Tag: Thich Nhat Hanh

Existence – Thich Nhat Hanh

Ginevra Kirkland

It is night.
Rain pelts the roof.
The soul awakens
to a flooded Earth—
a sea of storm
roaring,
then passing.

In that short moment,
shifting lines and shapes,
fleeting,
barely seen.

Before the passing moment tilts
and falls to melancholy,
laughter sounds
in quiet raindrops.

“This poem was written in Saigon in 1965. It was raining hard. There was so much death and killing, so much destruction. And yet in one moment, I could hear the laughter in a raindrop.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh

Ginevra Kirkland

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I
think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air,
but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we
don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black,
curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

The New Eight Steps to Happiness – Thich Nhat Hanh

Ginevra Kirkland

All living beings deserve to be cherished because of the tremendous kindness they have shown us.

All our temporary and ultimate happiness arises through their kindness.

Even our body is the result of the kindness of others. We did not bring it with us from our previous life.

The mere fact that we are alive today is a testimony to the great kindness of others.

It is because we have this present body with human faculties that we are able to enjoy all the pleasures and opportunities of human life.

Even simple pleasures such as going for a walk or watching a beautiful sunset can be seen to be a result of the kindness of innumerable living beings.

Our skills and abilities all come from the kindness of others: we had to be taught how to eat, how to walk, how to talk, and how to read and write.

Even the language we speak is not our own invention but the product of many generations.

Without it we could not communicate with others or share their ideas.

We could not read this book, learn Dharma or even think clearly.

All the facilities we take for granted, such as houses, cars, roads, shops, schools, hospitals and cinemas, are produced solely through others’ kindness.

When we travel by bus or car we take the roads for granted, but many people worked very hard to build them and make them safe for us to use.