Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes

The function of mindfulness is, first, to recognize the suffering and then to take care of the suffering. The work of mindfulness is first to recognize the suffering and second to embrace it. A mother taking care of a crying baby naturally will take the child into her arms without suppressing, judging it, or ignoring the crying. Mindfulness is like that mother, recognizing and embracing suffering without judgement.
So the practice is not to fight or suppress the feeling, but rather to cradle it with a lot of tenderness. When a mother embraces her child, that energy of tenderness begins to penetrate into the body of the child. Even if the mother doesn't understand at first why the child is suffering and she needs some time to find out what the difficulty is, just her acto f taking the child into her arms with tenderness can alreadby bring relief. If we can recognize and cradle the suffering while we breathe mindfully, there is relief already. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

In modern society most of us don't want to be in touch with ourselves; we want to be in touch with other things like religion, sports, politics, a book - we want to forget ourselves. Anytime we have leisure, we want to invite something else to enter us, opening ourselves to the television and telling the television to come and colonize us. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Shortest distance possible, finally reaching the bottom, the point of perfect rest. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

That's why to love means to learn the art of nourishing our happiness. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

A real love letter is made of insight, understanding, and compassion. Otherwise it's not a love letter. A true love letter can produce a transformation in the other person, and therefore in the world. But before it produces a transformation in the other person, it has to produce a transformation within us. Some letters may take the whole of our lifetime to write. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

When you are a young person, you are like a young creek, and you meet many rocks, many obstacles and difficulties on your way. You hurry to get past these obstacles and get to the ocean. But as the creek moves down through the fields, it becomes larges and calmer and it can enjoy the reflection of the sky. It's wonderful. You will arrive at the sea anyway so enjoy the journey. Enjoy the sunshine, the sunset, the moon, the birds, the trees, and the many beauties along the way. Taste every moment of your daily life. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Can there be joy and laughter when always the world is ablaze? Enshrouded in darkness, should you not seek light? ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Those flawed in their nature have no control over themselves. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Only the present moment contains life. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Our practice is to water the flower in our loved one, and not bring them more garbage. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Don't chase after your thoughts as a shadow follows its object. Don't run after your thoughts. Find joy and peace in this very moment . ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Most of us experience a life full of wonderful moments and difficult moments. But for many of us, even when we are most joyful, there is fear behind our joy. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

You guys get up too early for one thing, you should get up a little later. And your practice is too grim. I have just two instructions for you this week. One is to breathe, and one is to smile. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Deep listening, compassionate listening is not listening with the purpose of analyzing or even uncovering what has happened in the past. You listen first of all in order to give the other person relief, a chance to speak out, to feel that someone finally understands him or her. Deep listening is the kind of listening that helps us to keep compassion alive while the other speaks, which may be for half an hour or forty-five minutes. During this time you have in mind only one idea, one desire: to listen in order to give the other person the chance to speak out and suffer less. This is your only purpose. Other things like analyzing, understanding the past, can be a by-product of this work. But first of all listen with compassion. Compassion ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Committed to Improving the State of Every Heart. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Understanding is the foundation of love. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Poison cannot penetrate the hand that is free of wounds. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The needs of our personal life are not separate from those of ourwork life. Our inability to be mindful and bring our full attention to what we are doing has both personal and professional costs. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Knowledge is the first obstacle of the mind that a meditator should be able to remove. We should not be too sure of anything. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

To be a friend means to offer happiness. If love doesn't offer happiness, if it makes the other person cry all the time, then it's not love; it's the opposite. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

A person who looks at the table and can see the universe is a person who can see the way. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

ALTHOUGH I DON'T PROFESS TO BE NORMAL, I AM HUMAN AS ARE ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE I WORK WITH, AND SOMETIMES EVEN I FORGET THAT."
-Violent Crimes Investigator Flagstaff Arizona ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Breathing in, I know I have an unpleasant feeling. Breathing out, I am here for this unpleasant feeling. Breathing in, I calm the feeling in me. Breathing out, I calm the feeling in me. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body. Then look at, or think of, the person triggering this emotion: With mindfulness, you can see that she is unhappy, that she is suffering. You can see her wrong perceptions. You can see that she is not beautiful when she says things that are unkind. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Find joy in the extinction of desires. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Nothing can survive without food. Everything we consume acts either to heal us or to poison us. We tend to think of nourishment only as what we take in through our mouths, but what we consume with our eyes, our ears, our noses, our tongues, and our bodies is also food. The conversations going on around us, and those we participate in, are also food. Are we consuming and creating the kind of food that is healthy for us and helps us grow? When we say something that nourishes us and uplifts the people around us, we are feeding love and compassion. When we speak and act in a way that causes tension and anger, we are nourishing violence and suffering. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Sitting in meditation is nourishment for your spirit and nourishment for your body, as well. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

When you listen deeply to someone who suffers, you step into a zone of fire. There is a fire of suffering, of anger burning in the person you are listening to. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

As a free person I can always come and go, Not caught in ideas of is and is not. Not caught in ideas of being and non-being Let your steps be leisurely. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Your breathing should flow gracefully,
like a river, like a watersnake crossing
the water, and not like a chain of rugged mountains or the gallop of a horse. To master our breath is to be in control of our bodies and minds. Each time we find ourselves dispersed and find it difficult to gain control of ourselves by different means, the method of watching the breath should always be used. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

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. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

May the sound of this bell penetrate deeply into the cosmos. In even the darkest places, may living beings hear it clearly so that understanding comes to their hearts, and without much hardship, they transcend the cycle of birth and death. or: ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

All love may begin by being passionate, especially for younger people. But in the process of living together, they have to learn and practice love, so that selfishness
the tendency to possess
will diminsh, and the elemetns of understanding and gratitude will settle in, little by little, until their love becomes nourishing, protecting, and reassuring, (41). ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

I look at Thich Nhat Hanh and I look at Marshall Rosenberg, and they're more concerned about the long range. And that long range means that you have to sit down with people who don't think like you. I want to reach people who don't think like me. ~ Sandra Cisneros

The feeling that any task is a nuisance will soon disappear if it is done in mindfulness. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Attachment to the false view of self means belief in the presence of unchanging entities which exist on their own. To break through this false view is to be liberated from every sort of fear, pain, and anxiety. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Learn to love, enjoy and embrace what you have in the here and now. That's all you really need to be happy. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

To meditate with mindful breathing is to bring body and mind back to the present moment so that you do not miss your appointment with life. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

When we have peace, then we have a chance to save the planet. But if we are not united in peace, if we do not practice mindful consumption, we cannot save our planet. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The miracle is walking on the earth, not walking on water or fire. The real miracle is walking on this earth. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

When a person's speech is full of anger, it is because he or she suffers deeply. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos - the trees, the clouds, everything. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

First of all, you need to know that an emotion is only that - an emotion - even though it may be a big, strong one. You are so much bigger, so much more than this emotion. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

He whispered in the king's ear, "If you ask me, I think you should find a wife for Siddhartha. Once he has a family to occupy him, he will abandon this desire to become a monk." King Suddhodana nodded. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

In the light of Buddhist meditation, love is impossible without understanding. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Each of us is a product of our family, environment, friends, education, culture, and society. These conditions lead to a certain way of seeing things and a certain way of responding to things. When we see this, we have compassion for everyone, including ourselves. We see that if we want something to change, we also have to help change his or her family, environment, friends, education, culture, and society. We are responsible, directly or indirectly, for each person's consciousness attitudes. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

(from now on I'll use the term "mindfulness" to refer to keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality), then one must practice right now in one's daily life, not only during meditation sessions. When ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The first definition of love is to be there. This is a practice. How can you love if you are not there? In order to love you have to be there, body and mind united. A true lover knows that the practice of mindfulness is the foundation of true love. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Giving up wrong deeds, exercise right action. Giving up wrong speech, exercise right speech. Giving up wrong thoughts, think good thoughts. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

To dwell in the here and now does not mean you never think about the past or responsibly plan for the future. The idea is simply not to allow yourself to get lost in regrets about the past or worries about the future. If you are firmly grounded in the present moment, the past can be an object of inquiry, the object of your mindfulness and concentration. You can attain many insights by looking into the past. But you are still grounded in the present moment. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The more you understand, the more you love; the more you love, the more you understand. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Soldiers fear the frontier post, monks fear the Surangama Dharani! ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

When we practice the first turning of the First Noble Truth, we recognize suffering as suffering. If we are in a difficult relationship, we recognize, "This is a difficult relationship." Our practice is to be with our suffering and take good care of it. When we practice the first turning of the Second Noble Truth, we look deeply into the nature of our suffering to see what kinds of nutriments we have been feeding it. How have we lived in the last few years, in the last few months, that has contributed to our suffering? We need to recognize and identify the nutriments we ingest and observe, "When I think like this, speak like that, listen like this, or act like that, my suffering increases." Until we begin to practice the Second Noble Truth, we tend to blame others for our unhappiness. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Because we know that our feelings are ourselves, we do not neglect or overrule them. We embrace them affectionately in the arms of mindfulness, as a mother embraces her newborn child when it cries. A mother embraces the child with all her love for the child to feel comforted and stop crying. Mindfulness nourished by conscious breathing takes the feelings in its arms, becomes one with them, calms and transforms them. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Sometimes it is better not to talk about art by using the word "art". If we just act with awareness and integrity, our art will flower, and we don't have to talk about it at all. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The virtuous mind themselves. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Each morning when we wake up to life we see that we have a gift of twenty-four brand new hours. If ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

We can touch the Kingdom of God in everyday life. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

As long as we're rejecting ourselves and causing harm to our bodies and minds, there's no point in talking about loving and accepting others. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Dharma talks aren't the truth. The true Dharma exists in the mind of the students as seeds and the Dharma talks are just like a little cloud that releases rain and causes the seeds in the mind of the practitioners to sprout and manifest. Dharma teachers can't transmit the truth any more than a parent can fully transmit his experiences to his child. The more a parent scolds a child, the more the child becomes blocked. The best a parent can do is be like the rain cloud and nourish the seeds of wisdom in the child. When the child grows up and trips over difficulties and has his own experience, then the wisdom that was watered will manifest. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

As you practice building a home in yourself, you become more and more beautiful. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

In the past there were people who were not rich but contented with their living style, laughing and happy all day. But when the new rich people appear, people look at them and ask, 'why don't I have a life like that too, a beautiful house, car and garden,' and they abandon their values. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

There is the mud, and there is the lotus that grows out of the mud. We need the mud in order to make the lotus. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Every minute can be a holy, sacred minute. Where do you seek the spiritual? You seek the spiritual in every ordinary thing that you do every day. Sweeping the floor, watering the vegetables, and washing the dishes become holy and sacred if mindfulness is there. With mindfulness and concentration, everything becomes spiritual. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Vegetarians and vegans tend to weigh less and have lower blood pressure, lower blood cholesterol, and, in turn, a lowered risk of heart disease than people whose diets include some or all types of animal products; ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Understanding is the essence of love. If you cannot understand, you cannot love. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Once we recognize that all things are impermanent, we have no problem enjoying them. In fact, real peace and joy are only possible when we see clearly into the nature of impermanence. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

We can condition our bodies and minds to happiness with the five practices of letting go, inviting positive seeds, mindfulness, concentration, and insight. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

That is why I don't believe much in what Mr. Descartes said: "I think, therefore I am."
I think, therefore I'm lost in my thinking. I'm not there. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

There is no need to put anything in front of us and run after it. We already have everything we are looking for, everything we want to become.

Be yourself. Life is precious as it is. All the elements for your happiness are already here. There is no need to run, strive, search, or struggle. Just be. Just being in the moment in this place is the deepest practice of meditation. Most people cannot believe that just walking as though you have nowhere to go is enough. They think that striving and competing are normal and necessary. Try practicing aimlessness for just five minutes,and you will see how happy you are during those five minutes. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Do not allow your heart to whirl in the pleasures of senses. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The gift of truth is the highest gift. The taste of truth is the sweetest taste. The joy of truth is the greatest joy. The extinction of craving is the end of suffering. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

It is possible to live twenty-four hours a day in a state of love. Every movement, every glance, every thought, and every word can be infused with love. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Our spiritual ancestors have also given birth to us, and they, tol, continue to give birth to us. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Compassion doesn't mean that you have to love that person who's so difficult. But if you stop and look deeper, you'll see that person's difficulties. If you can accept him, then you can love him. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

An oak tree is an oak tree. That is all it has to do. If an oak tree is less than an oak tree, then we are all in trouble. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

the present moment contains both past and future. The only material that the future is made of is the present. If you know how to handle the present in the best way you can, that's all you can do for the future. Handling the present moment with all your attention, all your intelligence, is already building a future. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

We are the continuation of all our ancestors. Thanks to impermanence, we have a chance to transform our inheritance in a beautiful direction. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

During the past few years I have avoided tiring myself and losing my breath. I must take care of my body, treat it with respect as a musician does his instrument. I apply nonviolence to my body, for it is not merely a tool to accomplish something. It itself is the end. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

There may be a time when a country will have to wake up from a vision of happiness, when they have to realize that theirs is not the perfect idea, that there are many aspects that do not correspond to the reality of what is there, the real need and aspirations of the people. A country might want the people to become heroes, but maybe they don't want to be heroes. The moment they release that notion of happiness, the country will again have another chance. But if people do not learn from the suffering of the past, they will repeat exactly the same mistake and adopt another notion of happiness. And we don't know how long they will keep this new notion of happiness. So a notion is always something dangerous. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

LEARNING LOVE If our parents didn't love and understand each other, how are we to know what love looks like? There aren't courses or classes in love. If the grown-ups know how to take care of each other, then the children who grow up in this environment will naturally know how to love, understand, and bring happiness to others. The most precious inheritance that parents can give their children is their own happiness. Our parents may be able to leave us money, houses, and land, but they may not be happy people. If we have happy parents, we have received the richest inheritance of all. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

When you learn about the teaching and the practice of another tradition, you always have a chance to understand your own teaching and practice. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

If you are lost in a forest at night, you can follow the North Star to find your way out. You follow the North Star, but your goal is to get back home; it's not to arrive at the North Star. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

It is possible to live happily in the here and the now. So many conditions of happiness are available - more than enough for you to be happy right now. You don't have to run into the future in order to get more. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Speech: 1. Tell the truth. Don't lie or turn the truth upside down. 2. Don't exaggerate. 3. Be consistent. This means no double-talk: speaking about something in one way to one person and in an opposite way to another for selfish or manipulative reasons. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

If the content of your speech is not authentic, talking or texting on a device doesn't mean you're communicating with another person. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The wise do not consider the chains and shackles of jail to be the toughest restraints. The chains of attachment are the strongest of the ties that bind. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The most important matter for a practitioner is to be able to break through the veil of the material plane in order to enter the ultimate dimension and see the interconnection between us and all other phenomena in the world around us. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

When we recognize that we have a habit of replaying old events and reacting to new events as if they were the old ones, we can begin to notice when that habit energy comes up. We can then gently remind ourselves that we have another choice. We can look at the moment as it is, a fresh moment, and leave the past for a time when we can look at it compassionately. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Just because we do not perceive something, it is not correct to say it does not exist. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Life is real; it's not a dream when mindfulness is there. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Civilisations have been destroyed many times, and this civilisation is no different. It can be destroyed. We can think of time in terms of millions of years and life will resume little by little. The cosmos operates for us very urgently, but geological time is different. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Don't throw away your suffering. Touch your suffering. Face it directly, and your joy will become deeper. You know that suffering and joy are both impermanent. Learn the art of cultivating joy. Practice like this, and you come to the third turning of the Third Noble Truth, the "Realization" that suffering and happiness are not two. When you reach this stage, your joy is no longer fragile. It is true joy. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Together with the patient, a therapist looks at the nature of the pain. Often, the therapist can uncover causes of suffering that stem from the way the patient looks at things, the beliefs he holds about himself, his culture, and the world. The therapist examines these viewpoints and beliefs with the patient, and together they help free him from the kind of prison he has been in. But the patient's efforts are crucial. A teacher has to give birth to the teacher within his student, and a psychotherapist has to give birth to the psychotherapist within his patient. The patient's "internal psychotherapist" can then work full-time in a very effective way. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

But a lot of our thinking is caught up in dwelling on the past, trying to control the future, generating misperceptions, and worrying about what others are thinking. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Be there is the first step, and recognizing the presence of the other is the second step. To love is to recognize; to be loved is to be recognized by the other. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

What are you ruminating on? Old suffering? ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

In fact, "father" and "mother" are two aspects of the same reality. Father is more expressive side of wisdom or understanding, and mother the side of love or compassion...Without understanding there cannot be true love, and without love there cannot be understanding, ~ Thich Nhat Hanh