We monks have already learned that everyone is always simultaneously a student and a teacher.

TRY THIS: TWO DEATH MEDITATIONS To imagine your own death gives you a bird’s-eye view of your life. Try a death meditation whenever you are questioning whether or not to do something—to make a significant change, learn a new skill, take a trip. I recommend that you always do a death meditation at the beginning of a new year, to inspire new paths in

We all have happy memories that we enjoy revisiting and painful memories that we can’t let go. But both nostalgia and remorse can be traps, closing us off from new experiences and keeping us locked in the unresolved past and/or the good old days. Just as the past is unchangeable, the future is unknowable.

a well-spoken statement as one that is “spoken at the right time. It is spoken in truth. It is spoken affectionately. It is spoken beneficially. It is spoken with a mind of goodwill.” Remember, saying whatever we want, whenever we want, however we want, is not freedom. Real freedom is not feeling the need to say these things.

Often, we notice fear’s warning but ignore its guidance. If we learn how to recognize what fear can teach us about ourselves and what we value, then we can use it as a tool to obtain greater meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in our lives. We can use fear to get to the best of us.

In his book At Home in the World, the monk Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “To my mind, the idea that doing dishes is unpleasant can occur only when you aren’t doing them. … If I am incapable of washing dishes joyfully, if I want to finish them quickly so I can go and have dessert or a cup of tea, I will be equally incapable of enjoying my dessert or my

“There is toxicity everywhere around us. In the environment, in the political atmosphere, but the origin is in people’s hearts. Unless we clean the ecology of our own heart and inspire others to do the same, we will be an instrument of polluting the environment. But if we create purity in our own heart, then we can contribute great purity to the

The crane stands still in water, ignoring the small fish as they pass by. Her stillness allows her to catch the bigger fish.

What would a monk do in this moment? When you’re making a decision, when you’re having an argument, when you’re planning your weekend, when you’re scared or upset or angry or lost, ask this question. You’ll find the answer 99 percent of the time. And eventually, when you’ve uncovered your real self, you won’t even need to ask yourself what a monk