In May 1998, more than four hundred practitoners from around the world joined Thich Nhat Hanh's first 21-day retreat in North America in Vermont to experience mindfulness. The Path of Emancipation, which transcribes this retreat, comprises an in-depth instruction in the "Sixteen Ways of Breathing" from the Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing. When Thich Nhat Hanh discovered this discourse, he said, "I felt I was the happiest person in the world."

Applying the teaching to everyday life, Thich Nhat Hanh shows how it is possible to slow down and get in touch with our breathing. He teaches the practice of mindful breathing, walking, and sitting, and how the practice of mindfulness releases suffering and leads to a wholesome and happy life.

Path of Emancipation, Thich Nhat Hanh, Parallax Press, Paperback, 278 pp. $32.95

Thich Nhat Hanh has survived three wars, persecution, and more than thirty years of exile. A Buddhist monk, he is the master of a temple in Vietnam, the lineage of which is traceable across two centuries to the Buddha himself. Hanh has written more than 100 books of poetry, fiction and philosophy, wit over a million copies in print. He live in France and Vermont, He is the author of Living Buddha, Living Christ and Anger.