You Are IT

When you enjoy every step,
you walk as a free person on this earth.
Breathing in, you may walk two or three steps,
and you may feel, ‘I have arrived, I have arrived.’

I have arrived in the here and the now, where life is available.
I have arrived means, ‘I don’t want to run anymore.
I have run all my life; now it is time to lead my life properly,
so that every step brings me home, where I can touch life deeply…’

Breathing out you may make three or four steps,
and you may feel, ‘I am home, home, home.’
This is not a verbal declaration: it is a realization.
Every step brings you home to the present moment
where all the wonders of life are available and your body is available….

Walk in such a way that you are not looking
for something else in the future.
You are touching the Kingdom of God.
You are touching the Land of the Buddha
in the here and the now.

Walk as if you kiss Mother Earth with your foot.
Every step is healing.
Every step is a miracle.

~Thich Naht Hanh, Plum Village, France, 6/2/2012