"As a collective energy, fear and anger can be very destructive. We make the wrong decisions if we base it on fear, anger, and wrong perception. Those emotions cloud our mind." ~
"Compassion is not sitting in your room; it’s actually very active and engaging." ~
"Don’t allow hate and anger to take over your world. Because there are other things happening." ~
"Emotions can be good. Passion can be good, and compassion is very passionate. But compassion doesn’t waste energy. It includes and it understands; it’s more clear." ~
"Engage in protest, but not from a place of anger. You need to express your opinion, and you need to go out there and say this is wrong. But don’t do it by saying hateful things." ~
"Go take refuge in nature, and find a cause where your heart doesn’t feel inactive and in despair. This is the medicine. We go out and we help." ~
"It requires a lot of practice to sit there and listen, and not judge so you can understand." ~
"Meditation is not an esoteric practice; it’s not something you do only in a meditation hall or Buddhist retreat center. It can happen right in whatever activity you’re doing — while walking, in the office. It means you are there, present with calm and peace." ~
"Our minds and hearts need food. And meditation is a kind of food. So we feed ourselves like that. You need to eat, and your peace, kindness, clarity need to eat as well. Meditation is not just praying; no, you’re cultivating this so you can offer it to others." ~
"Stopping is a requirement before deep listening." ~
"The future is built with the present moment and how we take care of it. If you are fearful, the future will be fearful. If you are uncooperative, the future will be divisive." ~
"The future is not something that will come to us; the future is built by us, by how we speak and what we do in the present moment." ~
"The thing is that left and right were never separate. Your right hand maybe has done a lot of awful things — like smashing trees, destroying the forest. But when the right hand gets hurt, your left hand comes to its assistance, grabs and holds it without hesitation. This is the way we engage in politics — we try not to see other as separate from us; they are us. We get out there and try to heal but we don’t cause more harm." ~
"We (Buddhists) look more at energy than personality. That helps us be wiser." ~
"We see the mind like a house, so if your house is on fire, you need to take care of the fire, not to go look for the person that made the fire. Take care of those emotions first; it’s the priority. Because anything that comes from a place of fear and anxiety and anger will only make the fire worse. Come back and find a place of calm and peace to cool the flame of emotion down." ~Phap Dung, Buddhist Monk
"What’s in my heart is that people find the patience and clarity to listen before they start to blame and criticize." ~
"When there is discrimination, you can use the opportunity to increase understanding. You can concentrate on what makes you happy; there are other elements in this person, not just the prejudice. You have to find also the good qualities in them. Don’t focus on wrong views because that makes you angry." ~
"When you sit with someone who’s calm, you can become calm. If you sit with someone who’s agitated and hateful, you can become agitated and hateful." ~
"With a breath, you can bring calm, clarity and rest your thinking." ~
"You cannot end discrimination by calling the other names. All the people who voted for him (Trump) are not bigots and racists and women haters. We are all judgmental, sometimes even a bit racist." ~
"You cannot help people if you are filled with hate and fear. What they need is your non-fear, your stability, solidity, and clarity." ~
BIO
Brother Phap Dung is Vietnamese American, and has lived at Plum Village for six years. He was ordained as a monk in 1998. He is a senior disciple of Thich Nhat Hanh.
Source: A Buddhist monk explains mindfulness for times of conflict by Eliza Barclay via Vox dot com
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