Zen prose and poetry from daishin
death
The Art of Living Amidst Long-term Illness: The Creativity of Writer and Artist Helen Law
Hong Kong-based artist and columnist Helen Law expresses creativity as a way of life during and after chronic illness
Elder Rong Ling’s final farewell
Reflecting on today’s funeral for a great Hong Kong Buddhist master
Ven. Chuan Deng and the Calling of Vulnerability
Speaking to one of Hong Kong’s prominent Buddhist carers of the dying and terminally ill
Nurturing Narratives
Not long after the death of my grandfather (爷爷/爺爺), my family resumed its familiar tradition. When both my grandparents were alive, my parents, my sister and me would be regularly treated to dinner at their home, where we’d enjoy the familial and communal experience of eating together and watching television. The stark difference now was […]
A Letter to Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay)
“We will meet at the source of each moment, and we will meet again in different forms of life.” Dear Thay, In deep gratitude for meeting Thay and the Plum Village Sangha. Thay, it has been some time since you passed away. Still, your memory remains more alive than ever. I still remember the morning […]
Watch, listen, and remember. He is all around us
No one can predict the time of one’s passing. More accurately, no one can predict when one dissolves into the bloom of a flower, or returns to the sky as a cloud that is beyond creation and destruction. It was therefore natural that the Hong Kong Buddhist community’s commemoration for Thich Nhat Hanh on the […]
Goodbye, Thay
In the early hours of the morning, the Hong Kong Buddhist community received the sad news of Thich Nhat Hanh’s passing at midnight on the 22nd of January, 2022. He was 95. I last saw him in 2013, on a Plum Village retreat in Thailand. As is typical of Plum Village, we happened to take […]
Simple and Direct
A simple solution was the right solution to my meditation problem. But the principle of simplicity when applied on its own can lead to reductionism that ironically makes finding the solution to a problem even more difficult and complex. That’s because following a basic principle cannot provide a complete picture of reality. Simplicity must be […]
Getting a Kick Out of Life
I’ve never been fond of horses. They’re beautiful animals, but riding on them is an uncomfortable experience. They can also be dangerous. My karate teacher was knocked unconscious when he was violently kicked by his horse. When he eventually regained consciousness, that experience led him to reflect on the precarious nature of life. It’s what […]