Walking Joyfully Together

Sunday,” and we say, “I thought it was Sư
Cô Lăng Nghiêm.” We stop there. We do not
continue to prove our point. We accept there
is a difference in our perceptions. Why waste
time and energy arguing about insignificant
things? We just say out loud or to ourselves,
“Oh, I am probably wrong.” Of course if it is
a matter of life and death we have to try and
show the other why we have such a perception through compassionate dialogue.
Compassionate dialogue is linked to
appropriateness. Appropriateness means
how we share the teachings of the Buddha
and our teacher with others. We ask ourselves, “Is the time appropriate to share the
teachings, is the place appropriate, and do
the teachings fit the needs and aspirations
of the people we teach?” Before sharing, we
should enquire about the audience. What is
the suffering of people in this country at this
time?
Direct experience of the truth means we
have to realise for ourselves the truth of the
teachings. In praising the Dharma, we say
it is ehipassiko. It means that we come and
see directly for ourselves the veracity and
the effectiveness of the teaching. Others
can point to the moon, but we need to see
the moon for ourselves and not be caught
in the finger that is pointing. We rely on the
Three Trainings of mindfulness, concentration, and insight to realise this truth. It
means the necessity to practise diligently
mindful breathing, walking, and other actions
throughout the day.
Skilful means comes from our aspiration
to relieve suffering and bring more happiness into the world. We act not just from our
intellect but from our heart and our intuition.
To test our intuition, we always need good
spiritual friends who can help us discover
whether the means we are using to spread
the Dharma are skilful or not.
There are times when you will want to
practise with us, the middle-aged and elderly
OI members, and there will be times when
you need to be on your own to talk about the
particular needs of your age group. Ideally,
the OI has a Council of Youth as well as a
Council of Older Members. We hope some of
you will be ready to stand on this Council of
Youth in order to work alongside more senior
members. In this way there will be creativity
in the policies of the Order.
In Vietnamese, the OI is called Tiếp Hiện
(接現). The word Tiếp (接) means to receive,
connect, continue. You receive the transmission from your blood and spiritual ancestors.
You belong to the Linji (臨濟) school, the
Liễu Quán line. You are a continuation of
that school and that line. Liễu Quán made
Linji teachings appropriate to his own time
in central Vietnam. You want to make the
Linji teachings appropriate to the time and
the place where you are living. Master Linji
was not caught in the outer form of the practice. Instead of our depending on a buddha
outside of us, he wants us to depend upon
our own awakened nature by living deeply in
the present moment in all that we do. Thầy
reminded us many times of Master Linji’s
teaching that the miracle is to walk on the
earth.
The word Hiện (現) means to bring into
the present moment and to realise the truth
for ourselves. We continue the transmission
and bring it into the present moment, making
it suitable for our times.
The English name Order of Interbeing is
not the same as the Vietnamese name and
that is why it is necessary for us to understand the Vietnamese. It is not possible to
make a succinct translation of Tiếp Hiện into
English such that it could become the name
of the Order. Thầy coined the word “interbeing” in 1983 in a retreat he led in Tassajara
Zen Center in California, US. Thầy explained
that interbeing means we cannot possibly be
on our own or make something be on its own.
Interbeing, the Middle Way between being
and nonbeing, has become one of the pillars of Thầy’s teaching. When we become a

Sister Annabel Laity (Chân Đức, True Virtue) was born in England and studied Classics and Sanskrit
before going to India to study and practice with Tibetan nuns. She has been a disciple of Thích Nhất Hạnh
since 1986. In 1988, in India, she became the first Western European woman to be ordained as a nun by
Thích Nhất Hạnh. Sister Annabel was director of practice at Plum Village for many years. She travels
widely, leading meditation retreats and inspiring many with her unique teaching style throughout the
world. In 2000, she became the first Western European nun to teach Buddhist Dharma in Thailand, and
she was appointed Dean of Practice by Thầy at the European Institute of Applied Buddhism in Germany
in 2008.
member of the OI, we commit to understand
interbeing not as a theory but as a realisation
in our daily life, in our relationships with each
other, and with the world.
We hope to see many of you in June
2026 to celebrate sixty years of the Order of
Interbeing.
sangha

Sister Tại Nghiêm: Dear sister, next year
we will celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of
the Order of Interbeing. After so many years
of practice and commitment, what does
Engaged Buddhism mean to you?
Sister Giác Nghiêm: It is precisely that which
brought me to Thầy. I could have chosen a
contemplative religious path, but the life of
Thầy and Sister Chân Không, whom I met in
1985, led me to choose this way. Thầy was
giving his first teaching in French in Lyon.
When I encountered Thầy’s Dharma, I said to
myself, “I have to apply it right away—not just
for myself.” That’s what “engaged” means to
me.
At that time, I was working in a hospital as a physiotherapist with elderly and
terminally ill people. I saw them suffer, not
knowing how to handle their emotions and
their pain, how to keep going. And I delighted
in bringing the Dharma, the practice, straight
into the hospital without ever saying that it
was Zen. I practiced walking meditation for
myself in the corridors—it calmed me. I would
leave one patient’s room and go to the next,
breathing mindfully. Standing before the new
patient’s door, I would leave behind what the
previous one had said, keeping only what
was essential to convey to the medical staff.
Thầy had taught me that.
Entering a room, I would look with fresh
eyes—like a flash—quickly seeing what
was important and what was not. Without
saying anything, I brought meditation to the
patient’s bedside—the meditation of interbeing. Some people were deeply lonely. For
me, the Dharma is joyful, so I would show
the patients the cotton sheet—how it was
planted in Africa, the tiny seeds watered, then
the people who had transported the cotton.
It was a deep looking. I saw that it relieved
them greatly; they no longer felt alone. I
spoke to them about all the people who had
worked to make the sheet for them—even the
little butterflies, the earthworms—everything
Living Deeply,
Serving Joyfully
This conversation with Sister Giác Nghiêm,
originally conducted in French by Sister Tại Nghiêm,
offers a glimpse into her journey of faith,
transformation, and deep joy in service.