Anxious? Rushed? Reaching for Your Phone? Four Buddhist Phrases To Bring You Back | Brother Phap Dung and Kaira Jewel Lingo
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's senior students, Brother Thích Chân Pháp Dung and Kaira Jewel Lingo, discuss his pithy phrases, emphasizing living fully in the present, accepting reality, and finding true home within oneself, even amidst suffering and external challenges.
Deep Dive Analysis
15 Topic Outline
Introduction to Thich Nhat Hanh's Teachings and Guests
The Purpose and Origin of Thich Nhat Hanh's Calligraphies
Importance of Remembering and Beginner's Mind in Practice
Phrase One: "Breathe, You Are Alive" and Its Meaning
The Value of Being Fully Alive and Deep Breathing
Phrase Two: "The Present Moment Is The Only Moment Available To Us"
Healing the Past and Planning the Future from the Present
Overcoming Distraction and Cultivating Presence
Phrase Three: "I Have Arrived, I Am Home" as Core Teaching
Finding True Home and Deepest Happiness in the Present
Historical Context of "I Have Arrived, I Am Home"
Phrase Four: "This Is It" and the Practice of Acceptance
Differentiating Acceptance from Passivity or Giving Up
Personal Application of Acceptance in Difficult Times
Guests' Current Projects and Educational Initiatives
3 Key Concepts
Buddhist Earworms
Pithy, memorable phrases or mantras from Buddhist teachings that embed themselves in the mind and surface when needed, serving as reminders for practice and awakening.
Beginner's Mind
The practice of approaching every moment, even familiar ones, with freshness, curiosity, and openness, like a beginner, to prevent complacency and revive one's spiritual practice.
Acceptance vs. Giving Up
Acceptance means acknowledging and making peace with current circumstances without resistance, allowing for agency and choice. Giving up implies a collapse into powerlessness and denial of options, losing access to one's full capacity.
5 Questions Answered
Our human minds are prone to forgetting, and practices like mindfulness (sati, meaning remembering) require constant recollection and refreshing to maintain a beginner's mind and prevent complacency.
It's possible to plan for the future by consciously grounding yourself in the present moment, noticing any anxiety that arises, and supporting yourself through the process without sacrificing your current awareness.
The deepest happiness comes from fully arriving and being at home in the present moment, where external achievements or status symbols fall away, and one feels perfectly content just as they are.
Acceptance is the crucial first step of acknowledging and making peace with reality, which then allows for effective action and transformation, rather than being caught in denial or inaction.
Tensing against pain, whether physical or emotional, tends to make it worse; instead, opening to it, breathing into it, and softening around it can lead to a very different and more healing effect.
11 Actionable Insights
1. Fully Embrace Your Aliveness
Actively feel your breath and the flow of life within you to remember you are alive, prompting you to use your limited time wisely and appreciate life’s gifts.
2. Practice Deep Breathing for Vitality
Cultivate deep breathing as a fundamental practice to enhance physical and mental aliveness, improve oxygen levels, and foster positivity.
3. Anchor Yourself in the Present
Consciously bring your attention back to the present moment, as it’s the only place where you can heal the past, clarify your future aspirations, and experience true happiness.
4. Reframe Past Trauma Through Present Awareness
Engage fully with the present moment to gain new insights into past traumas, allowing you to change your perspective, accept what happened, and find healing without blame.
5. Confront Discomfort in the Present
When experiencing anxiety or difficult emotions, resist the urge to distract yourself; instead, turn towards the discomfort in the present moment, giving it space and curiosity, as this is the path to freedom and reduced suffering.
6. Practice Undistracted Presence
Actively resist the cultural tendency to constantly distract yourself with consumption or productivity, even in mundane moments like waiting, to cultivate deeper awareness and presence.
7. Plan for the Future While Staying Present
It is possible to plan for the future without sacrificing the present by staying grounded in your body and breath, noticing any anxiety that arises, and supporting yourself through the planning process.
8. Call Back Your Dispersed Self
When feeling scattered, consciously call back all parts of your mind and attention to the present moment, allowing you to fully arrive, engage, and find deep contentment within yourself.
9. Embrace “This Is It” for Acceptance
Use the phrase “This is it” as a reminder to accept your current situation, including your weaknesses and difficulties, as this acceptance is the crucial first step towards transformation and effective action.
10. Soften Your Resistance to Pain
When experiencing physical or emotional pain, avoid tensing against it; instead, soften, breathe into it, and allow it to expand, which can reduce its intensity and facilitate healing.
11. Surrender to Circumstances, Don’t Give Up
Differentiate between surrendering to reality (accepting what is while maintaining agency and choice) and giving up (collapsing into a state of powerlessness), using surrender to allow difficult situations to ripen and mature you.
5 Key Quotes
Live life to the fullest while you can. Celebrate the people in your life now. Love them as much as you can. Love yourself. Get to know yourself. Cultivate your mind and heart and don't wait.
Kaira Jewel Lingo
The present moment is the only moment available to us.
Brother Thích Chân Pháp Dung
I have arrived, I am home.
Thich Nhat Hanh
The address of our true home is the here and the now.
Kaira Jewel Lingo
When we surrender to things as they are, we can work with them. We can, we still have access to our full capacity.
Kaira Jewel Lingo
1 Protocols
Walking Meditation
Kaira Jewel Lingo (describing Thich Nhat Hanh's teaching)- Breathe in and take one step, thinking "I have arrived."
- Breathe out and take a step, thinking "I am home."
- Focus 100% of your attention on each step, slowly increasing your presence over time.