Book Review:
Call Me By My True Names

By Thich Nhat Hanh
Reviewed by Annie Hubble
from the April 2005 Newsletter

I hold my face in my two hands.
No, I am not crying.
I hold my face in my two hands
to keep the loneliness warm—
two hands protecting,
two hands nourishing,
two hands preventing
my soul from leaving me
in anger.

Thich Nhat Hanh wrote this after he had heard of the bombing of Ben Tre and of an American soldier saying, 'We had to destroy the town in order to save it.'

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk, philosopher, and advocate for peace, was born in 1926. He saw his country of Vietnam devastated by war. He was eventually exiled, due to his allegiance to peace. He now lives in France in a Buddhist community, still pleading for peace by means of lectures and books.

I have read many of his books, but recently came across a collection of his poetry, Call Me By My True Names (published by Parallax Press in 1993). The poems move me to an amazing degree. Many were written during the Vietnam War, and are especially appropriate as we witness yet again a world apparently bent on warfare.

If you want to cry,
please cry.
And know
that I will cry with you.
The tears you shed
will heal us both.

Recently mourning the death of my father, and looking back over my life and of the life lessons he taught me, I realize that I cannot remember a time when I was not fully conscious of the horrors of war and the need of peace.

I was born in England not long after the end of World War 2, when the adults around me still talked about the rationing, the blackouts, the hearing of bombs exploding, of planes flying over in the nights, and of so many young men not returning home.

As we grew older, my father passed on stories that adults had told him in his childhood; stories of the terrible trench warfare of World War 1. One story he told over and over to us. On a Christmas day apparently, sometime in those years between 1914 and 1918, the men from both sides got out of their trenches, shook hands, wished each other a happy Christmas, and ate together their meagre rations, only the next day to get back in their trenches and try to kill each other again, suddenly once more the enemy.

In 1963, when I was 13 and my brothers 9 and 15, my father took us to see the concentration camps. There was a collection of photographs of the horrors of those camps that are indelibly imprinted on my mind, including pictures of the skeletal survivors. This was a mere 18 years after the closing of the camps.

Promise me,
promise me this day,
promise me now
...promise me:
Even as they
strike you down
with a mountain of hatred and violence;
..remember, brother,
remember;
man is not our enemy.
The only thing worthy of you is compassion—

Thich Nhat Hahn explains what he means by compassion, certainly no wimpy sort of feeling, but rather strong action.

'Compassion means acting with courage and deep love...We have to remain strong... helping…by our firm, clear and compassionate action for peace—the kind of peace in which both sides win because it is based on mutual understanding.' (Thich Nhat Hahn, Yes magazine, Spring 2005)

His poetry and his lectures show us the importance of staying centered, strong and peace-full in these times of stress.

I have to thank my father for giving me such deep-rooted lessons about war and peace. I am grateful that Thich Nhat Hahn, with his clear vision and compassionate ways, is there to help us learn how to deal with these issues. Read his poetry. (Call Me By My True Names is available in Bookpeople...thanks Bob Greene for putting it in my hands!) And I wish you all peace in all ways and always.

I support you,
you support me.
I am in this world to offer you peace;
you are in this world to bring me joy.

All quotes are from Call Me By My Real Names, with the exception of the quote from Yes magazine.

Annie Hubble deplores all forms of violence and yearns for peace. She is excited about her forthcoming trip to her home country, England.

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