Surely we can make use of intellect, but we have to be careful.

Dear Thay, my parents are fundamentalist Christians and very angry about my interest in Buddhism and mindfulness. I'm afraid that if I'm totally honest about what I'm doing at Plum Village and mindfulness training, that they will shut me out of their lives. If they don't do that, the least that I will get is long, angry lectures. They don't listen to me and I don't think they will read a book. What do I do?

Dear Thay, my sister who is just one year younger than me is deepening her practice of Christianity and I am deepening my practice here in our Sangha. As she has deepened her practice, she has become deeply afraid of me as I have deepened mine. In the past, we could dialogue together by reading books together about the commonality of Christianity and Buddhism, and it helped us.

After the Key West retreat, she and her husband began preventing me from visiting with them and their children. Now we are writing and calling some, and I have written a love letter, peace letter recently. They did not respond, but did allow me to be with their children presently, although they originally said no.

I could hear the deep fear and obstacle in her perception when I called her before coming here now to Plum Village. I know to be patient and continue communicating continued communication with my sister and her family. It saddens me deeply because I miss her. I miss the freedom of our talks as little girls. We were a true sangha.

Her faith helps her be a good mother. I will keep writing and calling. showering her with my love and tell her how I miss her.

I have been truthful in telling her what I see except for what I think will cause more harm. My question finally, dear Thầy. What internal practices other than prostrations and embracing my sister both in her first presence and from afar can you recommend? I have found these practices helpful. I will embrace her in my heart now more deeply. What can I do? I am hopeful as I see progress. Maybe you are just getting to the root and this is why it is deeper.

There are many questions like this. I think there should be some ways to tell our relatives that practicing Buddhist meditation is not to betray our tradition, our roots, our spiritual roots. There must be ways to say so, to do so, because this is really the truth. Buddhist meditation can help you to go back to your tradition, your spiritual roots, and make peace with them, and help to renew them, because the renewal of our tradition is very crucial for the well-being of our generation and the younger generation. Because practicing Buddhist meditation, you are encouraged not to be uprooted from your society, from your culture, from your spiritual tradition. And practicing Buddhism can help you to go back. and communicate and renew your tradition. That is our hope, our desire, our purpose at the same time. Because we know very well that a person uprooted cannot be a happy person.

And many of us have practiced and have come back to our tradition and have been helping in a very successful way. To practice Buddhist meditation and to remain entirely faithful to your spiritual roots, that is possible. Not only possible, that is a reality concerning many of us.

Suppose you love the French cuisine, cooking. But who prevents you from enjoying your Chinese cooking? When you go to the Chinese restaurant, you don't betray your ancestors at all, your French ancestors at all. It's very much the same thing with Christianity and Buddhism. You might love pineapple, you might love mango, You might love kiwi, but you can try apple.

It's too bad that if you are committed only to eating one kind of fruit. And Buddhism is a part of the human spiritual heritage. It's a pity if we are not capable of profiting from that part of our heritage, mankind heritage. So the question is how to open our heart and to help our people open their heart for greater enjoyment and happiness. So there must be ways for us to open the heart of other people, including our beloved ones. If you are a teacher, if you are a writer, a journalist, a filmmaker, you might be tempted by the desire to do that.

Try to open people's hearts so that they can enjoy the whole heritage. that is left for us by many sections of humanity. And then there is another dimension.

Practicing a spiritual tradition makes you more and more open to the beauties of life, to other people, to other traditions. It helps you to nourish and develop your understanding and your love. If a spiritual tradition does not help you to be more understanding, more open, more loving, then that tradition should be renewed. It's like a plum tree. If the plum tree does not give any more plum flower and plum fruit, then we know you have to take good care of the plum tree. You have to prune it, you have to take good care of it, you have to work the soil around it in order for the plum tree to give flower and fruit again.

The same thing is true with a spiritual tradition. If a spiritual tradition does not help to to make people more open, more understanding and more loving, and then we have to help renew it. So what I suggest is that while you practice the Buddhist path of meditation, you really develop your openness, your tolerance, your understanding, and your compassion. And with patience, the other person or person will see it. So please have faith in your practice. You can make progress every day.

The other person cannot embrace you. because her heart is still not large enough. But you have the capacity of embracing her because you have been practicing openness, tolerance, understanding, non-discrimination. That is why you have the capacity of embracing. And if you continue like that, one day she will see, he will see. Don't be in a hurry yet.

If you are making progress on the path of openness, understanding and compassion, then you must be sure that one day you'll be able to help people. Love needs patience. That's what I have learned. Patience is a very important aspect, an element of true love. Please. A direct question from the Sangha, please.