Freedom From Fear and Wrong Views
http://www.spiritualnow.com/articles/58/1/Freedom-From-Fear-and-Wrong-Views/Page1.html
Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hanh began the activism that would eventually lead to his exile with the founding of the School of Youth Social Services in Saigon, a relief organization that rebuilt villages bombed as a result of the Vietnam War. It also helped to set up schools and medical centers and resettle families. During this time, he traveled to the United States frequently to study and teach at Columbia University as well as promote peace. He spoke to many people about peace and urged Martin Luther King to publicly oppose the war. (King nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.) Exiled from Vietnam in 1973, he established the Order of Interbeing, a monastic and lay group teaching mindfulness practice, and has subsequently founded monastic and practice centers around the world. He makes his home in Plum Village Monastery in the south of France, where he has established also the Unified Buddhist Church.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s main teaching is a practice of mindfulness adapted to Western sensibilities. From his home in France, he travels internationally to speak and give retreats, and he is the author of more than 100 books. He also continues to be active in the peace movement, sponsoring retreats for Israelis and Palestinians, and giving speeches urging non-violent solutions. In 2005 he conducted a peace walk in Los Angeles that was attended by many people. That same year, Nhat Hanh was allowed to return to Vietnam, with a subsequent trip in 2007.
Thich Nhat Hanh is beloved not only for his speaking and teaching, but his many books, which include, Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Being Peace, Living Buddha, Living Christ, Fragrant Palm Leaves: Journals, 1962-1966, No Death, No Fear, and Anger, to name a few.
“If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. If we really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile? Our smile affirms our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. The source of a true smile is an awakened mind.” This quote from Nhat Hanh’s book Peace is Every Step affirms the guiding principles of mindfulness, his teachings, and life at Plum Village. There, and at his other centers, followers of Nhat Hanh engage in the activities of day to day life much the same as in the outer world, but they everything is done in the spirit of mindfulness. In practicing this together as a community, mindfulness becomes more joyous and relaxed.
An epic feature film about the life of the Buddha, based on Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Old Path, White Clouds, is in production, and on September 11, 2006, Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama spoke with the Hollywood community about the need to present the film so that the audience’s consciousness will be uplifted and turn to mindfulness.
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Published on 02/15/2007
One needs only to have freedom. Freedom from wrong views and freedom from fear. It’s like birth and death are like waves and you are riding on the waves of birth and death and you go without fear. It’s wonderful. That is supernatural power.
One needs only to have freedom. Freedom from wrong views and freedom from fear. It’s like birth and death are like waves and you are riding on the waves of birth and death and you go without fear. It’s wonderful. That is supernatural power.With great understanding, you are no longer afraid of being born, of dying
In the light of the teaching, everything is impermanent. Nothing in reality can remain exactly the same in two consecutive moments. But nothing is lost, and creation in Buddhism means manifestation. From nothing, you cannot become something. So creation, if you look deeply, it is really a continuation of manifestation. If you don’t manifest in this way, then you manifest in that way like the cloud and the snow. So if you get that, you are no longer afraid. And that is your supernatural power already if you have non-fear. And then you are quite different from other because you are subjected to fear, fear of dying, fear of being nothing.
But with non-fear in you with that deep wisdom in you, you become supernatural. You are no longer immortal, but you don’t need to be a god because a god is supposed not to be a human being. So to say that the Buddha has a supernatural power, that is true also, but he does not need to be a god in order to have that. He needs only to have freedom. Freedom from wrong views and freedom from fear. It’s like birth and death are like waves and you are riding on the waves of birth and death and you go without fear. It’s wonderful. That is supernatural power.
The Buddha did have teachers. He followed a number of teachers and he practiced with communities and he had made some progress in his path of looking deeply, but he realized finally that this kind of realization was not enough for his liberation. And that is why he had to continue by himself. Sitting at the foot of the Bodhi tree, he was able to make a breakthrough and discover the nature of interdependence, the nature of inter-being. He discovered the way of looking deeply and he could transcend his idea of birth and death, coming and going, being and non-being, and he was completely liberated from suffering. The happiness, the salvation of Buddha was possible thanks to maha prajna, great understanding. And when you got great understanding, you are no longer afraid of being born, of dying, and that is why you want to share your insight and your practice with other people.
But with non-fear in you with that deep wisdom in you, you become supernatural. You are no longer immortal, but you don’t need to be a god because a god is supposed not to be a human being. So to say that the Buddha has a supernatural power, that is true also, but he does not need to be a god in order to have that. He needs only to have freedom. Freedom from wrong views and freedom from fear. It’s like birth and death are like waves and you are riding on the waves of birth and death and you go without fear. It’s wonderful. That is supernatural power.
The Buddha did have teachers. He followed a number of teachers and he practiced with communities and he had made some progress in his path of looking deeply, but he realized finally that this kind of realization was not enough for his liberation. And that is why he had to continue by himself. Sitting at the foot of the Bodhi tree, he was able to make a breakthrough and discover the nature of interdependence, the nature of inter-being. He discovered the way of looking deeply and he could transcend his idea of birth and death, coming and going, being and non-being, and he was completely liberated from suffering. The happiness, the salvation of Buddha was possible thanks to maha prajna, great understanding. And when you got great understanding, you are no longer afraid of being born, of dying, and that is why you want to share your insight and your practice with other people.