Story: Finding Peace Through PEACE AND JUSTICE >> Lesson 2: Thich Nhat Hanh—Peace Activist

Eight point: By calling ourselves there. A good teacher touches the seed, allowing it to wake up, to sprout, and to grow.” progressive Christians, we mean we are Christians who strive for peace • Nurture the seeds of wisdom in yourself by practicing the pebble meditation (see Closing the and justice among all people. Lesson) several times during the week prior to teaching this lesson. Affirmation: I act with inner peace • Notice how you feel as you focus on a flower, and fairness in all I do. mountain, still water, and the sky. What insights come to you? Write them down after your Getting to the Heart of the Lesson meditation.

Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced Tik Not Hawn) • Share appropriate aspects of your experience when was born North in 1926. He is called Thay you introduce the meditation to the children. (pronounced Tay or Tie), which means “teacher” in Vietnamese. His teachings focus on mindfulness and Quotations by Thich Nhat Hanh meditation. I do not think there is that much difference between In the story about Thich Nhat Hanh’s life, children Christians and Buddhists. Most of the boundaries we will hear about an experience that he had as a child, have created between our two traditions are artificial. as well as how he used the practice of mindfulness to Truth has no boundaries. help when he was homesick. Afterwards, they will practice a quiet breathing meditation created by Thich Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but Nhat Hanh especially for children. Sitting quietly may sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. be challenging for some children; however, doing an art activity before the meditation and using pebbles The true miracle is not walking on water or walking in (small rocks or marbles) during the meditation will air, but simply walking on this earth. help them focus. Mindfulness is a kind of light that shines upon all your This lesson focuses on the ways Thich Nhat Hanh thoughts, all your feelings, all your actions, and all your stood up for his beliefs. No matter what happened words. Mindfulness is the equivalent of the Holy Spirit, to him, he kept doing what he thought would bring the energy of God. about peace. The stories exemplify what Thich Nhat Hanh believes should be taught about peace. When you have peace within, real peace with others is possible. Teacher Reflection Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I Thich Nhat Hanh says, “You cannot transmit wisdom smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the and insight to another person. The seed is already only moment.

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Bible Verse or more pictures of flowers, mountains, still lakes with reflections, and beautiful sky (calendars and magazines Book of Thomas 3: NHL 118 are good sources for these kinds of photos), crayons, Jesus said: When you come to know yourselves, then you pebbles in a large bowl (at least four pebbles, rocks or will be known and you will see that you are children marbles per child), a real flower (optional) of God (the living Father). But if you will not know yourselves you will dwell in poverty. 1. Explain that they can help their minds become still and clear, just like Thuy’s glass of apple juice Opening the Lesson by doing a breathing meditation. It’s called the pebble meditation. But before they learn the Tell the children, “Today we continue to talk about meditation, they will first decorate an envelope peace and justice. We are going to learn about a man that will hold their pebbles. named Thich Nhat Hanh. He stood up for his beliefs no matter what happened to him. He kept doing 2. Show one or more of the flower pictures, or use what he thought would bring peace to the world, by real flowers. Ask, “How might you feel if you were helping others in need and by teaching inner peace like a flower?” Take children’s responses. Mention and mindfulness.” the words “beautiful” or “fresh” if the children don’t volunteer these words. Mindful Movements 3. Show the mountain pictures and ask, ”How In lesson six on , you taught the children might you feel if you were like a mountain?” Take ten mindful movements created by Thich Nhat Hanh. responses, adding the words “solid,” “firm,” and Open this lesson by doing several or all of those “concentrated” if necessary. movements with the children. You can view Thich Nhat Hanh doing the movements online by googling “Thich 4. Show the still lake pictures and ask, “How might Nhat Hanh Ten Mindful Movements.” Reviewing the you feel if you were a still lake?” Take responses and movements will make the connection between Thich point out that because the water is so calm, it can Nhat Hanh and Buddhism. (Thich Nhat Hanh is a reflect whatever is around it, such as mountains, Buddhist, not a Tibetan Buddhist, but you do not sky, trees, etc. need to make a distinction with your children.) 5. Show the photo of the sky and ask, “How might Building the Lesson it feel if you were as a wide as the blue sky above you?” Take responses and add the words, “spacious Read the story. Visuals will help children relate to — space all around you” and “free.” Thich Nhat Hanh’s life. While reading, show children pictures of the Buddha, Plum Village, and Thich Nhat 6. Give each child an envelope and crayons and Hanh (available online). You may also want to use a invite them to draw a scene on the front of the world map to locate Vietnam and France. envelope that includes a beautiful flower, a solid mountain, a still lake, and the blue sky. Discuss the questions at the end of the story. 7. When finished, have them choose four pebbles Art Activity: Preparing for the Pebble Meditation from the bowl.

Materials needed: white envelope for each child, one 8. If some of the children finish before others, they

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may draw another scene on the back of their Put that pebble down and pick up a third pebble. envelopes. When everyone is finished have them Breathe in and see yourself as clear lake of water. put their pebbles in their envelopes and gather in Breathe out and feel yourself so calm that you can reflect the altar area in a circle. everything around you. Breathe in, water ... breathe out, reflection. Closing the lesson In, water ... out, reflection.

Pebble Meditation (takes about 10 minutes) Put that pebble down and pick up the last pebble. Breathe in and imagine that you are the big open blue sky. Materials needed: envelopes filled with pebbles Breathe out and feel space all around you and inside of (created by the children), one small glass of apple juice you. You are free. per child Breathe in, sky ... breathe out, free. In, sky ... out, free. 1. Explain to the children that during the meditation they will use their imaginations to feel like a flower, 6. You may end the meditation by ringing a bell three a mountain, a still lake, and the big sky. times (a Buddhist practice). Have children pick up their pebbles and put them in their envelopes. 2. Have them take their four pebbles out of their Mention that they can practice this meditation on envelopes and place the pebbles in front of them. their own at home and teach it to their parents.

3. Ask them to sit with their backs straight and their 7. Enjoy a drink of apple juice together. shoulders relaxed. They can close their eyes. Note: The Pebble Meditationby Tich Nhat Hanh is 4. Begin with three rounds of deep breathing, guiding available in booklet form online. the children by slowly saying “breathe in…breathe out.” Pace the breathing to the children’s energy Story: Thich Nhat Hanh throughout the entire meditation. As the children become calmer, their breathing will slow down. Note: This story focuses on an early transformative experience that Thich Nhat Hanh had as a child. 5. Continue with the script below: Through this experience, he says he found “the Buddha inside of himself.” This is an abstract concept Pick up one of your pebbles and hold it in your hand. for children to understand; but the message that they, Close your eyes. too, can find peace and happiness inside of themselves Breathe in and see yourself as a flower. is important to give to children. The story is divided Breathe out, feel yourself fresh. You are beautiful. into two parts. To keep children’s attention, you may Breathe in, flower ... breathe out, fresh. take a “mindfulness break” between the two parts, In, flower ... out, fresh. doing one of the Mindful Movements.

Put that pebble down and pick up another pebble. Part One — Thich Nhat Hanh’s Childhood Experience Breathe in and see yourself as a mountain. Breathe out and feel yourself solid. Nothing can distract you. Thich Nhat Hanh was born in North Vietnam. Now Breathe in, mountain . . . breathe out, solid he is a Buddhist teacher, and his students call him In, mountain ... out, solid. Thay (pronounced Tay or Tie), which means “teacher” in Vietnamese. When Thay was about 7 years old,

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he saw a picture of the Buddha in a magazine. He look deeply, your hermit will be revealed to you. It thought the Buddha looked so peaceful and happy is inside of you. In fact, all the wonderful things that that he decided that he wanted to become peaceful you are looking for — happiness, peace, and joy — just like the Buddha. can be found inside of you. You do not need to look anywhere else.” One day Thay’s school class took a trip to the top of a nearby mountain where a hermit lived alone. He was When Thay was 16, he joined a monastery and lived eager to meet the hermit and learn from him how to with others who wanted to practice mindfulness be happy and peaceful like the Buddha. The day before and find peace inside themselves. Although he had a the trip he prepared food for a picnic, rice balls with peaceful life at the monastery, his country was at war. sesame seeds and peanuts. He watched many people suffering and he wanted to help. He organized groups of young people to rebuild When they arrived at the mountain, Thay and his villages and help the injured. He encouraged people friends quickly climbed up and up until they finally to find peaceful solutions to their differences. He even came to a small hut. But to their disappointment, came all the way to the United States to talk about the the hermit wasn’t there. They looked all around, but importance of peace. couldn’t find him. The other boys were thirsty and hungry and headed back down the mountain to have But many people in Vietnam wanted the war to lunch. Thay was tired and very thirsty too, but he continue. They declared, “We want to fight until didn’t want to give up and kept looking for the hermit. the end.” They didn’t like Thay encouraging others to become peaceful, and when he tried to return to Then, off in the distance, he heard the sound of water. Vietnam, the government wouldn’t let him in. He no It was lovely — like the sound of tinkling music. He longer had a home. followed the sound and soon discovered a pool of cool, clear water coming out of a natural well in the rocks. He was angry, sad, and worried. He said, “I was like a He scooped up the water in his hands and drank. It bee taken out of the beehive.” Every night he dreamed was so delicious! As he relaxed next to the well, he felt that he was home in Vietnam; but when he woke up, so happy and contented that he didn’t even mind that he wasn’t there. So he used the practice of mindfulness he hadn’t found the hermit. to get in touch with the trees, the birds, the flowers, the children, and the people wherever he was. He Then he had a thought ... maybe the hermit had discovered that he was at home no matter where he magically transformed himself into the cool, fresh was living. water. Thay was calm, peaceful, and happy inside. Just like the Buddha. Thay continued to work for peace. Eventually the war in his country ended, but he wasn’t allowed to visit Thay has written about that day on the mountain his home for 39 years. In the meantime, he started saying, “I met my hermit in the form of a well. The a community in France called Plum Village, which is image of the well and the sound of dripping water where he lives now. Plum Village is a place for people to are still alive in my today. You, too, may have met come to practice peace, meditation, and mindfulness. your hermit. Perhaps not as a well but as something else equally marvelous. Perhaps it was a rock, a tree, a star, or a Part Two — Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village beautiful sunset. The hermit is the Buddha inside of you. Experience

Maybe you haven’t met your hermit yet, but if you At Plum Village lived a little girl named Thuy with

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her father. She was only 4 1/2 years old. When her with lots of thoughts all floating around at the father had to go to the city to find work, Thay took same time? care of her. Thuy and Thay agreed that when it was time for him to do his “sitting meditation,” she would 2. Thay felt total peace and happiness when he was brush her teeth, put on her pajamas, and go to bed. at the well. Have you ever felt happy and peaceful For many days, they followed this nightly routine— on the inside? Where were you when you felt that? Thay meditated and Thuy slept quietly. 3. Have you ever been away from home and felt On a hot afternoon Thuy came in from playing homesick? What did you do to feel better? What outside. She was very thirsty, so Thay poured her did Thay do? some cold apple juice. Because the juice had just been freshly pressed, there was a lot of apple pulp floating 4. When you feel calmness on the inside, how do in the glass. Thuy refused to drink it because it was you act on the outside? How do you treat others cloudy. She pouted and went back outside. Thay left when you are feeling loving, calm and peaceful on the glass of juice on the table. the inside?

After an hour had passed, Thuy came back inside 5. Can you be as still as an apple? Can your busy thirstier than ever. Thay pointed to the apple juice mind be as quiet as a pebble? sitting on the table. She picked it and eagerly drank half of it. “Is this a different glass?” she asked. Aspects of Thich Nhat Hanh’s life emphasized in this lesson: “No,” Thay said. “It’s the same glass. It has had been sitting quietly for a bit and now it’s clear and delicious.” • You can find peace (also called the Buddha or the Holy Spirit) inside of yourself. Thay experienced Thuy looked at the glass and asked, “Was it meditating peace at the well just by drinking the cool water. like you?” • Following a path of peace may require that you Thay replied, “Let’s say that I imitate apple juice when give up something. Thay had to give up his I sit.” country because he continued to speak out for peace and reconciliation. Now when he teaches meditation, he explains that we should just let our thoughts settle to the bottom of our • Practicing meditation and mindfulness will help minds so that they can be clear, just as the pulp from the you find that peace within. When Thay was exiled apple juice settled out in the glass, leaving the juice clear. he practiced mindfulness until he no longer missed his country. Sources: A Pebble for Your Pocket, The Hermit and the Well, and The Sun My Heart all written by Thich Nhat Background Information Hanh. You can hear The Hermit and the Well read aloud in its entirety by Googling “Hermit and the Well As a seven-year-old boy, amidst the suffering and by Thich Nhat Hanh read by Moon Panther.” destruction that war had brought to Vietnam, Thich Nhat Hanh had a profound transformative experience. Discussion Questions He was sitting on the grass and saw a picture of the Buddha on the cover of a magazine. He was impressed 1. Do you sometimes feel that your mind is filled with the Buddha’s serenity and wanted to be like him.

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At the age of 16 he joined a Zen Buddhist monastery.

During the war in Vietnam in the early 1960s, he founded a grassroots relief organization that rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools and medical centers, resettled homeless families, and organized agricultural cooperatives. His organization was based on the Buddhist principles of nonviolence and compassionate action.

After visiting the U.S. and Europe in 1966 on a peace mission, he was banned from returning to Vietnam. Despite his exile, he continued to speak out for peace. He met with U.S. government officials with a goal to stop the war in Vietnam. He also urged Martin Luther King to publicly oppose the war, which energized the . (King subsequently nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the in 1967, calling him “an apostle of peace and nonviolence.”)

Thich Nhat Hanh settled in Southern France and founded Plum Village, the practice center and monastery where he teaches, writes, and gardens. He also leads retreats worldwide on the art of mindful living. His teachings and practices appeal to people from various religious, spiritual, and political backgrounds. He has published more than 100 books, including more than 40 in English.

Key dates in Thich Nhat Hanh’s life

• 1926: Born in North Vietnam • 1942: Became a monk • 1960s: Worked for peace in Vietnam • 1966: Exiled from Vietnam for peace activism • 1967: Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize • 1980: Founded Plum Village, where he lives today

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