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10 EASTERN HORIZON | TEACHINGS

“The essence of our practice can be described as transforming

suffering into happiness,” says Thich Nhat Hanh.
Here, he offers five practices to nourish our happiness daily.

5 Practices

for Nurturing

Happiness

By Thich Nhat Hanh

Photo © Unified Buddhist Church

We all want to be happy and there understanding, compassion, and joy saying, “God, I have to wait for my
are many books and teachers in for ourselves and for others. twin brother, darkness, to be with
the world that try to help people me. I can’t be there without the
be happier. Yet we all continue to One of the most difficult things for darkness.” God asked, “Why do you
suffer. us to accept is that there is no realm need to wait? Darkness is there.”
where there’s only happiness and Light answered, “In that case, then I
Therefore, we may think that there’s no suffering. This doesn’t am also already there.”
we’re “doing it wrong.” Somehow mean that we should despair.

we are “failing at happiness.” That Suffering can be transformed. As
One of the most difficult
isn’t true. Being able to enjoy soon as we open our mouth to
things for us to accept
happiness doesn’t require that say “suffering,” we know that the
is that there is no realm
we have zero suffering. In fact, opposite of suffering is already
where there’s only
the art of happiness is also the there as well. Where there is
happiness and there’s no
art of suffering well. When we suffering, there is happiness.
suffering. This doesn’t
learn to acknowledge, embrace,
mean that we should
and understand our suffering, we According to the creation story
despair. Suffering can be
suffer much less. Not only that, in the biblical book of Genesis,
transformed.
but we’re also able to go further God said, “Let there be light.” I
and transform our suffering into like to imagine that light replied,