When Thich Nhat Hanh visited India in 2008, I was lucky to be part of an “intimate” gathering of all the sanghas in New Delhi to welcome him.
This is the first thing he said:
“I am Buddhist, but I am free of Buddhism…”
I’ll never forget this basic teaching.
Continuation Meditation
[Wake the BELL]
[One Breath]
[BELL]
[Three Breaths]
[BELL]
[Three Breaths]
[BELL]
[Three Breaths]
listen, listen,
this wonderful sound brings me back to
my true home.
[BELL]
breathing in I know that I am breathing in.
breathing out I know that I am breathing out.
[BELL]
in out
deep, slow
calm, ease
smile, release
present moment, wonderful moment
[BELL]
who am I?
what is “me”?
my eyes are not me
my ears are not me
my nose, my tongue, my body and my mind
are not me
that which i see is not me
that which i hear is not me
that which i smell, taste, touch and think are not me
seeing is not me
hearing is not me
smelling, tasting, touching, and thinking are not me
the element of earth is not me
the elements water, fire, air, space and consciousness are not me
i am not bound or restrained by the elements
birth and death cannot touch me
i smile because i have never been born
and i will never die
birth does not give me existence
death does not give me existence
death does not take existence away
with inspiration i continue
with expiration i continue
[BELL]
[Three Breaths]
[BELL]
[Three Breaths]
[BELL]
————-
-dennis landi © 2009
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Note:
The main part of the above text was adapted from Thich Nhat Hahn’s “Old Path, White Clouds”, Chapter: “Tears of Happiness”, where Saraputra ministers to the dying Sudata.
From the point of view of time, we say “impermanence”, and from the point of view of space we say, “non-self”. Things cannot remain themselves for two consecutive moments, therefore there is nothing that can be called a permanent “self”.
- Thich Nhat Hanh, from The Heart Of Buddha’s Teaching, Chapter: The Three Dharma Seals, page 132.
In our society, we engage in a lot of empty sex, just for physical pleasure. We have confused sex with love, but this isn’t love at all. When we love, we have something precious to offer: our heart, our mind. We already know that the heart and the mind are very close to our body. We have secret zones in our soul. There is a pain, or there is a deep and tender aspiration that we want to keep a secret. And we share it only with the one we really love. There is a forbidden city in our soul. In the capitals of Asian countries, the king always had a forbidden city. No one outside the royal family could enter. You risked getting decapitated if you went into the forbidden city. There is a forbidden city in us that we open only to the one we love the most. It is sacred.
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Thich Nhat Hanh,
The Art of Power, 2007
Chapter: The Art of Mindfulness. pg 58-59
