YourTrueHome.txt

1
Your True Home
YOUR TRUE HOME is in the here and the now. It is not limited by
time, space, nationality, or race. Your true home is not an
abstract idea; it is something you can touch and live in every
moment. With mindfulness and concentration, the energies of
the Buddha, you can find your true home in the full relaxation
of your mind and body in the present moment.

2
One Hundred Percent
BE THERE TRULY. Be there with one hundred percent of yourself. In every
moment of your daily life. That is the essence of true Buddhist
meditation. Each of us knows that we can do that, so let us
train to live each moment of our daily life deeply. That is why I
like to define mindfulness as the energy that helps us to be
there 100 percent. It is the energy of your true presence.

3
Miracles
AROUND US, LIFE bursts forth with miracles-a glass of water, a
ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a flower, laughter,
raindrops. If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles
everywhere. Each human being is a multiplicity of miracles.
Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that
hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck
of dust as easily as the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in
rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings. When we are tired and
feel discouraged by life's daily struggles, we may not notice
these miracles, but they are always there.

4
Ambassador of the Cosmos
WHEN I HOLD A piece of bread, I look at it, and sometimes I smile
at it. The piece of bread is an ambassador of the cosmos
offering nourishment and support. Looking deeply into the
piece of bread, I see the sunshine, the clouds, the great earth.
Without the sunshine, no wheat can grow. Without the clouds,
there is no rain for the wheat to grow. Without the great earth,
nothing can grow. That is why the piece of bread that I hold in
my hand is a wonder of life. It is there for all of us. We have to
be there for it.

5
Walking Meditation
WE HAVE TO AWAKEN ourselves to the truth that we are here,
alive. We are here making steps on this beautiful planet. This is
already performing a miracle. But we have to be here in order
for the miracle to be possible. We have to bring ourselves back
to the here and the now. Therefore, each step we take becomes
a miracle. If you are able to walk like that, each step will be
very nourishing and healing. You walk as if you kiss the earth
with your feet, as if you massage the earth with your feet.
There is a lot of love in that practice of walking meditation.

6
Concentration
WHEN YOU CONTEMPLATE the big, full sunrise, the more mindful
and concentrated you are, the more the beauty of the sunrise is
revealed to you. Suppose you are offered a cup of tea, very
fragrant, very good tea. If your mind is distracted, you cannot
really enjoy the tea. You have to be mindful of the tea, you have
to be concentrated on it, so the tea can reveal its fragrance and
wonder to you. That is why mindfulness and concentration are
such sources of happiness. That's why a good practitioner
knows how to create a moment of joy, a feeling of happiness, at
any time of the day.

7
Why We Suffer
WHEN WE LOOK deeply at the nature of things, we see that in fact
everything is impermanent. Nothing exists as a permanent
entity; everything changes. It is said that we cannot step into
the same river twice. If we look for a single, permanent entity
in a river, we will not find it. The same is true of our physical
body. There is no such thing as a self, no absolute, permanent
entity to be found in the element we call "body." In our
ignorance we believe that there is a permanent entity in us,
and our pain and suffering manifest on the basis of that
ignorance. If we touch deeply the nonself nature in us, we can
get out of that suffering.

8
Suchness
THE WORD suchness describes reality as it is. Concepts and ideas
are incapable of expressing reality as it is. Nirvana, the
ultimate reality, cannot be described, because it is free of all
concepts and ideas. Nirvana is the extinction of all concepts.
Most of our suffering arises from our ideas and concepts. If
you are able to free yourself from these concepts, anxiety and
fear will disappear. Nirvana, the ultimate reality, or God, is of
the nature of no-birth and no-death. It is total freedom.

9
I Have Arrived
WE BELIEVE THAT happiness is possible only in the future. That is
why the practice "I have arrived" is very important. The
realization that we have already arrived, that we don't have to
travel any further, that we are already here, can give us peace
and joy. The conditions for our happiness are already sufficient.
We only need to allow ourselves to be in the present moment,
and we will be able to touch them.

10
Lotus in the Mud
THE GOODNESS OF suffering is something real. Without suffering
there cannot be happiness. Without mud there cannot be any
lotus flowers. So if you know how to suffer, suffering is OK. And
the moment you have that attitude, you don't suffer much
anymore. And out of suffering, a lotus flower of happiness can
open.

11
Aimlessness
THERE IS A Buddhist teaching that might seem strange to you.
This is the teaching of aimlessness (apranihita in Sanskrit).
Aimlessness means not setting an object or goal in front of you
and running after it. That is exactly what everybody does. We
want this, we want that, and as long as we haven't got it, we
think happiness will be impossible.
We must bring about a revolution in our thinking: we must
stop. We must do as the flower does. The flower is aware of the
fact that it contains everything within it, the whole cosmos, and
it does not try to become something else. It is the same for you.
You have God within you, so you do not have to look for God.

12
The Wave and the Water
THERE ARE TWO dimensions to life, and we should be able to
touch both. One is like a wave, and we call it the "historical
dimension." The other is like the water, and we call it the
"ultimate dimension," or "nirvana." We usually touch just the
wave, but when we discover how to touch the water, we receive
the highest fruit that meditation can offer.

13
Freedom from Fear
BODHISATTVAS DWELL on the same ground as the rest of us-the
world of birth and death, permanence, and self. But thanks to
the practice of looking deeply into impermanence and nonself,
they are in touch with the ultimate dimension, free from the
fears associated with ideas of existence and nonexistence, one
and many, coming and going, birth and death. In this freedom,
they ride the waves of birth and death in perfect peace. They
are able to remain in the world of waves while abiding in the
nature of water.

14
I Am Here for You
THE HEART OF Buddhist practice is to generate our own presence
in such a way that we can touch deeply the life that is here and
available in every moment. We have to be here for ourselves;
we have to be here for the people we love; we have to be here
for life with all its wonders. The message of our Buddhist
practice is simple and clear: "I am here for you."

15
The Foundation of Love
IF WE DO NOT know how to take care of ourselves and to love
ourselves, we cannot take care of the people we love. Loving
oneself is the foundation for loving another person.

16
Embrace Them with Great Tenderness
DO NOT FIGHT against pain; do not fight against irritation or
jealousy. Embrace them with great tenderness, as though you
were embracing a little baby. Your anger is yourself, and you
should not be violent toward it. The same thing goes for all of
your emotions.

17
Becoming a Bodhisattva
IF WE MAKE a sincere effort to practice alleviating our inner
suffering and the suffering of others, we too become
bodhisattvas, awakened beings. We support our family, friends,
and coworkers, and help them to manifest as bodhisattvas; we
do this for the entire world and for the happiness of all beings.
If through your practice you become a bodhisattva, those
around you will see that beauty, genuine spirituality, and true
love are possible. Living like this, you are happy and will
become an inspiration for others.

18
The Next Buddha
TWO THOUSAND six hundred years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha
proclaimed that the next Buddha will be named Maitreya, the
"Buddha of Love." I think Maitreya Buddha may be a
community, and not just an individual. A good community is
needed to help us resist the unwholesome ways of our time.
Mindful living protects us and helps us go in the direction of
peace. With the support of friends in the practice, peace has a
chance.

19
Flowers and Garbage
FLOWERS AND GARBAGE are both organic in nature. So looking
deeply into the nature of a flower, you can see the presence of
the compost and the garbage. The flower is also going to turn
into garbage, but don't be afraid! You are a gardener, and you
have in your hands the power to transform garbage into
flowers, into fruit, into vegetables. You don't throw anything
away, because you are not afraid of garbage. Your hands are
capable of transforming it into flowers, or lettuce, or
cucumbers.
The same thing is true of your happiness and your sorrow.
Sorrow, fear, and depression are all a kind of garbage. These
bits of garbage are part of real life, and we must look deeply
into their nature. You can practice in order to turn these bits of
garbage into flowers. It is not only your love that is organic;
your hate is, too. So you should not throw anything out. All you
have to do is learn how to transform your garbage into flowers.

20
A Visit from a Friend
SUPPOSE A FRIEND who has come a long way to visit is having a
cup of tea with us. Mindfulness helps the time we spend with
her to be a time we won't forget. We're not thinking of
anything. We're not thinking of our business, our projects. We
just focus our attention on this moment when we're with our
friend. We're fully aware that she is there and that we can sit
with her and enjoy a cup of tea. Mindfulness helps us to taste
the joy of each moment very deeply.

21
Life Is Not a Means to an End
WITH MINDFUL WALKING, our steps are no longer a means to arrive
at an end. When we walk to the kitchen to serve our meal, we
don't need to think, "I have to walk to the kitchen to get the
food." With mindfulness, we can say, "I am enjoying walking to
the kitchen," and each step is an end in itself. There is no
distinction between means and ends. There is no way to
happiness; happiness is the way. There is no way to
enlightenment; enlightenment is the way.

22
The Lamp of Mindfulness
WE HAVE A LAMP inside us, the lamp of mindfulness, which we
can light anytime. The oil of that lamp is our breathing, our
steps, and our peaceful smile. We have to light up that lamp of
mindfulness so the light will shine out and the darkness will
dissipate and cease. Our practice is to light up the lamp.

23
The Suffering of Those We Love
IF WE CAN HOLD OUR ANGER, our sorrow, and our fear with the
energy of mindfulness, we will be able to recognize the roots of
our suffering. We will be able to recognize the suffering in the
people we love as well. Mindfulness helps us to not be angry at
our loved ones, because when we are mindful, we understand
that our loved ones are suffering as well.

24
A Love Letter
IT'S THE ENERGY of mindfulness in us that allows us to write a
real love letter and reconcile with another person. A real love
letter is made of insight, understanding, and compassion.
Otherwise it's not a love letter. A true love letter can produce a
transformation in the other person, and therefore in the world.
But before it produces a transformation in the other person, it
has to produce a transformation within us. Some letters may
take the whole of our lifetime to write.

25
Selective Watering
THROUGH THE practice of deep looking, we can identify the
positive seeds that we want to water every day, and train
ourselves not to water the negative ones. This is called
"selective watering." The Buddha recommended methods for
doing this, and even a few days of this practice can bring about
a transformation.

26
Sovereign of the Five Elements
EACH ONE OF US is sovereign over the territory of our own being
and the five elements (Sanskrit: skandhas) we are made of.
These elements are form (body), feelings, perceptions, mental
formations, and consciousness. Our practice is to look deeply
into these five elements and discover the true nature of our
being-the true nature of our suffering, our happiness, our
peace, our fearlessness.

27
A Century of Spirituality
I HAVE HEARD SOME people predict that the twenty-first century
will be a century of spirituality. Personally, I think it must be a
century of spirituality if we are to survive at all. In our society,
there is so much suffering, violence, despair, and confusion.
There is so much fear. How can we survive without spirituality?

28
The Seeds of Happiness
WHETHER WE HAVE happiness or not depends on the seeds in our
consciousness. If our seeds of compassion, understanding, and
love are strong, those qualities will be able to manifest in us. If
the seeds of anger, hostility, and sadness in us are strong, then
we will experience much suffering.
To understand someone, we have to be aware of the quality
of the seeds in his store consciousness. And we need to
remember that he is not solely responsible for those seeds. His
ancestors, parents, and society are coresponsible for the
quality of the seeds in his consciousness. When we understand
this, we are able to feel compassion for that person. With
understanding and love, we will know how to water our own
beautiful seeds and those of others, and we will recognize
seeds of suffering and find ways to transform them.

29
The Art of Mindful Living
MINDFUL LIVING IS an art. You do not have to be a monk or live in
a monastery to practice mindfulness. You can practice it
anytime, while driving your car or doing housework. Driving in
mindfulness will make the time in your car joyful, and it will
also help you avoid accidents. You can use the red traffic light
as a signal of mindfulness, reminding you to stop and enjoy
your breathing. Similarly, when you do the dishes after dinner,
you can practice mindful breathing so the time of dish washing
is pleasant and meaningful. Do not feel you have to rush. If you
hurry, you waste the time of dish washing. The time you spend
washing dishes and doing all your other everyday tasks is
precious. It is a time for being alive. When you practice mindful
living, peace will bloom during your daily activities.

30
No Beginning and No End
WE USUALLY TRY to hold on to life and run away from death. But,
according to the teaching, everything has been nirvana from
the nonbeginning. So why do we have to grasp one thing and
avoid another? In the ultimate dimension, there is no beginning
and no end. We think there is something to attain, something
outside of ourselves, but everything is already here.

31
Awareness of the Body
IN SITTING MEDITATION, the first thing is to be aware that you are
in a sitting position. Then, you can sit in a way that brings you
calm, solidity, and well-being. We can notice the position of our
body in each moment, whether we are sitting, walking,
standing, or lying down. We can be aware of our actions,
whether we are getting up, bending down, or putting on a
jacket. Awareness brings us back to ourselves, and when we
are fully mindful of our body, and living in the here and now, we
are in our true home.

32
Constant Transformation
IMPERMANENCE and selflessness are not negative aspects of life,
but the very foundations on which life is built. Impermanence is
the constant transformation of things. Without impermanence,
there can be no life. Selflessness is the interdependent nature
of all things. Without interdependence, nothing could exist.

33
The Great Insight
THIS IS THE GREAT insight of Mahayana Buddhism: everyone can
become a buddha. What Siddhartha achieved, all of us can also
achieve, whether we are a man or a woman, no matter what
social class or ethnic group we were born into, or whether we
practice as a monastic or as a layperson. We all have the
capacity to become a fully enlightened buddha. And while on
the path to becoming a fully enlightened buddha, we are all
bodhisattvas.

34
What the Buddha Taught
FOR FORTY-FIVE years, the Buddha said, over and over again, "I
teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering." When
we recognize and acknowledge our own suffering, the Buddha
-which means the Buddha in us-will look at it, discover what
has brought it about, and prescribe a course of action that can
transform it into peace, joy, and liberation. Suffering is the
means the Buddha used to liberate himself, and it is also the
means by which we can become free.

35
Agonizing Questions
WHEN WE AGONIZE over questions like, "Who am I? Where do I
come from? Was I wanted? What is the meaning of my life?" we
suffer because we're caught in the idea of a separate self. But if
we look deeply, we can practice no-self. This is the realization
that we're not a separate self; we're connected to our
ancestors and to all beings.

36
For All Generations
WE HAVE TO LIVE in a way that liberates the ancestors and future
generations who are inside of us. Joy, peace, freedom, and
harmony are not individual matters. If we do not liberate our
ancestors, we will be in bondage all our life, and we will
transmit that to our children and grandchildren. Now is the
time to do it. To liberate them means to liberate ourselves. This
is the teaching of interbeing. As long as the ancestors in us are
still suffering, we cannot really be happy. If we take one step
mindfully, freely, happily touching the earth, we do it for all
previous and future generations. They all arrive with us at the
same moment, and all of us find peace at the same time.

37
Enjoy Being a Buddha
BECOMING A BUDDHA is not so difficult. A buddha is someone who
is enlightened, capable of loving, and forgiving. You know that
at times you're like that. So enjoy being a buddha. When you
sit, allow the Buddha in you to sit. When you walk, allow the
Buddha in you to walk. Enjoy your practice. If you don't
become a buddha, who will?

38
Stopping Thoughts
YOU CAN NATURALLY stop your thoughts if you focus your
attention fully on your in-breath and your out-breath. After one
or two minutes of practice, the quality of your in-breath and
out-breath will improve. Your breath will become deeper,
slower, and more harmonious and peaceful, whether you are
lying down, sitting, or walking. By practicing mindful
breathing, we bring the elements of harmony and peace into
our body.

39
Ghosts
DO YOU HAVE A problem right now, in this moment? Look at
yourself in your physical form, your feelings, your perceptions.
Do you have a problem? If we see that we don't have any
problem at all in the present moment, we shouldn't let the
ghosts of the past dominate us. We should not let the
projections of the past or the future break us down. They're
just ghosts. That's why we train ourselves to always be in the
present moment. That's our practice. That's our path. It's the
way to reconciliation.

40
True Practice
DEEPENING OUR PRACTICE means having a genuine practice,
practicing not in form only. When your practice is genuine, it
will bring joy, peace, and stability to yourself and to the people
around you. Actually I prefer the phrase true practice. To me,
the practice should be pleasant. True practice can bring life to
us right away. As you practice mindful breathing, you become
alive, you become real, not only when you sit or walk, but when
you're making breakfast or performing any activity. If you know
how to breathe in and out mindfully while making breakfast
with a smile, you will cultivate freedom-freedom from thinking
about the past or worrying about the future-aliveness, joy, and
compassion. That is true practice, and its effect can be seen
right away.

41
Nothing to Search For
WHEN WE TRANSCEND notions of inside and outside, we know that
the object we wish to attain is already within us. We don't have
to search for it in space or time. It is already available in the
present moment. The contemplation on nonattainment is very
important. The object we wish to attain is already attained. We
don't need to attain anything. We already have it. We already
are it.

42
The Buddha Walking
IN THE BEGINNING, we may believe that there must be someone in
order for the breathing to be possible; there must be someone
in order for the walking to be possible. But in fact the walking,
the breathing, is enough; we don't need a walker, we don't
need a breather. We can just notice that there is walking going
on. There is breathing going on.
What I consider to be the Buddha walking is just the walking,
but it's a high quality of walking. Because that walking is
enjoyable, it's mindful walking-there's a lot of peace and joy.
The Buddha is that breathing. The Buddha is that walking.

43
The Two Aspects of Buddhist
Meditation
IF YOU LOOK INTO Buddhist meditation, you will find that it has
two aspects: first, stopping, and then, deep looking. When you
achieve stopping, you become solid and concentrated. That
allows you to practice looking deeply into what's here, and
looking deeply into the nature of things brings insight. This
understanding will liberate you from your suffering.

44
We Already Have Enough
THE BUDDHA SPOKE about the practice of samtusta, recognizing
that we have enough conditions to be happy right here and
right now. We don't need to obtain any more. Samtusta has
been translated as realizing that one is satisfied with little.
When we go home to the present moment, we view all the
conditions of happiness that we have, and we may find that
they are more than enough for us to be happy right now. We
need to stop running after things, because even if we get the
object of our desire, we won't be happy and we'll want to run
after another one.

45
The Bridge
BREATH IS THE BRIDGE that connects life to consciousness, the
bridge that unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your
mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take
hold of your mind again.

46
Deep Listening and Loving Speech
DEEP LISTENING AND loving speech are wonderful instruments to
help us arrive at the kind of understanding we all need as a
basis for appropriate action. You listen deeply for only one
purpose-to allow the other person to empty his or her heart.
This is already an act of relieving suffering. To stop any
suffering, no matter how small, is a great action of peace. The
path to end suffering depends on your understanding and your
capacity to act without causing harm or further suffering. This
is acting with compassion, your best protection.

47
The Mind of Enlightenment
BODHICHITTA (SANSKRIT) is the mind of enlightenment, beginner's
mind. When we're inspired by the desire to practice and
transform our suffering so we can help the many people around
us who suffer, the mind of that moment is very beautiful. It's
the mind of a bodhisattva, one who attains his or her own
liberation in order to help all beings. Sometimes we call it the
"mind of love." It's because of love that we practice. We're not
just trying to run away from suffering. We want more than that.
We want to transform our own suffering and be free in order to
help many other people to transform their suffering.

48
Enjoy a Moment of Nothing
IF YOU CAN FIND a moment to sit, wherever you are, stay there
and enjoy doing nothing. Just enjoy your in-breath and outbreath. Don't allow yourself to be carried away by your
thinking, worries, or projects. Just sit there and enjoy doing
nothing; enjoy your breathing and the fact that you are alive
and that you have twenty minutes or half an hour to enjoy
doing nothing. This is very healing, transforming, and
nourishing.

49
What Is a Leaf?
SUPPOSE I HOLD a leaf in my hand. What do you see? A leaf is a
leaf; it is not a flower. But in fact, when we look deeply into the
leaf, we can see many things. We can see the plant, we can see
the sunshine, we can see the clouds, we can see the earth.
When we utter the word leaf, we have to be aware that a leaf is
made of non-leaf elements. If we remove the non-leaf elements,
such as the sunshine, the clouds, and the soil, there will be no
leaf left. So it is with our bodies and ourselves. We're not the
same as, nor are we separate from, other beings. We're
connected to everything, and everything is alive.

50
The Basic Principle
HAVE WE WASTED OUR HOURS AND our days? Are we wasting our
lives? These are important questions. Practicing Buddhism is to
be alive in each moment. When we practice sitting or walking,
we have the means to do it perfectly. During the rest of the day,
we also practice. It is more difficult, but it is possible. The
sitting and the walking must be extended to the non-walking,
non-sitting moments of our day. That is the basic principle of
meditation.

51
Subtle Gestures
A ZEN MASTER observes the student in silence, while the student
tries to bring the practice into every moment of life. The
student may feel that she is not receiving enough attention, but
her ways and acts cannot escape the observation of the master.
The master can see if the student is or is not "awake."
If, for example, the student shuts the door noisily or
carelessly, she is demonstrating a lack of mindfulness. Closing
the door gently is not in itself a virtuous act, but awareness of
the fact that you are closing the door is an expression of real
practice. In this case, the master simply reminds the student to
close the door gently, to be mindful. The master does this not
only to respect the quiet of the monastery, but to point out to
the student that she was not practicing mindfulness, that her
acts were not majestic or subtle. It is said in Buddhism that
there are ninety thousand "subtle gestures" to practice. These
gestures and acts are expressions of the presence of
mindfulness.

52
Easily Hurt
AS CHILDREN, we were very vulnerable. We got hurt very easily.
A stern look from our father could make us unhappy. A strong
word from our mother could cause a wound in our heart. As
young children, we have a lot of feelings but it's difficult to
express ourselves. We try and try. Sometimes, even if we can
find the words, the adults around us can't hear us, don't listen,
or won't allow us to talk.
We can go home to ourselves and talk to our little child, listen
to our child, and respond directly to him. I myself have done
this, even though I received love and care from my parents.
This practice has helped me tremendously. The child is still
there and may be deeply wounded. We have neglected the child
in us for a long time. We have to come back, and comfort, love,
and care for the child within us.

53
When You Argue with the One You Love
WHEN YOU GET into an argument with someone you love, please
close your eyes and visualize yourself three hundred years from
now. When you open your eyes, you will only want to take each
other in your arms and acknowledge how precious each of you
is. The teaching of impermanence helps us appreciate fully
what is there, without attachment or forgetfulness.

54
Rites of Life
CHOPPING WOOD IS meditation. Carrying water is meditation. Be
mindful twenty-four hours a day, not just during the one hour
you may allot for formal meditation, or reading scripture and
reciting prayers. Each act must be carried out in mindfulness.
Each act is a rite, a ceremony. Raising your cup of tea to your
mouth is a rite. Does the word rite seem too solemn? I use that
word in order to jolt you into the realization of the life-anddeath matter of awareness.

55
The Real Miracle
I LIKE TO WALK alone on country paths, rice plants and wild
grasses on both sides, putting each foot down on the earth in
mindfulness, knowing that I walk on the wondrous earth. In
such moments, existence is a miraculous and mysterious
reality. People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a
miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on
water or in thin air, but to walk on the earth. Every day we are
engaged in a miracle that we don't even recognize: a blue sky,
white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child-
our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

56
Stop the War
THE INSIGHT OF nonduality will put a stop to the war in you. You
have struggled in the past, and perhaps you are still struggling
-but is it necessary? No. Struggle is useless. Stop struggling.

57
The Future Is Now
THE PRACTICE OF mindfulness doesn't forbid us to plan for the
future. It's best not to lose ourselves in uncertainty and fear
over the future, but if we're truly established in the present
moment, we can bring the future to the here and the now, and
make plans. We're not losing the present moment when we
think about the future. In fact, the present moment contains
both past and future. The only material that the future is made
of is the present. If you know how to handle the present in the
best way you can, that's all you can do for the future. Handling
the present moment with all your attention, all your
intelligence, is already building a future.

58
Inner Silence
SILENCE IS SOMETHING that comes from your heart, not from
outside. Silence doesn't mean not talking and not doing things;
it means that you are not disturbed inside, there is no talking
inside. If you're truly silent, then no matter what situation you
find yourself in, you can enjoy the silence. There are moments
when you think you're silent and all around is silent, but talking
is going on all the time inside your head. That's not silence.
The practice is to find silence in all the activities you do.

59
Children of the Earth
WE ARE CHILDREN of the earth. We rely on the earth, and the
earth relies on us. Whether the earth is beautiful, fresh, and
green, or arid and parched, depends on our way of walking.
Please touch the earth in mindfulness, with joy and
concentration. The earth will heal you, and you will heal the
earth.

60
The Liberating Power of Insight
CONCENTRATION HELPS us focus on just one thing. With
concentration, the energy of looking becomes more powerful,
and insight is possible. Insight always has the power of
liberating us. If mindfulness is there, and we know how to keep
mindfulness alive, concentration will be there, too. And if we
know how to keep concentration alive, insight will also come.
The energy of mindfulness enables us to look deeply and gain
the insight we need so that transformation is possible.

61
A Game of Hide-and-Seek
HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED with a kaleidoscope? Just a small
movement is enough to make something miraculous appear. A
tableau of colors and forms is presented to you, a
manifestation. You keep this view for a few seconds, then you
turn the kaleidoscope and another manifestation appears.
Should we cry every time one of these manifestations comes to
an end? A flower manifests, then disappears, then manifests,
then disappears-thousands upon thousands of times. If you
look deeply at things, you will see this reality. We manifest,
then disappear. It is a game of hide-and-seek.

62
Are You Sure?
ALL OF US ARE only human, and we have wrong perceptions
every day. Our spouse or partner is also subject to wrong
perceptions, so we must help each other to see more clearly
and more deeply. We should not trust our perceptions too much
-that is something the Buddha taught. "Are you sure of your
perceptions?" he asked us. I urge you to write this phrase down
on a card and put it up on the wall of your room: "Are you sure
of your perceptions?"
There is a river of perceptions in you. You should sit down on
the bank of this river and contemplate your perceptions. Most
of our perceptions, the Buddha said, are false. Are you sure of
your perceptions? This question is addressed to you. It is a bell
of mindfulness.

63
A Gift to the One You Love
WHEN YOU KNOW how to generate your own presence, you can
make a gift of it to the one you love. This is something very
practical. It is easy to do, it costs nothing, and it can be done
very quickly. You do not have to practice for years to see the
results. One minute will do. So you should put what you have
learned into practice right away.

64
Walking in the Kingdom of God
WE ALL HAVE the ability to walk in the Kingdom of God, to walk
in the Pure Land of Buddha, every day. You have all you need-
legs, lungs, eyes, and mind-and with a little bit of practice,
you can generate the energy of mindfulness within you, just
like lighting a lamp. Once you have become truly alive, take a
step and you will enter the Kingdom of God.

65
Don't Underestimate Yourself
DON'T UNDERESTIMATE yourself. You have the ability to wake up.
You have the ability to be compassionate. You just need a little
bit of practice to be able to touch the best that is in you.
Enlightenment, mindfulness, understanding, and compassion
are in you. Very simple practices-such as meditative walking,
mindful breathing, or washing dishes mindfully-make it
possible for you to leave hell and touch the positive seeds that
are within you.

66
Everyone Will Benefit
IF WE ARE NOT happy, if we are not peaceful, we can't share
peace and happiness with others, even those we love, those
who live under the same roof. If we are peaceful, if we are
happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in
our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.

67
True Understanding
THE PRACTICE OF meditation is to look at reality in such a way
that the boundary between subject and object will no longer be
there. We have to remove the boundary between the inquirer
and the object of inquiry. If we want to understand someone,
we put ourselves into his skin. In order for friends or families to
really understand each other, they need to become each other.
The only way to understand fully is to become the object of our
understanding. True understanding happens when we
dismantle the barrier between the object of understanding and
the subject of understanding.

68
Nondiscrimination
PEACE AND COMPASSION go hand in hand with understanding and
nondiscrimination. We choose one thing over another when we
discriminate. With the eyes of compassion, we can look at all of
living reality at once. A compassionate person sees himself or
herself in every being. With the ability to view reality from
many viewpoints, we can overcome all viewpoints and act
compassionately in each situation.

69
Suddenly You Are Free
YOU CAN MAKE A step and touch the earth in such a way that you
establish yourself in the present moment, and you will arrive in
the here and the now. You don't need to make any effort at all.
Your foot touches the earth mindfully, and you arrive firmly in
the here and the now. And suddenly you are free-free from all
projects, all worries, all expectations. You are fully present,
fully alive, and you are touching the earth.

70
The Miraculous Smile
IN OUR FACE THERE are dozens of muscles, and when we're angry
or afraid, those muscles hold a lot of tension. But if we know to
breathe in and be aware of them, and breathe out and smile to
them, we can help them release the tension. Our face can be
completely different after one in-breath and out-breath. A smile
can bring a miracle.

71
Habit Energy
HABIT ENERGY IS pushing us; it pushes us to do things without
our being aware. Sometimes we do something without knowing
we're doing it. Even when we don't want to do something, we
still do it. Sometimes we say, "I didn't want to do it, but it's
stronger than me, it pushed me." So that is a seed, a habit
energy, which may have come from many generations in the
past.
We have inherited a lot. With mindfulness, we can become
aware of the habit energy that has been passed down to us. We
might see that our parents or grandparents were also very
weak in ways similar to us. We can be aware without judgment
that our negative habits come from these ancestral roots. We
can smile at our shortcomings, at our habit energy. With
awareness, we have a choice; we can act another way. We can
end the cycle of suffering right now.

72
You Are Safe Now
ALL KINDS OF desires are the continuation of our original desire
to be safe. The little child in us continues to worry and be
fearful. In the present moment there's no problem, no threat. If
we don't have a problem in the present moment, it means we
don't have a problem. Why continue to worry and be fearful?
We have to transmit that wisdom to the inner child. We need to
let the child within us know that he or she no longer has to be
afraid.

73
The Anchor
THERE ARE MANY ways to come back to the here and the now, and
to touch life deeply. But they all involve mindful breathing. If
we're anchored in our mindful breathing, we can practice
anytime. Otherwise we risk missing our lives, our lives that are
lived in the here and now.

74
Caught in the Idea of a Self
WESTERN PSYCHOTHERAPY AIMS at helping create a self that is
stable and wholesome. But because psychotherapy in the West
is still caught in the idea of self, it can bring about only a little
transformation and a little healing; it can't go very far. As long
as we are caught in the idea of a separate self, ignorance is still
in us. When we see the intimate relationship between what is
self and what is not self, ignorance is healed and suffering,
anger, jealousy, and fear disappear. If we can practice no-self,
we'll be able to go beyond the questions that make people
suffer so much.

75
Your True Nature
WHEN WE LOOK deeply at our own nature, we can get in touch
with its ultimate reality. This ultimate nature is free of birth,
free of death, free from any notion such as high, low, this, that,
and so forth. In Buddhism, we call this "nirvana," or
"suchness." Nirvana is the extinction of all concepts, such as
existence, nonexistence, death, and birth.
You have this dimension called the "ultimate" within you. In
fact, you are free from birth and from death, free from
existence and from nonexistence. Your true nature is the nature
of nirvana. If you are from the Christian tradition, you could
say that this ultimate dimension is God. The Kingdom of God is
free from birth and death, free from high and low, free from
existence and nonexistence.

76
Saints
SOMETIMES YOU ENCOUNTER people who are so pure, beautiful,
and content. They give you the impression that they are divine,
that they actually are saints or holy beings. What you perceive
in them is their awakened self, their Buddha nature, and what
they reflect back to you is your own capacity for being awake.

77
The Most Wonderful Moment of Your Life
THE TEACHING OF the Buddha tells you clearly and plainly to
make this the most magnificent and wonderful moment of your
life. This present moment must become the most wonderful
moment in your life. All you need to transform this present
moment into a wonderful one is freedom. All you need to do is
free yourself from your worries and preoccupations about the
past, the future, and so on.

78
The Wounded Child
WHEN WE SPEAK of listening with compassion, we usually think of
listening to someone else. But we must also listen to the
wounded child inside of us. Sometimes the wounded child in us
needs all our attention. That little child might emerge from the
depths of your consciousness and ask for your attention. If you
are mindful, you will hear his or her voice calling for help. At
that moment, instead of paying attention to whatever is in front
of you, go back and tenderly embrace the wounded child.

79
Releasing Our Cows
ONE DAY THE Buddha was sitting in the forest with a number of
monks when a peasant came by. He had just lost his cows; they
had run away. He asked the monks whether they had seen his
cows passing by. The Buddha said, "No, we haven't seen your
cows passing through here; you may want to look for them in
another direction."
When the farmer had gone, the Buddha turned to his monks,
smiled, and said, "Dear friends, you should be very happy. You
don't have any cows to lose."
One practice we can do is to take a piece of paper and write
down the names of our cows. Then we can look deeply to see
whether we're capable of releasing some of them. We may have
thought these things were crucial to our well-being, but if we
look deeply, we may realize that they are the obstacles to our
true joy and happiness.

80
The Universal Seed
MINDFULNESS IS the kind of light that shows us the way. It is the
living Buddha inside of each of us. Mindfulness gives birth to
insight, awakening, compassion, and love. Not only Buddhists,
but also Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Marxists can accept
that each of us has the capacity of being mindful, that everyone
has the seed of mindfulness in himself or herself. If we know
how to water this seed, it will grow, and we will become alive
again, capable of enjoying all the wonders of life.

81
Don't Run Away
THE TENDENCY TO run away from suffering is there in every one
of us. We think that by seeking pleasure we'll avoid suffering.
But this doesn't work. It stunts our growth and our happiness.
Happiness isn't possible without understanding, compassion,
and love. And love is not possible if we don't understand our
suffering and the other person's suffering.
Getting in touch with suffering will help us cultivate
compassion and love. Without understanding and love we can't
be happy, and we can't make other people happy. We all have
the seeds of compassion, forgiveness, joy, and nonfear in us. If
we're constantly trying to avoid suffering, there is no way for
these seeds to grow.

82
Something to Believe In
MINDFULNESS IS something we can believe in. To believe in
mindfulness is safe, and not at all abstract. When we drink a
glass of water and know that we are drinking a glass of water,
mindfulness is there. When we sit, walk, stand, or breathe, and
know that we are sitting, walking, standing, or breathing, we
touch the seed of mindfulness in us, and after a few days, our
mindfulness will grow quite strong.

83
A Deeper View of Life
THE WORK OF acknowledging everything in mindfulness leads us
to a deeper view of what life is. It is very important to
understand that impermanence is not a negative aspect of life.
Impermanence is the very basis of life. If what exists were not
impermanent, no life could continue. If a grain of corn were not
impermanent, it could not become a corn plant. If a tiny child
were not impermanent, she could not grow into an adult.
Life is impermanent, but that does not mean that it is not
worth living. It is precisely because of its impermanence that
we value life so dearly. Therefore we must know how to live
each moment deeply and use it in a responsible way. If we are
able to live the present moment completely, we will not feel
regret later. We will know how to care for those who are close
to us and how to bring them happiness. When we accept that
all things are impermanent, we will not be incapacitated by
suffering when things decay and die. We can remain peaceful
and content in the face of continuity and change, prosperity
and decline, success and failure.

84
Conscious Breathing
BREATHING AND knowing that we are breathing is a basic
practice. No one can be truly successful in the art of meditating
without going through the door of breathing. To practice
conscious breathing is to open the door to stopping and looking
deeply in order to enter the domain of concentration and
insight. The meditation master Tang Hoi said that Anapanasati
[being aware of breathing] is the great vehicle offered by the
Buddha to living beings.
Conscious breathing is the way into any sort of meditative
concentration. Conscious breathing also leads us to the basic
realization of the impermanence, emptiness, interdependent
origination, selflessness, and nonduality of all that is. It is true
that we can practice stopping and looking deeply without using
conscious breathing, but conscious breathing is the safest and
surest path we can follow.

85
Mind and Body as One
WHEN BODY AND mind are together, you are fully present. You are
fully alive and you can touch the wonders of life that are
available in the here and the now. So you practice not only with
your mind but with your body. Body and mind should be
experienced as one thing, not two. On that ground, you see that
everything you are looking for is already there.

86
Everything We Do Brings Joy
BRUSHING OUR teeth, cooking our breakfast, walking to the
meditation hall-everything we do, every step, every breath
should bring joy and happiness to us. Life is already full of
suffering; we don't need to create more.

87
The Ocean
SUPPOSE WE ARE looking at the ocean. On the surface we see
waves rising and falling. From the point of view of the waves,
there is birth and death, high and low, rising and falling. There
are distinctions between waves.
But each wave is made of a substance called "water." It is a
wave, but at the same time, it is water. Concepts such as birth
and death, higher and lower, rising and falling apply only to the
waves, which represent the historical dimension, and do not
apply to the water itself, the ultimate dimension.

88
The Deepest Relief
WE COME TO the practice of meditation seeking relief from our
suffering, and meditation can teach us how to transform our
suffering and obtain basic relief. But the deepest kind of relief
is the realization of nirvana.

89
An Invitation from the Buddha
WE LIVE IN A TIME when everyone is too caught up in the
preoccupations of everyday life, and we do not have enough
time to live in suchness, with mindfulness. We do not take the
time to touch things in depth, to discover the true nature of
life. You are invited to use your intelligence, your time, and
your resources to taste this timeless meditation that was
handed down to us by our original teacher, the Buddha.

90
Remember Their Impermanence
WHEN WE CAN envision the death of one we love, we are able to
let go of anger and reproachfulness toward that person. We
learn to live in a sweeter way with those we love, to look after
them and to make them happy. Our awareness of
impermanence keeps thoughtless words and actions about
those we love from invading our daily lives. We learn how to
avoid hurting the ones most important to us, and avoid sowing
seeds of suffering in ourselves and in them.

91
The Practice of Nonpractice
IF YOU STRUGGLE during your sitting meditation or walking
meditation, you are not doing it right. The Buddha said, "My
practice is the practice of nonpractice." That means a lot. Give
up all struggle. Allow yourself to be, to rest.

92
Don't Take Sides
RECONCILIATION MEANS leaving behind our dualistic view and our
tendency to want to punish the other person. Reconciliation
opposes all forms of ambition, but reconciliation doesn't take
sides. Most of us want to take sides in a conflict. We distinguish
right from wrong based on partial evidence or hearsay. We
think we need indignation in order to act. But even legitimate,
righteous indignation isn't enough. Our world doesn't lack
people who are willing to throw themselves into action! What
we need are people who are capable of loving and not taking
sides so that they can embrace the whole of reality.
We have to continue to practice mindfulness and
reconciliation until we can see the bodies of hungry children as
our own, until the pain in the bodies of all species is our own.
Then we will have realized nondiscrimination, real love. Then
we can look at all beings with the eyes of compassion, and we
can do the real work of helping to alleviate suffering.

93
The Spiritual Dimension
WE HAVE TO practice peace in our corporations, our cities, and
our schools. Schoolteachers have to practice peace, and teach
their students how to practice peace. The presidents of
countries or the heads of political parties must practice peace,
must pray for peace in their body and mind, before they can be
effective in asking other prime ministers and heads of state to
join them in making peace. Ideally each peace conference
would begin with walking meditation and sitting meditation.
And someone would be there to guide the total relaxation in
order to remove tension, anger, and fear in body and mind.
That is bringing the spiritual dimension into our political and
social life.

94
Limitless Life
A MULTITUDE OF phenomena is present in our life, just as we
ourselves are present in many different phenomena. We are
life, and life is limitless. Perhaps one can say that we are only
alive when we live the life of the world, and so live the
sufferings and joys of others. The suffering of others is our own
suffering, and the happiness of others is our own happiness. If
our life has no limits, the assembly of the five aggregates
(skandhas) that makes up our self also has no limits. The
impermanent character of the universe, the successes and
failures of life, can no longer manipulate us. When you have
seen the reality of interdependence and entered deeply into its
reality, nothing can oppress you any longer.

95
What Is Your True Face?
WE CANNOT SAY the Buddha is alive or dead. Reality transcends
birth, death, production, and destruction. "What was your face
before your parents were born?" This is an invitation to find
your true self that isn't subject to birth and death.

96
Generations of Suffering
WITH PRACTICE, WE can see that our wounded child is not only us.
Our wounded child may represent several generations. Our
mother may have suffered throughout her life. Our father may
have suffered. Perhaps our parents weren't able to look after
the wounded child in themselves. So when we're embracing the
wounded child in us, we're embracing all the wounded children
of our past generations. This practice is not a practice for
ourselves alone, but for numberless generations of ancestors
and descendants.

97
A Solid Reality
WHEN YOU BREATHE in, you bring all of yourself together, body
and mind; you become one. Equipped with that energy of
mindfulness and concentration, you may take a step. And if you
can take one mindful step, you can take another and another.
You have the insight that this is your true home-you are alive,
you are fully present, you are touching life as a reality. Your
true home is a solid reality that you can touch with your feet,
with your hands, and with your mind.

98
Live Vigorously
MINDFULNESS PRACTICE is not an evasion or an escape. It means
entering vigorously into life-with the strength generated by
the energy of mindfulness. Without this freedom and
concentration, there is no happiness.

99
Like a Pebble in the River
PLEASE, WHEN YOU practice meditation, don't make any effort.
Allow yourself to be like a pebble at rest. The pebble is resting
at the bottom of the river, and the pebble does not have to do
anything. While you are walking, you are resting. While you are
sitting, you are resting.

100
Nothing to Attain
THE HEART SUTRA says that there is "nothing to attain." We
meditate not to attain enlightenment, because enlightenment is
already in us. We don't have to search anywhere. We don't
need a purpose or a goal. We don't practice in order to obtain
some high position. In aimlessness, we see that we do not lack
anything, that we already are what we want to become, and our
striving just comes to a halt. We are at peace in the present
moment, just seeing the sunlight streaming through our
window or hearing the sound of the rain. We don't have to run
after anything. We can enjoy every moment. People talk about
entering nirvana, but we are already there. Aimlessness and
nirvana are one.

101
This Is Your Time
THIS IS YOUR OWN time. This spot where you sit is your own spot.
It is on this very spot and in this very moment that you can
become enlightened. You don't have to sit beneath a special
tree in a distant land. Practice like this for a few months, and
you will begin to know a profound and renewing delight.

102
Like the Moon in the Sky
WE SHOULD BE free to experience the happiness that just comes
to us without our having to seek it. If you are a free person,
happiness can come over you just like that! Look at the moon.
It travels in the sky completely free, and this freedom produces
beauty and happiness. I am convinced that happiness is not
possible unless it is based on freedom. If you are a free woman,
if you are a free man, you will enjoy happiness. But if you are a
slave, even if only the slave of an idea, happiness will be very
difficult for you to achieve. That is why you should cultivate
freedom, including freedom from your own concepts and ideas.
Let go of your ideas, even if abandoning them is not easy.

103
A Garden of Poems
ONE DAY IN New York City, I met a Buddhist scholar and I told
her about my practice of mindfulness in the vegetable garden. I
enjoy growing lettuce, tomatoes, and other vegetables, and I
like to spend time gardening every day.
She said, "You shouldn't spend your time growing vegetables.
You should spend more time writing poems. Your poems are so
beautiful. Everyone can grow lettuce, but not everyone can
write poems like you do."
I told her, "If I don't grow lettuce, I can't write poems."

104
The Stream of Life
IF WE LOOK INTO one cell of our body or one cell of our
consciousness, we recognize the presence of all the
generations of ancestors in us. Our ancestors are not only
human beings. Before human beings appeared, we were other
species. We have been trees, plants, grasses, minerals, a
squirrel, a deer, a monkey, and one-celled animals. All these
generations of ancestors are present in each cell of our body
and mind. We are the continuation of this stream of life.

105
In the Here, In the Now
BREATHING IN, repeat "In the here, in the here." Breathing out,
repeat "In the now, in the now." Although these are different
words, they mean exactly the same thing: I have arrived in the
here. I have arrived in the now. I am home in the here. I am
home in the now.
When you practice like that, you practice stopping. Stopping
is the basic Buddhist practice of meditation. You stop running.
You stop struggling. You allow yourself to rest, to heal, to calm.

106
Worrying
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.

107
Water the Right Seeds
THE SEEDS OF negativity are always there, but very positive
seeds also exist, such as the seeds of compassion, tolerance,
and love. These seeds are all there in the soil, but without rain
they cannot manifest. Our practice is to recognize and water
the positive seeds. If you recognize the seed of compassion in
yourself, you should make sure that it is watered several times
every day.

108
More Difficult to Cure
IF WE'RE AWARE that the self is always made of nonself elements,
we will never be enslaved by or afraid of the notion of self or
nonself. But if the notion of self is harmful or dangerous, the
notion of nonself may be even more dangerous. Clinging to the
notion of self is not good, but clinging to the notion of nonself is
worse because it is more difficult to cure.

109
A Mindful Breakfast
EVEN A DAILY HABIT like eating breakfast, when done as a
practice, can be powerful. It generates the energy of
mindfulness and concentration that makes life authentic. When
we prepare breakfast, breakfast making can also be a practice.
We can be really alive, fully present, and very happy during
breakfast making. We can see making breakfast as mundane
work or as a privilege-it just depends on our way of looking.
The cold water is available. The hot water is available. The
soap is available. The kettle is available. The fire is available.
The food is available. Everything is there to make our
happiness a possibility.

110
Empty of What?
EMPTINESS ALWAYS means empty of something. A cup is empty of
water. A bowl is empty of soup. We are empty of a separate,
independent self. We cannot be by ourselves alone. We can only
inter-be with everything else in the cosmos. The practice is to
nourish the insight into emptiness all day long. Wherever we
go, we touch the nature of emptiness in everything we contact.
We look deeply at the table, the blue sky, our friend, the
mountain, the river, our anger, and our happiness, and see that
these are all empty of a separate self. When we touch these
things deeply, we see the interbeing and interpenetrating
nature of all that is. Emptiness does not mean nonexistence. It
means interdependent coarising, impermanence, and nonself.

111
Taking Care of the Future
THE FUTURE IS being made out of the present, so the best way to
take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.
This is logical and clear. Spending a lot of time speculating and
worrying about the future is totally useless. We can only take
care of our future by taking care of the present moment,
because the future is made out of only one substance: the
present. Only if you are anchored in the present can you
prepare well for the future.

112
Direct to You from the Buddha
"BREATHING IN, I know that I am breathing in." Let me remind
you that this practice comes to us directly from the Buddha.
You are free of any intention to judge, find fault, reject, or
cling, and you maintain that freedom in relation to whatever is
happening. When you get angry or depressed, it is the same.
You simply recognize what is there-anger, depression, and so
forth-without any sense of disapproval or rejection. If you
recognize emotion as existing in the moment, you will not feel
upset. There is no battle to win or lose-this is Buddhist
meditation.

113
The Beautiful Earth
THE EARTH IS so beautiful. We are beautiful also. We can allow
ourselves to walk mindfully, touching the earth, our wonderful
mother, with each step. We don't need to wish our friends,
"Peace be with you." Peace is already with them. We only need
to help them cultivate the habit of touching peace in each
moment.

114
When Mind Is Elsewhere
IN OUR DAILY LIFE, we lose ourselves all the time. The body is
here, but the mind is somewhere else-in the past, in the
future, carried away by anger, jealousy, fear, and so on. The
mind is not really present with the body. We are not really here.
To be truly here, we have to bring the body back to the mind,
and the mind back to the body. We have to bring about what is
called the "unity of body and mind." This is very important in
Buddhist meditation. Often, the body and the mind go in
different directions, and so we are not fully here. Therefore, we
have to do what is necessary for them to come back together
again. Buddhism teaches us methods for doing this, such as
mindfulness of the breath.

115
Be a Happy Formation
THE "I" IS MADE up of the body and mind (namarupa in Sanskrit).
The physical form is body, and all the other elements
(skandhas) are mind. When we look deeply into these five
elements, we do not see any absolute, permanent identity. They
are impermanent. If you practice in such a way that harmony is
established in the realm of the five elements, then joy, peace,
and happiness will be possible. Through breathing, through
bringing your mind back to your body, through the method of
deep looking, you will reestablish harmony and peace in the
realm of the five elements. You will become a happy formation,
pleasing to encounter, and you will be able to bring happiness
to the living beings around you.

116
Be Worthy of Your Food
IN MY MONASTIC TRADITION, we practice the Five Contemplations
before eating. The second Contemplation is, "May we eat with
mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive this
food." I think the best way to make ourselves worthy of this
food is to eat it mindfully. The whole cosmos has come together
to make this food available, and someone has spent an hour or
more preparing the food. It would be a pity if we didn't eat it in
mindfulness.

117
Still Water
HAVE YOU EVER seen yourself in a mirror that distorts the image?
Your face is long, your eyes are huge, and your legs are really
short. Don't be like that mirror. It is better to be like the still
water on the mountain lake. We often do not reflect things
clearly, and we suffer because of our wrong perceptions. When
we see things or listen to other people, we often don't see
clearly or really listen. We see and hear our projections and our
prejudices.
We need to make our water still if we want to receive reality
as it is. If you feel agitated, don't do or say anything. Just
breathe in and out until you are calm enough. Then ask your
friend to repeat what he has said. This will avoid a lot of
damage. Stillness is the foundation of understanding and
insight. Stillness is strength.

118
Opening the Door of Communication
TO MEDITATE IS to look deeply into the nature of things, including
our own nature and the nature of the person in front of us.
When we see the true nature of that person, we discover his or
her difficulties, aspirations, suffering, and anxieties. We can sit
down, hold our partner's hand, look deeply at him, and say,
"Darling, do I understand you enough? Do I water your seeds of
suffering? Do I water your seeds of joy? Please tell me how I
can love you better." If we say this from the bottom of our
heart, he may begin to cry, and that is a good sign. It means the
door of communication may be opening.

119
Freedom from Despair
FREEDOM IS THE basis of all happiness. Without freedom, there is
no happiness. This means freedom from despair, freedom from
resentment, freedom from jealousy and fear. Genuine practice
is practice that helps you become freer and more solid. Every
step you take, every breath you take, every minute of sitting
meditation, and every bowl you wash should give you more
solidity and freedom.

120
Mindfulness of the Mind
TO TAKE HOLD of your mind, you must practice mindfulness of the
mind. You must know how to observe and recognize the
presence of every feeling and thought that arises in you. The
Zen master Thuong Chieu wrote, "If the practitioner knows his
own mind clearly, he will obtain results with little effort. But if
he does not know anything about his own mind, all of his effort
will be wasted." If you want to know your own mind, there is
only one way: to observe and recognize everything about it.
This must be done at all times, during your day-to-day life no
less than during the hour of meditation.

121
The External World
EVERY OBJECT of the mind is itself mind.

122
Tasting True Liberation
EVERYONE WE CHERISH will, someday, get sick and die. If we do
not practice the meditation on emptiness, when those things
happen, we will be overwhelmed. Concentration on emptiness
is a way of staying in touch with life as it is, but it has to be
practiced and not just talked about. We observe our body and
see all the causes and conditions that have brought it to be-
our parents, our country, the air, and even future generations.
We go beyond time and space, me and mine, and taste true
liberation. If we only study emptiness as a philosophy, it will
not be a door of liberation. Emptiness is a door of liberation
when we penetrate it deeply, and we realize interdependent
coarising and the interbeing nature of everything that is.

123
Our Mother
OUR MOTHER IS the person who first teaches us love, the most
important subject in life. Without my mother, I could never
have known how to love. Thanks to her, I can love my
neighbors. Thanks to her, I can love all living beings. Through
her, I acquired my first notions of understanding and
compassion. Mother is the foundation of all love, and many
religious traditions recognize this and pay deep honor to a
maternal figure, such as the Virgin Mary or the goddess Kuan
Yin. An infant barely has to open her mouth to cry before her
mother is already running to the cradle. Mother is a gentle and
sweet spirit who makes unhappiness and worries disappear.
When the word mother is uttered, already we feel our heart
overflowing with love.

124
Nourish Yourself
THE BUDDHA advises us to create the feeling of joy and
happiness in order to nourish ourselves before we deal with the
painful feelings. Just as a surgeon may judge that a patient is
too weak to undergo surgery, and recommend that the patient
first get some rest and nourishment so she can bear the
surgery, so we need to strengthen our foundation of joy and
happiness before focusing on our suffering.

125
Orange Meditation
TAKE THE TIME to eat an orange in mindfulness. If you eat an
orange in forgetfulness, caught in your anxiety and sorrow, the
orange is not really there. But if you bring your mind and body
together to produce true presence, you can see that the orange
is a miracle. Peel the orange. Smell the fruit. See the orange
blossoms in the orange, and the rain and the sun that have
gone through the orange blossoms. The orange tree has taken
several months to bring this wonder to you. Put a section in
your mouth, close your mouth mindfully, and with mindfulness
feel the juice coming out of the orange. Taste the sweetness.
Do you have the time to do so? If you think you don't have time
to eat an orange like this, what are you using that time for? Are
you using your time to worry, or using your time to live?

126
Mental Formations
IN THE PRACTICE of Buddhism, we see that all mental formations
-such as compassion, love, fear, sorrow, and despair-are
organic in nature. We don't need to be afraid of them, because
transformation is possible. Just by having this deep insight into
the organic nature of mental formations, you become a lot
more solid, a lot calmer and more peaceful. With just a smile,
and mindful breathing, you can start to transform them.

127
The Pleasures of Practice
THE PRACTICE SHOULD be enjoyable and pleasant. The elements
called "joy" and "pleasure," mudita and priti in Sanskrit, are a
very important part of meditation. If you are suffering during
meditation, your practice is not correct. Practice should be
enjoyable and pleasant. It should be full of joy.

128
Peace Is Contagious
IF YOU HAVE BEEN able to embrace your in-breath and your outbreath with tenderness, you know that they in turn embrace
your body and your mind. If you have practiced meditation, you
have already discovered this. Peace is contagious. Happiness is
also contagious.

129
Take Back Your Sovereignty
AFTER WALKING mindfully for a few minutes, you will see that you
are much more solid. The past and the future can no longer
grab you and pull you away from life. As a result, you are much
more yourself. You have more sovereignty. Taking back your
sovereignty is the practice. You are more solid and more free.

130
Appreciating Simple Joys
PLEASE TAKE the hand of your little boy or little girl and walk
slowly to the park. You may be surprised to notice that while
you are enjoying the sunshine, the trees, and the birds, your
child feels a little bored. Young people today get bored easily.
They are used to television, hand-held video games, war toys,
loud music, and other kinds of excitement. We adults too try to
fill our loneliness with these kinds of things, and all of us suffer.
We have to teach ourselves and our children how to
appreciate the simple joys that are available. This may not be
easy in our complex, distracted society, but it is essential for
our survival. Sitting on the grass with your little boy or girl,
point out the tiny yellow and blue flowers that grow among the
grasses, and contemplate these miracles together. Peace
education begins on this occasion.

131
Human Progress
IF THE HUMAN species has been able to make any progress, it is
because of our heart of love and compassion. We need to learn
from compassionate beings how to develop the practice of deep
observation for the sake of others. Then others will be able to
learn from us the way to live in the present, and see the
impermanent and selfless nature of all that is. This insight will
lighten suffering.

132
Unlocking the Door of Reality
THE TEACHINGS OF impermanence and nonself were offered by
the Buddha as keys to unlock the door of reality. We have to
train ourselves to look in a way so that we know when we touch
one thing, we touch everything. We have to see that the one is
in the all, and the all is in the one. We touch not only the
phenomenal aspects of reality but the ground of being. Things
are impermanent and without self. They have to undergo birth
and death. But if we touch them very deeply, we touch the
ground of being that is free from birth and death, free from
permanence and impermanence, self and nonself.

133
Where the Buddhas Live
THE ADDRESS OF the buddhas and the bodhisattvas is "here and
now." That is the address of happiness, the address of life. The
Buddha said, "Life is accessible only in the present moment."
Life with all its wonders is accessible right now. So we train in
coming back to the present moment. When you are sitting on
your meditation cushion, you are established in the present
moment. At that moment, you touch life deeply. During walking
meditation, you do the same thing. Each step brings you back
to your true home, the home of your spiritual ancestors-the
present moment. It is in the present moment that life, peace,
joy, happiness, and well-being are possible.

134
Our Children
WE ARE IN our children. We have transmitted ourselves entirely
to them. Our sons, our daughters are our continuation. Our
son, our daughter is us. And they will carry us far into the
future. If we have the time to love our children with
compassion and understanding, they will benefit from that and
make the future better for themselves, their children, and
future generations.

135
As Concentration Grows
IF WE ARE concentrated, life is deep, and we have more joy and
stability. We can drive mindfully, we can cut carrots mindfully,
we can shower mindfully. When we do things this way,
concentration grows. When concentration grows, we gain
insight into our life.

136
Feed Your Love, Not Your Suffering
NOTHING CAN survive without food, not even suffering. No
animal or plant can survive without food. In order for our love
to survive, we have to feed it. If we don't feed it, or we feed it
the wrong kind of nutrients, our love will die. In a short time,
our love can turn into hate. Our suffering, our depression also
needs food to survive. If our depression refuses to go away, it's
because we keep feeding it daily. We can look deeply into the
source of nutrition that is feeding our suffering.

137
Images of the Past
IF WE HAVE BEEN abused as a child, almost anything we see or
hear can bring us back to that image of being abused. Being so
constantly in touch with these images of the past can give rise
to feelings of fear, anger, and despair. We call this
"inappropriate attention" (Sanskrit: ayoniso manaskara)
because it takes us away from the present moment and into a
place of old suffering. It's very important that whenever our
attention is brought to that place, to that kind of image, we
have ways of dealing with the sorrow, fear, and suffering that
arise.
When suffering arises, our practice is to breathe in and out,
and say, "Breathing in, I know that suffering is in me."
Recognizing and embracing the mental formation is our
practice. With the energy of mindfulness, we recognize that our
old suffering is only an image; it's not reality. And we can see
that life with all its wonders is here, that living happily in the
present moment is possible, and then we can change the whole
situation.

138
I Think, Therefore . . .
DESCARTES SAID, "I think, therefore I am." In light of the
Buddha's teaching, you might say, "I think, therefore I am . . .
not here." You are lost in your thinking, so you are really not
here. For you to truly be here, thinking has to stop. As you are
practicing mindfulness of the breath, the object of your
attention is simply the breath. You stop thinking about the past,
the future, your pain, your plans, and so forth, and you start to
be really here, body and mind united.

139
Engaged Buddhism
ENGAGED BUDDHISM means engagement not only in social action,
but in daily life. The object of this practice is joy in everyday
life, which is freedom. We should use our time with a great deal
of intelligence, because time is not only money; it is much more
precious than that. It is life. A day is twenty-four hours long: do
you know how to manage it? You are intelligent and have lots of
different talents, but do you know how to manage your days?
You must invest yourself 100 percent in organizing the days
that are given to you to live. You can do it.

140
Begin Immediately
THERE IS A LOT that needs to be done in society-work against
war, social injustice, and so on. But first we have to come back
to our own territory and make sure that peace and harmony
are reigning there. Until we do that, we cannot do anything for
society. Let us begin immediately.
What I recommend for all of us is to come back to ourselves
and take care of the little boy or the little girl who inhabits the
depths of our wounded souls. Then we will be calmer, more
understanding and loving, and the environment will begin to
change. Other people will benefit from our presence, and we
will be able to influence them and our society.

141
When We're Hurt
WHEN WE'RE HURT, there are two ways to think. We can think in a
way that makes us angrier and want to retaliate. Or we can try
to calm ourselves, touch our compassion and understanding,
and give ourselves a peaceful mind. This way helps us see that
the other person also suffers, and then our anger will dissipate.

142
False Views
PEOPLE NORMALLY CUT reality into compartments, and so are
unable to see the interdependence of all phenomena. To see
one in all and all in one is to break through the great barrier
that narrows one's perception of reality, a barrier that
Buddhism calls "the attachment to the false view of the self."
Attachment to the false view of the self means belief in the
presence of unchanging entities that exist on their own. To
break through this false view is to be liberated from every sort
of fear, pain, and anxiety.

143
Everyone Smiles
EVERY TIME WE SMILE, all the generations of our ancestors, our
children, and the generations to come-all of whom are within
us-smile too. We practice not just for ourselves, but for
everyone, and the stream of life continues.

144
Go Back to the Body
BREATHING MINDFULLY takes our mind back to our breath and, if
we continue, to our whole body. We go back to our body and
reconcile with it. We get to know what's going on in our body,
the wrongs we have done, the conflicts we're having, and we'll
know what to do and what not to do in order to be on good
terms with our body. With mindful breathing, we come to
recognize our body as our home. We might say:
Breathing in, I am aware of my body.
Breathing out, I smile to my whole body.

145
Conditions Are Favorable
WHEN WE FIRST learn about the teachings on awakening, we
think these teachings are new to us. But we already have the
seed of awakening within us. Our teacher and our friends on
the path only provide the opportunity for us to touch that seed
and help it grow.
There are many healthy and wholesome seeds already within
our consciousness. With the help of a teacher and a community
of practitioners, we can come back to ourselves and touch
them. Having access to a teacher and a Sangha are the
favorable conditions that allow our seed of awakening to grow.

146
Skillful Dharma
THE DHARMA IS like a powerful lamp, helping people to see
deeply into their situation and releasing them from suffering.
When a teaching touches real concerns, real suffering, it can
help dissolve the obstacles and difficulties that exist in the
mind of the listener. When you hear a Dharma talk that is
appropriate in these two ways, faithful to both the true
teaching and the actual conditions and situation of the
listeners, you have the feeling that it is directed to you
personally. It is as if the teacher has seen right into your heart,
and is speaking to you and you alone. When many people have
this feeling, that is the mark of a skillful Dharma talk.

147
Lost in Thought
IN DAILY LIFE, we are often lost in thought. We get lost in regrets
about the past, and fears about the future. We get lost in our
plans, our anger, and our anxiety. At such moments, we cannot
really be here for ourselves. We are not really here for life.
Practice makes it possible for us to be free-to rid ourselves
of these obstacles and establish ourselves firmly in the present
moment. Practice gives us methods we can use to help us live
fully in the present.

148
Fearless Bodhisattvas
BODHISATTVAS ARE those who have penetrated into the reality of
no birth and no death. That is why they are fearless, day and
night. With that freedom, they can do a lot to help those who
are suffering. We can become a buddha only by being in the
world of suffering and afflictions. And when we are free, we
can ride on the waves of birth and death without fear, helping
those who are drowning in the ocean of suffering.

149
When Strong Emotions Arise
WHEN OUR MIND is carried away by strong pain, it helps to go
back to our relaxed and peaceful in-breath and out-breath.
Eventually, when our painful feeling comes back, we accept it
as it is, instead of letting it carry us away and make us more
agitated. We don't fight the painful feeling because we know it
is part of us, and we don't want to fight ourselves. Pain,
irritation, and jealousy are all part of us. As they arise, we can
calm them by going back to our in-breath and out-breath. Our
peaceful breathing will calm those strong emotions.

150
The Arhat
IN OUR SOCIETY, we're inclined to see doing nothing as something
negative, even evil. But when we lose ourselves in activities, we
diminish our quality of being. We do ourselves a disservice. It's
important to preserve ourselves, to maintain our freshness and
good humor, our joy and compassion. In Buddhism we cultivate
aimlessness, and in fact in Buddhist tradition the ideal person,
an arhat or a bodhisattva, is a businessless person-someone
with nowhere to go and nothing to do. People should learn how
to just be there, doing nothing.

151
Every Breath You Take
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE IS not just sitting and meditating. Practice is
looking, thinking, touching, drinking, eating, and talking. Every
act, every breath, and every step can be practice and can help
us to become more ourselves.

152
The Biggest Obstacle
OFTEN IT IS OUR own knowledge that is the biggest obstacle to us
touching suchness. That is why it's very important to learn how
to release our own views. Knowledge is the obstacle to
knowledge. If you are dogmatic in your way of thinking, it is
very difficult to receive new insights, to conceive of new
theories and understandings about the world.

153
The Habit of Hurrying
SUPPOSE YOU HAVE the habit of getting into a hurried state while
doing such things as shopping or cooking. With mindfulness
you recognize that you are rushing around and knocking things
over, trying to finish quickly. Then you realize that the energy
of being in a hurry has manifested itself. So you breathe in and
out mindfully, and you say, "My dear habit energy, here you are
again." And as soon as you recognize it, it will lose its strength.
If the energy comes back again, you do this again, and it will
continue to lose its strength. You don't have to fight the energy,
just recognize it and smile at it. Every time you recognize it, it
becomes a little bit weaker, until eventually it can't control you
anymore.

154
Look Deeply into Your Perceptions
IN MOST CASES, our perceptions are inaccurate, and we suffer
because we are too sure of them. Look at your perceptions and
smile to them. Breathe, look deeply into their nature, and you
will see that there are many errors in them. For example, that
person you are thinking about has no desire to harm you, but
you think that he does. It is important not to be a victim of your
false perceptions. If you are the victim of your false
perceptions, you will suffer a lot. You have to sit down and look
at perceptions very calmly. You have to look into the deepest
part of their nature in order to detect what is false about them.

155
Effortless and Enjoyable
MINDFULNESS PRACTICE should be enjoyable, not work or effort.
Do you have to make an effort to breathe in? You don't need to
make an effort. To breathe in, you just breathe in. Suppose you
are with a group of people contemplating a beautiful sunset. Do
you have to make an effort to enjoy the beautiful sunset? No,
you don't have to make any effort. You just enjoy it.
The same thing is true with your breath. Allow your breath to
take place. Become aware of it and enjoy it. Effortlessness.
Enjoyment. The same thing is true with walking mindfully.
Every step you take is enjoyable. Every step helps you to touch
the wonders of life, in yourself and around you. Every step is
peace. Every step is joy. That is possible.

156
Good against Evil
DO NOT TURN yourself into a battlefield, with good fighting
against evil. Both sides belong to you, the good and the evil.
Evil can be transformed into good, and vice versa.

157
A Strong Tree in the Storm
PICTURE A TREE in a storm. At the top of the tree, the small
branches and leaves are swaying violently in the wind. The tree
looks vulnerable, quite fragile-it seems it can break at any
time. But if you look at the trunk, you will see that the tree is
solid; and if you look down to its root structure, you will know
that the tree is deeply and firmly rooted in the soil. The tree is
quite strong. It can resist the storm.
We are also a kind of tree. Our trunk, our center, is just below
our navel. The zones of our thinking and our emotions are at
the levels of our head and chest. When we are taken hold of by
a strong emotion, like despair, fear, anger, or jealousy, we
should do our best to leave the zone of the storm and go down
to the valley to practice breathing in and out. If we stay in the
winds of the storm, it may be too dangerous. We can go for
refuge into the trunk, breathing in and out, aware of the rising
and falling of our abdomen.

158
Come Back to Yourself
MOST PEOPLE ARE afraid to come back to themselves, because
that means having to face the pain inside of them. With the
practice of mindfulness, the situation changes. We come back
to our pain, but now we are well equipped with the energy of
mindfulness that has been generated by mindful breathing and
by meditation. We use that source of energy to recognize and
embrace our pain.
This is very important. If you are unable to take care of
yourself, how can you take care of anyone else? How can you
take care of the person you love? When you are here for
yourself, when you have reestablished some basic order and
peace within yourself, then you can take care of the person you
love. It could be your son, your daughter, your partner, or your
friend. But if you are not able to be here for yourself, it will not
be possible for you to be here for them. That's why you must
come back to yourself.

159
A Healing Mantra
OUR BODY AND MIND are sustained by the cosmos. The clouds in
the sky nourish us; the light of the sun nourishes us. The
cosmos offers us vitality and love in every moment. Despite this
fact, some people feel isolated and alienated from the world. As
a bodhisattva, you can approach such a person, and with this
mantra you can open the door of his or her heart to the world
and to the love that is always happening: "Dear one, I know
that you are suffering a lot. I know this, and I am here for you,
just as the trees are here for you and the flowers are here for
you." The suffering is there, but something else is also there:
the miracle of life. With this mantra, you will help them to
realize this and open the door of their closed heart.

160
The Idea of Birth and Death
IT IS OUR IDEA of birth and death that takes away our peace and
happiness in everyday life. And it is meditation that will rid us
of the fear that is born from the idea of birth and death. This is
the virtue of deep looking in meditation. It helps you to see the
heart of reality very deeply. To touch the nature of interbeing is
to touch the very nature of no-death and no-birth.

161
Think Globally
WE MAY FEEL THAT we are incapable of touching the ultimate
dimension, but that is not correct. We have done so already.
The problem is how to do it more deeply and more frequently.
The phrase, "Think globally," for example, is in the direction of
touching the ultimate dimension. When we see things globally,
we have more wisdom and we feel much better. We are not
caught by small situations. When we see globally, we avoid
many mistakes, and we have a more profound view of
happiness and life.

162
The Work of Reconciliation
TO RECONCILE MEANS to bring peace and happiness to members
of our family, society, and other nations. To promote the work of
reconciliation, we have to refrain from aligning ourselves with
one party or another so that we understand both. This work
takes courage; we may be suppressed or even killed by those
we wish to help. After listening to both sides, we can tell each
side about the suffering of the other. This alone will bring about
greater understanding. Our society needs bodhisattvas who
can bridge the huge gaps of misunderstanding between people
of different religions, races, and cultures.

163
They Suffer Too
USUALLY WHEN WE SUFFER WE THINK we're the only person who
suffers, and that the other person is very happy. But in fact, it's
likely that the person who hurts us also has a lot of pain and
doesn't know how to handle his strong emotions. Breathing
with awareness, we generate our energy of mindfulness, and
we can have insight into how to handle our suffering and that
of the other person's suffering with compassion.

164
I Ask for Nothing Else
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.

165
Performing Miracles
THE ZEN MASTER Linji (Rinzai) said that the miracle is not to
walk on burning charcoal or in the thin air or on the water-the
miracle is just to walk on earth. You breathe in. You become
aware of the fact that you are alive. You are still alive and you
are walking on this beautiful planet. That is already performing
a miracle.

166
A Real Friendship
IN PRACTICING mindful breathing, we become a real friend to our
body, our emotions, our mind, and our perceptions. Only once
we've developed a real friendship with ourselves can we effect
some transformation within these different realms. If we want
to reconcile with our family or with friends who have hurt us,
we have to take care of ourselves first. If we're not capable of
listening to ourselves, how can we listen to another person? If
we don't know how to recognize our own suffering, it won't be
possible to bring peace and harmony into our relationships.

167
Touching the Ground of Being
WE HAVE TO nourish our insight into impermanence every day. If
we do, we will live more deeply, suffer less, and enjoy life much
more. Living deeply, we will touch the foundation of reality,
nirvana, the world of no-birth and no-death. Touching
impermanence deeply, we touch the world beyond permanence
and impermanence. We touch the ground of being, and see that
what we have called "being" and "nonbeing" are just notions.
Nothing is ever lost. Nothing is ever gained.

168
Very Easy
IT ONLY TAKES A few seconds of mindful breathing for your body
and mind to begin to come back together again. It is very easy.
A child can do it. You just concentrate on your in-breath and on
your out-breath. You don't think about anything else. The past,
the future, your worries, your anger, and your despair are not
there anymore. Only one thing is there: your in-breath and your
out-breath. Go ahead and enjoy breathing for twenty minutes,
just being here. You are here, and you have nothing to do
except enjoy mindful breathing.

169
The Beauty before You
WHEN YOU ARE looking at a sunset and are in contact with the
beauty of nature, practice mindful breathing. Touch deeply the
beauty that is before you. I am breathing in-what happiness! I
am breathing out-the sunset is lovely! Continue that way for a
few minutes.
Getting in touch with the beauty of nature makes life much
more beautiful, much more real, and the more mindful and
concentrated you are, the more deeply the sunset will reveal
itself to you. Your happiness is multiplied by ten, by twenty.
Look at a leaf or a flower with mindfulness, listen to the song of
a bird, and you will get much more deeply in touch with them.
After a minute of this practice, your joy will increase; your
breathing will become deeper and more gentle, and this
gentleness and depth will influence your body.

170
The Practice of Nonviolence
BUDDHIST PRACTICE IS based on nonviolence and nondualism. You
don't have to struggle with your breath. You don't have to
struggle with your body, or with your hate, or with your anger.
Treat your in-breath and out-breath tenderly, nonviolently, as
you would treat a flower. Later you will be able to do the same
thing with your physical body, treating it with gentleness,
respect, nonviolence, and tenderness. And when you are
dealing with pain, with a moment of irritation, or with a bout of
anger, you can learn to treat them in the same way.

171
Precious Gifts
YOUR MINDFUL BREATH and your smile will bring happiness to you
and to those around you. Even if you spend a lot of money on
gifts for everyone in your family, nothing you could buy them
can give as much true happiness as your gift of awareness,
breathing, and smiling, and these precious gifts cost nothing.

172
Mother and Child
WHEN YOU GROW up, you might believe that you and your mother
are two different people. But it's not really so. We're extensions
of our mother. We mistakenly believe that we're a different
person than our mother. We are a continuation of our mother
and father, and our ancestors as well.
Imagine a grain of corn we plant in the soil. Seven days later
it sprouts and begins to take the form of a cornstalk. When the
stalk has grown high, we won't see the kernel anymore. But the
kernel hasn't died. It's still there. Looking deeply, we can still
see the kernel in the stalk. The kernel and the stalk are not two
different entities; one is the continuation of the other. The stalk
is the continuation of the kernel in the direction of the future,
and the kernel is the continuation of the stalk in the direction
of the past. They are neither the same thing nor two different
things. You and your mother are not exactly the same person,
but you are not exactly two different people either. This is a
very important teaching. No one can be by himself or herself
alone. We have to inter-be, connected with everyone and
everything else.

173
Formations
WHEN CONDITIONS are sufficient, something manifests. That is
what we call a "formation." The flower is a formation, and so
are the clouds and the sun. I am a formation, and you are a
formation.

174
Free of Our Burdens
REAL HAPPINESS cannot exist when we are not free. Burdened by
so many ambitions, we are not able to be free. We are always
grasping at something; there are so many things we want to do
at the same time, and that is why we do not have the time to
live. We think that the burdens we carry are necessary for our
happiness, that if they are taken from us we will suffer.
However, if we look more closely, we shall see that the things
at which we grasp, the things that keep us constantly busy, are
in fact obstacles to our being happy. In letting go of them, we
learn that true happiness can only come by way of freedom, an
awakened life, and the practice of love and compassion.

175
Let Your Heart Bloom
IN THE SPRINGTIME, thousands of different kinds of flowers bloom.
Your heart can also bloom. You can let your heart open up to
the world. Love is possible-do not be afraid of it. Love is
indispensable to life, and if in the past you have suffered
because of love, you can learn how to love again.

176
Training for Happiness
LITTLE BY LITTLE you must train yourself for life, for happiness.
You probably received a college degree that you spent years
working for, and you thought that happiness would be possible
after you got it. But that was not true, because after getting the
degree and finding a job, you continued to suffer. You have to
realize that happiness is not something you find at the end of
the road. You have to understand that it is here, now.

177
The Indivisible Body of Reality
CONTEMPLATION on interdependence is a deep looking into all
phenomena in order to pierce through to their real nature, in
order to see them as part of the great body of reality, and in
order to see that the great body of reality is indivisible. It
cannot be cut into pieces that exist separately from each other.

178
The Energy of Mindfulness Will Protect You
THE ENERGY OF MINDFULNESS IS something concrete that can be
cultivated. When we practice walking mindfully, our solid,
peaceful steps cultivate the energy of mindfulness and bring us
back to the present moment. When we sit and follow our
breathing, aware of our in-and out-breath, we are cultivating
the energy of mindfulness.
When we have a meal in mindfulness, we invest all our being
in the present moment, and are aware of our food and of those
who are eating with us. We can cultivate the energy of
mindfulness while we walk, while we breathe, while we work,
while we wash the dishes or wash our clothes. A few days
practicing like this can increase the energy of mindfulness in
you, and that energy will help you, protect you, and give you
courage to go back to yourself, to see and embrace what is
there in your territory.

179
A Summary of the Path
MINDFULNESS BRINGS concentration. Concentration brings
insight. Insight liberates you from your ignorance, your anger,
your craving. When you are free from your afflictions,
happiness becomes possible. How can you be happy when you
are overloaded with anger, ignorance, and craving? That is why
the insight that can liberate you from these afflictions is the
key to happiness.

180
We Are Vast
WE ARE IN the habit of identifying ourselves with our bodies. The
idea that we are this body is deeply entrenched in us. But we
are not just this body; we are much more than that. The idea
that "This body is me and I am this body" is an idea we must
get rid of. If we do not, we will suffer a great deal. We are life,
and life is far vaster than this body, this concept, this mind.

181
A Baby Cries
SUPPOSE A MOTHER is working in the living room and she hears
her baby crying. Chances are, she puts down whatever she is
doing and goes to her baby's room. She picks up the baby and
holds it tenderly in her arms. This is exactly what we can do
when the energy of anger comes up. Our anger is our ailing
baby. We must embrace it in order to calm it.
The practitioner knows that her anger is not her enemy; her
anger is her suffering baby. She must take good care of her
baby, using the energy of mindfulness to embrace her anger in
the most tender way. She can say: "Breathing in, I know that
anger is in me. Breathing out, I am peacefully holding my
anger."

182
Inner Conflict
YOU DO NOT have to struggle against a desire. There is no need
for a battle within you. Mindfulness is something that embraces
and includes things like desire, that recognizes them with great
tenderness. Meditation is not about turning yourself into a
battlefield where one side fights the other, because the basis of
Buddhist meditation is nonduality. The habits of drinking
alcohol or getting angry are also you, and therefore you must
treat them with great tenderness and nonviolence. The
essential point is not to create conflict, a fight, within yourself.

183
Acts of Enlightenment
EVERY TIME WE make a mindful step, we are engaged in an act of
enlightenment. We can be enlightened about the fact that we
are making a step. Each step can have beauty in it. Washing a
dish can be an act of enlightenment. It's delightful to wash the
dishes!

184
The River of Feelings
FEELINGS ARE BORN, take shape, last for a few moments, and then
disappear. As with the physical form, birth and death of
feelings occur in every moment. In meditation, we look
mindfully at this river of feelings. We contemplate their arising,
their remaining, and their disappearance. We witness their
impermanence. When we have an unpleasant feeling, we say to
ourselves, "This feeling is in me, it will stay for a while, and
then it will disappear because it is impermanent." Just by
seeing the impermanence of feelings in this way, we suffer a lot
less.

185
The Gap
YOU HAVE A concept of yourself, but have you touched your true
self? Look deeply to try to overcome the gap between your
concept of reality and reality itself. Meditation helps us remove
concepts.

186
The First Noble Truth
THE BUDDHA TOLD us to recognize the First Noble Truth, the
truth of suffering, and to look deeply in order to discover the
Second Noble Truth, the cause of suffering. That is the only
way the Fourth Noble Truth, the path to transform suffering
into happiness, can reveal itself. So we have to emphasize the
role of suffering. If we are so afraid of suffering, we have no
chance.

187
Mindfulness Bell
WHEN I WAS A young monk in Vietnam, each village temple had a
big bell, like those in Christian churches in Europe and the
United States. Whenever the bell was invited to sound, all the
villagers would stop what they were doing and pause for a few
moments to breathe in and out in mindfulness. At Plum Village,
the community where I live in France, we do the same. Every
time we hear the bell, we go back to ourselves and enjoy our
breathing. When we breathe in, we silently say, "Listen, listen,"
and when we breathe out, we say, "This wonderful sound
brings me back to my true home."

188
Ideas of Happiness
IF THERE ARE things that are causing you to suffer, you have to
know how to let go of them. Happiness can be attained by
letting go, including letting go of your ideas about happiness.
You imagine that certain conditions are necessary to your
happiness, but deep looking will reveal to you that those
notions are the very things standing in the way of happiness
and are making you suffer.

189
The Apple Tree
HAVE A LOOK AT the apple tree in your yard. Look at it with
complete attention. It is truly a miracle. If you notice the apple
tree, you will take good care of it, and you too are part of its
miraculousness. Even after caring for it for only a week, its
leaves are already greener and shinier.
It is exactly the same with the people who are around you.
Under the influence of awareness, you become more attentive,
understanding, and loving, and your presence not only
nourishes you and makes you lovelier, it enhances them as well.
Our entire society can be changed by one person's peaceful
presence.

190
A Wonderful Opportunity
HOW CAN WE bring the practice of mindfulness to the widest
spectrum of society? How can we give birth to the greatest
number of people who are happy and who know how to teach
the art of mindful living to others? The number of people who
create violence is very great, while the number of people who
know how to breathe and create happiness is very small. Every
day gives us a wonderful opportunity to be happy ourselves and
to become a place of refuge for others.

191
Love Is Understanding
IN BUDDHISM, it is said that love and compassion are made out
of one substance, which is called "understanding." If you
understand, you can love. But if understanding is not there, it
is impossible for you to accept and love someone. Why did he
act that way? Why did he say those things? You should look
deeply into these questions, and then you will see the causes of
what you are dealing with. With this understanding, you stop
blaming and criticizing. Your compassion is born of your
understanding of the situation.

192
Return to Wisdom
THE PRACTICES OF mindful walking, mindful sitting, and mindful
breathing are our foundation. With our mindful breath and
mindful steps, we can produce the energy of mindfulness and
return to the awakened wisdom lying in each cell of our body.
That energy will embrace us and heal us.

193
Our Inheritance
WE CONTAIN ALL the beautiful qualities and actions of our
ancestors, and also all the painful qualities. Knowing this, we
can try our best to continue what is good and beautiful in our
ancestors, and we will practice to transform the violence and
pain passed down to us from so many generations. We know
that we practice peace not only for ourselves, but for the
benefit of all our ancestors and all our descendants.

194
You Don't Need to Be Someone Else
IF YOU PUT AN aim in front of you, you'll be running all your life,
and happiness will never be possible. Happiness is possible
only when you stop running, and cherish the present moment
and who you are. You don't need to be someone else; you're
already a wonder of life.

195
The Fire Consumes the Match
THE TEACHINGS OF IMPERMANENCE and nonself are tools you need
to work with, but you should not get caught in them. If you do,
impermanence becomes just another concept, and so does
nonself. These kinds of concepts are exactly what the Buddha
said we should get rid of. He said that nirvana is the complete
extinction of concepts, including the concepts of impermanence
and nonself. When you want to start a fire, you light a match,
and then the fire consumes the match. The teachings of
impermanence and nonself are like the match. If you practice
with intelligence and succeed in your practice, the match will
be consumed and you will be completely free.

196
A Relaxation Practice
WHEN YOU WALK in the hills or in a park or along a riverbank, you
can follow your breath with a half-smile blooming on your lips.
When you feel tired or irritated, you can lie down with your
arms at your sides, allowing all your muscles to relax,
maintaining awareness of just your breath and your smile.
Relaxing in this way is wonderful, and quite refreshing. You will
benefit a lot if you practice it several times a day.

197
Elegant Silence
DURING THE TIME you are practicing mindfulness, you stop
talking-not only the talking outside, but the talking inside. The
talking inside is the thinking, the mental discourse that goes on
and on and on inside. Real silence is the cessation of talking-
of both the mouth and of the mind. This is not the kind of
silence that oppresses us. It is a very elegant kind of silence, a
very powerful kind of silence. It is the silence that heals and
nourishes us.

198
Rituals
WHEN WE DO SOMETHING deeply and authentically, it becomes a
real ritual. When we pick up a glass of water and drink it, if
we're truly concentrated in the act of drinking, it is a ritual.
When we walk with all our being, investing 100 percent of
ourselves into making a step, mindfulness and concentration
become a reality. That step generates the energy of
mindfulness and concentration that makes life possible, deep,
and real. If we make a second step like that, we maintain that
concentration. Walking like that, it looks like we are performing
a rite. But in fact we're not performing; we're just living deeply
every moment of our life.

199
Driving Lesson
EVEN WHEN YOU ARE driving your car, you can practice. Take
advantage of that moment to cultivate mindfulness. In fact, you
can practice quite well while you are driving a car. Breathe in
and breathe out, and remain aware of everything that goes on
inside you when, for example, you come to a red light. You look
at the red light and you smile. The red light is not your enemy.
It is a friend who is helping you come back to yourself.

200
You Are a Positive Factor
CULTIVATE SOLIDITY. You are somebody; you are something. You
are a positive factor for your family, for society, for the world.
You have to recover yourself, to be yourself. You have to
become solid again. You can practice solidity in everyday life.
Every step, every breath you take should help you become
more solid. When you have solidity, freedom is there too.

201
The Work of All Meditators
WE HAVE NO need of a separate self or a separate existence. In
fact, nothing can exist by itself. We must inter-be with all
things. Look at a flower. It cannot exist by itself. It can only
inter-be with the whole cosmos. And that is true for you, too.
Getting rid of the concept of self is the work of all meditators,
because suffering is born from this concept.

202
Haunted by the Past
WHEN WE'RE HOLDING the mental formations of despair and
suffering, we can look and see that this has been born from
that; suffering is born because we are in touch with an image
from the past. The reality is that we are safe, and we have the
capacity to enjoy the wonders of life in the present moment.
When we recognize that our suffering is based on images
instead of current reality, then living happily in the present
moment becomes possible right away.

203
Use Time Wisely
HOW DO YOU use your time? You have to make a living, certainly,
and you have to support your loved ones. But do you make the
effort to arrange your life so you can do some deep looking?
That will bring you joy, freedom from fear, and great wellbeing. You must not let yourself drown in an ocean of fear and
suffering. There are among us people who have practiced deep
looking, and shared their insight with us. Take advantage of
that. Walk on the spiritual path that lets you touch the depths
of your being so that you can free yourself from fear, worry, and
despair.

204
Untying the Knots
IN BUDDHIST psychology, the word samyojana (Sanskrit) refers
to internal formations, fetters, or knots. When someone says
something unkind to us, for example, if we do not understand
why he said it and we become irritated, a knot will be tied in
us. The lack of understanding is the basis for every internal
knot. If we practice mindfulness, we can learn the skill of
recognizing a knot the moment it is tied in us and finding ways
to untie it. Internal formations need our full attention as soon
as they form, while they are still loosely tied, so that the work
of untying them will be easy.

205
All Breathe Together
WHEN WE TAKE a breath, we are light, calm, at ease. We breathe
in such a way that all generations of ancestors and descendants
are breathing with us. Only then are we breathing according to
the highest teachings. We just need a little mindfulness, a little
concentration, and then we can look deeply and see. At first we
can use the method of visualization to see all our ancestors
making a step with us. Gradually we don't need to visualize
anymore. With each step we take, we see it is the step of all
people in the past and future.

206
An Act of Love
A WORK OF ART can help people understand the nature of their
suffering, and have insight into how to transform the negative
and to develop the positive in themselves. Writing, making a
film, creating a work of art can be an act of love. That act of
love nourishes you and nourishes others. If you're happy, if you
know how to live deeply every moment of your life, then deep
understanding, joy, and compassion can come. Your art will
reflect this understanding and will share it with others.

207
Our Collective Wisdom
I BELIEVE THAT in America there are many people who are
awakened to the fact that violence cannot remove violence.
They realize there is no way to peace: peace itself is the way.
Those people must come together and voice their concern
strongly, and offer their collective wisdom to the nation.

208
Dear Buddha
OUR CONCEPTS ABOUT things prevent us from really touching
them. We have to destroy our notions if we want to touch the
real rose. When we ask, "Dear Buddha, are you a human
being?" it means we have a concept about what a human being
is. So the Buddha just smiles at us. It is his way of encouraging
us to transcend our concepts and touch the real being that he
is. A real being is quite different from a concept.

209
The Art of Creating Happiness
WE HAVE TO learn the art of creating happiness. If during your
childhood, you saw your parents do things that created
happiness in the family, you already know what to do. But many
of us didn't have these role models and don't know what to do.
The problem is not one of being wrong or right, but one of
being more or less skillful. Living together is an art. Even with
a lot of goodwill, you can still make the other person very
unhappy. The substance of the art of making others happy is
mindfulness. When you are mindful, you are more artful.

210
The Real Question
THE QUESTION IS not, how can we obtain love and understanding?
The question is whether we have the capacity of generating
love and understanding ourselves. If we do, we'll feel
wonderful, because these energies satisfy us and the people
around us at the same time. That is the love of the Buddha.
True love is like that too. Loving one person is really an
opportunity to learn to love all people. If you have the capacity
to love and to understand, you can do that now; you don't have
to wait. When we succeed in this, our worry and fear go away,
and we feel wonderful right away.

211
Healing Wrong Perceptions
ALL THE ENERGIES of anger, hatred, fear, and violence come from
wrong perceptions. Wrong perceptions result in a lot of anger,
mistrust, suspicion, hate, and terrorism. You cannot remove
wrong perceptions through punishment. You have to do it with
the tools of deep and compassionate listening and loving
speech. The practice of deep and compassionate listening and
loving speech can help to build harmony, can remove
discrimination, and can bring about the kind of insight that will
be liberating to our country and to our people.

212
The Heart of Life
WHEN YOU LOOK at the nature of things with concentration, you
discover that they are all impermanent. Everything is
constantly changing. Nothing has a permanent identity. This
impermanence is not a negative thing. Impermanence is the
very heart of life; it makes life possible. Reject impermanence,
and you reject life. It is because of impermanence that
everything is possible. Our hope lies in impermanence.

213
Our Baby Buddha
THERE IS A BABY buddha in our store consciousness, and we have
to give him or her a chance to be born. When we touch our
baby buddha-the seeds of understanding and love that are
buried within us-we become filled with bodhichitta, the mind
of enlightenment, the mind of love. From that moment on,
everything we do or say nourishes the baby buddha within us,
and we are filled with joy, confidence, and energy. According to
Mahayana Buddhism, awakening to our mind of love is the
moment the practice begins.

214
I Don't Need These Things
PERHAPS YOU ARE IN contact with too many negative elements.
You have looked at, listened to, and touched things that are
negative in nature, such as fear and despair. These negative
forces are everywhere. When you turn on the television, for
instance, you run the risk of ingesting harmful things, such as
violence, despair, or fear.
At that moment, you say to yourself with mindfulness, "I
don't need these things. I already have suffering, violence,
anger, and despair in me. I refuse to watch these programs. I
am going to seek out things that are refreshing in nature,
healing and helpful things. I will practice walking meditation. I
will make contact with the blue sky, with spring, with the song
of birds. I will play with my little girl, my little boy. I'll do those
kinds of things."

215
The Ever-Changing Body
WE NEED TO LEARN to see our physical form as a river. Our body
is not a static thing-it changes all the time. It is very
important to see our physical form as something impermanent,
as a river that is constantly changing. Every cell in our body is
a drop of water in that river. Birth and death are happening
continuously, in every moment of our daily life. We must live
every moment with death and life present at the same time.
Both death and life are happening at every instant in the river
of our physical body. We should train ourselves in this vision of
impermanence.

216
Holy Spirit
WHEN THE ENERGY of mindfulness is dwelling in you, Buddha is
dwelling in you. The energy of mindfulness is the energy of
Buddha. It is the equivalent of the Holy Spirit. Where the Holy
Spirit is, there is also understanding, life, healing, and
compassion. Where mindfulness is, true life, solidity, freedom,
and healing also manifest. We all have the ability to generate
this energy of mindfulness. Do walking meditation, breathe
mindfully, drink your tea mindfully, and cultivate this energy
that dwells in you, that illuminates you, and that makes life
possible.

217
Beyond Labels
AS HUMAN BEINGS we're exactly the same. But the many layers of
labels prevent other people from seeing you as a human being.
Thinking of yourself as or calling yourself a "Buddhist" can be a
disadvantage, because if you wear the title "Buddhist" this may
be an obstacle that prevents others from discovering the
human being in you. The same is true whether you are
Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. This can be an important part of
your identity, but it is not the whole of who you are. People are
caught in these notions and images, and they cannot recognize
each other as human beings. The practice of peeling away all
the labels so that the human being can be revealed is truly a
practice for peace.

218
Forgetfulness
MOST PEOPLE ARE FORGETFUL; they are not really there a lot of the
time. Their mind is caught in their worries, their fears, their
anger, and their regrets, and they are not mindful of being
there. That state of being is called "forgetfulness"-you are
there, but you are not there. You are caught in the past or in
the future. You are not there in the present moment, living your
life deeply. That is forgetfulness.
The opposite of forgetfulness is mindfulness. Mindfulness is
when you are truly there, mind and body together. You breathe
in and out mindfully, you bring your mind back to your body,
and you are there. When your mind is there with your body, you
are established in the present moment. Then you can recognize
the many conditions of happiness that are in you and around
you, and happiness just comes naturally.

219
What the Buddha Really Said
THE BUDDHA did not say, "You don't exist." He only said, "You
are without self." Your nature is nonself. We suffer, because we
think he's saying we don't exist. From one extreme we fall into
another extreme, but both extremes are just our notions. We
never experience reality. We only have these notions, and we
suffer because of them.

220
What Channel Will You Turn On?
EVEN THOUGH LIFE is hard, even though it is sometimes difficult
to smile, we have to try. Recently, one friend asked me, "How
can I force myself to smile when I am filled with sorrow? It isn't
natural." I told her she must be able to smile to her sorrow,
because we are more than our sorrow.
A human being is like a television set with millions of
channels. If we turn the Buddha on, we are the Buddha. If we
turn sorrow on, we are sorrow. If we turn a smile on, we really
are the smile. We can't let just one channel dominate us. We
have the seeds of everything in us, and we have to take the
situation in hand to recover our own sovereignty.

221
Embrace the Presence of the Other
PLEASE TRY THIS practice. You can practice mindfulness of the
breath for a minute or walk mindfully toward the person you
love most in the world. Then you are truly here, truly present.
You open your mouth and you utter the magic words of the
mantra: "Dear one, I am really here for you." You embrace the
presence of the other with the mindfulness that is within you.

222
A Very Naive Idea
MANY PEOPLE ASPIRE to go to a place where pain and suffering do
not exist, a place where there is only happiness. This is a rather
dangerous idea, for compassion is not possible without pain
and suffering. It is only when we enter into contact with
suffering that understanding and compassion can be born.
Without suffering, we do not have the opportunity to cultivate
compassion and understanding; and without understanding,
there can be no true love. So we should not imagine a place
where there is no suffering, where there is only happiness.
That would be a very naive idea.

223
Benefit from the Positive Elements
IF THE PRESENCE of the other is refreshing and healing to you,
keep hold of this presence and nourish yourself with it. If there
are negative things around you, you can always find something
that is healthy, refreshing, and healing, and with your
mindfulness you can recognize its presence in your life.
You need to recognize that these kinds of positive elements
exist and that you can benefit from their refreshing and helpful
presence. If you are facing a sunset, a marvelous spectacle,
give yourself a chance to be in touch with it. Give yourself five
minutes, breathing deeply, and you will be truly there. Touch
the beauty of nature in a deep way. That will do your body and
mind a great deal of good.

224
The Importance of Resting
RESTING IS THE first part of Buddhist meditation. Our mind as
well as our body needs to rest. The problem is that not many of
us know how to allow our body and mind to rest. We are always
struggling; struggling has become a kind of habit. We cannot
resist being active, struggling all the time. It is very important
to realize that we have the habit energy of struggling. We have
to be able to recognize a habit when it manifests itself because
if we know how to recognize our habit, it will lose its energy
and will not be able to push us anymore.

225
Precious Hours
ON THE WOODEN board outside of the meditation hall in Zen
monasteries, there is a four-line inscription. The last line is,
"Don't waste your life." Our life is made of days and hours, and
each hour is precious.

226
Manifest Miracles
CONCENTRATION IS the practice of happiness. There is no
happiness without concentration. When you eat an orange, try
to practice concentration. Eat it in such a way that pleasure,
joy, and happiness are possible the whole time. You look at the
orange, and breathe in such a way that it reveals itself as the
miracle it is. An orange is nothing less than a miracle. It is just
like you-you are also a miracle of life. You are a manifest
miracle.

227
Vipassana
THE PALI WORD vipassana (Sanskrit: vipashyana) means "to go
deeply into that object to observe it." When we are fully aware
of an object and observing it deeply the boundary between the
subject who observes and the object being observed gradually
dissolves, and the subject and object become one. This is the
essence of meditation. Only when we penetrate an object and
become one with it can we understand. It is not enough to
stand outside and observe an object.

228
Overthrow "Self"
WHEN SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA put forth the notion of "no self," he
upset many concepts about life and the universe. He blasted
our most firm and widespread conviction-that of a permanent
self. Those who understand "no self" know that its function is
to overthrow "self," not to replace it with a new concept of
reality. The notion of "no self" is a method, not a goal. If it
becomes a concept, it must be destroyed along with all other
concepts.

229
Jesus and Buddha
SOMEONE ONCE asked me, "If the Buddha and Jesus Christ were
to meet today, what would they have to say to each other?" And
my answer is, the Buddha and Jesus Christ are already meeting
every day, everywhere. Because Buddhists are the continuation
of the Buddha, and Christians are the continuation of Jesus,
and they are meeting today everywhere. We should help make
their meeting successful.

230
For the Person You Love
HAVE YOU OFFERED your presence to the person you love? Are you
so busy that you cannot be there for that person? If you are a
father or a mother or a partner, generate your own presence,
because that is the most precious gift you can offer.

231
Learning from the Past
THE BUDDHA SAID that we should not be afraid of the past; but he
did warn us not to lose ourselves in it, either. We should not
feed our regret or pain over the past, and we should not get
carried away by the past. We do need to study and understand
the past, however, because by looking deeply into the past we
learn a lot of things that can benefit the present and the future.
The past is an object of our study, of our meditation, but the
way to study it or meditate on it is by remaining anchored in
the present moment.

232
Touch the Earth
WALKING IS A FORM of touching the earth. We touch the earth
with our feet, and we heal the earth, we heal ourselves, and we
heal humankind. Whenever you have an extra five, ten, or
fifteen minutes, enjoy walking. With every step it's possible to
bring healing and nourishment to our body and to our mind.
Every step taken in mindfulness and freedom can help us heal
and transform, and the world will be healed and transformed
together with us.

233
The Sun Always Shines
WHEN IT IS raining, we think that there is no sunshine. But if we
fly high in an airplane and go through the clouds, we
rediscover the sunshine again. We see that the sunshine is
always there. In a time of anger or despair, our love is also still
there. Our capacity to communicate, to forgive, to be
compassionate is still there.
You have to believe this. We are more than our anger; we are
more than our suffering. We must recognize that we do have
within us the capacity to love, to understand, to be
compassionate. If you know this, then when it rains you won't
be desperate. You know that the rain is there, but the sunshine
is still there somewhere. Soon the rain will stop, and the sun
will shine again. Have hope. If you can remind yourself that the
positive elements are still present within you and the other
person, you will know that it is possible to break through, so
that the best things in both of you can come up and manifest
again.

234
The Foundation of Change
THE PRACTICE OF the Dharma cannot be individual anymore. It
should be a collective practice. Teachers should practice with
other teachers and students; psychotherapists should practice
with their clients and other therapists. Filmmakers should
make films that inspire awakening. Journalists should write
articles that help people to wake up. Everyone has to do the
work of promoting awakening. Awakening is the foundation of
every kind of change.

235
Nothing Is Created or Lost
IF WE LOOK deeply into the nature of reality, we will see that
nothing is created or lost. As the Buddhist text called the
Prajnaparamita says, there is neither birth nor death. Birth is a
concept, death is too, and neither of these concepts is
applicable to reality. We must make the effort to look into this
truth deeply to confirm it for ourselves.

236
Is This Accurate?
THE BUDDHA SAID that our perceptions are very often false, and
since error is there, suffering is there also. We must pay very
close attention to this. We have to learn how to look at our
perceptions without getting caught by them. We must always
ask ourselves the question, "Is my perception accurate?" Just
asking that question is a big help.

237
The Second Arrow
THE BUDDHA SPEAKS ABOUT the "second arrow." When an arrow
strikes you, you feel pain. If a second arrow comes and strikes
you in the same spot, the pain will be ten times worse.
The Buddha advised that when you have some pain in your
body or your mind, breathe in and out and recognize the
significance of that pain, but don't exaggerate its importance.
If you stop to worry, to be fearful, to protest, to be angry about
the pain, then you magnify the pain ten times or more. Your
worry is the second arrow. You should protect yourself and not
allow the second arrow to come, because the second arrow
comes from you.

238
Nothing to Regret
FEAR OF THE unexpected leads many people to live a constricted
and anxious life. No one can know in advance the misfortunes
that may happen to us and our loved ones, but if we learn to
live in an awakened way, living deeply every moment of our life,
treating those who are close to us with gentleness and
understanding, then we will have nothing to regret when
something happens to us or to them. Living in the present
moment, we are able to be in touch with life's wonderful,
refreshing, and health-giving phenomena, which allow us to
heal the wounds in ourselves. Every day we become more
wonderful, fresh, and healthy.

239
Peace Permeates
IF THROUGH mindfulness of the breath you generate harmony,
depth, and calm, these will penetrate into your body and mind.
In fact, whatever happens in the mind affects the body, and vice
versa. If you generate peacefulness in your breathing, that
peacefulness permeates your body and your state of mind.

240
Rest Naturally
SUPPOSE SOMEONE is holding a pebble and throws it in the air,
and the pebble begins to fall down into a river. After the pebble
touches the surface of the water, it allows itself to sink slowly
into the river. It will reach the bed of the river without any
effort. Once the pebble is at the bottom of the river, it
continues to rest. It allows the water to pass by. I think the
pebble reaches the bed of the river by the shortest path
because it allows itself to fall without making any effort.
During our sitting meditation we can allow ourselves to rest
like a pebble. We can allow ourselves to sink naturally without
effort to the position of sitting, the position of resting.

241
What Are You Doing?
ONE DAY AS I WALKED through the kitchen, I saw someone
cleaning vegetables and I asked, "What are you doing?" I was
playing the role of a spiritual friend. Even though it was
obvious that they were washing vegetables, I asked the
question to wake the person up to how happy they could be,
just washing the vegetables. If we aren't doing something with
joy, that moment is wasted.

242
The Right Path
HAPPINESS MEANS feeling you are on the right path every
moment. You don't need to arrive at the end of the path in
order to be happy. The right path refers to the very concrete
ways you live your life in every moment. In Buddhism, we
speak of the Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Thought,
Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort,
Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. It's possible for us
to live the Noble Eightfold Path every moment of our daily
lives. That not only makes us happy, it makes people around us
happy. If you practice the path, you become very pleasant, very
fresh, and very compassionate.

243
A Declaration of Love
WHAT IS LOVING? It is recognizing the presence of the other with
your love. This is not a theory; it is a practice. Whether the
object of your love is your heart, your in-breath, your physical
body, or your baby, whether it is your son, your daughter, or
your partner, your declaration of love is always the same. It is:
"Dear one, I am here for you."

244
Look a Little Deeper
WE ALL KNOW that understanding and compassion can relieve
suffering. This is not just a platitude; where there is
understanding and compassion, there's relief and help for
ourselves and others. Our practice is to keep that
understanding and compassion alive. As busy as we are, when
we take time to look a little bit more deeply, we can always find
more understanding and compassion to offer.

245
The Sangha Body of Peace
THE MOMENT WHEN you sit down and begin to breathe in, calming
your mind and your body, peace has become a reality. That kind
of breathing is like praying. When there is the element of peace
in you, you can connect with other people, and you can help
others to be peaceful like you. Together you become a body of
peace, the Sangha body of peace.

246
One Contains All
WHEN YOU TOUCH one thing with deep awareness, you touch
everything. The same is true of time. When you touch one
moment with deep awareness, you touch all moments.
According to the Avatamsaka Sutra, "The one contains the all."
If you live one moment deeply, that moment contains all the
past and all the future in it.

247
Nirvana Is Now
NIRVANA IS THE ultimate dimension of life, a state of coolness,
peace, and joy. It is not a state to be attained after you die. You
can touch nirvana right now by breathing, walking, and
drinking your tea in mindfulness. You have been "nirvanized"
since the very nonbeginning. Everything and everyone is
dwelling in nirvana.

248
Mother Earth
THE EARTH HAS been there for a long time. She is mother to all
of us. She knows everything. The Buddha asked the Earth to be
his witness by touching her with his hand when he had some
doubt and fear before his awakening. The Earth appeared to
him as a beautiful mother. In her arms she carried flowers and
fruit, birds and butterflies, and many different animals, and
offered them to the Buddha. The Buddha's doubts and fears
instantly disappeared.
Whenever you feel unhappy, come to the Earth and ask for
her help. Touch her deeply, the way the Buddha did. Suddenly,
you too will see the Earth with all her flowers and fruit, trees
and birds, animals, and all the living beings that she has
produced. All these things she offers to you.

249
Space Is Freedom
WHEN YOU ARRANGE flowers, it is good to leave space around
each flower so it can reveal itself in its full beauty and
freshness. You don't need a lot of flowers-two or three are
enough.
We human beings also need space to be happy. We practice
stopping and calming in order to offer space to ourselves,
inside and outside, and also to those we love. We need to let go
of our projects, preoccupations, worries, and regrets, and
create space around us. Space is freedom.

250
Touched by Her Light
SUPPOSE THERE IS someone who lives very mindfully, dwelling in
concentration. She comes home, goes out, stands, sits, speaks,
chops vegetables, washes pots, carries out all the activities of
daily life in mindfulness and concentration. In all her actions of
body, speech, and mind, she shines the light of mindfulness.
When others encounter her they are able to get in touch with
that mindfulness, and they are influenced by it. Touched by the
light of her mindfulness, the seed of mindfulness in their own
consciousness begins to sprout, and naturally they also begin
to cultivate mindfulness in their activities as she does.

251
Many Wonders
LIFE IS FILLED with suffering, but it is also filled with many
wonders, such as the blue sky, the sunshine, and the eyes of a
baby. To suffer is not enough. We must also be in touch with the
wonders of life. They are within us and all around us,
everywhere, in every moment.

252
Natural Parenting
IF PARENTS PRACTICE mindfulness and compassion in their daily
lives, the children will naturally learn from them. We can't tell
a child to do something if we don't do it ourselves. From time
to time, parents might discuss mindfulness and compassion
with their children, and express their wish that their children
will continue living in mindfulness and with more compassion.
When you use loving speech, you can water the good seeds in
your children and inspire them to do as you have done. You
don't have to punish or blame them. With right speech and by
following your own practice, your children will see, and they
will follow you.

253
With Deep Insight
MINDFULNESS HELPS us to recognize the many conditions of
happiness that are available in the here and the now.
Concentration helps us to get in touch more deeply with these
conditions. With enough mindfulness and concentration, insight
is born. With deep insight, we are free of wrong perceptions
and we can maintain our freedom for a long time. With deep
insight, we don't get angry anymore, we don't despair
anymore, and we can enjoy each moment of life.

254
In the Presence of God
THE PRINCIPLE OF the practice is simple: to bring our mind back
to our body, to produce our true presence, and to become fully
alive. Everything is happening under the light of mindfulness.
In the Jewish and Christian traditions, we say, "We're doing
everything in the presence of God." That's another way of
expressing the same reality.

255
Buddha Is Always Possible
THE BUDDHA SAID that every one of us can become a buddha like
him. If we have love, understanding, and peace, if we can
transform our anger, our jealousy, then we can become a
buddha like him. And in the cosmos there are many other
buddhas. Wherever there are human beings, there is the
possibility of a buddha, or many buddhas, manifesting.

256
Mind Creates Everything
OUR MIND CREATES everything. The majestic mountaintop,
brilliant with snow, is you yourself when you contemplate it. Its
existence depends on your awareness. When you close your
eyes, as long as your mind is present, the mountain is there.
Sitting in meditation, with several sense-windows closed, you
feel the presence of the whole universe. Why? Because the
mind is there. If your eyes are closed, it is so that you can see
better. The sights and sounds of the world are not your
enemies. Your enemy is forgetfulness, the absence of
mindfulness.

257
A Kind of Death
WHEN WE STUDY Buddhism, we look for a teacher and we believe
that teacher has wisdom. We have to believe that the teacher is
holy and that other people are ordinary in order for us to be
able to follow that teacher. The teacher puts on the robe of
holiness, and we believe he immediately becomes holy. That is
the place that kills us. It's a kind of death when we run away
from the ordinary toward what we think is holy. Then we run
away from ourselves.

258
Which World Do We Choose?
THERE ARE TWO worlds, and we can choose which one we want to
live in: the world of awakening or the world of ignorance. If we
haven't yet stopped our ideas, we live in ignorance. Ignorance
doesn't have a dwelling place. It has no beginning and no end.
If we live in the world of awakening, we will be happy in our
daily life. Why don't we do it?

259
The Greatest Practice
NONFEAR IS THE greatest practice in Buddhism. To free ourselves
from all fear, we must touch the ground of our being and train
ourselves to look directly into the light of compassion. The
Heart Sutra describes how the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara,
because he is able to look deeply into the nonself nature of the
five aggregates (skandhas), discovers the nature of emptiness
and immediately overcomes all afflictions. From this he
receives the energy of nonfear, which is why he is able to help
so many others. Once we have seen that our afflictions are
none other than enlightenment, we too can ride joyfully on the
waves of birth and death.

260
Indescribable Freedom
CONCEPTS AND IDEAS are incapable of expressing reality as it is.
Nirvana, the ultimate reality, cannot be described, because it is
free of all concepts and ideas. Nirvana is the extinction of all
concepts. It is total freedom. Nirvana, the ultimate reality, or
God, is of the nature of no-birth and no-death.

261
Our Natural Tendency
THERE'S A NATURAL tendency in us to seek pleasure and to avoid
suffering. We have to instruct our mind that suffering can
sometimes be very helpful. We can even speak of the "goodness
of suffering." Thanks to suffering, we begin to understand. And
because we understand, we can accept, we can love. Without
understanding and love, there cannot be any happiness. So
suffering has to do with happiness. We should not be afraid of
suffering. We should be able to hold our suffering and look
deeply into it, hold it tenderly, and learn from it.

262
A Moment of Infinity
TOUCHING THE present moment does not mean getting rid of the
past or the future. As you touch the present moment, you
realize that the present is made of the past and is creating the
future. Touching the present, you touch the past and the future
at the same time. You touch the infinity of time, the ultimate
dimension of reality.

263
Watering Their Flowers
IF WE PRACTICE the art of mindful living together, we see that the
other person, like us, has both flowers and compost inside, and
we accept this. Our practice is to water the flowerness in her,
and not bring her more garbage. We avoid blaming and
arguing. When we try to grow flowers, if the flowers do not
grow well, we do not blame or argue with them. We ask
ourselves what we can do to help them grow more beautifully.
To help a flower grow well, we must understand her nature.
How much water does she need? How much sunshine? We look
deeply into ourselves to see our true nature, and we look into
the other person to see her nature.

264
Compassionate Listening
COMPASSIONATE listening is crucial. We listen with the
willingness to relieve the suffering of the other person, not to
judge or argue with her. We listen with all our attention. Even if
we hear something that is not true, we continue to listen deeply
so the other person can express her pain and release the
tensions within herself. If we reply to her or correct her, the
practice will not bear fruit. If we need to tell the other person
that her perception was not correct, we can do that a few days
later, privately and calmly.

265
You Have Already Arrived
ALL WE HAVE TO do is be ourselves, fully and authentically. We
don't have to run after anything. We already contain the whole
cosmos. We simply return to ourselves through mindfulness,
and touch the peace and joy that are already present within us
and all around us.
I have arrived. I am already home. There is nothing to do.
Aimlessness, nonattainment, is a wonderful practice.

266
Releasing Tension
WHEN WE COME home to the present moment, we become aware
of our body, and all of our tension is released. Everyone can
practice paying attention to their breath, perhaps repeating
these words, "Breathing in, I am aware of my body. Breathing
out, I release the tension in my body." You don't need to be a
Buddhist to practice this. You can sit in whatever position you
feel comfortable, and practice releasing the tension and
tightness in your body. One or two minutes of practice can
already make a big difference.

267
How Strange
AT THE MOMENT of his awakening at the foot of the Bodhi tree,
the Buddha declared, "How strange! All beings possess the
capacity to be awakened, to understand, to love, to be free, yet
they allow themselves to be carried away on the ocean of
suffering." He saw that, day and night, we're seeking what is
already there within us.

268
No Provenance
ALL THINGS HAVE NO provenance. They have not come from
anywhere, because they are free from the ideas of being and
nonbeing. They do not have to be born. They cannot be grasped
by our notions, or discriminated by our mental categories. They
have come from nowhere; they will go nowhere. There is no
author or creator.
That is the true nature of reality. We can only touch and
experience things when we are free from the concepts of birth
and death, creator and created. All things have no provenance;
therefore they have no birth. Because they have no birth,
extinction cannot be found either. That is the way things are.

269
Every Thought Becomes Sacred
EACH THOUGHT, each action in the sunlight of awareness
becomes sacred. In this light, no boundary exists between the
sacred and the profane.

270
Love Your Own Heart
WHAT IS LOVE? Love is treating your beating heart with a great
deal of tenderness, with understanding, love, and compassion.
If you cannot treat your own heart this way, how can you treat
your partner with understanding and love?

271
Our Common Well-Being
WE HAVE TO wake up to the fact that everything is connected to
everything else. Our safety and well-being cannot be individual
matters anymore. If others are unsafe, there is no way that we
can be safe. Taking care of other people's safety is taking care
of our own safety. To take care of their well-being is to take
care of our own well-being. It is the mind of discrimination and
separation that is at the foundation of all violence and hate.

272
Which Seeds Will We Cultivate?
ACCORDING TO the Buddha, the birth of a human being is not a
beginning but a continuation, and when we're born, all the
different kinds of seeds-seeds of goodness, of cruelty, of
awakening-are already inside us. Whether the goodness or
cruelty in us is revealed depends on what seeds we cultivate,
our actions, and our way of life.

273
Long Live Impermanence!
IF YOU SUFFER, it's not because things are impermanent. It's
because you believe things are permanent. When a flower dies,
you don't suffer much, because you understand that flowers
are impermanent. But you cannot accept the impermanence of
your beloved one, and you suffer deeply when she passes away.
If you look deeply into impermanence, you will do your best to
make her happy right now. Aware of impermanence, you
become positive, loving, and wise.
Impermanence is good news. Without impermanence,
nothing would be possible. With impermanence, every door is
open for change. Instead of complaining, we should say, "Long
live impermanence!" Impermanence is an instrument for our
liberation.

274
Nondualism
THE MODE OF being that is expressed by the Buddha is at the
heart of reality. It's not the notion we usually construct for
ourselves. Our notion of being is dualistic. We think of it as the
opposite of the notion of nonbeing. The reality of being that the
Buddha tries to convey is not the opposite of nonbeing. He's
using language differently. When he says "self," it's not the
opposite of anything. The Buddha is very aware that self is
made of nonself elements. That is our true self.

275
A Very Challenging Practice
WE WOULD ALL like to have the time to sit and appreciate the
stillness that comes from doing nothing. But if we were given
the time, would we be able to be still and quiet? That is the
problem with many of us. We complain that we don't have the
time to rest, to enjoy being here. But we are used to always
doing something. We have no capacity to rest and do nothing.
Even if we have a rare moment of quiet at our desks, we talk on
the phone or browse the Internet. We are workaholics. We
always need to be doing something, or we think we will die.
That is why learning how to be right where we are without
doing anything is a very important practice, as well as a very
challenging one.

276
Resurrection
SOME PEOPLE LIVE as though they are already dead. There are
people moving around us who are consumed by their past,
terrified of their future, and stuck in their anger and jealousy.
They are not alive; they are just walking corpses. If you look
around yourself with mindfulness, you will see people going
around like zombies. Have a great deal of compassion for the
people around you who are living like this. They do not know
that life is accessible only in the here and now.
We must practice resurrection, and this is an everyday
practice. With an in-breath, you bring your mind back to your
body. In this way you become alive in the here and now. Joy,
peace, and happiness are possible. You have an appointment
with life, an appointment that is in the here and now.

277
Simply Illuminate
THERE IS NO NEED TO MANIPULATE the breath. Breath is a natural
thing, like air, like light; we should leave breath as it is and not
interfere with it. What we are doing is simply lighting up the
lamp of awareness to illuminate our breathing. We generate
the energy of mindfulness to illuminate everything that is
happening in the present moment.

278
Beyond Forms
THE BEST WAY to practice is according to the spirit of
nonpractice, not clinging to forms. Suppose you practice sitting
meditation very well. People look at you and see that you are a
diligent practitioner. You sit perfectly, and you begin to feel a
little proud. While others sleep late and do not come to the
meditation hall on time, you are there sitting beautifully.
With that kind of feeling in you, the happiness that results
from your practice will be limited. But if you realize that you
are practicing for everyone, even if the whole community is
sleeping and you are the only one sitting, your sitting will
benefit everyone and your happiness will be boundless. We
should practice meditation this way-without form, in the spirit
of nonpractice.

279
The Secret to Happiness
HAPPINESS IS a function of compassion. If you do not have
compassion in your heart, you do not have any happiness.

280
Being Peace
THERE ARE MANY of us who are eager to work for peace, but we
don't have peace within. Angrily we shout for peace. And
angrily we shout at the people who, like us, are also for peace;
even people and groups dedicated to peacemaking sometimes
fight among themselves. If there is no peace in our heart, there
can be no harmony among the peace workers. And if there is
no harmony, there is no hope. If we're divided, if we're in
despair, we can't serve; we can't do anything.
Peace must begin with ourselves: with the practice of sitting
quietly, walking mindfully, taking care of our body, releasing
the tension in our body and in our feelings. That is why the
practice of being peace is at the foundation of the practice of
doing peace. Being peace comes first. Doing peace is
something that comes from that foundation.

281
Loving Words
EVERY TIME THE other person does something well, we should
congratulate him or her to show our approval. This is especially
true with children. We have to strengthen the self-esteem of
our children. We have to appreciate and congratulate every
good thing they say and do in order to help our children grow.
We don't take things for granted. If the other person
manifests some talent or capacity to love and create happiness,
we must be aware of it and express our appreciation. This is
the way to water the seeds of happiness. We should avoid
saying destructive things like, "I doubt that you can do this."
Instead, we say, "This is difficult, darling, but I have faith you
can do it." This kind of talk makes the other person stronger.

282
Insecurity
WE ALL FEEL insecure. We don't know what the future holds:
accidents happen, a loved one may suddenly be struck by an
incurable disease and die, we are not sure if we'll be alive
tomorrow. This is all part of impermanence, and this feeling of
insecurity makes us suffer.
How can we face this feeling? What is our practice? I think
living deeply in the present moment is what we have to learn
and practice so we can face this feeling of insecurity. We have
to handle the present moment well. We live deeply in the
present moment so that in the future we will have no regrets.
We are aware that both we and the person in front of us are
alive. We cherish the moment and do whatever we can to make
life meaningful and to make him happy in this moment.

283
Rest on Your Cushion
WHEN I SIT on my meditation cushion, I consider it to be
something very pleasant. I don't struggle at all on my cushion. I
allow myself to be, to rest. I don't make any effort, and that is
why I do not have any trouble while sitting. While sitting I do
not struggle, and that is why all my muscles are relaxed. If you
struggle during your sitting meditation, you will very soon have
pain in your shoulders and back and things like that. But if you
allow yourself to be rested on your cushion, you can sit for a
very long time, and each minute is light, refreshing, nourishing,
and healing.

284
Transforming Your Past
IF YOU BEHAVED badly in the past, if you have been destructive,
you can do something about it. By touching the present deeply,
you can transform the past. The wounds and injuries of the past
are still there-they are within your reach. All you have to do is
come back to the present moment, and you will recognize the
wounds and injuries that you have caused in the past and those
that other people have caused you.
You should be here for these wounds and injuries. You can
say to them, "I am here for you," with your mindful breathing,
your deep looking, and your determination not to do the same
thing again. Then transformation is possible.

285
A Raft to the Other Shore
THE BUDDHA SAID to consider his teaching to be a raft helping
you to the other shore. What you need is a raft to cross the
river in order to go to the other shore. You don't need a raft to
worship, to carry on your shoulders, and to make you proud
that you are possessing the truth.

286
A Simple Question
THIS MORNING I picked a tender green leaf off the ground. Is this
leaf in my mind or outside of it? What a question! It's a very
simple question, but very difficult to answer.
The notion of "outside" and "inside" cannot be applied to
reality. We tend to think of the mind as "in here" and the world
as "out there," the mind as subjective and the world, the body,
as objective. The Buddha taught that mind and object of mind
do not exist separately; they inter-are. Without this, the other
cannot be. There is no perceiver without the perceived. Object
and subject manifest together.

287
Start with a Single Breath
ANYONE CAN succeed in the practice of a single conscious
breath. If we continue to breathe consciously for ten breaths,
without our mind going astray, then we have taken a valuable
step on the path of practice. If we can practice conscious
breathing for ten minutes, an important change will take place
in us.

288
No Inferiority Complex
MANY OF US go around all the time feeling that we are as small
as a grain of sand. We may feel that our one small human life
doesn't have very much meaning. We struggle to get through
life, and at the end of our life we feel that we have
accomplished very little.
This is a kind of inferiority complex many people suffer from.
If we see reality only in terms of the historical dimension, it
may seem to us as if there is little one ordinary human being
can do. But if we get in touch with the ultimate dimension of
reality, we know that we are just like the Buddha. We share in
the Buddha's nature-we are Buddha nature. When we are able
to see beyond the limitations of perceived time and space,
beyond our own notions of inferiority and powerlessness, we
find we have great stores of spiritual energy to share with the
world.

289
Trust in the Sangha
WE NEED TO TRUST in the Sangha, the community of
practitioners. It is made up of people who are practicing
mindfulness, who generate the collective energy of
mindfulness, every moment of the day. You should put your
trust in that energy. Every time you take a step or breathe
mindfully, you generate the energy of the Buddha. This protects
you and heals you. But if you are a beginner, the energy you
generate may not be strong enough to handle the suffering in
you. You need to combine your energy with the energy of the
group. In that way, healing and transformation can take place
very quickly.

290
Our Desire for Permanence
WHEN WE LOOK deeply into our fear, we see the desire for
permanence. We're afraid of change. Our anger, our fear, our
despair are born from our wrong perceptions, from our notions
of being and nonbeing, coming and going, rising and falling. If
we practice looking deeply, we find out that these notions
cannot be applied to reality. We can touch our true nature, we
can touch the ultimate dimension, and this brings about
nonfear. When we trust that insight of no birth and no death,
joy becomes possible every moment of our life.

291
Meditation Is Not Solemn
MEDITATION IS TO be aware of what is going on-in our body, in
our feelings, in our mind, and in the world. Each day nine
thousand children die of hunger. The superpowers have more
than enough nuclear warheads to destroy our planet many
times. Yet the sunrise is beautiful, and the rose that bloomed
this morning along the wall is a miracle. Life is both dreadful
and wonderful. To practice meditation is to be in touch with
both aspects. Please do not think we must be solemn in order
to meditate. In fact, to meditate well, we have to smile a lot.

292
Every Step a Prayer
IN THE SPIRIT OF Buddhism, anything you do that is accompanied
by mindfulness, concentration, and insight can be considered a
prayer. When you drink your tea in forgetfulness, you are not
truly alive because you're not there, you're not mindful, and
you're not concentrated. That moment is not a moment of
practice.
When you hold your cup and drink your tea in mindfulness
and concentration, it's like you're performing a sacred ritual,
and that is a prayer. When you walk, if you enjoy every step, if
every step nourishes and transforms you, then every step is a
prayer. When you sit in solidity and freedom, when you breathe
in and out in mindfulness, when you touch the wonders of life,
that is meditation and that is also prayer.

293
Sexuality
THE HUMAN BODY is beautiful, and sexuality can be something
beautiful and spiritual. Without sexuality, a buddha cannot
come into the world. We can't separate mind from body; our
body is as sacred as our mind. That's why when we look at the
body as an item of consumption, an object of desire, we haven't
truly seen the body. Our body should be treated with utmost
respect. When we touch someone else's body, we touch their
mind and their soul.

294
More Time for What Is Important
TIME IS VERY precious: every minute, every hour counts. We
don't want to throw time away. We want to make good use of
the minutes and the hours we have left. When we focus our
attention in the here and now and live simply, we have more
time to do the things we think are important. We don't waste
our energy in thinking, in worrying, in running after fame,
power, and wealth.

295
A Rain of Wisdom
WHEN YOU LISTEN to a talk or read a book about the Dharma, it's
not for the purpose of getting notions and ideas. In fact, it's for
releasing notions and ideas. You don't replace your old notions
and ideas with new ones. The talk or the writings should be like
the rain that can touch the seed of wisdom and freedom within
you. That's why we have to learn how to listen. We listen or
read not to receive more notions and concepts, but in order to
get free from all notions and concepts. What's important is not
that you remember what was said, but that you are free.

296
Infinite Interaction
TO BE IMPERMANENT means not to be the same thing in two
consecutive moments; there is always something coming in and
something going out, input and output. Everything is
interacting with every other thing, and therefore touching
impermanence is also touching interbeing. Interbeing means
you don't have a separate existence, you inter-are with
everything else.

297
Have a Lazy Day
TRY TO SPEND a day doing nothing; we call that a lazy day.
Although for many of us who are used to running around from
this to that, a lazy day is actually very hard work! It's not so
easy to just be. If you can be happy, relaxed, and smiling when
you're not doing something, you're quite strong. Doing nothing
brings about quality of being, which is very important. So doing
nothing is actually something. Please write that down and
display it in your home: Doing nothing is something.

298
Spiritual Research
SPIRITUAL PRACTITIONERS don't use sophisticated research
instruments. They use their inner wisdom, their luminosity.
Once we get rid of grasping, of notions and concepts, once we
get rid of our fear and our anger, then we have a very bright
instrument with which to experience reality as it is, reality free
from all notions, such as birth and death, being and nonbeing,
coming and going, the same or different. The practice of
mindfulness, concentration, and insight can purify our mind
and make it into a powerful instrument with which we can look
deeply into the nature of reality.

299
The Definition of Hell
TO ME, THE definition of hell is simple: it is a place where there
is no understanding and no compassion. We have all been to
hell. We are acquainted with hell's heat, and we know that hell
is in need of compassion. If there is compassion, then hell
ceases to be hell.
You can generate this compassion yourself. If you can bring a
little compassion to this place, a little bit of understanding, it
ceases to be hell. You can be the bodhisattva who does this.
Your practice consists in generating compassion and
understanding and bringing them to hell. Hell is here, all
around us. Hell is in us, like a seed. We need to cultivate the
positive within us so we can generate the energy of
understanding and compassion and transform hell. Hell is a
matter of everyday life, like the Kingdom of God. The choice is
yours.

300
Two Kinds of Knots
THERE ARE TWO kinds of knots. One knot is our notions and ideas.
Everyone has notions and ideas, and we are attached to them;
we are not free, so we have no chance to touch the truth in life.
The second knot is our afflictions like fear, anger,
discrimination, despair, and arrogance. All these things should
be removed in order for us to be free.

301
The Best Thing to Cultivate
MINDFULNESS IS A PRACTICE to enjoy, not to bring about more
hardship in our life. The practice is not hard labor; it's a matter
of enjoyment. And enjoyment can become a habit. Some of us
only have the habit of suffering. Others among us have
cultivated the habit of smiling and being happy. The capacity to
be happy is the best thing we can cultivate. So please enjoy
walking, enjoy sitting. We enjoy sitting and walking for
ourselves, for our ancestors, for our parents, our friends, our
beloved ones, and for our so-called enemies.

302
No Ideas
WHEN WE LOOK deeply, we see that all our ideas about our body
and about our mind are inaccurate. We have to practice no
ideas. "No ideas" doesn't mean to stop thinking and perceiving.
Rather we have to go beyond ideas and not get caught in
perceptions of permanence and of a separate self.
When we can stop every idea in our mind, that is awakening.
"No ideas" can also be translated as "emptiness." When we can
see the emptiness of each thing, then we get to the place where
there is no idea. And awakening doesn't lie far away, it lies
within our perception. There's a Chinese saying: "If you stop
the idea in your mind, that is the Bodhi tree."

303
The Milky Way
THE MILKY WAY doesn't say, "I am the Milky Way." It is the Milky
Way. In reality, the wonderful reality is life. We are that
wonderful reality. We ourselves are present here with a clear
light that can illuminate and reflect everything as it is.

304
Reminders
IN PLUM VILLAGE, every time the phone rings everyone practices
mindful breathing in and out. So the bell is a friend, an
invention of practitioners to help us.
If you work on a computer, you might get so carried away by
your work that you forget that you're alive. So you may like to
program your computer so that every quarter of an hour it
offers the sound of the bell, enabling you to go back to yourself,
to smile and breathe in and out before you continue work.
Many of our friends have done that. A bell reminding you to
come back to yourself and enjoy breathing is a wonderful way
to take a break.

305
Sit with Your Fear
THE BUDDHA advises us not to try to run away from our fear, but
to bring up our fear and have a deep look into it. Most of us try
to cover up our fear. Most of us are afraid of looking directly at
our fear. Instead of trying to distract yourself from this fear or
ignore it, the Buddha proposed that you bring the seed of fear
up, and recognize that it's there and embrace it with your
mindfulness.
Sitting with your fear, instead of trying to push it away or
bury it, can transform it. This is true of all of your fears, both
small ones and big ones. You don't have to try and convince
yourself not to be afraid. You don't have to try to fight or
overcome your fear. Over time you'll find that when your fear
comes up again, it will be a little bit weaker.

306
The Best Moment of Your Life
IF SOMEONE WERE to ask us, "Has the best moment of your life
arrived yet?" we may say that it will come very soon. But if we
continue to live in the same way, it may never arrive. We have
to transform this moment into the most wonderful moment, and
we can do that by stopping-stopping running to the future,
stopping worrying about the past, stopping accumulating so
much. You are a free person; you are alive. Open your eyes and
enjoy the sunshine, the beautiful sky, and the wonderful
children all around you. Breathing in and out consciously helps
you become your best-calm, fresh, solid, clear, and free, able
to enjoy the present moment as the best moment of your life.

307
The Three Realms
IF WE LET A DESIRE rise within us, that is the desire realm. If we
give rise to anger, that is the form realm. If we give rise to a
moment of doubt, that is the formless realm. The three realms
are made of craving, anger, and ignorance. When we have
compassion, love, and understanding, then we're no longer in
the three realms, we're in the Pure Land. No gas or plane
ticket is needed to take us there.

308
Sit like a Mountain
SITTING QUIETLY, just breathing in and out, we develop strength,
concentration, and clarity. So sit like a mountain. No wind can
blow the mountain down.

309
How to Listen to the Dharma
LISTENING TO A Dharma talk is a practice. When you are hearing
a teaching, you should sit in such a way that peace, relaxation,
and ease are possible. Don't struggle. Just open yourself to
allow the Dharma to penetrate you, the way rain penetrates
soil. You should not use intellect to receive the Dharma. The
intellect can be like a sheet of plastic covering the earth,
preventing the rain of Dharma from penetrating the ground of
your being. The ground of your being contains lots of seeds,
and it needs the rain to penetrate deeply into it. So do not use
only the intellect. Do not compare and discriminate. Just open
up to the Dharma rain, and let it penetrate you.

310
Here to Love
IN ORDER TO LOVE, you must be here. That is certain. Fortunately,
being here is not a difficult thing to accomplish. It is enough to
breathe and let go of thinking or planning. Just come back to
yourself, concentrate on your breath, and smile. You are here,
body and mind together. You are here, alive, completely alive.
That is a miracle.

311
To Be a Source of Comfort
THOSE WHO WORK with the dying need to practice solidity and
nonfear. Others need our stability and nonfear in order to be
able to die peacefully. If we know how to touch the ultimate
dimension of reality, if we know the reality of no birth and no
death, we can transcend all fear. Then, when we are sitting
with a dying person, we can be a source of comfort and
inspiration to them.

312
None Other Than Enlightenment
OUR AFFLICTIONS ARE none other than enlightenment. We can ride
the waves of birth and death in peace. With the boat of
compassion, we can travel on the ocean of delusion with a
smile of nonfear. In the light of interbeing, we see the flower in
the garbage and the garbage in the flower. It is on the very
ground of suffering, the ground of afflictions, that we can
contemplate enlightenment and well-being. It is exactly in the
muddy water that the lotus grows and blooms.

313
Beginning the Day
EVERY twenty-four-hour day is a tremendous gift to us. So we all
should learn to live in a way that makes joy and happiness
possible. We can do this. I begin my day by making an offering
of incense while following my breath. I think to myself that this
day is a day to live fully, and I make the vow to live each
moment of it in a way that is beautiful, solid, and free. This only
takes me three or four minutes, but it gives me a great deal of
pleasure.
You can do the same thing when you wake up. Breathe in and
tell yourself that a new day has been offered to you, and you
have to be here to live it.

314
Melt the Ice of Knowledge
IN BUDDHISM, knowledge is regarded as an obstacle to
understanding, like a block of ice that obstructs water from
flowing. It is said that if we take one thing to be the truth and
cling to it, even if truth itself comes in person and knocks at
our door, we won't open it. For things to reveal themselves to
us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

315
Contemplating Body in the Body
THE BUDDHA HAD a special way to help us understand the object
of our perception. He said that in order to understand, you
have to be one with what you want to understand. In the
Satipatthana Sutta, the basic manual on meditation from the
time of the Buddha, it is recorded, "The practitioner will have
to contemplate body in the body, feelings in the feelings, mind
in the mind, objects of mind in the objects of mind."
The words are clear. The repetition "body in the body" is not
just to underline the importance of it. "Contemplating body in
the body" means that you do not stand outside of something to
contemplate it. You must be one with it, with no distinction
between
the
contemplator
and
the
contemplated.
"Contemplating body in the body" means that you should not
look on your body as the object of your contemplation. You
have to be one with it. The message is clear. Nonduality is the
key word for Buddhist meditation.

316
The Smile of Nonfear
BECAUSE BODHISATTVAS are free from fear, they can help many
people. Nonfear is the greatest gift we can offer to those we
love. Nothing is more precious. But we cannot offer that gift
unless we ourselves have it. If we have practiced and have
touched the ultimate dimension of reality, we too can smile the
bodhisattvas' smile of nonfear. Like them, we don't need to run
away from our afflictions. We don't need to go somewhere else
to attain enlightenment. We see that afflictions and
enlightenment are one. When we have a deluded mind, we see
only afflictions. But when we have a true mind, the afflictions
are no longer there. There is only enlightenment. We are no
longer afraid of birth and death because we have touched the
nature of interbeing.

317
Don't Water the Seeds of Suffering
WHEN WE ARE irritated and we say something unkind to our
child, we water the seeds of suffering in him. When he reacts,
he waters the seeds of suffering in us. Living this way escalates
and strengthens the suffering. In mindfulness, calmly breathing
in and out, we can practice looking deeply at the types of
suffering we have in ourselves. When we do so, we also begin
to understand our ancestors, our culture, and our society. The
moment we see this, we can go back and serve our people with
loving kindness and compassion, and without blame. Because
of our insight, we are capable of practicing real peace and
reconciliation.

318
True Generosity
TRUE GENEROSITY is not a trade or a bargaining strategy. In true
giving, there is no thought of giver and recipient. This is called
"the emptiness of giving," in which there is no perception of
separation between the one who gives and the one who
receives.
This is the practice of generosity given in the spirit of
wisdom, with the understanding of interbeing. You offer help as
naturally as you breathe. You don't see yourself as the giver
and the other person as the recipient of your generosity, who is
now beholden to you and must be suitably grateful, respond to
your demands, and so on. You don't give so you can make the
other person your ally. When you see that people need help,
you offer and share what you have with no strings attached and
no thought of reward.

319
Action Is Being
LOOK AT THE TREE in the front yard. The tree doesn't seem to be
doing anything. It stands there, vigorous, fresh, and beautiful,
and everyone profits from it. That's the miracle of being. If a
tree were less than a tree, all of us would be in trouble. But if a
tree is just a real tree, then there's hope and joy. That's why if
you can be yourself, this is already action. Action is based on
nonaction; action is being.

320
Dry Bones
INSIGHT CAN'T BE found in sutras, commentaries, or Dharma
talks. Liberation and awakened understanding can't be found
by devoting ourselves to the study of the Buddhist scriptures.
This is like hoping to find fresh water in dry bones. Returning
to the present moment, using our clear mind that exists right
here and now, we can be in touch with liberation and
enlightenment, as well as with the Buddha and all his disciples
as living realities right in this moment.

321
Be There for Breakfast
WHEN YOU EAT your breakfast, even if it is just a small bite early
in the morning, eat in such a way that freedom is possible.
While eating breakfast, don't think of the future, of what you
are going to do. Your practice is to simply eat breakfast. Your
breakfast is there for you; you have to be there for your
breakfast. You can chew each morsel of food with joy and
freedom.

322
Concentrated Pleasure
TRUE PLEASURE IS EXPERIENCED in concentration. When you walk
and you are 100 percent concentrated, the joy you get from the
steps you are taking is much greater than the joy you would get
without concentration. You have to invest 100 percent of your
body and mind in the act of walking. Then you will experience
that being alive and taking steps on this planet are miraculous
things.

323
The Kingdom of God Is Right Here
THE KINGDOM OF GOD is not a mere notion. It is a reality that can
be touched in everyday life. The Kingdom of God is now or
never, and we all have the ability to touch it-not only with our
minds, but with our feet. The energy of mindfulness helps you
in this. With one mindful step, you touch the Kingdom of God.

324
A Dangerous Notion
THE NOTION OF death, of nothingness, is very dangerous. It
makes people suffer a lot. In Buddhist teaching, nothingness is
only a concept, and it is never applicable to reality.

325
Don't Try So Hard
THERE ARE PEOPLE who do a lot, but who also cause a lot of
trouble. The more they try to help, the more trouble they
create, even if they have the best intentions. They're not
peaceful, they're not happy. It's better not to try so hard, but
just to "be." Then peace and compassion are possible in every
moment. On that foundation, everything you say or do can only
be helpful.

326
Equanimity
TRUE LOVE DOES not just choose one person. When true love is
there, you shine like a lamp. You don't just shine on one person
in the room. That light you emit is for everyone in the room. If
you really have love in you, everyone around you will benefit-
not only humans, but animals, plants, and minerals. Love, true
love, is that. True love is equanimity.

327
Cherish the Time You're Given
WHEN WE WALK for the sake of walking, when we sit for the sake
of sitting, when we drink tea for the sake of drinking tea, we
don't do it for something or someone else. These things can be
very enjoyable.
That is the practice of aimlessness. While you do that, you
heal yourself and you help heal the world. Awakening means to
see this truth-that you want to know how to enjoy, how to live
deeply, in a very simple way. You don't want to waste your time
anymore. Cherish the time that you are given.

328
Anywhere You Go
SUPPOSE YOU ARE standing in line waiting to copy something at
work, or waiting to talk with a colleague. You may be out at
lunch or waiting in line to get coffee or tea. You can still
practice mindful breathing, and focus on enjoying yourself and
the presence of people around you. Meditation can be very
informal.

329
A New Holiday
WE HAVE holidays for so many important occasions-Christmas,
the New Year, Mother's Day, Father's Day, even Earth Day. Why
not celebrate a day when we can live happily in the present
moment all day long? I would like to declare today "Today's
Day," a day dedicated to touching the earth, touching the sky,
touching the trees, and touching the peace that is available in
the present moment.

330
A Loving Community of Two
WHEN YOU FIRST fall in love and you feel attached to the other
person, that is not yet real love. Real love means lovingkindness and compassion, the kind of love that does not have
any conditions. You form a community of two in order to
practice love-taking care of each other, helping your partner
blossom, and making happiness something real in that small
community. Through your love for each other, through learning
the art of making one person happy, you learn to express your
love for the whole of humanity and all beings.

331
The Four Noble Truths
I THINK WHEN people listen to the teachings of the Four Noble
Truths, they hear the words ill-being and suffering, and they
think that Buddhism is only about suffering. They don't know
that the Third Noble Truth is about happiness, the opposite of
suffering. There is suffering, and there's a path leading to
suffering. But there is also the cessation of suffering, which
means happiness, and there is a path leading to happiness.
Maybe it would be good to put the Third and Fourth Noble
Truths first. The first truth would be happiness, and the second
truth would be the path leading to happiness. Then the third
truth would be suffering, and the fourth would be the causes of
suffering.

332
Reflections in the Heart
EVERYTHING-THE TREES, the wind, the birds, the mountains,
everything inside us and around us-wants to reflect itself in
us. We don't have to go anywhere to obtain the truth. We only
need to be still, and things will reveal themselves in the still
water of our heart.

333
Recognizing Negative Energy
NEGATIVE HABIT energy always tries to emerge, but if you are
mindful, you recognize it. Mindfulness helps us to recognize
the habits transmitted by our ancestors and parents, or learned
during our childhood. Often, just recognizing these habits will
make them lose their hold on you.

334
The True Teacher in You
THE CAPACITY TO be enlightened isn't something that someone
else can offer to you. A teacher can only help you to remove the
nonenlightened elements in you so that enlightenment can be
revealed. If you have confidence that beauty, goodness, and the
true teacher are in you, and if you take refuge in them, you will
practice in a way that reveals these qualities more clearly each
day.

335
Dependent Coarising
THE BUDDHA TAUGHT that "This is like this, because that is like
that." You see? Because you smile, I am happy. This is like this,
therefore that is like that. And that is like that, because this is
like this. This is called "dependent coarising."

336
Suddenly Alive Again
MANY PEOPLE ARE lost in worries about the future, and regrets
about the past. They are caught up in their projects and their
fantasies, and their minds are not connected to their bodies. If
the body is not united with the mind, we are not really alive.
Mindful walking and mindful breathing help bring the mind
back to the body, so we can be truly present in the here and
now and become truly alive. Practicing mindfulness can be a
kind of resurrection; suddenly, you become alive again.

337
Aches and Tensions
WHEN I BREATHE IN, I generate the energy of mindfulness. With
this energy, I recognize my body's aches and tensions, I begin
to embrace my body tenderly, and allow any tension to be
released. Many of us accumulate a lot of tension and pressure
in our bodies, working them too hard. It's time to come home to
our body. This is possible anytime, whether we are sitting,
lying, standing, or walking.

338
The Art of Stopping
WE PRACTICE TO have enough strength to confront problems
effectively. To do this, we must be calm, fresh, and solid. That is
why we need to practice the art of stopping. When we learn to
stop, we become calmer, and our mind becomes clearer, like
clear water after the particles of mud have settled.

339
Seated on a Lotus Flower
THE BUDDHA IS often portrayed as sitting on a lotus flower, very
fresh, very stable. If we're capable of sitting in the here and the
now, anywhere we sit becomes a lotus flower.

340
Hugging Meditation
HUGGING MEDITATION is a combination of East and West.
According to the practice, you have to really hug the person
you are hugging. You have to make him or her very real in your
arms. You don't do it just for the sake of appearance, patting
him on the back two or three times to pretend you are there.
You are really there, so you do not have to do that. You breathe
consciously while hugging, and you hug with all your body,
spirit, and heart. "Breathing in, I know my dear one is in my
arms, alive. Breathing out, he is so precious to me." While you
hold him and breathe in and out three times, the person in your
arms becomes real, and you become very real also.

341
The Paradise of Forms and Colors
YOU CAN LIVE in such a way that you are in the Kingdom of God
every moment. This is not just a wish, and it is not a promise of
some future happiness. This is a reality. An hour of mindfulness
practice, even fifteen minutes, is already enough to prove to
you that mindfulness is possible, that real life is possible. A
beautiful sunset is something that exists; the song of a bird and
the blue sky also exist. The paradise of forms and colors is
always accessible.

342
A Mistaken Notion
MANY PEOPLE THINK that in order to avoid suffering, they have to
give up joy, and they call this "transcending joy and suffering."
This is not correct. If you recognize and accept your pain
without running away from it, you will discover that although
pain exists, joy also exists. Without experiencing relative joy,
you will not know what to do when you are face-to-face with
absolute joy. Don't get caught in theories or ideas, such as
saying that suffering is an illusion, or that we have to
"transcend" both suffering and joy. Just stay in touch with what
is actually going on, and you will touch the true nature of
suffering and the true nature of joy.

343
You Contain Multitudes
EVERY ONE OF US is a miraculous flower in the garden of
humanity. If you look deeply into yourself, you will see that you
possess everything. As the poet Walt Whitman said, "I am
large, I contain multitudes." The one contains all-that is the
insight of Buddhism. If you practice deep looking, you will
discover this truth, the mystery of interbeing: the one contains
all.

344
To Cherish Your Beloved
WHEN WE KNOW that the person we love is impermanent, we will
cherish our beloved all the more. Impermanence teaches us to
respect and value every moment and all the precious things
around us and inside of us. When we practice mindfulness of
impermanence, we become fresher and more loving.

345
Eating in Silence
EATING IN SILENCE, even for a few minutes, is a very important
practice. It takes away all the distractions that can keep us
from really being in touch with the food. Our mindfulness may
be fragile, and it may be too difficult to carry on a conversation
and really honor the food at the same time. So for the first five
or ten minutes, it is wonderful to eat in silence.

346
What Separates Us
WE ARE SEPARATED BY LABELS, by words like Israeli, Palestinian,
Buddhist, Jew, and Muslim. When we hear one of these words it
evokes an image, and we immediately feel alienated from the
other group or person. We've set up many habitual ways of
thinking that separate us from each other, and we make each
other suffer.
People are caught in these notions and images, and they
cannot recognize each other as human beings. The practice of
peeling away all the labels so that the human being can be
revealed is truly a practice for peace.

347
The Bodhisattvas Will Smile Back
WHEN WE PRACTICE walking meditation for even a few days, we
will undergo a deep transformation, and we will learn how to
enjoy peace in each moment of our life. We will smile, and
countless bodhisattvas throughout the cosmos will smile back
at us because our peace is so deep. Everything we think, feel,
and do has an effect on our ancestors and all future
generations, and reverberates throughout the universe.

348
Not a Philosophy
MANY TEACHERS and philosophers such as Heraclitus and
Confucius have spoken about impermanence. But the
impermanence spoken of by the Buddha is not a philosophy. It
is an instrument for your practice of looking deeply. Use the
key of impermanence to unlock the door of reality-the nature
of interbeing, of no-self, of emptiness. That is why you should
not look on impermanence as a notion, a theory, or a
philosophy, but as an instrument offered by the Buddha so that
we can practice looking deeply and discover the true nature of
reality.

349
You Nourished Each Other
IT IS IMPORTANT to remember that you were nourished before you
were born. If you look deeply, you will see that at the same time
you also nourished your mother. Because of your presence in
her body, her body changed and grew. She may have been more
tired or not felt well, but at the same time, she may have smiled
more and loved life even more.

350
Goodness Is Always in You
BEAUTY AND GOODNESS are always there in each of us. This is the
basic teaching of the Buddha. A true teacher, a true spiritual
partner, is one who encourages you to look deeply in yourself
for the beauty and love you are seeking. The true teacher is
someone who helps you discover the teacher in yourself.

351
They Will Reveal Their Splendor
IF WE PRACTICE mindfulness, we get in touch with the refreshing
and joyful aspects of life in us and around us, the things we are
not able to touch when we live in forgetfulness. Mindfulness
makes things like our eyes, our heart, the beautiful moon, and
the trees deeper and more beautiful. If we touch these
wonderful things with mindfulness, they will reveal their full
splendor.

352
No Enemy, No Savior
IF WE'RE FREE of the notions of self and nonself, then we won't
be afraid of the words self and nonself. But if we see the self as
our enemy and think that nonself is our savior, we are caught.
We're trying to push away one thing and embrace another.
When we realize that to take care of the self is to take care of
what is not self, we are free, and we don't have to push away
either.

353
Why Hurry to the Grave?
THERE IS NO NEED for us to struggle to arrive somewhere else.
We know that our final destination is the cemetery. Why are we
in a hurry to get there? Why not step in the direction of life,
which is in the present moment?

354
The Energy of Love
THE TEACHING OF the Buddha aims at helping us to generate the
energy of love and understanding. If we can produce that
energy, it will first of all help us to satisfy our need to be loved.
And then, with that capacity of love and understanding, we can
embrace the people who are with us now. We can make them
happy while we are happy ourselves.

355
Your Suffering Needs You
GO BACK AND take care of yourself. Your body needs you, your
feelings need you, your perceptions need you. Your suffering
needs you to acknowledge it. Go home and be there for all
these things.

356
The Buddha's Highest Teaching
EXISTENCE AND nonexistence are just concepts. There is only
manifestation and nonmanifestation, which depend on our
perception. If you have perception that is deep enough, a deep
insight into life, then you are free from all these concepts such
as being and nonbeing, birth and death. This is the highest
level of the Buddha's teaching. You are looking for relief for
your pain, but the greatest relief that you can ever obtain
comes from touching the nature of no-birth and no-death.

357
The Simple Act of Walking
WALKING IS AS simple as putting one foot in front of the other.
But we often find it difficult or tedious. We drive a few blocks
rather than walk in order to "save time." When we understand
the interconnectedness of our body and our mind, the simple
act of walking like the Buddha can feel supremely easy and
pleasurable.

358
So Many Reasons to Be Happy
WE HAVE SO MANY reasons to be happy. The earth is filled with
love for us, and patience. Whenever she sees us suffering, she
will protect us. With the earth as a refuge, we need not be
afraid of anything, even dying. Walking mindfully on the earth,
we are nourished by the trees, the bushes, the flowers, and the
sunshine. Touching the earth is a very deep practice that can
restore our peace and our joy.

359
A Family Meal
IT IS IMPORTANT for each family to have at least one meal
together every day. This meal should be an occasion to practice
mindfulness, and to be aware of how fortunate we are to be
together. After we sit down, we look at each person and,
breathing in and out, smile to him or her for a few seconds.
This practice can produce a miracle. It can make you real, and
it can make the others at the table real also.

360
Don't Be a Prisoner
THE BUDDHA handed us an instrument to remove notions and
concepts, and touch reality directly. If you continue to cling,
even to Buddhist notions and concepts, you miss the
opportunity. You are carrying the raft on your shoulders. Do not
be a prisoner of any doctrine or ideology, even Buddhist ones.

361
Offering Flowers to the Buddha
WHEN A FLOWER dies, we don't cry. We know it is impermanent. If
we practice awareness of the nature of impermanence, we will
suffer less and enjoy life more. If we know things are
impermanent, we will cherish them in the present moment.
Impermanence is not negative. Some Buddhists think we
should not enjoy anything, because everything is impermanent.
They think that emancipation is to get rid of everything and not
enjoy anything. But when we offer flowers to the Buddha, I
believe the Buddha sees the beauty of the flowers and deeply
appreciates them.

362
Big Brother, Big Sister
THE GOOD MUST take care of the evil as a big brother takes care
of his little brother, or as a big sister takes care of her little
sister-with a great deal of tenderness, in a spirit of nonduality.
Knowing that, there is a lot of peace in you already.

363
Why Wait to Be Happy?
MANY PEOPLE IN our society are not happy, even though the
conditions for their happiness already exist. Their habit energy
is always pushing them ahead, preventing them from being
happy in the here and now. But with a little bit of training, we
can all learn to recognize this energy every time it comes up.
Why wait to be happy?

364
The Essence of Buddhist Meditation
THOSE WHO HAVE practiced Buddhist meditation know that
meditating is above all being present: to yourself, to those you
love, to life.

365
This Is the Revolution
WE HAVE TO wake up! We have to make it possible for the
moment of awareness to manifest. This is the practice that will
save us-this is the revolution.

366
We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.