Meditation in Daily Life

(from Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh)

How can we bring meditation out of the meditation hall and into the kitchen and the office? How can the sitting influence the non-sitting time? If a doctor gives you an injection, not only your arm but your whole body benefits from it. If you practice one hour of sitting a day, that hour should benefit all twenty-four hours. One smile, one breath, should benefit the whole day.

Do you practice breathing between phone calls? Do you practice smiling while cutting carrots? Do you practice relaxation after hours of hard work? These questions are very practical. If you know how to apply Buddhism to dinner time, leisure time, sleeping time, I think Buddhism will become engaged in your daily life.

On Love

Maitri [metta] is translated as loving kindness, the first element of true love. You love, not because that person is your son, your daughter or your wife. You love, not because he is of the same religious belief as you. You love because that person needs to be loved. That's all. You love without conditions whatsoever. It means unconditional love. You love in order to bring relief to that person, to transform the suffering in that person, to offer joy to her, to offer happiness to her because she needs that. You don't ask for anything in return. You love him because he needs your love. That's all.
Remember:

1. There is only one important time and that is now. The present moment is the only time in which we have power.
2. The most important person is always the person you are with, who is next to you, for who knows if you will have dealings with any other person in the future?
3. The most important thing to do is to make the person at your side happy, for that alone is the pursuit of life.

We talk about social service, service to humanity, helping to bring peace to the world, but often we forget that, first of all, it is the people around us that we must live for. First, help your wife or husband, your child, your parent, your co-worker, your sangha member, your neighbor. Can you make them happy?

Dealing with Anger

(from Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh)

In Buddhism, we do not consider anger, hatred, greed as enemies we have to fight. If we fight anger, we fight ourselves. Dealing with anger in that way would be like transforming yourself into a battlefield; doing violence to yourself. If you cannot be compassionate to yourself, you will not be able to be compassionate to others. We cannot destroy the energy; we can only convert it into more constructive energies, such as forgiveness and understanding. That is the work of meditation.

Mindfulness, Well Being and Social Change - a Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh

Social changes at the base - March 27, 2004

In this video Thich Nhat Hanh explains, graphically and very clearly, the psychological mechanism by which we can ventilate and gradually weaken negative feelings and mental formations in our store consciousness, strengthening hand in hand the seeds of mindfulness and well being. These in turn will help to bring joy and solidity to action for social change.

The video is 90 minutes long and it is worth every one of them. It has been kindly uploaded to Google Video by Deer Park Monastery.

Buddha, Dharma, Sangha

(from Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh)

In Buddhism, there are three gems: Buddha, the awakened one; Dharma, the way of understanding and loving; and Sangha, the community that lives in harmony and awareness. If we look closely, the Three Gems are actually one. In each of them, the other two are already there.

The root-word "buddh" means to wake up, to know, to understand; and he or she who wakes up and understands is called a Buddha. It is as simple as that. The capacity to wake up, to understand, and to love is called Buddha nature. Someone who is awake, who knows, who understands, is called a Buddha.

Buddha is in every one of us. We can become awake, understanding, and also loving.

The second gem is Dharma. Dharma is what the Buddha taught. It is the way of understanding and love -- how to understand, how to love, how to make understanding and love into real things.

"Dharmakaya" means the teaching of the Buddha, the way to realize understanding and love. Anything that can help you wake up has Buddha nature. People who are awake see the manifestation of the Dharma in everything. A pebble, a bamboo tree, the cry of a baby, anything can be the voice of the Dharma calling.
One aspect of Dharmakaya is not talking, not teaching - just being. Therefore, the oak tree is preaching the Dharma.

The Sangha is the community that lives in harmony and awareness. When you are with your family and you practice smiling, breathing, recognizing the Buddha body in yourself and your children, then your family becomes a Sangha.

A friend, our own children, our own brother and sister, our house, the trees in our backyard, all of them can be part of our Sangha.

Non-duality

(from Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh)

Non-duality is the key word for Buddhist meditation. The Buddha said that in order to understand, you have to be one with what you understand. A human being is like a television set with millions of channels. If we turn the Buddha on, we are the Buddha. If we turn sorrow on, we are sorrow. If we turn a smile on, we really are the smile. We cannot let just one channel dominate us. We have the seed of everything in us, and we have to seize the situation in our hand, to recover our own sovereignty.

Being in Touch with Oneself

(from Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh)

Being in touch with oneself is the meaning of meditation, to be aware of what is going on in your body, in your feelings, in your mind. Practicing meditation is to be aware of each feeling. If you practice awareness, you suddenly become very rich, very happy. Practicing happiness is available. Please help yourself to it.

Calming, Smiling, Present Moment

(from Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh)

Smiling is very important. It means that we are ourselves, that we have sovereignty over ourselves, that we are not drowned in forgetfulness. If we are not able to smile, then the world will not have peace. It is with our capacity of smiling, breathing, and being peace that we can make peace.

You can feel very happy while practicing breathing and smiling. The conditions are available. You can do it at home. You can do it in a park, along the riverside, anywhere.

Breathing in, I calm body and mind.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment
I know this is the only moment.

Calming, Smiling,
Present moment, Only moment.

Thich Nhat Hanh's Spiritwalk, Summer 2005

By April 2005, the Canadian Buddhist Community was actively involved in several and far reaching projects, ranging from addressing local economical problems to support an orphanage in Sri Lanka and those affected by the Tsunami.

In their board, however, the Mindfulness Community Retreat scheduled for May 19th-23rd that year took the bold fonts. Why? Because as they wrote: "This retreat will help prepare us for Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh's Canadian visit".

Thay was indeed there in the summer of 2005. La Toan Vinh registered his visit and composed this video, so that we can all enjoy Thay's smile.

Meditation as Peace Work

(from Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh)

Meditation is to be aware of what is going on -- in our bodies, in our feelings, in our minds, and in the world. Practicing meditation is to be aware, to smile, to breathe. In fact, to meditate well, we have to smile a lot. If, in our daily life, we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

Peace work means, first of all, being peace. Meditation is meditation for all of us. We rely on each other. Our children are relying on us in order for them to have a future.

To Suffer is not Enough

(from Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh)

Life is filled with suffering, but it is also filled with many wonders, like the blue sky, the sunshine, the eyes of a baby. To suffer is not enough. We must also be in touch with the wonders of life. They are within us and all around us. Wherever we are, any time, we have the capacity to enjoy the sunshine, the presence of each other, even the sensation of our breathing.

Starting by Ourselves

(from Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh)

If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can blossom like a flower. And, everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.