I have just finished reading a book called Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet produced by the disciples of the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, (pronounced Tich Nat Ahn). In the book he is referred to simply as Thay, which means teacher, and for the sake of simplicity I will do the same here. Thay was born in Vietnam and died there earlier this year. He spent many years in exile from Vietnam, especially in France where he founded a widely influential community – Plum Village. He was a tireless worker for peace internationally. The book’s title is about the ecological crisis but it contains a synopsis of his teaching that compassion is at the core of each human being. We have to commit ourselves getting in touch with that compassion and sharing it.
Although the book is written by Buddhists a great deal of the material can be applied by people from other spiritual traditions, and indeed by those who do not profess any particular faith. I would like to share some of the points which especially impressed me.
Thay started his vocation as a spiritual teacher in the thick of the Vietnam war. He worked with several hundred young people doing social work among those who were suffering the ravages of war. For example, they would rebuild villages that had been bombed, and when they were bombed again, would rebuild them again. If anyone is an example of working for peace in the middle of violent hostilities, it’s him! He really knows what he’s talking about – he’s been right at the heart of the suffering of war.
The foundation of all Thay’s teaching is mindfulness. Mindfulness is chiefly found through becoming aware of our breath: “Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in. Breathing out I know that I am breathing out.” But mindfulness can be extended to all aspects of life. Particularly stressed are awareness of the present moment, mindful walking on the earth, and mindful eating.
In the book we are reminded that the Earth supports us, feeds us, gives us the all the resources that we need for life, in a similar way that a mother provides for her child. As a Christian, I found that by increasing my awareness of the blessings that come to me from my physical environment, I quickly become more aware of God’s loving provision of these things.
Thay’s teaching that we have all too often lost touch with our interconnectedness with the material world is profound and deserves great attention. It leads to the recognition that we have also lost touch with the interconnectedness we have with each other – and to the aspiration to recover this sense of interconnectedness.
Key to his understanding of how to restore relations between people is his stress on deep listening. I was impressed by Thay’s ability to understand so much of the pain of our modern world. Clearly, he has himself listened, and heard! Again and again in the book, the need for deep, intentional listening is stressed. One can see how he has become so highly regarded as a teacher of reconciliation.
At the end of the book one of Thay’s closest colleagues, a nun called Chân Không, describes the experience of finding 4 of her friends dead on the banks of the Saigon River after they had been shot during the Vietnam war. Overwhelmed with anger, despair and fear, she worked with all her spiritual strength to restore the sense of peace and compassion which she believed to be at the core of all human beings. She succeeded, and she concludes by saying: “If I can do it, you can do it too”.
There is wisdom in this book which can be applied by people of all faith traditions and none. I am reminded of the maxim of one of my own teachers: “What is the most important time of your life? The present moment. Who is the most important person in your life? The person I am with right now. What is the most important action of my life? The action I am doing right now!”
Mother Sarah
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