In this raw and moving memoir, Claude Thomas describes his service in Vietnam, his subsequent emotional collapse, and his remarkable journey toward healing. At Hell's Gate is not only a gripping coming-of-age story but a spiritual travelogue from the horrors of combat to the discovery of inner peace—a journey that inspired Thomas to become a Zen monk and peace activist who travels to war-scarred regions around the world. "Everyone has their Vietnam," Thomas writes. "Everyone has their own experience of violence, calamity, or trauma." With simplicity and power, this book offers timeless teachings on how we can all find healing, and it presents practical guidance on how mindfulness and compassion can transform our lives.

In this blunt, open testimony of his life, Claude AnShin Thomas succeeds to touch and describe the depth of his suffering. The transformation and power that comes from it are impressive and inspiring to me as a reader of this story.
The author extends a hand to his reader: the possibility to touch one's own suffering in life, if we are willing to live differently. I am grateful for this book and would recommend it to everyone.

I found this book in Semkye Ling, Schneverdingen, in Sept. 2021, and took it with me to Hamburg.
It took me some months to finish reading it. It was very impressing to me to read this biography and learn about the suffering and trauma of solidiers after war. But even more I am impressed about the way of healing shown in this book, that might be helpful for everyone, independent of his religion.
Claude Anshin Thomas tells us about his way as Buddhist munk and the healing and transformation by trust in life and accepting the suffering, by feeling and breathing, by talking in mindful speach and by deep listening instead of silence, by forgiveness to ourselves and others.