I wanted to share with you a passage from I Have Arrived, I Am Home. It’s really struck a cord with me and deeply affected my daily practice. It’s from “Awakening My Mind of Love: Becoming a Monastic” written by Brother Chân Phap Can (True Dharma Diligence):
I remember, one day, I was in the kitchen in the Upper Hamlet when Thây walked up to me and asked, “My child, what are you doing?” I answered quietly, “Respected Thây, I am cutting vegetables.” “I think you are breathing, my child,” Thây said softly. His voice was full of compassion. I stopped suddenly. “Perhaps you have forgotten,” Thây said and walked away, with such ease and freedom. Thây’s words have remained indelible in my mind. When I am sitting alone, I often think of Thây’s question, “What are you doing?” I come back to my breathing and return to the present moment.”
