On Practitioners

People who are not practitioners allow their pain, sorrow and anguish to overwhelm them. We, who consider ourselves to be practitioners, have the right to suffer like everyone else, but we don’t have the right not to practice. It’s okay to suffer, but it’s not okay to allow yourself to be flooded with suffering. We know that in our bodies and consciousness there are positive elements that we can call on to protect ourselves and take good care of the negative things manifesting in us.

What we usually do is call on the seed of mindfulness to manifest also as a zone of energy. This energy has the capacity of recognizing, embracing, and relieving suffering, calming and also transforming. In every one of us the seed of mindfulness exists, but if we have not practiced the art of mindful living, then that seed may be very small.
                                                                                                                         Thich Nhat Hanh

Painting by Charles Frizzle