When Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh was invited to the San Francisco Zen Center, the students asked him what they could do to improve their practice.
He had entered a monastery at age sixteen, was an ordained monk, and had endured the horrors of the war in Vietnam. I imagine they expected some rigorous prescription for deepening their spiritual life.
Thich Nhat Han's response:
"You guys get up too early for one thing; you should get up a little later.
And your practice is too grim.
I have just two instructions for you. One is to breathe, and one is to smile."
- from "True Refuge," by Tara Brach.
He had entered a monastery at age sixteen, was an ordained monk, and had endured the horrors of the war in Vietnam. I imagine they expected some rigorous prescription for deepening their spiritual life.
Thich Nhat Han's response:
"You guys get up too early for one thing; you should get up a little later.
And your practice is too grim.
I have just two instructions for you. One is to breathe, and one is to smile."
- from "True Refuge," by Tara Brach.