No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

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This blog will dive into easy-to-follow techniques that help cultivate mindfulness, allowing you to focus on the here and now. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Even if the mother doesn’t understand at first why the child is suffering and she needs some time to find out what the difficulty is, just her act of taking the child into her arms with tenderness can already bring relief. To live in peace, you have to be aware of your tendencies—your habit energies—so you can exercise some self-control.

No mud, no lotus” can be a reminder, helping us to see the transformational possibilities of suffering and the possibilities of the lotus flowers, just waiting to bloom. Everyone has volition, a strong motivation that fuels us and, when it’s a healthy one, brings us joy. We did find a magical standing rock formation thousands of years old, and the bath that night was one of the best in my life.He doesn’t teach anything that relates solely to any particular religious belief; rather, his teachings relate to helping us live in the present, which is the only place and time we will experience happiness.

I believe we should somehow find the courage to embrace the mud, and look for the flower that hides in this darkness. The way to suffer well and be happy is to stay in touch with what is actu- ally going on; in doing so, you will gain liberating insights into the true nature of suffering and of joy. If you stay with this practice, the sufffering of anger or jealousy in you will dissipate and the flower of compassion will be born. Adapted from No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering by Thich Nhat Hanh © by Thich Nhat Hanh © 2014 Parallax Press. Even a child can look deeply and see that his parents have diffi- culties and don’t know how to handle their own pain.Looking Deeply the pain of our ancestors Some of our ill-being comes from hurt and pain in our own life; but some has been transmitted to us by our ancestors. When you practice mindfulness of breathing, you know right away that you are alive, and that to be alive is a wonder. no mud, no lotus Both suffering and happiness are of an organic nature, which means they are both transitory; they are always changing.

to help you transform this negative emotion and to create a positive shift in perspective that better serves you. For me, my mud is the never-ending grind that is childcare to two small toddlers (ages 2 and 3) in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. T he first step in the art of transforming suffering is to come home to our suffering and recognize it. Then, if the day after tomorrow you have a strong emotion, you’ll have confidence that you can handle the strong emotion.But nonjudgmentally recognizing and embracing this great suf- fering is not at all the same thing as giving in to it. It took us hours to get across that Scottish field that day, and neither the rain nor the mud ever let up.