Sunday Musings - January 30, 2022
Mindfulness - Thich Nhat Hahn
The January 28, 2022 episode of On Being entitled “Remember Thich Nhat Hanh, Brother Thay was a updated rebroadcast of a 2003 interview with the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh and two of his students who became teachers, Cheri Maples and Larry Ward.
As always, it is not my intention to repeat the conversation between Krista Tippett the host of On Being and her three guests. I strongly encourage all who are able to listen to the complete conversation.
During the conversation and in many of his writings, Thich Nhat Hahn talks about what I refer to as true art of mindfulness; the art of being or moving closer to being fully present to both the wonder of all that is and the suffering we all experience. He says, “And you can get in touch with the wonders of life that can nourish you and heal you. And you are stronger, you are more solid in order to handle the suffering inside you and around you. When you are mindful you can recognize, embrace, and handle the pain in you and around you, to bring you relief. And if you continue with concentration and insight, you will be able to inspire and help transform the suffering around you.” Further he talks about making use of the suffering in order to build peace and happiness. He compared the process to that of the locust flowers which needs the mud to grow. He says, “Without suffering you have no way in order to learn how to be compassionate and understanding.”
Mindfulness is the first step in approaching our own pain and suffering which than can allow one to be mindful of the pain and suffering of others. As we embrace and show compassion to our pain we become able to embrace and show compassion to others. Unlike Job the goal in being mindful is not to dramatize and question the suffering. It is not helpful to ask , “Why me?” Or to assert we are more or less deserving. For me, the goal is to not ignore or feed my suffering. It is simply to embrace what is - this me who is suffering. It is not good or bad, fair or unfair, deserving or undeserving. It is. As one simply embraces suffering one moves toward compassion. My understanding of compassion is not “Poor me.” or “Poor you”. Compassion emerges to engage the strength from which the Locust flowers will emerge.
When Jesus instructs us to love our enemy he is instructing one to love oneself; to love that part of one which may be reflected in the pain of others; the pain which always lies beneath the surface. The Locust flower is the compassion; the melting together of two spirits which brings forth the blossom of love. Anyone who has been lucky enough to be comforted at a wake/funeral knows the joy of being comforted by that person who is brave enough to be present with one’s suffering and to witness the blossoming of the joy of non-judgemental love.
Many teachers posit that suffering always lies beneath or alongside what many term bad behavior. The pain may be loss of mental ability, loss of a loved one, loss of trust, or even the physical sensation of from a severe injury or the wounding by cancer or some other illness. When a person attempts to use one’s pain to cause pain the receiver, if mindfully present, embraces the pain and not the threat or the injury.
It is simple math. If pain leads to bad behavior then inflicting more pain is not going to lead to more pain. If one wants to reduce pain to self, other people, Mother Earth and all it contains, one needs to reduce responding to pain with pain. Whether one approaches the reduction of pain from a scientific point of view, a religious/spiritual view or a philosophical view the goal is to reduce pain. Inflicting more pain and calling it justice or thinking it will lead to justice is insanity, illogical, and unscientific.
We begin with mindfulness which begins with a willingness to be open and honest.
Being mindful of one’s breath allows one to touch all the cells in one’s body; to be with all the joy, pain, suffering that we humans experience. That can lead, in turn, to being with the suffering and joy of others. Being mindfully present allows the locust flower of love to blossom.
Written January 30, 2022
Jimmy F Pickett
Mindfulness - Thich Nhat Hahn
The January 28, 2022 episode of On Being entitled “Remember Thich Nhat Hanh, Brother Thay was a updated rebroadcast of a 2003 interview with the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh and two of his students who became teachers, Cheri Maples and Larry Ward.
As always, it is not my intention to repeat the conversation between Krista Tippett the host of On Being and her three guests. I strongly encourage all who are able to listen to the complete conversation.
During the conversation and in many of his writings, Thich Nhat Hahn talks about what I refer to as true art of mindfulness; the art of being or moving closer to being fully present to both the wonder of all that is and the suffering we all experience. He says, “And you can get in touch with the wonders of life that can nourish you and heal you. And you are stronger, you are more solid in order to handle the suffering inside you and around you. When you are mindful you can recognize, embrace, and handle the pain in you and around you, to bring you relief. And if you continue with concentration and insight, you will be able to inspire and help transform the suffering around you.” Further he talks about making use of the suffering in order to build peace and happiness. He compared the process to that of the locust flowers which needs the mud to grow. He says, “Without suffering you have no way in order to learn how to be compassionate and understanding.”
Mindfulness is the first step in approaching our own pain and suffering which than can allow one to be mindful of the pain and suffering of others. As we embrace and show compassion to our pain we become able to embrace and show compassion to others. Unlike Job the goal in being mindful is not to dramatize and question the suffering. It is not helpful to ask , “Why me?” Or to assert we are more or less deserving. For me, the goal is to not ignore or feed my suffering. It is simply to embrace what is - this me who is suffering. It is not good or bad, fair or unfair, deserving or undeserving. It is. As one simply embraces suffering one moves toward compassion. My understanding of compassion is not “Poor me.” or “Poor you”. Compassion emerges to engage the strength from which the Locust flowers will emerge.
When Jesus instructs us to love our enemy he is instructing one to love oneself; to love that part of one which may be reflected in the pain of others; the pain which always lies beneath the surface. The Locust flower is the compassion; the melting together of two spirits which brings forth the blossom of love. Anyone who has been lucky enough to be comforted at a wake/funeral knows the joy of being comforted by that person who is brave enough to be present with one’s suffering and to witness the blossoming of the joy of non-judgemental love.
Many teachers posit that suffering always lies beneath or alongside what many term bad behavior. The pain may be loss of mental ability, loss of a loved one, loss of trust, or even the physical sensation of from a severe injury or the wounding by cancer or some other illness. When a person attempts to use one’s pain to cause pain the receiver, if mindfully present, embraces the pain and not the threat or the injury.
It is simple math. If pain leads to bad behavior then inflicting more pain is not going to lead to more pain. If one wants to reduce pain to self, other people, Mother Earth and all it contains, one needs to reduce responding to pain with pain. Whether one approaches the reduction of pain from a scientific point of view, a religious/spiritual view or a philosophical view the goal is to reduce pain. Inflicting more pain and calling it justice or thinking it will lead to justice is insanity, illogical, and unscientific.
We begin with mindfulness which begins with a willingness to be open and honest.
Being mindful of one’s breath allows one to touch all the cells in one’s body; to be with all the joy, pain, suffering that we humans experience. That can lead, in turn, to being with the suffering and joy of others. Being mindfully present allows the locust flower of love to blossom.
Written January 30, 2022
Jimmy F Pickett
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