#thichnhathanh — Public Fediverse posts

We have a tendency to think in terms of doing and not in terms of being:
We think that when we are not doing anything we are wasting our time.
But that is not true.
Our time is first of all for us to be.
To be what?
To be alive, to be peaceful, to be joyful, to be loving.
And that is what the world needs most.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

#thichnhathanh
#zen #buddhism

The 3 Buddhist Steps to Repairing a Relationship

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.themarginalian.org/2026/09/01/thich-nhat-hanh-listening-love/

A Quickie

Popping in to say hi. Hi!

What I’ve been doing:

What James has been doing:

And yesterday James and I had a Day of Mindfulness at a local Vietnamese Buddhist Temple that practices in the Plum Village tradition as taught by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. There were several monastics visiting from Magnolia Grove Monastery in Mississippi.

It was a beautiful day filled with walking meditation, sitting meditation, eating meditation, tea meditation, deep relaxation, a dharma talk and sharing, and lots and lots of singing. So much peace and joy!

I thought I would share with you a little bit from the Dharma talk (dharma means teachings of the Buddha). Buddhists love lists–The Four Nobel Truths, The Five Mindfulness Trainings, The Noble Eightfold Path are only a few. I love lists too, so maybe that is one reason I enjoy practicing Buddhism so much. Heh. So here is a list!

Seven Steps to Peaceful Living

1. Talk less, listen more
2. Complain less, appreciate more
3. Frown less, smile more
4. Judge less, accept more,
5. Think less, feel more
6. Fear less, love more
7. Watch (in the broadest sense of the word) less, do more

As Thich Nhat Hanh says, “There is no way to peace, peace is the way.”

May you all find and walk the path of peace.

dandelion seeds waiting

a dandelion seed head suggests the idea of impermanence.

#photography #photo #naturephotography #nature #autumn #fall #flowers #dendelion #dandelion #bnw #blackandwhite #monochrome #mood #zen #impermanence #noself #thichnhathanh #seeds #delicate #texture #fragility #design #cycles

Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we cannot be free.

— Thich Nhat Hanh

#Stoic #Stoicism #ThichNhatHanh

Pratiquer la pleine conscience

Nous savons comment sacrifier dix ans pour un diplôme et nous sommes prêts à travailler très dur pour obtenir un poste, une voiture, une maison, etc.

Mais nous avons du mal à nous rappeler que nous sommes vivants au moment présent, le seul où nous puissions l’être.

Chaque inspiration que l’on prend, chaque pas que l’on fait peut être rempli de paix, de joie et de sérénité.

Il nous faut simplement nous éveiller, vivant au moment présent.

*

Le thérapeute ne traite pas le patient en lui offrant un ensemble de nouvelles croyances. Il essaie de l’aider à voir quelles idées et croyances l’ont amené à souffrir ainsi. Beaucoup de patients veulent se débarrasser de leurs émotions douloureuses, mais ils ne veulent pas abandonner leurs croyances et points de vue qui sont les racines mêmes de leurs souffrances. Thérapeute et patient doivent alors travailler ensemble pour que le patient voie les choses telles qu’elles sont.

*

Ne pensez pas que la connaissance que vous possédez aujourd’hui soit immuable, absolue vérité. Évitez d’avoir l’esprit étroit et de vous attacher à vos points de vue actuels. Apprenez et pratiquez le non-attachement aux points de vue afin d’être ouvert et réceptif au point de vue des autres. La vérité est dans la vie et pas seulement dans les concepts. Soyez prêt à apprendre tout au long de votre vie et à observer la réalité par vous-mêmes partout dans le monde et à tout moment.

*

Il y a des gens qui pratiquent la méditation assise plusieurs heures par jour et qui ne font jamais vraiment face à leurs sentiments. Certains d’entre eux disent que les sentiments ne sont pas importants – et préfèrent porter leur attention sur des sujets métaphysiques. Je ne dis pas que ces autres sujets n’ont pas d’importance. Mais s’ils sont considérés sans relation avec nos problèmes réels, notre méditation n’aura pas vraiment de valeur ni d’utilité.

*

Chaque fois que l’on s’exerce à vivre en pleine conscience, l’on plante des graines saines et renforce celles qui sont déjà en soi.

Thích Nhất Hạnh, né Nguyễn Xuân Bảo (1926-2022) est un moine bouddhiste vietnamien qui a œuvré pour la paix. Il est un des initiateurs du bouddhisme zen en Occident. Dans ce livre, il traite que nous devons comprendre qu’il n’y a ni naissance ni mort, mais juste une continuation, nous serons libérés de la peur et nous pourrons enfin vivre pleinement notre vie.

Thich Nhat Hanh dans La sérénité de l’instant

Une pièce musicale de Shastro · Nadama – Gratefulness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li6AgrEcEoQ&list=RDGMEMRpqX2eKUq0kW97LmkR0R1wVMvBZU2yWNBDE&index=2

How to Love: Legendary Zen Buddhist Teacher Thich Nhat Hanh on Mastering the Art of “Interbeing”

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.themarginalian.org/2026/07/17/how-to-love-thich-nhat-hanh/

The mind chases after thousands of things, and we rarely take the time to come back to ourselves. When we have been lost in forgetfulness like that for a long time, we lose touch with ourselves, and we feel alienated from ourselves.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#zen #buddhism
#thichnhathanh

The Four Buddhist Mantras for Turning Fear into Love

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.themarginalian.org/2026/07/15/thich-nhat-hanh-fear-love/

Thich Nhat Hanh on the Art of Deep Listening and the 3 Buddhist Steps to Repairing a Relationship

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.themarginalian.org/2026/07/06/thich-nhat-hanh-listening-love/

How the Great Zen Master and Peace Activist Thich Nhat Hanh Found Himself and Lost His Self in a Library Epiphany

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.themarginalian.org/2026/06/28/thich-nhat-hanh-fragrant-palm-leaves/

My brain trips over the silliest things sometimes. Here's one.

16 step meditation works well, so I've been doing it for well over a decade almost every day.

The steps are well documented, but the documentation is inconsistent.

I chose to follow the Plum Village documented way, mostly because it seems wise to not trip over this inconsistency too much. But:

- the photo in this article https://plumvillage.app/resources-for-practicing-the-16-exercises-of-mindful-breathing/,
- the whiteboard in this video: https://web.plumvillage.app/item/sixteen-steps-of-mindful-breathing, and
- the lines in this song: https://plumvillage.org/library/songs/the-16-exercises-of-mindful-breathing

are all different order and sometimes different words. My mind seems to need consistency to calm down 🙄

So…this has been the majority of distraction during meditation for several years now for me 🤯

If this was an intentional nerd snipe by Thich Nhat Hanh, he sure got me. But is it?

Feel free to share some more theory to complicate the matter, we're here now anyway.

#meditation #buddhism #thichNhatHanh

I guess it’s about time

Rojie’s prompt for today, May 29th, is:

If you’re making a time capsule for 2026, what goes in it?

I’d probably toss in box sets of Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy DVDs, because these future people might need things to laugh over whenever they open the time capsule up. And I suppose I should put a DVD player and instructions in there just in case because we know how fast technology evolves.

Music. Maybe copies of the 2,300+ Grateful Dead shows, but I’m positive those will endure on their own so what else? I don’t think I can narrow that down to just one answer so forget music.

How about some books? A copy of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath so people don’t forget. A copy of Thich Nhat Hanh’s The Miracle of Mindfulness so people can learn. A copy of the Bible with every printed page torn out and just one sheet of paper taped inside with three lines:
1) If it’s something that bothers you, or would bother you, don’t do it to other people.
2) Always be nice to the animals; I put them here for a reason. They don’t bother you and most of them are smarter than you. Yes, even the squirrels.
3) At least once per day, layeth the palm of your hand flat on a tree and tell that tree how much you love it and respect it. And do not cutteth down the trees for I liketh them and will mark your name down in a book you really don’t want your name marked down in.
(And just in the spirit of getting people to do goofy things)
4) Sayeth the word “four” twice when greeting people.

On the idea of books, How about a classic book with a surprise or twist ending, maybe something by Agatha Christie, with the last page torn out? Equal parts mean and fun or just plain mean? Maybe do that with a bunch of books and toss them in the capsule. Then the future people can divide into groups called Finishers and calmly debate the different possible endings and share coffee and sweets. But maybe that’s not such a good idea because since they’re people and people don’t do anything calmly and they’ll more than likely violate commandment #1 above about 10 minutes after reading it, they’ll just use the different possible book finishes to start wars. The Finisher Wars. Finish Wars the banners and headlines will read so maybe there’s a little irony there.

I suppose I could write a letter to myself for the people who open the time capsule in the future to read. And thinking about that idea now, I could create a completely fictional version of life in 2026 and before that would confuse historians and maybe lead to the establishment of a new religion named after me where peanut butter is holy, chickens are sacred, and no one drinks milk. And people go to professional wrestling matches on Saturday or Sunday mornings because why not?

Oh, and a picture of Jennifer Aniston.

Four four.

A song for this prompt is easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h1davKgBYM&list=RD9h1davKgBYM&start_radio=1

I've sometimes realised long after a difficult conversation that the other person wasn't actually defending an idea as much as defending themselves against something older hidden under the conversation the whole time. It doesn't erase the harm once you see it that way, but it does change the shape of what seems necessary afterward. Punishment starts making less sense when the wound itself is still untouched.

https://emotus.substack.com/p/daily-reflections-2025-05-19
#ThichNhatHanh #LifeboatAcademy #HumanNature #RelationalHealing

3/
The podcast describes a "split-level" model of the human mind:

• The Store Consciousness (Alayavijnana): This is the foundational layer represented by dense, rich soil deep underground. It operates 24 hours a day as a neutral database, holding every thought, action, and perception as a "seed"

https://youtu.be/Ua8_MFjmUHE

#Buddhism #psychology #philosophy #consciousness #unconsciousness #epigenetics #Sanscrit #mindfullness #ThichNhatHanh #Zen #podcast

2/
This exploration uses the teachings of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh to provide a practical blueprint for understanding human perception, memory, habit formation, and the mechanical roots of suffering. The core metaphor utilized is the "Garden of Consciousness," a visual anchor modeled after a medieval, Bruegel-style illuminated manuscript.

https://youtu.be/Ua8_MFjmUHE

#Buddhism #psychology #philosophy #consciousness #unconsciousness #epigenetics #Sanscrit #mindfullness #ThichNhatHanh #Zen

The Art of Composting Suffering Into Wisdom

This podcast is a "deep dive" into a foundational framework of Buddhist psychology known as the Eight Consciousnesses.

https://youtu.be/Ua8_MFjmUHE

#Buddhism #psychology #philosophy #consciousness #unconsciousness #epigenetics #Sanscrit #mindfullness #ThichNhatHanh #Zen