The Art of Living: mindful techniques for peaceful living from one of the world’s most revered spiritual leaders

Nirvana is a pleasant state of coolness and freshness that we can all touch in this very life.

As you recognize, embrace, and transform your anger, fear, and despair, you start to experience nirvana.

the removal of afflictions is the presence of nirvana.

Just as birds enjoy soaring in the sky, and deer enjoy roaming in the woods, so do the wise ones enjoy dwelling in nirvana. We don’t have to look very far to find nirvana, because it is our true nature in this very moment. You cannot remove the ultimate from yourself.

As we learn to handle our suffering, we are learning to generate moments of nirvana.

One breath or one step taken in mindfulness can already bring us real happiness and freedom. But as soon as we stop practicing, suffering manifests.

Happiness and peace are born from transforming suffering and pain.

When we cool the flames of our anger and, having understood its roots, the anger transforms into compassion, this is the experience of nirvana.

The insight of emptiness can help. When a young baby, an elderly grandmother, a teenager, or a young man dies in a disaster, we feel somehow that a part of us also dies. We die with them because we don’t have a separate self, we all belong to the same human species. Insofar as we are still alive, they are also still alive in us. When we can touch t