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Christmas Eve Talk: Finding Our True Home
Thay begins with a metaphor of a boat that can take us from the shore of suffering to the shore of joy. Through practice, we can learn how to transform ourselves into a boat that can make that journey. He then tells the story of Brother Adrian and the practice of listening to the bell—be it a Buddhist meditation bell or the bell of a Christian church—as a reminder of mindfulness.
Many of us are still searching for our true home, and Christmas often makes us more aware of this. Jesus was searching for his true home, and he spoke for all of us in that regard. If we can find a brother, sister, or community that has wisdom, compassion, and solidity, they can become our true home.
In the Buddhist tradition, taking refuge means we have found our true home. We take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha—the Three Jewels. If we know how to take refuge in our in-breath, peace and freedom can be ours in just one breath. By deeply getting in touch with our in-breath, we get in touch with ourselves, and this puts us on the path to our true home.
Every day is an opportunity to live in peace, stability, brotherhood, and sisterhood. Each moment we spend in mindfulness contributes to a past we can treasure. Our ability to find our true home requires that we have stable roots, so that’s why being part of a Sangha is so important. The Buddha built a beautiful Sangha that provides a true home to this day. Jesus Christ did the same, as did Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Thay built his Sangha even while spending forty years in exile, and members of that Sangha now live all over the world. We must all participate in Sangha building.
This talk was offered on Christmas Eve during the Christmas and New Year Retreat in the year 2008. Thầy offered this talk at the new Hamlet, Plum Village, France.
