Thich Nhat Hanh

If we are aware of our lifestyle, our way of consuming, of looking at things, we will know how to make peace right in the moment we are alive.

Direct experience is the only way.

Sitting meditation, walking meditation, and mindful eating are good opportunities for resting. When you feel agitated, if you are able to go to a park or a garden, it is an opportunity for rest. If you walk slowly and remember to take it easy, if you are able to sit and do nothing from time to time, you can rest deeply and enter a state of true ease.

Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life.

We need the vision of interbeing__e belong to each other; we cannot cut reality into pieces. The well-being of __his_ is the well-being of __hat,_ so we have to do things together. Every side is __ur side_; there is no evil side.

In the West, we are very goal oriented. We know where we want to go, and we are very directed in getting there. This may be useful, but often we forget to enjoy ourselves along the route.

A person who looks at the table and can see the universe is a person who can see the way.

Emptiness is not the opposite of existence. It is not nothingness or annihilation.

The essence of love and compassion is understanding, the ability to recognize the physical, material, and psychological suffering of others, to put ourselves __nside the skin_ of the other.

In us, there is a river of feelings, in which every drop of water is a different feeling, and each feeling relies on all the others for its existence. To observe it, we just sit on the bank of the river and identify each feeling as it surfaces, flows by, and disappears.

When mindfulness is present, the Buddha and the Holy Spirit are already there,

The truth is that everything contains everything else. We cannot just be, we can only inter-be.

Now I see that if one doesn't know how to die, one can hardly know how to live - because deathis a part of life.

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,

Western civilization places so much emphasis on the idea of hope that we sacrifice the present moment. Hope is for the future. It cannot help us discover joy, peace, or enlightenment in the present moment.

The meditation on interdependence is to help one penetrate reality in order to be one with it, not to become caught up in philosophical opinion or meditation methods. The raft is used to cross the river. It isn't to be carried around on your shoulders. The finger which points at the moon isn't the moon itself.

Since we cling to our hope in the future, we do not focus our energies and capabilities on the present moment

Worrying does not accomplish anything. Even if you worry twenty times more, it will not change the situation of the world. In fact, your anxiety will only make things worse. Even though things are not as we would like, we can still be content, knowing we are trying our best and will continue to do so. If we don't know how to breathe, smile,and live every moment of our life deeply, we will never be able to help anyone. I am happy in the present moment. I do not ask for anything else. I do not expect any additional happiness or conditions that will bring about more happiness. The most important practice is aimlessness, not running after things, not grasping.