monsoon.

what failure?

seven feathers.

going in circles.

O you who are going in circles,
please stop.
What are you doing it for?

“I cannot be without going,
because I don’t know where to go.
That’s why I go in circles.”

O You who are going in circles,
please stop.

“But if I stop going,
I will stop being.”

O my friend who is going in circles,
you are not one with
this crazy business of going in circles.
You may enjoy going,
but not going in circles.

“Where can I go?”

Go where you find your beloved,
where you can find yourself.

thich nhat hanh

froglessness.

The first fruition of the practice

is the attainment of froglessness.

When a frog is put

on the center of the plate,

she will jump out of the plate

after just a few seconds.

If you put the frog back again

on the center of the plate,

she will again jump out.

You have so many plans.

There is something you want to become.

Therefore you always want to make a leap,

a leap forward.

It is difficult

to keep the frog still

on the center of the plate.

You and I

both have Buddha Nature in us.

This is encouraging,

but you and I

Both have Frog Nature in us.

That is why

the first attainment

of the practice –

froglessness is its name.

thich nhat hanh

love poem.

Your eyes are made of the six elements-
earth, water, fire, air,
space, consciousness.
They are made of these only,
but they are beautiful.
Should I make them mine?
Should I try to make them last for a long time?
Should I try to record them?
But I know that what I can record
would not be your true eyes.

Your voice is made of the six elements,
but it is truly lovely.
Should I try to make it mine?
Should I try to record it?
But I know that what I can hold onto or record
would not be your true voice.
What I get may only be a picture,
a magnetic tape,
a painting,
or a book.

Your smile is made of the six elements,
but it is truly wonderful.
Should I try to make it mine?
Should I try to make it last for a long time?
Should I try to own or record it?
But I know that what I can own or record
could not be your true smile.
It would only be some of the elements.

Your eyes are impermanent
Your eyes are not you.
Yes, I have been told,
and I have seen it,
yet they are still beautiful.

Just because they are impermanent,
they are all the more beautiful.
The things that do not last long
are the most beautiful things-
a shooting star, a firework.

Just because they are without a self,
they are all the more beautiful.
What does a self have to do with beautiful eyes?

I want to contemplate your beautiful eyes,
even if I know
that they do not last
even if I know
they do not have a self.

Your eyes are beautiful.
I am aware that they are impermanent.
But what is wrong with impermanence?
Without impermanence, could anything exist at all?

Your eyes are beautiful.
I am told that they are not you, they have no self.
But what is wrong with the nature of nonself?
With self, could anything be there at all?

So although your eyes are only made of the six elements,
although they are impermanent,
although they are not you,
they are still beautiful,
and I want to contemplate them.
I want to enjoy looking at them as long as they are available.

Knowing your eyes are impermanent,
I enjoy them without trying to make them last forever,
without trying to hold onto or record them
or make them mine.
Loving your eyes, I remain free.

Loving your eyes,
I learn to love them deeply.
I see the six elements which they are,
the six wonderful elements.
These elements are so beautiful.
And I learn to love them too.

There are so many things I love-
your eyes, the blue sky,
your voice, the birds in the trees,
your smile, and the butterflies on the flowers.
I learn each moment
to be a better lover.
I learn each moment to discover my true love.

Your eyes are beautiful.
So is your voice, your smile,
the sky,
the birds,
the butterflies.
I love them. I vow to protect them. Yes.
I know to love is to respect.
And reverence
is the nature of my love.

thich nhat hanh

our true heritage.

The cosmos is filled with precious gems.

I want to offer a handful of them to you this morning.

Each moment you are alive is a gem,

shining through and containing earth and sky,

water and clouds.

 

It needs you to breathe gently

for the miracles to be displayed.

Suddenly you hear the birds singing,

the pines chanting,

see the flowers blooming,

the blue sky,

the white clouds,

the smile and the marvelous look

of your beloved.

 

You, the richest person on Earth,

who have been going around begging for a living,

stop being the destitute child.

Come back and claim your heritage.

We should enjoy our happiness

and offer it to everyone.

Cherish this very moment.

Let go of the stream of distress

and embrace life fully in your arms.

thich nhat hanh

peace is every step.

Peace is every step.

The shining red sun is my heart.

Each flower smiles with me.

How green, how fresh all that grows.

How cool the wind blows.

Peace is every step.

It turns the endless path to joy. 

Thich Nhat Hanh

non-duality.

The bell tolls at four in the morning.

I stand by the window,

barefoot on the cool floor.

The garden is still dark.

I wait for the mountains and rivers to reclaim their shapes.

 

There is no light in the deepest hours of the night.

Yet, I know you are there

in the depth of the night,

the immeasurable world of the mind.

You, the known, have been there

ever since the knower has been.

 

The dawn will come soon,

and you will see

that you and the rosy horizon

are within my two eyes.

It is for me that the horizon is rosy

and the sky blue.

 

Looking at your image in the clear stream,

you answer the question by your very presence.

Life is humming the song of the non-dual marvel.

I suddenly find myself smiling

in the presence of this immaculate night.

I know because I am here that you are there,

and your being has returned to show itself

in the wonder of tonight’s smile.

 

In the quiet stream,

I swim gently.

The murmur of the water lulls my heart.

A wave serves as a pillow

I look up and see

a white cloud against the blue sky,

the sound of Autumn leaves,

the fragrance of hay-

each one a sign of eternity.

A bright star helps me find my way back to myself.

 

I know because you are there that I am here.

The stretching arm of cognition

in a lightning flash,

joining together a million eons of distance,

joining together birth and death,

joining together the known and the knower.

 

In the depth of the night,

as in the immeasurable realm of consciousness,

the garden of life and I

remain each other’s objects.

The flower of being is singing the song of emptiness.

 

The night is still immaculate,

but sounds and images from you

have returned and fill the pure night.

I feel their presence.

By the window, with my bare feet on the cool floor,

I know I am here

for you to be.

by Thich Nhat Hanh

interrelationship.

by Thich Nhat Hanh

You are me, and I am you.
Isn’t it obvious that we “inter-are”?
You cultivate the flower in yourself,
so that I will be beautiful.
I transform the garbage in myself,
so that you will not have to suffer.

I support you;
you support me.
I am in this world to offer you peace;
you are in this world to bring me joy.