We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track. If this problem persists help us by reporting it so we can investigate it.
Watch this talk
Login or create a free account to watch this talk and discover other teachings from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Log in or create an account
The Pure Land in One Mindful Breath
In the sutra of forty-two chapters, life is shown to last only one in-breath and one out-breath: with each exhalation we become another person, and birth and death occur in every moment. Yet we carry the heavy luggage of past memories—our sufferings and accidents—that binds us and prevents us from touching the wonders of the present moment. True happiness, the Pure Land or Kingdom of God, is not a distant future reward but available here and now, if we free ourselves from the past and from the belief that happiness must wait.
The Buddha offers three concrete sources of happiness:
- Mindfulness (niệm): remembering that “the worst is over” and returning the mind to the present moment, where conditions for joy already abound.
- Concentration (định): dwelling steadily on that source of joy—be it a friend, a flower, or a breath—so happiness can continue unbroken.
- Letting go (thí): releasing the person, desire, or idea we cling to, which is often the very obstacle to our happiness.
Each step in walking meditation is itself an act of liberation—“the miracle of walking on Earth”—and, supported by the Sangha, we learn to be alive, free from memories, and able to enter the Pure Land with a single mindful step.
