Community of Interbeing Retreat

Felicity Cox

Liz and I went to a 5-day Retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietmanese monk and Zen Master, this last August at the University of Nottingham.

Thay, as he likes to be called, which means Teacher, and the monks and nuns he brought with him from his Community of Interbeing at Plum Village near Bordeaux in France, effortlessly, so it seemed, transformed the university halls of residence and large conference centre into a welcoming place of serenity and peace.

Over nine hundred people plus 70 monastics , as they are collectively known, and Thay himself, met together to mediate, and to listen to dharma talks of intensely spiritually uplifting and practical significance for the lives of us ordinary people, and then to join together in walking meditation, following Thay who was always surrounded by children, and with a child in each hand, as nine hundred of us serpentined around the grounds, through woods and fields in slow and mindful progress.

We learnt about the mindfulness bell. The bell is invited, never struck. And the bell is invited with a light touch as a message that it will then be invited with a stronger and more resonant touch which reverberates for quite a while as we breathe in and out.

There were talks on meditation and on various aspects of living a mindful life in the face of difficulties. There were workshops and the opportunity for a one to one session with a monk or a nun. There was singing and wonderful food prepared with care by the university. We were all allocated a small home group with our own monk or nun to lead it. Here we could talk about the issues which were confronting us in our lives and receive much wise and loving counsel, both from the monastics and from our co-participants.

I went to a workshop on anger – much help for me here, and I also was incredibly blessed to be offered an hour with a Sister. She was amazing and within two minutes had cut to the absolute heart of my difficulty, giving me new insight and suggestions .

Thay is faithful to traditional Zen understanding and teaching, rooted solidly in his own years of training in Vietnam, but he has brought the words he uses into the 21 st century and makes his Zen tradition readily accessible and applicable to our lives today. There are ways of looking at things I discovered which have helped me greatly to become more understanding and loving of my self which I sincerely hope will have the effect of my becoming more loving to others.

Thay is graceful in his talks, continually likening the joy, serenity and peace he experiences as he practices mindfulness to ‘the kingdom of God' . His Order of Interbeing is actively inclusive of everyone, no matter their tradition or belief.

There are parallels here with our Quaker life. The lay people we spoke with said they have much to learn from Quakers, as are Quakers learning from them. There were a number of Quakers at the Retreat. There is also the recognition that it is important to make the teaching and understandings available and accessible to everyone and to bring the words and usage up to date continually. This is something Quakers also do, as we continually revise our Quaker Faith and Practice and through research and teaching bring the latest understandings and practices to enhance our Quaker lives.

Both Liz and I have come home from these five days deeply impressed by the sincerity, depth and actual practical assistance for life this ‘engaged Buddism' taught by Thay can bring. We both experienced how it can sit comfortably alongside our Quaker values and serve to deepen and enhance our lives as Quakers.