“We can realize peace right in the present moment with our look, our smile, our words, and our actions. Peace work is not a means. Each step we make should be peace. Each step we make should be joy. Each step we make should be happiness. If we are determined, we can do it. We don’t need the future. We can smile and relax. Everything we want is right here in the present moment.”
Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step
Beyond the Quote (238/365)
One day the Buddha held up a flower in front of an audience of 1,250 monks and nuns. He did not say anything for quite a long time. The audience was perfectly silent. Everyone seemed to be thinking hard, trying to see the meaning behind the Buddha’s gesture. Then, suddenly, the Buddha smiled.
He smiled because someone in the audience smiled at him and at the flower. The name of that monk was Mahakashyapa. He was the only person who smiled, and the Buddha smiled back and said, “I have a treasure of insight, and I have transmitted it to Mahakashyapa.”
What do you suppose is the meaning of the story? What “treasure of insight” might the Buddha have transmitted? This story has been discussed by many generations of Zen students, and people continue to look for its meaning today. While zen stories never come with definitive answers, one nugget of insight that can be taken away is quite a simple one: seeing and appreciating the flower.
When someone holds up a flower and shows it to you, he wants you to see it. If you keep thinking, you miss the flower. The person who was not thinking, who was just himself, was able to encounter the flower in depth, and is able to freely smile. It connects directly to what Nhat Hanh describes above.
Everything we want is right here in the present moment. When we drop expectations, disconnect from our worries about the future, release our recurring thoughts and regrets of the past, and stop trying to interpret the “deep meaning” behind everything what are we left with? The present. No mind. We’re left with a flower being shown to us. And there’s nothing to think about. Why think about the deep meaning behind a flower? Just, smile.
Read Next: 13 Powerful Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes on Happiness, Anger, and Peace
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Written by Matt Hogan
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