This is an excerpt of a Dharma talk given by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh on July 16, 1995 in Lower Hamlet, Plum Village France.

🔔 Video transcript

-------

"In many families, mealtime is not a pleasant, happy time. Because people don't practice mindfulness, they make certain mistakes at mealtime. They scold their children. They blame each other. They turn on the TV at high volume. They do everything to make sure the family mealtime is ruined.

"The husband/male partner doesn't look his wife/female partner in the eye and smile at her. Father doesn't look his daughter/son in the eye and smile at them. They ruin their own happiness because they are silly.

"Things like these take learning and practicing. It’s because happiness comes from little things like these. It comes from the way we take a footstep, or the way we smile to the other person, or the way we hold a baby’s hand on a walk. Happiness comes from very simple things that we can learn and practice."

-------

✩ Original full talk title in Vietnamese: "An Lạc Trong Mọi Hoàn Cảnh | TS Thích Nhất Hạnh(16-07-1995, Xóm Hạ, Làng Mai)"

✩ Full talk originally published by Làng Mai (Plum Village's Vietnamese YouTube Channel), on Jan 5, 2023

✩ Talk given: July 16, 1995, Lower Hamlet, Plum Village France

✩ Length: 41 minutes 40 seconds

✩ To watch the full Dharma talk with English subtitles and transcript, please go to ➛ https://tnhtalks.org/2023/07/19/how-to-enjoy-life/

-------

RECOMMENDED PRACTICE

📌 You may also be interested in learning The Zen of Dishwashing by Sister True Dedication

📌 You can practice Tangerine Meditation with Sister Hien Nghiem and Brother Phap Huu through this video posted on the Plum Village App YouTube channel

-------

RELEVANT DHARMA TALKS

1. The Habit of Getting Things Done Quickly (November 27, 1997) — Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

2. Touch Our True Home of Leisureliness and Freedom Through Daily Training (November 27, 1997) — Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

-------

REFERENCES (Resources used to translate this Dharma talk): Please go to the Video Transcript for the full list.

-------

Republished on the Plum Village App with kind permission of Thich Nhat Hanh's Talks channel 🙏