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Human Learning
There may be times when you feel that you are worthless. But you are nothing less than a miracle. The fact that you are here — alive and capable of breathing in and out — is ample proof that you are a miracle. One string bean contains the whole cosmos in it: sunshine, rain, the whole Earth, time, space, and consciousness. You also contain the whole cosmos.
Why should I smile when there is no joy in me? The answer to that is: Smiling is a practice. There are over three hundred muscles in your face. When you are angry or fearful, these muscles tense up. The tension in these muscles creates a feeling of hardness. If you know how to breathe in and produce a smile, however, the tension will disappear — it is what I call “mouth yoga.” Make smiling an exercise. Just breathe in and smile — the tension will disappear and you will feel much better.
— Thich Nhat Hanh@ThichNhatHanhgems
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“All this is clearly seen, but there’s another problem which must be clarified. It is this. Attachment to family and to property ceased long ago; but the mind is still attached to ideas, to beliefs, to visions.” “It was easy to shake off attachment to worldly things, but with the things of the mind, it’s a different matter. The mind is made up of thought, and thought exists in the form of ideas and beliefs. The mind dare not be empty, for if it were empty, it would…
