Our mission
We publish books and media on the art of mindful living and Engaged Buddhism. We are committed to offering teachings that help transform suffering and injustice. Our aspiration is to contribute to collective insight and awakening, bringing about a more joyful, healthy, and compassionate society.
Our work
Parallax Press is a nonprofit publisher cofounded by Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh and Arnold Kotler. Parallax Press was established in 1986 with the publication of Thích Nhất Hạnh’s book Being Peace in sunny Berkeley, California, and we were based in the San Francisco Bay Area until 2025. Our fully remote staff now work from home all over the United States and we plan to move our office in 2026 to Deer Park Monastery, a mindfulness practice center in the Plum Village tradition in Southern California. Our bestselling books have sold more than 100,000 copies and are available in 35 languages in countries around the world.
We aim to publish well-crafted books that nourish happiness and show the connection between the inner and outer work for peace and an ethical, sustainable, and beautiful way of life. We are committed to following a sustainable and humane way of doing business in alignment with our values. We offer free books for people who are suffering incarceration through our Prison Practitioner Book Program. We also structure in daily meditation and mindfulness practices as part of the working day.
Parallax Press is the publishing house of the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism, Inc. (formerly known as the Unified Buddhist Church), a registered 501(c)3 organization. If you would like to make a donation to support our mission, we welcome online donations. The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation processes donations on behalf of Parallax Press.
Our founder and community
Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh is a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered around the world for his pioneering teachings on mindfulness, global ethics and peace. Time magazine called him “the monk who taught the world mindfulness.” Thích Nhất Hạnh founded the Unified Buddhist Church in 1969 during the war in Vietnam, which was renamed the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism.
Establishing its first practice community in France in 1975 during Thích Nhất Hạnh’s exile from Vietnam, the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism is now the largest Buddhist monastic tradition outside Asia, with mindfulness practice centers around the world where visitors can enjoy the art of mindful living.
To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.
Thích Nhất Hạnh
Our relationship with AI
We are aware of the swiftly changing presence of AI in the publishing industry and within our global society. We are reflecting on the ways AI is inserted into our working structures with and without our consent. We are taking time to consult the mindfulness trainings and decide if and when AI can be used as a tool in right livelihood. We want to be sure our contributions to the world are aligned with our core mission as a nonprofit publisher.