Short Journey Home

Book excerpt: A friend on our path of mindfulness practice, Richard Brady shares one of the first deeply personal accounts of a lay practitioner following in the steps of world-renowned Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. Short Journey Home presents a powerful story of transformation, rooted in the author’s long-term and life-changing practice with Thich Nhat Hanh. Richard Brady guides us through his life experiences and lessons learned, offering strikingly deep and sincere accounts of: his time spent with Thich Nhat Hanh and with senior monastics, his successes and difficulties with community building, practicing with family, working with death, and sharing the practice with others. Brady skillfully grounds his stories in direct teachings offered by Thich Nhat Hanh, and he organizes these stories according to some of Thich Nhat Hanh’s most powerful lessons on topics like impermanence, interbeing, and transformation. By taking these teachings to heart, practicing with them diligently, and sharing the results, Brady acts as our spiritual companion, demonstrating how the Plum Village path of practice can lead us to peace, freedom, and awakening in this present moment.