By Brother Pháp Lưu on
As students of Thầy, Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh, we have all gone through difficult moments since January 22, the day of our teacher’s transition. The joy of the Sangha—one of Thầy’s most beautiful living legacies—has held and nourished us. Thầy would not want us to be sad for even one minute, and yet, with compassion, he knows that there are moments when we will be.
By Brother Pháp Lưu on
As students of Thầy, Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh, we have all gone through difficult moments since January 22, the day of our teacher’s transition. The joy of the Sangha—one of Thầy’s most beautiful living legacies—has held and nourished us. Thầy would not want us to be sad for even one minute, and yet, with compassion, he knows that there are moments when we will be. Whenever Thầy would leave us would be too soon.
As these pages demonstrate, Thầy has not left us. Thầy is there in our breathing and in our mindful steps. Thầy is there in the words written on these pages by us, his students. In his poem “A Teacher Looking for His Disciple,” Thầy reminds us that, “The ancient mountain is still there / in this place of the present moment, / although the white-crested wave still wants to go in the other direction. / Look again, you will see me in you and in every leaf and flower bud.” The powerful words of testimony and love that follow in this legacy edition of The Mindfulness Bell invite us to look again and recognize the seeds of practice, healing, and transformation that Thầy and the ancestral teachers have already planted in our hearts.
May this edition be an invitation for us to come together as one multifold community—monastic and lay—to nourish and protect our sacred inheritance of the true teachings. May we recommit to our practice, come back to ourselves—and find each other!—and in so doing continue Thầy’s work of building the Beloved Community.
Brother Pháp Lưu
Advisor and Editor