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Periodically, UUFN Zen meditation practitioners will post a reading or interesting idea to expand and challenge your thinking.  We hope that you will read each new post and use it in your meditative practice.  We also have weekly discussions after the Monday and Wednesday evening Zen meditation sittings.  To lean more about Zen Buddhist meditation at UUFN, follow this link. To join one of our zazen sessions, contact us at zen@uufn.org.

A Cloud Never Dies: pondering Thich Nhat Hahn's teachings in the time of war

A Cloud Never Dies

A recently released biographical documentary titled "A Cloud Never Dies" explores the life and philosophy of Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hahn (1926 - 2022), aka "Thay." This film was made in 2019, but never released. Now with the war raging in the Ukraine, the Plum Village monastic elders decided to release it with the hope that Thich Nhat Hanh’s legacy as a peace activist can influence calls for peace.

Thay worked tirelessly for peace without choosing sides, instead he appealed to adversaries to look deeply into each other's pain, anxiety, and existential fear, and to consider war's horrific toll on all victims.

This movie and Thay's teachings challenge us to look at our own inner peace. The Buddha tells us that our true enemy is not to be found in others, but in our own fear, anxiety,  sorrow, anger, greed, ignorance and hatred. War is made possible by dualistic and discriminative thinking, and by the idea that only by eliminating our so-called enemy can we have peace and security.

Richard Field wonders, "How can [these teachings] be applied in a case such as the war in Ukraine where the evil of aggressive perpetration appears to be so singly born by one side? What is the "middle ground?" How does violent self defense against violent aggression fit into Thich Nhat Hanh's response to war?"

When there is peace in ourselves, there will be peace in the world. Do you agree?