Watch this talk

Login or create a free account to watch this talk and discover other teachings from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

The title, description and transcript may contain inaccuracies.

Tea of the Ultimate Moment: Dying to Live Fully

Thich Nhat Hanh · April 22, 1999 · New Hamlet, Plum Village, France · Audio Only
Feedback

If you have only three months to live, each moment becomes a picnic to be prepared with intelligence: drink your tea with mindfulness, live each moment deeply, in touch with the wonders of life. One who does not know how to die does not know how to live; learn to die now: arrange your schedule so that you can leave this world in peace, without regret.

Some stories:

  1. A young man condemned to death lives fifteen more years after sharing a cup of tea in full presence.
  2. Meursault, in The Stranger, discovers the depth of a square of blue sky during his last three days.
  3. Accompanying a dying person by helping them touch their seeds of happiness: guided meditation on the Three Jewels, recalling the six senses and the six elements, chanting to rekindle peace and faith within them.

Each moment offered is a door to freedom: make the present moment the most wonderful of your life, prepare for death as you would for birth, and sow compassion and awakening around you thanks to your sangha.

read more