Jan 28 2022
Thich Nhat Hanh – Please Call Me by My True Names
Please Call Me by My True Names
by Thich Nhat Hanh
Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow —
even today I am still arriving.
Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.
I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.
I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.
I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.
I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.
I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.
I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his “debt of blood” to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.
My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.
— from Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh, by Thich Nhat Hanh
/ Image by AlicePopkorn /
This past week the great soul – spiritual teacher, peace activist, embodiment of compassion – Thich Nhat Hanh passed away at the age of 95.
Thich Nhat Hanh has been such an important international figure of spirituality, integrity, and compassion, all combined with peace activism, that his passing will be felt by so many across the globe.
Perhaps more than any other, this is the poem I think of first when I think of Thich Nhat Hanh, so I thought I would share it again today.
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This is a lovely, unflinching meditation on how all of being and all of human experience weaves together into a single tapestry of the whole. It can even draw comparisons with Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” where everything, terrible and beautiful, is one, is witnessed, and is found within oneself.
Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow —
even today I am still arriving.
Most of us have learned to anticipate what will happen next, and we end up mentally dwelling in our fantasies and fears about the future. But the future is merely an idea; it never has reality. The present moment is all that is ever real. And that is where we must dwell if we want to truly be alive and know what is real.
The present is a state of “still arriving.” Because the present moment is not a fixed space in time, we can’t say that anything encountered in the present is fixed and settled either. The present is a gossamer thin, moving thread of light where all things are just barely stepping into the visibility of being… as the moment keeps moving. Everything, everyone, in every second is always just arriving. The present is a continuous becoming.
Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest…
Another fascinating thing is discovered when we truly, deeply perceive the present moment: Not only are we and all things “still arriving,” but the illusion of boundaries and separate being falls away. The notion of identity expands and recognizes itself just as naturally in all things witnessed. We find we are not just the person watching the bud on the Spring branch, but in our arriving we are equally the Spring bud itself, the young bird, the caterpillar in the flower, the jewel waiting in the stone. This is not some poetic game of words; it is what we actually perceive ourselves to be.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.
When we finally see this truth, for the first time we can truly witness the world as it is. And that is what this poem is most about: witnessing. Thich Nhat Hanh invites us to courageously witness the panorama of life, wonders and horrors alike. Through this honest witnessing, we are not spectators watching others from a distance; no, it all unfolds upon us and in us. We are witnessing ourselves in many forms. We recognize that anything that happens anywhere in the world, is actually happening to us. Everything done, is done by ourselves… to ourselves. There is no unfolding experience in the world that we are not participants in.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.
This is why compassion is not altruistic. This is why service is no effort. When we finally see things as they are, it is all part of our own selves. When we offer our heart, when we offer our hand, we are simply helping ourselves. Who among us, when he touches a hot iron, doesn’t immediately pull back and then soothe the burn under cool water? That’s not altruism, it is the natural response to pain in one’s body. When we see clearly, we see we are all of one body, and the joys and pains of any other is our own as well.
Compassion and a heart that has broken open are the natural result of being awake to this truth, and they are no effort at all.
Recommended Books: Thich Nhat Hanh
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| Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh | The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering Into Peace, Joy & Liberation | |||
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Thich Nhat Hanh
Vietnam/France/US (1926 – 2022) Timeline |
I’ve loved this poem since finding it 1993 in Stephen Levine’s book, Healing into life and death. Such a dark time. I had a chance to read it last Friday night at a poetry open mic. Planet Earth Poetry.What a blessing Thay was to the world. Often mentioned at Upaya zen centre winter practice period.
This poem shows so well the depth of the well of love that moved this man of peace and action.
His legacy lives on in his life of peace, notably at Plum Village.
We do well to remember and pay tribute to honourable Thich Nhat Hanh.
Thank you Ivan for finding the words.
Great poem, thank you for sharing, Iwan!!
Brother Thich is a great example of compassionate enlightened poet.
He has compassion even with very difficult persons such as violent pirates and cold Politburo members sending thousands of people to the Gulag!
If more people like Thich were around the world would be a true paradise!
I was reading Thich Nhat Hanh long before I even knew about Thomas Merton, and this
is a favorite poem. Thomas Merton said Thich Nhat Hanh and I are brothers and I loved
that thought. Thank you Ivan for sharing about his death. I wondered if I would learn
of that. His writing has certainly helped us grow in the understanding of peace and love.
Thay will live on in my heart forever. I have gained nourishment for my practice from him and will always be in his debt.