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

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Our body is a masterpiece of the cosmos. Our body carries within it the stars, the moon, the universe, and the presence of all our ancestors. How many millions of years of evolution has it taken to give rise to these wondrous two eyes, legs, feet, and hands? Countless life-forms are supporting our existence in this moment. Reconnecting with our physical body takes only a few moments of stopping and breathing with awareness. We all have time for this, and yet we do not do it. It is strange that we are scared of what happens to our physical body when we die, and yet we are not truly enjoying our physical body while we are alive.

To lose the present moment is to lose our only chance to encounter life.

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

Each one of us has our own idea of happiness. We may think our happiness depends on having a certain job, house, car, or person to live with. Or we may think we have to eliminate this or that from our lives in order to be happy. Some of us think that if only a certain political party was in power, then we’d be happy. But these are just ideas we have created for ourselves. If we let go of our ideas, we can allow ourselves to touch happiness right away. Our idea of happiness may be the very obstacle standing in the way of our happiness.

Peace, compassion, and well-being begin with ourselves. When we can reconcile with ourselves and embrace and transform our suffering, we are also taking care of the world. Don’t think that you and the world are two separate things. Anything you do for yourself, you are also doing for the world.

Happiness and peace are born from transforming suffering and pain.

Without suffering, there can be no awakening from suffering, just as without the hot coals, we cannot have the cool ashes. Suffering and awakening go together.

Time is not money. Time is life, and time is love.