The Greatest Relief | Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh | #mindfulness

There are things that do not go well
in our body,

and there are things that do not go well
in our consciousness.

We suffer

and we are motivated by
the desire to practice

so that we can relieve
some of our suffering

we know that

you can get some relief

from our suffering

if we know how to practice.

So relief is what we seek for.

We have some worries,

we have have some fear,

we have some problem with our body,

with our mind

and we can practice according to
the teaching of the Buddha

and get some relief

and maybe in a few days,

in a few weeks, we can get some relief,

we can restore the balance

and you are capable of continue our life.

Although the suffering are still there

but not too much

Not many of us want to seek
the greatest relief

so that we can have a total liberation

from fear,

from craving,

from our worries.

We are seeking enough relief
so that we can go on.

We can bear that amount of suffering

to continue on our path, to survive.

But the purpose of the Buddhist practice
is more than that

not only to survive
but to liberate yourself.

And the only way
is to go deeper into the nature...

of you, of yourself.

Because we are capable of knowing that

this body is not us.

We don't identify ourself with that body

that is why the way we carry that body

is very light.

Because there is the wisdom
of non-attachment to the body.

If you can look upon your body

not like a self

and then you can
also look upon your feelings

not as the self.

If you have feelings

and then you have to carry
the burden of your feelings,

just like your body

and as a human being,

you cannot avoid having feelings

because you have perception,
you've got feelings.

And sometime we are not capable of...

of holding your feeling,

your feeling is so painful

that you attempted to destroy your body

in order for that feeling to disappear

But there are those of us
who can handle our feelings.

We are not caught by our feelings.

We do not identify ourself
with that feeling,

and therefore,

we are free from our feelings,

and we know
how to take care of our feelings

so that we don't have to suffer much.

We know how to get rid of our fear,

our anger, our tension,

that is why our feelings

are no longer heavy

like the way they used to be.

It's like an onion.

When you remove a layer of the onion
we see nothing in it.

but when the Bodhisattva is looking deeply
into the nature of form and feeling

they find that there is
no substantial nature,

there's no self-nature within the body,
and the feeling

and that is why

they are free.