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Thich Nhat Hanh, Going Home
According to the teaching of the Buddha, our notion of happiness may be the obstacle to our happiness. Because of that notion, we may remain unhappy for our entire lives. This is why it is so crucial to remove that notion of happiness. Then you have the opportunity to open the door to true happiness, which already exists inside and around us.
The notion of happiness may be the obstacle to our happiness
Thich Nhat Hanh, Going Home
When you are rooted in your own tradition you have a much better chance of understanding another tradition. It is like a tree with roots. When it is transplanted, it will be able to absorb nutrients from the new soil. A tree with hardly any roots will not be able to get the nutritious elements.
When you are rooted in your own tradition
Thich Nhat Hanh, Going Home
People who do not believe in anything are those who suffer the most. They don't see anything beautiful, or true, or good. They are in complete confusion. That is the utmost kind of suffering. They might suffer more deeply than any others we might encounter.
People who don't believe in anything suffer most
Thich Nhat Hanh, Be Free Where You Are
I hold my face in my two hands.
No, I am not crying.
I hold my face in my two hands
to keep my loneliness warm —
two hands protecting,
two hands nourishing,
two hands preventing
my soul from leaving me
in anger.
For Warmth
Thich Nhat Hanh, Going Home
We all need some amount of suffering in order to be able to appreciate the well-being and happiness that are available to us. You need the darkness in order to appreciate the beautiful morning.
We all need some amount of suffering
Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear
The Buddha has a very different understanding of our existence. It is the understanding that birth and death are notions. They are not real. The fact that we think they are true makes a powerful illusion that causes all our suffering. The Buddha taught there is no birth, there is no death; there is no coming, there is no going; there is no same, there is no different; there is no permanent self, there is no annihilation. We only think there is. When we understand that we cannot be destroyed, we are liberated from fear. It is a great relief. We can enjoy life and appreciate it in a new way.
A very different understanding of our existence
Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear
Looking at the future, we see that the other person is very precious to us. When we know we can lose them at any moment, we are no longer angry. We want to embrace her or him and say: How wonderful, you are still alive. I am so happy. How could I be angry with you? Both of us have to die someday and while we are still alive and together it is foolish to be angry at each other.
When we know we can lose them at any moment
Thich Nhat Hanh, Friends on the Path
A true Sangha is a community that practices the teaching of liberation and becomes free; a true Sangha practices the teaching of understanding and becomes more understanding; a true Sangha practices compassion and becomes more compassionate. Climbing the hill of the twenty-first century can be very joyful if we climb as a Sangha. If we support each other, we can become much stronger, and we can more easily resist the temptation of despair.
A true Sangha is a community that practices
Thich Nhat Hanh, Friends on the Path
It is possible that the next Buddha, Maitreya, will not take on any individual form. Maybe he will take the form of a Sangha, a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a Sangha which practices the art of mindful living.
It is possible that the next Buddha
Thich Nhat Hanh, Friends on the Path
You cannot force your insight on others. You may force them to accept your idea, but then it is simply an idea, not a real insight. Insight is not an idea. The way to share your insight is to help cause the conditions so that others can realize the same insight — through their own experience, not just hearing what you say. This takes skillfulness and patience.
You cannot force your insight on others
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