Thich Nhat Hanh, the expatriate Vietnamese Zen monk, has passed away at age 95. He was one of the world’s most influential Buddhist teachers, and leaves a large body of accessible English-language teachings. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/thich-nhat-hanh-obit-1.6323955
Sad news indeed, but he lived to very old age and no doubt led a full life, notwithstanding he was a Buddhist Monk.
The greatest love, acceptance, and belongingness I've ever felt was during my time practicing with a Plum Village sangha. I will always be grateful for Thích Nhất Hạnh. "One autumn day, I was in a park, absorbed in the contemplation of a very small but beautiful leaf, in the shape of a heart. Its color was almost red, and it was barely hanging on the branch, nearly ready to fall down. I spent a long time with it, and I asked the leaf a lot of questions … I asked the leaf whether it was scared because it was autumn and the other leaves were falling. The leaf told me, “No. During the whole spring and summer I was very alive. I worked hard and helped nourish the tree, and much of me is in the tree. Please do not say that I am just this form, because the form of leaf is only a tiny part of me. I am the whole tree. I know that I am already inside the tree, and when I go back to the soil, I will continue to nourish the tree. That’s why I do not worry. As I leave this branch and float to the ground, I will wave to the tree and tell her, ‘I will see you again very soon.'” Suddenly I saw a kind of wisdom very much like the wisdom contained in the Heart Sutra. You have to see life. You should not say, life of the leaf, you should only speak of life in the leaf and life in the tree. My life is just Life, and you can see it in me and in the tree. That day there was a wind blowing and, after a while, I saw the leaf leave the branch and float down to the soil, dancing joyfully, because as it floated it saw itself already there in the tree. It was so happy. I bowed my head, and I knew that we have a lot to learn from the leaf because it is not afraid – it knew nothing can be born and nothing can die." Thích Nhất Hạnh “Please do not build a stupa for me. Please do not put my ashes in a vase, lock me inside and limit who I am. I know this will be difficult for some of you. If you must build a stupa though, please make sure that you put a sign on it that says, ‘I am not in here.’ In addition, you can also put another sign that says, ‘I am not out there either,’ and a third sign that says, ‘If I am anywhere, it is in your mindful breathing and in your peaceful steps.’”
I first read Zen Keys in 1974, the first English translation, and I am now in the process of rereading it for the umpteenth time. One of my favorite authors.
