Waking Up to What You Do Quotes

“During the Vietnam war, the Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh spoke before a liberal, politically active audience in Berkeley, California. When asked about taking political action, he told the audience that taking action was important, but more important was to try remember that they are not helping bring peace as long as they place themselves in a morally superior position. He reminded us that we can be very good at writing letters but very poor at opening our hearts and minds to those who oppose us.”
― Diane Eshin Rizzetto, Waking Up to What You Do: A Zen Practice for Meeting Every Situation with Intelligence and Compassion

“So we can think of the precepts both as keys to self discovery, allowing us to see how habitual patterns of thinking lead us to do things that are hurtful to ourselves and others, and as companions signaling us when we are about to take hurtful action. They encourage us in the spirit of open questioning to unveil our deepest beliefs that define for us the shape and limitations of how we view who we are. They reveal with crystal clarity the truth that our happiness and well-being are intricately connected to the happiness and well-being of others; we can't have one without the other. In the deepest sense, our actions are our heritage let go into the world.”
― Diane Eshin Rizzetto, Waking Up to What You Do: A Zen Practice for Meeting Every Situation with Intelligence and Compassion