Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire: A Buddhist Proposal for Peace

by Thich Nhat Hanh

this book is not proposing a new ideological system but rather appealing to a respect for common fundamental human values as the only obvious realities upon which we can base sincere efforts for peace and reconstruction. We cannot hope to help men if we do not respect them as human beings and value them in their existential reality.

One of the great tragedies of our time is that in our desperate incapacity to cope with the complexities of our world, we oversimplify every issue and reduce it to a neat ideological formula. Doubtless we have to do something in order to grasp things quickly and effectively. But unfortunately, this “quick and effective grasp” too often turns out to be no grasp at all or only a grasp on a shadow.