by Thich Nhat Hanh:  We cannot be really understanding if we do not calm ourselves

Let us visualize a lake in a highland among mountains. The water in the lake is so still that it truly the blue sky and mountains. And if you look into the water, you see your face not distorted at all because the water is calm. It’s still. If you take a picture of the lake, then you see the mountain and the sky reflected in it are just the mountain and the sky above.

So when you practice breathing in, you say, “Breathing in, I see myself as still waters.” It means you calm yourself by the breathing. Your breathing can become a wonderful instrument in order to calm yourself; and when you breathe out, you see that in the state of calm and stillness, your reflect things as they are. You do not distort things anymore. When we are not calm, we distort things. We cannot receive the message of other people. You cannot receive the truth from other beings.

If you are still and then you’re perceptions correct. And we will be understand what people are trying to tell us. The moon, the mountain, the rivers, the trees – everything is trying to tell us the truth; but because the water of our mind is not still, that is why we are not able to receive the truth from the cosmos. And therefore, we should practice breathing in and out and calm ourselves for true understanding to be possible.

Sitting quietly and breathing in and out is a wonderful way to calm yourself and to be still waters. We cannot be really understanding if we do not calm ourselves. What you are looking for, like happiness, peace, joy, they are all in the present moment. The pure land of the Buddhist must be found in the present moment. The Kingdom of Heaven of the Catholics, or the Protestants should also be found in the present moment.