The Courage of an Open Heart

This week I learned that Thich Nhat Hahn died.

Though truthfully I hadn’t thought of him in years, I felt an immediate, deep sadness at his loss.

Many years ago, at a time of intense spiritual searching when I was expressing my questions about Christianity and a curiosity about the spiritual tradition of Buddhism (I was growing up in Japan), a pastor recommended that I read the book “Living Buddha, Living Christ." Looking at the date of publication, I realize now that the book was hot off the press at the time.

I shelved that suggestion away until months later when the book presented itself to me, free for the taking. I saw it lying in the back of my sister’s car, gleaming - I grabbed it like a treasure, took it home and couldn’t put it down. Since then, the book was lost to my moves around the world, but as soon as I heard of his passing I ordered it again so that I could revisit what meant so much to me almost 25 years ago.

Here was a spiritual practitioner deeply immersed in his own tradition who also took the time to engage deeply in another spiritual tradition. He quotes Christian scripture, theology, sacraments, and prayer practices with a fluency that I could never claim to have with another religion.

Rather than seeking to tear down, he seeks areas of commonality between two religious traditions that share a surprising amount of common ground. Seeing my own Christian religious tradition through Thich Nhat Hanh’s eyes made me appreciate it even more profoundly. He didn’t turn me away from my own roots; he led me straight back to them, with a new depth of appreciation.

His wisdom, while presented in a charming and accessible way, also held a gravity to it. He came out of the context of the devastating war in Vietnam. In his book he mentions the adverse effects of colonizing missionaries who tried to strip his people of their religious traditions and culture. He witnessed extreme violence in his midst, and he was exiled from his own country because of his teachings.

Yet he still chose to speak out for peace, compassion, love, respect, mindfulness.

Today, I am filled with gratitude for the courage he represented for our generation.

The courage to love in the face of hatred. The courage to seek understanding, with an open heart, rather than to cut others off from relationship.

While opening my eyes to the beauty of Buddhist teaching and practice - especially mindfulness - he gave me the freedom to return to my own spiritual tradition, with grace.

I am grateful.

May his spirit rest in peace.

May the spirits of others

whom we have remembered in recent days

and who displayed a similar courage

- Desmond Tutu

and Martin Luther King Jr. -

also rest in peace.

And may we take on the mantle

of the courage of an open heart.