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Means of Communication - Not One, Not Different
A Vietnamese speaker is not limited to Vietnamese people, but is anyone who can speak Vietnamese—Sister Chan Nghiem (Thailand), Chan Duc (England), To Nghiem (Germany)… and at Plum Village there are many who have graduated from university, there are cardiologists, surgeons, engineers, lawyers, doctors… who have left their professions to become monastics because “practicing is more joyful and helps more people.” All the sisters at Plum Village have Dharma names ending with Nghiem, affirming the spirit of continuation of ancestors and family—their parents are always present in this body.
Meditation is to develop the formless eye to clearly see the inseparable relationship between elements:
- The cloud in the tea (no cloud, no rain, no tea)
- The sun in the flower (no sunshine, no flower)
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Parents in the child’s hand (you cannot take your parents out of yourself)
and to understand that this body is both the continuation of our parents and contains them, not one, but not two either (neither one nor different).
The Buddha’s teaching is to apply meditation in daily life through Hugging Meditation, deep listening, and loving speech to transform suffering, heal relationships between father and child, husband and wife, mother and child. A mindful hug with three breaths:
- Breathing in: “I am so happy my loved one is still alive”
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Breathing out: “I am very joyful”
and the silence of compassionate listening gives the other person a chance to express all their suffering; then, slowly, using sincere words of apology, sharing the collective responsibility for suffering, to restore happiness in the family.
