Smile

If one were so inclined he could simply read everything Thich Nhat Hanh writes and share it with everyone he encounters throughout the day. If he were to do that, he thinks, it’s possible the world might be a calmer and more peaceful place. But that wouldn’t be practical and he guesses that the people he encounters throughout the day might misinterpret the words, as well as the intent behind the words, and not recognize his true intent. Instead, all one who might be so inclined can do is share passages from books that spoke to him with anyone who might happen along to see them. Like this short passage* from the book Being Peace (which is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble).

I would like to offer one short poem you can recite from time to time, while breathing and smiling:

Breathing in, I calm my body.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment
I know this is a wonderful moment.

“Breathing in, I calm my body.” Reciting this line is like drinking a glass of ice water-you feel the cold, the freshness, permeate your body. When I breathe in and recite this line, I actually feel the breathing calming my body, calming my mind.

“Breathing out, I smile.” You know the effect of a smile. A smile can relax hundreds of muscles in your face, and relax your nervous system. A smile makes you master of yourself. That is why the Buddhas and bodhisattvas are always smiling. When you smile, you realize the wonder of the smile.

“Dwelling in the present moment.” While I sit here, I don’t think of somewhere else, of the future or the past. I sit here, and I know where I am. This is very important. We tend to be alive in the future, not now. We say, “Wait until I finish school and get my Ph.D. degree, and then I will be really alive.” When we have it, and it wasn’t easy to get, we say to ourselves, “I have to wait until I have a job in order to be really alive.” And then after the job, a car. After the car, a house. We are not capable of being alive in the present moment. We tend to postpone being alive to the future, the distant future, we don’t know when. Now is not the moment to be alive. We may never be alive at all in our entire life. Therefore, the technique, if we have to speak of a technique, is to be in the present moment, to be aware that we are here and now, and the only moment to be alive is the present moment.

“I know this is a wonderful moment.” This is the only moment that is real. To be here and now, and enjoy the present moment is our most important task. “Calming, Smiling. Present moment, Wonderful moment.” I hope you will try it.

Eyes closed or eyes open, sitting or walking, I think this is a beautiful mantra: “Calming, Smiling. Present moment, Wonderful moment.”

* The above quoted passage from Being Peace is copyrighted material and I will remove it when requested.