Life Changing Lessons In Life

‘The way’ is cluttered with constant imagery of contradictory views which are both compelling and insightful, through which we are taken on a journey, our final destination being the true meaning of life. In a world where we are all yearning for the meaning for life, true harmony and real balance it is no surprise that the Tao Te Ching is a very haunting piece of literature that holds the reader in an almost trans like state of mind as it attempts to portray the way to accomplish the above.

    Loving one that loves one back is an easy task to accomplish, but loving them without them loving one back is a degrading, embarrassing task and only the bold, courageous, and madly in love people would do such things. The following passage was extracted

in love is to see the other individual as a special complement to one's existence." Socrates, on

It is written, “ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,”

“Love is all we have, the only way that each can help the other.” Euripides

“But our love it was stronger by far than the love of those who were older than we.”

This paper is a book report on “Living Buddha, Living Christ,” written by, Thich Nhat Hanh. In this paper I will discuss the four themes; Mindfulness, Understanding, Interbeing, and Wisdom. I will define the themes, and explain how each theme listed is a part of my life and whether this theme, can be co-related along with my faith.

When I visited the Phat Da Buddhist Congregation in San Diego, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple in San Diego, I was taken by surprise that the service was given in Vietnamese. The decorations on the wall, the sacred images displayed at the altar, and the vibrant color of the monk’s robe were still familiar, but what was being said was (very) foreign to me. I quickly became impatient and preoccupied with the question on why I was there in the first place. What would I write about for my final Buddhism assignment if I could not understand what was being said? One thing was clear, the day I visited, they were celebrating Buddha’s birthday with huge display of rituals and ceremony, and a big birthday cake at the end.

“When we judge other people we confront them in a spirit of detachment, observing and reflecting as it were from the outside. But love has neither time nor opportunity for this. If we love, we can never observe the other person with detachment, for he is always and at every moment a living claim to our love and service.”.

In The Heart of Understanding, Thich Nhat Hanh’s uses simple but powerful words and real world examples to illustrate the profound Buddhist philosophy from the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, an important representative of Mahayana Buddhist literature. The Mahayana school of Buddhist teachings emphasizes the doctrine of Sunyata- emptiness. The doctrine of emptiness, one of the most important Mahayana innovations, focuses on the relational aspect of existence. Thich Nhat Hanh coins and introduces a new word- interbeing to explain the state of emptiness. This idea of interbeing not only illustrates emptiness well but also provides understanding of other fundamental Buddhist ideas such as No-Self, impermanence and non-duality.

Nevertheless, Salzman cleverly conceals the real reason for Hsung- Ching’s quest. As the story progresses, we as readers discover that Ching journey is fundamentally a mission to find himself, his purpose in life, and true significance of his existence. Hsung- Ching is called to judge between many core and essential values that governs every human life. We find him doubting many of the teachings and core values he has received from his demanding Buddhist childhood. “…maybe it was a foolish promise!…It was a disaster!. How can you tell me know that loyalty is so precious?” (Salzman 240). He is forced to decide between his personal desires, and the timeless and relentless sufferings and wishes of his mentors and teacher. Here indeed, the quest for the Sutra evolves into a thorough self-examination of Hsung- Ching’s life.

In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh provides a citation from the Buddha, which gives insight into the cure of our distress. “I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering” (Thich Nhat

"Love is more than an emotion, it's a decision," Beverly said. She says you need to be happy within yourself before you can share love with someone. "One is a whole number," she stated. If you are not complete and your mate is not complete, "it's like two drunks trying to hold each other up." Beverly feels that love is a requirement for happiness and that you cannot love others until you love yourself.

Nhat Hanh was born in the city of Quảng Ngãi in Central Vietnam in 1926. He was inspired to become a monk when he was seven. He saw the picture of the Buddha sitting on the grass with peace and a smile. He was impressed and had a desire to be like him. At first, his parents opposed his will because they believed that the life of a monk was difficult. When ordaining, Viemanese

E. Preview Main Points: Today we will take an in-depth look at the beliefs of the Four Noble Truths and Karma and the customs of meditation and the Sacred Mandela. We will also explore its history in India and of Buddha, and how the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh have truly shaped this life changing religion.