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compassion
November 2009 
An Interview with Thich Nhat Hanh
Posted on Sep 6th, 2006
by 
Jessica
Jessica
I've been reading Thich Nhat Hanh's books since my teens. His teachings have changed my life and they have changed the world. He has been a remarkable force for peace, practice and enlightenment, spreading Zen Buddhism and mindfulness to the West and beyond. He recently did an amazing interview with Krista Tippett from the radio program Speaking of Faith.
Thay's (which means "teacher") voice carries an incredibly powerful energy that brings me near tears. I once had the privilege of seeing him speak, he had the entire audience in a state of meditative joy.
Thay is well known for his exile from his homeland when he refused to take sides during the Vietnam war. He is a constant voice for peace in this world. His call for peace is one of depth. Here's a quote from the interview that truly moved me:
"I could not like to go to a place where there is no suffering. I could not like to send my children to a place where there is no suffering because, in such a place, they have no way to learn how to be understanding and compassionate. And the Kingdom of God is a place where there is understanding and compassion, and, therefore, suffering should exist."
I was so impressed by these words. I've heard many people talk about the meaning of the suffering and it's importance on Earth, but I've never heard anyone say Heaven should include it. This indicates an exceptional value placed on suffering and growth. I don't know if I believe that Heaven has suffering, but I love that Thay, who has witnessed and labored to alleviate so much, places a higher value on compassion, enlightenment, and expansion than the absence of pain.
This interview also contains a segment with Capt. Cheri Maples, a policewoman who recieved teachings from Thich Nhat Hanh and then initiated a mindfulness retreat for law enforcement officers. Here is an amazing quote from her:
"You know, as a police officer, you're so often a victim and so often an oppressor. You know, you really have to come to grips with both of those. And I wrote a letter to Thay, because when you want to receive the mindfulness trainings, that's one of the requirements. He got my letter, which talked a lot about sort of where I'm at with all this, and the next day gave this two-hour Dharma talk on the different faces of love and why it's possible to be a bodhisattva and carry a gun. It was just unbelievable to me."
She also shares about how her trainings change her behavior towards people when facing a situation where a father had refused to give up custody of his daughter:
And ordinarily I would have said, "That's it," slapped the handcuffs on him, taken him to jail. But something stopped me, and it was I had just come out of this retreat. And I got the little girl, got him to give me the little girl, took care of her, got her and her mom set, told them just to leave, went back. And I just talked to this guy from my heart, and, within five minutes, I mean, I've got this big gun belt on. I'm about 5'3". Right? And this guy's like 6'6". And he's bawling, you know. And I'm holding this guy with this big gun belt on and everything. And he was just in incredible pain, and that's what I started realizing we deal with is misplaced anger because people are in incredible pain.
How beautiful is that? How awe inspiring? It's so important and impactful for people in positions of power to have tools that bring them back to themselves. It's so important for everyone to have tools because we all contribute to the energy of this world, and as Thich Nhat Hanh says, we water positive and negative seeds with our actions, thoughts, and emotions.
I could say so much more about this interview. It inspired me to the core. Check it out.
Access: PublicTagged with: Thich Nhat Hanh, Speaking of Faith, Compassion, Suffering, Love, Police, Law Enforcement, Violence
Oh, Jessica. Thank you so much for sharing that. Thich Nhat Hahn is one of those beings I admire most in the world, and I'd not seen that interview. I skimmed it quickly this morning and plan to listen when I get home tonight … so if you do have more to say, do write! I have a feeling I'll have no shortage of open-hearted awe to share.
Jessica
interesting blog. i have a very strong aversion to the idea that suffering is to be done
away with. it is the child basically wanting to be in the womb again. it is through
suffering and struggle that we grow as human beings. now i am not a cheerleader
for pain (i am in a metaphysical iron maiden right now, i would rather be in Maui)
it isn’t the circumstances that make the person but how one travels through them.
anyway thanks for sharing, take care
Hey Jess,
Thanks for the profound perspective on how we can make peace with suffering.
Suffering reminds me of bramble bushes. The more we struggle and fight to get out of them, the deeper we become entangled and usually end up with quite a lot of scratches. Less resistance, less suffering.
Here’s a link to a music video that was created for Badly Drawn Boy by a fellow grad from USM. It addresses the same subject matter. I have a feeling you’ll like it:
http://www.xlrecordings.com/broadcast/~yearoftherat/
I don’t know why the whole link didn’t turn blue, but the ~yearoftherat/ part is important to get to the video. I’ll try again here:
http://www.xlrecordings.com/broadcast/~yearoftherat/
Jessica,
I followed your email this morning re. sharing experiences for the zaadz campaign and came to your blog. Thanks for this post. It makes me mindful of the pain and suffering in the world, and my tendency to watch like a spectator, shaking my head from side to side, tsk tsking that the world is a horrible place.
You see, I'm a producer/director a small television station and my world revolves around the suffering of the world. I bring as much light to it as I possibly can but some days, when I'm not so grounded, I wallow in the current. Yesterday, with the murder of the Amish girls was one of those days.
Thanks for the light and message.
Neil