The 3 bows

The first bow: Stay calm

How to achieve “inner stillness – a calm mind”?
Below are some specific and practical practices to help you nurture inner peace amid the busyness of life:

Learn to slow down

When everything outside is rushing, try to walk slowly, eat slowly, breathe slowly, and think slowly. Slowing down allows you to observe more deeply – both the world and yourself.

Practice: Every morning, spend 5–10 minutes just sitting in stillness, doing nothing. Simply sit and feel your breath.

Meditation or mindfulness

Meditation helps calm the mind and see clearly what’s happening within. Mindfulness is being fully present in each moment – without judgment, without chasing after thoughts.

Simple practice:

• When washing dishes, just wash the dishes.
• When eating, just eat.
• When breathing, be aware that you are breathing.

Observe – don’t react immediately

A restless mind often comes from automatic reactions to everything. Practice seeing – understanding – then responding. If possible, not reacting can also be a powerful response.

Practice: When someone upsets you, take three deep breaths before speaking or reacting.

Nourish the mind with goodness

Just as the body needs clean food, the mind also needs to be fed with positive and beautiful things: good books, uplifting people, peaceful environments.

Practice: Read a few pages of a good book daily, listen to calming music, and avoid excessive exposure to negative news or toxic social media.

Let go of control and expectations

It’s a contradiction to want peace of mind while trying to make everything go your way. Accepting impermanence and imperfection is the first step toward inner calm.

Practice: Remind yourself daily: “I cannot control everything, but I can control how I respond.”

Live kindly and simply

Those who live simply and don’t crave too much carry lighter hearts. Kindness toward others is also a way of soothing yourself.

Practice: Do one good deed each day, even a very small one – no need for others to know. Do it simply to nourish a kind heart.

Take care of your mental and physical health

The mind cannot be calm if the body is constantly tired, lacking sleep, or if the spirit is wounded and left unhealed.

Practice: Get enough sleep, eat healthy, and move your body gently and regularly.

If needed, seek therapy or talk to someone you trust.

Conclusion

Inner stillness does not come from the outside – it is the result of daily inner practice. No one achieves it overnight, but every step in the right direction brings you closer to true peace.

The second bow: Love

“How do I define, touch, and live with true love?”

True love is not just something we receive — it’s something we become and practice. Let’s explore it in three parts:

How to define true love?

True love goes beyond romance, attraction, or emotion. It’s a deep energy of presence, care, freedom, and understanding.

The Buddhist teacher Thích Nhất Hạnh defines true love by four essential elements:

• Loving-kindness (Maitrī) – the desire and ability to bring happiness to another.
• Compassion (Karunā) – the capacity to ease another’s suffering.
• Joy (Muditā) – real love brings joy, not just to you but to the other.
• Equanimity (Upekṣā) – loving without clinging, with space and freedom.

So, true love is not possession, nor dependency — it’s the freedom to grow, for both yourself and the other.

How to touch true love?

You don’t need to go far to touch it. True love starts within. When you touch peace, kindness, and presence inside yourself, you’re already touching the energy of love.

Ways to touch it:

• Be truly present: When you give someone your full attention, without distractions or agenda, you’re offering love.
• Listen deeply: Not to reply, but to understand.
• Speak mindfully: Words can heal or harm. Speak with care.
• Practice compassion: For yourself and others. Everyone is carrying something unseen.

Love is a practice, not just a feeling. The more you give it space, the more it becomes real.

How to live with true love?

Living with true love means making it part of your daily life — not something you seek outside, but something you live from the inside.

Living it looks like:

• Taking care of your own body, mind, and emotions. (You can’t love others well when you abandon yourself.)
• Respecting the freedom of those you love.
• Letting go of control, and replacing expectation with appreciation.
• Being patient. Love is not always loud; often, it’s quiet presence and steady care.

Remember: You don’t “have” love. You “become” love.

Final thought

“Understanding is the other name of love. If you don’t understand, you can’t love.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh

The third bow: Enlightenment

How do I define, touch, and live enlightenment?

Enlightenment is not a concept to be grasped — it’s an experience to be lived, moment by moment. Let’s explore this in three parts:

How do I define enlightenment?

Enlightenment is the awakening to truth, the direct seeing into the nature of reality, beyond illusions and ego. It’s not about acquiring something new, but removing the veils that prevent you from seeing clearly.

Some ways to define it across traditions:

• Buddhism: Enlightenment (nirvāṇa) is the end of suffering, ignorance, and attachment.
• Zen: It is seeing your “original face” before you were born — direct, wordless knowing.
• Advaita (Non-duality): Realizing there is no separate self; all is one awareness.

In essence

Enlightenment is the deep knowing that you are not your thoughts, your fears, your story — but the awareness behind it all.

How do I touch enlightenment?

You touch enlightenment not by striving, but by letting go. It’s already here — always — but we miss it because we’re chasing, thinking, clinging.

Ways to touch it:

• Silence: True silence (inner and outer) is a gateway. In deep silence, the mind settles, and clarity arises.
• Presence: When you are completely present, without past or future, you are touching enlightenment.
• Letting go: When you let go of needing things to be a certain way, you make space for true seeing.
• Compassion: Every act of true compassion dissolves ego — and brings you closer to awakening.

Even one breath taken in full awareness can be a glimpse of the awakened state.

How do I live enlightenment?

Living enlightenment doesn’t mean you float above life — it means you are fully in life, but not entangled by it. You see clearly, love deeply, and act wisely — without the filter of “me” and “mine.”

To live enlightenment:

• Walk slowly, speak gently, see deeply.
• Respond, don’t react.
• See others as yourself — and yourself as no one.
• Rest in awareness, even as the world moves.

Enlightenment is not a peak to reach — it is the ground you’ve always stood on. Living it means remembering, again and again, what you already are.

Final reflection

“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.” – Rumi

“Enlightenment is when a wave realizes it is the ocean.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh