How to Live When a Loved One Dies Quotes

“If you think that I am only this body, then you have not truly seen me... There will be a dissolution of this body, but that does not mean my death. I will continue, always.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss

“Breathing in, I see the presence of my beloved in every cell of my body. Breathing out, I smile to my beloved in every cell of my body. My beloved in every cell, Smiling. Breathing in, my loved one is breathing in with me. Breathing out, my loved one is breathing out with me. My loved one breathing in with me My loved one breathing out with me Breathing in, I am breathing with my loved one’s lungs. Breathing out, our bodies relax. Breathing with my loved one’s lungs, Our bodies relaxing. Breathing in, I am looking with my loved one’s eyes. Breathing out, I am listening with my loved one’s ears. Looking with my loved one’s eyes Listening with my loved one’s ears Breathing in, I see I am part of the wonderful river of life, flowing continuously for thousands of years. Breathing out, I smile and entrust myself to this river of life. River”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss

“Once, as I was about to step on a dry leaf, I saw the leaf in the ultimate dimension of reality. I saw that it was not really dead, but it was merging with the moist soil and preparing to appear on the tree the following spring. I smiled at the leaf and said, “You are pretending.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss

“If you have lost someone and if you have cried so very much, please look deeply and recognize that the true nature of your beloved is the nature of no birth and no death, no coming and no going.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss

“According to the twentieth-century French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre: “L’homme est la somme de ses actes.” We are the sum of our actions. This is what karma means: action. Our thoughts, speech and physical actions are our karma. We are the sum of our three actions, and not only do these three actions continue us into the future but they have an effect on others and the world in every moment, even while we are alive. They are our true legacy.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss

“When it rains, we think there’s no sunshine. But above the clouds, the sun shines brightly in the blue sky.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss

“But the real question is not whether our loved ones can forgive us for our failings, but if we can forgive ourselves. Do we have enough compassion for ourselves? Can we see that we were doing the best we could with the conditions we had at the time?”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss

“Our guilt, remorse, and regrets are the second arrows we often fire at ourselves.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss

“Losing someone you love is the first arrow.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss

“When we walk, we can take the hand of our loved one who has passed away and walk with them. Our legs are their legs, and our eyes are their eyes. When we see something beautiful—the blue sky, a brilliant sunset, a majestic tree, or an animal—we can stop walking to allow this sight to penetrate our consciousness and nourish us deeply. We allow this beauty not only to nourish us, but to nourish our loved one in us. We enjoy everything, not only for ourselves but also for our loved one who has died.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss

“A gentle half smile will release all the muscles in your face. If we can smile to our suffering, we can already feel some relief. We do not need to wait until we feel like smiling in order to smile. Sometimes we feel good and we smile, but sometimes we smile and this makes us feel better. Neuroscience research now shows this is so. A smile says, “This is not the end of the world, even if it feels like it.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss

“When you are suffering greatly, if you have suffered a profound loss, you need people who are able to just sit and listen to you with compassion. But what is even more important is that we can listen to ourselves with compassion. To do this, we need to learn the art of deep listening. We stop whatever we’re doing and come home to ourselves. We look deeply to recognize and name our suffering and embrace it tenderly. Listening deeply to our own suffering is an act of self-compassion.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss