The Long Road Turns to Joy

The Long Road Turns to Joy: A Guide to Walking Meditation
by Thich Nhat Hanh

Parallax Press, Berkeley, California, 2011.  112 pp.

This book is the smallest of the small. It really needs to be placed in a little box to prevent it being lost on the bookshelf. It is obvious that The Long Road is meant to fit easily in the back pocket of your jeans during a walk. It will even stick out at the top for retrieval.

Nhat Hanh presents walking meditation as a gentle practice for coming to the present in peace and happiness. He helps us find our home, our answers, our happiness and joy right here. Many arresting words are found throughout these pages. For example, after noting that we and the earth rely upon each other, Nhat Hanh says: "When we practice walking meditation beautifully, we massage the Earth with our feet and plant seeds of joy and happiness with each step. Our Mother will heal us, and we will heal her." He brings us into a sense of the absolute: "You begin to touch the ground of your being, which is the ultimate dimension of reality, and the door of no birth and no death opens."

The book is organized into little, titled, bite-sized pages, each holding a paragraph or two of teaching. Photos of people doing walking meditation are scattered here and there. The first half consists of an introduction and instructions on ways to use the breath. The second half deals with walking in difficult times followed by deeper thoughts on practice, and a closing section of poetry.

I recommend this book to anyone on a spiritual path who wishes brief but deep instruction in a practice of walking. Some of this wisdom will not be obvious, you will have to walk to find it.
-- reviewed by Wesley Lachman

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