# Quote — Thich Nhat Hanh, The Sun My Heart

> Self, person, living being, and life span are four notions that prevent us from seeing reality.
>
> Life is one. We do not need to slice it into pieces and call this or that piece a "self." What we call a self is made only of non-self elements. When we look at a flower, for example, we may think that it is different from "non-flower" things. But when we look more deeply, we see that everything in the cosmos is in that flower. Without all of the non-flower elements — sunshine, clouds, earth, minerals, heat, rivers, and consciousness — a flower cannot be. That is why the Buddha teaches that the self does not exist. We have to discard all distinctions between self and non-self.

- Author: [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thich-nhat-hanh.md)
- Book: [The Sun My Heart](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thich-nhat-hanh/the-sun-my-heart.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Nh%E1%BA%A5t_H%E1%BA%A1nh#The_Sun_My_Heart_(1996)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/thich-nhat-hanh/the-sun-my-heart/self-person-living

## More from this book

> The tenth penetration is, "All times penetrate one time. One time penetrates all times — past, present, and future. In one second, you can find the past, present, and future." In the past, you can see the present and the future. In the present, you can find the past and future. In the future, you can find the past and present. They "inter-contain" each other. Space contains time, time contains space. In the teaching of interpenetration, one determines the other, the other determines this one. When we realize our nature of interbeing, we will stop blaming and killing, because we know that we inter-are.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thich-nhat-hanh/the-sun-my-heart/the-tenth-penetration.md)

> We think that we have been alive since a certain point in time and that prior to that moment, our life did not exist. This distinction between life and non-life is not correct. Life is made of death, and death is made of life. We have to accept death; it makes life possible. The cells in our body are dying every day, but we never think to organize funerals for them. The death of one cell allows for the birth of another. Life and death are two aspects of the same reality. We must learn to die peacefully so that others may live. This deep meditation brings forth non-fear, non-anger, and non-despair, the strengths we need for our work. With non-fear, even when we see that a problem is huge, we will not burn out. We will know how to make small, steady steps. If those who work to protect the environment contemplate these four notions, they will know how to be and how to act.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thich-nhat-hanh/the-sun-my-heart/we-think-that.md)

> We should bow deeply before the orchid and the snail and join our palms reverently before the monarch butterfly and the magnolia tree. The feeling of respect for all species will help us recognize the noblest nature in ourselves.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thich-nhat-hanh/the-sun-my-heart/we-should-bow.md)