User blog:Jeremiah Garland/Thich Nhat Hanh

As soon as I read the news today of Thich Nhat Hanh's failing health, I immediately thought of this community and how we could all benefit from his words. Thus, I have written this blog to honour an incredible individual who has become a personal hero of mine, and I only ask you all to show the same compassion and respect that he would want. This is truly heartbreaking news.



Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen Buddhist monk from Vietnam, extremely active in various peace movements. He has advocated for universal human rights, animal and environmental rights, and resolutions via nonviolent methods; his ideologies and beliefs that promote human compassion and love are reflected in the more than 100 books he has written in his lifetime. His teachings stress the importance of the individual and our impacts on each other, and how happiness is achieved not from without but from within. A strong opposer of war and violence, his voice has been instrumental in bringing about world peace in the past 60 years, and in that time he has been ranked alongside his contemporary individuals such as the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela as both a prolific religious and world leader. Just this past Wednesday evening he suffered a brain haemorrhage, and is currently under heavy treatment.

Hanh is particularly regarded for his thoughtful quotations, which epitomise his teachings and have influenced myself on a number of occasions. I would like to share some of my favourites below.

"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."

"Listening to and understanding our inner sufferings will resolve the problems we encounter."

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”

“Because you are alive, everything is possible.”

"We have to continue to learn. We have to be open. And we have to be ready to release our knowledge in order to come to a higher understanding of reality."

"Because you are alive, everything is possible."

"Fearlessness is not only possible, it is the ultimate joy. When you learn not to fear, truly you are free."