Dear Editor,
Thank you for publishing Joanne Friday’s interview in your Winter/Spring 2013 issue. I especially appreciated Friday’s comment on suffering: “There is nothing quite like it to help us to wake up.” This reminded me of Thay’s quote from Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: “We see the nature of suffering and the way out. That is why the Buddha called suffering a holy truth.”
These observations, in turn,
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Dear Editor,
Thank you for publishing Joanne Friday’s interview in your Winter/Spring 2013 issue. I especially appreciated Friday’s comment on suffering: “There is nothing quite like it to help us to wake up.” This reminded me of Thay’s quote from Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: “We see the nature of suffering and the way out. That is why the Buddha called suffering a holy truth.”
These observations, in turn, gave rise to the following gatha:
Breathing in, I know suffering as suffering.
Breathing out: Yes.
Breathing in, I know suffering as a path. Yes.
Breathing in, I know suffering as a gift. Yes.
Breathing in, I know this gift as compassion. Yes.
Jim Egger
Wisconsin
Dear Editor,
Thank you for the articles about True Freedom, our prison Dharma-sharing project. When I was ready to commit to one day a month, I contacted the coordinator for the project (peterkuhnxx@ gmail.com) to fi out more about it and do some suggested reading while I was on the waiting list for a pen pal. Time passed. Then, over the phone, Pete read me a letter from one of two new applicants. As I listened, I heard my heart softening. Pete heard it too. A couple days later, I began correspondence with my new pen pal.
What do you say to a person, fresh from a suicide attempt for which he’s now in the SHU? That’s Secure Housing Unit, solitary confinement, The Hole.* Cut off from everything and everyone. A man sincerely seeking healing and transformation, in the Plum Village Tradition. Becoming keenly aware of the Buddha within himself. Realizing the Mind of Love.
And what an enriching experience to communicate with this person. For both of us. It certainly calls upon the cornerstone of Dharma sharing, namely, the fourth of the Five Mindfulness Trainings. Calls me to be sincere and honest with myself, to be so for others. Calls upon my understanding that we are not different in our capacity for pain and suffering, joy and peace. In a word, calls me by my true name.
This is a powerful Dharma door for those wishing to engage a long-term, solid practice, while nourishing those in great need of support and Sangha.
Be free where you are.
Gary
* In California prisons, a hunger strike occurred from July 8 through September 4, protesting inhumane conditions of long-term solitary confinement.
Editors’ note: If interested in requesting a pen pal, inmates practicing in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh may contact True Freedom at 2499 Melru Lane, Escondido, CA 92026.
