Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who has written over 100 books and is second only to the Dalai Lama in influence and fame.
He has sold more than 3 million books in America alone; some of the best-known include ”The Art of Power, True Love and Anger,” ”The Miracle of Mindfulness,” ”Peace Is Every Step,” and ”Being Peace.”
In his foreword to Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, “Peace is Every Step”, the Dalai Lama writes that Nhat Hanh “shows us how to use the benefits of mindfulness and concentration to transform and heal difficult psychological states.”
List Of 52 Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes:
#1 Without suffering, there’s no happiness. So we shouldn’t discriminate against the mud. We have to learn how to embrace and cradle our own suffering and the suffering of the world, with a lot of tenderness.
#2 My actions are my only true belongings.
#3 To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.
#4 To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.
#5 Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.
#6 We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.
#7 While practicing mindfulness, don’t be dominated by the distinction between good and evil, thus creating a battle within oneself.
#8 Practicing listening deeply to each other is very important and practicing using the kind of speech that can make other people understand you.
#9 Any attempt to change a situation either politically or otherwise should be based on the transformation of our own consciousness.
#10 The true miracle is not walking on water or walking in air, but simply walking on this earth.
#11 Life is a miracle, and being aware of simply this can already make us very happy.
#12 In true love, you attain freedom.
#13 Every day and every hour, one should practice mindfulness.
#14 People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?
#15 Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.
#16 For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.
#17 It is my conviction that there is no way to peace – peace is the way.
#18 Breath is a tool. Breath itself is mindfulness. The use of breath as a tool may help one obtain immense benefits, but these cannot be considered as ends in themselves. These benefits are only the by-products of the realization of mindfulness.
#19 The baby has no separate self. The self of the baby is made of the mother, the father, and other elements.
#20 Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.
#21 The therapeutic power of meditation is very great, as modern scientific studies are now showing.
#22 Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile.
#23 If you suffer and make your loved ones suffer, there is nothing that can justify your desire.
#24 Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.
#25 Look at flowers, butterflies, trees, and children with the eyes of compassion. Compassion will change your life and make it wonderful.
#26 The wave does not need to die to become water. She is already water.
#27 Many people think excitement is happiness…But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.
#28 Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos — the trees, the clouds, everything.
#29 We are not only killing other species we are killing ourselves as a species and that is why technology is not enough. We have to learn how to listen, how to speak lovingly.
#30 If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence.
#31 I like to walk alone on country paths, rice plants and wild grasses on both sides, putting each foot down on the earth in mindfulness, knowing that I walk on the wondrous earth. In such moments, existence is a miraculous and mysterious reality.
#32 Karma is action, and action of the father can affect the children. When you practice, you transform the karma.
#33 I promise myself that I will enjoy every minute of the day that is given me to live.
#34 Because you are alive, everything is possible.
#35 Our own life has to be our message.
#36 We must be conscious of each breath, each movement, every thought and feeling, everything which has any relation to ourselves.
#37 People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.
#38 Every time you are in touch with the suffering and you understand the suffering in yourself and in the other person you allow the energy of compassion to arise in you.
#39 A friend can be a teacher, a fellow practitioner can be a teacher, and you yourself can be a teacher. A teacher is anyone who helps you practice and find more freedom – even freedom from your teacher.
#40 Buddha is thinking like that. His followers call him the perfect one but that is out of love, for the truth is you can never be perfect. But we don’t need to be perfect. That is a good thing to know.
#41 To practice the precepts is to protect yourself and to protect people you love; to protect society. That is why “Compassion” is the first precept, instead of “Do not Kill.”
#42 While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes.
#43 If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it.
#44 Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, or possessions – we cannot be free.
#45 You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.
#46 When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace, and love.
#47 The mind is like a monkey swinging from branch to branch through a forest, says the Sutra. In order not to lose sight of the monkey by some sudden movement, we must watch the monkey constantly and even to be one with it.
#48 Buddhism is a kind of mango, you see—a way of life, an experience that is worth trying. It is open for everyone. You can continue to be a Jew or a Catholic while enjoying Buddhism.
#49 We think our time on earth is only 100 years, which is why we are impatient. The collective karma and ignorance of our race, the collective anger and violence will lead to our destruction and we have to learn to accept that.
#50 When you need to slow down and come back to yourself, you do not need to rush home to your meditation cushion or to a meditation center in order to practice conscious breathing.
#51 The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.
#52 ”We need to consume in such a way that truly sustains our peace and happiness.”
Images credit – Getty Images
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References https://www.flickr.com/photos/72157594340940283/ https://www.theguardian.com/zen-master-thich-nhat-hanh-love-climate https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beliefs-buddhism-exclusiv
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As a founder and chief author at InsightState.com, Bulgarea Candin helps readers on their spiritual journeys. His writings are designed to inspire creativity and personal growth, guiding readers on their journey to a more fulfilled and enlightened life.