The Miracle of Mindfulness
by Thích Nhất Hạnh · first published 1987
77% recommend23% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A short, practical introduction to mindfulness in everyday life, with simple daily exercises like washing dishes or walking with full attention. Useful for beginners and anyone wanting a calm, grounded approach.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In this beautiful and lucid guide, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh offers gentle anecdotes and practical exercise as a means of learning the skills of mindfulness--being awake and fully aware. From washing the dishes to answering the phone to peeling an orange, he reminds us that each moment holds within it an opportunity to work toward greater self-understanding and peacefulness.
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Meditation. Download a free 20-minute guided meditation and do it every day. Maybe at some point read "The Miracle of Mindfulness" by Thich Nhat Hanh. I can provide a good guided breathing meditation on request. Meditation will help you be calm and focused. It will help you recognize and work through emotions with a minimum of…
on “Ask HN: What things do you wish you discovered earlier?” ↗I've read maybe a dozen books on vipassana meditation (the type usually posted to HN), zen, and mindfulness. The two best practical books on meditation I've read are: 1. The Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh 2. Mindfulness in Plain English, Bhante Gunaratana. This one is free online, though the paid copy is a bit more edited for clarity. My primary guide is 1. It's concise and provides…
on “If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This” ↗Sounds a lot like Thich Nhat Hanh's approach (Miracle of Mindfulness) :) While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance…
on “Peace and quiet is all about the noise in your head” ↗+1 for the miracle of mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh. Ive tried to read a couple of other books about Zen and meditation - but I think that book was the best. Ive written a short summary about it here including a video from a meditation…
on “Ask HN: Should I and how to start meditating?” ↗…Statistical methods in counterterrorism Total recall (the biography by Schwarzenegger) From dictatorship to democracy (available for free here: http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations98ce.html) The miracle of mindfulness The design of everyday things Escape from camp 14
on “Ask HN: What are some Good Books you have read in past one year or so..” ↗Any books from Thich Nhat Hanh. The miracle of mindfulness, No mud/No Lotus, How to Love ...
on “Ask HN: Books that altered your view of reality” ↗1. The One Thing. ~ Gary Keller 2. Mini Habits. ~ Stephen Guise 3. Learned Optimism. ~ Martin Seligman 4. Spark. ~ John Ratey 5. Miracle of Mindfulness. ~ Thich nhat hanh
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗* Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig * The miracle of mindfulness - Thich Nhat Hanh * Letters from a stoic - Seneca * Amusing ourselves to death (Neil Postman) (combined with 1984 by Orwell and Brave New World by Huxley) * Zen mind, beginner's mind - Shunryu Suzuki…
on “Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?” ↗excellent article! one of my favorite books about this that i can not recommend enough is “the miracle of mindfulness” by thich nhat hanh.
on “The quiet art of attention” ↗Good luck! Money's still out there for entrepreneurs. The Miracle of Mindfulness was a good read. Actually, the first ten pages was enough for me. It got me to try being totally mindful for a morning as I went about my affairs, and that stuck with me. I am solidly in the present most…
on “"If you're over 30, you're a slow old man" – Zuckerberg. He turns 30 tomorrow.” ↗Great read. Reminds me of "The Miracle of Mindfulness"
on “The quiet art of attention” ↗Parent has read "Miracle of Mindfulness," by Thich Nhat Hanh. He explains, > If we can't wash the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things,…
on “If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This” ↗It reminds me of a point of view of one of Thich Nhat Hanh's friends, mentioned in his book "The Miracle of Mindfulness". The gist of it was his friend was discussing spending time with his kids. He would view something like the concert Patterico mentioned as "his time" and sitting in the car with a crying baby as "the…
on “How to use time travel to improve your life.” ↗…I am glad to see Csikszenmihalyi on the list as well. Flow is a very powerful concept; we all know it, but understanding it and using it effectively is a different matter entirely. After reading The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh, I realized that all three books are actually talking about the same subject from different perspectives. To this list, I would add: anything by Robert Grudin, but especially: Time…
on “Alan Kay's Reading List” ↗The modern use of the word was spawned by a book by Thích Nhất Hạnh[0] called The Miracle of Mindfulness. It was then codified into clinical practice by (among others) Marsha Linehan, who incorporated the book's ideas (in combination with behavioural therapy) as dialectical behavioural therapy, which was…
on “A panel on mindfulness, meditation, self-care and mental health” ↗