#type/zk/zettel #a/maturity/seed # [[Thank you, Thich Nhat Hanh]] Today, while I was practicing [[Avalokiteshvara]], Thich Nhat Hanh visited me. To me, Thich Nhat Hanh is a perfect embodiment and example of the compassion that’s associated with Avalokiteshvara. So while I was practicing, he came to mind. And as I’m practicing embodying Avalokiteshvara, so did I practice embodying Thich Nhat Hanh. And for a moment, I was him. His kindness, gentleness, equanimity, and wishes all flowed into me. What does it mean when I say I am Thich Nhat Hanh? It doesn’t mean that we are the same person. A person is a name that we give to a body and mind that change in small increments throughout time and space. Every person, however, is made up of elements that are not that person. In this way, for a large part I am my parents. I’ve inherited many of their traits. So too, my parents are me, because I’ve had many large impacts on their lives. It’s not just some spiritual blabbering. You can look into yourself, and you will see your parents are right there. If it is you looking into yourself, whatever it is you encounter, what other could it be than yourself? So too, I’m a little bit Thich Nhat Hanh all the time. I respect him with all my being. Through all of his talks, books, and actions, I have been transformed so much that I couldn’t possibly say he’s not a part of me. So when Thay left me after a while when I was still practicing, he didn’t really leave me. He just went from a very prominent position, to somewhere more in the background. He stepped away from the seat of the main subject to somewhere along the sidelines, cheering Steyn on. At the same time, I am also a part of Thich Nhat Hanh. Because I like to think that whenever he was practicing compassion or reciting the names of Avalokiteshvara, he was thinking of me also. Not me by my name Steyn, but me as one of the billions of people out there that serve as the object of his compassion, me by one of my other names. In this compassionate manner that I attribute to him, when Thay visited me, I felt compassion towards everyone, including myself. That gentleness and equanimity that I associate with him were there, his voice was there, his calm. Whoever I am, I’m made up of many things that are not me. While living my life, I can make a choice of which parts of me I want to see more of and which parts I want to see less. I want to see much more of Thich Nhat Hanh, much more of Avalokiteshvara. That is why I practice reciting their names and mantras, and bringing their images to mind. That is why in times of trouble, rather than reaching out to my addictions and numbing the pain, I should reach out to them instead, let them guide me, and become more of me. > [!QUOTE] [[Understanding Our Mind (Thich Nhat Hanh 2002-02-09)]] > The quality of our life depends on the quality of the seeds that lie deep in our consciousness. --- Sowed on:: [[2024-11-09|2024-11-09]] Sources:: See also:: Related references:: Additional keywords:: Further reading::