UK Peace Foundation

Recommended Books

Books can be a tremendous source of inspiration; they can encourage us to go that much deeper into meditation, into looking at and letting go of the negative stuff which stops us seeing ourselves and each other as we really are.

We would like to encourage you to contribute to this webpage by recommending books which you find helpful in promoting peace. For obvious reasons, we would need to read the book ourselves before including the recommendation and review on this page. So please do get in touch by emailing us at uk@peacefoundation.org.uk

At present, there are eight books we would like to recommend. Three of these I have bracketed together into a single review. We hope you find they provide lasting help and encouragement.

Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh. Copyright 1987, 1996 Parallax Press, Berkeley, California. 115 pp. Reviewed by Steve Gardiner.

The beauty of this book is its simplicity and clarity. Thich Nhat Hanh emphasises that it is vitally important that we cultivate peace within through meditation, as well as living harmoniously with those around us. This book gives an introduction to Zen Buddhism, and the Community of Interbeing, but I believe its message of peace is highly relevant to all of us, whatever our beliefs. To my mind, Thich Nhat Hanh certainly practises what we preaches; this is amply demonstrated by his courageous peacebuilding and mediating role in the Vietnam war.

Here are three quotations:

'If we are peaceful, if we are happy,

we can blossom like a flowere,

and everyone in our family,

in our entire society,

will benefit from our peace.' [p.1]

'Every day we do things, we are things, that have to do with peace. If we are aware of our lifestyle, our way of consuming, of looking at things, we will know how to make peace right in the moment we are alive, the present moment.' [p.66-67]

'In the peace movement there is a lot of anger, frustration, and misunderstanding. The peace movement can write very good protest letters, but they are not yet able to write a love letter. We need to learn to write a letter [to whichever politician or national leader] that they will want to read, and not just throw away. The way you speak, the kind of understanding, the kind of language you use should not turn people off. The [politician/leader] is a person like any of us.' [pp.79-80]

(In June 2009, the UK Peace Foundation wrote two letter of thanks and encouragement to President Obama, and the Chancellor of Cairo University. The style and content of these letters were inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh's words quoted above.)

Mary Bray has kindly suggested another book by Thich Nhat Hanh: Calming The Fearful Mind: A Zen Response to Terrorism'. This is also published by Parallax Press, Berkeley, California, ISBN: 1-888375-51-5. We would be grateful if someone would send us a review of this book. Here is a short extract:

'Sometimes our sense of fear and insecurity comes from looking at the destruction of the planet around us. People wonder how we can continue to survive when we are destroying our planet. The environment suffers because we consume too much and without mindfulness. We destroy our environment just as we destroy ourselves because of unmindful consumption. Learning to consume less, learning to consume only the things that can bring peace and health into our body and into our consciousness, we will help heal the planet as well as our bodies.'

  The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan. ISBN: 978-0-55215-514-4 Copyright Sandy Tolan 2006. Transworld Publishers: a Black Swan book. Main narrative 393 pp. A further 165 pp. of Bibliography, Notes, Acknowledgments and Index. Submitted by Barrie Wright and reviewed by Steve Gardiner.

This is a true story of how two families - one Arab, the other Jewish - who have lived in the same house in Ramla, Palestine/Israel have come through an immensely painful and difficult journey to become friends with each other.

In Sandy Tolan's words: 'This book is firmly planted in the soil of non-fiction narrative. Many of the events depicted are from fifty, sixty, or seventy years ago; none the less, their retelling relies, like everything else in the book, entirely on the tools of reporting and research: interviews, archival documents, published and unpublished memoirs, personal diaries, newspaper clippings, and primary and secondary historical accounts.'

Sandy goes on to say: 'I have not taken liberties with the history, no matter how minor. At no point do I imagine what probably happened ...'.

This is one of the most remarkable and moving books I have ever read. Its power is due to the fact that all the highly charged emotions are based on concrete facts and accounts. I believe that this is the most vivid, painstakingly researched and unbiased story of this (or any other) appalling human tragedy that anyone can possibly write. No wonder The Lemon Tree was Radio 4's Book of the Week in February 2007.

The UKPF has this year awarded The Open House charity £100. You can find out what this charity is, and how or why it was set up, by reading The Lemon Tree, or by following the link on our Links page.

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Compassion by Marshall B. Rosenberg. Copyright 1999 PuddleDancer Press, Encinitas, California. 212 pp. Reviewed by Steve Gardiner.

'Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a way of speaking that facilitates the flow of communication needed to exchange information and resolve differences peacefully. It helps us identify our shared values and needs, encourages us to use langauage that increases goodwill, and avoid language that contributes to resentment or lowers self-esteem.' [p.i]

More and more I am finding that words have the capacity to heal or wound. Several years ago I looked out of the kitchen window to see a local boy picking daffodils we had planted at the top of our granite hedge. I immediately felt anger and hurt surge up inside me, and rushed outside. As I did so, I said to myself: 'Remember NVC'. Instead of shouting at or threatening the boy, I was able calmly to tell him what I'd seen him do (without judging him), how I felt (annoyed and upset; I downplayed the strength of my feelings slightly so as not to overwhelm him), what I was needing (the daffodils to be allowed to flower) and ask him (not demand) that he left them flowering for everyone to enjoy.

The above approach is based upon Nonviolent Communication. As Rosenberg makes clear, NVC is not a magic formula; there is no guarantee that there will be the outcome we are wanting. However, by using this approach, we are able to be sensitive both to our own and other people's needs, and to communicate them in a clean way, without adding fuel to the fire.

As the book shows, we often talk down to ourselves and others by saying things like 'I have to', 'you should', 'I ought to', 'you must', etc. It is though we are (or part of us is) speaking or 'bossing' like a teacher, or parent, or judge, to a pupil, child, or someone who is subservient. A peaceful and gentle approach is to see everyone and every part of ourselves as worthy of equal respect. I cannot recommend this approach too highly, and wish that more spiritual leaders and facilitators would be aware of it and adopt it.

PeacePlease: A Peaceful Way by Sue Sterling. AuthorHouse UK Ltd. Copyright 2008 Sue Sterling. 65pp. This is a very moving account of Sue's reflections upon her own psychological and spiritual experiences. Sue is a registered Friend of the UK Peace Foundation. Reviewed by Steve Gardiner.

'Unless we can see each other, whether Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu as equal to us, we cannot truly live in Peace and we put ourselves and our Holy Books above God Himself.' [p.48]

Rumi - three books translated by Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin.
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved .- Thorsons/HarperCollins. Copyright 1999. 135 pp.
Rumi: Hidden Music - Element/HarperCollins. Copyright 2001. 214 pp.
Rumi: Gardens of the Beloved - Element/HarperCollins. Copyright 2003. 229 pp.
Reviewed by Steve Gardiner.

Jalaluddin Rumi lived from 1207-1273 mostly in Konya, Turkey. Although some people describe him as being a Sufi, or Muslim, or mystic, he would have rejected all of these labels. Instead his only religion was that of Unconditional Love, in which all the desires of the ego melt away into perfect union between the Lover and the Beloved: the two becoming One.

All this is so evident in his vast, spontaneous outpouring of poetry which goes straight to the heart; his poetry is immensely popular and widely read and reflected upon in all corners of the world. Many people, including myself, find that he is their greatest teacher.

Much depends upon the skill and sensitivity of the translator. I find these three collections hit the mark consistently and far more poignantly than most others I have read. It is possible to obtain new or used copies of each collection, but beware inflated prices for 'Gardens' and 'Hidden Music'. 'Hidden Music' contains colour reproductions of original paintings by Azima Kolin.

I have chosen a poem from each collection; these poems are centred upon peace, or what may be blocking it.

'Peaceful is the one who's not concerned with having more or less.
Unbound by name and fame
he is free from sorrow from the world
and mostly from himself.'
[Whispers of the Beloved p.35]

'When you see the face of anger

look behind it

and you will see the face of pride.
Bring anger and pride

under your feet, turn them into a ladder

and climb higher.
There is no peace until you become
their master.
Let go of anger, it may taste sweet
but it kills.
Don't become its victim
you need humility to climb to freedom.'
[Hidden Music p.77]

'We may know who we are or we may not.

We may be Muslims, Jews or Christians
but until our hearts
become the mould for every heart
we will see only our differences.'
[Gardens of the Beloved p.95]

Please go to the Words of Peace page for another poem by Rumi.

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