This Is the Buddha's Love

Melvin McLeod Interviews Thich Nhat Hanh

In this interview in Shambhala Sun with editor Melvin McLeod, Buddhist teacher, poet, and peacemaker Thich Nhat Hanh discusses mindfulness, connections (interbeing), community, love, Buddhism in the West, and the many dharma doors. He says of meditation:

"To meditate means to go home to yourself. Then you know how to take care of the things that are happening inside you, and you know how to take care of the things that happen around you. All meditation exercises are aimed at bringing you back to your true home, to yourself. Without restoring your peace and calm and helping the world to restore peace and calm, you cannot go very far in the practice."

The ideal of connections or the interdependence of things makes it possible for us to move beyond the separate self of individualism and to partake of a true communion with the world. Thich Nhat Hanh salutes the growth of Buddhism in the West and talks about the dharma doors of psychology, ecology, peace, and feminism. His explanation of why democracy and science can help Buddhism is fascinating.

Talking about buddhaland, he states:

"We know that on Earth there are human beings who possess great wisdom and great compassion. They are buddhas. Don't think that the buddhas are very far away up in the sky. You touch the buddha in yourself; you touch the Buddha in people around you. It's wonderful that it's possible in the here and now."

Thich Nhat Hanh rightfully believes that this teaching is similar to Jesus' teaching about the kingdom of God which is present in our lives. In these violent times, we are challenged to learn how to live as one body with all the cells working together:

"There is no discrimination, no fight among the cells, and that is what we can learn from modern biology. We can organize ourselves in this way as a family, as a school, as a town hall, as a Congress. It is possible, because if our cells are able to do that, we humans can do that also."

Read this at Shambhala Sun


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