Truly There

At one of Zen master Thích Nhát Hanh's Dharma talks at Plum Village in Dordogne in southern France, a little girl of about 7 years old asked this question:

“I had a doggy and this doggy died. And I am very sad. So, I don’t know how to be not so sad.”

He answered this way:

“This is a very difficult question. Suppose you look into the sky. You look up into the sky and see a beautiful cloud. And you like the cloud so much. Then suddenly, the cloud is no longer there. And you think that the cloud has passed away."

"Where is my beloved cloud now?," you ask.

"But if you have time to reflect, to look, you see that the cloud has not died. It has not passed away. The cloud has become rain. And when you look at the rain, you see your cloud. And when you drink your tea, you can see the rain in your tea, and your cloud in your tea. And you can say, “Hello, my cloud. I know you have not died. You are still alive, in a new form."

"Doggy is the same. If you look very deeply, you will see doggy, alive, in his new form.”

Barbie xo