Smile - Release | Thich Nhat Hanh (short teaching video)

My dear sangha,
today is the 2nd of June 1998,

and we are in the 21-day retreat
in Burlington, Vermont.

Our breathing should be
pleasant,

should bring us joy.

And...

if it happens that
you don't know what to do,

at that moment the right thing to do is
to go back to your breathing

and enjoy your breathing

because your breathing is enjoyable.

And when you enjoy your breathing,
you know that you are doing it right.

I believe that you already know
the exercise "In/out, Deep/slow,

Calm/ease,
Smile/release,

Present moment/wonderful moment."
This exercise is very pleasant to practice.

You drive your car,
and you can practice...

this short poem for your breathing.

You sit on a bus or on the train,

you practice also
"in/out, deep/slow."

And suppose you are
washing the dishes in the kitchen.

That is the time also to practice
"in/out deep/slow,"

and smile to yourself, smile to
your presence and your dishwashing.

"Breathing in, I know I am breathing in;
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out."

And we summarize these two sentences
as "in/out."

Breathe in such a way that you enjoy
your in-breath and out-breath.

Then that is a success.

It's a very simple exercise,
and yet if you do it,

you realize miracles.

Just breathing in,
enjoy it.

Breathing out, enjoy it.

And be one with your in-breath.
Be one with your out-breath.

And become fully alive,
fully present in the here and the now.

That is nothing less than a miracle

that you can produce 
at any time of your daily life.

"Breathing in, I know I am breathing in;
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out."

"In"...

"Out."

When you do like that, mindfulness is there,
concentration is there, and life is there.

You stop all your thinking, your projects.

You are one with your breathing.
It's wonderful.

After a few minutes of breathing like that,

the quality of your breathing
will increase by itself.

And you may like to try the second line:
"deep/slow."

It means, "Breathing in, I know that
my in-breath has become deep."

It has become deep by itself,

not because of your intention
to make it deeper.

If you practice "in/out"
for some time,

naturally your in-breath
will become deeper and slower.

Cannot be avoided.

When mindfulness touches something,
it improves the quality of that something.

That is why your breathing
has become more harmonious,

calmer,

And that produces a more pleasant feeling 
within your body and your consciousness.

So "deep/slow" means,

"Breathing in, I notice that
my in-breath has become deeper;

Breathing out, I notice that
my out-breath has become slower."

It just means that
the quality of my breathing...

has been improved.

When you begin this exercise,

the pleasure is already there

with the "in/out."

And that pleasure...

continues to grow
with your practice of "in/out."

And now,
when you come to "deep/slow,"

you know that
you enjoy it more

because now your in-breath and out-breath
have become deeper and slower,

more calm, more harmonious,

and it helps your body to be
more calm and more harmonious.

And also it has an effect
on your consciousness, your mind.

So when you practice "deep/slow," 
of course the pleasure is greater

because the quality of the breath
has increased.

And later on you may try
the third line of gatha.

"Calm, ease."

"Breathing in, I feel calm

within my body and my mind."

If you want,

you can see it as "Breathing in,
I calm the activities of my body,"

"I calm the formation called body."

"Breathing out, I calm the formation
called feeling."

So this is exactly the practice 
recommended by the Buddha,

in the sutra on mindful breathing.

"Experiencing the feeling, I breathe in;
Experiencing the feeling, I breathe out."

"Calming the feeling, I breathe in; 
Calming the feeling, I breathe out."

"Calm" means, "Breathing in,
I feel calm within myself."

Not only my body is calm,

but also my feeling 
has become calm.

So you experience your body,
you experience your feeling,

and you breathe in and out
in order to calm the formations...

first your body
and then your feelings.

"Ease" means, "Breathing out...

I feel at ease, I ease everything,
I take everything at ease.

I take time to live my daily life.

I am not in a hurry.

I feel wonderful in this moment."

It means, ease --
you feel light.

You don't feel burdened by your worries,
by your afflictions.

You feel you have the freedom
within yourself...

within your body.
You feel being yourself,

not a victim of your worries,

not a victim of your past
and your worries about the future.

"Calm, ease."

And, of course, that exercise is
also very rewarding very pleasant.

"Breathing in, I feel calm
within my body, my feeling;

Breathing out, I feel very much
at ease with myself.

I take everything at ease."

In/out, deep/slow, calm/ease,

and then "smile/release."

"Breathing in, I smile;
Breathing out, I let go."

I let go of my projects,
of my worries about the future,

of my regret concerning the past

because the present moment
is so wonderful.

And I am capable of touching
the wonders of life in the present moment.

"Breathing in, I smile."

And the smile has the capacity of
releasing all the tensions that are left

on your face, on your body.

This is a smile of victory.

This is a smile 
of loving kindness

directed to your own body,
your own feelings.

And when you breathe out,
you become a much freer person.

"Release."

Nothing is as important
as your peace,

as your stability,
as your freedom.

You cannot exchange these
valuable things for anything else.

Nothing is worth...

to exchange your well-being,
your freedom, your ease.

So "release" here means
you have become yourself.

You are capable of releasing
all your "cows" --

your ideas,
even your ideas of happiness.

Each of us is caught...

in our idea of happiness.

We believe that we'll be truly happy 
when such and such conditions...

are available.

So we have an idea about happiness.

And we don't know that...

that very idea of happiness is
the obstacle for our being happy.

And if you are capable of
releasing that idea of happiness,

happiness will be
born in you right away.

Well, there's a young man who thinks...

that he can only be happy
if he get that degree, that diploma,

there is another young person 
who says that well if he...

if he cannot get into that position,
if he cannot marry that person,

then happiness will not be possible.

So we set up conditions for our happiness,
and we are caught in that idea.

But happiness can come to us
at any time

if we are a free person.

Why are you committed
only to one idea of happiness?

When you are committed
to one idea of happiness,

you limit your capacity of being happy.

And if you let go
of that idea of happiness,

happiness can come
from every direction.

One country might be caught
by one idea about happiness.

the whole nation might think that
"unless we realize this five year program,

unless we embrace that ideology
and realize it,

there will be no future
for our country, our people."

And maybe for 50 years or 70 years,

we are caught by that idea of happiness

and we have created a lot of tragedy
within our country, our people

just because we got caught
in one idea about happiness.

And maybe 50, 70 years later,
we find out that...

that idea of happiness has been
the obstacle for the happiness

of the whole nation.

So if you are lucky,
you can release that idea.

As individuals, we also commit
the same kind of mistake.

We invent an idea of happiness.

We cling to it.

And we say that unless I realize this,
happiness will never be possible.

That is why many of us cannot be happy.

So releasing...

releasing things,
let go of things...

is a very important practice.

And among these things,
the idea of happiness.

Let us look deeply
into our idea of happiness,

and we might find out that
it is exactly that idea of happiness

that has prevented us
from being happy.

And this teaching is very clear
in Buddhism.

"Breathing in, I smile.

I know happiness is possible
at any moment.

The wonders of life are available
at any moment.

I can touch them.
I can be happy without any condition."

And that is why,
breathing out, I can release.

You are very smart
if you can let go of these things

that have prevented you
from being happy in the past.

You can be extremely happy
just sitting there...

and breathing in and out.

You don't have to do anything,
You don't have to achieve anything,

you just sit down there,

and if you know how to breathe in and out,
you can be extremely happy.

You enjoy the miracle of life,
of being there.

So "smile/release"
can bring you a lot of happiness.

You need to be nourished

by that joy, that happiness.

And that joy, that happiness
can help heal...

the wounds within your body
and your soul.

And finally the last exercise
proposed in the gatha:

"Present moment,
wonderful moment."

"Breathing in, I establish myself
in the present moment.

Breathing out, I know
this is a wonderful moment."

If someone comes
and asks you this question:

"Has the most wonderful moment 
of your life arrived or not?"

We may feel embarrassed...

We may say, "Well, it does not
seem that it has arrived...

but I strongly believe
that it will arrive soon.

Otherwise my life will have no meaning.

The most wonderful moment of my my life,
I have been waiting for it to arrive."

But if we use our intelligence to look,
we know that...

if we continue to live...

exactly in the way we have lived 
for the past 20 years --

not mindful at all,

always running,

always trying to escape --

then that most wonderful moment
of our life will not...

be likely to arrive in the next 20 years.

That is something logical.

But in this teaching you learn...

that you have to...

to make the present moment
the most wonderful moment of your life,

because the present moment
is the only moment available.

And if you know how to
go back to it,

to be fully present,

to touch the wonders of life
in that moment,

that moment can become
the most wonderful moment of your life.

And you know you have the capacity
of doing it.

And by very simple practices like...

walking, breathing,

smiling,

touching with mindfulness
the beauties and the wonders of life,

you can make...

paradise.

You can make the Kingdom of God
available to you

in the here and the now.