Dear friends, 
Every year on Lunar New Year's eve, Thay recites a poem and gives a dharma talk with insights into Vietnamese poetry, culture, and tradition. This year, as our teacher receives treatment in the hospital, Venerable Thich Phuoc Tinh continues the tradition. He recites a poem of Thay's and gives us a rare glimpse into the life of our teacher. 

To aid in your understanding of the poem, we offer the poem in its entirety to you here:
 

















Clouds softly pillow the mountain peak.
The breeze is fragrant with tea blossoms.
The joy of meditation remains unshakable.
The forest offers floral perfumes.
One morning we awaken,
fog wrapped around the roof.
With fresh laughter, we bid farewell.
The musical clamor of birds send us back on the ten thousand paths,
watching a dream as generous as the sea.
A flicker of fire from the familiar stove warms the evening shadows as they fall.
Impermanent, self-emptied life, filled with impostors whose sweet speech
hides a wicked heart.
My confidence intact,
     I bid farewell with a peaceful heart.
     The affairs of this world are merely a dream.
Don't forget that days and months race by as quickly as a young horse.
The stream of birth and death dissolves, but our friendship never disappears.
 

Now, enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.