[Thich Nhat Hanh] Hope as an obstacle

Ever since Barack Obama has come on the scene 'hope' has been bantied around liberally and seems to be back on everyone's lips. An interesting take on hope comes from Thich Nhat Hanh who says:

"When I think deeply about the nature of hope, I see something tragic."

Not exactly what most of us would have said spontaneously. I mean many people around the world were happy to see one president leave and another come in on the basis of hope, hope for a better future, hope for a better world, hope for a new day, hope for less inequality, hope for less hate and violence, hope for peace in the Middle East, hope, hope, hope. And what could be wrong with that?

Well, TNH explains, still and always in his Peace is Every Step (link), that this is an example of clinging to a future that might never come, rather than focusing energy and resources on now. If I can paraphrase, his idea is not to hope for a better day but to make a better today.

More specifically he says:

Western civilization places so much emphasis on the idea of hope that we sacrifice the present moment. Hope is for the future. It cannot help us discover joy, peace, or enlightenment in the present moment... I do not mean that you should not have hope, but that hope is not enough.

TNH warns us that if we put our energy into the energy of hope we are robbing the present moment of our energy, and reminds us that we don't need the future, since it is only in the present moment that we can make a difference.

He also quotes AJ Muste of the American Peace Movement who once said, "There is no way to peace, peace is the way," and goes on to explain that we can contribute in our own way to peace with our actions, smiles, attitude, words and each and every step that we take. "Each step we make should be joy."

A wonderful idea. Let's hope he's right. : )