Two Degrees of Separation

My friend Millie met a Vietnamese Monk at a retreat in 1988.  She saw him talking to a group of children at the water's edge and stopped to listen in.  

Thay, as the monk asked to be called, was holding a stone and invited the children to do the same. Gently, as was his way, he invited each child to think about the stone in the palm of their hand. 

He told them that it was ok if their minds wandered - because that's what minds do - and to simply return their thoughts to the stone when they noticed they had strayed.

He told them a story about how frightened and overwhelmed he was as a young monk during the Vietnam War and how using a stone in this way helped him feel grounded enough to focus on helping the people who needed him.

He told them that by practicing with a stone, they themselves would feel grounded and capable of great focus even in times of chaos.

Mille listened and she practiced.

She promised Thay that she would carry his words forward and called her Listening of the Heart.

Mille kept her promise and began teaching the One Stone (her name for Thay's practice). 

Over the past 34 years, Millie has taught One Stone to thousands of people across the globe, and they in turn have taught it to others.

I count myself among them.

Thay, who you may know as Thich Nhat Hanh, died this week at the age of 95.

I use and teach the One Stone every day and feel truly blessed for the connection I feel to him and the impact that this simple act of mindfulness has had on my life.

I invite you into our fold, connected to this gentle man, to one another and to this moment through a simple stone.