VIGIL for: Thay, Nhat Hanh, also known as Thich Nhat Hanh.
Let us Pray Together for all souls in Intensive Care Units this night, and also for dear Thich Nhat Hahn, Buddhist leader of the way of peace, who in his late eighties has suffered a brain hemorrhage and is in hospital–able by most recent reports, to see, and talk, but in critical condition from which it is said at present, he may recover….
Let us pray strength to him, and mending…
… in whichever way each soul sees fit…
THE ROSE OF COMPASSION
Thay, Nhat Hanh teaches us
that many true selves
on our Planet
are snagged
by the grasping bony hands
of anger and hatred and despair.
Thay, Nhat Hanh teaches us
that we do not have freedom
when we are in love with the dank
instead of reaching for the fresh air,
taking in the blue sky,
and “the fragrant rose.”
Thay, Nhat Hanh teaches us
if we do not just speak about,
but practice daily compassion
because we have put the effort
to seeing and understanding
others’ suffering–
that it will come to us,
the right words,
the soft eye-looks,
the acts that will help
those so caught, to suffer less.
Thay, Nhat Hanh teaches us
that compassion
unlocks the jail door,
lets us walk out under the blue sky
into the fresh air,
and be able to bend
to take in the fragrance of the rose.
Thay, Nhat Hanh teaches us,
One day in compassion
lived by the true self, is more
than 100 days lived
without compassion.
Thay, Nhat Hanh tells us
to enjoy the freedom
of the breath that is ours
every minute,
to enjoy the freedom
of the daily walk
under the blue sky,
in the fresh air,
and to live ever near
the rose of Compassion,
every day and every day.
Blessed Thay, and all others in similar circumstances, may you be touched with love and ultimate wisdom by the doctors and nurses and all who come to minister to you. May your peace you have given others, now gently also cover all your body, your mind, your heart, your spirit, your true self, your very breath. May you have no pain.
And for Thay especially, may the sky you love so, be the most healing color of blue wherever you are, the air made fresh from the whirl of the happy and long-lived devas dancing, and that the very beat of your heart be for now, your walking meditation. May the long-rooted roses of the compassionate souls who love you, hold you gently on your course, as you find and know your way.
with love, from us all who well know your story as exile from Vietnam, and now in your 88th year, having blessed so many of us with your words and books and songs and calm manner after all the savage war you knew. Not despite the war, your goodness. But because of war, your goodness still. We hold you in vigil prayer, knowing you know your way. In all honor and gratitude, we are breathing with you. As you taught us.
For all who are in challenge, and who are coming back or going forward, as is meant, please lean on our prayers. We offer them from the little red filagreed chambers of our hearts with doors flung wide open in love.
dr.e
