Throughout the past several years, Thich Nhat Hahn’s Peace is Every Step has been there to pick me up when I get in ruts. As several of the past posts have demonstrated, I’m in one. The funny thing about this tiny book is that it clearly shows why simply breathing and smiling make you feel happier. Meanwhile, everything else you think is important or you worry about or get bored of or want more of – it always seems to fail. I’m no saint or monk, but the truth doesn’t care about what I am or you are. It’s just there. The truth is what is. I believe it is ontologically existent in the world and not simply a social idea. The reason? Because it is a relationship between objects, namely us humans and other humans/objects.
The trouble I have with this truth is that I fall so short of being peaceful all the time. I let myself and others down. I try to hard. And all I need to do is just let go and just be. It’s hard because I like to think I orchestrate my own life. But really, we are all tied together with each other and everything else in existence in what Thich calls “inter-being.” We are connected and dependent upon each other and everything.
Madman's Lantern 