Listening to the Rain Veranda

"To me the sound of the rain is something wonderful. In the Upper Hamlet we have a veranda baptised the “listening-to-the-rain” veranda. If you are a free person you only need to sit there and listen to the rain, and you can be very happy already, because the rain is something wonderful. I very often think of the rain as bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. After several weeks without rain, the vegetation begins to suffer and when the rain comes, you can see that all the trees and bushes are very happy. I think they enjoy the sound of the rain, as I do, very much. Sitting in the meditation hall or sitting in the “listen-to-the-rain” veranda, you can appreciate the sound of the rain and you can be very happy just sitting there."

~ excerpt from a Dharma talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh on 11th August 1996, Plum Village France

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