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The Miracle of Sangha

This letter was written by Brother Phap Xa, one of our young monastic brothers at Prajna Monastery.  He was ordained at Prajna in the Plum Village tradition at the age of fourteen.  It comes to us by way of Sr. Dang Nghiem.

Fragrant Palm Leaf, July 24th, 2009.

I return to the familiar corner of the library in a very quiet space of a summer afternoon.  The warm golden sunlight drapes over the luscious mountains surrounding the monastery.  A severe storm has swept through this place, but this afternoon, all is peaceful again.   It is uncertain whether the storm will return tonight, tomorrow morning or the next days, but this afternoon is gentle enough for me to look back at myself and to enjoy the natural beauty around me.

Tea Meditation Together

The storm here is both a phenomenon of nature and of mankind’s heart (physical and mental).  I overheard from the news that just yesterday, a tornado in Bao Loc area caused the death of three or four people.  Just within the last few days, there were also news about the violence taking place at Prajna Monastery – it is similar to a terrible tornado, but fortunately, no one has lost his/her life.  There have been reports and commentaries about what happened, but my words here have no intention to participate in those lively discussions.  They are simply to share my experience as a young practitioner at Prajna Monastery, who has gone through the storm directly.

And it is not entirely correct to say so.  If there is actually a “self” or a “person” who has gone through the storm, then it is only in a fiction story.  There is no “self,” and there is no “person” that is able to overcome those recent difficulties.  If we need to say one thing to the world, then we will all say that:  “All of us have stood together, and all of us have sat together peacefully in order to go through the tornado of hatred and misunderstanding.  The strength has derived from the whole community practicing together, and it is not from any extraordinary individual.”  Yes, we have stood next to each other like that.  With the breaths – that are judged as for beginners by many people – such as: “Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in.  Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out,” we were able to sit still while those lay friends throwing excrement at the venerable monks and nuns, destroying our living quarters and yelling at us.  We bring up these events again (which have already been talked about by many) not to be proud of ourselves, but to speak about the miracle of the Sangha, which all of us are still in awe of.  The Prajna Sangha is still too young, and it is not directly guided by Thay.  I myself has only been ordained and practicing with the Sangha for 4 years – a number so minute in terms of time; yet I am already considered as one of those “going before” and “elder brothers” of the community.  That is because behind me, there are a few hundred younger monastic brothers and sisters and aspirants who have practiced with the community for 1-2 years (they make up 2/3 of the Sangha).  If we talk about the spiritual strength, then the practice level of each one of us is still too immature.  If we talk about the scope of the Buddhist teachings and ideologies, then we are just fresh beginners.  Yet, when we sit down together, those immature and weak selves suddenly combine together on the same frequency – the frequency of Right Mindfulness and Compassion – to evoke the name of the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion and Deep Listening.  The sound of chanting and the collective silent energy stunned the many agitated and violent crowds, stopping them from causing further destruction.

During the whole week while many events took place, we only sat quietly together to contemplate on the Bodhisattva of Compassion by evoking her name and chanting “Clearing the Stream of Love.”  Then the storm passed.  Even though it had destroyed many things, but in return, the energy of love and purity from the young monks and nuns has made up for it all.  Everything looks fresh and alive again.  In the late afternoon, the elder brothers, the novices and aspirants still play sports and laugh joyfully in front of the Monks’ residence, right next to piles of destroyed properties as remnants from the attacks.   Those ruins mean nothing to us, when today, all of us brothers and sisters are still whole together.  Didn’t Thay write in Fragrant Palm Leaves that “We lost everything; we only have each other,” and that “Fragrant Palm Leaves has become the sacred ground in the hearts of all those who belong to it, even though the Great Old Mountain and the Hermitage of the Palm Leaf have  sunk into the midst”?  None of us brothers and sisters has lived the peaceful days in Fragrant Palm Leaves like Thay did, but we can visualize somewhat that quiet and cozy ambience, having gone through these last days in Prajna.  And each of us also secretly understands and agrees with one other that Prajna is the spiritual home most cozy and beautiful to us all – everyone who belongs to Prajna.

These days I often make time to sit alone and to reflect on the beautiful past of Prajna.  This reflection is not to long for the past or to reproach the situation of the present.  It is to practice compassion and gratitude.  Perhaps the newspapers have given much information, but there is one piece of news I am sure that no one has delivered, and that is the sentiment of the 400 young monks and nuns towards the Venerable Duc Nghi.  Even until now, in all of our Dharma discussions, no one has ever spoken with blame or reproach about Su Phu (“Teacher Father” is the intimate way we refer to the Venerable Abbot of Prajna).  All of us continue to maintain our deep gratitude to all that Teacher Father has established for the community in the past as well as in the present.  Even when these difficulties arrive, I am still grateful to Teacher Father – because he has brought the Sangha a tremendous opportunity to practice.  If there had not been those recent difficulties, we would not have had the opportunity to touch the immense capacity of compassion and of the practice sitting still.  All would be theories found in books,  if we ourselves had not gone through those direct practical experiences.  There is a suggestion that this may be a challenging exercise a father uses on his young and weak children, so that they may grow up quickly.  Of course, besides our gratitude is our great pain.  Day and night we silently pray for Teacher Father and for our great friends to quickly overcome their obstacles, so that we can all return to living together in harmony like before.  This does not mean that we waste our time sitting around and dreaming about the old days.  With our communal practice of mindfulness, we are keenly aware that the Sangha is maintaining and continuing the past in the present and in the future.  It is also a miracle of the Sangha.  Thay has taught us to practice in such a way that we can build a very beautiful past.  Only when we have a beautiful past can we live beautifully in the present and in the future.  Yet, we can only build the past in the present, and there is no other way.  This is the way of a mindfulness practitioner.  I am aware that this moment sitting here in the corner of the library, I am being the past for many future generations of  younger brothers and sisters.  And I vow to live in such a way that in the future, my younger monastic brothers and sisters may reflect with such warmth about this moment – the way Thay still feels about Fragrant Palm Leaves.

These past few days, our community has built a truly beautiful past with our collective practice of Right Mindfulness.  It is the past of four hundred human beings who have sat very still and contemplated on Compassion and Loving Kindness in the face of violent attacks by those with wrong perceptions.  We also understand that in this very present moment, we are building the future.  I am imagining the content smile of Thay, of Thay’s teacher, of the patriarch Lieu Quan,  of the patriarch Linchi, and of the Buddha.  We are your continuation, and because of that, we are your future.  Practicing wholeheartedly in the present, we were and are building a future for you; this means that we are realizing your aspirations and dreams.  It is not certain that tomorrow the earth and sky will be calm like this afternoon, but we practice also not to be worried, anxious or fearful.  Because everything we the young monastic practitioners are aspiring to and searching for, is already fulfilled in this moment.  We came to the Sangha not in search for an impressive establishment with comfort and security.  We are young people looking for a way out of the suffering in ourselves and in our time.  We search for a community of practitioners, so that together we may have a beautiful, clear direction and true brotherhood and sisterhood.  This Sangha has responded to all of our wishes.  We do not have anymore yearnings or demands. What will tomorrow be like?  Will people attack us?  Will we have a new practice center?  These are not our questions (they are reserved for others).  We only ask each other wherether or not we are happy in the present moment; how much anger and sadness have we been able to transform.  The Sangha is our future.  It is the choice made by all of us.

These words are sent to all of you, who are worried and concerned about us.  Please rest assured that we will continue to practice like this, regardless of what will happen.  We also would like to express our deep respect and gratitude to our Patriarchs; because of your protection that we are able to overcome all obstacles.  We also make a sincere promise to our future monastic generations that we will always stand together and sit together peacefully, in order to build a beautiful past for all of you.

Source: phuongboi.org