Quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh

Nirvana is the complete silencing of concepts.

The third element of true love is joy, mudita.

We were born, and with that birth, our fear was born along with the desire to survive. This is original desire.

Young people harm themselves and others because life has no meaning for them. If we continue to live the way we do and organize society the way we do, we will continue to produce so many thousands of young people who will need to be imprisoned.

Our desire to have a partner is, in part, a continuation of our desire for someone to take care of us.

My teaching is like a finger pointing to the moon. Do not mistake the finger for the moon." In

The ocean of suffering is immense, but if you turn around, you can see the land. 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.

Remember that there is only one important time and that is now.

The Buddha said many times, "My teaching is like a finger pointing to the moon. Do not mistake the finger for the moon.

But very few school programs teach young people how to live — how to deal with anger, how to reconcile conflicts, how to breathe, smile, and transform internal formations. There needs to be a revolution in education. We must encourage schools to train our students in the art of living in peace and harmony.

The Buddha taught that this is like this, because that is like that. You see? Because you smile, I am happy. This is like this, therefore that is like that.

But each wave is made of a substance called water. It is a wave, but at the same time, it is water. Concepts such as birth and death, higher and lower, rising and falling apply only to the waves, not to the water itself. So the waves represent the historical dimension, and the

We have to learn to become solid and stable like an oak tree, and not be blown from side to side by the storm.

So the second step in transformation is to create the intention to stay where we are, look deeply at our fear, and accept it.

Our Buddhist sutra tells us that when conditions are sufficient, we see forms, and when conditions are not sufficient, we don't. When all conditions are prsesent, phenomena can be perceived by us, and so they are revealed to us as existing

It is exactly in the muddy water that the lotus grows and blooms.

Discussing God is not the best use of our energy. If we touch the Holy Spirit, we touch God not as a concept but as a living reality.

Your partner needs your attention and your watering of his or her positive seeds. Without that attention, your relationship will wither.

Even with a lot of goodwill, we can still make the other person very unhappy. Mindfulness is the paintbrush in the art of happiness. When we are mindful, we are more artful and happiness blooms

Do you have enough time to love? Can you make sure that in your everyday life you have a little time to love?

Everything is empty. Empty of what? Empty of a separate self. A flower is full of everything in the cosmos—sunshine, clouds, air, and space. It is empty of only one thing, a separate existence.

The Buddha said, "When conditions are sufficient, the thing manifests, and when they are not sufficient, the thing remains hidden.

Once, as I was about to step on a dry leaf, I saw the leaf in the ultimate dimension of reality. I saw that it was not really dead, but it was merging with the moist soil and preparing to appear on the tree the following spring. I smiled at the leaf and said, "You are pretending.

When we feel suffering, we have the urge to run away from it and fill ourselves up with junk food, junk entertainment, anything to keep our mind off the pain that is there inside us. It doesn't work. We may succeed in numbing ourselves from it for a little while, but the suffering inside wants our attention and it will fester and churn away until it gets it.