What do you really want? | Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh | #mindfulness

We know that in our modern time,
we work very hard.

Everyone is working very hard,

and we do not have the time to take care of
our body, our feelings, our emotions.

We do not have enough
peace and happiness in us.

And we do not know how,
even if we have the time,

we do not know how to handle our body,
our feelings, our emotions.

There is suffering inside,
there is conflict inside.

And there may be some loneliness inside.

And most of us do not want
to go home to ourselves,

because we feel
that if we go home to ourselves,

we will encounter the blocks of pain,
and suffering, and loneliness inside.

So the tendency is
to run away from ourselves,

and that is a characteristic
of our civilization.

People feel the need
to run away from themselves

because they don't want
to be with themselves.

Because they have the fear
that if they go back to themselves,

they'll be overwhelmed by suffering,

by the despair, by the anger,
by the loneliness inside of them.

We are running from ourselves,
away from ourselves.

So we do not have the time
to take care of ourselves.

And if you are not able
to take care of yourself,

how can you take care of
the person you love, your family?

So not only are we
running away from ourselves,

but we are also running away
from our families and friends.

We let them down.

At the same time, we do not have the time
to go back to nature, to Mother Earth.

Mother Earth has the capacity of
nourishing and healing.

But we are running away from her,

and we may cause damage to nature

with our technology.

You want to be number one,
and you want to be happy at the same time.

But if you want to be number one,

you have to devote
all your time to your work,

sacrificing family and self.

Do you want to be number one?

To be number one,
you have to sacrifice happiness.

But what is the use of being number one
without happiness?

So we have to ask ourselves the question,
"What do we really want?"

Do we want happiness,
or do we want success to be number one?