Thich Nhat Hanh Healing in Vietnam The Wonderful World of Gathas

in MEMORIAMSunday arrived. It was a very warm and clear day with thesun shining bright. The morning began with a special ceremonyled by the Venerable Phuoc Tinh honoring our ancestors in SinoVietnamese.We prostrated many times as he recited the ancientblessings and chanted the Heart Sutra in Vietnamese. The morningcontinued with a silent breakfast and walking meditation up thehill to overlook the stupa. The Venerable shared a line of poetryabout how we are often able to see more clearly when we have aview of something from afar. Thus we gazed upon the stupa beforeproceeding down the freshly created steps; members of thesangha offered us their hands as we carefully stepped down to thededication ceremony. We gathered very close together on the smallsteps around the stupa and after heartfelt chanting, the Venerablesprinkled water from a glass using yellow chrysanthemums andoffered words of dedication. Some who loved the former abbotwere in tears. We looked into the stupa after the ceremony to seeit decorated beautifully with two cushions at a small table beneatha lovely altar.Next the Venerable gave a moving dharma talk in the Oceanof Peace meditation hall. He shared about the name of the stupa,“Floating Cloud,” and likened the life and the practice of the formerabbot to a “cloud floating in the vast sky.” He wove a tapestry withhis talk utilizing the imagery of the floating cloud and the Buddha’steachings on no-birth and no-death. He urged us all to practice asthe clear blue sky, observing clouds coming and going, but withthe understanding of impermanence. He reflected on the natureof a lifespan and noted that some people like the former abbotoffer much joy to others and leave behind “a softness of the heartduring this lifetime while others are unskillful and leave behinda great deal of pain.” He urged us to live in such as way that weleave behind something beautiful for people to remember.Thay Phuoc Tinh taught that suffering is essential in life;we can welcome and profit from it by overcoming it, growing,becoming stronger, and realizing grace and peace in our hearts.“If we can find peace and be kind to those who are difficult, wecan recognize the Buddha in ourselves.” He shared the poems“Gentle Steps” and “Being Sick” by the former abbot noting howThay Giac Thanh was able to have a heart at peace when he washealthy and able to give to others, as well as when he was ill andable to receive from others.After this talk, the meditation hall was prepared for the ancestralfeast. Outside the hall, David and I sat on the steps overlookingthe oak grove and mountains and shared our aspirations to betogether; he presented me with the engagement ring. Smiling,we and the children joined our spiritual family in small groups.We ate delicious traditional Vietnamese foods while members ofthe sangha smiled, laughed, ate mindfully, and offered beautifulsongs from the heart.Karen Hilsberg, True Boundless Graciousness, and DavidNelson, Compassionate Guidance of the Heart, are engagedto be married; they practice with the Organic Garden Sanghaand Ripening Sangha in Southern California. The Venerable’sDharma talk was translated into English by Sister Dang Nghiem.the Mindfulness Bell 35