Somebody once asked me: what is one of the characteristic of Thay that you would like to
have, it's like asking what kind of superpower would you like from Thay. Thay is our teacher,
And it was a good question because there's a lot of things I like about him
he's been my role model, also my idol
but Thay has taught us we also have to learn to be beautiful and be yourself. We have to also enrich
our own capacity. But there is one quality, there is one superpower that Thay has that is very unique
and that superpower is
whatever the situation is of the community or of wherever we go - I've been on many retreats with
him - and whenever he has an interview or he's going to the the parliament to give a teaching.
You know before coming into this Dharma hall - I don't know if you saw me,
but I did about 20 loops around new hamlet just to calm my emotions, take care of myself.
But when I was with him he always has the sense that everything's gonna be
okay. Everything is going to be okay. He never said that but I always felt that
and that sense of "everything is going to be okay" -
it's because he has the stillness and this peace that is very alive in him.
It's not something that you buy from the market,
but it's something that he has generated and he has practiced for many years.
And whatever situation he is put in
he's able to fall back on that foundation and take refuge in that foundation.
and it's amazing and so one of my wish is no matter what situation
I am in or the community is in
I hope we can generate that collective calmness and stillness that "everything is going to be okay".
Because if all of us start to panic
then I believe the outcome of the panic will not be the best offering we would like to offer.
But if we can rely on the foundation of stillness and peace and calm
then the solution that we can arrive at can be more clearer,
more calm,
and more light.
I have this story I would like to share with all of you: When I was attending Thay
- attend means being his assistant - in the rain retreat like the practice we are doing now. Thay would
come and live in Upper Hamlet with the monks and every morning he would sit in the hall with us.
And this is before the Still Water Meditation hall was renovated, so it was much older.
If you go to lower hamlet and you see the the Dharma nectar hall - the grey hall beside the
dining hall - that's how the upper Hamlet hall used to look like. And that day we were all practicing
sitting meditation and our practice used to be - we would do one session of sitting for 30 minutes
and then we would do a round of slow walking and then another session of another 30 minutes.
And we used to have a dog, it didn't belong to plum village like any of the animals in
plum village do not belong to plum village. But they come and they take refuge in our community
and the dog's name was kakawet - it means peanut butter or peanut. and
he became like a member of our community whenever we do walking he would follow,
and every time we do sit he would sit outside, and we didn't have the mud room where we put the shoes
like now we do an upper hamlet. So that day we were doing slow walking meditation -
each breath one step and suddenly the dog was barking
and it kept barking and we're all in the zone and we're okay it's okay kakawets is
probably it's just doing this morning routine, it's okay we still continue.
then suddenly one brother just couldn't stand it - why is this dog barking so much?
so he opens the window and he looks outside and he looks into the community, he goes: "FIRE"!
"FIRE"! From deep slow walking meditation everybody just sprinted out of the meditation hall.
And it was one of my zen moments in plum village - this has to go into our zen stories because
the whole community was rushing out and suddenly I looked back and Thay was just slowly walking
his whole community left him alone
Thay just slowly walked
I didn't know how to react I was just like "Wow!" Thay has no fear. Thay knows: it's going to be okay
and Thay just walk slowly and - truthfully it was okay and at this moment when he was walking out
Thay's shoes is always placed at the exit door and and when he came his shoes weren't there
so it meant that one of the monks in his hurries saw the shoes were so convenient, put it on and ran
out and suddenly we're outside and it's winter and you just hear the attendant: "Who has Thays shoes?!"
"Who has Thays shoes?! Can you look at your feet?" and could you believe it it was an aspirant
it was one of the aspirants - one of the the guys wearing gray
who had Thays shoes. And it's a moment that I never forget because for me that just showed
Thays stability and also his understanding of the situation. If in that moment
that brother would have told us more peacefully; "Dear community,
I think we should stop our slow walk and we should all exit the hall
faster" - the outcome might have been different instead of yelling "Fire!" I would never forget that
"Sangha - Fire!" and in a heartbeat mindfulness was dropped. out
So for us as practitioners I try to always remind myself in moments of hectic, of craziness
in the summer retreat when there are so many people, bows and plates are dropping,
the rain is coming, there's no place for Dharma sharing, everybody's
running around - that image always comes up: the fire and Thay walking slowly.
and so for us as practitioners it's also important in moments of crisis
to also learn to come back to the center,
the center is what will ground us will ground us and keep the energy of practice alive
and for me those moments are the moments when all of the sitting meditation,
the walking meditation that we have been doing for years comes in and plays his role.
So the sitting and walking is like chopping the wood,
when the time needs you build the fire, to keep your warmth, to keep your stability.
Let us all listen to a sound of the bell and connect to that center within
ourselves.