No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

by Thich Nhat Hanh

We are truly alive only when the mind is with the body.

The Buddha said that nothing can survive without food. This is true, not just for the physical existence of living beings, but also for states of mind. Love needs to be nurtured and fed to survive; and our suffering also survives because we enable and feed it.

When suffering arises, the first thing to do is to stop, follow our breathing, and acknowledge it. Don’t try to deny uncomfortable emotions or push them down. Breathing in, I know suffering is there. Breathing out, I say hello to my suffering.

If we can get in touch with our body, then we can also get in touch with our feelings. There are many feelings calling to us. Every feeling is like our child. Suffering is a hurt child crying out to us. But we ignore the voice of the child within.

The function of mindfulness is, first, to recognize the suffering and then to take care of the suffering.

nonjudgmentally recognizing and embracing this great suffering is not at all the same thing as giving in to it.