[DailyDharma] PEACE IN ACTION: Sunday Evening Quote

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DailyDharma

Sunday, January 19, 2003 4:00 PM

[DailyDharma] PEACE IN ACTION: Sunday Evening Quote

"For ten yearswe had a beautiful green garden.For twenty yearsthe sun

always shone on our thatched roofs.My mother came out and called me

home.I came to the front yardnear the kitchento wash my feetand warm

my hands over the rosy hearth,waiting for our evening mealas the

curtain of nightfell slowly on our village. I will never grow upno

matter how long I live.Just yesterday, I saw a bandof golden

butterflies fluttering above our garden.The mustard greens were

bursting with bright yellow flowers. Mother and sister, you are

always with me.The gentle afternoon breeze is your breathing.I am not

dreaming of some distant future.I just touch the wind and hear your

sweet song.It seems like only yesterday that you told me,"If one day,

you find everything destroyed,then look for me in the depths of your

heart." I am back. Someone is singing.My hand touches the old

gate,and I ask, "What can I do to help?"The wind replies,"Smile. Life

is a miracle.Be a flower. Happiness is not built of bricks and

stones." I understand. We don't want to cause each other pain.I

search for you day and night.The trees grope for one another in the

stormy night.The lightning flash reassures themthey are close to one

another. My brother, be a flower standing along the wall.Be a part of

this wondrous being.I am with you. Please stay.Our homeland is always

within us.Just as when we were children,we can still sing together.

This morning, I wake up and discover that I've been using the sutras

as my pillow. I hear the excited buzzing of the diligent bees

preparing to rebuild the universe.Dear ones, the work of

rebuildingmay take thousands of lifetimes,but it has also already

been completedjust that long ago.The wheel is turning,carrying us

along.Hold my hand, brother, and you will see clearlythat we have

been togetherfor thousands of lifetimes. My mother's hair is fresh

and long.It touches her heels.The dress my sister hangs out to dryis

still sailing in the windover our green yard. It was an autumn

morningwith a light breeze.I am really standing in our backyard--the

guava trees, the fragrance of ripe mangoes, the red maple leaves

scurrying about like little children at our feet. A song drifts from

across the river.Bales of silky, golden hay traverse the bamboo

bridge. Such fragrance! As the moon rises above the bamboo thicket,

we play togethernear the front gate.I am not dreaming.This is a real

day, a beautiful one. Do we want to return to the past and play

hide-and-seek?We are here today, and we will be here tomorrow. This

is true.Come, you are thirsty.We can walk together to the spring of

fresh water. Someone says that God has consentedfor mankind to stand

up and help Him.We have walked hand in handsince time immemorial.If

you have suffered, it is onlybecause you have forgotten you are a

leaf, a flower. The chrysanthemum is smiling at you.Don't dip your

hands into cement and sand. The stars never build prisons for

themselves. Let us sing with the flower and the morning birds.Let us

be fully present. I know you are here because I can look into your

eyes.Your hands are as beautiful as chrysanthemums.Do not let them be

transformed into gears, hooks, and ropes. Why speak of the need to

love one another?Just be yourself.You don't need to become anything

else. Let me add one testimony of my own.Please listen as if I were a

bubbling spring. And bring mother. I want to see her.I shall sing for

you, my dear sister, and your hair will grow as long as mother's."

~Thich Nhat HanhFrom the book, "Learning True Love," by Chahn Khong,

published by Parallax Press.________________________________May all

beings be happy. May they be free from suffering. May they be at

peace._________________________________Your use of is

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