As I slowly and focusedly walked through the green oak forest this morning, the bright orange-red Sun was rising on the horizon. It brought back memories of India, where a few of us joined Thich Nhat Hanh a year before we started visiting the places where Buddha taught. On our walk to the cave near Bodh Gaya, we stopped in a field surrounded by rice plantations and began reciting these verses:
Peace is every step.
The bright red Sun is my heart.
Every flower smiles with me.
How green, how fresh everything grows.
How the wind blows cold.
Peace is every step.
Guiding us on the endless path of joy.
These verses express the essence of Thich Nhat Hanh’s message – that peace is not something external to seek or attain. To live with focus, slowing down and enjoying every step and every breath, is more than enough. Peace is in every step, and if we walk this path, flowers will bloom next to our feet with every step. The flowers will It will truly smile at us as we walk our own path.
These are the introductory words of Arnold Kotler, a student of Thich Nhat Hanh, in the book Peace is Every Step. It is a collection of Thich’s lectures, writings, and conversations compiled by a group of his friends. In the foreword of the book, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama wrote that this book can be our guide on the journey of life because it speaks about all the benefits of mindfulness and concentration that help us transform and heal the disturbed state of our consciousness, and that following the advice from this precious book can change our own life and the life of the whole community.
However, the book will not leave such a deep impression on us if we do not get to know, at least as much as we can, its author and his life, which is much richer and more instructive than any words.
Thich Nhat Hanh (previously known as Nguyen Xuan Bao), a Zen Buddhist monk and teacher, was born in central Vietnam in 1926. At the age of 16, he entered the Buddhist I am a monk who underwent training in Thien Buddhism, a Vietnamese form of Zen Buddhism, and Mahayana Buddhism. Eight years after ordination, I became a co-founder of a Buddhist center, which has now become the most reputable Buddhist studies center in South Vietnam, the An Quang Buddhist Institute. I graduated from the Vietnamese Buddhist Academy and became a teacher and master of Thien Buddhism in 1966. My students affectionately and respectfully call me Thay, which means teacher in Vietnamese.
Feeling the pressure of the war in my homeland, in 1961, I accepted an offer from Alfred Hassler, the director of a peace organization, who awarded me a scholarship for comparative religious studies at Princeton University. After that, I became a lecturer on Buddhism at Columbia University in New York. However, the main purpose of my trip to the US was to advocate for peace in Vietnam. Two years later, my friends, Buddhist monks, invited me to stay with them. Urgently return to your homeland to join them in helping compatriots affected by war. The situation that has arisen has posed a question to the monks: should they remain in monasteries and temples dedicated to meditation and prayer, or should they actively assist those suffering from the effects of war? Thich Nhat Hanh chose both, despite opposition from the hierarchy of the Buddhist community in Vietnam, and founded a movement known as engaged Buddhism, based on the principles of nonviolence and compassion. Since then, his life has been dedicated to the well-being of his fellow countrymen, providing concrete assistance and boosting their confidence through speeches and articles. In 1965, he established the School of Youth for Social Service, whose purpose was to train people in practical support for those affected by war devastation. He gathered around 10,000 volunteers who worked on rebuilding destroyed and burned villages, providing medical aid, relocating homeless families, organizing agricultural cooperatives, building schools, and conducting educational programs. education. Despite the government’s disapproval, Hanh managed to establish a Buddhist university, publishing house, and influential magazine for peace activists in South Vietnam.
In 1966, he was invited to Cornell University where he gave a series of speeches about the war casualties of the Vietnamese people with the aim of stopping the war and promoting reconciliation. Alfred Hassler facilitated his meetings with prominent figures, including Martin Luther King, who publicly condemned the American involvement in the Vietnam War. However, the Vietnamese side frowned upon his efforts to reconcile the opposing ideologies of North and South Vietnam, leading to a ban on his return to his homeland.
The manuscripts of his books continued to circulate illegally throughout Vietnam under pseudonyms. Since then, Thich Nhat Hanh has been living in exile and dedicates himself to the mission of spreading Buddhist teachings worldwide. He has established numerous centers and monasteries in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia, as well as the first European Institute for Applied Buddhism. I practice Buddhism in Germany, where people of different nationalities and religions learn and practice what they learn. The focus is on conscious care and assistance to people, the Earth, and all other living beings, based on teachings of Buddhism about mindfulness in the present moment and gratitude for life.
Martin Luther King Jr. was so touched by his speeches and work that he nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967, saying: “I do not know of anyone more deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize than this gentle monk from Vietnam.” However, that year, the Nobel Prize was not awarded to anyone.
The war ended in 1975 with the victory of North Vietnam, and he was denied permission to return to his homeland. Thich did not stop his humanitarian work and, among other things, led a rescue mission for Vietnamese refugees – shipwrecked people in Thailand, and sent aid to refugees in Malaysia and Hong Kong.
In 1982, he founded the Plum Village Buddhist center and monastery with Zen Master Chan Khong. He resides in the south of France, where he continues his work. Only since 2005 has he been allowed to visit his homeland.
He has written about a hundred books, including: The Sun is My Heart, The Heart of Buddha’s Teachings, Be Free Where You Are, No Death, No Fear, the diary Fragrant Palm Leaves, and the books translated in our country: The Art of Communication, Work – Finding Meaning and Joy in Everyday Obligations, Being Peace, The Miracle of Mindfulness, and Peace is Every Step – The Path of Focus in Everyday Life.
In his diary Fragrant Palm Leaves, Thay wrote:
It is interesting how much our environment affects our feelings. Our joys and sorrows, what we like or dislike, are so colored by what surrounds us that we often let our environment determine our path. We let ourselves be guided by “public” emotions until we no longer know what we are truly striving for. We become strangers to ourselves, completely molded by society. Our friends in Phuong Boi always resisted the societal pressures, but we sometimes succumbed to them, losing touch with In our struggle against conformity and resistance to societal molds imposed upon us, we encountered both internal and external obstacles. Sometimes, I feel caught between two opposing selves – the society-imposed “false self” and what I would call the “true self”. How often do we mix them up and accept the societal mold as our true self? Battles between our two selves rarely end in peaceful reconciliation. Our mind becomes a battlefield where the five factors – form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness – are scattered like debris in a hurricane. Trees fall, branches snap, houses crumble. These are our loneliest moments. Yet, every time we survive such a storm, we grow a little. Without such storms, I wouldn’t be who I am today.
In order to live, we must die in every moment. We must constantly die in the storms that make life possible. (…) We must continue to grow. As a child, I would always outgrow the clothes my mother sewed for me. Those clothing items, which carried the scent of childhood innocence and my mother’s love. Mothers, I can keep in a suitcase for memories. But now I need new and different clothing that will fit the person I have become. We need to sew our own clothes, not just accept ready-made suits assigned to us by society. The clothing I make for myself may not be fashionable or even accepted. But it’s not just about clothes. It’s about who I am as a person. I refuse to accept the standard by which others judge me. I use my own measure, the one I have discovered myself, even when it means not agreeing with public opinion. I have to be true to myself. I can’t go back to the shell I just liberated myself from.
Han’s teachings and advice are only ancient teachings of the original practical Mahayana and Zen Buddhism about right living, conveyed in a simple and accessible way to the average person who has no prior knowledge of this religion and philosophy. They may appear so simple that we can easily overlook them as something ordinary and unimportant, with disbelief that their implementation it came to cause any change in us, let alone make us happier. However, the simplest and most natural thing can also be the hardest if we lack understanding, but it can also be the greatest treasure if we consciously apply it. Many of his disciples, young and old, testify to the practicality of his teachings in their lives. Thich wanted to reach out to every person and every nation, regardless of their beliefs and faith. He never emphasized Buddhism above other religions and philosophies, he just wanted to convey what he himself had learned and experienced, which helped him become a happy and peaceful person.
For his small but precious book, Peace is Every Step, he says that mindfulness and calmness are like a bell that reminds us that happiness is only possible in the present moment.
The book begins, like Marcus Aurelius in his book Meditations, with words about the importance and beauty of each new day that lies before us as a precious gift through which we can bring peace, joy, and happiness to others and ourselves: “Every morning, when “Wake up…” And that waking up every morning is such a simple and ordinary thing in our lives that we are not aware of how important it is for our well-being and health, because the way we wake up and how we start our day can determine the quality of our entire new day, and by adding up the days – the quality of our entire life. In the story of a new day, waking up and getting up could summarize the profound teachings of Buddhism about the importance of gratitude, mindfulness, and focus, and the importance of intending to make the day happy, peaceful, and joyful for ourselves and others. Because peace is, as Thich says, here and now, within us and in everything we do and see. He realizes how skillful we are in preparing for life, but we are not skillful enough in actually living it. It is difficult for us to remember that we are alive now, in the only moment that is given to us to live. (…) The only thing we need to do is to be awake and alive in the present moment.
It tells us about the importance of smiling, and says: When a child smiles, when an adult smiles, it is It is very significant. If we can smile in everyday life, if we are able to be calm and happy, it will benefit not only ourselves but also everyone else. If we truly know how to live, is there a better way to start the day than with a smile? Our smile is confirmation of our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. An awakened mind is the source of a genuine smile. And so we will smile, as Thich says, the moment we hear a bird’s song in the morning or see a sunny ray streaming through our window, and we will enter the day with gentleness and understanding.
It reminds us that we should be mindful in choosing our steps in life and mindful of the emotions we express because our consciousness exists on two levels – as a seed and as the manifestation of that seed. Every time the seed is able to sprout, it produces a new seed of the same kind. For example, if we are angry for only five minutes, a new seed of anger will be created in the soil of our unconscious mind. a. When we laugh, a new seed of laughter and joy appears. Every time we practice living consciously, we plant a healthy seed and strengthen the existing healthy seeds within us… Each of us needs a reserve of beautiful and healthy seeds, strong enough to help us in difficult moments.
We also tend to overthink and burden ourselves. Thinking is important, says Thich, but a good portion of our thinking is actually pointless.
Sometimes, in the midst of a crowd, we feel tired, cold, and lonely. At such times, we long to withdraw and be alone with ourselves, to once again feel warmth… Our senses are windows to the world, and sometimes the wind blows through them, disturbing everything within us. Some of us always leave our windows open, allowing the scenes and sounds of the world to flood in, overwhelm us, and surrender to the mercy and will of their mournful and restless self… Don’t you wish to close your windows? Are you afraid of the loneliness and emptiness that you might discover when you face yourself alone? We are so afraid. When we feel lonely, lazy, or bored, we have forgotten how to create our own lives. We turn on the TV and mindlessly watch programs that don’t interest us, allowing someone else to lead, shape, and destroy us…
Perhaps you may want to leave the city and immerse yourself in nature to help yourself close the windows that disturb your spirit so much. In nature, we can become one with the peaceful forest and rediscover and rejuvenate ourselves without being swayed by the chaos of the “outside world”. The green and silent trees will help us maintain focus. Whether we are in the city, in nature, or in the wilderness, we must nourish our own spirit by carefully choosing our environment and nurturing our own consciousness at every moment.
When we live separated from nature, we feel sick.
If you are a hiker or enjoy nature and forests, you know that they are our lungs outside our bodies, just like the sun is our heart outside our bodies… We are trapped within ourselves, thinking about how to ensure comfortable conditions for this. We are neglecting ourselves while simultaneously destroying our true selves. We need to be true to ourselves. This means being able to be a river, a forest, the sun… That is why we need to occasionally go outside and be in nature. It is very important. We and our children need to reconnect with the Earth. In many cities, we can’t even see trees – there is no green in our field of view…
And every bite we take, as Thich points out, contains the life of the sun and the earth. It is up to us how much our food reveals itself to us. We can see and taste the whole universe in a slice of bread.
Having the opportunity to sit with our family and friends and enjoy delicious food is precious, something not everyone has. There are many hungry people in the world. When I hold a bowl of rice or a piece of bread in my hand, I know that I am fortunate and I empathize with those who have nothing to eat and who are without family and friends. It is a very profound practice. We don’t need to go to a temple to practice it.
We think that dishwashing is an unpleasant task. ourselves. No, tada se suočavamo s neugodnim osjećajima i prazninom u sebi. Thich nam preporučuje da se usredotočimo na dah kako bismo ispunili taj unutarnji prostor i pronašli mir. Disanje nam pomaže da se povežemo s sadašnjim trenutkom i da se oslobodimo briga i tjeskobe. Kroz svjesno hodanje, možemo osjetiti bliskost i ljubav prema Zemlji. Hodamo kao da prstima ljubimo tlo, iskazujući zahvalnost za sve što nam pruža. Thich nas podsjeća da hodanje nije samo fizička aktivnost koja nas vodi od jednog mjesta do drugog, već prilika da se povežemo s našom svjesnošću i duhovnošću. with ourselves. We want to escape. We turn on the television, make a phone call, read a novel, go out with a friend, or simply take the car and drive somewhere. Our civilization teaches us to act this way and offers us many things we can use to disconnect from ourselves. But wherever we go, our “self” will be with us – we cannot escape it.
In the West, we are goal-oriented. We know where we want to go and we are very focused on reaching that destination. This can be useful, but we often forget to enjoy the journey… The meaning is not to put anything ahead of ourselves and then chase after it, because everything is already here, within us…
It has become a habit for us, as Thich also reminds us, to pragmatically observe the world and try to assess how to make the most out of every situation.
An artist once asked me, “How should I observe a flower in order to get the most out of it for my art?” I answered, “If you think that way, you cannot be in touch with yourself.” with a flower. Forget all your projects so you can be with the flower without intending to use it or get something from it.”
We need to master the art of stopping in order to truly be with a friend or with a flower.
Everything we do is a work of poetry or painting if we do it with focus. Cultivating lettuce is poetry… and every minute of our life is an artistic work. It is enough for us to act collected and whole, and our art will flourish so that we don’t even have to speak about it. When we know how to be at peace, we will realize that art is a wonderful way to share tranquility.
Western civilization, Thich notices, emphasizes the idea of hope too much. Hope is important because it can enable us to bear the present moment more easily. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we will find it easier to cope with problems today. However, that is the most hope can do for us – ease our difficulties. By holding onto hope for the future, we do not focus our energy and potential on the present moment. M we use hope to believe that something better will happen in the future. Hope thus becomes a kind of obstacle because we fail to see the joy that is already here.
Awareness, peace, and happiness will not be brought to us by someone else. The well is within us. If we dig deep enough in the present moment, water will flow.
Understanding and love are not two separate things, but one… When you understand, you can do nothing else but love. You cannot get angry. To develop understanding, you need to look at all living beings with eyes of compassion… If we only think of ourselves, if we only know our own needs and neglect those of others, we cannot love… With understanding, the person we love will surely flourish.
Sound and light have the ability to penetrate anywhere, just like love and compassion can. If love is genuine, it will be evident in our everyday life, in the way we relate to people and the world… If love is in our hearts, every thought, word, and action can work wonders.
When you plant lettuce, “And she doesn’t grow well, you don’t blame the salad. You look for the reason why it didn’t succeed. Maybe it needs fertilizer or more water, or more sunlight. But if we have problems with friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we take care of them, they will thrive well, like salad. Blaming has no positive effect. That’s my experience. No blaming, no judgment, no arguments, just understanding. If you understand and show that understanding, if you can love, the situation will change.
I would like to share a beautiful poem with you, written by my friend who died in Saigon 30 years ago, at the age of 28…
Standing silently by the fence
You smile with your beautiful smile.
I am speechless, filled with sensations
Because of the sounds of your lovely song,
Without a beginning and without an end.
I bow deeply to you.
“You” refers to the flower, a dahlia. You might think that the poet was mysterious, because this way of looking and… The perception of things very deep. However, he was just a person like all of us… That is exactly how we practice mindfulness. We strive to be in touch with life and deeply immerse ourselves in it – while drinking tea, walking, sitting, or arranging flowers. The secret to success is to truly be yourself, and when you are truly yourself, you can experience life…
Thich Nhat Hanh, a humble and joyful monk and teacher, is now 90 years old. In November 2014, he experienced a severe stroke, and in September 2015, he spoke his first words again. Today, he is peacefully recovering with the loving care of his numerous students.
This body is not me; I am not caught in this body, I am life without boundaries, I have never been born and I have never died. There is a wide ocean and sky with many galaxies. Everything manifests from the foundation of consciousness. From the beginning of time, I have always been free. Birth and death are just doors through which we enter and exit. Birth and death are just a game of hide and seek. So, smile and take my hand and wave me goodbye. We will meet again, or perhaps even sooner. We will always encounter each other at the true source. We will always meet again on countless paths of life.