
Lotus Flower

The Seven Factors of Awakening
“At least once every 15 minutes, we need to practice letting go. Bear in your heart no hatred, utter no unkind words, remain always compassionate, with no hostility or ill will. The Seven Factors of Awakening are the practices of love.” – Thich Nhat Hahn
Buddhism by the Numbers
The Six Paramitas
Giving
Offer to all joy, happiness, and love. The greatest gift we can offer anyone is our true presence.
Give the gift of stability. The one we love needs us to be solid and stable. We can cultivate our stability by breathing in and out, practicing mindful walking and sitting, and enjoying livening deeply in every moment.
Other gifts we can offer: Freedom, Space and Peace.
Cross over to the other shore…the other shore of peace non-fear, and liberation.
The Five Powers
Mindfulness leads to concentration, and concentration leads to insight and to faith.
According to the Lotus Sutra, all sentient beings have the Buddha nature.
“Buddha” comes from the root verb “budh”, which means wake up.
Every moment is the opportunity to water the seeds of happiness in yourself.
Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh
The Five Aggregates
A human being is composed of Five aggregates (skandas): form, feelings, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.
The five aggregates are interconnected or as Thich Nhat Hahn says, “Inter-are.”
The Four Immeasurable Minds
Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn
The Buddha came to be represented as having “three bodies”:
When he was about to pass away, the Buddha told his disciples, “Dear friends, my physical body will not be here tomorrow, but my teaching body (Dharmakaya) will always be with you. Consider it to be the teacher who never leaves you. Be islands unto yourselves, take refuge in the Dharma. Use the Dharma as your lamp, your island.”
The original meaning of Dharmakaya, the way to realize understanding and love.
Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn
Photo by Benn Bell