Be Free Where You Are

That is the name of a small book gathering the teachings Thích Nhất Hạnh gave at the Maryland Correctional Institution in 1999 — a prison he described as being under the tightest guard in the United States. I learnt of this book while reading “No Death, No Fear”. The value of reading several different books by the same author, even when the main message is repeated again and again, is exactly in coming upon nuggets like this one.

In the plainest words he had, he taught the prisoners: freedom is not something other people hand us; it is something we have to build up inside ourselves.

A passage from his book:

“When we see someone walking in mindfulness and savouring each step, we feel moved to come back to ourselves, and we want to walk as they do. A prisoner once wrote to me that he had read my books and had learnt to practise walking meditation in prison. He said he always goes up and down the stairs in mindfulness and savours every step. Since he began this practice, his life has become easier. He sees the other prisoners hurrying up and down the stairs, unsteady, unquiet, without joy. He wishes they would learn to walk as he does, because every step he takes nourishes him and transforms him.

“Walk like a free person. Walk in such a way that every step brings dignity, freedom and steadiness; then joy and compassion will rise in your heart. You will notice that many people do not walk like this, that they are overrun by anger, fear and disappointment. Perhaps that will move you to want to help them learn to live in the present moment, to sit and to walk like a free person. Someone who sits, walks, eats and breathes like a free person can affect everything around them.”