From a young age, Cameron Conaway was trained to channel rage into violence. Years later, he learned he could transform his anger into something else. Trigger warning: abuse. For many years, my childhood abuse simmered as rage within me at all times. Memories of feeling helpless and neglected haunted me. I couldn’t stop them from replaying in my mind and I didn’t have the [...]
Finding Peace after a Lifetime of War
Vietnam Veteran Claude Anshin Thomas shares how he learned to live with the past by living intensely in the present. From the Lion's Roar archive, originally published in the November 1993 Shambhala Sun. I would like you to think about rain. Close your eyes, and think about rain, and the thoughts and feelings it brings up in you. I want to share with you what happens to me [...]
Rest in the River
Resting is a very importance practice, says Thich Nhat Hanh. Our physical body needs rest to restore itself, and our consciousness is no different. My dear friends, suppose someone is holding a pebble and throws it in the air and the pebble begins to fall down into a river. After the pebble touches the surface of the water, it allows itself to sink slowly into the [...]
Thich Nhat Hanh on Walking Meditation
The practice of mindful walking, says Thich Nhat Hanh, is a profound and pleasurable way to deepen our connection with our body and the earth. We breathe, take a mindful step, and come back to our true home. Read on and learn how to. Many of us walk for the sole purpose of getting from one place to another. Now suppose we are walking to a sacred place. We would walk [...]
How to Eat an Apple
Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung show you that the simple act of eating an apple mindfully can bring you many delights. Let’s have a taste of mindfulness. Take an apple out of your refrigerator. Any apple will do. Wash it. Dry it. Before taking a bite, pause for a moment. Look at the apple in your palm and ask yourself: When I eat an apple, am I really enjoying eating [...]
Listening Deeply for Peace
Without deep listening and gentle loving speech it is very difficult to move towards peace. Peace will only become a reality, says Thich Nhat Hanh, when world leaders come to negotiations with the ability to hear the suffering at the root of all conflicts. A traditional Vietnamese Zen garden is very different from a Japanese Zen garden. Our Zen gardens, called hon non bo, are [...]
The Four Layers of Consciousness
Abhidharma, Buddhism’s map of the mind, is sometimes treated as a topic of merely intellectual interest. In fact, says Thich Nhat Hanh, identifying the different elements of consciousness, and understanding how they interact, is essential to our practice of meditation. The Vietnamese Zen Master Thuong Chieu said, “When we understand how our mind works, our practice becomes [...]
Beginning Anew
Thich Nhat Hanh on how to make the meaningful ceremony of "Beginning Anew" part of your life — including his unique practice of mindfulness, "hugging meditation." Beginning Anew is not to ask for forgiveness. Beginning Anew is to change your mind and heart, to transform the ignorance that brought about wrong actions of body, speech, and mind, and to help you cultivate your [...]
Thich Nhat Hanh on Healing the Child Within
The cry we hear from deep in our hearts, says Thich Nhat Hanh, comes from the wounded child within. Healing this inner child’s pain is the key to transforming anger, sadness, and fear. In each of us, there is a young, suffering child. We have all had times of difficulty as children and many of us have experienced trauma. To protect and defend ourselves against future [...]
Three Questions for Coming Back to Now
While hiking, Buddhist practitioner Leslie Davis suddenly found her mind miles ahead of her body. She offers three questions you can ask yourself to reel your running mind back to the present moment. On a recent personal retreat, I hiked into Horn Canyon in the east end of Ojai, California. Due to the severe drought, it had been years since water had flowed alongside the [...]
