| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 1619.1 | "Don't just do something--sit there", T. N. H. | ELBERT::FANNIN | with up so many floating bells down | Mon Dec 28 1992 04:25 | 18 |
| The writings of Thich Nhat Hanh have been very meaningful to me. My
first exposure was at a solstice retreat at Serpent Mound in Ohio in
1988. One of the guest speakers was Joan Halifax, a student of Thich
Nhat Hanh's.
She taught us the sitting practice of the Vietnamese Buddhists and gave
an introduction to mindfulness.
The Zen Mountain Awareness Center in Crestone Colorado is a practicing
community and has retreats based in these ideas.
If anyone is interested, I can dig up the information on this.
Ruth
P.S. I understand that Thich Nhat Hanh will be participating in a
retreat in West Virginia in the near future.
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| 1619.2 | on Love | TNPUBS::PAINTER | worlds beyond this | Mon Jan 04 1993 20:24 | 29 |
|
From: "Peace Is Every Step", by Thich Nhat Hanh
Real Love
We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is
only a will to possess, it is not love. If we think of only ourselves,
if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person,
we cannot love. We must look deeply in order to see and understand the
needs, aspirations, and sufferings of the person we love. This is the
ground of real love. You cannot resist loving another person when you
really understand him or her.
From time to time, sit close to the one you love, hold his or her hand,
and ask, "Darling, do I understand you enough? Or am I making you
suffer? Please tell me so that I can learn to love you properly. I
don't want to make you suffer, and if I do so because of my ignorance,
please tell me so that I can love you better, so that you can be happy."
If you say this in a voice that communicates your real openness to
understand, the other person may cry. That is a good sign, because it
means the door of understanding is opening and everything will be
possible again.
Maybe a father does not have time or is not brave enough to ask his son
such a question. Then the love between them will not be as full as it
could be. We need the courage to ask these questions, but if we don't
ask, the more we love, the more we may destroy the people we are trying
to love. True love needs understanding. With understanding, the one we
love will certainly flower.
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| 1619.3 | | TNPUBS::PAINTER | worlds beyond this | Tue Jan 05 1993 15:25 | 34 |
|
From: "Peace Is Every Step", by Thich Nhat Hanh, pp.84-86
Meditation on Love
The mind of love brings peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and
others. Mindful observation is the element which nourishes the tree of
understanding, and compassion and love are the most beautiful flowers.
When we realize the mind of love, we have to go to the one who has been
the object of our mindful observation, so that our mind of love is not
just an object of our imagination, but a source of energy which has a
real effect in the world.
The meditation on love is not just sitting still and visualizing that
our love will spread out into space like waves of sound or light. Sound
and light have the ability to penetrate everywhere, and love and
compassion can do the same. But if our love is only a kind of
imagination, then it is not likely to have any real effect. It is in
the midst of our daily life and in our actual contact with others that
we can known whether our mind of love is really present and how stable
it is. If love is real, it will be evident in our daily life, in the
way we relate with the people and the world.
The source of love is deep within us, and we can help others realize a
lot of happiness. One word, one action, or one thought can reduce
another person's suffering and bring him joy. One word can give
comfort and confidence, destroy doubt, help someone avoid a mistake,
reconcile a conflict, or open the door to liberation.
One action can save a person's life or help him take advantage of a rare
opportunity. One thought can do the same, because thoughts always lead to
words and actions. If love is in our heart, every thought, word, and deed
can bring about a miracle. Because understanding is the very foundation
of love, words and actions that emerge from our love are always helpful.
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| 1619.4 | | IAMOK::BOBDOG::GENTILE | Marketing IM&T - MSO2-2/BB19 | Tue Jan 05 1993 15:44 | 4 |
| Thanks for entering these Cindy. I always been touched by his writings.
Sam
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| 1619.5 | | TNPUBS::PAINTER | worlds beyond this | Wed Jan 06 1993 18:52 | 50 |
|
From: "Peace Is Every Step", by Thich Nhat Hanh, p.119
"What can we do when we have hurt people...? These people might be
people in our family, in our community, or in another country. I think
you know the answer. There are few things to do. The first thing is
to take the time to say, "I am sorry, I have hurt you out of my ignorance,
out of my lack of mindfulness, out of my lack of skillfulness. I will
try my best to change myself. ....
Sometimes, we do not have the intention to hurt, but because we are not
mindful or skillful enough, we hurt someone. Being mindful in our daily
life is important..."
The second thing to do is to try to bring out the best part in
ourselves, the part of the flower, to transform ourselves. That is the
only way to demonstrate what you have just said. When you have become
fresh and pleasant, the other person will notice very soon. Then when
there is a chance to approach that person, you can come to her as a
flower and she will notice immediately that you are quite different.
You may not have to say anything. Just seeing you like that, she will
accept you and forgive you. That is called "speaking with your life and
not just with words."
When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the
beginning of insight. When you see in yourself the wish that the other
person stop suffering, that is a sign of real love. But be careful.
Sometimes you may think you are stronger than you actually are. To test
your real strength, try going to the other person to listen and talk to
him or her, and you will discover right away whether your loving
compassion is real. You need the other person in order to test. If you
just meditate on some abstract principle such as understanding or love,
it may just be your imagination and not real understanding or real love.
Reconciliation does not mean to sign an agreement with duplicity and
cruelty. Reconciliation opposes all forms of ambition, without taking
sides. Most of us want to take sides in each encounter or conflict. We
distinguish right from wrong based on partial evidence or hearsay. We
need indignation in order to act, but even righteous, legitimate
indignation is not enough. Our world does not lack people willing to
throw themselves into action. What we need are people who are capable
of loving, of not taking sides so that they can embrace the whole of
reality.
We have to consider to practice mindfulness and reconciliation until we
can see a child's body of skin and bones in Uganda or Ethiopia as our
own, until the hunger and pain in the bodies of all species are our own.
Then we will have realized non-discrimination, real love. Then we can
look at all beings with the eyes of compassion, and we can do the real
work to alleviate suffering.
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