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This Profound Thich Nhat Hanh Quote Teaches Us What War Really Means
Wise words from the peace activist and Zen Buddhist
If you have been contemplating war and destruction more than usual, as I have, you would eventually come to a conclusion to make peace with the inevitable chaos that is unfolding. Mine can be summarized in a quote by Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh.
We have an ice-cold manipulative 70-year-old hell-bent on destroying a country filled with 44 million people, nuclear energy and wheat that feeds one-third of the world.
To keep the planet at a livable temperature, there is plenty we need to be doing right now, rather than starting a twentieth-century-style war. Not to mention, this is a critical decade — less than that, only eight years — for addressing climate change.
How can we find peace in this moment?
While traveling in India in my early twenties, I found solace in Thich Nhat Hanh’s words about suffering in “Peace is Every Step.” Years later, I’ve found inspiration in his peace activism and “engaged Buddhism.”
It is impossible to live in a suspended state of stress. Let alone the people living through this life quake and what that means for decades, if not generations, to come.
