Metta Meditation for New Year's

Thich Nhat Hanh encourages us to practice metta meditation in the first three days of the new year. On the first day we practice for ourselves. On the second day we practice for the other person we love. On the third day we practice for the other person (or institution) that makes us suffer. Concrete practices are described for the coming year.

A SIMPLE LOVE/METTA MEDITATION

We begin practicing this love meditation on ourselves

May I be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit.

May I be safe and free from injury.

May I be free from anger, afflictions, fear and anxiety.

After that we can practice on others (he/she)

May he/she be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit.

May he/she be safe and free from injury.

May he/she be free from anger, afflictions, fear and anxiety.

After that we can practice including our selves with others (we),

May we be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit.

May we be safe and free from injury.

May we be free from anger, afflictions, fear and anxiety.

We begin this practice by looking deeply into the skandha of form, which is our body. According to the Buddha, a human being is made of five skandhas (elements, heaps or aggregates): form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness. We are the king, and these elements are our territory. To know the real situations within ourselves, we have to survey our own territory thoroughly, including the elements within us that are at war with each other. To bring about harmony, reconciliation, and healing within, we have to understand ourselves. Looking and listening deeply, surveying our territory, is the beginning of love meditation.

Nourishing Happiness by Thich Nhat Hanh

Nourishing Happiness

Thich Nhat Hanh

May I know how to nourish the seeds of joy in myself every day.
May he/she know how to nourish the seeds of joy in him/herself every day.
May they know how to nourish the seeds of joy in themselves every day.

May I be able to live fresh, solid, and free.
May he/she be able to live fresh, solid, and free.
May they be able to live fresh, solid, and free.

May I be free from attachment and aversion, but not be indifferent.
May he/she be free from attachment and aversion, but not be indifferent.
May they be free from attachment and aversion, but not be indifferent.

These meditations help us water the seeds of joy and happiness in our store consciousness. Joy and happiness are the food of a Zen monk. Before eating, we say, “May all beings be nourished by the joy of meditation.”

What is the nature of this joy? How can we touch true joy every moment of our lives? How can we live in a way that brings a smile, the eyes of love, and happiness to everyone we encounter? Use your talent to find ways to bring happiness to yourself and others—the happiness that arises from meditation and not from the pursuit of fruitless pleasure. Meditative joy has the capacity to nourish our mindfulness, understanding, and love. Try to live in a way that encourages deep happiness in yourself and others. “I vow to bring joy to one person in the morning and to help relieve the suffering of one person in the afternoon.” Ask yourself, “Who can I make smile this morning?” This is the act of creating happiness.

♥♥♥

Home Meditation Space by Thich Nhat Hanh Part 3

We are so used to running around, even at home, that stopping is a hard habit to develop.

Visual cues places throughout the house can serve aa gentle reminders that now is

the perfect time to stop and be aware of the present moment. To help, you can write

out these little poems, called gathas, and put them somewhere you can't help but

see them. Here are some gathas and suggestions of where to put them:

For the Bedside Table:

Waking up this morning, I smile.

Twenty- four brand new hours are before me.

I vow to live fully in each moment

And to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.

For the Bathroom Mirror:

Brushing my teeth and rinsing my mouth,

I vow to speak purely and lovingly.

When my mouth is fragrant with right speech,

A flower blooms in the garden of my heart.

Near a Vase of Flowers:

Water keeps the flower fresh.

The Flower and I are one.

When the flower breathes, I breathe.

When the flower smiles, I smile.

By The Garden:

Water and Sun

Green these plants.

When the rain of compassion falls

Even a desert becomes an immense green ocean.

Near the Computer:

The mind is like a computer

With thousands of pages.

I choose a world that is tranquil and calm,

So that my joy will always be fresh.

On the door of the Breathing/Meditation Room:

Entering the room,

I see my true mind.

I vow that once I sit down,

All disturbances will stop.

On the Front Door:

I have arrived.

I am home.

Home Meditation Space by Thich Nhat Hanh Part 2

By stopping the activities of our minds and bodies - by just sitting quietly, breathing in and out, being silent within, and releasing our tensions and worry - we become more solid, more concentrated, and more intelligent.

Now we can look deeply at what is happening inside and around us. Releasing our tension and worry allows us to focus on the happiness available to us right now, by allowing us to see that the conditions for our happiness are already present.

Home Meditation Space by Thich Nhat Hanh Part 1

 

The key to creating a home meditation practice is to create a space where the busyness stops.

We tend to be busy all day, and when we come home we continue to be busy. We cook; we clean; and we putter around. Or, we are so tired of being busy that we want to do something mindless and easy, like watching a television show, or taking a nap. Then, we go back to being busy again.

There is a way to feel refreshed and alert without being busy.  All we need is a gentle reminder - a location, an image, or a sound - to help us return home to ourselves and pay attention to what is there inside us and around us.  We can touch the present moment in all its fullness and joy if we simply have a place, and a way, to stop. Stopping the random progression of thoughts is the first step in meditation practice.

The key to creating a home meditation practice is to create a space where the busyness stops. When we stop and bring our mind back to our body, we can pay full attention to all that is happening in the present moment. We call this "mindfulness."  To be mindful means to be here, fully present, and fully alive, unencumbered by thoughs of the past, or the future, our worries, or our projects.  It is only when we stop that we can encounter life. When we stop, body and mind can reunite and then we can experience their oneness.

Mindfulness Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh

Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.

Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.

Breathing in, I notice my breath has become deep.

Breathing out, I notice my breath has become slow.

Breathing in, I calm my body and my mind.

Breathing out, I am at ease.

Breathing in, I smile.

Breathing out, I release.

Breathing in, I got back to the present moment.

Breathing out, I know this is a wonderful moment.

In, Out.

Deep. Slow.

Calm. Ease.

Smile. Release.

Present moment, Wonderful moment.

I AM - by Thich Nhat Hanh

Breathing in, breathing out.
Breathing in, breathing out.
I am blooming as a flower.
I am fresh as a dew.
I am solid as a mountain.
I am firm as the earth.
I am free.
Breathing in, breathing out.
Breathing in, breathing out,.
I am water reflecting.
What is real, what is true.
And I feel there is space.
Deep inside of me.
I am free; I am free; I am free. - Thich Nhat Hanh

The World Needs our Happiness

Each moment is a chance for us to make peace with the world, to make peace possible for the world. The world needs our happiness.

--Thich Nhat Hanh--

Spiritual Connection by Thich Nhat Hanh

Spiritual Connection

 

Humans have always searched for our Spiritual connection. Every human who has ever lived on this planet has ached for, yearned for, Spiritual fulfillment. Every human who is not in denial feels the hole inside that comes from Spiritual dis-ease, from feeling disconnected from our Spiritual Source. Humans have been trying to fill the hole within ourselves by looking outside of ourselves. We were taught to look outside, to external manifestations to meet our needs, to find out who we are and why we are here. The answers do not exist outside - the answers lie within. We are here to experience this human evolutionary process. The more we awaken to the Truth of who we are (Spiritual beings) and why we are here (to experience being human) and stop giving power to the false gods of money, property and prestige, people, places and things, the more we can celebrate being here!

A Thich Nhat Hanh Lesson

http://www.phathue.com/buddhism/dharma-talks/thich-nhat-hanh-dharma-talk/

Taking Refuge by Thich Nhat Hanh

The Buddha taught that there's a very safe place we can come back to, no matter where we are and anytime we want.  That place is the island of our true self.

Within ourselves there is a safe island we can come back to, where the storms of life cannot shake us.

One of the Buddha's most widely quotes phrases is attadipa saranam, which means taking refuge (saranam) in the island (dipa) of self (atta).

When you come back to your mindful breathing, you come back to yourself, and you touch the safe island inside of you.  In that place you find your ancestors, your true home, and the Three Jewels.

The Three jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings and the way to understanding and love), and the Sangha (our spiritual community of friends who support us on our path).

Breathing mindfully, you are already finding a refuge in your breath, and you become aware of what's going on in your body, your feelings, your perceptions, your mental formations, and your consciousness.

Mindful breathing brings all the different aspects of yourself back together as one. As you breathe, your body, your feelings, your perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness all connect with that breathing, just as if you were to lift your voice in song and everyone in your family would stop their chattering and listen! The breath calms and unifies your body and mind and harmonizes your person.

In that moment, the island of your true elf is manifesting as a safe space.

Being an island unto myself,

Buddha is my mindfulness, shining near, shining far.

Dharma is my breathing, guarding body and mind.

I am free.

As an island unto myself,

Sangha is working in harmony.

Taking refuge in myself, coming back to myself,

I am free.

Breathing in, breathing out,

I am blooming as a flower,

I am fresh as the dew.

I am solid as a mountain,

I am firm as the Earth.

I am free.

Breathing in, breathing out,

I am water reflecting what is real, what is true'

And I feel there is space deep inside of me.

I am free.

You can practice with this verse in times of difficulty and danger, when you need to keep your cool to know what to do and what not to do.  

The presence of mindfulness is the presence of the Buddha illuminating the situation, so you can know what to do and what not to do.

With the Buddha, the Dharma, ad the Sangha protecting you, you have nothing more to fear.

In this calm and focused state, you will know what actions to take in order to stabilize the situation.

There can be no greater security than that. Even facing death, we can die peacefully.

--Thich Nhat Hanh--

Lighting the Torch of Awareness - Thich Nhat Hanh

LIGHTING THE TORCH OF OUR AWARENESS

Let us light the torch of our awareness and learn again how to drink tea, eat, wash dishes, walk, sit, drive, and work in awareness. We do not have to be swept along by circumstances. We are not just a leaf or a log in a rushing river. With awareness, each of our daily acts takes on a new meaning, and we discover that we are more than machines, that our activities are not just mindless repetitions. We find that life is miracle, the universe is a miracle, and we too are a miracle.

--Thich Nhat Hanh--