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“Zenfully Quool Quotes”
“The Art of Living” By Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
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It is possible to live your daily life in such a way
that you are aware of all your different bodies
and feel connected to them every day.
You will be able to see your continuation across time and space
and realize that your life is limitless.
This physical body, which will disintegrate one day,
is only a small part of who you are.
You may like to take a moment to contemplate the following text.
It is an invitation to see that you are life without boundaries;
you are life without limit.
You can read it slowly …
allowing each line to fall like gentle rain on the soil of your consciousness.
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I see that this body—made of the four elements—
is not really me, and I am not limited by this body.
I am the whole of the river of life,
of blood ancestors and spiritual ancestors,
that has been continuously flowing for thousands of years
and flows on for thousands of years into the future.
I am one with my ancestors and my descendants.
I am life manifesting in countless different forms.
I am one with all people and all species,
whether they are peaceful and joyful or suffering and afraid.
At this very moment
I am present everywhere in this world.
I have been present in the past and will be there in the future.
The disintegration of this body does not touch me,
just as when the petals of the plum blossom fall
it does not mean the end of the plum tree.
I see that I am like a wave on the surface of the ocean.
I see myself in all the other waves, and
I see all the other waves in me.
The manifestation or the disappearance of the wave
does not lessen the presence of the ocean.
My Dharma body and spiritual life
are not subject to birth or death.
I am able to see my presence before this body manifested and
after this body disintegrates.
I am able to see my presence outside this body,
even in the present moment.
Eighty or ninety years is not my life span.
My life span,
like that of a leaf or of a buddha,
is immeasurable.
I am able to go beyond the idea that
I am a body separate from all other manifestations of life,
in time and in space.
