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“We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love. We must look deeply in order to see and understand the needs, aspirations, and suffering of the person we love. This is the ground of real love. You cannot resist loving another person when you really understand him or her.

From time to time, sit close to the one you love, hold his or her hand, and ask, 'Darling, do I understand you enough? Or am I making you suffer? Please tell me so that I can learn to love you properly. I don't want to make you suffer, and if I do so because of my ignorance, please tell me so that I can love you better, so that you can be happy." If you say this in a voice that communicates your real openness to understand, the other person may cry.

That is a good sign, because it means the door of understanding is opening and everything will be possible again.

Maybe a father does not have time or is not brave enough to ask his son such a question. Then the love between them will not be as full as it could be. We need courage to ask these questions, but if we don't ask, the more we love, the more we may destroy the people we are trying to love. True love needs understanding. With understanding, the one we love will certainly flower.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

“Guarding knowledge is not a good way to understand. Understanding means to throw away your knowledge.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

“If you do not know how to take care of yourself, and the violence in you, then you will not be able to take care of others. You must have love and patience before you can truly listen to your partner or child. If you are irritated you cannot listen. You have to know how to breath mindfully, embrace your irritation and transform it. Offer ONLY understand and compassion to your partner or child - This is the true practice of love. ”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World

“Suffering has its beneficial aspects. It can be an excellent teacher.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Fifteen years ago, a business manager from the United States came to Plum Village to visit me. His conscience was troubled because he was the head of a firm that designed atomic bombs. I listened as he expressed his concerns. I knew if I advised him to quit his job, another person would only replace him. If he were to quit, he might help himself, but he would not help his company, society, or country. I urged him to remain the director of his firm, to bring mindfulness into his daily work, and to use his position to communicate his concerns and doubts about the production of atomic bombs.

In the Sutra on Happiness, the Buddha says it is great fortune to have an occupation that allows us to be happy, to help others, and to generate compassion and understanding in this world. Those in the helping professions have occupations that give them this wonderful opportunity. Yet many social workers, physicians, and therapists work in a way that does not cultivate their compassion, instead doing their job only to earn money. If the bomb designer practises and does his work with mindfulness, his job can still nourish his compassion and in some way allow him to help others. He can still influence his government and fellow citizens by bringing greater awareness to the situation. He can give the whole nation an opportunity to question the necessity of bomb production.

Many people who are wealthy, powerful, and important in business, politics, and entertainment are not happy. They are seeking empty things - wealth, fame, power, sex - and in the process they are destroying themselves and those around them. In Plum Village, we have organised retreats for businesspeople. We see that they have many problems and suffer just as others do, sometimes even more. We see that their wealth allows them to live in comfortable conditions, yet they still suffer a great deal.

Some businesspeople, even those who have persuaded themselves that their work is very important, feel empty in their occupation. They provide employment to many people in their factories, newspapers, insurance firms, and supermarket chains, yet their financial success is an empty happiness because it is not motivated by understanding or compassion. Caught up in their small world of profit and loss, they are unaware of the suffering and poverty in the world. When we are not int ouch with this larger reality, we will lack the compassion we need to nourish and guide us to happiness.

Once you begin to realise your interconnectedness with others, your interbeing, you begin to see how your actions affect you and all other life. You begin to question your way of living, to look with new eyes at the quality of your relationships and the way you work. You begin to see, 'I have to earn a living, yes, but I want to earn a living mindfully. I want to try to select a vocation not harmful to others and to the natural world, one that does not misuse resources.'

Entire companies can also adopt this way of thinking. Companies have the right to pursue economic growth, but not at the expense of other life. They should respect the life and integrity of people, animals, plants and minerals. Do not invest your time or money in companies that deprive others of their lives, that operate in a way that exploits people or animals, and destroys nature.

Businesspeople who visit Plum Village often find that getting in touch with the suffering of others and cultivating understanding brings them happiness. They practise like Anathapindika, a successful businessman who lived at the time of the Buddha, who with the practise of mindfulness throughout his life did everything he could to help the poor and sick people in his homeland.”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh, Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World

“If we want the lotus bud to appear, it will appear. If we want it to grow, it will grow. When the lotus flower in our heart has grown, wherever we walk the Pure Land appears.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh

“The greatest miracle is to be alive.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

“The orange tree took time to create this masterpiece.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh

“When we're inspired by the desire to practice and transform our suffering, the mind of the moment is very beautiful. Sometimes we call it the mind of love. It's because of love that we practice.”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh

“Meditation isn’t what most people think,�� she said. ‘You’re meditating right now, in the way that you’re focused on what I’m saying. If your mind was somewhere else—if you were thinking about the Saints game or what you might have for dessert—that’s not meditation. You have to be here, now. Inhabit the present moment, because that’s the only way to find lasting happiness. If you think happiness is somewhere out there, you’ll spend your whole life chasing it, and once you find something that looks like happiness, it will change without warning. You have to accept yourself as you are, happy to be breathing, to be present in this moment.”
― Israel Morrow, Gods of the Flesh: A Skeptic's Journey Through Sex, Politics and Religion

“Twice in this book Thich Nhat Hanh puts before us a powerful image of Christian legend: In midwinter, St. Francis is calling out to an almond tree, “Speak to me of God!�� and the almond tree breaks into bloom. It comes alive. There is no other way of witnessing to God but by aliveness. With a fine instinct, Thich Nhat Hanh traces genuine aliveness to its source. He recognizes that this is what the biblical tradition calls the Holy Spirit. After all, the very word “spirit�� means “breath,�� and to breathe means to live. The Holy Spirit is the breath of divine life. —Brother David Steindl-Rast”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ

“We still have not yet fully understood electrons and nuclei; for scientists, a speck of dust is very exciting. A particle of dust is a marvel.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries

“S�� thật là khi nào chúng ta tin có một cái ngã, rồi đem cái ngã này so sánh với cái ngã kia thì ta mới có mặc cảm, hoặc t�� ti, hoặc t�� tôn, hoặc bằng người. Nếu thấy được vô ngã thì ta thoát hết tất c�� bệnh. Trong đạo Bụt, cách tr�� liệu mặc cảm là thoát được ý niệm v�� ngã (I am). Cái “ngã�� là cái rất nguy hiểm.

Sáng nay, trong khi ngồi thiền chúng ta thực tập: Th�� vào, tôi thấy s�� có mặt của tất c�� t�� tiên của tôi trong từng t�� bào cơ th�� tôi. Th�� ra, tôi thấy các t�� tiên của tôi trong từng t�� bào của tôi đang mỉm cười với tôi. Thực tập như vậy đ�� thấy mình không phải là cái ngã riêng, mình chẳng qua là s�� tiếp nối của t�� tiên thôi. Mình là t�� tiên của mình. Đó là một trong những cách thực tập, một phương pháp gọi là quán tưởng (visualiser), quán chiếu (le regard profond) đ�� thấy rõ ràng ta là cái gì? Ta là một hợp th��. Ta được làm bằng t�� tiên, dòng h��, đất nước, văn hóa, cơm gạo, giáo dục. Ngoài những cái đó làm gì có cái ta riêng biệt? Mình chính là t�� tiên mình, mình chính là dân tộc mình, mình chính là nền giáo dục, nền kinh t�� của đất nước mình.

Cũng giống như ngón út, nó không phải là một thực tại cách biệt với những ngón khác. Nó với ngón đeo nhẫn cũng là một, nó với ngón giữa cũng là một. Nó không có s�� có mặt riêng biệt. Quán chiếu v�� vô ngã là phương pháp tr�� bệnh sâu sắc nhất, hợp lý nhất. Khi chúng ta có cái thấy v�� vô ngã rồi thì cái chết, cái sống, cái còn, cái mất, không có động gì tới ta được và ta không còn lo s�� nữa.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Con Sư T�� Vàng Của Thầy Pháp Tạng

“Hope�� is the next word I want to consider mathematically. We’d probably all agree, initially, that it’s a term with a positive value. Renowned Buddhist philosopher Thich Nhat Hanh, however, begs to differ. On the contrary, he says he perceives something tragic in hope.”
― Steven Heighton, The Virtues of Disillusionment

“Hopefulness, Nhat Hanh suggests, is a harmful emotion because it’s based on an illusion. A hope is not something real that exists but rather a wish that something might exist �� or might disappear if it now exists. Unlike the present moment, which is real and occurring, hope is speculative, an abstraction projected into the future. And by hoping ourselves into the future, we miss out on the good things �� miracles, few though they might be �� happening even now, despite our problems.”
― Steven Heighton, The Virtues of Disillusionment

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it. -Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life.”
― Jake Eagle LPC, The Power of Awe: Overcome Burnout & Anxiety, Ease Chronic Pain, Find Clarity & Purpose―In Less Than 1 Minute Per Day

“Mindfulness practice is the kind of practice that allows us to enter the wonderful realm of the Avatamsaka. There is a lot of light, of space, of flowers, of joy, of peace, of loving-kindness in the realm of Avatamsaka. And the realm of Avatamsaka is available to us at any time. We need only to use the energy of mindfulness in order to step into that world where you can meet the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and all the wonderful things.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Ultimate Dimension : An Advanced Dharma Retreat on the Avatamsaka and Lotus Sutras

“Zen is to eat, breathe, cook, carry water, and scrub the toilet, to infuse every act of body, speech, and mind with mindfulness, to illuminate every leaf and pebble, every heap of garbage, every path that leads to our mind’s return home. Only a person who has grasped the art of cooking, washing dishes, sweeping, and chopping wood, someone who is able to laugh at the world’s weapons of money, fame, and power, can hope to descend the mountain as a hero.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves: Journals, 1962-1966

“We can rejoice that our world does have many bodhisattvas who can be found on every path of return, sowing seeds of faith, resolve, and confidence. Kwan Yin, for example, always finds ways to be with those who are suffering. She fears nothing, and uses whatever means are appropriate to the circumstance. She takes on whatever form is needed�� monk, politician, merchant, scholar, woman, child, god, or demon. Can we listen deeply like Kwan Yin? Using every form and means possible in the spirit of Kwan Yin, we will bring help to our world.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves: Journals, 1962-1966