Where Is the Buddha?

In this new story for children from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, a young boy named Hu goes on a journey to find the Buddha, only to discover the Buddha is in each one of us.

Hu loves going to the temple with his parents. Everyone is nice to him there as they go about their daily work. But his favorite part of the temple is the Buddha statue. He is very impressed by all of the bananas, mangoes, and other fruits that people leave for the Buddha. He imagines that the Buddha must really like all of those fruits! To Hu, the Buddha statue is the Buddha.

As Hu grows up, eventually he realizes that the Buddha statue isn't actually the Buddha. But if the statue isn't the Buddha, then what is? Where is the Buddha? With his characteristic insight, sincerity, and sense of humor, Thich Nhat Hanh guides young readers through a charming tale of discovery, beginning in India with the story of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha, and then on to Vietnam with Hu and his quest. At the end of Hu's journey, he meets a wise monk who shares with him that we all have the capacity to be Buddhas, anywhere and at any time.

Includes a section at the end of the book on How to Be a Buddha, with basic breathing exercises and meditations for children. Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most revered and influential spiritual teachers in the world today. Born in Vietnam in 1926, he became a Zen Buddhist monk at the age of sixteen. Over seven decades of teaching, he has published more than 100 books, which have sold more than four million copies in the United States alone. Exiled from Vietnam in 1966 for promoting peace, his teachings on Buddhism as a path to social and political transformation are responsible for bringing the mindfulness movement to Western culture. He established the international Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism in France, now the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe, and the heart of a growing community of practice centers around the world. He lives in Hue in Central Vietnam.