Quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh

If Bodhidharma is the ideal man, it is because his image is that of a hero who has broken the chains of illusion that enclose man in the world of emotions. The hammer that is used to break these chains is the practice of Zen.

True happiness does not reside in the ill-considered consumption of goods paid for by the suffering, famine, and death of others, but in a life enlightened by the feeling of a constant responsibility for one's neighbor.

True understanding happens when we dismantle the barrier between the object of understanding and the subject of understanding.

We constantly encounter themes that arouse sexual desire, often coupled with themes of violence. If our collective consciousness is filled with violent sexual seeds, why should we be surprised when there is sexual abuse of children, rape, and other violent acts?

The stopping of suffering is disappearance of desire, the ending of ideas, the giving up of, letting go of, liberation from, and refusal to dwell in the object of desire.

When we can see the non-rose elements when looking at a rose, it is safe for us to use the word rose. When we look at A and see that A is not A, we know that A is truly A. Then A is no longer a dangerous obstacle for us.

that there is only one important time and that is now. The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. The most important person is always the person you are with, who is right before you, for who knows if you will have dealings with any other person in the future? The most important pursuit is making the person standing at your side happy, for that alone is the pursuit of life.

There is no reason why mindfulness should be different from focusing all one's attention on one's work, to be alert and to be using one's best judgment. During the moment one is consulting, resolving, and dealing with whatever arises, a calm heart and self-control are necessary if one is to obtain good results. Anyone can see that. If we are not in control of ourselves but instead let our impatience or anger interfere, then our work is no longer of any value.

If we do not have peace and joy at this moment, we can at least remember some peace and joy we experienced in the past or observe the peace and joy of others. We see that well-being is possible.

I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy.

One of the Buddha's most widely quoted phrases is attadipa saranam, which means taking refuge (saranam) in the island (dipa) of self (atta).

Habit energy is there in all of us in the form of seeds transmitted from our ancestors, our grandparents, and our parents, as well as seeds created by the difficulties we ourselves have experienced. Often we're unaware of these energies operating in us. We may want to be in a committed relationship but our habit energies can color our perceptions, direct our behaviors, and make our lives difficult. With mindfulness, we can become aware of the habit energy that has been passed down to us.

The first part of looking at our fear is just inviting it into our awareness without judgment.

Direct experience is the only way.

You have to be clear-minded. In the context of war, we grew deeper in our practice of nonviolence. Nonviolence is not a set of techniques that you can learn with your intellect. Nonviolent action naturally arises from the compassion, lucidity, and understanding you have within.

Similarly by looking deeply into the nature of impermanence and no self, you can also touch the nature of nirvana.

Practicing mindfulness means that instead of reacting to whatever stimulus is around us or provokes us, we go back to our breathing, we calm our body, we stop our thinking, and we bring the mind home to the body in the present moment.

The Buddha has taught that body and mind are one. In order to go far on your monastic path, you need to know how to take care of your body.

Once one knows who one is, there is no need to be concerned about where one will go, whether it be the Pure Land, paradise, or Sukh?vat? (the Land of Great Happiness).

The essence of Zen is Awakening. This is why one does not talk about Zen, one experiences it .

Instead of saying that being leads to birth, we should say that being and nonbeing lead to birth and death. In our head, we have become used to the idea that when we are born we come into being out of nonbeing and when we die we go from being into nonbeing. If we remove the idea of being and nonbeing, there is no more idea of birth and death.

The energy of mindfulness has the element of friendship and loving kindness in it.

A Zen Master uses concepts and words like everyone else; but he is neither conditioned nor captivated by these concepts and these words. The language of Zen always aims at destroying the habits of those who only know how to think by concepts. It tends to provoke crises, whose function it is to bring to fruition the precious moment of Awakening.

Knowing how to suffer well is essential to realizing true happiness.