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Bring the Mind Home: The Powerful Energy of Mindfulness

Thich Nhat Hanh · July 6, 2014 · Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France
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Each one of us has the capacity to generate the energy of mindfulness. Mindfulness allows us to be aware of what is going on in our body, our feelings, our perceptions, and in the world around us in the here and the now. If you are not in the here and now, you are missing your appointment with life. Life happens only in the here and the now.

Mindfulness is always mindfulness of something. We can drink our tea mindfully, and in that way, we’re in the here and the now. The energy of mindfulness contains the energies of concentration and insight, which have the power to relieve suffering and increase joy. When we breathe mindfully, the mind is joined with the body. Only when mind and body are joined are we truly alive and fully present.

The mechanism for generating joy is simple: Mindfulness. With mindfulness, concentration, and insight, you can touch the Kingdom of God and God at every moment. There is an art of suffering, and if we know that art, we suffer much less, and we can put our suffering to good use.

This the first talk in a series of thirteen given during the Summer Opening in the year 2014. Thay offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

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