Thich Nhat Hahn Room Featured Communion of Institute of Noetic Sciences’ “Shift in Action”
Beautiful multi-media presentation fully worthy of the topic “The End of Suffering.”
Brooks Cole who hosts the Thich Nhat Hahn Room introduces it in this way:
Very seldom as a media artist do I have the opportunity to be so moved by the material that I am composing with that tears are streaming down my face. But the sheer poignance of the music and spoken word of this room’s soundtrack: “The End of Suffering” from emmy award-winning composer and IONS luminary Gary Malkin and his partner Michael Stillwater, are enough to do just that.
Buddhist Mast Thich Nhat Hahn (Thay)
The Vietnamese Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hahn, invites the bell to sound with these words:
May the sound of the bell penetrate deep into the cosmos.
Even in the darkest spots living beings are able to hear it clearly.
So that all suffering in them cease.
Understanding comes to their heart,
and they transcend the path of sorrow and death.
The universal dharma door is already open;
the sound of the rising tide is already heard clearly.
The miracle happens.
A beautiful child appears in the heart of the lotus flower.
One single drop of this compassionate water
is enough to bring back
the refreshing spring to our mountains and rivers.
Listening to the bell I feel the afflictions in me dissolve.
My mind is calm, my body relaxed.
A smile is born on my lips.
Following the sound of the bell,
my breath brings me back to the safe island of mindfulness.
In the garden of my heart, the flowers of peace bloom beautifully.
Graceful Passages is a compilation of music paired with spoken messages about loss and dying from 12 of the world’s most profound wisdom keepers—Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Thich Nhat Hanh, The Rev. Alan Jones, Elisabeth Kubler- Ross, and Ram Dass, among others.
Janet, you are on a roll with all of these posts! You are busting out all over with inspiration and insight, and it’s so much that I can barely take it in. This is an arts magazine, a journal of connection, an anthology of inspiration. I don’t think you can call it a blog any more. It’s too big, too wide, too deep. I love it! I have only one question: Are you remembering to breathe?
Susan
susanjtweit.com