Many people who practise mindfulness feel guilt about their happiness - maybe you do too? They say, there’s so much suffering in the world, how can I sit and follow my breath and be happy and enjoy my life. Its a good question, one that Thay addressed directly. He told us that happiness and suffering are not separate. The mud provides the nutrients for the lotus, the lotus withers one day and becomes one with the mud. Happiness and suffering are interconnected.
One of the keys to a happy life is to be open to happiness even when we’re suffering. And this is also true of the suffering in the world. We can be open to the worlds suffering and we can hold it, their suffering is our suffering; but we should not stop ourselves from walking the path of happiness. When we’re calm and happy we are at our most empathetic, we’re ready to understand other people and engage, to take action. We must always work on our peace and our joy so that our interactions, our interbeing with the world can be as wholesome as possible.
These days we’re in danger of seeing the world as a grim place, especially if we view it through the lens of the news and social media. I used to feel this way when I was younger, I still do sometimes when I’m stressed. Seeing danger everywhere, pulling back from other people. Seeing life as a grim struggle you have to grind through. Its human nature.
But we need to remember that the world is a beautiful place, a place of joy and peace and freedom. We can experience it with full awareness through our walking meditation. I was very lucky to be instructed in the art of walking by Brother Minh Hy. The monastics at PV practice walking meditation every day, its an incredible thing to share, to experience, to witness. They walk with such grace and awareness its like they’re floating over the ground.
One of the things that really blew my mind when I was listening to Brother Minh Hy was how he viewed the world when he was walking. He didn’t see the world as a vale of tears - he saw a beautiful planet that was smiling to him. And the world is smiling to you too, as we’re walking along we can see a tree smiling to us; we might see a cloud smiling to us or a bird. Yes there is suffering in the world, but I invite you to see the lotus as well as the mud.
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