Thich Nhat Hanh
Deep awareness
Your presence
When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?
Changing is not just changing the things outside of us
Let go of the stream of distress
I want to offer a handful of them to you this morning.
Each moment you are alive is a gem,
shining through and containing Earth and sky,
Water and clouds.
It needs you to breathe gently
for the miracles to be displayed.
Suddenly you hear the birds singing,
the pines chanting...
You, the richest person on Earth,
who have been going around begging,
stop being the destitute child.
Come back and claim your heritage.
Enjoy your happiness
and offer it to everyone.
Cherish this very moment.
Let go of the stream of distress
and embrace life fully in your arms.
Each is present in your body
In the World
I support you;
You support me.
I am in the world to offer you peace;
You are in the world to bring me joy.
It is possible to enjoy every step we make
It is possible to enjoy every step we make, not only during walking meditation, but at any time, whenever you need to move from one place to another, no matter how short the distance is.
Only light can dissipate darkness
Darkness cannot be dissipated with more darkness. More darkness will only make darkness thicker. Only light can dissipate darkness. Those of us who carry the light are called to shine the light, to share it so that the world will not sink into total darkness.
Guardians that think like a mountain
What we need are guardians — guardians committed to the middle path of mindfulness and dedicated to the enormous task of restoring and healing our ravaged planet. Guardians who have penetrated the anthropocentric notions of our civilization and who, as Aldo Leopold said, can begin to "think like a mountain" and acknowledge that we are only "plain embers of the biotic community."