Short Journey Home: Awakening to Freedom with Thích Nhất Hạnh

Buddhist retreat leader Brady (Walking the Teacher’s Path with Mindfulness) competently traces how his winding spiritual path has been guided by the lessons of Vietnamese Buddhist teacher Thích Nhất Hạnh. Born into a reform Jewish family, the author flirted with Quakerism as an adult before finding in Buddhism the “missing piece” of his spiritual life. In 1992, he began practicing with Nhất Hạnh at Plum Village, a mindfulness community in France. Inspired by Nhất Hạnh’s notion of mindfulness as “dwelling deeply in the present moment” and consciously empowering one’s positive impulses, Brady sought to incorporate those lessons into his life. He details introducing yogic practices into his high school math classroom, and—most movingly—revitalizing his relationship with his Alzheimer’s-stricken father: “I’m learning to be completely present with another, without language, past, or future.” Brady’s spiritual ups and downs are documented with welcome candor, though their impact is flattened by static prose and a fractured structure that dips into the author’s childhood, therapy sessions, time at Plum Village, and more. Still, it’s a robust reflection on what it means to search for life’s deeper meaning. (Sept.)