This notebook is for understanding the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, including The Heart of the Buddha's Teachings (2015). This is the interpretation of Reagle and others and subject to mistakes and misunderstanding. In the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, it is said, "If you explain the meaning of every word and phrase in the sutras, you slander the Buddhas of the three times — past, present, and future. But if you disregard even one word of the sutras, you risk speaking the words of Mara." (Nhat Hanh, 2015, The Heart of Buddha's Teachings, loc. 320) <!-- [@Hanh2015hbt, loc. 319]--> [The Buddha's] teaching is like a finger pointing to the moon. Do not mistake the finger for the moon. (Nhat Hanh, 2015, The Heart of Buddha's Teachings, loc. 319) Key booksThe Miracle of Mindfulness is a lovely introduction to some of the concepts and practices associated with mindfulness; there are many delightful small books like this. Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha is a biography of the mythical Buddha

A concern with the life of minerals has roots in traditional Buddhist cosmology, but today it is taken as respect for resources upon which life is dependent. Every Buddhist practitioner should be a protector of the environment. Minerals have their own lives, too. In Buddhist monasteries, we chant, "Both sentient and non-sentient beings will realize full enlightenment." The First Precept is the practice of protecting all lives, including the lives of minerals. (Thich Nhat Hanh, 2007, For the Future to Be Possible, p. 10) {%hackmd kPdKcI8DR7Wi9LZ6nFBjGw %}

The existence of suffering (dukkha) is the first Noble Truth. The Buddha called suffering a Holy Truth, because our suffering has the capacity of showing us the path to liberation. Embrace your suffering, and let it reveal to you the way to peace. (Nhat Hanh, 2015, The Heart of the Buddha's Teachings, loc. 149) By saying we should "embrace" our suffering, Thich Nhat Hanh is not endorsing a masochistic approach. In fact, Hanh breaks with tradition by replacing suffering with nirvana in the Three Dharma Seals. Instead, we should recognize our suffering, care for our suffering, and transform it. The work of mindfulness is first to recognize the suffering and second to embrace it. A mother taking care of a crying baby naturally will take the child into her arms without suppressing, judging it, or ignoring the crying. Mindfulness is like that mother, recognizing and embracing suffering without judgment. So the practice is not to fight or suppress the feeling, but rather to cradle it with a lot of tenderness (Nhat Hanh, 2014, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering, 26-27) Hanh uses the allegory of "The Arrow" to caution us against compounding pain with suffering.

Nhat Hanh often distinguishes between joy and happiness. In some contexts, joy is said to have an element of excitement, whereas happiness is longer lasting and can be based on contentment and peace. Suppose you are walking in a desert and you are dying of thirst. Suddenly you see an oasis and you know that once you get there, there will be a stream of water and you can drink so you will survive. Although you have not actually seen or drunk the water you feel something: that is excitement, that is hope, that is joy, but not happiness yet. In Buddhist psychology we distinguish clearly between excitement, joy, and happiness. True happiness must be founded on peace. Therefore, if you don’t have peace in yourself you have not experienced true happiness. (Nhat Hanh, 2005, True Happiness) Happiness and joy ought not be confused with mudita, undertsood as unselfish or sympathetic happiness (Nhat Hanh, 2004, Love and Happiness). {%hackmd kPdKcI8DR7Wi9LZ6nFBjGw %}

# Interbeing > About thirty years ago I was looking for an English word to describe our deep interconnection with everything else. I liked the word “togetherness,” but I finally came up with the word “interbeing.” The verb “to be” can be misleading, because we cannot be by ourselves, alone. “To be” is always to “inter-be.” If we combine the prefix “inter” with the verb “to be,” we have a new verb, “inter-be.” To inter-be and the action of interbeing reflects reality more accurately. We inter-a

# Karma Nhat Hanh speaks little of karma; when he does so, he speaks of it as action, with its causes/conditions ("seeds") and consequences ("fruits"). > In Buddhism we use the word karma. Karma is action, action as cause and action as fruit. When action is a cause, we call it karmahetu. The Chinese word for karmahetu contains the character for karma and a character that means “seed.” When we produce a thought, the production of the thought is a karmahetu, karma-cause. That thought will have a

# The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings :::info :link: Sourced from [Plum Village](https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/the-14-mindfulness-trainings/) ::: The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings are the very essence of the Order of Interbeing. They are the torch lighting our path, the boat carrying us, the teacher guiding us. They allow us to touch the nature of interbeing in everything that is, and to see that our happiness is not separate from the happiness of others. Interbeing is not a the

# Three Dharma Seals In the Nhat Hanh tradition, "all things are marked by impermanence, nonself, and nirvana" and so the dharma teachings must be as well. Nhat Hanh diverges from tradition by replacing suffering with nirvana. > It is said that all teachings of the Buddha bear the Three Dharma Seals. To put suffering on the same level as impermanence and nonself is an error. Impermanence and nonself are "universal." They are a "mark" of all things. Suffering is not. (Hanh, 2015, *The Heart o

# The Five Mindfulness Trainings :::info :link: Sourced from [Plum Village](https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/the-5-mindfulness-trainings/). ::: The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To