I took a photo of our Mobile Mindfulness Retreat group as we approached the gates of the Dieu Tram Nunnery... At the twilight hour of 4:30 in the morning, our group of 18 was at the monastery’s gate eager to enter the world of compassion, love, humor, art, and we all hoped...of “knowing...”For each of us this day brought different experiences, probably experiences we had not expected...
For me it was the singing in the meditation hall with nuns, monks, and lay people.
As we all settled in on the meditation mats – nuns and monks in their subdued brown and orange robes, lay people in the calm grey robes, and us – in all possible bright colors of the world...
A nun started playing guitar and a monk accompanied her softly on a jembe drum, as we all sang Happiness is Here And Now (and many other songs). The unity and unisons, the softness, the beautiful voices of nuns singing in the stillness of the hall accompanied by whispering falling of the rain in the big open windows of a spacious subtle meditation hall did it for me. I lost it (or maybe I found it!!!), and tears flowed freely and happily from my eyes, and the beauty of the whole experience was that there was no questioning or wondering why I was crying. I just was. A nun asked me “why are you crying?” I did not have to think... I said “it is just too beautiful.”
Viet Nam is a beautiful country of green rice fields, beautiful smiles, colorful street vendors, rich and restrained memory of the past. Everyone can find their favorite “thing” in Viet Nam. I found nuns and monks singing to the world and to us. But I also found a lot more...
Nune Sargsayn, Loving of the Heart, Being Peace Sangha, Cincinati, Ohio USA