Thích Nhất Hạnh: Because You Are Alive, Everything Is Possible

Just imagine a world where we awaken from our illusion of separateness and experience our Interbeing with all of life. Just imagine.... Molly 

❤❤❤ 

Beautiful Quotes of Wisdom, Compassion, Peace

and Love by Thích Nhất Hạnh

We are here to awaken from our illusion of separteness. 

We are all the leaves of one tree. We are all the waves of one sea.

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.

When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.

When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable.

When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight. 

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion. 

Suffering is not enough. Life is both dreadful and wonderful...How can I smile when I am filled with so much sorrow? It is natural--you need to smile to your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow.

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is. 

We have to learn to live our life as a human being deeply. We need to live each breath deeply so that we have peace, joy and freedom as we breathe.

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet. 

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle. 

To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.

When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?

Mindfulness is like that—it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life.

Every one of us already has the seed of mindfulness. The practice is to cultivate it.

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them. 

Guarding knowledge is not a good way to understand. Understanding means to throw away your knowledge. 

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

People kill and are killed because they cling too tightly to their own beliefs and ideologies. When we believe that ours is the only faith that contains the truth, violence and suffering will surely be the result.” 

We have to continue to learn. We have to be open. And we have to be ready to release our knowledge in order to come to a higher understanding of reality. 

Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice... No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out. 

Usually when we hear or read something new, we just compare it to our own ideas. If it is the same, we accept it and say that it is correct. If it is not, we say it is incorrect. In either case, we learn nothing. 

If we are not happy, if we are not peaceful, we cannot share peace and happiness with others, even those we love, those who live under the same roof. If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.  

We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds- our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs. To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come. 

There are thousands of channels in our consciousness; it is up to us to choose the channel.

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.

Many people think excitement is happiness.... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace. 

Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos — the trees, the clouds, everything. 

The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy. 

We need to be aware of the suffering, but retain our clarity, calmness and strength so we can help transform the situation.

The energies of mindfulness, concentration and insight can liberate us from our anxiety and worries. We let go of the past and the future, and come in touch with the wonders of the present. 

The wave does not need to die to become water. She is already water. 

Look at flowers, butterflies, trees, and children with the eyes of compassion. Compassion will change your life and make it wonderful.

Enlightenment is growing all the time. It is not something that happens once and is then complete.  

It is said that God has created man in his own image. But it may be that humankind has created God in the image of humankind.

Feelings, whether of compassion or irritation, should be welcomed, recognized, and treated on an absolutely equal basis; because both are ourselves. The tangerine I am eating is me. The mustard greens I am planting are me. I plant with all my heart and mind. I clean this teapot with the kind of attention I would have were I giving the baby Buddha or Jesus a bath. Nothing should be treated more carefully than anything else. In mindfulness, compassion, irritation, mustard green plant, and teapot are all sacred.

The source of love is deep in us and we can help others realize a lot of happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person’s suffering and bring that person joy.

Through my love for you, I want to express my love for the whole cosmos, the whole of humanity, and all beings. By living with you, I want to learn to love everyone and all species. If I succeed in loving you, I will be able to love everyone and all species on Earth... This is the real message of love.
By eating meat we share the responsibility of climate change, the destruction of our forests, and the poisoning of our air and water. The simple act of becoming a vegetarian will make a difference in the health of our planet.

Compassion is a verb.

Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.

To dwell in the here and now does not mean you never think about the past or responsibly plan for the future. The idea is simply not to allow yourself to get lost in regrets about the past or worries about the future. If you are firmly grounded in the present moment, the past can be an object of inquiry, the object of your mindfulness and concentration. You can attain many insights by looking into the past. But you are still grounded in the present moment.  

Around us, life bursts with miracles--a glass of water, a ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a flower, laughter, raindrops. If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere. Each human being is a multiplicity of miracles. Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck of dust as easily as the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings. When we are tired and feel discouraged by life's daily struggles, we may not notice these miracles, but they are always there. 

Because you are alive, everything is possible. 

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work. 

Our own life has to be our message.

It is my conviction that there is no way to peace - peace is the way.