Thich Nhat Hanh Passed To The Next Dimension
There are about two handfuls of people who have shaped the course of my life beyond friends and family. Tich Nhat Hanh was one of them. We can add Martin Luther King Jr., Dalai Lama, Louise Hay, Thomas Merton, Mevlana Julaluddin Rumi, G.I. Gurdjieff, John Lennon , Mikao Usui, Mahatma Gandhi, and my former Teacher and Mentor Rev Betsy Browder. to this list. Today he passed to the next dimension.
He and Louise Hay are where my journey into meditation began in 1990. There were not many books one could find on meditation at the time. Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh and You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay are the two that made the most sense to me. I felt like they were a key to a door that I somehow knew existed without any rhyme or reason to think there was such a door. I do not think I am being theatrical to say they saved my life.
It was this chapter that gave me a direction if felt like I had the capacity to practice, little did I know that washing dishes would be the launching pad to three decades of daily meditation!
Peace Is Every Step
By Thich Nhat HanhWashing Dishes
“To my mind, the idea that doing dishes is unpleasant can occur only when you aren’t doing them. Once you are standing in front of the sink with your sleeves rolled up and your hands in the warm water, it is really quite pleasant. I enjoy taking my time with each dish, being fully aware of the dish, the water, and each movement of my hands. I know that if I hurry in order to eat dessert sooner, the time of washing dishes will be unpleasant and not worth living. That would be a pity, for each minute, each second of life is a miracle. The dishes themselves and the fact that I am here washing them are miracles!If I am incapable of washing dishes joyfully, if I want to finish them quickly so I can go and have dessert, I will be equally incapable of enjoying my dessert. With the fork in my hand, I will be thinking about what to do next, and the texture and flavor of the dessert, together with the pleasure of eating it, will be lost. I will always be dragged into the future, never able to live in the present moment.
Each thought, each action in the sunlight of awareness becomes sacred. In this light, no boundary exists between the sacred and the profane. I must confess it takes me a bit longer to do the dishes, but I live fully in every moment, and I am happy. Washing the dishes is at the same time a means and an end–that is, not only do we do the dishes in order to have clean dishes, we also do the dishes just to do the dishes, to live fully in each moment while washing them.”
This I was able to do. I could wash dishes, get my hands wet and sometimes block out the rest of the world for just a minute or two. For me, that was an immense accomplishment. It was a respite from the chaos in my head. I stayed sober by washing dishes and paying attention! This was followed by beginning to practice Louis Hay’s Mirror Exercise. It was not long after I became somewhat comfortable with both, I ventured out to try Walking Meditation as taught by Thich Nhat Hanh.
“We can train ourselves to walk with reverence. Wherever we walk, whether it’s the railway station or the supermarket, we are walking on the earth and so we are in a holy sanctuary. If we remember to walk like that, we can be nourished and find solidity with each step.
To walk in this way, we have to notice each step. Each step made in mindfulness can bring us back to the here and the now. Go slowly. Mindfulness lights our way. We don’t rush. With each breath we may take just one step. We may have run all our life, but now we don’t have to run anymore. This is the time to stop running. To be grounded in the earth is to feel its solidity with each step and know that we are right where we are supposed to be.
Each mindful breath, each mindful step, reminds us that we are alive on this beautiful planet. We don’t need anything else. It is wonderful enough just to be alive, to breathe in, and to make one step. We have arrived at where real life is available—the present moment. If we breathe and walk in this way, we become as solid as a mountain.”
This gave me the confidence to leap into sitting meditation. I started at just a couple of minutes a day. It was not long that my meditation practice increased to fifteen, then twenty minutes every morning. The image below was the simple sitting meditation that I practiced. At some point that included Breath Watching Meditation. A few years later Reiki came into my life and everything shifted in ways I still cannot express in words. These are the foundations of my meditation practice.
If you have not seen the film, Walk With Me, please do. It such a treat for our whole mind, body and spirit!
I do not tear-up often when somebody I have not met in-person dies, today was an exception. Thank you Thay (Teacher) for the gifts you have given t0 me and millions of other people.
You nay find this interesting and inspiring Tich Nhat Hahn Interview with Oprah Winfrey.
People see me wearing a blue hoodie with calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh similar to this t-shirt as my “security blanket” as a regular piece of my wardrobe.
Other posts you may enjoy:
Blindness – A Spiritual Teaching in Seeing
The Art of Knowing is Knowing What to Ignore
Spiritual Training on Humility – The Janitor Part I
The Invisible White Rabbit – A Parable in Determination
Michael Swerdloff
Providence Holistic Counselor, Coach and Reiki
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