Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes - 10 quotes

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Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022) was a globally renowned Zen master, poet, and peace activist. He was born on October 11, 1926, in Hue, Vietnam. He entered the Tu Hieu Temple as a novice monk at the age of sixteen and was actively involved in renewing Vietnamese Buddhism. During the Vietnam War, Thich Nhat Hanh worked tirelessly for peace and reconciliation, founding the School of Youth for Social Service, a grassroots relief organization. His efforts led Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. Exiled from Vietnam for nearly four decades, he established the Plum Village Monastery in France, which became a center for mindfulness practice and global peace efforts. Thich Nhat Hanh authored numerous books on mindfulness and meditation, influencing millions worldwide. He passed away on January 22, 2022, leaving behind a legacy of peace, mindfulness, and compassionate activism.

quote icon The cosmos is filled with precious gems. I want to offer a handful of them to you this morning. Each moment you are alive is a gem, shining through and containing earth and sky, water and clouds. It needs you to breathe gently for the miracles to be displayed. Suddenly you hear the birds singing, the pines chanting, see the flowers blooming, the blue sky, the white clouds, the smile and the marvelous look of your beloved. You, the richest person on Earth, who have been going around begging for a living, stop being the destitute child. Come back and claim your heritage. We should enjoy our happiness and offer it to everyone. Cherish this very moment. Let go of the stream of distress and embrace life fully in your arms.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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quote icon If you pour a handful of salt into a cup of water, the water becomes undrinkable. But if you pour the salt into a river, people can continue to draw the water to cook, wash, and drink. The river is immense, and it has the capacity to receive, embrace, and transform. When our hearts are small, our understanding and compassion are limited, and we suffer. We canâ€™t accept or tolerate others and their shortcomings, and we demand that they change. But when our hearts expand, these same things donâ€™t make us suffer anymore. We have a lot of understanding and compassion and can embrace others. We accept others as they are, and then they have a chance to transform.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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quote icon To be aware of your body is the beginning of self-love. When the mind goes home to the body, the mind and body are established in the here and now.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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quote icon Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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quote icon To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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quote icon When I understand my suffering, I love myself, and I know how not to keep nourishing the suffering, how to transform the suffering. I get lighter, I become more compassionate, and with that kind of freedom and compassion, I feel liberated.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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quote icon We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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quote icon 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.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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quote icon Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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quote icon When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. I may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet, if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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