Thich Nhat Hanh

Someone asked me, “Aren’t you worried about the state of the world?” I allowed myself to breathe and then I said, “What is most important is not to allow your anxiety about what happens in the world to fill your heart. If your heart is filled with anxiety, you will get sick, and you will not be able to help.” There are wars big and small in many places, and that can cause us to lose our peace. Anxiety is the illness of our age. We worry about ourselves, our family, our friends, our work, and the state of the world. If we allow worry to fill our hearts, sooner or later we will get sick.

Yes, there is tremendous suffering all over the world, but knowing this need not paralyze us. If we practice mindful breathing, mindful walking, mindful sitting, and working in mindfulness, we try our best to help, and we can have peace in our heart. Worrying does not accomplish anything. Even if you worry twenty times more, it will not change the situation of the world. In fact, your anxiety will only make things worse. Even though things are not as we would like, we can still be content, knowing we are trying our best and will continue to do so. If we don’t know how to breathe, smile, and live every moment of our life deeply, we will never be able to help anyone. I am happy in the present moment. I do not ask for anything else. I do not expect any additional happiness or conditions that will bring about more happiness. The most important practice is aimlessness, not running after things, not grasping.
-- Thich Nhat Hanh, from The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching

Thich Nhat Hanh

It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community -- a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living.This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the Earth.
~Thich Nhat Hanh

If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud there will be no water; without water, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, you cannot make paper. So the cloud is in here. The existence of this page is dependent upon the existence of a cloud. Paper and cloud are so close.

- Thich Nhat Hanh,
Entering the Stream: An Introduction to the Buddha and His Teachings 1993, p. 248, Edited by Samuel Bercholz and Sherab Chodzin Kohn

Flowers in the sky.
Flowers on Earth.
Lotuses bloom as Buddha's eyelids.
Lotuses bloom in man's heart.
Holding gracefully a lotus in his hand,
the bodhisattva brings forth a universe of art.
In the meadows of the sky, stars have sprung up.
The smiling, fresh moon is already up.
The jade-colored trunk of a coconut tree
reaches across the late-night sky.

My mind, traveling in utmost emptiness,
catches suchness on its way home.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh,
Call Me By My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh

"My teaching is not the truth; it is only the finger pointing to the Moon. If you think my finger is the Moon, you are misled. ... Truth is not contained in concepts and ideologies; truth can only be found in life. Holy Scriptures are only the residues... When you strike a match and the flame is created, the flame consumes the match. Manifest Truth burns. Buddha said the raft is not the shore; it is only an instrument to reach the shore. Teaching is like the raft."

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

EXCELLENT QUOTE - about the heart

"If your cup is small,
a little bit of salt will make the water salty.
If your heart is small,
then a little bit of pain can make you suffer.
Your heart must be large."

Thich Nhat Hanh