Tribute to Thich Nhat Hanh from UK Dharma Teachers

Dear Thay,

This is the 49th day after your continuation. We are aware of your presence with us. We see you in the plum blossom. We feel you in the spring breeze. We hear you in the birdsong. Thank you for helping us to wake up to this precious life, on this exquisite planet.

Thank you for your work and energy in teaching and travelling. Among the many, many worldwide requests for your valuable time you committed to visiting the UK so many times. You led retreats at Ulverston, at Dartington, at Battisborough, at Witley, twice at Wymondham, at Stourbridge, at St Andrews, and three times at Nottingham. You gave public talks in London, Edinburgh and Birmingham, and met with MPs at the Houses of Parliament. Thank you for your vision and encouragement to establish a practice centre in the UK. Thank you for your generosity and patience.

You have touched so many hearts and minds with the refreshing experience of peace and presence. You have created the conditions for countless people to experience these precious ways of being. You have given us the tools to generate peace and presence for ourselves. Thank you for your great skill in transmitting the teachings. You have spoken to our hearts in a language, and with a clarity, that we can understand. We are profoundly grateful for these opportunities to learn and grow. We have sat at your feet in the Dharma hall, listened to recorded talks, and read from your many books. We have discussed your teachings, and laughed and cried, in Dharma discussions. Thank you for this wise heart based practice.

We have great respect for your kindness, integrity and vision. We have watched you plant your feet firmly and gently on the earth. We have watched you walk your talk. We know that you have lived with great loss and sadness, through conflict and injustice. We are inspired by your ability to grow understanding, energy, and compassion from this depth of suffering. We have sat with you on the verandah and absorbed the beauty of the moon. Thank you for teaching us not to drown in our sorrows, and to take in the good, the beautiful and the true.

We are your continuation. We sense your support in each conscious breath that steadies us. We will do our best to take good care of our thoughts and feelings, and to take good care of each other.  Life in the marketplace can be confusing and tiring. We will use what understanding and energy we have to do our best moment by moment. We will try to light candles and to care for our fear of the darkness. Our candles vary in size and strength, we know they each have value.

Dear teacher, our respect and gratitude is profound. Thank you for your many blessings. You continue with steadiness and happiness in the sangha, in our practice, in us.

The UK Dharma Teachers, on behalf of the UK Sangha