Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World

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Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World

4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 · rating details · 340 ratings · 30 reviews

Creating True Peace is both a profound work of spiritual guidance and a practical blueprint for peaceful inner change and global change. It is the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh's answer to our deep-rooted crisis of violence and our feelings of helplessness, victimization, and fear. As a world-renowned writer, scholar, spiritual leader, and Zen Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh is...more Creating True Peace is both a profound work of spiritual guidance and a practical blueprint for peaceful inner change and global change. It is the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh's answer to our deep-rooted crisis of violence and our feelings of helplessness, victimization, and fear. As a world-renowned writer, scholar, spiritual leader, and Zen Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most visible, revered activists for peace and Engaged Buddhism -- the practice he created that combines mindful living and social action. Having lived through two wars in his native Vietnam, he works to prevent conflict of all kinds -- from the internal violence of individual thoughts to interpersonal and international aggression. Now, in this new book, perhaps his most important work to date, Thich Nhat Hanh uses a beautiful blend of visionary insight, inspiring stories of peacemaking, and a combination of meditation practices and instruction to show us how to take Right Action. A book for people of all faiths, it is a magnum opus -- a compendium of peace practices that can help anyone practice nonviolent thought and behavior, even in the midst of world upheaval.

More than any of his previous books, Creating True Peace tells stories of Thich Nhat Hanh and his students practicing peace during wartime. These demonstrate that violence is an outmoded response we can no longer afford. The simple, but powerful daily actions and everyday interactions that Thich Nhat Hanh recommends can root out violence where it lives in our hearts and minds and help us discover the power to create peace at every level of life -- personal, family, neighborhood, community, state, nation, and world.

Whether dealing with extreme emotions and challenging situations or managing interpersonal and international conflicts, Thich Nhat Hanh relies on the 2,600-year-old traditional wisdom and scholarship of the Buddha, as well as other great scriptures. He teaches us to look more deeply into our thoughts and lives so that we can know what to do and what not to do to transform them into something better. With a combination of courage, sweetness, and candor, he tells us that we can make a difference; we are not helpless; we can create peace here and now. Creating True Peace shows us how.(less)

Paperback, 224 pages

Published July 27th 2004 by Atria Books (first published August 1st 2003)

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Nov 09, 2007 Josephine rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

Shelves: non-fiction

As usual, I am a bit behind the times. For lent, our church chose to read Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World by Zen Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh. Well that was during March and April, and while I did read *most* of the book back then, I am finally finishing the last chapter now.

Believe me, it was an interesting process reading and discussing a book by a Zen Buddhist with a group of very Maine Congregationalists. When we first picked up this b...more As usual, I am a bit behind the times. For lent, our church chose to read Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World by Zen Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh. Well that was during March and April, and while I did read *most* of the book back then, I am finally finishing the last chapter now.

Believe me, it was an interesting process reading and discussing a book by a Zen Buddhist with a group of very Maine Congregationalists. When we first picked up this book, I have to admit I groaned a little. Great. This is going to be another of those books that tells you about how you have to fix yourself before you can fix anything else in the world. Which it was. But I found it helpful in a number of ways. Two in particular:

1. Cultivating Seeds
This is an analogy my mother used all the time when we were young. "What kind of seeds are you planting? Hitting seeds or sharing seeds?" Thich Nhat Hanh opens his book with a discussion of how we can choose which "seeds" we water in ourselves. (Once again proving that my mother's homespun wisdom is often right up there with the top philosophers and thinkers of our time.)

...our mind is like a garden that contains all kinds of seeds: seeds of understanding, seeds of forgiveness, seeds of mindfulness, and also seeds of ignorance, fear, and hatred. We realize that, at any given moment, we can behave with either violence or compassion, depending on the strength of these seeds within us.

Thich Nhat Hanh spends the rest of the book discussing how to cultivate the seeds of compassion. The more we practice compassion, the more it will become a habit, a natural state. Likewise, the more we practice anger, our anger will become stronger and more frequent. It's simple, but very useful and worth being reminded of from time to time.

2. Community
One of the last things Thich Nhat Hanh talks about in Creating True Peace is sangha, or community.

If we are a drop of water and we try to get to the ocean as only an individual drop, we will surely evaporate along the way. To arrive at the ocean, you must go as a river...We have to train ourselves to see the happiness of our community as our own happiness and to see the difficulties of our community as our own difficulties.

Again, simple, but very wise and true. And I believe the author when he says we can "train" ourselves to think this way. Again, like anything, the more we do it, the more it will become a habit.

This review was posted on my blog, Please Come Flying.(less)

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Jan 07, 2009 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: feeding-the-learning-hunger, life-changers, mind-openers

I don't think of myself as having any violence within, but I learned something so important when I saw him speak in Berkeley; that by watching violent shows or movies, I am allowing that energy into my energy and condoning its existence in the universal energy. I am not going to get a gun and shoot someone, but allowing violence to be entertainment only continues the cycle of violence. And I struggle with this; I like some violent movies, but I can make a different choice more often than not. It...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Ismael Galvan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Creating True Peace is more than a book about spiritual enlightenment and peace. It’s a map that helps guide you through the wilderness in ourselves and the hectic world we live in. The destination is inner peace for all living things. Creating True Peace is written by world renowned Zen Buddhist, Thich Nhat Hanh, who has lived through two major wars in his homeland of Vietnam while practicing the philosophy of none-violence and peace. In Creating True Peace, Hanh expresses his solutions for act...more Creating True Peace is more than a book about spiritual enlightenment and peace. It’s a map that helps guide you through the wilderness in ourselves and the hectic world we live in. The destination is inner peace for all living things. Creating True Peace is written by world renowned Zen Buddhist, Thich Nhat Hanh, who has lived through two major wars in his homeland of Vietnam while practicing the philosophy of none-violence and peace. In Creating True Peace, Hanh expresses his solutions for actively engaging the epidemic of violence invading every level of our lives, from person conflict to war, in concrete ways. This book avoids vague metaphysics that often feel irrelevant when put in the context of modern life. Nhat presents Buddhist philosophy infused with a clear understanding of the global situation today.

‎”Alcohol production requires large amounts of grain that could be used to feed the starving people of the world. Alcohol is directly related to the suffering of children. For instance, to make one glass of rice wine takes a whole basket of rice. Every day 40,000 children die in the world for lack of food. We who overeat in the West, who are feeding grains to animals to make meat, are eating the flesh of these children.”

This book embraces all religions and levels of spirituality. It reveals an option; it doesn’t try to strong-arm a way of existing. His stories of living through the horrors of the Vietnam War are saddening and courageous. It exemplifies how even in total madness, peace is powerful enough to sustain us. Nhat introduces the idea of “engaged Buddhism,” which is similar to Martin Luther King’s idea of direct none-violence and civil disobedience with the aim of transforming the hatred and violence in our society into harmonious brotherhood. I highly recommend this book for anyone seeking inner peace in themselves, within their social circle, society, or the world. If you’re interested in learning what Buddhism is about, this is a great way to start. Peace and love to you all.(less)

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Jul 06, 2009 Alicia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: spirituality

I really enjoyed this book. It is about how to create peace for yourself when you are upset and how to help others find peace as well. One thing I really liked about this book is that he talks about the first step to creating peace between you and someone else is deep listening. When we listen deeply and let the other person talk, it gives us a chance to hear their side and their perspective and then we can feel compassion for them instead of anger. I also noticed things here and there in the bo...more

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Nov 09, 2010 Eric added it

Book Review For Creating True Peace:

This book is about a guide that lead to peace and helps you calm down with everything you have to dealt with. I like this book because it helps everyone to stay calm and live peacefully when it comes to being stressed out, being angry, or feeling hate. I liked the way the author tells his story about how his life was back than because everything that's surrounds him was horrible and yet he uses his technique to stay calm and live through peace. I felt sad when...more

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Dec 12, 2011 L rated it 4 of 5 stars

The same feature of this book that caused annoyance was the same that caused understanding: repetition; it works. Like a CBT exercise, this book gets into your subconscious, hammering away at what makes you think the way you do. Lo and behold, the book is complete and you're acting mindfully about closing the covers, craving an orange, and basking in the optimism you're generating from within.

I'll admit that even I wanted to pack up and move to a place where I could meditate unstopped. I truly b...more The same feature of this book that caused annoyance was the same that caused understanding: repetition; it works. Like a CBT exercise, this book gets into your subconscious, hammering away at what makes you think the way you do. Lo and behold, the book is complete and you're acting mindfully about closing the covers, craving an orange, and basking in the optimism you're generating from within.

I'll admit that even I wanted to pack up and move to a place where I could meditate unstopped. I truly believed inner peace was a viable thing for me. I think the gift of Hanh's books - reinforcement and encouragement - is what propels one to pursue a simultaneously lightened and enlightened life. I loved that feeling and I'll read more Hanh to get it back. In the meantime, I will continue meditating. There must be something to it…

Hanh has some brilliant and insightfully clear observations and anecdotes but criticized too harshly my passion: novels. I don't think "reading to fill empty time" is a bad thing (unless it's Twilight); that irritated me. I have no problem with being mindful about slowly and thoughtfully drinking a cup of tea, but if I want to enjoy that tea with a book in my hand, it's not the end of the world and it doesn't mean I'm succumbing to violence. I also had a bit of a problem with alcohol being a "violent" thing; we cannot judge things by their potential. The stored-up potential of a bag of rice could feed x number of children or x-10 number of adults. We can't apply utilitarian principles to everything lest humanity become numbers and no longer individuals.

His thoughts on consumption of violence were things I'd never before thought about and it caused me to be particularly observant of violence in my everyday life. You'd be surprised, horribly surprised. Count the incidents and observable acts.

One huge idea this book did succeed in conveying to me (and changing my mind) was the notion that we are all interconnected. I embrace the idea of individual success and individual freedom but it seems it's a façade, after all. I am, indeed, the product of my ancestors; I, in turn, will be the ancestor of others. There is no way to escape the invisible, spider web-thin relationships we all have with each other. The world became an existential soup for me for a while and it made my mind hurt. I concede, Hanh; you are correct on this point.

For an inspirational (and spiritual) read, look no further. This is good stuff.(less)

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Oct 22, 2007 Chanita.Shannon marked it as to-read

Shelves: to-read-wish-list, non-fiction, buddhism, spirituality, non-violence, relationships, community

Whether dealing with extreme emotions and challenging situations or managing interpersonal and international conflicts, Thich Nhat Hanh relies on the 2,600-year-old traditional wisdom and scholarship of the Buddha, as well as other great scriptures. He teaches us to look more deeply into our thoughts and lives so that we can know what to do and what not to do to transform them into something better. With a combination or courage, sweetness, and candor, he tells us that we can make a difference;...more

like · see review

May 11, 2011 Monk rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I never imagined that I would get New-Agey enough to enjoy something like this, but Thich Nhat Hanh has become one of my favorite authors/thinkers. He has an ability to teach mindfulness and inner peace in a way that is humble, lucid, and sometimes even practical. Although his thinking is driven by his perspective as a Buddhist monk, his observations aren't at odds with what I believe; rather, he has me seeing my own beliefs in a different light and understanding them better. This is one that I...more

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May 03, 2011 Peter Kahn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

I keep on reading books on mindfulness in the hope I'll be able to change my angry ways. Thich Nhat Hanh is always good at helping me to realize that I'm both my greatest helper and obstacle. In this time of strife and war, it is also good to remember that violence and hate breed more of the same. The only way to combat my rage or international problems is through thoughtful listening and partnership.

Being pissed off doesn't work, I try over and over with the same results....

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Dec 20, 2008 Jen rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Buddhist philosophy was good for me to read during a time when I was really stressed out(Breathing in, breathing out). My dad actually recommended the book--he likes the similarity between authors' teachings and his Christian belief system. I agree and I'd like to read more of his books in the future.

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Jan 07, 2012 Shakyamuni Sky rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was my entry into Buddhism and because of that is a personal favorite. I like Thich Nhat Hanh's books, but this one is better than most. It changed my life. I highly recommend it.

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Dec 07, 2010 Amber rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion

When I thought my world was just an echo of hell, this book convinced me that the peace I was looking for was inside myself all along.

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Nov 21, 2008 Miriam rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion

I was disappointed. I think it was because the book is not as well organized as I'd like and kept jumping around.

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Feb 10, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Beautifully and honestly written.. filled with insight and practical applications for daily life..

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Jan 21, 2013 Hillary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reading-challenge-2013

I am really glad that this was the first book I read this year. It was beautifully written and had some great reminders that are often forgotten in our hectic lives. I will definately try to incorporate some of his teachings into my daily routines and life.

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Mar 22, 2011 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

the right book for me at the right time.

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Aug 09, 2008 Catherine rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book has taken me several months to work through...I read each chapter, then re-read each chapter, then tried to "live" what I was reading for a few days to make sure I understood the concepts. This is a life-changing book, and I hope to re-read it each year to make sure I am continuing to nurture peace and good-will in my family, my neighborhood and the world. I couldn't help but think of how the world would be different if this could be part of every high school's curriculum. I wish every...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Andrew Uys rated it 5 of 5 stars

First read this at university, and found it again recently tucked away on my shelves. Thich Nhat Hanh's approach to mindfulness and social activism makes for an interesting, mentally refreshing read.

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Mar 13, 2008 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religion-and-spirituality

I really like a lot of what TNH expresses in this book. I especially liked the descriptions of TNH's time of practicing nonviolence in the midst of war. I found myself wanting him to stick with describing those experiences. Instead, he moved on to other pieces of advice. I think the book could have been separated into different books and expanded upon. All in all, worth reading (or skimming). Good ideas are there.

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Feb 26, 2008 Scottie added it

I LOVED THIS BOOK. Thich Nhat Hanh creates visuals to lead us from our character defects to becoming the person we were created to be by "watering the seeds" of inner wisdom, loving-kindness, compassion, and love. If I needed an earthly guru, this man would be the leading candidate.

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Nov 14, 2008 tomlinton added it

Thich Nhat Han
is probably the best guide going
to mindfulness
He is a Nobel Peace Prize winner
and was nominated
by Martin Luther King
How did he do it?
In the Vietnam War
neither side was treated
as the enemy
both sides were considered
to have legitimate concerns

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Sep 26, 2007 Kenneth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: buddhism

wonderful book. everyone should treat themselves to some of Hanh's philosophical viewpoint. in my never-ending quest to banish the stress and negative emotions from my life, this book has proved pretty useful. now it is up to me to practice...

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Mar 25, 2009 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

obviously I'm in the dark and twisty place at the moment. A little Thich always steers me back to center...

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Nov 25, 2007 anthony rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Any Angry Person

Hm. This book just mellows me out. If you have not read the simple and direct writing of this great diminutive Buddhist Monk, get off your meditation cushion and do so.

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May 20, 2013 Marion rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: spirituality, parenting-families

I always love Thich Nhat Hanh's works but this one seemed especially excellent - and particularly fitting given all the violence and trauma in our communities lately.

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Sep 06, 2009 Yuki rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is my second or third read from Hanh and although the title is different, he writes about the same stuff so I didn't feel as though I got any new insights.

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Jan 24, 2013 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

Excellent book. Thich Nhat Thanh advocates the practice of mindfulness as a means to reduce violence on both a personal and communal level.

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Jan 25, 2010 Sophie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I turned to this as my frustration at work is increasing. Maybe Thich Nhat Hanh can save me now like he did last summer...

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Jul 24, 2008 Janetta rated it 5 of 5 stars

How to deal with conflict and respond to your world with peace and compassion instead of reactive violence and frustration.

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Aug 31, 2008 Genelle Denzin rated it 5 of 5 stars

The words resonate with me; definitely a book that stays out for constant rereading.

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About Thich Nhat Hanh

Thích Nhất Hạnh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who now lives in southwest France where he was in exile for many years.

Born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo, Thích Nhất Hạnh joined a Zen (Vietnamese: Thiền) monastery at the age of 16, and studied Buddhism as a novitiate. Upon his ordination as a monk in 1949, he assumed the Dharma name Thích Nhất Hạnh. Thích is an honorary...more

More about Thich Nhat Hanh...

Books by Thich Nhat Hanh

Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

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“As long as you find something beautiful, good, and true to believe in and abide by, you have the equivalent of God in your life.” — 20 people liked it

“Happiness does not come from consumption of things.” — 18 people liked it

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