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 […]
mindfulness
The Parable of the Vessel
In his memoir, Vessel (Pínáng / 筏喩), Cai Chongda (蔡崇達) describes the tough-love advice given to him by his great-grandmother (太姥爷 / 太婆): “Your body’s a vessel. If you wait on it to do something, there’s no hope for you. If you put your body to work, you can start to live.” Those words made […]
Garden Haikus
Haiku #1 Plant the seeds in dirtWait calmly for them to growWhat if they do not Haiku #2 Plant fruit trees for foodTheir roots cut through the soilTheir fruit tastes like dirt Haiku #3 Water the gardenThe plants are hot and thirsty I am thirsty too Support Our Dharma Work
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 […]
Why is Nature Peaceful?
On a bright, moon-lit night, while walking back to my kuti in a forest in Thailand, I spotted a huge scorpion that had come out of hiding from under a rock. Out of curiosity, I pointed my flashlight directly at it for a moment, then continued to walk the path back to my resting place […]
Why Does the Mind Run Wild?
From being out in the wilderness, I’ve awakened to the reality of how fragile life is in all its form. During the day, I’ve seen bears cause deer and squirrels to flee into hiding. At night, I’ve heard the cries of hungry coyotes and wolves. As one of my teachers once said, the images used […]
Breathless
As a teen, I’d occasionally suffer from intense stomachaches, as result of food allergies or physiological imbalances in the body. Witnessing my battles with stomach pain, my father gave me specific instructions for how to find ease, even though I felt my body was under relentless attack. “When you feel pain, breathe as deeply and […]
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 […]
Mindful of Time
Some time ago—I don’t remember how long because I didn’t think to keep track—a couple of mourning doves came to inspect a flowerpot that hangs from the ceiling of my porch. They went back and forth, inspecting the flowerpot, for a day or two, and then they left. A few weeks later they were back […]
An Unquestioned Gift
Instinct reminds the butterfly they are changingNo counting the daysor paying attention to the position of the sun It is always present George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters […]