Yesterday, we celebrated Practicing Peace on campus. I sat on the lawn with the hippies, and they painted my face with red and brown colors.
I gave out this:
WALKING MEDITATION
Take my hand.
We will walk.
We will only walk.
We will enjoy our walk without thinking of arriving anywhere.
Walk peacefully.Walk happily.Our walk is a peace walk.Our walk is a happiness walk.
Then we learn that there is no peace walk;that peace is the walk;
that there is no happiness walk;that happiness is the walk.
We walk for ourselves.
We walk for everyonealways hand in hand.
Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
ach step makes a flower bloom under our feet.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Print on Earth your love and happiness.
Earth will be safewhen we feel in us enough safety.
Earth will be safewhen we feel in us enough safety.
Thich Nhat Hanh,Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh, Parallax Press, Berkeley, California, 1999, p. 194
1 comment:
"I kiss the soil as if I placed a kiss on the hands of a mother, for the homeland is our earthly mother. I consider it my duty to be with my compatriots in this sublime and difficult moment. "
~ John Paul II
When John Paul II (at that time the first non-roman pope for over 450 years) said this, he was entering Poland (his homeland) despite the death threat he face against him from the U.S.S.R. in the late 1940’s.
Even though his words were directed to his beloved country, I feel that they can be related to the entire world, and each one of us is part of one “homeland”. What we do or say to another, it is also aimed at us. In difficult times we can either turn our back on our universal compatriots; or, “placed a kiss on the hands of a mother” and work through the misunderstandings and hard times together as one.
Post a Comment