{"id":8686,"date":"2026-03-06T10:33:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8686"},"modified":"2026-03-06T10:33:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:33:58","slug":"thich-nhat-hanh-looking-for-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/06\/thich-nhat-hanh-looking-for-each-other\/","title":{"rendered":"Thich Nhat Hanh – Looking for Each Other"},"content":{"rendered":"

Looking for Each Other
\nby Thich Nhat Hanh<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

I have been looking for you, World Honored One,
\nsince I was a little child.
\nWith my first breath, I heard your call,
\nand began to look for you, Blessed One.
\nI\u2019ve walked so many perilous paths,
\nconfronted so many dangers,
\nendured despair, fear, hopes, and memories.
\nI\u2019ve trekked to the farthest regions, immense and wild,
\nsailed the vast oceans,
\ntraversed the highest summits, lost among the clouds.
\nI\u2019ve lain dead, utterly alone,
\non the sands of ancient deserts.
\nI\u2019ve held in my heart so many tears of stone.<\/p>\n

Blessed One, I\u2019ve dreamed of drinking dewdrops
\nthat sparkle with the light of far-off galaxies.
\nI\u2019ve left footprints on celestial mountains
\nand screamed from the depths of Avici Hell, exhausted, crazed with despair
\nbecause I was so hungry, so thirsty.
\nFor millions of lifetimes,
\nI\u2019ve longed to see you,
\nbut didn\u2019t know where to look.
\nYet, I\u2019ve always felt your presence with a mysterious certainty.<\/p>\n

I know that for thousands of lifetimes,
\nyou and I have been one,
\nand the distance between us is only a flash of thought.
\nJust yesterday while walking alone,
\nI saw the old path strewn with Autumn leaves,
\nand the brilliant moon, hanging over the gate,
\nsuddenly appeared like the image of an old friend.
\nAnd all the stars confirmed that you were there!
\nAll night, the rain of compassion continued to fall,
\nwhile lightning flashed through my window
\nand a great storm arose,
\nas if Earth and Sky were in battle.
\nFinally in me the rain stopped, the clouds parted.
\nThe moon returned,
\nshining peacefully, calming Earth and Sky.
\nLooking into the mirror of the moon, suddenly
\nI saw myself,
\nand I saw you smiling, Blessed One.
\nHow strange!<\/p>\n

The moon of freedom has returned to me,
\neverything I thought I had lost.
\nFrom that moment on,
\nand in each moment that followed,
\nI saw that nothing had gone.
\nThere is nothing that should be restored.
\nEvery flower, every stone, and every leaf recognize me.
\nWherever I turn, I see you smiling
\nthe smile of no-birth and no-death.
\nThe smile I received while looking at the mirror of the moon.
\nI see you sitting there, solid as Mount Meru,
\ncalm as my own breath,
\nsitting as though no raging fire storm ever occurred,
\nsitting in complete peace and freedom.
\nAt last I have found you, Blessed One,
\nand I have found myself.
\nThere I sit.<\/p>\n

The deep blue sky,
\nthe snow-capped mountains painted against the horizon,
\nand the shining red sun sing with joy.
\nYou, Blessed One, are my first love.
\nThe love that is always present, always pure, and freshly new.
\nAnd I shall never need a love that will be called \u201clast.\u201d
\nYou are the source of well-being flowing through numberless troubled lives,
\nthe water from your spiritual stream always pure, as it was in the beginning.
\nYou are the source of peace,
\nsolidity, and inner freedom.
\nYou are the Buddha, the Tathagata.
\nWith my one-pointed mind
\nI vow to nourish your solidity and freedom in myself
\nso I can offer solidity and freedom to countless others,
\nnow and forever.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh<\/a>, by Thich Nhat Hanh<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Jan Canty<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

It seems that the Trump and Netanyahu regimes have initiated war on the global stage. There are, of course, several reasons why such a move has come about, from elites making what they perceive as endgame moves for essential resources to national pride, with a large dose of profoundly misguided ideas about what their religion teaches them. <\/p>\n

Since we regularly look at what healthy religion and spirituality is, I wanted to take a moment to explore with you that aspect of this worsening situation. I hope this discussion provides some helpful context for your own spiritual and religious understanding.<\/p>\n

The figure of Trump himself seems to have no real ideology or belief system, but his administration has placed several people in positions of authority who hold imbalanced ideas of Christianity. <\/p>\n

A bit of religious history for a moment\u2026 American evangelical Christianity in the 19th century was rigid by modern standards, but had genuine spiritual depths and a commitment to social justice. This is often surprising for people to hear today, but it\u2019s true. In the 20th century, however, American evangelicalism became increasingly lost, clinging to racist ideas and fixed notions of gender roles while pushing back its historical compassion and engagement with the changes happening in society. Also, as the 20th century progressed, mainstream American politics of both parties essentially abandoned the poor and working classes, who largely belonged to evangelical churches, leaving them reasonably feeling betrayed while their suffering went unacknowledged. <\/p>\n

That combination has been toxic, making evangelical groups vulnerable to takeover by some rather bizarre Christian cults, a process that really ramped up in the 1980\u2019s. Many evangelical churches began to embrace fantastical ideas, like dispensationalism, which selectively reads sections of the Bible as a roadmap of events and actions (or \u201cdispensations\u201d) that must happen in order to bring about Armageddon, along with the Second Coming. It lays out an imagined map of what needs to be done to bring Jesus back to earth. Needless to say, it involves a huge war and a reshaping of the Middle East. <\/p>\n

While dispensationalism has become less prominent in the last decade or so, its worldview still permeates the minds of a large portion (but not all!) of American evangelicals \u2014 many of whom now serve in government and the military. This is why we get unembarrassed statements from generals and key leaders about how these attacks will bring Jesus back.<\/p>\n

So what do we do with all that? <\/p>\n

First, we need to recognize that extremist, destructive religious belief does not just exist on \u201cthe other side.\u201d It is very much present in the US, as well. <\/p>\n

Next, it is important that open-hearted Christian groups do not cede the definition of Christianity over to those imbalanced, frankly cruel expressions of Christianity. Too often these days, people imagine that those extremist forms of Christianity are all that Christianity or any religion ever has been, and therefore reject all religion as obviously absurd and harmful. There has been a collective assumption that those new, cult-like forms of contemporary American fundamentalist Christianity is what Christianity always has been \u2014 and it\u2019s just not so. It\u2019s worth rediscovering the depths and beauty that have been a part of many of these churches in the past and finding ways to bring that memory back into society.<\/p>\n

And then we can reconnect with the gentle, elevating wisdom of true spiritual leaders, such as the wonderful Thich Nhat Hanh.<\/p>\n

I have been looking for you, World Honored One,
\nsince I was a little child.<\/i><\/p>\n

Mostly\u2013 mostly, we need to discover the wellspring of profound compassion at the core of our own being and allow it to naturally flow out into the world. <\/p>\n

Looking into the mirror of the moon, suddenly
\nI saw myself,
\nand I saw you smiling, Blessed One.
\nHow strange!<\/i><\/p>\n

That will work its own quiet healing in ways that other activity can only aspire to.<\/p>\n

The moon of freedom has returned to me,
\neverything I thought I had lost.
\nFrom that moment on,
\nand in each moment that followed,
\nI saw that nothing had gone.<\/i><\/p>\n

We must do that while recognizing that suffering in the world is unavoidably increasing. The task is not to prevent all pain and evil in the world. We want to minimize it when we can, while understanding that the suffering is still going to happen. The real healing for suffering is not to end the suffering, but to connect with the lonely soul going through the suffering. That\u2019s the real pain beneath the pain. Work to heal that and you heal the world.<\/p>\n

Every flower, every stone, and every leaf recognize me.
\nWherever I turn, I see you smiling
\nthe smile of no-birth and no-death.<\/i><\/p>\n

We are on this journey together. We enter, we engage in the drama for a number of years, and we exit again. The only net gain is spiritual gain. So we may as well be kind and helpful where we can. as we return to that radiant core at the center of who we are.<\/p>\n

At last I have found you, Blessed One,
\nand I have found myself.
\nThere I sit.<\/i><\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Thich Nhat Hanh<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Heart of the Buddha\u2019s Teaching: Transforming Suffering Into Peace, Joy & Liberation<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n\"Thich<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nThich Nhat Hanh<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Vietnam\/France\/US (1926 \u2013 2022) Timeline<\/a>
\nBuddhist<\/a> : Zen \/ Chan<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

More poetry by Thich Nhat Hanh<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking for Each Other by Thich Nhat Hanh I have been looking for you, World Honored One, since I was a little child. With my first breath, I heard your call, and began to look for you, Blessed One. I\u2019ve walked so many perilous paths, confronted so many dangers, endured despair, fear, hopes, and memories. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[416,2625,2623,2624,1848,369,2622],"class_list":["post-8686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-compassion","tag-dispensationalism","tag-evangelical-christianity","tag-fundamentalist-christianity","tag-kindness","tag-thich-nhat-hanh","tag-war-with-iran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8686"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8687,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686\/revisions\/8687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}