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Nhat Hanh

Nhat Hanh Quotes

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“As a population, if a large number of people make even small moves to eat less meat and more plant-based foods, the livestock industry will shrink. Over time, farmers will find other crops to support their livelihoods. Through such collective awakening we can make a difference in our world.”

PeopleIfsWorldMotivationalMovingDifferencesNumbersSupportIndustryPlantPopulationAwakeningMeatMaking A DifferenceCollectivesOur WorldFarmersShrinksCropsLarge NumbersLivelihoodLivestock
Author:Nhat Hanh
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“Guarding knowledge is not a good way to understand. Understanding means to throw away your knowledge. You have to be able to transcend your knowledge the way people climb a ladder. If you are on the fifth step of a ladder and think that you are very high, there is no hope for you to climb to the sixth.”

PeopleIfsThinkingWayMeanAbleUnderstandingGrowthStepsClimbsFifthLaddersGood WayNo HopeGuarding
Book:Being Peace: Easyread Super Large 24pt Edition
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“The real power of the Buddha was that he had so much love. He saw people trapped in their notions of small separate self, feeling guilty or proud of that self, and he offered revolutionary teachings that resounded like a lion's roar, like a great rising tide, helping people to wake up and break free from the prison of ignorance.”

PeopleRealSelfHelpingFeelingsBreakSawsTeachingIgnoranceProudWake UpPrisonNotionGuiltyRevolutionaryRisingLionsTidesTrappedHelping PeopleMuch LoveReal PowerFeeling Guilty
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“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”

PeopleHardWisdomTruthSufferingChoicesFearPeaceAttitudeCompassionPositive ThinkingWise WordsWords Of WisdomLetting GoDepressionAnxietyAdversityFamiliarMoving ForwardBuddhistMoving OnHard TimesGoodbyeAnxiousSpiritual WisdomLetting You GoLetting Go And Moving OnMoving Forward In LifeJust Let GoFear Of The UnknownMoving On In LifeLong SufferingPeace Is Every StepWorld SufferingAnxiety And FearInspirational Moving OnStress And AnxietyForward In LifeLetting Go Of AngerTime To Let GoDepression And AnxietyHard To Let Go
Book:Mindfulness Meditation: For a Quieter Mind, Self-Awareness and Healthy Living
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“A summer breeze can be very refreshing; but if we try to put it in a tin can so we can have it entirely to ourselves, the breeze will die. Our beloved is the same. He is like a breeze, a cloud, a flower. If you imprison him in a tin can, he will die. Yet many people do just that. They rob their loved one of his liberty, until he can no longer be himself. They live to satisfy themselves and use their loved one to help them fulfill that. That is not loving; it is destroying.”

PeopleIfsLoveTryingHelpingUseDiesLibertyFlowerSummerCloudsBelovedDestroyingLoved OnesBreezeRefreshingTinTin CansSummer Breeze
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“The Buddha also counseled the monks and nuns to avoid wasting any precious time by engaging in idle conversation, oversleeping, pursuing fame and recognition, chasing after desires, spending time with people of poor character, and being satisfied with only a shallow understanding of the teaching.”

PeopleCharacterDesireUnderstandingPoorTeachingFameConversationSpendingSatisfiedRecognitionIdleShallowEngagingChasingMonkNunSpending TimePrecious TimePoor Character
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“Inside every one of us is a garden, and every practitioner has to go back to their garden and take care of it. Maybe in the past, you left in untended for a long time. You should know exactly what is going on in your own garden, and try to put everything in order. Restore the beauty; restore the harmony in your garden. If it is well tended, many people will enjoy your garden.”

PeopleIfsKnowsShouldTryingWellsLongCarePastOrderLeftEnjoyLong TimeGardenHarmonyTake Care
Book:Taming the Tiger Within: Meditations on Transforming Difficult Emotions
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“One day I saw a picture of the Buddha on a Buddhist magazine and he was sitting on the grass, and he was sitting on the grass, very peaceful, smiling, and I was impressed. Around me people were not like that, so I had the desire to be someone like him. I nourished that kind of desire until the age of sixteen, when I had the permission from my parents to go and ordain as a Buddhist monk.”

PeopleKindAgeDesireParentSawsOne DaySittingMagazinesPeacefulBuddhistGrassPermissionImpressedMonkSixteenBuddhist Monk
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“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.”

PeopleThinkingChildrenTwoRealMotivationalEyeEarthSufferingBlackWaterWhiteWalksWonderAirMysterySkyBuddhismWalkingMindfulnessSelf ImprovementMiracleBlueGreenCloudsPeacefulCuriousBuddhistEngagedTrekkingStrollingBlue SkyZen BuddhismZen MasterThin AirPeace Is Every StepEarth And SkyGreen LeavesEyes Of A ChildBuddhist MonkWalking MeditationSky And CloudsWhite CloudsSpiritual VisionWalking On WaterClouds SkySky And Water
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“We who have touched war have a duty to bring the truth about war to those who have not had a direct experience of it. We are the light at the tip of the candle. It is really hot, but it has the power of shining and illuminating. If we practice mindfulness, we will know how to look deeply into the nature of war and, with our insight, wake people up so that together we can avoid repeating the same horrors again and again.”

PeopleIfsKnowsLooksWarLightTogetherPracticeKnow HowDutyHorrorMindfulnessDirectHotShiningInsightTouchedCandleAgain And AgainIlluminatingTogether We Can
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“I am inviting you to go deeper, to learn and to practice so that you become someone who has a great capacity for being solid, calm, and without fear, because our society needs people like you who have these qualities, and your children, our children, need people like you, in order to go on, in order to become solid, and calm, and without fear.”

PeopleNeedsChildrenOrderQualityPracticeLike YouGoes OnCapacityOur ChildrenCalmDeeperYour ChildrenOur SocietyInviting
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“Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering by all means, including personal contact and visits, images, sounds. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.”

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“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.”

PeopleIfsLifeLooksMomentsBodyHandsSpiritualParentFamilyAliveGenerationsYogaMy FamilyYour BodyGrievingAncestorPalmsAbout FamilyContinuationParents LoveHappy FamilyInspirational FamilyBuddhist MonkContinuation Of Life
Book:Present Moment Wonderful Moment: Mindfulness Verses for Daily Living: Easyread Large Bold Edition
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“To be beautiful means to be yourself.You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself. When you are born a lotus flower, be a beautiful lotus flower, don't try to be a magnolia flower. If you crave acceptance and recognition and try to change yourself to fit what other people want you to be, you will suffer all your life. True happiness and true power lie in understanding yourself, accepting yourself, having confidence in yourself.”

PeopleIfsWantNeedsTryingMeanBeautifulLyingSufferingUnderstandingBornAcceptingAcceptanceFlowerFitAcceptedRecognitionBeing YourselfBe YouCraveTrue HappinessTrue LifeAccepting YourselfChange YourselfLotusesConfidence In YourselfTrue PowerMagnoliasLotus FlowerUnderstanding Yourself
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“We talk about social service, service to the people, service to humanity, service to others who are far away, helping to bring peace to the world - but often we forget that it is the very people around us that we must live for first of all. If you cannot serve your wife or husband or child or parent - how are you going to serve society? If you cannot make your own child happy, how do you expect to be able to make anyone else happy? If all our friends in the peace movement or of service communities of any kind do not love and help each other, whom can we love and help?”

PeopleIfsWorldFirstsKindChildrenHelpingAbleHumanitySocialParentCommunityForgetWifeMovementHusbandFar AwayService To OthersHelping Each OtherService To HumanitySocial Service
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“Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life.”

PeopleThinkingWorldWaySufferingAnimalCompassionSupportProtectDestructionPlantKillingCommittedDeterminedBuddhistMy WayMineralsCultivatingI Am DeterminedBuddhist Life
Book:Touching Peace: Practicing the Art of Mindful Living
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“Love is the capacity to take care, to protect, to nourish. If you are not capable of generatng that kind of energy toward yourself - if you are not capable of taking care of yourself, of nourishing yourself, of protecting yourself - it is very difficult to take care of another person. In the Buddhist teaching, it's clear that to love oneself is the foundation of the love of other people. Love is a practice. Love is truly a practice.”

PeopleIfsKindPersonsCareEnergyDifficultLove IsPracticeClearTeachingProtectCapableCapacityFoundationOneselfTake CareBuddhistTake Care Of YourselfLove Oneself
Author:Nhat Hanh
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