“We should live every day like people who have just been rescued from dying on the moon.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
It’s rare to find any human being who doesn’t fear death (and actually believe them). While no one can ever truly know another person’s inner thoughts and fears, I think that when Thich Nhat Hanh died on January 22, 2022, he did not feel fear or worry for the unknown great beyond.
Though I’ve read 6 of his books now, even the one called Fear, I still fear death and experience stress and anxiety regarding all that I cannot control––all that I cannot know. But, since discovering Thich Nhat Hanh and his book The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation in 2019, I’ve experienced a slight lessening. I understand the value in daily mindfulness, even if I can’t maintain it for very long before my mind hops away chasing a worry or the endless to-do.
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When I wash the dishes now, I try to only focus on washing the one single dish in my hands as if it were the only thing in the world that mattered, finding gratefulness in the fact that I have food to eat, a dish to wash, and a home to clean and care for it in. Even when doing the most dreaded tasks, I try to switch my negative or annoyed thinking to find a seed of gratitude in what I’m doing at that moment.
When I eat or drink, I try to savor the bite or sip with all of its flavor and textures at least once––enjoying all it has to offer me in that moment but not experiencing regret or longing for more when it’s gone. It’s hard, living moment to moment like that, but it’s rewarding when I try.
Don’t we all want to live a calmer, less distracted existence, where we savor each moment that makes up our life before the sand runs out?
If you’re looking to discover more about the art of mindfulness or deepen your meditation practice, The Miracle of Mindfulness is a rich resource to add to your reading list. Hopefully, these 12 mindfulness quotes by Thich Nhat Hanh will help and inspire you to live your best life in the moment as they have me.
12 Mindfulness Quotes by Thich Nhat Hanh (with page numbers)
1.”If we can’t wash the dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future—and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 8)
2. “Mindfulness is like that—it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 21)
3. “Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 22-23)
4. “Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves—slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life. Don’t be attached to the future. Don’t worry about things you have to do. Don’t think about getting up or taking off to do anything. Don’t think about “departing.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 46)
5. “Don’t chase after your thoughts as a shadow follows its object. Don’t run after your thoughts. Find joy and peace in this very moment.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 56)
6. “In the first six months, try only to build up your power of concentration, to create an inner calmness and serene joy. You will shake off anxiety, enjoy total rest, and quiet your mind. You will be refreshed and gain a broader, clearer view of things, and deepen and strengthen the love in yourself. And you will be able to respond more helpfully to all around you.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 66-67)
7. “Now I see that if one doesn’t know how to die, one can hardly know how to live—because death is a part of life.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 79)
8. “Work is only a part of life. But work is life only when done in mindfulness. Otherwise, one becomes like the person “who lives as though dead.” We need to light our own torch in order to carry on.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 91)
9. “Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 93)
10. “The sadness (or whatever has caused the pain) can be used as a means of liberation from torment and suffering, like using a thorn to remove a thorn. We should treat our anxiety, our pain, our hatred and passion gently, respectfully, not resisting it, but living with it, making peace with it, penetrating into its nature by meditation on interdependence. One quickly learns how to select subjects of meditation that fit the situation.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 95)
11. “In a family, if there is one person who practices mindfulness, the entire family will be more mindful. Because of the presence of one member who lives in mindfulness, the entire family is reminded to live in mindfulness.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 100)
12. “Remember that there is only one important time and that is now. The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. The most important person is always the person you are with, who is right before you, for who knows if you will have dealings with any other person in the future? The most important pursuit is making the person standing at your side happy, for that alone is the pursuit of life.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (pg. 116)
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