Some words that have helped me
This last week I’ve looked for some outside voices that can balance out some of my challenging inner ones. I’ve come back to a voice that has given me a lot of guidance and comfort over the last few years. Thich Nhat Hanh was a Buddhist monk and peace activist who was exiled from his native Vietnam in 1966 for refusing to take sides in his country’s brutal civil war. As I’ve found myself full of emotion and energy to resist in some way, he reminds me that there IS a way to rebel that doesn’t involve more judgment, hate, and polarization. He saw a radical way to “resist” that is life-affirming and compassionate. And he saw harder times than these.
I wanted to share some of his words with you this week. Below is an excerpt from his book The Art of Living:
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In today’s society, technology is allowing us to become ever more adept at running away from ourselves, from our family, and from nature. We are so busy we don’t even have time to take care of ourselves. We’re not at ease with ourselves. We find it difficult to take care of our body, feelings, and emotions. We’re afraid of being overwhelmed by our suffering, and so we run away from ourselves. But if we run away from ourselves, how can we take care of all our pain? If we can’t take care of ourselves, how can we take care of the people we love?
There needs to be a revolution, a kind of gentle revolution, a kind of awakening, in each one of us. We need to rebel. We need to declare, “I don’t want to continue like this! This is not a life.” Once we’ve started a revolution in our own consciousness, it will bring about radical change in our family and community. But first we need to be determined to change our way of living. We need to reclaim our freedom to enjoy the wonders of life. When we’re happy, we’ll have the energy and strength we need to help others do the same. When we stop to breathe, we’re not wasting time. Western capitalist civilization says “Time is money” and that we should use our time to make money. But time is more precious than money. Time is life. Coming back to our breathing and becoming aware that we have a wonderful body—this is life. Do you have time to enjoy the glorious sunrise? Do you have time to enjoy the music of the falling rain or the birds singing in the trees?
Humans can be hateful, mean, and violent, but we also have the ability, with spiritual practice, to become compassionate and protective toward not only our own species but other species too—the ability to be awakened beings who can protect our planet and preserve her beauty. We need to shake ourselves awake so we can change our way of living, so we can have more freedom, more happiness, more vitality, more compassion, more love. We have to resist the pressures that society puts on us. Simply our way of walking from the parking lot to our office is a way of reacting: “I refuse to run. I resist. I will not lose a single moment or a single step. I reclaim my freedom, peace, and joy with every step. This is my life, and I want to live it deeply.”
