from the Committee on Ministry and Counsel
This month’s Reading for Reflection is from the writings of Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh and members of the Plum Village community he founded. Thich Nhat Hanh’s work has been important to thinkers such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Thomas Merton.
A Collective Awakening
In order to save our planet Earth, we must have a collective awakening. Individual awakening is not enough. That is why one Buddha is not enough.
It has been said that the Buddha of the future…is not an individual but a community. If so, it is certainly a community of people practicing to live in the present, transform their own suffering, and help awaken others. It is a community of people who care about each other. Letting their own light shine, and being a light unto themselves, they also make light for the rest of the world.
One Buddha Is Not Enough: A Story of Collective Awakening
Thich Nhat Hanh and the Monks and Nuns of Plum Village
Parallax Press, Berkeley, CA, 2010, page 34.