The Other Shore Quotes

“We do not have to die in order to return to dust, we are the dust in this very moment. When you see the no-increasing, no-decreasing nature of reality, you will have no more fear, no more complexes. There is an old proverb that says:

     Be humble; you are made of dust
     Be noble; you are made of stars

But the stars are also made of dust, and dust is made of ancient stars. There is the nature of interbeing between dust and stars. So nobility and humility must also have the nature of interbeing. Looking at the one, you can recognize the other.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries

“Avalokiteśvara’s mantra is: Gate, gate, pāragate, pārasaṃgate, bodhi svāhā. Gate means gone: gone from suffering to the liberation from suffering. Gone from forgetfulness to mindfulness. Gone from duality to ​nonduality. Gate, gate means gone, gone. Pāragate means gone all the way to the other shore. So this mantra is said in a very strong way. Gone, gone, gone all the way over. In Pārasaṃgate, saṃ means everyone, the sangha, the entire community of beings. Everyone gone over to the other shore. Bodhi is the light inside, enlightenment, or awakening. You see, and the vision of reality liberates you. Svāhā is a cry of joy and triumph, like “Eureka!” or “Hallelujah!” “Gone, gone, gone all the way over, everyone gone to the other shore, enlightenment, svāhā!”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries

“We still have not yet fully understood electrons and nuclei; for scientists, a speck of dust is very exciting. A particle of dust is a marvel.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries

“Teaching is not done by talking alone. It is done by how you live your life. My life is my teaching. My life is my message.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries

“The truth is, when we burn the paper, it will change into something else and will continue on in other forms—as ash, smoke, and heat, in our body and the universe. The heat is one of the next lives of the paper, as is the smoke rising to the sky. The ash will return to the earth and become part of the soil. So the sheet of paper, in its next life, might be a cloud and a rose at the same time.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries

“Knowledge is the first obstacle of the mind that a meditator should be able to remove. We should not be too sure of anything.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries

“From the point of view of Mother Earth, poison oak and weeds are as wonderful as chrysanthemum or rosemary. It is our mind consciousness that discriminates and declares, "I want this and I do not want that." Mother Earth does not have these ideas. The true nature of reality for her is neither defiled not pure, neither increasing no decreasing. The true nature of everything is free from concepts such as good and evil; it is indeterminate. There is no discrimination. As living beings, we have our needs, desires, and cravings, and we have our discrimination. So we see things in terms of good and evil, increasing and decreasing, defiled and immaculate. Mother Earth does not discriminate. If you throw perfume or flowers on her, she's not proud. If you throw urine or excrement on her, she's not offended. For her, everything is perfect. She knows that without this, the other cannot be. Without the mud, the lotus cannot be. So we can learn a lot from Mother Earth.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries

“Prajñāpāramitā”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries

“and because there are no more obstacles in their mind, they can overcome all fear, destroy all wrong perceptions, and realize Perfect Nirvāṇa”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries

“No birth and no death; no being and no nonbeing; no coming and no going; no same and no different,”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries