Thich Nhat Hanh - Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha

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Table of Contents

Copyright 1991, by Thich Nhat Hanh

Drawings 1991, by Nguyen Thi Hop

All Rights Reserved

Printed in U.S.A.

Parallax Press
P.O. Box 7355
Berkeley, California 94707

Translated from the Vietnamese by Mobi Ho.

Drawings by Nguyen Thi Hop.
Map and Cover Design by Gay Reineck.
Photo on back cover by James D. Gollin.
Composed on Macintosh in Palatino 10/13 by Parallax Press.
Linotronic Output at ProPer Publishing, Berkeley.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nht Hanh, Thich
[Dung xua may trang: English]
Old path white clouds : walking in the footsteps of the Buddha /
Thich Nhat Hanh.
p. cm.
Translation of Dung xua may trang.
Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-938077-40-6 : $40.00ISBN 0-938077-26-0 (pbk.) : $25.00

1. Gautama Buddha. I. Title

BQ882.N4813 1991

294.363dc20 90-21483

CIP

9 10 / 01 00 99

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Breathe! You Are Alive
A Guide to Walking Meditation
The Heart of Understanding
Interbeing
The Miracle of Mindfulness
The Moon Bamboo
Our Appointment with Life
The Pine Gate
Present Moment Wonderful Moment
A Rose for Your Pocket
The Sun My Heart
The Sutra on the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings
Transformation & Healing
Zen Poems

One dollar from the sale of each copy of Old Path White Clouds
will be donated to organizations which help children
in India and other Third World countries.

BOOK ONE

Chapter One

Walking Just to Walk

U nder the shadows of the green bamboo, the young bhikkhu, Svasti, sat cross-legged, concentrating on his breath. He had been meditating for more than an hour in the Bamboo Forest Monastery, while hundreds of other bhikkhus were also practicing under the shade of the bamboo trees or in their own thatched huts.

The great teacher Gautama, whom people affectionately called the Buddha, lived in the monastery with nearly four hundred disciples. Although crowded, it was very peaceful. Forty acres surrounded the monastery, and many varieties of graceful bamboo from all over Magadha were planted there. Just a thirty minutes walk north of the capital city of Rajagaha, the Bamboo Forest Monastery had been given to Buddha and his community by King Bimbisara seven years earlier.

Svasti rubbed his eyes and smiled. His legs were still tender as he slowly uncrossed them. Twenty-one years old, he had been ordained three days earlier by the Venerable Sariputta, one of the Buddhas senior disciples. During the ordination ceremony, Svastis thick brown hair was shaved off.

Svasti was very happy to be part of the Buddhas community. Many bhikkhus were of noble birth, such as the Venerable Nanda, the Buddhas brother, and Devadatta, Anuruddha, and Ananda. Although Svasti had not yet been introduced to these men, he had noticed them from afar. Even in faded robes, their noble bearing was unmistakable.

It will be a long time before I can be friends with men of such noble birth, thought Svasti. And yet, even though the Buddha himself was the son of a king, Svasti felt no gulf between them. Svasti was an untouchable, lower than the lowest and poorest caste according to the system of discrimination among the people of India at that time. For more than ten years, he had tended water buffalo, but for two weeks now, he was living and practicing with monks from all castes. Everyone was very kind to him, offering him warm smiles and deep bows, but he did not yet feel at ease. He suspected it might take years before he could feel completely comfortable.

Suddenly, a broad smile emerged from deep within him, as he thought of Rahula, the Buddhas eighteen-year-old son. Rahula had been a novice in the community since the age of ten, and in just two weeks Rahula and Svasti had become best friends. It was Rahula who taught Svasti how to follow his breath during meditation. Rahula understood the Buddhas teachings well, even though he was not yet a bhikkhu. He needed to wait until he was twenty before he could receive full ordination.

Svasti reflected on the time, just two weeks before, when the Buddha came to Uruvela, his small village near Gaya, to invite him to become a monk. When the Buddha arrived at his home, Svasti was out with his brother, Rupak, taking care of the buffaloes. His two sisters, Bala, age sixteen, and Bhima, age twelve, were there, and Bala recognized the Buddha right away. She began to run out to find Svasti, but the Buddha told her it wasnt necessary. He said that he and the monks traveling with him, including Rahula, would walk to the river to find her brother. It was late afternoon when they came upon Svasti and Rupak scrubbing down their nine buffaloes in the Neranjara River. As soon as they saw the Buddha, the young men ran up the bank of the river, joined their palms to form a lotus bud, and bowed deeply.

Youve grown so much, the Buddha said, smiling warmly at Svasti and his brother. Svasti was speechless. Seeing the Buddhas peaceful face, his warm and generous smile, and his brilliant, penetrating eyes, moved him to tears. The Buddha wore a saffron robe made of patches sewn together in the pattern of a rice field. He still walked barefoot as he had ten years before, when Svasti first met him not far from this very spot. Ten years before they had spent hours sitting together on the banks of the Neranjara and beneath the shade of the bodhi tree, just ten minutes walk from the riverbank.

Svasti glanced at the twenty bhikkhus behind the Buddha and saw that they, too, were barefoot and clad in patched robes of the same color. Looking more closely, Svasti saw that the Buddhas robe was a hand-length longer than those of the others. Standing next to the Buddha was a novice about Svastis age who looked at him directly and smiled. Buddha gently placed his hands on Svasti and Rupaks heads and told them he had stopped by to visit on his way back to Rajagaha. He said he would be happy to wait while Svasti and Rupak finished bathing the buffaloes so they could all walk to Svastis thatched hut together.

During the walk back, Buddha introduced Svasti and Rupak to his son Rahula, the young novice who had smiled so beautifully at Svasti. Rahula was three years younger than Svasti, but they were the same height. Rahula was a samanera, a novice, but he dressed much the same as the older bhikkhus. Rahula walked between Svasti and Rupak, handing his alms bowl to Rupak and placing his arms lovingly around the shoulders of his two new friends. He had heard so much about Svasti and his family from his father that he felt he already knew them. The brothers basked in the warmth of Rahulas love.

As soon as they arrived at Svastis home, the Buddha invited him to join the bhikkhu community and study the Dharma with him. Ten years earlier, when Svasti had first met the Buddha, he expressed his wish to study with him, and the Buddha had agreed to accept Svasti as a disciple. Now that Svasti was twenty-one, the Buddha had returned. He had not forgotten his promise.

Rupak led the buffaloes back to Mr. Rambhul, their owner. The Buddha sat outside Svastis hut, on a small stool, while the bhikkhus stood behind him. With earthen walls and a thatched roof, Svastis tiny home was not large enough for everyone to come inside. Bala told Svasti, Brother, please go with the Buddha. Rupak is even stronger than you were when you began tending the buffaloes, and I am quite capable of taking care of the house. You have looked after us for ten years, and now we are ready to be on our own.

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