Thay Giac Thanh June 9, 1947 - The Mindfulness Bell

otherhood and sisterhood. That did not seem real to them. One
member of the delegation wrote to me and said, "Thay, we spent
two weeks in paradise." Another person wrote to me before leaving
Plum Village and said, ''1bay, this is the first time that I believe
peace is possible in the Middle East." We did not do much. We
just embraced our friends who had come from the Middle East as
brothers and sisters. They learned to walk mindfully with us, to
breathe in and out mindfully with us, to try to stop and to be there
in the present moment to get in touch with what is pleasant, nourishing,
and healing around them and within themselves. The
practice is very simple. Supported by a practicing Sangha it was
possible for them to succeed and to feel that peace and happiness
could be touched within each of themselves.
The basic practice is to do everything mindfully, whether
you breathe or walk or brush your teeth or use the toilet or chop
the vegetables. We try to do everything mindfully, to establish
ourselves in the here and the now in order to touch life deeply.
That is the basic daily practice. On that ground our friends learned
to practice listening deeply to the other people. We offered our
support because many of us are capable of listening with compassion.
We sat with them and we practiced listening with compassion
in our heart. People had the chance to speak about their
fear, their anger, their hatred and despair. They felt for the first
time that they were listened to, they were being understood and
that could relieve a lot of suffering within them.
Those who spoke were trained to speak in such a way that
could be understandable and accepted by the other side. We
have the right and the duty to tell everything within our heart.
With the practice of mindful breathing we try to say it in a calm
way, not condemning anyone, not judging anyone. Just telling
the other side all the suffering that has happened to us, to our
children, to our societies, all our fear and our despair. We learn to
listen deeply, opening our heart with the intention to help the
other people to express themselves. We know that listening like
that is very healing. Two weeks of practice of deep listening and
using loving speech brought a lot of joy, not only to the group
but to all of us in Plum Village. Before going back to the Middle
East, our friends promised us that they will continue the practice.
On the local level, they will organize weekly meetings where they
can walk, sit together and breathe together, sharing a meal and
listen to each other. And every month they will have a national
event to do the same. We promise that we will offer our support.
We know that the practice of compassionate listening and
the practice of loving speech can bring us a lot of relief from our
suffering. We can open the door of our heart and restore communication.
This is a very important practice. We suffer and we do
violence to each other just because we cannot understand each
other's suffering. We believe that we are the only people who
suffer. We think that the other side does not suffer. We believe
that they only enjoy our suffering. That is why the basic practice
of peace is the practice of restoring communication. For that we
should use deep listening, compassionate listening and kind and
loving speech. It would be very beneficial to set up an environment
like the one in Plum Village so that this kind ofloving speech
and deep listening could be possible.
NegotiatiolIlS for Peace
When you come to a negotiation table you want peace, you
have hope for peace. But if you do not master the art of compassionate
listening and loving speech it is very difficult for you to
get concrete results. In us there is an obstruction of hatred, fear
and pain which prevents us from communicating, understanding
one another and making peace.
I beg the nations and the governments who would like to
bring peace to the Middle East to pay attention to this fact. We
need them to organize so that peace negotiations will be fruitful.
They should know that creating a setting where the practice of
restoring communication can be done is a very important factor
for success. They may have to spend one month or two just for
people to listen to each other. We are not in a hurry to reach a
conclusion or an agreement about what to do for peace to be
possible. One month or two months is nothing. With the practice
of deep listening and kind and loving speech it can dissolve a lot
of bitterness, a lot of fear and prejudice in the hearts of the people.
Then when people are capable of communicating with each other,
peace will be much easier.
I remember a number of years ago when I went to India and
had the opportunity to meet with the chairperson of the Indian
parliament, Mr. Narayan. We discussed the practice of compassionate
listening and kind speech in the congress. He was very
attentive to what I had to say. I said, "Mr. President, maybe it is
good to begin every session with the practice of mindful breathing.
Then a few lines could be read to bring awareness into
everyone's mind, such as: 'Dear colleagues, the people who have
elected us expect that we will communicate with each other deeply
using kind and respectful speech and deep listening in order to
share our insight. This will enable the congress to make the best
decisions for the benefit of the nation and the people.' It may take
less than one minute to read such a text. And something like the
bell of mindfulness could be used. Every time the debate is too
hot, if people are insulting each other and condemning each other,
then the chairperson may invite the bell of mindfulness inviting
everyone to breathe in and out - breathing in calming, breathing
out smiling - until the atmosphere of the congress becomes
calm. Then the one who is speaking is invited to continue his or
her speech."
Mr. Narayan was very attentive to what I said. He invited me
to come back and address the Indian parliament on that issue.
Ten days later I was leading a retreat of mindfulness in Madras
and someone brought me a newspaper. There was an article announcing
that the President had set up a committee on communication
for the parliament, to develop the practice of deep listening
The Mindfulness Bell 7