WAVE TOUCHES OCEAN: FROM A TALK OF THICH NHAT HANH:

According to the Buddha’s teaching there is only one moment for us to be alive: the present moment.  This is the only moment where we can be deeply alive.  So our home is “in the here and in the now.”  It is not hard to understand but needs some practice.  Using mindful breathing we can bring our mind back to the present moment.  We can touch the wonders of life in the present moment.  We can touch joy and peace.  We see things more deeply.    Buddhist meditation uses: stopping, calming and deep looking. 

At first we may think there is only pain and suffering in the moment.  But there is something else: stability, joy, peace and freedom are also there.    The practice is to bring to us the energy of peace, stability, and freedom.   When we touch the present moment, we are touching the water.  We are touching the dimension of freedom, stability, joy.  We are touching Nirvana. 

If you come to the present moment with the energy of mindfulness you will not be afraid to encounter your pain, your sorrow, your fear.  The secret of your success is the energy of mindfulness, because with this you are not afraid to go home and meet what is there. Mindfulness is the capacity to be aware of what is going on.  The capacity to be here, really.  My definition of mindfulness is: to be there: to produce your true presence.

There is an Island of peace in each of us.  We can touch that island with the energy of mindfulness. Try to be present in this island, or to bring presence to this island. Touch the Buddha land with the energy of mindfulness. This Buddha land is not elsewhere but right here.  Right there in the world of birth and death is the world of no-birth and no-death. 

Imagine the waves on the ocean.  The wave can lead the life of a wave, or the wave can life the life of the ocean.  If the wave bends down and touches its true home as water, all fear will end. 

Living in the moment, we transcend time.  We find the joy and peace in the present moment.

Deep looking into the nature of our sorrow and pain, we come to know how to transform them.  Looking into our pain and suffering we will touch peace.  Looking deeply, we  see the world as inter-being.  A flower is made up of non-flower elements which are present right now with the flower.  The sunshine and rain are here.  The decay of the flower is here.

If you love and care for someone–to care you have to be there .  The person you love needs your true presence.  To be there is to produce your true presence.

You have to be present for yourself also.  You always try to run away from yourself–you have to offer yourself your true presence.