I’m participating in the #AtoZ April Blogging Challenge 2025 and this will be my third year of joining the vibrant community that loves this one-of-a-kind creative challenge.
This year, my theme is—BOOKS THAT HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE—which means they are not just my favourite books, but they’ve also left a deep and lasting impact on me and continue to do so until this day. I’m also blogging on ’TheSkyGirlMusings‘—where my theme is THE A TO Z OF SELF CARE. Please do check it out and follow me there too, if you aren’t already. Before you leave, please leave your blog link, and I’ll be happy to stop by your blog, read your post and follow you back as well. Thank you! 
Several years ago, in my initial years of learning about meditation, I was introduced to an amazing book called—’Buddha Mind, Buddha Body’ by Thích Nhất Hạnh, who was a globally known Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet and teacher—also founder of the Plum Village Tradition, and widely recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism.
I loved the book so much that I felt inclined to pick up another on spirituality and Buddhism. Interestingly, the Universe conspired and a few days later, I found the spouse walking in, carrying this book, that he had picked up at the airport bookshop, just before boarding his flight back home. We are both addicted to reading and needless to say, having a partner who shares the same love for books as you do makes life a lot easier!
The essential premise of No Mud No Lotus, is this —the secret to happiness is to acknowledge and transform suffering, not to run away from it.
It introduces ways for us to be in touch with our suffering rather than be overwhelmed by it. The book teaches us the art of happiness and nudges us to recognize all the wonders that we hold within and around us—mostly, things that we all take for granted in our daily lives.
I must tell you that this one came to me at a time when I was grappling with a lot of issues on the personal front and so, I had a vested interest in gathering the nuggets of wisdom he shared. The book, written in a simple and lucid style spoke of embracing and acknowledging that there is pain and suffering in us and we have to find the ways to transform it into a joyful one, in much the same way as a lotus emerge from a murky soil.
What a powerful and enlightening read it turned out to be! Over the years, I’ve realised that most of the books by Thich Nhat Hahn that I’ve read so far, have brought me a deep sense of peace and especially presence in my everyday life. It feels like a direct transmission of wisdom from the Master to me. This one felt extremely grounding at the time when I first encountered it and for a long time, I could not get on with my day without a guided morning meditation by Thich Nhat Hahn, so blissful and calming the whole experience was!
I must mention the book taught me one more thing—that because suffering can feel so bad, we tend to run away from it or cover it up by consuming things mindlessly. But unless we learn to actually come face to face with it, we cannot be present and available to life. Consequently, happiness will continue to elude us. This helped me immensely to cope with the situation at hand and fully comprehend what he meant when he was saying:
“When we know how to suffer,” Nhat Hanh says, “we suffer much, much less.”
I believe books have a way of appearing in our life when we need them the most. Perhaps, it’s the way the Universe works for us, and this one was nothing short of life-changing for me. There is a lot of insight in these pages—and a lot of extremely practical advice too, for calming oneself down, facing one’s tough moments and situations and finding peace with life as it is and not how as we wish it were!
Above all else, the book makes it clear that we need to accept ourselves, recognize our emotions, and live with them. It has made me more mindful of my feelings—especially, when angry, sad, disappointed, or suffering.
Another book that I highly recommend if you wish to explore spirituality!
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If you’d like to read the rest of my A to Z posts written for the #AtoZAprilChallenge2025, then please click here to read on.