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We have a lamp inside us. The oil of that lamp is our breathing, our steps, and our peaceful smile. Our practice is to light up the lamp.

Nhat Hanh

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Nhat Hanh
Steps
Inside
Practice
Lamp
Light
Lamps
Oil
Breathing
Peaceful
Smile

More quotes by Nhat Hanh

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Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.
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Meditation means to look deeply, to touch deeply, so we can realize we are already home.
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Each breath we take, each step we make, each smile we realize, is a positive contribution to peace... a necessary step in the direction of peace for the world.
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There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.
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Mindfulness must be engaged. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what's the use of seeing?
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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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Total relaxation is the secret to enjoying sitting meditation. I sit with my spine upright, but not rigid and I relax all the muscles in my body.
Nhat Hanh
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There are many, many Christians who practice Buddhism, and they become better and better Christians all the time.
Nhat Hanh
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To develop understanding, you have to practice looking at all living things with the eyes of compassion.
Nhat Hanh
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To educate people for peace, we can use words or we can speak with our lives.
Nhat Hanh
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Words can travel thousands of miles. May my words create mutual understanding and love. May they be as beautiful as gems, as lovely as flowers.
Nhat Hanh
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To condemn someone to death is to surrender it proves that you failed. You are not able to change him, to change her you have to kill him or her. You surrender. ... You only demonstrate your lack of capacity, your helplessness. This is failure.
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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During the last 2,500 years in Buddhist monasteries, a system of seven practices of reconciliation has evolved. Although these techniques were formulated to settle disputes within the circle of monks, i think they might also be of use in our households and in our society.The first practice is Face-to-Face-Sitting.
Nhat Hanh
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When we walk like (we are rushing), we print anxiety and sorrow on the earth. We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the earth... Be aware of the contact between your feet and the earth. Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.
Nhat Hanh
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If you are truly present and know how to take care of the present moment as best you can, you are doing your best for the future already.
Nhat Hanh
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Wisdom and joy arise when you learn to exist now rather than in the nonexistent past or future.
Nhat Hanh
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We may think that justice is everyone being equal, having the same rights, sharing the same kind of advantages, but maybe we have not had the chance to look at the nature of justice in terms of no-self. That kind of justice is based on the idea of self, but it may be very interesting to explore justice in terms of no-self.
Nhat Hanh
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Meditation is, first of all, a tool for surveying our territory so we can know what is going on. With the energy of mindfulness, we can calm things down, understand them, and bring harmony back to the conflicting elements inside us.
Nhat Hanh
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Usually when we hear or read something new, we just compare it to our own ideas. If it is the same, we accept it and say that it is correct. If it is not, we say it is incorrect. In either case, we learn nothing.
Nhat Hanh