Thank you for your service, Thich Nhat Hanh

[stirling]

"If you can refrain from hoping, you can bring yourself entirely into the present moment and discover the joy that is already here." - Thich Nhat Hanh

[silent thunder]

He was and remains, a treasure.  Very grateful for his presence and life.

Blessed to have benefited from some of his insights.

 

More and more as my life unfolds, it has been revealed that zen has accompanied me through every turn and step.

[stirling]

While he wasn't from the same lineage as I am, I always pass this one on to people in my discussion group when chipping away at the topic of dependent origination/emptiness. It is beautiful, loving, and, above all, connects the dots with the most delicious simplicity:

 

https://www.lionsroar.com/the-fullness-of-emptiness/

 

It is always a gift to read - this is what real wisdom (prajna) looks like.

Edited January 23, 2022 by stirling

[steve]

A great treasure of a human being, so influential and compassionate. My interest in meditation and Buddhism was piqued and fostered by his books.

[Geof Nanto]

I first learnt of his passing here, the day before it was announced on this forum. I didn’t feel sad though, rather, I felt a mild elation in that Thich Nhat Hanh was someone who seemingly fully accomplished all that life asked of him. And that’s a rare accomplishment. 

 

I first took notice of him many years ago when a friend sent me a poem of his that strongly resonated with me. It spoke to me of my own experiences of numinousity and dark trauma at different stages along the Way. To me, it’s a poem of inner alchemical transmutation of desire, spoken from the perspective of Buddha-Nature, of Self. But I’m no Buddhist, so I’m interested to learn how Buddhists might interpret it. 

 

I Want it All     (Thich Nhat Hanh)

 

If you ask how much do I want,

I'll tell you that I want it all.

 This morning, you and I

 and all men

 are flowing into the marvellous stream

 of oneness.

 

Small pieces of imagination as we are,

 we have come a long way to find ourselves

 and for ourselves, in the dark, the illusion of emancipation.

 

This morning, my brother is back from his long adventure.

 He kneels before the altar,

 his eyes full of tears.

 His soul is longing for a shore to set anchor at

 (a yearning I once had).

 Let him kneel there and weep.

 Let him cry his heart out.

 Let him have his refuge there for a thousand years,

 enough to dry all his tears.

 

One night, I will come

 and set fire to his shelter, the small cottage on the hill.

 My fire will destroy everything

 and remove his only life raft after a shipwreck.

 

In the utmost anguish of his soul,

 the shell will break.

 The light of the burning hut will witness

 his glorious deliverance.

 I will wait for him

 beside the burning cottage.

 Tears will run down my cheeks.

 I will be there to contemplate his new being.

 And as I hold his hands in mine

 and ask him how much he wants,

 he will smile and say that he wants it all –

 just as I did.      

[TranquilTurmoil]

On 1/25/2022 at 6:56 PM, Yueya said:

I first learnt of his passing here, the day before it was announced on this forum. I didn’t feel sad though, rather, I felt a mild elation in that Thich Nhat Hanh was someone who seemingly fully accomplished all that life asked of him. And that’s a rare accomplishment. 

 

I first took notice of him many years ago when a friend sent me a poem of his that strongly resonated with me. It spoke to me of my own experiences of numinousity and dark trauma at different stages along the Way. To me, it’s a poem of inner alchemical transmutation of desire, spoken from the perspective of Buddha-Nature, of Self. But I’m no Buddhist, so I’m interested to learn how Buddhists might interpret it. 

 

I Want it All     (Thich Nhat Hanh)

 

If you ask how much do I want,

I'll tell you that I want it all.

 This morning, you and I

 and all men

 are flowing into the marvellous stream

 of oneness.

 

Small pieces of imagination as we are,

 we have come a long way to find ourselves

 and for ourselves, in the dark, the illusion of emancipation.

 

This morning, my brother is back from his long adventure.

 He kneels before the altar,

 his eyes full of tears.

 His soul is longing for a shore to set anchor at

 (a yearning I once had).

 Let him kneel there and weep.

 Let him cry his heart out.

 Let him have his refuge there for a thousand years,

 enough to dry all his tears.

 

One night, I will come

 and set fire to his shelter, the small cottage on the hill.

 My fire will destroy everything

 and remove his only life raft after a shipwreck.

 

In the utmost anguish of his soul,

 the shell will break.

 The light of the burning hut will witness

 his glorious deliverance.

 I will wait for him

 beside the burning cottage.

 Tears will run down my cheeks.

 I will be there to contemplate his new being.

 And as I hold his hands in mine

 and ask him how much he wants,

 he will smile and say that he wants it all –

 just as I did.      

That is a beautiful and touching poem. I would expound on your interpretation, that a combination of themes run through the poem and maybe I'll add some background info:

 

Even though some of his followers/disciples projected onto him that he was a Buddha, Thay/Thich Nhat Hanh never gave the impression that he had ever permanently put an end to suffering. He spoke to his entire audience as is if he were speaking to himself as well, he truly taught non-seperation of self and other. I was struck at the one and only retreat I saw him in person at that when asked  what the hardest thing is (either for him or on the path, both, i don't remember exactly)... It was not to get lost in despair. He wrote about in one of his books the bodhisattva from the lotus sutra who would go around saying to everyone he met, "A lotus for you, a buddha to be."

 

I think when he wrote that poem, he saw joy and suffering as not two, as samsara and liberation/nirvana as not-two, and even though he honored the Theravada (and Bhikku Bodhi even stopped by at the retreat I was at), he really was a proponent of the Mahayana... so much so that they would actively encourage people to go back to their Christian roots, Jewish roots, etc. He didn't think Buddhism could save this sectarian world, and that the aspiration of liberation belonging to the realm of adept monks and contemplatives alone was not enough for him or the innumerable suffering inhabitants of this realm. I think the image of setting fire to his brother's hut was his lived experience; he wrote in another poem (paraphrasing), "This Century belongs to fire". He said that he actually only realized the Dharma in the West, even though he tried like hell to spread it and save it/others in Vietnam as well, at the risk of his and his colleagues life and comfort. When he spoke of ultimate reality, he would say, "It is Beyond (with a lot of emphasis on beyond!) Being and Non-Being". He wanted his "brother" in that poem to heal himself sufficiently of his wounds, undertake the path, endure what is impossible to endure, and arouse the aspiration for great compassion.

 

Brother Phap Vu, who I both feared and respected/admired the brief time I spent at Blue Cliff Monastery told me my first retreat there, upon my remarking that I had the sneaking suspicion that Thay told people what they needed to hear when they needed to hear it, responded: "All this nourishment stuff... that's for the people who are really suffering. Monks are supposed to suffer."

 

That remark by Brother Vu made quite an impression on me, both terrifying and inspirational. And as someone who is just realizing how much I have and had been suffering... I appreciate the depth and breadth of Thich Nhat Hanh's teaching, for those who aspire to liberation, as well as though who aspire to worldly happiness (hopefully temporarily!  )

[Morphius]

🙏

[stirling]

On 3/2/2022 at 4:41 PM, TranquilTurmoil said:

Even though some of his followers/disciples projected onto him that he was a Buddha, Thay/Thich Nhat Hanh never gave the impression that he had ever permanently put an end to suffering.

 

I don't know for sure, but I would be willing to bet he put an end to "his' suffering, by which I mean suffering as a "self".

 

The sensations and apparent suffering of the not-separate interconnected "everything", or dharmakaya (and by extension, what he would have earlier in his life identified as "his" body and "his" thoughts ) would still continue, but would not be identified with and would be seen as empty of any particular conceptual dualistic valuation (good/bad/painful/not painful/etc.) 

 

He would simply have seen through the illusion that "he" was ever a person who suffered as a being that had any intrinsic reality. 

 

Fully enlightened, but still embodied in appearance.

Edited March 20, 2022 by stirling

[TranquilTurmoil]

On 3/20/2022 at 12:38 PM, stirling said:

 

I don't know for sure, but I would be willing to bet he put an end to "his' suffering, by which I mean suffering as a "self".

 

The sensations and apparent suffering of the not-separate interconnected "everything", or dharmakaya (and by extension, what he would have earlier in his life identified as "his" body and "his" thoughts ) would still continue, but would not be identified with and would be seen as empty of any particular conceptual dualistic valuation (good/bad/painful/not painful/etc.) 

 

He would simply have seen through the illusion that "he" was ever a person who suffered as a being that had any intrinsic reality. 

 

Fully enlightened, but still embodied in appearance.

Skandha-rific x5!!!

 

lol I joke, but yes. The historical self being neither both/neither/both+neither real/nor real. But still. 🙏🏼

[stirling]

3 hours ago, TranquilTurmoil said:

Skandha-rific x5!!!

 

lol I joke, but yes. The historical self being neither both/neither/both+neither real/nor real. But still. 🙏🏼

 

I get the feeling that you fully understand just how difficult it is to explain in subject/object language. I always endeavor to use something like plain English, and to hopefully "fail well".

 

[helpfuldemon]

That poem is horrifying.

[FarangLao]

"Tomorrow, I will continue to be. But you will have to be very attentive to see me. I will be a flower, or a leaf. I will be in these forms and I will say hello to you. If you are attentive enough, you will recognize me, and you may greet me. I will be very happy." TNH