My dear children, when you return to the mother pagoda,
I promise I’ll take you everywhere:
to the hill, to the garden, along all the paths,
to the bamboo grove, to the well.
Then you will learn to see with the eyes of Su-ong,
your Grandfather Monk,
and with mine, that is to say,
with your own eyes.
[From Thich Nhat Hanh’s poem: The little buffalo in pursuit of the sun]
Dearest Thay,
We, more than 400 of your monastic children from four continents and fourteen centers have returned to the mother pagoda. Did you already see this day dear Thay?
All of us have not stopped smiling as we bow to sisters and brothers whom we thought we would not see again in this life time! Yet here we are, hugging each other, sitting, singing, chanting, drinking tea, sharing, savouring regional dishes … and walking peacefully in the garden of your novice years.
We see you in the mindful bows of our younger siblings. We hear you and Brother Tam Man in the sound of the big temple bell. We feel the solemnity of ancestral teachers in the silence of the courtyards.
Being here, together, is a great happiness.
