The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now

by Thich Nhat Hanh

But if we wait until we die to expect happiness, it may be too late. We can touch all the wonders of life, and the ultimate itself, with our human body right here and now. Your body is also a wonder. It is another kind of flower in the garden of humanity, and you should treat your body with the utmost respect because it belongs to the Kingdom of God. You can touch the Kingdom of God with your body. One mindful in-breath is enough for us to suddenly notice the bright blue sky, the cool fresh air, the sound of the wind in the pine trees, or the music of the running brook. We don’t need to die to go to heaven. We already are in the Kingdom of God.

To practice aimlessness is to identify what it is you’re looking for, waiting for, or running after, and let it go. By removing these objects of seeking that are pulling you away from the here and now, you will discover that everything you want is already right here in the present moment.

Each one of us has to be our true self: fresh, solid, at ease, loving, and compassionate. When we are our true selves, not only do we benefit, but everyone around us profits from our presence.

you are already enough. We don’t need to do anything special to be a buddha and cultivate our buddha body. We just need to live a simple, authentic life. Our true person, our true self, doesn’t need a particular job or position. Our true self doesn’t need money, fame, or status. Our true self doesn’t need to do anything. We just live our life deeply in the present moment.

All the things we think we’ve got to find on the outside are already there inside us. Loving-kindness, understanding, and compassion are there within us. We need only to clear some of the rock obstructing the way in order to reveal them. There is no essence of holiness we need to seek outside. And there is no essence of the ordinary we have to destroy.

We just have to live in such a way that allows it to be revealed.

Michelangelo seeing the sculpture and all he had to do was chip marble away to reveal it

When you identify and nurture your deepest desire, it can become a source of great happiness, energy, and motivation. It can provide you with drive, with direction. It can sustain you through difficult moments. Our dream gives us vitality. It gives our life meaning.

A student once asked me what I thought it meant to “surrender to God’s will.” For me, God’s will is that each of us should be our best. We should be alive, and we should enjoy the wonders of life and do our best to help others do the same. That is the will of God.

If we have the good intention to cultivate happiness, to transform our suffering, and to help those around us transform theirs; if we have the intention to be fully present, to live deeply the life that has been given to us, and to help others do the same, that is surrendering to the will of God.

YOUR DREAM IS NOW

Living each moment as a way to realize our dreams, there is no difference between the end and the means.

YOUR DESTINATION IS IN EVERY STEP

It doesn’t take a long time to master walking meditation. We can feel the benefit right away. A single step is enough to touch peace and freedom.

While breathing in, you might like to say, “I have arrived.” While breathing out, you can say, “I am home.” It means, I have arrived in the present moment, in the here and the now. This is not a declaration; it’s a realization. You have to really arrive. Every step helps you to stop running—not only your body but also the running of your mind. With walking meditation, you recognize your habit of running so you can gradually transform it.

“I have arrived; I am home” means “I don’t want to run anymore.” I’ve been running all my life and I’ve arrived nowhere. Now I want to stop. My destination is the here and now, the only time and place where true life is possible.

When we practice walking meditation we touch the ultimate, the Kingdom of God, with our feet, our mind, and our whole body.

Walk the labyrinth

Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.

Impermanence is something wonderful. If things were not impermanent, life would not be possible. A seed could never become a plant of corn; the child couldn’t grow into a young adult; there could never be healing and transformation; we could never realize our dreams. So impermanence is very important for life. Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.

The Buddha offered the contemplation on impermanence not for us to treasure as a notion, but for us to get the insight of impermanence by applying it to our daily life. There’s a difference between a notion and an insight.

I don’t exercise to get fit or be healthier; I do it to enjoy being alive.

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old. I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health. I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death. All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. They are the ground upon which I stand.

As soon as we realize that in this very moment we already have enough, and we already are enough, true happiness becomes possible.

The art of happiness is the art of living deeply in the present moment.

Happiness is a habit. It’s a training. With mindfulness, concentration, and insight, we can free ourselves from feelings of restlessness and craving, and realize that, right now, we already have more than enough conditions to be happy.

so long as we have the energy of craving in us, we’re never satisfied with what we have and with who we are right now, and true happiness is not possible.

Infatuation can become a kind of prison preventing us from touching true happiness and freedom.

At first we think that if we let go of what we’re craving, we’ll lose a lot. But when you finally release it, you see that you have not lost anything after all. You are even richer than before, because you have your freedom, and you have the present moment, just like the farmer who sold everything in order to buy the treasure in the field.

INSIGHT SETS YOU FREE Every one of us has insight.

Mindfulness can only help reduce our stress and tension if it provides us with insight.

If you want to heal your loneliness, you first have to learn how to heal yourself, be there for yourself, and cultivate your own inner garden of love, acceptance, and understanding.

Once you have cultivated love and understanding in yourself, you have something to offer the other person.

The number of days we have to live is not so important. What matters is how we live them.

It is helpful to look honestly at your habit energy. When you turn on the TV, are you sure the program is worth watching? When you reach for some food, is it because you are hungry? What are you running away from? What is it you are really hungry for? The energy of mindfulness—our spiritual practice body—helps us identify what kind of feeling is coming up and pushing us to run away. Solidly rooted in our mindful breathing, we realize we don’t need to run away. We don’t need to suppress our painful feelings. We see clearly what is going on inside and take the chance to stop, embrace our feelings, and start to truly take care of ourselves.

Contemplative body

It is possible to learn to sit in peace, breathe in peace, and walk in peace. To be at peace is an art we cultivate with our daily mindfulness practice.

You enjoy following the in-breath and out-breath all the way in and all the way out of your body.

We need to train ourselves to keep coming back to our breath and our body. Every time we reunite body and mind, we are reconciling with ourselves.

As you breathe in, become aware of your whole body in whatever position it is. As you breathe out, smile to your whole body. It should be a real smile.

Listen to your body. Embrace your body with loving-kindness, compassion, and care. Send love and healing energy to all your organs and thank them for being there and working in harmony. Send love and gratitude to all the parts of your body. Smile to every cell. Reconnect with your body. Reconcile. “My dear body, I’m sorry I’ve let you down. I’ve pushed you too hard. I’ve been neglecting you. I have allowed stress, tension, and pain to accumulate. Now please allow yourself to rest and relax.” Smile to yourself. Smile to your body. Become aware that the blue sky, white clouds, and stars are above you and all around you. The Earth is holding you in her tender embrace. You are in a state of total rest. You have nothing to do and nowhere to run to. Everything you need is right here in this moment, and you smile.

Are you happy? Are you living a fulfilled life? If you can’t touch happiness now, when can you be happy? Happiness is not something you can postpone to the future. You have to challenge yourself to be happy right here and now. If you want to have peace, joy, and happiness, it’s only possible to find it in the present moment.

Whether this moment is happy or not depends on you. It’s you who makes the moment happy, not the moment that makes you happy. With mindfulness, concentration, and insight, any moment can become a happy moment.

Happiness is something we generate with mindfulness.

You have to make a choice. Do you want to be number one, or do you want to be happy? You may become a victim of your success, but you can never become a victim of your happiness.

Once you can accept yourself as you are, you allow yourself to be happy. You don’t need to become anything or anyone else, just as a rose doesn’t need to become a lotus in order to be happy. As a rose, it is already beautiful. You are wonderful just as you are.

We all need a spiritual dimension to our life. With mindfulness we can see the poetry and beauty all around us. We can see the miracles of life. We get deeply in touch with our cosmic body. Every second, every minute, every hour, becomes a diamond.

When you wake up in the morning, you can choose how you want to start your day. I recommend you start the day smiling. Why smile? Because you are alive and you have twenty-four brand-new hours ahead of you. The new day is a gift of life offered to you. Celebrate it and vow to live it deeply. Vow not to waste it.

Every piece of bread and every grain of rice is a gift of the whole cosmos.

For many of us, when we sit still, we’re so restless that it feels as though we’re sitting on burning coals. But with some practice, we’ll be able to skillfully tame our restless body and mind and sit in peace. As soon as there is ease and relaxation, there is healing and well-being.

Sitting meditation is an act of civilization. These days we are so busy, we don’t even have time to breathe. To take a moment to sit in stillness and cultivate peace, joy, and compassion—that is civilization. It is priceless.

When we know the art of how to suffer, we suffer much less. We’re able to make use of the mud of our suffering to grow lotuses of love and understanding.

The art of living happily is also the art of transforming our afflictions. If we want to be happy, we need to identify what is preventing us from being happy.