Language

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.

The Gatha of the Twenty-Four Brand-New Hours

Thich Nhat Hanh · March 15, 2009 · Plum Village, France · Audio Only
Feedback

Spring invites the heart to open like a flower; to welcome life and its wonders requires “loving.” Each morning, reciting the gatha learned as a novice monk allows us to come into contact with awakening:

  1. Waking up, I smile
  2. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me
  3. I vow to live them fully
  4. And to look at all beings with eyes of compassion
    The smile recognizes life within and around us, “twenty-four brand new hours” offered as a gift to be lived deeply, with the eyes of compassion to protect and nourish love.

Mindfulness transforms every action into a celebration:

  • opening the tap while reciting Water flows from high mountain sources… to touch the depth of water, the source of life;
  • brushing our teeth without mental discourse, stopping thoughts of past and future to taste freedom and happiness;
  • preparing and sharing breakfast as a moment of joy, without television or newspaper, to look at the other with a smile that says “I am happy that you are here”;
  • walking mindfully (“each step touches the Pure Land”), step by step, breath and footfall united so that “I have arrived, I am home,” arriving one hundred percent in the present moment, the source of freedom, healing, and miracle.
read more
Previous Talk March 12, 2009
53m

Breaking Free from the Image of the Past and Sticking to the Present Moment

Next Talk March 19, 2009
57m

Embrace Our Inner Child and Letting Go of Our Suffering