Wait A Love Letter to Those in Despair

Pause, find connection, and choose peace rather than harm when you feel overwhelmed in the crashing ocean of life.

You are the calm of the ocean, not the pounding wave. The tumultuous, confusing, and unbearable feelings that arise in life will never overtake your true essence and the peace you can find below the surface.

Written as a love letter to those in pain, Wait encourages us to seek out a path to peace and freedom from suffering. Cuong Lu, a long-time disciple of Thich Nhat Hanh, personally witnessed a shooting while fleeing Vietnam in 1975. The memory of this trauma prompted him to dedicate his life to sharing the wisdom of deep listening, finding understanding, and in his words, "defusing the bombs in our hearts." We have waited long enough for the violence to stop. Now is the time to help turn the tide, interrupt the cycle of violence, and create a world where love and understanding thrive.

CUONG LU is a Buddhist teacher ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh at Plum Village. He served as a monk for 16 years and now teaches in the Netherlands, where he lives with his wife and three children. A former prison chaplain, he is the author of The Buddha in Jail: Restoring Lives, Finding Hope and Freedom.