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Zen master, poet, peace activist, and the author of many books
including, two of my favorites, Peace
is Every Step and For
a Future to be Possible, Thich Nhat Hanh
"embodies the art of mindful living". He was born in
Vietnam in 1926, and left home as a teen to become a Zen monk. He
founded the School of Youth for Social Services, Van Hanh Buddhist
University and the Tiep Hien Order (Order of Interbeing), in
Vietnam. He has taught at Columbia University and Sorbonne, was
Chair of the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation to the Paris Peace
Talks, and was nominated by Martin Luther King Jr. for the Nobel
Peace Prize.
He was exiled from Vietnam in 1966 and
lives in a monastic community in southwestern France called Plum
Village, where he teaches, writes, gardens, and works to help
refugees worldwide. He conducts retreats throughout the world on the
art of mindful living, and has conducted special retreats for
American Vietnam War veterans, psychotherapists, artists,
environmental activists, and children.
I am happy to have had the opportunity to
attend one of his retreats recently. It is not my intent to try to
explain his teachings here but only to include some of my thoughts
and experiences of this wonderful time of my life, also to
illustrate the effect his teachings have had and how I put them into
daily practice.
My Experiences
When preparing for this retreat I was a
little anxious, not only about traveling so far by myself, but also
spending 5 days with complete strangers. I have traveled alone
before, when I was younger but never to a large city like New York.
I would be arriving at Le Guardia airport and would need to catch a
shuttle to Penn Station to continue my trip to Omega
Institute by train. I was afraid I would loose my
way in the rush, but I really wanted to do this for me, so I kissed
my husband goodbye at the airport and left determined that I would
be just fine.
The pace of New York was just as you could
imagine....everyone in a hurry. While awaiting my train at Penn
Station I noted no one walked. Everyone ran so I mapped out all
gates and watched the board for the announcement of my train and
just followed the crowd towards the gate announced hoping that they
were all headed for the same train. The trip went very well, to my
great relief. While New York city was very intimidating the state is
very beautiful, especially in October when all the leaves are at
their most brilliant.
Once I arrived at Omega though there was a
wonderful transformation. The anxiety level dropped dramatically.
That first night Thay asked us to practice silence for the next
three days. We were told to carry a piece of paper and pencil with
us and if we felt the need to say something we should write it down.
Then at the end of the day we were to look over what we had written
to see how much of it would have really been necessary to say. This
was a great lesson in how much time and energy we spend on talking
mindlessly.
All meals were spent in quiet, even for
those not observing the three days of silence. This allowed us to
eat mindfully, something we do rarely while at home or work. As a
nurse I am often "inhaling" my lunch due to time
restraints. There is rarely any time for breakfast and dinners are
often eaten with all the noise and distractions of daily life. Thay
teaches us while eating we should be very mindful of all elements of
the meal. The sun, rain, soil which are essential in nurturing the
plants. The farmers who grow and harvest the food, as well as all
those who are responsible for bringing it to the table. This
practice allowed me to better appreciate what I was eating and made
me more aware of the need to only take in foods that will nourish.
It was a truly wonderful experience. To
spend 5 days with so many strangers, all smiling and not a word
spoken, yet feeling totally comfortable and at peace, was almost
unreal to imagine had I not experienced it.
The Five Wonderful
Precepts
On the last day of the retreat I committed
to practice the 5 precepts, or mindfulness trainings. I think no
matter what religion you live these precepts are a great guideline
for love and understanding, compassion and mindful living.
Just recently I have received my
certificate for committing to these trainings and have been given a
dharma name from Thay, "Peaceful Life Of
The Heart", to help me practice mindfulness each day.
Thay explains in detail these 5 wonderful
precepts in his book For
a Future to be Possible.
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First Precept: Aware of the
suffering caused by the destruction of life, I vow to
cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect the lives of
people, animals, plants and minerals. I am determined not to
kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of
killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my ways of life.
Second Precept: Aware of the
suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing
and oppression, I vow to cultivate loving kindness and learn
ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants and
minerals. I vow to practice generosity by sharing my time,
energy, and material resources with those who are in real
need. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything
that should belong to others, but I will prevent others from
profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other
species on the earth.
Third Precept: Aware of the
suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I vow to cultivate
responsibility and learn ways to protect the safety and
integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. I am
determined not to engage in sexual relations without love and
a long-term commitment. To preserve the happiness of myself
and others, I am determined to respect my commitments and the
commitments of others. I will do everything in my power to
protect children and families from being broken by sexual
misconduct.
Fourth Precept: Aware of the
suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to
listen to others, I vow to cultivate loving speech and deep
listening in order to bring joy and happiness to other and
relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can
create happiness or suffering. I vow to learn to speak
truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy, and
hope. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to
be certain and not to criticize or condemn things of which I
am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause
division or discord, or that can cause the family or community
to break. I will make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all
conflicts, however small.
Fifth Precept: Aware of the
suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I vow to cultivate
good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family
and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking and
consuming. I vow to ingest only items that preserve peace,
well-being, and joy in the body, in my consciousness, and in
the collective body and consciousness of my family and
society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other
intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain
toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films
and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my
consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my
parents, my society and future generations. I will work to
transform violence, fear, anger, and confusion in myself and
in society by practicing a diet for myself and for society. I
understand that a proper diet is crucial for
self-transformation and for the transformation of society.
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After reading these precepts, I am
reminded of something Thay said regarding our trying to live
according to these mindfulness trainings. Though there is no way we
can follow all 5 precepts fully each day. When traveling north we
look to the north star to guide us, never expecting to reach the
north star, but each step brings us closer.
Gathas
Gathas are short verses to recite to help
us be mindful during daily activities. By making us more aware of
each action, they are an exercise in mindfulness and poetry. Here
are a few of my favorite gathas.
I use this one the "Hearing the
Bell" gatha most. Thay teaches us to use certain sounds to
bring us back to the present moment. This is usually the sound of
the bell, but here in America not many bells can be heard. As a
nurse my job can be very stressful, but I am fortunate that the
office I work in is right next to a church who's bell rings each
hour. When I hear it reminds me to take 3 deep breaths and I recite:
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Hearing
the Bell
Listen, listen
this wonderful sound
brings me back
to my true self
Waking Up
Waking up this morning, I smile
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me,
I vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at all being with eyes of compassion.
Washing
Your Hands
Water flows over these hands
may I use them skillfully
to preserve our precious planet.
Brushing
Your Teeth
Brushing my teeth and rinsing
my mouth,
I vow to speak purely and lovingly.
When my mouth is fragrant with right speech,
A flower blooms in the garden of my heart.
Sitting
down to meditate
Sitting here is like sitting
under the Bodhi tree
My body is mindfulness itself,
free from all distraction
Turning on
the Computer
Turning on the computer,
my mind gets in touch with the store
I vow to transfer habit energies
to help love and understanding grow.
Here is one that I found in one of
my sister's bathroom that illustrates how we can use gathas
with all religious lifestyles.
Baptism
While washing my face
I remember my Baptism
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Thay has included a gatha
for many different activities in his book Present
Moment Wonderful Moment, as well as Stepping
into Freedom.
The sixth Prostration
This adaptation to the 5 prostrations was
offered by Thich Nhat Hanh to help people born into another
religious tradition to reconnect with their spiritual roots. As a
Christian and student of Buddhism I am happy to practice this one.
Begin in a cross-legged seated position.
When you hear three bells rise to a standing prayer postition. With
the sound of the next bell, slowly come to a kneeling position,
resting on your ankles, with your forehead to the floor and your
hands above your head.
The
sixth Prostration
In gratitude and compassion, I bow
down to my ancient spiritual roots.
I see myself as a child, sitting in
church or synagogue, ready for the sermon or ceremony-Yom
Kippur, Holy Communion... I see my priest, pastor, minister,
rabbi and the people in the congregation. I remember how
difficult it was to be there and to do things I did not
understand or want to do. I know communication was difficult
and I did not receive much joy or nourishment from these
services. I felt anxious or impatient. Because of the lack of
communication and understanding between my spiritual family
and me. I left my rabbi, my pastor , my synagogue, my church.
I lost contact with my spiritual ancestors and became
disconnected with them. Now I know there are jewels in my
spiritual tradition, and that the spiritual life of my
tradition has contributed greatly to the stability, joy, and
peace of my ancestors for many generations. I want to go back
to them to rediscover the great spiritual values in my
tradition, for my own nourishment and the nourishment of my
children and t heir children. I want to connect again with my
ancient spiritual ancestors and get their spiritual energy
flowing freely to me again. I see Moses, Jesus, and so many
others as my spiritual ancestors. I see teachers over many
generations in these traditions as my spiritual ancestors, an
I bow down to all of them in the present moment.
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More to
come.......
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