About Thich Nhat Hanh ,Mindfulness

**Jakuden** · 02-26-2018, 10:34 PM

My opinion is probably not very smart. But I think Thich Nhat Hanh lives very true to the Zen way. Although his writing sometimes makes practice seem too simple, it is usually a good way to follow the Precepts. Most of the time, when Thich Nhat Hanh writes about mindfulness, he is giving advice about everyday life, not about Shikantaza. I think he means to show the way to bring Shikantaza more into our life.

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH

**Kyonin** · 02-26-2018, 10:34 PM

Hi Kakunen,

I love everything Thich Nhat Hanh writes. Yes, sometimes he seems to go too far from zen and shikantaza, but I like him anyway. He gives me peace and makes me smile.

I think he writes about mindfulness because it is a way for the modern western people to understand the practice. A lot of Christians get scared when hearing the word Buddhism or Zen, so some teachers use "mindfulness" in a generic way to attract more people to our practice.

Gassho,

Kyonin
Sat/LAH

**Kakunen** · 02-26-2018, 10:57 PM

About Thich Nhat Hanh ,Mindfulness

His poem is amazing.

This is what his mind is clear and peace,and maybe suffered lots of difficult situation.

Very sensitive.

I am also sensitive,so I can easy to understand,his mind.

And Korean monk at Chigenji is also sensitive,I feel.

In my Zen journey,lots of people who come from overseas stay with me.

Over country we can feel something.I am only Japanese at Treeleaf,so I can understand his mind from his biography.He borned at Asia but now he is at France.

Japan is also western country,but eastern country.

And also Buddha is sensitive.
I think if Buddha is not sensitive,he couldn’t become Buddha.

Gassho
Sat today
Kakunen

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**Kyousui** · 02-26-2018, 11:29 PM

In my nearest city we have both a Soto Zen Center and an Order of Interbeing Center. I enjoy going between both. I find the Order of Interbeing Center being more relaxed or easy going and more poetic while the Zen center is more rigourous and prose like, but one "accomplishes" things faster. I find them both a great tool in non duality - different and yet the same.
Sat2day LAH

**Geika** · 02-27-2018, 12:09 AM

I greatly admire Thich Nhat Hanh. Everything I have read or heard from him has only helped my practice, Zen style or not.

Gassho, sat today, lah

**Shinshi** · 02-27-2018, 12:41 AM

Originally posted by Geika

I greatly admire Thich Nhat Hanh. Everything I have read or heard from him has only helped my practice, Zen style or not.

Gassho, sat today, lah

I agree completely. I have learned a lot from his writings and teachings - particularly early on in my Zen journey. I have been lucky enough to hear him speak a handful of times.

Gassho, Shinshi

SaT-LaH

**Jundo** · 02-27-2018, 03:33 AM

Thich Nhat Hanh is a beautiful writer, and a gifted Buddhist Teacher. His writings on Peace are inspirational.

But his recommendations on mindfulness meditation are not Shikantaza, and quite different. They are a good way, but they are a different way. So, I cannot recommend them really, and they are not what is Practiced here. There is commonality, but there is also great differences that are important.

The most important aspect which is lacking is the emphasis on radical non-attaining. People use these mindfulness practices mostly to relax, taste some small peace (which causes them to consider meditation as successful only when they feel nice and peaceful on a good day). The type of sitting he recommends is also very instrumental. For example, he writes in his commentary on the meditation method in the "Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness"

Further, in whichever position his body happens to be, the practitioner passes in review the elements which constitute the body: 'In this body is the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element.'

This exercise shows us the interrelationship of our body and all that is in the universe. It is one of the principal ways of witnessing for ourselves the nonself, unborn, and never-dying nature of all that is. Seeing things in this way can liberate and awaken us. The sutra teaches us that we should be aware of the presence of earth, water, fire, and air elements in our body. These are the Four Great Elements (Sanskrit: mahabhuta), also referred to as the realms (Sanskrit:dhatu). The earth element represents the hard, solid nature of matter. The water element represents the liquid, permeating nature. The fire element represents heat, and the air element represents movement. The Dhatuvibhanga Sutra and the second version of the sutra on mindfulness in this book both refer to six elements - the two additional elements are space (Sanskrit: akasha) and consciousness (Sanskrit: vijiiana).

Our bodies are more than three-fourths water. When the practitioner looks deeply in order to see the water in his body, not only does he see the liquid, permeating nature of the blood, sweat, saliva, tears, and urine, but he also sees the water element in every cell of his body. There are clouds in the body, because without clouds, there can be no rain and we will not have any water to drink, or grains and vegetables to eat. We see earth in us, earth as the minerals in our body. We also see that earth is alive in us because, thanks to Mother Earth, we have food to eat. We see air in us, air representing movement. Without air we could not survive, since we, as every other species on Earth, need air to live. The practitioner observes his body mindfully to see all that is in it and to see the interrelated nature of himself and the universe. He sees that his life is not just present in his own body, and he transcends the erroneous view that he is just his body. In the book The Sun My Heart, the author refers to the sun as our second heart, a heart which lies outside our body, but which is as essential for our body as the heart inside our body. When the heart inside the body ceases to function, we know very well that we will die, but we often forget that if the heart outside our body, the sun, ceases to function, we will also die immediately. When we observe mindfully the interdependent nature of our body, we see our life outside our body, and we transcend the boundary between self and nonself. This practice of mindful observation helps us go beyond such limiting concepts as birth and death.
http://elibrary.ibc.ac.th/files/priv...n-healing2.pdf

It is a lovely and powerful Teaching (although not actually Traditional, by the way, nor the original intent of the Sutra, and more TNH's own invention). It is filled with insights shared by all Buddhists. However, it is a very different Path from Just Sitting.

I cannot encourage folks to sit both that way and Shikantaza. Please truly know Shikantaza and understand its Depthless Depths, before running off to another method on the bookshelf.

Gassho, Jundo

SatTodayLAH

**Jundo** · 02-27-2018, 02:34 PM

P.S. - I want to underline, in case folks misunderstand, that I am also a big TNH fan.

It is just that the kinds of meditation he recommends are quite different from Shikantaza, and I don't recommend that both be practiced simultaneously. I feel that it is really important to understand the power of Just Sitting thoroughly.

**Kokuu** · 02-27-2018, 07:00 PM

Hi Kakunen

I agree that Thich Nhat Hanh's practices can differ markedly from shikantaza but you know how to do shikantaza.

What I do think is wonderful about him is that he sees deeply how human beings can be vulnerable and suffer. His writings can make me feel very understood and listened to, even though I am just reading his words.

If you are hurting, he can be a very good person to read. His teachings are simple and full of compassion.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

**Meitou** · 02-27-2018, 07:35 PM

Originally posted by Kokuu

Hi Kakunen

I agree that Thich Nhat Hanh's practices can differ markedly from shikantaza but you know how to do shikantaza.

What I do think is wonderful about him is that he sees deeply how human beings can be vulnerable and suffer. His writings can make me feel very understood and listened to, even though I am just reading his words.

If you are hurting, he can be a very good person to read. His teachings are simple and full of compassion.

Gasshm
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

This is exactly how I feel about TNH too, he has this gift of exuding compassion and loving kindness even in his smile. I agree with Jundo about the meditation, it's a completely different flavour but his teachings are universal.
Gassho
Meitou
satwithyoualltoday/lah

**ShaggyDog** · 02-27-2018, 11:08 PM

When I first started practising one of the books that was my favourite was The Miracle Of Mindfulness, it's one that I'd recommend to anyone that was interested in beginning a meditation practice. I've read a few of his others such as Zen Keys and The Sun My Heart which were both very helpful books for me. I haven't tended to read his books for a while now though as I found the later ones (that were perhaps written by his followers) a little repetitive and possibly simplistic, but Living Buddha Living Christ is actually quite an interesting one which talks about Christianity and Buddhism with regards to how they can meet at a crossroads in many respects and enhance practice of each other.

**Kyousui** · 10-15-2018, 02:48 AM

Tricycle has several articles that it is republishing to celebrate Thay's birthday. The following are links that may not work if you don't have a subscription.

Interbeing with Thich Nhat Hanh

https://tricycle.org/magazine/interbeing-thich-nhat-hanh-interview/?utm_source=Tricycle&utm_campaign=5711272e88-Hanh_bday_Special_Newsletter_10_11_2018&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1641abe55e-5711272e88-308227173

An interview with Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh

Give Yourself a Breathing Room

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/thich-nhat-hanh-breathing-room/?utm_source=Tricycle&utm_campaign=5711272e88-Hanh_bday_Special_Newsletter_10_11_2018&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1641abe55e-5711272e88-308227173

Thich Nhat Hanh explains why it’s important to have a sacred space in your home.

Cultivating Compassion

https://tricycle.org/magazine/cultivating-compassion/?utm_source=Tricycle&utm_campaign=5711272e88-Hanh_bday_Special_Newsletter_10_11_2018&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1641abe55e-5711272e88-308227173

How to love yourself and others

Why We Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Suffering

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/thich-nhat-hanh-suffering/?utm_source=Tricycle&utm_campaign=5711272e88-Hanh_bday_Special_Newsletter_10_11_2018&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1641abe55e-5711272e88-308227173

Instead, we should fear not knowing how to handle our suffering, according to Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh in his book The Art of Living.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s Little Peugeot

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/thich-nhat-hanh-consumerism/?utm_source=Tricycle&utm_campaign=5711272e88-Hanh_bday_Special_Newsletter_10_11_2018&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1641abe55e-5711272e88-308227173

The Zen master reflects on our culture of empty consumption and his community’s connection to an old French car.

SAT/LAH

**Ryudo** · 10-15-2018, 04:40 PM

Thank you Kyousui,

The links work just fine.
Wonderful teachings of TNH.
Thank you for sharing.

Metta to all sentient beings
Gassho/SatToday

**Washin** · 10-16-2018, 07:02 AM

Originally posted by Kyousui