“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” Thich Nhat Hanh

Today I have been reminded of one of my favourite authors, Thich Nhat Hanh.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk, a Spiritual Teacher, a poet, a scholar and a peace advocate. His book, " Being Peace" was one of the first books that I was given by my friend Thomas, a year ago this month. This book opened many doors for me, ( not to mention my mind ) and essentially started the path that I have been on since I first turned open its cover.

This book teaches that in order to achieve peace, we must achieve peace within ourselves. If we are to change the world, we must first look within ourselves, and awaken the eternal part of ourselves where peace resides.... we must find our Buddha nature.

How can we expect to find peace within our relationships, our work, our friendships, if we do not have peace within ourselves? We are constantly searching outwards in our society and placing the blame for our problems on others, when the answer lies within each of us. We are constantly wanting more..... more money, more love, more friends, more, more, more... when does the search stop? When will we achieve and find this "peace of mind" that we are looking for?

Thich Nhat Hanh says, " Meditation, is not an escape from the difficult present, but an active form of service to our society, directing us to understanding and compassion toward all suffering of humanity. " Meditation has the effect to raise our awareness. And by being "aware" of our actions, our words, our thoughts, we can practice the art of mindfulness.... and with the act of mindfulness, comes compassion and from compassion, lies peace. When we start to pay attention to our being and how we effect others, we can have power over our emotions, actions and wants, and choose the peaceful route of situation.

We are all made the same. We all have a consciousness, we all have an ego, we all have a heart that pumps blood through our body. Why is it that we are all capable of putting others down because we let our material objects or our egos define us? Money and power should not determine our success as human beings. We should be more focused of the impact of how the grace of our actions and words effect others.

“When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable.”

We must practice the art of compassion and start looking at others with compassionate eyes. We are all the same, we are all bothers and sisters, it's time we started treating each other like family.