How to Smile

“How to Smile is a revolutionary cry. To smile the smile of non-fear is to realize one of the most powerful aspects of [Thich Nhat Hanh’s] revolution within Buddhism. That half smile of the Buddha sitting on the altar is more powerful than any general with a destroying army could ever be. Because when we are able to smile, we no longer see ourselves as just being swept away by the historical forces of our personal life, of our collective life. We master our own body and mind. So the subtitle for How to Smile would be something like Re-establishing Sovereignty in Our Lives.”—Brother Phap Luu, Plum Village Monastic and Author of Hiking Zen

Thich Nhat Hanh was a world-renowned spiritual teacher and peace activist. Born in Vietnam in 1926, he became a Zen Buddhist monk at the age of sixteen. Over seven decades of teaching, he published more than 100 books, which have sold more than four million copies in the United States alone. Exiled from Vietnam in 1966 for promoting peace, his teachings on Buddhism as a path to social and political transformation are responsible for bringing the mindfulness movement to Western culture. He established the international Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism in France, now the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe and the heart of a growing community of mindfulness practice centers around the world. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 95 at his root temple, Tu Hieu, in Hue, Vietnam.