Plum Village joyfully offers these parallel verses to welcome Tết, the Lunar New Year of the Horse. Every Lunar New Year’s Eve, our beloved teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, has established a tradition of offering the sangha a simple poetic couplet in calligraphy which can inspire and nurture our mindfulness practice throughout the year. Thay’s innovation has been to offer the couplet in English, French and Vietnamese (of course including Chinese characters). The Plum Village Community is very happy to continue this beautiful tradition. In Plum Village practice canters all around the world, we print out these calligraphies (keeping the diamond form), paste them onto colourful cards, and pin them up around the dining halls, meditation halls and living quarters in preparation to celebrate the Lunar New Year. We also hang them from early-blossoming Japonica and Plum branches that we bring in to brighten our rooms, as a symbol of the coming spring. While reciting these phrases we can combine each line with our breathing. For example, we can contemplate “Solid as a mountain” as we breathe in, and contemplate “Free as a white cloud” as we breathe out. These words are not a declaration, but a living aspiration that we wish to nurture. How to Practice with this Year’s Gathas? Solid as a Mountain Breathing in, I see myself as a mountain.Breathing out, I feel solid. This exercise helps us to stand firmly when we are upset by vehement feelings. Whenever we feel despair, anxiety, fear, or anger, we are carried right into the heart of a whirlwind. We are like a tree standing in a gale. If we look up, we shall see our branches bending as if they are about to break and be carried away by the storm. But if we look down at the trunk and the roots, we should know that the roots of the tree are held firmly in the earth, and […]
Published at 2026-02-07 12:06:37