Thich Nhat Hanh Reminds Us of the Ongoing Journey of Life
Robin B. Zeiger, Ph.D.
Buddhist monk, activist, master of mindfulness, inspirational writer, and citizen of the world — Thich Nhat Hanh passed away last week at the age of 95.
I found myself once again looking through my copy of At Home in the World. I have a habit that annoys my husband but helps me tremendously. I highlight important passages in a book. When I return to these quotes it is like returning to an old friend.
This time I found something interesting. Rather than highlighting, I had turned over the corner of a page to an essay entitled, “I’m from the center.” This time around, reading his words in my second half of life, these words captivated me:
One day in the late 1980’s, I was on a panel in Amsterdam. A theologian stood up and asked me about a sentence in “Lotus in a Sea of Fire,” a book I’d written in 1967. I looked at him and said, “I didn’t write that book.” He was very shocked. But the truth was, I was a living being in front of him, and he was interested in a phantom from twenty years earlier. …Each one of us is constantly changing. We don’t need to be caught in an idea of ourselves from many years ago.
This is a powerful interchange.
In a few brief sentences in his “Hanh” way of simplicity, he stops us in our tracks and makes us think. Somehow when we read the works of a philosopher or theorist or religious guide, it is all too easy to assume that the words are etched in stone.
Perhaps, it is a bit akin to the timelessness of the Ten Commandments.
I think I am captivated for two reasons. Firstly, because I am in my second half of life, I find myself drawn to individuals who possess the energy and passion to continue making a difference. Sometimes it is in career. Sometimes it is in politics. Sometimes it is with family and/or community. The wise-old woman and wise-old man become my heroines and heroes.
I love my careers and passions as Jungian analyst and writer. I love my new role as grandmother. I need these people to inspire me in my continued journey. It may be a bit slower these days, but I am convinced it is more passionate and directed.
The second reason, I am caught up in this passage is due to and because of my experiences as a Jungian analyst. For almost four decades, I have been privileged to escort myriads of patients, young and old on the journey we call life. There is one powerful insight I have gained. It is always important to move on.
Individuals sometimes arrive in the temenos (holy space) of psychotherapy stuck in the mud. They are stagnant. We often speak of the importance of the life forces. Energy theory and the concept of conservation of energy is an interesting contributor here. But that is for another article. We are all born with an internal store of energy. We need our energy to be free to assist us in the day-to-day nuances of life.
It is a privilege to witness the birth of a new soul filled with curiosity and passion. The child chases after the firefly and the butterfly and sits sometimes for hours captivated by the industrious ants and the miracle of the tadpoles. When we stop our busy lives for a moment and listen carefully, we hear in the child’s never-ending questions of the “how and why,” the music of a life truly lived in the moment. This too is the message of Hanh and mindfulness.
It is important that our entire life we hold tight to the sparkle and curiosity. Sometimes our limited supply of energy gets caught up in trauma or inner drama. Sometimes, the voices of others chide us to pay too much attention to all the “shoulds” in life.
My heroines and heroes are individuals who grow and develop during their entire life. Perhaps they lose their ability to swim a marathon or climb a mountain. Perhaps, it is time for a leisurely walk in the forest. Yet instead, there are always inner mountains to climb… Life is rich and fascinating if we grasp hold of it and never let go. Nature reminds us of the splendid and the Godly. Our world-wide-web reminds us of the power of information, science, and the creativity of humankind. We are always blessed with the I-Thou of intimate relationships.
How do we get there? The secret is both very simple and very difficult. We must nurture, honor, and encourage the young child inside of us. We must not chide this child to grow up and behave like an adult. Yes, we need an adult inside to function in our daily life to develop a career and find a place to live and pay the bills. However, never abandon the curious inner child who dares to hope for the treasure at the end of the rainbow.
I am reminded of another hero of mine, Mahātmā Gandhi.
He is credited with saying:
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
When researching this saying, I discovered via an interesting social justice group, Genesis (more information at end of article) that Gandhi apparently did not quite say this. Rather he said:
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme.”
Hahn reminds us that life is a never-ending journey. We are encouraged to begin and nurture change from within throughout our whole life. How wonderful it is to say we did not write the book.
***The above quote of Mahātmā Gandhi (1869–1948) is from Genesis, a non-profit in California. Their website offers their mission statement is to unite and activate multiracial, income-diverse communities to promote effective, equitable solutions to stubborn reginal problems.
Robin B. Zeiger is a practicing Jungian psychoanalyst and a free-lance writer.
She is a member of the:
International Association of Analytical Psychology. and the Israel Institute of Jungian Psychology in honor of Erich Neumann. She can be reached at rbzeiger@yahoo.com.
