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Mahayana Vipassana 3
“Come home with me in silence, that is where we will meet…” opens an invitation to mindful walking—each step in love and peace, listening to raindrops and birds, and creating a place of mindfulness. Inspired by Natalie Goldberg’s note, Thay proposes an exercise on first love, writing a short chapter each day, and offers the Zen kōan “Tell me, my friend, how was your face before the birth of your mother?” as a way to look deeply and rediscover our original face.
The Sangha is presented as our primary refuge: true practice depends on roots in community, loving relationships and the art of Sangha-building. Dharma teachers must learn to organize practice as a family of brothers and sisters, for transformation arises only when we walk, breathe and smile for one another. Study of the Ugradattaparipṛcchā Sūtra (Pháp Cảnh kinh) and the Upāli Sūtra (Ratnakūṭa) reveals three core questions:
- How does a lay bodhisattva practice?
- How does a bhikṣu or bhikṣuṇī bodhisattva practice?
- How can a lay bodhisattva practice so as to match or surpass monastic practice?
Mahayana’s evolution moves from the critical tone of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra to the reconciling warmth of the Lotus Sutra, uniting monks, nuns and laypeople in one compassionate community. Thay then shares his personal first love—the silent, shy meetings with a young nun whose serene vows (“Cạo sạch mái tóc…”, “Thệ độ nhất thiết nhân”) revealed to him the beauty of renunciation—and the poem he wrote that night, titled “The Beauty of Spring Blocks My Way,” marking the birth of that deep, life-shaping love.