No Mud, No Lotus Quotes

“There are many cells in your body that are dying as you read these words. Fifty to seventy billion cells die each day in the average human adult. You are too busy to organise funerals for all of them! At the very same time, new cells are being born, and you don't have the time to sing Happy Birthday to them. If old cells don't die, there's no chance for new cells to be born. So death is a very good thing. It's very crucial for birth. You are undergoing birth and death in this very moment.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“If someone were to ask, “What’s the purpose of walking meditation? What’s the point? Why do you practice it?” There are several answers we can give. But for me the best answer is, “Because I like it.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“The most effective way to show compassion to another is to listen, rather than talk. You have an opportunity to practice deep, compassionate listening. If you can listen to the other person with compassion, your listening is like a salve for her wound. In the practice of compassionate listening, you listen with only one purpose, which is to give the other person the chance to speak out and to suffer less.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Meditation is the art of using one kind of energy to transform another.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“A bell of mindfulness, whether it is an actual bell or some other sound, is a wonderful reminder to come back to ourselves, to come back to life here in the present moment. The sound of the bell is the voice of the Buddha within. Every one of us has Buddha nature—the capacity for compassionate, clear, understanding nature—within us. So when we hear the sound of the bell, if we like practicing mindfulness, we can respond to that intervention with respect and appreciation. In my tradition, every time we hear the bell, we pause. We stop moving, talking, and thinking, and we listen to the voice of the heart. We don’t say that we “hit the bell” or “strike the bell.” Rather, we say we “invite the bell” to sound, because the bell is a friend, an enlightened friend that helps us wake up and guides us home to ourselves. Gentleness and nonviolence are characteristics of the sound of the bell. Its sound is gentle but very powerful. When you hear the sound of the bell, take the opportunity to come home to yourself and enjoy your breathing. Take a few moments to inhale and exhale deeply and touch a little happiness. If you want to experience what the end of suffering will feel like, it is in the here and the now with this breath. If you want nirvana, it’s right here.        Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.        Breathing out, I smile.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Concentration, samadhi in Sanskrit, is a powerful force that you can generate to make a breakthrough, to see clearly what is there and understand its true nature.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“If we focus exclusively on pursuing happiness, we may regard suffering as something to be ignored or resisted. We think of it as something that gets in the way of happiness. But the art of happiness is also and at the same time the art of knowing how to suffer well. If we know how to use our suffering, we can transform it and suffer much less. Knowing how to suffer well is essential to realizing true happiness.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Waking up this morning I smile. I have twenty-four hours to live. I vow to live them deeply and learn to look at the beings around me with the eyes of compassion.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“To be mindful means to be aware. It’s the energy that knows”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Some people think that in order to be happy they must avoid all suffering, and so they are constantly vigilant, constantly worrying. They end up sacrificing all their spontaneity, freedom, and joy.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“For many people, it [suffering] starts already at a very young age. So what don't schools teach our young people the way to manage suffering?”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“The way to suffer well and be happy is to stay in touch with what is actually going on; in doing so, you will gain liberating insights into the true nature of suffering and of joy. NO”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“When a painful emotion comes up, stop whatever you're doing and take care of it. Pay attention to what is happening. The practice is simple. Lie down, put your hand on your belly, and begin to breathe. Stop thinking, and focus all your attention on the rise and fall of the abdomen. Breathe deeply and focus your attention only on your in-breath and out-breath.

An emotion is only an emotion, and you are much more than one emotion. You are body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. The territory of your being is large.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“In the past, we probably did suffer from one thing or another. It may even have felt like a kind of hell. If we remember that suffering, not letting ourselves get carried away by it, we can use it to remind ourselves, "How lucky I am right now. I'm not in that situation. I can be happy.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“We need to stop and ask, “Can I realize my deepest aspiration if I pursue this path?” “What is really preventing me from taking the path I most deeply desire?” DEVELOPING”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“EMBRACING SUFFERING If we let the suffering come up and just take over our mind, we can be quickly overwhelmed by it.”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“the second mindfulness training: true happiness Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others; and I will share my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering; that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion; and that running after wealth, fame, power, and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to practicing Right Livelihood so that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on Earth and reverse the process of global warming.”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“The great news is that oneness of body and mind can be realized just by one in-breath.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“We have to learn how to embrace and cradle our own suffering and the suffering of the world, with a lot of tenderness.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Suffering isn’t some kind of external, objective source of oppression and pain.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“insurmountable”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“To love is, first of all, to accept ourselves as we actually are. That is why in this love meditation, “Know thyself” is the first practice of love. When we practice this, we see the conditions that have caused us to be the way we are. This makes it easy for us to accept ourselves, including our suffering and our happiness at the same time.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Inviting the bell to sound is inviting happiness to enter our bodies and take root there. Every time we hear the sound of the bell, we have the chance to practice mindful breathing, calm our body, and notice our happiness. We can invite all the cells in our body to join us in listening to the bell and allowing the sound of the bell to penetrate into us. Listening deeply, we know that our ancestors are fully present in every cell of our body. We listen in such a way that all our ancestors are listening at the same time. If we can be peaceful and joyful while listening, then all our ancestors will also experience peace and joy at the same time. It is possible to invite all our ancestors to join us in listening to the bell.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Breathing in, you notice the rising of your abdomen. Breathing out, notice the falling of your abdomen. Breathe deeply and focus your attention only on your in-breath and out-breath. If there is anything to be aware of, it’s that an emotion is only an emotion, and that you are much more than one emotion. You are body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. The territory of your being is large. One emotion is very little. An emotion is something that comes and stays for a while and eventually goes away. If during the time of the emotion, you have that insight, that insight will save you. You don’t have to die just because of one emotion.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Anything you can do to lessen suffering in your community and in the world is known in Buddhism as Right Action. When you go to the supermarket, you can make the choice whether to practice Right Action or not. There are items for sale that have been produced by children who have no chance to go to school. There are items that have been made with materials that can be harmful. We are part of the collective whole, and even these individual decisions about what to consume affect the collective consciousness.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“There is a Buddhist teaching found in the Sallatha Sutta, known as The Arrow. It says if an arrow hits you, you will feel pain in that part of your body where the arrow hit; and then if a second arrow comes and strikes exactly at the same spot, the pain will not be only double, it will become at least ten times more intense.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Part of the art of suffering well is learning not to magnify our pain by getting carried away in fear, anger, and despair. We build and maintain our energy reserves to handle the big sufferings; the little sufferings we can let go.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Usually we think that other people, such as our parents, our partner, or people at work, are to blame for our hurt. But looking more deeply, we can see the true sources of our own suffering, and we also can see that the person who we think is out to get us is a victim of his or her own suffering.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“There are many cells inside your body that are dying as you read these words. Fifty to seventy billion cells die each day in the average human adult. You are too busy to organize funerals for all of them! At the very same time, new cells are being born, and you don’t have the time to sing Happy Birthday to them. If old cells don’t die, there’s no chance for new cells to be born. So death is a very good thing. It’s very crucial for birth. You are undergoing birth and death in this very moment.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“In all these situations, even if you don’t have a regular interpersonal relationship with your parents or your ancestors, your body and mind contain their suffering and their hopes as well as your own.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering