Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

If love is in our heart, every thought, word, and deed can bring about a miracle. Because understanding is the very foundation of love, words and actions that emerge from our love are always helpful.

Whenever we take a bath or a shower, if we look closely at our body, we will see that it is a gift from our parents and their parents. As we wash each part of our body, we can meditate on the nature of the body and the nature of life, asking ourselves, “To whom does this body belong? Who has given this body to me? What has been given?” If we meditate in this way, we will discover that there are three components: the giver, the gift, and the one who receives the gift. The giver is our parents; we are the continuation of our parents and our ancestors. The gift is our body itself. The one who receives the gift is us. As we continue to meditate on this, we see clearly that the giver, the gift, and the receiver are one. All three are present in our body. When we are deeply in touch with the present moment, we can see that all our ancestors and all future generations are present in us. Seeing this, we will know what to do and what not to do—for ourselves, our ancestors, our children, and their children.

After a retreat in southern California, an artist asked me, “What is the way to look at a flower so that I can make the most of it for my art?” I said, “If you look in that way, you cannot be in touch with the flower. Abandon all your projects so you can be with the flower with no intention of exploiting it or getting something from it.”