The Novice

K�nh T�m has a secret. A devoted student and diligent worker at the Dharma Cloud Temple monastery, K�nh is not who he appears to be. And yet the novice's true identity cannot be revealed without K�nh paying a terrible price. To continue on the path to enlightenment, K�nh must suffer false accusations, physical hardship and public humiliation without complaint. With absolute grace, astounding compassion and unwavering resolve, the novice perseveres in the face of every challenge. Ultimately, K�nh T�m's moving fate will transform lives and offer hope for us all. In these pages, Zen master, poet and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh retells an ancient Vietnamese folk tale, sharing K�nh's story as a teaching and proposing a real way of being in the world that is utterly relevant now, in the twenty-first century.