Nhat Hanh
Nhat Hanh
Thích Nhất Hạnh; born as Nguyen Xuan Bao on October 11, 1926) is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist. He lives in Plum Village in the Dordogne region in the south of France, travelling internationally to give retreats and talks. He coined the term "Engaged Buddhism" in his book Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire. A long-term exile, he was given permission to make his first return trip to Vietnam in 2005...
NationalityVietnamese
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth11 October 1926
CountryVietnam
I am determined to practice deep listening. I am determined to practice loving speech.
Take my hand. We will walk. We will only walk. We will enjoy our walk without thinking of arriving anywhere.
Choose to be in touch with what is wonderful, refreshing, and healing within yourself and around you.
The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.
We should be able to bring the practice of meditation hall into our daily lives. We need to discuss among ourselves how to do it. Do you practice breathing between phone calls? Do you practice smiling while cutting carrots? Do you practice relaxation after hard hours of work? These are practical questions. If you know how to apply meditation to dinner time, leisure time, sleeping time, it will penetrate your daily life, and it will also have a tremendous effect on social concerns.
We inter-breath with the rain forests, we drink from the oceans. They are part of our own body.
It is said that God has created man in his own image. But it may be that humankind has created God in the image of humankind.
The practice of peace and reconciliation is one of the most vital and artistic of human actions.
Listening to and understanding our inner sufferings will resolve most of the problems we encounter.
If every day you practice walking and sitting meditation and generate the energy of mindfulness and concentration and peace, you are a cell in the body of the new Buddha. This is not a dream but is possible today and tomorrow.
We need to be aware of the suffering, but retain our clarity, calmness and strength so we can help transform the situation.
May all beings learn how to nourish themselves with joy each day.
Being vegetarian here also means that we do not consume dairy and egg products, because they are products of the meat industry. If we stop consuming, they will stop producing. Only collective awakening can create enough determination for action.
The heart of the matter is always our oneness with divine spirit, our union with all life.