Joyfully Together
I have not met Master Thich Nhat Hahn, though I was privileged to spend an afternoon in his presence. Even from a distance, in Boston's cavernous Hynes Auditorium, even without a microphone, his gentle strength touched every heart, man and woman, bhikshu and layperson alike: you knew that by fate or by accident (the difference between the two being simply one of belief) you had come into the presence of a great spirit, and gave thanks.
My mother, who has always been an avid explorer of the languages and the wisdom traditions of the world, had mentioned his name as someone she had been reading, someone she respected. As some form of fate or coincidence (the difference between the two being simply one of faith), I heard that Thich Nhat Hahn was going to be in town the same weekend as she was. I asked if she wanted to go, were I to find tickets; she said yes; I did; and we went.
In preparation for the event, I picked up a few of his books from the library, to learn something about the man and his teachings. One of them was a small paperback called Joyfully Together - The Art of Building a Harmonious Community.
Words can take many forms. They can rattle off our ears or rage against our hearts. They can be subtle seeds the sink down deeply, waiting the right moment to be understood. They can be spoken or sung in unison, weaving a soft fabric of togetherness, that might drift in the air or dissolve in rain when the song or the recitation has ended. They can also be an affirmation, a ripe fruit that falls into your hand as you walk beneath the branches of a life-tree, some tree-of-life. I read the words of Joyfully Together in this way: words I had almost formed myself, or was in practice of forming; words for which I had been waiting. Probably they were seeded in my Midwestern Lutheran childhood values, in mid-america's Bible stories, in fenceless German and Scandinavian farm towns.
This month the Odonata Community is reading Joyfully Together as a shared study. It is a wonderful companion to building a circle of humans and a village, an excellent guide to growing in compassion, and I am delighted to revisit it, these years later, in a different context, as though sitting quietly with an old friend:
"Ever since I was a young monk, my dream has been to build a happy Sangha. Now, after sixty years of monastic practice, I continue to feel that Sangha building is the most precious work that we can do as practitioners. The Sangha is our community of practice, and it is also our refuge. We rely on it and trust it to support our deepest aspirations and to give us energy and inspiration on the path of practice"
...
"Any group of people can practice as a Sangha, as a community that is determined to live in harmony and awareness. All we have to do is commit ourselves to going together in the direction of peace, joy, and freedom. Together, we benefit from each other's strengths and learn from each other's weaknesses. A family is a Sangha; the members of a monastic and lay practice center are a Sangha; even the United Nations is a Sangha! A Sangha is a family, a spiritual family connected by the practices of mindfulness, concentration, and insight. The Sangha may be Buddhist, or even non-Buddhist, so long as it is a community that walks the path of liberation together."
...
"Please be courageous in your efforts to apply these teachings to your own life for the benefit of yourself, your family, your community, and your world."
- Thich Nhat Hahn, from the Introduction to Joyfully Together
Sometimes I wish that I had read these words earlier; that perhaps my steps would not have taken me wandering so far afield, only to arrive back at what was in fact a beginning. But then, as coincidence, happy accident, fate, or faith would have it, I have landed here, here we are, with great guidance and good intentions to live now as well as we might. And I find that all my history of wisdom instruction echoes through me, as Thich Nhat Hahn's words do tonight: what greater purpose than to dedicate oneself to "living in harmony and awareness"? And what greater gift than to go there in good company?





