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The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.

Nhat Hanh

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Nhat Hanh
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More quotes by Nhat Hanh

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In the past there were people who were not rich but contented with their living style, laughing and happy all day. But when the new rich people appear, people look at them and ask why don't I have a life like that too, a beautiful house, car and garden and they abandon their values.
Nhat Hanh
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In order to be loved, we have to love, which means we have to understand.
Nhat Hanh
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The only way to ease our fear and be truly happy is to acknowledge our fear and look deeply at its source. Instead of trying to escape from our fear, we can invite it up to our awareness and look at it clearly and deeply.
Nhat Hanh
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We have to look deeply at things in order to see. When a swimmer enjoys the clear water of the river, he or she should also be able to be the river.
Nhat Hanh
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Recognize that it is not really possible to steadily help others when we ourselves are not in good physical, mental, or emotional state. We may be able to carry on for a while, but sooner or later we end up feeling depleted, discouraged, or weak. We cannot keep on giving when we are running on an empty tank. We need to be solid.
Nhat Hanh
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In mindfulness one is not only restful and happy, but alert and awake. Meditation is not evasion it is a serene encounter with reality.
Nhat Hanh
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In true love, you attain freedom.
Nhat Hanh
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Meditation is not an escape from life... but preparation for really being in life.
Nhat Hanh
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As long as we think our lives are not good enough (materially), we will not have happiness. As soon as we realize our lives are good enough, happiness immediately appears. That is the practice of contentment.
Nhat Hanh
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The problem is whether we are determined to go in the direction of compassion or not. If we are, then can we reduce the suffering to a minimum? If I lose my direction, I have to look for the North Star, and I go to the north. That does not mean I expect to arrive at the North Star. I just want to go in that direction.
Nhat Hanh
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Meditation is not passive sitting in silence. It is sitting in awareness, free from distraction, and realizing the clear understanding that arises from concentration.
Nhat Hanh
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When you love someone, the best you can offer is your presence.
Nhat Hanh
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Are we treating our body kindly by the way we eat, by the way we drink, by the way we work? Are we treating ourselves with enough joy and tenderness and peace? Or are we feeding ourselves with toxins that we get from the market - the spiritual, intellectual, entertainment market?
Nhat Hanh
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When we eat mindfully, we consume exactly what we need to keep our bodies, our minds, and the Earth healthy. When we practice like this, we reduce suffering for ourselves and for others.
Nhat Hanh
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Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body. Then look at, or think of, the person triggering this emotion: With mindfulness, you can see that she is unhappy, that she is suffering. You can see her wrong perceptions. You can see that she is not beautiful when she says things that are unkind.
Nhat Hanh
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In every one of us there are good seeds and bad. We have the seed of brotherhood, love, compassion, insight. But we have also the seed of anger, hate, dissent.
Nhat Hanh
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The source of love is deep in us and we can help others realize a lot of happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person’s suffering and bring that person joy.
Nhat Hanh
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I do many kinds of work, and if you forbid me from binding books, from gardening, from writing poetry, from practicing walking meditation, from teaching children, I will be very unhappy. To me, work is pleasant. Pleasant or unpleaseant depends on our way of looking.
Nhat Hanh
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Seeds can produce seeds Seeds can produce formations. Formations can produce seeds. Formations can produce formations.
Nhat Hanh
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We need to move beyond the idea of 'environment' and fall back in love with Mother Earth.
Nhat Hanh