Reflection
Thích Nhất Hạnh, the Vietnamese monk who popularized mindfulness in the West and whose vast peace writings introduced countless people to Buddhist ideas and practices, died Jan. 22, 2022, at the age of 95 at the Buddhist temple in Hue, Vietnam, where he entered monastic life at the age of 16. Nhất Hạnh taught that one generates energy when bringing the mind back to the body, getting in touch with the present moment. It requires focusing on what is going on around you. Through this focusing and by slowing down one’s state of mind, awareness is deepened, and healing takes place. He invited practitioners to employ mindfulness throughout the day, while doing the simplest of tasks. He wrote that the moment when one goes back to one’s breath and breathes mindfully, holiness is there, because mindfulness is the substance of holiness. In that moment, one touches God because the Holy Spirit is there at the same time.
Prayer
May I learn the virtue of mindfulness.
Action
Thich Naht Hanh encouraged people to be mindful in the simplest daily tasks. How can you get in touch with the present moment during your day? Read The Miracle of Mindfulness.
Suggested Reading
Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Peace in the world starts with peace in oneself. If everyone lives mindfully, everyone will be more healthy, feel more fulfilled in their daily lives and there will be more peace.
Thich Nhat Hanh
People sacrifice the present for the future. But life is available only in the present. That is why we should walk in such a way that every step can bring us to the here and the now.
Thich Nhat Hanh
When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?
Thich Nhat Hanh
Many people are alive but don’t touch the miracle of being alive.
Thich Nhat Hanh
If you abandon the present moment, you cannot live the moments of your daily life deeply.
Thich Nhat Hanh
When you look at the sun during your walking meditation, the mindfulness of the body helps you to see that the sun is in you; without the sun there is no life at all and suddenly you get in touch with the sun in a different way.
Thich Nhat Hanh
The situation the Earth is in today has been created by unmindful production and unmindful consumption. We consume to forget our worries and our anxieties. Tranquilising ourselves with over-consumption is not the way.
Thich Nhat Hanh
If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Everything we touch in our daily lives, including our body, is a miracle. By putting the kingdom of god in the right place, it shows us it is possible to live happily right here, right now.
Thich Nhat Hanh
I love to sit and eat quietly and enjoy each bite, aware of the presence of my community, aware of all the hard and loving work that has gone into my food.
Thich Nhat Hanh