Dharma teacher Denise Nguyen shares her poem as it was translated by Thích Nhất Hạnh
I remember the first time Thầy and I bonded over poetry. It was in 1987 at the summer retreat in Plum Village, then referred to as Làng Hồng in Vietnamese. I was a teenager at the time, persuaded to come to Loubès-Bernac as a condition for my mother agreeing to take me to Paris on holiday. I was not pleased as we traveled faurther away from the excitement of the City of Lights to rural southwestern France.
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Dharma teacher Denise Nguyen shares her poem as it was translated by Thích Nhất Hạnh
I remember the first time Thầy and I bonded over poetry. It was in 1987 at the summer retreat in Plum Village, then referred to as Làng Hồng in Vietnamese. I was a teenager at the time, persuaded to come to Loubès-Bernac as a condition for my mother agreeing to take me to Paris on holiday. I was not pleased as we traveled faurther away from the excitement of the City of Lights to rural southwestern France. But as many of us have experienced, the magic of Plum Village, the camaraderie of lay practitioners from around the world, and of course, the deep Dharma talks by Thầy soon made me not want to leave. I felt awakened. And I expressed it with pen to paper.
I remember the first poem I handed to Thầy. It was about feeling like I was really seeing the moon for the first time after Thầy led us in moon-gazing meditation. Perhaps Thầy remembered that poem as well when he gave me the name True Moon Lamp (Chân Nguyệt Đăng) at my Order of Interbeing ordination in 1991.
During the course of that summer retreat, I left more poems for Thầy. But it was this one in particular that he invited me to read in front of the retreatants after his Dharma talk. It was on my last day before my mother and I traveled back to the United States, and I wanted to express my experience of Plum Village. And it was this poem that he chose to translate into Vietnamese and read the translation before the gathering. Needless to say, his translation is so much more lyrical and beautiful than my teenage (or adult) mind could ever muster.
It’s been stored for safekeeping all these years, but in commemoration of Thầy’s 100th continuation day, and with deep love for our dear Teacher, I’m happy to share it with you today.
English Translation
Today I say goodbye to Làng Hồng
Yet my love and remembrance will never fade
Throughout the day, friends gathered together
The bell of mindfulness softly resounding through every hour
From the five continents, we came to one home
Living in peace, and free from sorrow and grief
We held each other gently in our loving arms
So this love may continue to embrace all five corners of the earth
We vow to release all violence and hatred
With one deep aspiration to cultivate lasting peace for generations to come
As I leave, I carry with me the beloved presence of Thay, our dear teacher
Who has dedicated his life to nurturing all of us on this path.
Diễm Trang
8 August 1987
