Touching Life: Lessons of Thích Nhất Hạnh

We live in a world of ill-being, but not in ill-being alone. Where there is ill-being, there is well-being.

Where there is darkness, there is light. There is no birth without death, left without right, inner without outer.

This is a lesson in inter-being.

In non-duality.

We can live a path of well-being. A noble path. Well-being can be found in our every breath, in our every step, in the seeds we plant daily.

We can plant the seeds of loving-kindness, equanimity, generosity, and mindfulness.

What we do, how we think, what we consume, changes us. If we do not plant the seeds of well-being, then our plants will wither away.

Our life is only available now. We can touch the clouds with our minds. We can be aware of the energy changing under all our storylines. Rather than feeling anxiety about the future and regret about the past, we can enjoy this moment. Our freedom comes from being aware.

Right now, let’s smile to our bodies, smile to our minds, smile to our breathing, smile to the sun and trees and rivers and oceans and mountains.

When we drink tea, we can smell its rising steam and taste a gentle warmth that soon fills our bellies. When we are tired, we can lay and sleep. When we are hungry, we can eat.

There is wonder in what we are doing, in our changing lives, but we are often too distracted. We avoid and resist what is.

Is it possible to touch the silky petals of a white flower? To feel a heart in our chest? To step barefoot in sand and sit down and listen to the waves foaming on the shore?