having only read thich nhat hahn's writings before, it was incredible to watch peace is every step, a documentary about this gentle vietnamese monk, his teachings and his background. a young novice monk of 16 during the french colonial period in vietnam, he and his brother monks and sister nuns spontaneously practised, what he calls engaged buddhism, during the vietnam war. "when there are bombs falling all around and people suffering from hunger, would you still meditate?". his simple response is "do both". thinking deeply and acting deeply are both meditation, he says. they risked the crossfire between the nationalists and communists to supply food and medicines to remote areas connected only by river. he himself escaped death several times, watched fellow monks self-immolate whilst remaining in seated meditation(an image that will be indelibly etched in one's mind and used beautifully in bergman's persona) and eventually was exiled to france, victimized by both sides for his pro-peace stance. what is amazing is his subtle but powerful recasting of anti-war as pro-peace. "there is a lot of anger in the anti-war movement and that is a form of war", he observed visiting the states during the 60s. having been through so much suffering and horrors, he still emanates compassion and love when he speaks in dc, days before the gulf war.
invariably, one is reminded of that other ocean of compassion. the new documentary dalai lama renaissance is equally compelling. it is incredible that for his holiness, the first priority is humanity, then buddhism and only after that tibet.
context:
my friend l has started a discussion group on engaged buddhism prompted by her friend's skepticism about the merits of sitting while there was "work to do outside". the first meeting was last sunday; we had readings and discussed a bit of this and that. it was interesting to be in the midst of a group who all practise mindfulness, albeit in different styles (as evidenced by the myriad meditation postures and mudras assumed during the opening meditation session !). this question (in the guise of activism) had assailed me constantly during my erstwhile active days with aid and activism. return to india was a sobering experience and when s and i visited the narmada valley, what was amazing to me was the energy, clear thinking and determination with which the villagers and adivasis participated in their struggle against the dam, hopeless as it was inexorably going up meter by meter as of 2003. for them it was the only choice and the right choice. in other words, there are already problems and suffering right where we are, inside and immediately outside that need attending to. as one of the women puts it eloquently in the dalai lama documenrary, "we all have our tibets". thich nhat hahn asks the vietnam veteran to help the children in his block rather than go back to vietnam ask forgiveness for his crime of 25 years past.
to me it is not something to be discussed inasmuch as a koan could be, as to grapple with it inside and come to a deeper, intuitive understanding. it is a koan. after all, seung sahn sunim's favourite koan (and the eponymous title of his popular book) is called dropping ashes on the buddha (the context being what do you do when someone walks into the zendo and flicks his cigarette ash on the buddha statue)? as sahn sunim would say "open mouth, already big mistake".
oh and on the title of this post, it is thich nhat hahn's final advice. when one is mindful, right or wrong drops off and every act is a compassionate one.
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