God is a reality that can be touched in everyday life. “With one mindful step, you touch the Kingdom of God.”

As you breathe in, you can say to yourself “Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in”. As you breathe out, you can say “Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out”.

After a minute of breathing mindfully, the quality of your breathing improves – it becomes calmer and longer.

Walking is an important form of Buddhist meditation. “There is a Buddha in every one of us, and we should allow the Buddha to walk,”

Becoming a Buddha is not difficult. A Buddha is someone who is enlightened, capable of loving and forgiving. “When you sit, allow the Buddha in you to sit, When you walk, allow the Buddha in you to walk.”

We can stop our fear, despair, anger and craving by practicing mindful breathing, mindful talking, mindful smiling, and deep looking.

“When we are mindful --- the fruits are always understanding, acceptance, love, and the desire to relieve suffering and bring joy.”

Our habit energies are often stronger than our volition. We say and do things we don’t want to and afterwards we regret it. But if we just smile to our habit energy, it will lose much of its strength.

Every day and every hour we should practice mindfulness, But this is not easy in practice. Therefore we should set aside one day a week to devote to the practice of mindfulness.

Remember to maintain a half-smile.

The Buddha said “I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering.”

“Without suffering, you cannot grow. Without suffering, you cannot get the peace and joy you deserve.” You must embrace and cherish your suffering and look deeply into it. Our suffering can show us the path to liberation and reveal the way to peace.

There is nothing to attain. Our purpose is to be ourselves. “Just be. Just being in the moment in this place is the deepest practice of meditation.”

The author tells us that we should practice aimlessness for just five minutes and see how happy we are durng these five minutes.

The above will give you an idea of the wisdom this inspiring, simply expressed little book contains.. Just by beginning to read it, you will start to practice mindfulness.

Now I will order yet another book by Thich Nhat Hanh, since continually reading his works reminds me to be mindful and encourages me to be “aimless”.

I highly recommend that you purchase this book. ( )