A Facebook friend shared a news link yesterday that Thich Nhat Hahn was near death in Indonesia. Yesterday, November 12 also marks a Baha'i Holy Day the Birth of Baha'u'llah in Tehran, Persia in 1817.
Thich Nhat Hahn represents an authentic guru, in my opinion. His book,
Living Buddha, Living Christ was a primary reference for a term paper I wrote for the Wilmette Baha'i Institute course on Buddhism last February and March 2014. Ram Dass' book,
Still Here, covers relatively the same time period beginning in the Vietnam War era, and deals with challenges we face in understanding the value of our role in community as we age. End-of-life conversations often sound like a blend of Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian beliefs.
It was reported that Thich Nhat Hahn asked us to turn our thoughts away from his passing, and toward mindfulness of the principles he taught.
From my term paper,
Born Richard Alpert, Ram Dass says he chose his name to mean “Servant of God.” Ram (God), Dass (Servant). According to Ram Dass, an unknowable divine Oneness exists between our conscious awareness of physical pain as distinct from suffering. Our conscious awareness promotes spiritual self-healing. The outcome of our spiritual healing depends on God’s will. As the experience of the historical Buddha shows, the outcome may be a lesson in dealing with adversity, or a new appreciation for the horror of pain and suffering in our world.
While many of Ram Dass’s insights are in harmony with Bahá’í teachings, Dass does not know God after death. He prepares himself, and practices soul awareness with others who fear death. “By cultivating mindfulness, we can prepare ourselves for this final passage by allowing nature, rather than the Ego, to guide us. In doing so, we become teachers to others, and our own best friends, looking beyond the body’s death as the next stage in our Soul’s adventure.”
In the early 1960’s, Thich Nhat Hanh was beginning his work in Vietnam. In
Living Buddha, Living Christ, he describes how meditative practice engendered authentic spiritual awareness. Social action against the War in Vietnam was a necessary outcome of his practice.
One of the things I appreciate in Thich Nhat Hanh’s writings is how we see ourselves as spiritually conscious, aware that we know Christ, and Baha’u’llah, living an authentic spiritual experience in community, not merely adhering to doctrine.
He writes: “In Buddhism, we take refuge in Three Jewels – Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. These refuges are a very deep practice. They are the Buddhist trinity.
I take refuge in the Buddha, the one who shows me the way in this life.
I take refuge in the Dharma, the way of understanding and love.
I take refuge in the Sangha, the community that lives in harmony and awareness.”
“Mindfulness is the light that shows us the way. It is the living Buddha inside of us. Mindfulness gives rise to insight, awakening, and love. We all have the seed of mindfulness within us, and through practice of conscious breathing, we can learn to touch it. When we take refuge in the Buddhist trinity – Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha – it means to take refuge in our mindfulness, our mindful breathing, and the five elements that comprise our self.
Breathing in, breathing out,
Buddha is my mindfulness, shining near, shining far.
Dharma is my conscious breathing, calming my body and mind.
I am free.
Breathing in, breathing out,
Sangha is my five skandhas, working in harmony.
Taking refuge in myself,
Going back to myself.
I am free.”
There are, of course, parallels in Bahá’í history. Baha'is face extreme opposition in Iran today.
As Thich Nhat Hanh said, “They may believe that they are serving Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, or serving the Trinity and the church, but their practice does not touch the living Buddha or the living Christ. At the same time, these men and women do not hesitate to align themselves with those in power in order to strengthen the position of their church or community. They believe that political power is needed for the well-being of their church or community. They build up a self instead of letting go of the ideas of self. Then they look at this self as absolute truth and dismiss all other spiritual traditions as false. This is a very dangerous attitude; it always leads to conflicts and war. Its nature is intolerance.”
Faced with intolerance from some in my local community who espouse a narrow-minded concept of what it means to be a believer, I look for other avenues to apply spiritual principles to community development. Engaging with junior youth through creative arts programs has been one such avenue. Working to support climate change mitigation is another, as is engaging in interfaith dialogue with those who are open to it. Promoting spiritual healing may prove to be another.
