Offerings from the Heart
from Winter Retreat 2025–2026
Winter’s Nurturance – Sister Fairytale / Sư cô Trăng Cổ Tích
(English translation of original):
Today, the snow has stopped falling,
the skies of Blue Cliff are clear, like a long breath.
The wind is still cold—cold enough for us to pull our coats closer together,
cold enough to remind us that winter
is teaching us about stillness.
In the final Shining Light of the season,
each person sits there like a small candle, offering the warmest thing they have.
Not the light of eloquent words or beautiful ideas,
but the light of authenticity,
of gratitude.
We are grateful
for the days that have passed—the days that were not easy,
the days that required much patience and love.
Grateful for those who listened,
for those who held our unskillfulnesses with care.
Grateful for the footsteps on the frozen dirt path in the morning,
reminding us that each day is an opportunity to begin again.
Today, the snow is not falling,
yet within us
silent flakes are fallimg and settling—
flakes of understanding and transformation.
They melt,
softening the ground of our own hearts.
As the Shining Light comes to a close,
the wind remains cold,
But our heart are warm.
We bow our heads
in deep gratitude,
for having walked together
through a complete season this winter —
full of challenges,
yet full of love.
Lean On Me – by Kai Lin
Dear Friend, please don’t forget. The way we all took our time to do the only thing we needed to do—which was to try and know each other. To sit and regard each other with total peace and confidence. What we wanted was to be in each other’s company for a little longer, to have finally recognized each other, finally in this world, to have a friend who can listen and understand. Nowhere to go, nothing to do, only love, which we passed around like bread. Whatever god there may be must also be sitting and having tea with us, laughing with her whole body at a joke told for the hundredth time. Please remember us, even when you journey back alone, looking down an uncertain path, towards a life you still can’t imagine. Friend, take us where you go, and we will do the same. Let this memory become a clearing where you can rest, when you need to find the strength to live another day in the sun.
♪ Above the Canopy – music & lyrics by Jivan Galper & TingYi Chen
There's a stream, gentle breeze,
Sunrise flowing through the trees.
There's a whisper, of something bigger,
Like the ice melting with the warmth of the sun,
Like the birds singing with the rays of the sun,
Like the leaves unfurling with the light... of the sun.
A passerby, under the canopy,
Stops and breathes, knows how to simply be.
There's no difference between you and me,
We're all one living community,
Ah mmm.... mmmmmm mmm.... (x2)
When I'm alone, Lost in the dark,
And I no longer know…… my heart
Someone cares, who truly sees,
Reminds me of what's real in a dream.
Shining light, into my soul,
Showing me the path back home
There's a stream, gentle breeze,
Sunlight flowing through the trees.
There's a whisper, of something bigger,
Like the ice melting with the warmth of the sun,
Like my heart singing with the rays of the sun,
Like my soul unfurling in the light, of the sun.
There's a bird, above the canopy,
soars and swoops and knows it's truly free.
You've been the sun when I was suffering,
And now we offer you a heart of Spring....
Ah mmm... mmm mmm mmm…. (x4)
When I was a novice nun
Sister Hoa Nghiem
October 8th, 2020
The Color Socks
I remembered the first time I went with Thay on a Vietnamese retreat to Sweden. It was in 1992, after I becoming a novice nun. There were only 5 people in our delegation, and I was Thay's attendant.