Living in a retirement village, I find that I have more time to spend in thinking and contemplating life in a deeper way.
In this context, an author whom I have come to appreciate more deeply is Thich Nhat Hanh — an author of more than one hundred books of poetry, fiction and philosophy.
In his book, No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life, he presents a perspective on life and death that can be best appreciated slowly and meditatively. Let me share excerpts from the book that one can deeply reflect on in trying to understand life and death.
Comforting Wisdom for Life
Thich Nhat Hanh proposes a stunning view of life and death: “Since before time you have been free. Birth and death are only doors through which we pass, sacred thresholds on our journey. Birth and death are a game of hide-and-seek. You have never been born and you can never die.”
Over and over again, he invites us to practice looking deeply so we can know for ourselves the freedom and joy of understanding the nature of reality.
As a poet, he explores the paradoxes of life and gently lifts the veil of illusion, allowing us, maybe for the first time in our lives, to see that our dread of dying is caused by our own misperceptions and misunderstandings.
His insights into life and death are subtle and elegant, and, like all things subtle, best appreciated slowly, in quiet contemplation. Out of the deep wellspring of Thich Nhat Hanh’s humanity and compassion comes the balm to heal our hearts. (Based on the Foreword by Pritam Singh)
When we understand that we cannot be destroyed, we are liberated from fear. It is a great relief. We can enjoy life and appreciate it in a new way.
A French scientist, whose name is Lavoisier, declared, “Nothing is born, nothing dies.”
Our true nature is the nature of no birth and no death. Only when we touch our true nature can we transcend the fear of non-being, the fear of annihilation.
Freedom is above all else freedom from our own notions and concepts. If we get caught in our notions and concepts, we can make ourselves suffer and we can also make those we love suffer.
Source: Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life, London: Rider, 2002.
A Book Review
The following is a book review of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life, by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat:
Thich Nhat Hanh, author of the national bestsellers Anger and Living Buddha, Living Christ has written more than 101 books of poetry, fiction, and philosophy.
Since age 16, he has been a Buddhist monk, a peace activist, and a seeker of the way. In this masterwork, he presents his understanding of death along with profound ancilliary teachings on freedom, looking deeply, transforming grief, practicing resurrection, touching the Earth, and accompanying the dying.
With the simplicity and clarity that are hallmarks of his writing, the author reveals that freedom is one of the most important benefits of mindfulness training. We come to see that we can be liberated from our notions of birth and death, coming and going, permanent selves and annihilation. We do not pass away, Thich Nhat Hanh observes, we only change our manifestation: “When conditions are not right to support life, they withdraw.”
For instance, the author’s idea of having lost his mother was revealed to be a source of great pain and suffering until he realized she lives on inside him. Each of us can look deeply and recognize our loved ones manifesting again in many forms.
All of our ancestors and great saints and spiritual seekers are alive in us. At one point, Thich Nhat Hanh states that Jesus Christ is manifesting himself in countless ways. Then he adds: “The practice of resurrection should be taken up by each of us . . . This is the true practice of being alive.”
The ways in which we work, play, and relate to others and the world are all occasions for resurrection or rebirth. Our practice should be to incarnate love, peace, kindness, compassion, and justice.
Thich Nhat Hanh offers a wonderful image for this involvement: “You are just like a firework going off in every moment. The firework diffuses its beauty around itself. With your thoughts, words and actions you can diffuse your beauty. That beauty and goodness goes into your friends, your children and grandchildren and into the world. It is not lost and you go into the future in that way.”
So there is no birth and no death, only constant change and impermanence. In the midst of all this ferment, we can touch the Earth with love and realize we are presently in nirvana or the kingdom of God.
By living fully in the present moment, we can experience happiness and be freed from suffering and fear. Another spin-off of this practice is feeling a unity with all people, creatures, and things once the boundary between self and other has been removed.
Thich Nhat Hanh has rendered us an invaluable service by opening our hearts and minds to the wonderful becoming that is our joy and our destiny.
Source: https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/view/4553/no-death-no-fear
Our true nature is the nature of no birth and no death.
Only when we touch our true nature
can we transcend the fear of non-being, the fear of annihilation.
(Thich Nhat Hanh)