Home > Work > Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives QUOTES

Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives QUOTES

1 " If you know how to be happy with the wonders of life that are already there for you to enjoy, you don't need to stress your mind and your body by striving harder and harder, and you don't need to stress this planet by purchasing more and more stuff. The Earth belongs to our children. We have already borrowed too much from it, from them; and the way things have been going, we're not sure we'll be able to give it back to them in decent shape. And who are our children, actually? They are us, because they are our own continuation. So we've been shortchanging our own selves. Much of our modern way of life is permeated by mindless overborrowing. The more we borrow, the more we loser. That's why it's critical that we wake up and see we don't need to do that anymore. What's already available in the here and now is plenty for us to be nourished, to be happy. Only that kind of insight will get us, each one of us, to stop engaging in the compulsive, self-sabotaging behaviors of our species. We need a collective awakening. One Buddha is not enough. All of us have to become Buddhas in order for our planet to have a chance. Fortunately, we have the power to wake up, to touch enlightenment from moment to moment, in our very own ordinary and, yes, busy lives. So let's start right now. Peace is your every breath. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

2 " We have negative mental habits that come up over and over again. One of the most significant negative habits we should be aware of is that of constantly allowing our mind to run off into the future. Perhaps we got this from our parents. Carried away by our worries, we're unable to live fully and happily in the present. Deep down, we believe we can't really be happy just yet—that we still have a few more boxes to be checked off before we can really enjoy life. We speculate, dream, strategize, and plan for these "conditions of happiness" we want to have in the future; and we continually chase after that future, even while we sleep. We may have fears about the future because we don't know how it's going to turn out, and these worries and anxieties keep us from enjoying being here now. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

3 " Buddhism teaches that joy and happiness arise from letting go. Please sit down and take an inventory of your life. There are things you’ve been hanging on to that really are not useful and deprive you of your freedom. Find the courage to let them go. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

4 " The moment you wake up, right away, you can smile. That’s a smile of enlightenment. You are aware that a new day is beginning, that life is offering you twenty-four brand-new hours to live, and that that’s the most precious of gifts. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

5 " First of all, you need to know that an emotion is only that—an emotion—even though it may be a big, strong one. You are so much bigger, so much more than this emotion. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

6 " If we have too many worries, fears, and doubts, we have no room for living and loving. We need to practice letting go. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

7 " Sitting in the lotus position or lying down on your back, begin breathing into your belly. Keep your mind entirely on the belly as it rises with every in-breath and falls with each out-breath. Breathe deeply, maintaining full attention on your abdomen. Don’t think. Stop all your ruminating, and just focus on the breathing. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

8 " It’s like when you’re flying in an airplane. Whenever severe turbulence comes along, the seatbelt keeps you from getting thrown around the cabin. Mindful breathing is your seatbelt in everyday life—it keeps you safe here in the present moment. If you know how to breathe, how to sit calmly and quietly, how to do walking meditation, then you have your seatbelt and you’re always safe. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

9 " Feeling the heat of anger right now, I close my eyes and look into the future. Three hundred years from now, where will you, where will I, be? "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

10 " I vow to live each moment fully and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

11 " One of the most significant negative habits we should be aware of is that of constantly allowing our mind to run off into the future. Perhaps we got this from our parents. Carried away by our worries, we’re unable to live fully and happily in the present. Deep down, we believe we can’t really be happy just yet—that we still have a few more boxes to be checked off before we can really enjoy life. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

12 " Meditation is offering your genuine presence to yourself in every moment. It’s the capacity to recognize clearly that every moment is a gift of life, a gift from the Earth and sky. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

13 " Emotions are but one category of the many different mental formations we can have. They come, they stay for a while, and then they go. Why should we have to die for an emotion? "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

14 " The verses are meant to help us to bring our awareness back to what’s happening in the present moment. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

15 " Some people are consumed with thoughts and memories from their past. Their mourning, regretting, rehashing, and begrudging doom them to life imprisonment in their painful past. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

16 " The environment in which we live and work plays a very important role in this practice. When we choose wholesome living and working environments (and that includes the things we hear, see, smell, and touch), they help us get in touch with what’s beautiful and healthy in us and in the world, and we will be nourished, healed, and transformed. We should do everything we can to choose—or create—wholesome environments for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren. If you are a political leader, if you work in a ministry of culture, or if you are a teacher or a parent, please reflect on this point. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

17 " Practice living every moment of your daily life deeply and in freedom. If that’s what you really want, then what you need to do is let go of pursuing the past, the future, and all your worries, and come back to the present moment. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

18 " Mindfulness is the capacity to shine the light of awareness onto what’s going on here and now. Mindfulness is the heart of meditation practice. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

19 " Using your intelligence and your compassion, you’ll be able to find your way out of any difficulty that arises in daily life. This gives you greater confidence in your own capability, making you even more solid. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives

20 " Meditation is offering your genuine presence to yourself in every moment. "

― Thich Nhat Hanh , Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives