Most mornings for the past few weeks, I’ve been listening to these lines as part of a guided meditation (“Calm, Ease – short version”) by Thich Nhat Hahn on the Plum Village App. (You can find the audio here on the web too):
Breathing in I smile…
Nothing is as important as my peace, my joy. I smile to everything, even to my suffering, to my difficulties.Breathing out, I release, I let go...
This is the practice of freedom.
Smile…. Release…
The line “Nothing is as important as my peace, my joy,” is becoming firmly implanted in my whole being. It makes such sense. How can I be of any use to myself or to anyone else if I am not living in peace, and joyfully? What is more important? Money? Work? Recognition? Fretting? Rushing? Getting loads of things done?
So every morning I smile to all my difficulties, to any suffering, and I release, I let go, and find a measure of peace.
And slowly I begin to understand why he says that this is a practice of freedom. When we let go of our difficulties, and live happily in the present moment, we are free – free from our worries, our fears, regrets about the past, thoughts that drag us into the future – everything that ensnares us and keeps us from living fully what is right in front of us. All the amazing things about life – being alive! The stunning outside world. Close ones. Perhaps just a nice meal or a good book. The breeze, the frost, the trees, a friend…
Nothing is as important as our peace, our joy. This kind of freedom sounds very good to me.
Notes from Ben 