Poem-Thich Nhat Hanh, Call Me By My True Names

[Guest guest]

Please Call Me By My True Names, by Thich Nhat Hanh

 

Do not say that I'll depart tomorrow

because even today I still arrive.

 

Look deeply: I arrive in every second

to be a bud on a spring branch,

to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile, learning to sing in my new nest,

to be a caterpillar in the heart of flower,

to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

 

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry, in order to fear and to hope,

the rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that are alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,

and I am the bird which, when spring comes, arrives in time to eat the mayfly.

 

I am the frog swimming happily in the clear water of a pond,

and I am also the grass-snake who, approaching in silence, feeds on the frog.

 

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,

and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

 

I am the 12-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat,

who throws herself in the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate,

and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving.

 

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands,

and I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to my people,

dying slowly in a forced labor camp.

 

My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom in all walks of life.

My pain is like a river of tears, so full it fills up the four oceans.

 

Please call me by my true names,

so I can hear all my cries and my laughs at once,

so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

 

Please call me by my true names, so I can wake up,

and so the door of my heart can be left open,

the door of compassion.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/20/01 10:42:31 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

flangdon writes:

 

<< Please Call Me By My True Names, by Thich Nhat Hanh

 

Do not say that I'll depart tomorrow

because even today I still arrive.

 

Look deeply: I arrive in every second

to be a bud on a spring branch,

to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile, learning to sing in my new nest,

to be a caterpillar in the heart of flower,

to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

 

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry, in order to fear and to hope,

the rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that are alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,

and I am the bird which, when spring comes, arrives in time to eat the

mayfly.

 

I am the frog swimming happily in the clear water of a pond,

and I am also the grass-snake who, approaching in silence, feeds on the frog.

 

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my legs as thin as bamboo

sticks,

and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

 

I am the 12-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat,

who throws herself in the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate,

and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving.

 

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands,

and I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to my people,

dying slowly in a forced labor camp.

 

My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom in all walks of life.

My pain is like a river of tears, so full it fills up the four oceans.

 

Please call me by my true names,

so I can hear all my cries and my laughs at once,

so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

 

Please call me by my true names, so I can wake up,

and so the door of my heart can be left open,

the door of compassion.

 

>>

Dear Fe,

 

Thank you so much for posting that poem. Thich Nhat Hahn is a walking master

of true peace. I have an audio tape of him reciting this poem, but I didn't

have a written version.

 

So many times when I'm feeling self righteous or I'm pointing the finger at

someone else who is to blame for 'whatever', I go back to this poem and

experience my shared humanity with all others. It's very humbling and deeply

beautiful. Totally one with Mother's teachings.

 

At Her feet,

vaishnavi

[Guest guest]

> >

> > Thank you so much for posting that poem. Thich Nhat Hahn is a walking

> master

> > of true peace. I have an audio tape of him reciting this poem, but I

> didn't

> > have a written version.

> >

> > So many times when I'm feeling self righteous or I'm pointing the finger

> at

> > someone else who is to blame for 'whatever', I go back to this poem and

> > experience my shared humanity with all others. It's very humbling and

> deeply

> > beautiful. Totally one with Mother's teachings.

> >

>

 

 

Om Namah Shivaya,

 

In relation to the "Call Me By My True Names" poem, Thich Nhat Hanh says in

"Being Peace":

"In Plum Village in France, we receive many letters from the refugee

camps in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines,

hundreds each week. It is very painful to read them, but we have to do it,

we have to be in contact. We try our best to help, but the suffering is

enormous, and sometimes we are discouraged. It is said that half the boat

people die in the ocean; only half arrive at the shores in Southeast Asia.

There are many young girls, boat people, who are raped by sea pirates.

Even though the United Nations and many countries try to help the government

of Thailand prevent that kind of piracy, sea pirates continue to inflict

much suffering on the refugees. One day we received a letter telling us

about a young girl on a small boat who was raped by a Thai pirate. She was

only twelve, and she jumped into the ocean and drowned herself.

When you first learn of something like that, you get angry at the

pirate. You naturally take the side of the girl. As you look more deeply

you will see it differently. If you take the side of the little girl, then

it is easy. You only have to take a gun and shoot the pirate. But we

cannot do that. In my meditation I saw that if I had been born in the

village of the pirate and raised in the same conditions as he was, I am now

the pirate. There is a great likelihood that I would become a pirate. I

cannot condemn myself so easily. In my meditation, I saw that many babies

are born along the Gulf of Siam, hundreds every day, and if we educators,

social workers, politicians, and others do not do something about the

situation, in twenty-five years a number of them will become sea pirates.

That is certain. If you or I were born today in those fishing villages, we

might become sea pirates in twenty-five years. If you take a gun and shoot

the pirate, you shoot all of us, because all of us are to some extent

responsible for this state of affairs."