Touching Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh

Author:Thich Nhat Hanh [Hanh, Thich Nhat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-935209-04-1
Publisher: Parallax Press
Published: 2005-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

If we use this note, we have to make sure the other person receives it before the deadline. We cannot just say, “I put it on your desk and you didn’t look at it, so it’s your fault.” This is for our own good, because the moment we know that the other person has received the note, we already feel some relief. It is best to tell him directly in a calm voice, but if we think we will not be able to do it calmly, we can fill out a peace note and hand it to him. But we have to make sure he gets it before the deadline.

The sixth article tells us not to pretend we aren’t angry. We may have too much pride and do not want to admit our suffering. But we shouldn’t say, “I am not angry. There’s nothing to be angry about.” We must refrain from hiding the truth. If we are angry, that is a fact. This is an important part of the Peace Treaty. Pride should not be an obstacle that destroys our relationship. We are committed to each other, we support each other, we are a brother or sister to each other. Why should we be so proud? My pain must be his pain. My suffering must be his suffering.

According to the seventh article, while we are practicing sitting, walking, breathing, looking deeply, and living our daily life mindfully, we should focus our attention on these points: (1) Recognize the ways we have not been mindful or skillful in the past. (2) See how we have hurt the other person in the past and acknowledge to ourselves, “I have the habit energy of getting angry and hurt very easily.” (3) Recognize that the main cause of our anger is the strong seed of anger in our store consciousness that has the habit of manifesting itself. The other person is not the main cause of our suffering. We have friends who do not get angry so easily. The seed of anger is in them also, but apparently their seed of anger is not as strong as ours. (4) See that the other person is suffering also, and because of this, he behaved in an unskillful way, watering the seed of anger in us. We acknowledge that he was not the main cause of our suffering. He may have been the secondary cause, or perhaps we perceived him to be the secondary cause, but in all likelihood he did not mean to hurt us at all. (5) When some people get angry, they naively believe that if they say something strong to another person and make him suffer, they will feel some relief. This is not a wise thing to do, but many people do it. So we have to see that the other person may only be seeking some relief from his own suffering. (6) See that as long as he continues to suffer, we cannot be truly happy. When someone in a community is unhappy, the whole community is unhappy.

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