Dear Beloved Community,

With a deep mindful breath, we announce the passing of our beloved teacher, Thay Nhat Hanh, on January 22 (January 21 in USA), 2022 at 

Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế, Vietnam, at the age of 95.

 

Open Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue

 

February 15, 2022

 

Thay has been the most extraordinary teacher, whose peace, tender compassion, and bright wisdom has touched the lives of millions. Whether we have encountered him on retreats, at public talks, or through his books and online teachings–or simply through the story of his incredible life–we can see that Thay has been a true bodhisattva, an immense force for peace and healing in the world.  Never diluting and always digging deep into the roots of Buddhist teaching, he brings out its authentic radiance.

 

Now is a moment to come back to our mindful breathing and walking, to generate the energy of peace, compassion, and gratitude to offer our beloved Teacher. It is a moment to take refuge in our spiritual friends, our local  community, and each other. 

 

—From the Monks and Nuns of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing

 

 

“At the moment my front yard is flush with brilliant winter sunshine slanting to earth beneath the clouds and at the same time it is raining gently. This paradox makes me feel that Thay is right here with me, showing how I can feel grateful for his life as well as deep grief for his passing. We will dearly miss his personal presence, but we have gained so much from his writings, stories, teachings and inclusiveness that we now carry with us. Thay calls his birth and his death day his continuation days.  

 

At a Teacher’s passing in the Buddhist tradition it is honorable to address your teacher by calling his/her name, and saying a short phrase of appreciation and best wishes.  Please write to us all or say silently to Thay what is on your heart.  

 

Let us each resolve to do our best over the coming days to generate the energy of mindfulness, peace, and compassion, to send to our beloved Teacher.

 

Dear Thay: I am so grateful for the way you and Sister Chan Khong have shared the Buddha’s teachings and how they have touched my life as well as the life of those around me with kindness and clarity. A lotus to you.”

 

—Katie Radditz 

 

 

“I think of Thich Nhat Hanh as my friend. He said things that have been very helpful to me in my life. I love his sweetness, his gentleness, his friendliness. I know of no one more compassionate, more peaceful, more happy, more free. I love his idea of “interbeing.” I love him. He left an extraordinary legacy of books and YouTube videos that we can revisit again and again, and share with each other. Thank you thank you thank you.”

 

—Johnny Stallings

 

 

Valentine’s Day wishes to you and all your loved ones.

 

Make a True Home of your Love   –   (this is a Valentine from Thay)

 

Every one of us is trying to find our true home. We know that our true home is inside, and with the energy of mindfulness, we can go back to our true home in the here and the now. Sangha is our true home.

 

In Vietnamese, the husband calls the wife “my home.” And the wife calls the husband her home. Nha toi means my house, my home. When a gentleman is asked “Where is your wife?” he will say, “My home is now at the post office.” (with a sweet chuckle)  And if a guest said to the wife, “Your home is beautiful; who decorated it?” she would answer, “It’s my home who decorated it,” meaning, “my husband.” When the husband calls his wife, he says, “Nha oi,” my home. And she says, “Here I am.” Nha oi. Nha toi.

 

When you are in such a relationship, the other person is your true home. And you should be a true home for him or for her. First you need to be your own true home so that you can be the home of your beloved. We should practice so we can be a true home for ourselves and for the one that we love. How? We need the practice of mindfulness.

 

In Plum Village, every time you hear the bell, you stop thinking, you stop talking, you stop doing things. You pay attention to your in-breath as you breathe in and you say, “I listen, I listen. This wonderful sound brings me back to my true home.” My true home is inside. My true home is in the here and the now. So practicing going home is what we do all day long, because we are only comfortable in our true home. Our true home is available, and we can go home every moment. Our home should be safe, intimate, and cozy, and it is we who make it that way.

 

—Thich Nhat Hanh

 

 

Rich Land Between

                   —for Perrin

 

In a forest wilderness many years ago

you appeared to me, and I appeared to you —

two birds in separate trees singing to the sky.

 

We looked down to find the ground between us 

illuminated by a story we wanted to live. I could

see it with your eyes, and you with mine.

 

Since then, we have explored the land between —

every crumb of earth, every stem golden by day,

withering by season, sprouting again and again

 

until it’s hard to tell where your song ends

and mine begins. The land between, crisscrossed

by our devotions, has revealed how in our life

 

the gifts are many, and the price is everything.

 

—Kim Stafford

 

 

#206 An Act of Love   –  A work of ART can help people understand the nature of their suffering, and have insight into how to transform . . . . Writing, making a film, (performing a play), creating a work of art can be an act of love. . . . that nourishes you and nourishes others.   Michel sends a deep reflection on the effects of music – years of playing the piano- and a painting that he loved, gifted to him by a friend who loved to paint.  “There was a time when one of the Group Dialogue member’s father came to play a cello for us. And the Oregon Poet Laureate, Kim Stafford, came to share his art. Each time the artist loved his art form. I believe also that each shared love with the audience for that brief session.  Even our Theatre Troupe and directors (all of them) share not only love for this art form but are sharing love through it as well – both for us in prison and for our audience.   . . . . What might our world look and feel like if we were more aware (open to) as both givers and receivers of art forms – of this opportunity to love one another deliberately?  

 

#212 The Heart of life – Through accepting – even embracing impermanence I find hope. Hope helps endurance through the distresses of life. So I wish everyone a dose of hope to help bolster you through distress on your journey to luminescence. May you shine brightly as the stars revealing a way for others to find their hope too.  

 

#217 Beyond Labels  –  As we move into 2022 I hope for everyone I know, past and present, that each learns to accept and release the hold of memories of past events as well as letting go of judgements of “now” going by moment by moment. May we each find love and freedom in our own right. And, may we share that love through understanding and compassion for our fellow travelers along the way as we learn to see the “other” as part of our own self, interconnected with the life we live now.  

 

With love, to all

 

—Michel Deforge

 

 

#281 Loving Words — “Every time the other person does something well, we should congratulate him or her to show our approval. This is especially true with children….”

 

For seven or eight years in the mid-nineties I was a mentor in an at-risk youth program in Portland, OR. Our kids were each 14 yrs. old, ready to enter high school, and in danger of dropping out —doing drugs, skipping school, acting out, being promiscuous, failing at most everything. We had to work with parents (all of whom were behaving in pretty much the same way as their kids, except they had dropped out of school long before) as well as our youth.

 

My girl, let’s call her Amy, lived with her father. She was very bright; at 14 she did all the accounting for her dad’s used car sales business out on 82nd Av. (I’m sure he handled the side business of drug dealing accounts). She was affectionate and attentive with me. She had all the potential to be a strong and capable young woman.

 

Her dad, let’s call him Gerald, however, saw a different picture. When we met, with Amy sitting there, Gerald told me ‘the problem.’

 

“She’s a whore, just like her mother! She’ll never amount to anything, I guarantee you. She lies and can’t be trusted about anything. She sneaks out at night to be with men—all the time. She’s screwing off in school, when she goes, that is. Just like her mom, she’s dumb and she’ll drop out of school, I know it. Maybe be able to get a bartender job like her mom, if she’s lucky, but…”

 

I was so shocked to be hearing this, needless to say. I told him this was a different Amy than the one I knew. The girl I knew was extremely smart – didn’t she do the accounting for his business???- and she was caring and dependable, and a lovely girl. He couldn’t even hear me. He’d constantly go back to his well-practiced rant while Amy sat there stoney-faced and silent.

 

This went on for a couple months, with me politely (and carefully, given Gerald’s demonstrable anger and burly presence) defending Amy, until one evening when I stopped to pick up Amy for a meeting.

 

She was in tears, crying so hard I could hardly understand her. The gist was, Dad must be right, and you and I are wrong. I’m just going to give up; he’s so sure he knows me, so I must be that bad… or words to that effect.

 

I was speechless and stunned—but not for long. Gerald had gone out to his favorite biker bar. I knew where it was. Beyond furious, I sped out and spun my Honda into the lineup of a dozen Harleys with the ape-hanger bars. You know there’s that adrenalin thing where you can pick up a car by its bumper to save a child trapped under the wheel? Lifting a hundred times your weight as if it were a paper placemat? That’s the way I was: I barreled into the bar, spotted Gerald and charged over to him and his buddies. He looked up and started, “Hey, hey, what are you..?” But I grabbed him by the collar and jerked him backwards and bellowed, “Gerald, you are going to get out of here, and go home, and talk to your daughter! You are going to tell her that she’s a fine young woman, and she’s smart and talented and you are proud of her!!! I will be right there listening so you’d better say it really good, so that she believes you! GOT it?”

 

He started whining a little, but one of the guys mumbled, “Hey Jer, maybe you better go on home like the nice lady says…” I yanked his shirt again and barked, “Hear that??? Now move!”

 

I gave him a shove and out we went. And he went home and I listened to him tell his daughter that she was smart and helpful to his business. I glared at him, and he added, “And you’re a fine young woman …and I’m proud of you.”

 

Amy should’ve said, “That’s bull—-, Daddy and you know it.” But she didn’t; she threw her arms around him and told him she loved him.

 

That’s how easy it is with a child.

 

—Jude Russell

 

 

 

Voices in the Forest

 

Wind sighing in the trees, boughs rocking and 

whispering a story, the world telling us who we are. 

The world a song, and we sing with the wind 

and trees, our voices trembling in the dark. 

The sun lies down behind the trees in twilight

 blue, stars shining, moonlight rippling rivers. 

Birds call, squirrels and rabbits rustle 

their way to bed. We sing to our babies— 

You too, you too, time to sleep, the stars will watch, 

close your eyes, the wind breathes our song—sleep, baby, sleep. 

Owls awaken, wings whoosh overhead, feathers 

a blanket, the sky a bed, we lie down with the wind

 

—Deborah Buchanan

 

Can the New Year really be a New Year?  

 

The beginning of February is a New Year celebration – in Vietnam ( called Tet) as well as China and other east Asian countries.   It is a celebration of the Lunar New Year.

 

Often we feel that a “new year” can provide us with a chance to begin anew with ourselves – to put into action our deepest aspirations, and to better care for ourselves and the world. However, many of us have also experienced that a new year does not automatically bring us closer to our aspirations.

 

Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us how to truly begin anew with ourselves. Below is a written excerpt from his talk, with guiding questions for your reflection:

 

 

Dear beloved community,

 

“To begin this year anew, we should reflect on these simple questions:
· What have I done during the year?
· Have I been able to produce feelings of joy and happiness during my days?
· Have I been able to take care of the painful feelings during the year?
· Have I been able to handle them, to calm them down, so that I will not be a source of suffering for myself and for other people?

With mindfulness, we can produce a feeling of joy whenever we want, because we are a practitioner. We can produce these feelings for ourselves, and everyone we love. Have we done that this year?

We can learn how to calm down painful feelings, and even transform them into something better, like compassion, friendship and forgiveness. Pain and pleasure are all organic, like love and hate. If we do not know how to handle love, it can turn into hate or anger. If we know how to handle hate and anger, we can turn it back into understanding and love. If we do not know how to handle painful emotions, we are going to repeat that in the new year, and the new year will not be very new.

The value of the year depends on the value of acting, of our way of life. With mindfulness, we can improve the quality of our life, of our days, our months, our years.”

 

—Thich Nhat Hanh

 

 

Winter Poem

 

once a snowflake fell

on my brow and I loved

it so much and I kissed

it and it was happy and called its cousins

and brothers and a web

of snow engulfed me then

I reached to love them all

and I squeezed them and they became

a spring rain and I stood perfectly

still and was a flower

 

—Nikki Giovanni

 

 

One of Thay’s favorite Meditations  –

 

Breathing in, I see myself as a flower

Breathing out, I feel fresh.

Breathing in, I see myself as a Mountain

Breathing out, I feel solid.

Breathing in, I see myself as a Mountain Lake

Breathing out, I am calm and reflective.

Breathing in, I see myself as the Sky or Space

Breathing out, I feel free. 

 

 

 

 Three poems by Heather Cahoon

 

1.

Counter balance

To his curiosity

The magpie’s tail

 

2.

The shallow v-shape

Of conviction opens

Where wing becomes body

 

3. 

Getting firewood:

Blaring chainsaws

Give way

To thurderous crashing

From the fallen trees

Black ants pour out

Like blood

 

—From Alex Tretbar

 

 

No day is ever the same, and no day stands still; each one moves through a different territory, awakening new beginnings. A day moves forward in moments, and once a moment has flickered into life, it vanishes and is replaced by the next. It is fascinating that this is where we live, within an emerging lacework that continuously unravels. Often a fleeting moment can hold a whole sequence of the future in distilled form: that unprepared second when you looked in a parent’s eye and saw death already beginning to loom. Or the second you noticed a softening in someone’s voice and you knew that a friendship was beginning. Or catching your partner’s gaze upon you and knowing the love that surrounded you. Each day is seeded with recognitions.

 

–John O’Donohue, from “To Bless the Space Between Us”