Quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh

We can only dispel our mutual isolation when we practice mindfulness and are able to truly come home to ourselves and each other.

May I be able to live fresh, solid, and free.

We should not try to escape from our pain. We should look at it directly. Looking at suffering deeply, we will have deep insight into its nature, and the path of transformation and healing will present itself to us.

Zen Wisdom cannot be obtained by the intellect: study, hypothesis, analysis, synthesis. The practitioner of Zen must use all of his entire being as an instrument of realization; the intellect is only one part of his being, and a part that often pulls him away from living reality, the very object of Zen.

Understanding is the other name of love. If you don't understand, you can't love. If you don't understand your son, you can't love him. If you don't understand your mother, you can't love her. To offer understanding means to offer love. Without understanding, the more we "love," the more we make ourselves and others suffer.

When the Buddha gave a talk to a large gathering of businessmen, the core of his message to them was, "It is possible to live happily right in the present moment.

Though Zen is a Chinese form of Buddhism, it reflects entirely the spirit and splendor of Indian Buddhism, from its inception to its full development. For this reason one can say that Zen brings us the authentic spirit of Buddhism.

If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not "washing the dishes to wash the dishes." What's more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can't wash the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either.

Life is available only in the present moment. If you abandon the present moment you cannot live the moments of your daily life deeply.

When we go home to the present moment, we understand there are so many conditions of happiness that we don't need to go running after yet another one. We already have enough conditions to be happy. Happiness is entirely possible right in the here and now. The

mindfulness is not something that is only done in a meditation hall; it is also done in the kitchen, in the garden, when we are on the telephone, when we are driving a car, when we are doing the dishes. If

The Buddha said, "The past no longer exists, and the future is not yet here." There is only a single moment in which we can truly be alive, and that is the present moment. Being present in the here and now is our practice.

Although different from Indian Buddhism from the standpoint of form and practice, in the end Zen seems to be more authentic than many other Buddhist schools. In particular, Zen emphasizes the necessity of practice aiming at enlightenment which is the very foundation of Buddhism.

The Buddha teaches us that we have to master ourselves first. Before we can act, we have to cool these coals beneath us. To succeed doesn't mean triumphing over the one who causes us to suffer, but over our own ignorance and resentment. No matter what has been done to us or how we've been wronged, we're always responsible for at least fifty percent of our suffering, perhaps more.

In the monastery, one must be aware of all that one does. If, for example, the student shuts the door in a noisy way, he thus proves that he is not aware of his being. Virtue does not lie exactly in the fact of closing the door gently, but in the awareness of the fact that one is in the process of closing the door.

la infelicidad humana se asienta fundamentalmente en tres elementos: la ignorancia, el apego y la ira.

If after reading the newspaper, hearing the news, or being in a conversation, we feel anxious or worn out, we know we have been in contact with toxins. Movies

Start where you are. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.

We have a great bagful of labels we don't even know where they came from. And when we stick them onto people, we cut ourselves off from those people, and we can no longer know who they really are.

Solo aquí y ahora podemos experimentar la liberación y la felicidad total.

The miracle is not to walk on water or fire. The miracle is to walk on the earth.

The third door is aimlessness. We already are what we want to become. We don't have to become someone else.

We have the tendency to run away from suffering and to look for happiness. But, in fact, if you have not suffered, you have no chance to experience real happiness.

I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness, anxiety, or other suffering by losing myself in consumption. I will contemplate interbeing and consume in a way that preserves peace, joy, and well-being in my body and consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family, my society, and the Earth.