Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems

A collection of poetry by the renowned Zen meditation teacher, peace activist, and author of The Miracle of Mindfulness

Though he is best known for his groundbreaking and accessible works on applying mindfulness to everyday life, Thich Nhat Hanh is also a distinguished poet and Nobel Peace Prize nominee. This stunning poetry collection explores these lesser-known facets of Nhat Hanh’s life, revealing not only his path to becoming a Zen meditation teacher but his skill as a poet, his achievements as a peace activist, and his experiences as a young refugee.

Through over fifty poems, Nhat Hanh reveals the stories of his past—from his childhood in war-torn Vietnam to the beginnings of his own spiritual journey—and shares his ideas on how we can come together to create a more peaceful, mindful world. Uplifting, insightful, and profound, Call Me By My True Names is at once an exquisite work of poetry and a portrait of one of the world’s greatest Zen masters and peacemakers.

“The clear, still mind of this meditation teacher gives rise to piercing images time and time again. Nhat Hanh seems an inherently skilled poet. It is these poetic works, more than his essays or lectures, that show Thich Nhat Hanh clearly to be a Zen mystic.” —San Francisco Chronicle

"Thich Nhat Hanh's poems have an almost uncanny power to disarm delusion, awaken compassion, and carry the mind into the immediate presence of meditation. Thich Nhat Hanh writes with the voice of the Buddha". - Sogyal Rinpoche.