Thich Nhat Hanh gems

Sometimes we forget about impermanence. We think that our loved one will be with us forever and we forget how precious her presence is in this moment. Once we’re really there for the other person, that person becomes something very real. When the other person is real, she is a wonderful manifestation of life and we need to let her know that, for her happiness and for our own.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

I once traveled with a delegation to China and climbed Wutai Shan, a famous mountain there. The path to the top is very steep, and usually people arrive exhausted. There are 1,080 steps to climb. Before setting out, I suggested our delegation breathe, make a step, relax; breathe, make another step, and relax. Our intention was to climb the mountain in a way that we could enjoy each moment of the climbing. Every ten steps or so we would sit down, look around, breathe, and smile. We didn’t need to arrive; we arrived in every step, with peace, stillness, solidity, and freedom. When we got to the top, everybody was so happy and full of energy. Every step, even uphill, can bring mindfulness, concentration, joy, and insight.

A gentleman from Canada told me when we met for the first time that his doctor had given him two months to live. I said, “Can you enjoy this cup of tea with me? Forget everything else; just become aware that you are still alive and sitting with members of your Sangha. Just focus your attention on the tea and enjoy this moment.” And he was able to do it. After having received the Five Mindfulness Trainings and the practice, he went on living for thirteen years. So we never know. Profit from your days, your months, your years, and the teaching and the practice. While you’re alive, enjoy every moment and look deeply to touch your true nature of no birth and no death. That cloud in the sky—she cannot die, she can only become snow or rain. To be a cloud floating in the sky is beautiful; but to become rain falling on the ground is also beautiful. With that insight, you’ll continue without fear. And if in your daily life you can produce beautiful thoughts, beautiful speech, and compassionate action, you will continue beautifully in the future in many ways. The dissolution of this body is not the end of anything. That insight is crucial for true happiness and non-fear.

Dear friends, you are nothing less than a miracle. There may be times when you feel that you are worthless. But you are nothing less than a miracle. The fact that you are here - alive and capable of breathing in and out - is ample proof that you are a miracle. One string bean contains the whole cosmos in it: sunshine, rain, the whole Earth, time, space, and consciousness. You also contain the whole cosmos.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Art: Anna Silivonchik