Sayings at Blue Cliff

In my last trip to the Blue Cliff Monastery, I met a few monks and nuns who taught me some lessons that I still remember till today. Because they have sticked with me for so long, I want to write them down here to share with you and for me to go back when I need them. They will be organized by the order I received them and the person who gave it to me.

Brother Phap Lac

On the second day of the retreat, the Truong Xuan sangha brought me to meet Brother Phap Lac (see a past Dharma talk by him). He mentored the group every month or so. This time, he met them at Thay’s Hut (where Respected Thay stayed during his time at Blue Cliff). On that day, he made excellent tea for each of us.

Thay’s Hut is the hut in the background. In front of the hut is a fire pit circle. Our friend named H. is reading a book there.

Everyone of you should maintain their own spiritual practice in some way. It doesn’t have to be Plum Village or Buddhism. Whatever it is, it will help you get through tough times.

My impression of religious people is that they always want to convert people into their religion. On UTD campus, I usually get approached by from religious missionaries, for example to offering free religious reading courses. But here, Thay Phap Lac doesn’t care about converting more people into his religion. Instead, he truly thinks spiritual practices are important to everyone. He talked about the moment he saw Respected Thay at the LA airport, where thay walked undisturbedly and calmly as if all the chaos around could never do anything to him. He said that that kind of energy and mindfulness is worth studying, regardless of one’s religion.

We depend on other people more than you think. For example, if your parents are ill, there is no way you can sit here comfortably.

This quote is just a nice evidence for the concept of interbeing in Thay’s teaching. This concept says that everything depends on each other to exist. Therefore, you depend on many many things around you, including people and things you hate or ignore. As a result, it is the reason for us to be compassionate with people and events happening to us.

Brother Phap Khoi

In the morning of the third day, there was a Dharma talk by Thay Phap Khoi. During meal times, I noticed Thay Phap Khoi casually hanged out with young people in the Truong Xuan sangha. But on stage, he radiated a refreshing wisdom to everyone. His talk is fortunately recorded here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI7FnXMIlZE

Before enlightenment, carry water, chop wood. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.

People who are new to spiritual practices usually wonder how to get enlightened, thinking it would be very cool to be so. However, enlightenment is not an apparent life changing event. In fact, nothing will change on the outlook of a person. They will have to do all the things they have to do, go through all their struggles, love, laugh, cry, and be sad. However, what is different about enlightenment is a high level of mindfulness, mental clarity, and spiritual insights. It is a state of mind.

In the main meditation hall of Blue Cliff hung a big calligraphy of the saying “This is it”. Maybe the happiness you have been looking for is already present around you: your health that enables you to wake up everyday, your family who loves you unconditionally, your freedom to choose what to do and how to react to things around you, etc. Look around, and you will realize that the world is more abundant than you thought.

The Brother Who Camps

On that Sunday morning, after the 5am meditation and stick exercise, I went back to my tent when a voice from the wood called my name. Looking out, I saw the friends from the Trường Xuân group sitting in a circle, asking me to join. They were gathering around a morning fire in front of a Brother whose name I unfortunately forgot.

In this wood we sit in a circle in an early morning, watching wood being burned, drinking tea, eating European snacks, and chatted about life.

This is what a king would feel like. (”Vua chúa cũng chỉ đến thế thôi”)

We were talking about the hut of the Brother. It was a fancy hut, looking like those Mongolian huts seen in historical movies. Inside the hut, there are AC, heater, and a fridge. Outside the hut is apparently a beautiful scene with green leaves, tall trees, and bird songs every morning. Isn’t this monk’s life at a king’s level of sufficiency?

The Calm Sister

On the last lunch before departure, I sat with a senior nun who I never talked to before. Unsurprisingly, she turned out to be a warm and wise one.

Under that tree, at one of those (hidden) tables, I had my conversations with the Sister.

I cannot make myself to do video calls. Talking is not just about transmitting information. It is an exchange of energy. When I sit here with you, I can feel that you are calm and thoughtful. When you chose to sit on this table where I was the only one at it, I felt surprised and was wondering why would such a guy wanted to sit with [an old lady like] me. Then Nhat Tam joined me, making me no longer scared… All of that is never found in a call.

“Exchanges of energy” is a beautiful way to describe human conversations. Some conversations drain me out, while some heal and energize. The difference is in the “energy flow” during the conversation. This might not be something scientific, but it doesn’t matter to me because it well already well explains my communications. Voice calls, video calls, and perhaps AR/VR calls, will never be able to facilitate such energy exchanges found in real-life interactions. And it is not something luxurious. We have access to that everyday, on the streets, at school, at work, at home. Social media and technologies, while connecting us, also hinder our abilities to have energizing physical interactions.

When a person working on nuclear technology asked Thay whether he should continue his dangerous, suffering-causing work, Thay said: “We need mindful people like you to work on such things. We do not want unmindful people to control such dangerous things.”

When I said I work on AI research, the Sister asked me why, given its tendency to harm society so much (via job displacement, misinformation, etc.) I said this is a defining piece of technology of the century, so even when I can’t change anything big, I want to understand how it works and hopefully have some say in its development. The Sister quoted that answer of Thay to further encourage me to continue my career path, knowing that it has such a noble purpose.

• Will there is a new supreme leader of Plum Village?
• Probably not. No one has ever, ever, come near to Thay’s level of insight.

As wise as her, she still thinks Thay’s level of insight is yet reachable. This inspires me to read more, think more, and reflect more. There is so much for me to practice, so many insights about myself, my communities, and my world to explore.