Reading & the Good Life
Our final Reading & the Good Life (weekly meetup) for this month is scheduled for tomorrow (30 Dec at Noon EST). For the month of December, we’ve been exploring selected passages from No Mud, No Lotus by the late Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. If you’re interested in connecting for a casual conversation with a few fellow travelers and curious minds (Register here).
***Next month, Stoic Meditations for Modern Living. In January (every Friday at Noon EST) we will begin exploring Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations.
Reading & the Good Life is a space for connection, contemplation, and conversations on the art of living.
Selected passages for this week:
“We may think we are only responsible for our own suffering and happiness, but our happiness increases the world’s happiness and our suffering is the world’s suffering.” — Thich Nhat Hanh (Ch. 6, No Mud, No Lotus)
“When people around you are practicing compassion, they’ll be wiser and happier, not only individually but also as a group. Combining our experiences and insights leads to a collective insight that can be wiser than the sum of its parts.” — Thich Nhat Hanh (Ch. 6, No Mud, No Lotus)
“Everyone needs a mindful community for support. We can join together to create a healing environment wherever we are. Our family, our classroom, and our workplace can all be mindful communities.” — Thich Nhat Hanh (Ch. 6, No Mud, No Lotus)
“There are times when a case of suffering is so great, it needs recognition from more than just one person. We all need help sometimes when suffering threatens to overwhelm us. We can borrow the collective energy of mindfulness of a group of practitioners, in order to recognize and embrace the block of suffering in us.” — Thich Nhat Hanh (Ch. 6, No Mud, No Lotus)
Who is Thich Nhat Hanh?
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022) is a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist renowned for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. A gentle, humble monk, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called him “an Apostle of peace and nonviolence” when nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Exiled from his native Vietnam for almost four decades, he has been a pioneer in bringing Buddhism and mindfulness to the West and establishing an engaged Buddhist community for the 21st Century.
Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
P.S. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, or request a free membership if you are unable to afford it (no questions asked).
Thank you