During my Richland retreat at the end of May, I was introduced into Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced as Tik Nan Han) writing about mindfulness. Mr. Thich is a well-respected scholar, and poet. He was born in 1926 in Vietnam. At age 16, he became a Buddhist monk. During the 60s, he came to the U.S. and studied at Princeton University. He became very outspoken against the Vietnam War.
The following notes were taken from an audio tape 'mindfulness' of Thich Naht Hanh.
On Buddha,
Buddha is not a god, but an awakening person. Everyone has a potential to be a Buddha. Most of us are Buddha from time to time; but not all the time. This is because most of us are distracted or pre-occupied by the worry of either the past or the future, but not at the present. Only we are mindful at the present, we can be awakening, and can become a Buddha.
On Kingdom of the God.
Some says that we enter the kingdom of the God when we are dead. I disagree. I would say that only we live at the present, we can witness everything in the kingdom of god. Why? If we are mindful of the present, and we look at a piece of paper, we should also see cloud; because if there is no cloud, there will be no rain. And if there is no rain, there is no tree, and no paper. Similarly, if we are mindful of the present and see a piece of paper, I see the sunshine; for if there is no sunshine, nothing can live and there will be no trees and paper. Thus if we are mindful of the present, we witness everything of God's creation, or the kingdom of the God.
On Emptiness (çİş)
Emptiness means 'emptiness from connection' of everything. Look at this piece of paper. Would this piece of paper exist if there is no tree? Would this tree lives if there is no rain, or sunshine. Nothing in this world can be standing alone; we are all dependent on one another.
On Fear of Death
We are all afraid of death, simply we are afraid of turning 'something' into 'nothing'. This is absurd. In this world, we would never be able to turn 'something' into 'nothing'; we cannot turn 'nothing' into 'something' either. Look at this piece of paper. Where it is from? From a tree, of course. But where is the tree from? From the elements of the Earth, of the air; and of course of the water. It cannot come from 'nothing'. Similarly, when this paper is burnt, it releases all elements into the air and the Earth. It does not turn into 'nothing'. One day, I was walking with a nice kid of approximately 6 years old. She asked me, "Mr, Thich. What would be your next life." I smiled and said, "I am too much focused on this life, having no time to think about the next life. Well, my next life could be a beautiful butterfly. So, next time when you see a butterfly, do not kill it, because it could be the next life of someone you love."
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