Quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh

People say walking on water is a miracle, but to me walking peacefully on earth is the real miracle

We have to realize that silence comes from our heart and not from the absence of talk.

Ser capaz de detenerte y advertir el momento presente forma parte de la definición de felicidad. No es posible ser feliz en el futuro. No es una cuestión de creer en ello, sino de experimentarlo.

The person who has nothing to do doesn't need to put on airs or leave any trace behind.

Suppose a friend who has come a long way to visit is having a cup of tea with us. Mindfulness helps the time we spend with her to be a time we won't forget.

We think that by seeking pleasure we'll avoid suffering. But this doesn't work.

When we embrace anger and take good care of our anger, we obtain relief. We can look deeply into it and gain many insights. The first insight may be that the seed of anger in us has grown a little too big, and it is the main cause of our misery. As we begin to see this fact, we realize that the other person is only a secondary cause. The other person is not the main cause of our anger. If

Maintain your health. Be joyful. Do not force yourself to do things you cannot do."2

When we've accumulated so much knowledge inside, we don't have the capacity to digest it. It's like when we eat too much food, we can't digest it and we become constipated.

I entrust myself to Earth, Earth entrusts herself to me. I entrust myself to Buddha, Buddha entrusts herself to me.

So to love someone, you have to understand the real needs of that person, and not impose on her what you think is needed for her to be happy. Understanding is the foundation of love.

Kung-an [koans] were in vogue during the Tang Dynasty. Each Zen practitioner had a kung-an to work on. But before this period, Zen Masters did not need kung-an. The kung-an is, therefore, not something absolutely indispensable to the practice of Zen. It is, more or less, a skillful means created by Zen Masters in order to help people who work under their direction.

To preserve yourself is to preserve the opportunity to serve others.

The idea that doing dishes is unpleasant can occur to us only when we are not doing them. Once we're standing in front of the sink with our sleeves rolled up and our hands in warm water, it's really not bad at all.

Most of us have very scheduled lives and very full calendars. But do we have enough lazy days in our calendar? A lazy day is a day for us to be without any scheduled activities. We just let the day unfold naturally, timelessly. On this day we have a chance to reestablish the balance in ourselves. We may do walking meditation on our own or with a friend, or do sitting meditation in the forest. We might like to read a little or write

Qué clase de alimentos he estado ingiriendo que han alimentado este sufrimiento?». Cuando empieces a descubrir la clase de alimentos que has estado tomando quizá te eches a llorar.

out. Bring your awareness to the different parts of your body in turn, and allow them to relax.

Wisdom is a living stream, not an icon to be preserved in a museum.

But to make someone else happy, you have to understand that person's needs, suffering, and desires and not assume you know what will make them happy. Ask, "What would make you happy?" THE RIGHT GIFT In Vietnam there is a fruit that many people love called durian.

If you have lost someone and if you have cried so very much, please look deeply and recognize that the true nature of your beloved is the nature of no birth and no death, no coming and no going.

mindfulness means reclaiming attention

The first mindfulness training is important to help us remain free people. Freedom is above all else freedom from our own notions and concepts. If we get caught in our notions and concepts, we can make ourselves suffer and we can also make those we love suffer.

When I became a novice monk, I lived in a temple where the atmosphere was quite like in a family. The abbot is like a father and other monks are like your big brothers, your small, younger brothers. It is a kind of family.

If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy.