The Monks and Me: How 40 Days in Thich Nhat Hanh's French Monastery Guided Me Home Hot

The Monks and Me is an extremely enjoyable tale of one woman's stay in a French monastery. Mary Paterson, the Founder and Director of Toronto's Lotus Yoga Centre, opens her soul to us as she relates her story of a 40-day stay in Plum Village in the countryside of Bordeaux. Packed full of Mary's revelations and humour, this is an entertaining and thought-provoking read.

Mary uses each day of her stay at Thich Nhat Hanh's retreat to tell us of her experiences and what she learns about herself and the world around her. Thich Nhat Hanh is a Nobel Prize-nominated Buddhist monk, and his teachings come alive in this book through Mary's insightfulness. She tells us of how, as she listens to him for the first time, she becomes "suffused with a warm, buzzing sensation."

You begin to feel the power of Thich Nhat Hanh's philosophy as Mary recounts his teachings and shares with us her stay in his monastery. Forty short chapters such as “How Not to Become Superwoman,” “The Day the Monk Lit up my Spine,” and “How a Fat Suitcase Taught me to Surrender,” contain both wisdom and enlightenment.

We follow Mary as she befriends other guests and finds out more about the monks she is staying with. From the “Cat Killer” to the “Woman Who Made Her Soup,” we are swept up in Mary's journey as if we were there with her. A truly well-written and enjoyable read.