Wednesday, 03/26/2025
Thich Nhat Hanh’s The Art of Living Wins Gold Nautilus Book Award
Update: 28/11/2018
Established in the US in 1998, and named after the nautilus shell, a symbol of wisdom and growth, the Nautilus Book Awards are given out annually to the authors of books that encompass social and environmental justice. Previous recipients include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, American novelist, essayist and poet Barbara Kingsolver, American journalist Amy Goodman, Britain’s Charles, Prince of Wales and South African cleric Desmond Tutu.
The Nautilus Book Awards seek to recognize “books that promote spiritual growth, conscious living, high-level wellness, and positive social change as they stimulate the imagination and inspire the reader to new possibilities for a better world.” (Nautilus Book Awards)
In The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now, Thich Nhat Hanh, known affectionally to his followers as Thay (Vietnamese for teacher), explores seven mindfulness trainings encompassing the Buddhist view on life, relationships, and interconnection, that were taken from his last full talks before his recent illness. The teachings are aimed at helping the practitioner understand the three doors of liberation—emptiness, signlessness, aimlessness—as well as impermanence, non-craving, letting go, and nirvana, with the aim of coming to terms with aging and dying to live a joyful, peaceful, active life, free of fear.
Born Nguyen Xuan Bao on 11 October 1926, Thay is an influential Zen teacher, poet, and the author of more than 100 books. As an active advocate for peace, he was influential in the anti-war movement, encouraging non-violent protests during the Vietnam War. Thay founded the Order of Interbeing and the Unified Buddhist Church, and in 1982 established the Plum Village Buddhist Center in France with his colleague Sister Chan Khong. He has been a central figure in the transmission of Buddhism to the West and in marrying an authentic Zen tradition and lineage with a progressive approach to issues such as social activism, science versus faith, and religion versus spirituality.
By Craig Lewis