Tour Reflections

Summary

This talk is a travel report and Dharma teaching from Thich Nhat Hanh, delivered on 31 October 2013 at Upper Hamlet’s Stillwater meditation hall before the winter retreat. He recounts a long teaching tour across North America, including Canada and the United States, and reflects on how the trip unfolded with unusual weather patterns, especially rain arriving where monasteries and retreatants needed it most. He describes visits to Blue Cliff Monastery in New York, Magnolia Grove Monastery in Mississippi, and Deer Park Monastery in California, emphasizing the practical importance of rain for forests, tents, and retreat life. He frames the rain as a collective prayer offered not just by himself, but by all species on Mother Earth, illustrating his ecological and interdependent view of life. A central theme of the talk is mindfulness as a living presence rather than a symbol. Thich Nhat Hanh repeatedly explains that the Buddha is not merely represented by statues, signs, or ritual language, but is present whenever one is truly mindful. He encourages listeners to ask whether the Buddha is in their car, bus, van, plane, or walking meditation, and to use bells, chanting, and awareness of breathing to keep that presence alive. He also recalls a pilgrimage in India with many buses and bells, using that example to show how collective mindfulness can support a group. The talk stresses that one mindful person can transform the atmosphere of an entire vehicle or gathering. He then broadens the teaching to the nature of practice itself. He argues that suffering and happiness are inseparable, like the recto and verso of a sheet of paper. He rejects the idea that enlightenment means the absence of suffering; instead, he says that a Buddha knows how to suffer skillfully and lightly, without creating the “second arrow” of mental anguish, blame, or rumination. He uses examples of illness, accident, grief, and the death of Sariputra to show that suffering is part of life, but mindfulness allows one to transform it into understanding and joy. In this view, practice does not eliminate difficulty; it changes one’s relationship to it. Another major section concerns the need for a spiritual dimension in modern life, especially for laypeople, business leaders, and professionals. Thich Nhat Hanh describes invitations to teach at the World Bank, Google, Harvard University, Stanford University, and among CEOs in Silicon Valley. He explains that these institutions were initially surprised to host a monk, but many participants were deeply moved by the experience. At the World Bank, he notes that employees and leadership were transformed by two days of mindfulness, and at Google he challenged engineers to imagine technologies that would help people return to themselves rather than become more distracted or alienated. He imagines devices that could detect anger, despair, or stress and gently remind users to breathe, stop, call a loved one, or return to the present moment. He also discusses the relationship between technology, consumption, and alienation. Modern civilization, he suggests, often encourages people to run away from themselves and from Mother Earth through constant consumption and distraction. In response, he proposes a balance between daily concerns and spiritual concerns. Money, fame, work, and practical responsibilities are not rejected, but they must be balanced with peace, joy, friendship, and mindfulness. He refers to the four nutriments taught by the Buddha and highlights volition as a crucial inner food that can direct people toward steadiness and well-being. He also mentions that making money without caring for one’s body and mind is itself a form of harm. The talk closes with a detailed itinerary of the tour, including Toronto, New York, Boston, Memphis, Mississippi, Deer Park, Pasadena, Los Angeles, Google, Stanford, Facebook, Twitter, and Auckland. He notes public lectures, retreats in Vietnamese and English, days of mindfulness, and a calligraphy exhibition in New York. Throughout, the talk presents a coherent message: mindfulness, compassion, and spiritual practice are essential not only for monastics but for everyone, including business and technology leaders, and they are the foundation for true happiness, healing, and human connection.