Watch Your Mind
November 2008
A workshop by the venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, author, Zen master, peace activist and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, was organised at Alliance Francaise, Delhi, on September 25th. In the interactive question-answer session, the panel of invitees included internationally acclaimed film artist Nandita Das, noted scholar and columnist Arun Shourie, and educationist Arun Kapur.
The venerable Thich Nhat Hanh In his discourse on Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh provided an insight into how the seat of passion can transform violence and fear into peace. In France, a community of monastics offer retreats to people coming from different countries. The retreats encourage the practice of brotherhood and sisterhood through meditation, by looking deeply into one's mind to 'embrace the energy of life.' The Zen master firmly believes that organising more such retreats is a significant way to attain mindfulness.
Addressing a concern raised by Arun Kapur regarding 'the importance of living in coherence with nature', the author of books like Being Peace and The Sun My Heart, responded by illustrating how nature, man and peace are inextricably linked. Further, he quoted Buddha: 'Breathe in and I see water in myself.' Thus, he established how 'everything in the cosmos is present in us' which makes it important for us to 'allow nature to heal us.”
Thich Nhat Hanh ended the delightful discussion by concluding that it is essential in the contemporary world to always 'keep hope alive.'
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