Mindfulness, Walking with Jesus and Buddha

Sister Annabel Laity

The First Western Monastic Disciple of Zen Master

Thich Nhat Hanh

Original line drawings

192 pages softcover

How in our busy daily life can we have the opportunity to stop running and come back to the present moment? God is always present. It is we who have wandered off somewhere forgetting to be there for God.

Sister Annabel Laity, an English-born Buddhist nun in the lineage of Thich Nhat Hanh, offers this unique introduction to the principles and practice of “mindfulness” for a western, Christian audience. Opening each chapter with a quote from scripture, Sr. Anabel uncovers the surprising parallels between Zen and the teachings of Jesus.

First, Sister Annabel applies these lessons to the basics of daily life, learning to breathe, to walk, to eat mindfully, and how we can bring this mindfulness to the experience of our lives: work, activism, suffering, death, and love. In the second part she outlines principles of “double-belonging,” showing how it is possible to be at home in more than one spiritual practice.

The first Westerner to be ordained as a monastic disciple in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Vietnamese Zen lineage Sister Annabel Laity was given the Dharma name Chan Duc, which means True Virtue. Now a much-loved senior Dharma teacher in the Plum Village community, Sister Annabel teaches and leads retreats worldwide. She is the author of True Virtue: The Journey of an English Buddhist Nun (Parallax Press).