THICH NHAT HANH and MINDFUL AWARENESS
January 30, 2022
THICH NHAT HANH and MINDFUL AWARENESS
By Gil Marvel P. Tabucanon
"there is no way home; home is the way”.
Thich Nhat Hahn, world-renowned philosopher, scholar and human rights activist, died at 95 in Vietnam. Called an “antiwar poet” for his nonviolent yet socially engaged opposition against war in Vietnam, Martin Luther King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. Dr. King said of Hanh “I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of [this prize] than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a momentum to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity”. Hanh tirelessly advocated for peace and compassionate social action in his talks around the world. He left behind a voluminous body of work centered on mindfulness, which teaches us supposedly tech-savvy mortals whose lives are caught in the daily grind of iPhones, Facebook and emails to “slow down” and “anchor our awareness in the here and now”. His book on the miracle of mindfulness says even simple acts of “going for an evening walk” or “enjoying a cup of tea”, if done with unforced concentration and accompanied by an inner silence, become pure acts of meditation.
Mindfulness, for Hanh, is that non-judgmental awareness that provides an impetus in recognizing those “conditions of happiness” which are already present in our lives. Happiness is everyone’s default mode; in theory, at least, we all deserve to be happy. That there is much unhappiness and stress in our lives is due to “forgetfulness” of being aware of the present. We inordinately carry with us past baggage and future worries such that our appreciation of the vitalities of the present are muddied. Our regrets, hurts, anger, unfulfilled wishes and worries follow us like a toxic shadow that beclouds our quest to live a brisk life of unadulterated energy. We are unhappy, according to Hanh because we allow ourselves to be caught in the past or future, instead of living life, minute by minute, savoring the present moment and its possibilities.
Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thầy (teacher) to his students, prodigiously if penetratingly wrote on many aspects and practical applications of mindful awareness. For lack of space, I will focus on three: (1) anger, and owning up to the consequences of our choices springing from negative emotions, (2) the concept of “inter-being” or the interrelatedness of all things through belief in the transcendent, and (3) home. All three are related and not discrete. For Hanh, being mindful of one’s anger is to be conscious of the consequences generated by that anger. Punishing someone, whether family or friend, out of anger will equally make others and ourselves suffer. Try observing being mad at someone: his or her grotesque face will stay in our consciousness for the duration of our anger, which, can take days, weeks or years. Paradoxically, we cannot be angry at anger itself or tell it to go away: to overcome anger we have to accept it, that is, accept the ugly fact that we are capable of anger, then embrace it as a “mother takes her baby into her arms” (the feeling is after all our feeling, not someone else’s), then mindfully “calm her crying” with all the warmth and tenderness one can muster. Hanh posits that anger, as with other negative emotions such as envy, is our body’s way of letting us know something is not right with the way we handle our lives.
Anger is not localized among individuals, Hanh reminds. Bad blood between countries and between citizens and their governments is rife. There is also vilification between subgroups expressed through a phenomenon called “othering”, which is a scheme of exclusion usually perpetuated by those holding dominant power, whether political or societal. Putting other groups down for religious, regional or racial reasons are prime examples to name a few. Such may be nipped in the bud by way of refusing to commiserate with those who wish to enlist another to adopt their peculiar views. Avoiding gossip and idle talk and doing productive work instead is a good way out from the negativity and poison spun by these propagators. One may also refuse to dignify vitriolic worldviews against other people by steering clear of these views as they rear their head in print or on social media.
According to Tom Lyon, a U.S. Embassy representative in his eulogy delivered during Hanh’s funeral, Hanh is best remembered as a “leading light” in inter-faith and interreligious dialogue. His book “Living Buddha, Living Christ” states Christians and Buddhists who are both living deeply in their contemplative lives “do not think those in other traditions are going the wrong way”. His friendship with Baptist minister Martin Luther King sets the tone for others on the need for love and tolerance and on how to overcome differences. Hanh adds religious experience emanates from human consciousness, whether individual or collective. His message of peace and personal healing has helped close the rift between those involved in both sides of the Vietnam conflict, and was, in part, instrumental in restoring political ties between two traditional antagonists, the United States and Vietnam.
In his book “at home in the world”, Hanh drew from his growing up years as a boy in Vietnam, his anti-war activism, his teachings abroad and his eventual exile to France where he established both the Sweet Potato Community and Plum Village in France. Home is where one’s heart is, where one’s soul can be most productive. When asked by a student why he wastes his time “growing lettuce and cucumber” instead of spending more of his time writing poems, he replies: “My dear friend, I’m able to write poems because I grow lettuce and cucumber”. After a 39-year long exile from Vietnam due to his anti-war stance, he was finally permitted to enter Vietnam in 2005, and in 2018 decided to permanently return to his “root temple” in Vietnam, which was also where he died this year. The car has found its own garage; and, heaven is just in our own backyard. For Hanh, home is not to be found through a constant pursuit: “there is no way home; home is the way”.
Sydney, 30 January 2022
gil.tabucanon@gmail.com
