Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone
The main thing we need to remember is that the past and the future are both in the present, and if we take hold of the present moment, then we also transform the past and the future.
Thich Nhat Hanh • Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone
The ghosts of the past, which follow us into the present, also belong to the present moment. To observe them deeply, recognize their nature, and transform them, is to transform the past.
Thich Nhat Hanh • Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone
Life is not a particular place or a destination. Life is a path. To practice walking meditation is to go without needing to arrive. Every step can bring us peace, joy, and liberation. That is why we walk in the spirit of aimlessness. There is no way to liberation, peace, and joy; peace and joy are themselves the way. Our appointment with the Buddha
... See moreThich Nhat Hanh • Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone
It is the way of deep observation to see that the past no longer exists and the future has not yet come, and to dwell at ease in the present moment, free from desire. When a person lives in this way, he has no hesitation in his heart. He gives up all anxieties and regrets, lets go of all binding desires, and cuts the fetters which prevent him from
... See moreThich Nhat Hanh • Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone
The ghosts of the past and the future take away a lot of our freedom. We can become their slaves. They follow us and condition our life, and order us about. But if we know how to deal with them, we will never fall under their influence. We only have to smile at them. We only need to breathe and come back to our awareness of the present moment and s
... See moreThich Nhat Hanh • Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone
Naturally we have the right to make plans for the future, but making plans for the future does not mean to be being swept away by daydreams. While we are making plans, our feet are firmly planted in the present. We can only build the future from the raw materials of the present.
Thich Nhat Hanh • Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone
Life exists only in the present moment. To lose the present is to lose life. The Buddha’s meaning is very clear: we must
Thich Nhat Hanh • Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone
To think that after death we no longer exist is a narrow view which in Buddhism is called the “nihilistic
Thich Nhat Hanh • Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone
Yesterday, perhaps out of foolishness or anger, we said something which made our mother sad. But today our mind is transformed and our heart light, and we can see our mother smiling at us, even if she is no longer alive. If we can smile within ourselves, our mother can also smile with us.