Three Traditions, One Heart

Last week, I woke up in the mountains of West Virginia at a serene Sri Lankan monastery. Around 4:30 a.m., I opened my cabin door to find the full moon glowing so brightly that its light streamed through the tall forest, turning the ground into a world of silver and shadow. It was breathtaking. A deer stood quietly at my front door, as if greeting me with gentle compassion.

Then, something remarkable unfolded again this weekend. I found myself immersed in a completely different expression of Buddhism—the Mahayana tradition—at Chuang Yen Monastery, wrapped in the golden beauty of fall. The stillness, the architecture, and the chanting revealed another facet of the same timeless truth.

I concluded the weekend in the warmth of my own Thai tradition, at a temple in upstate New York. Three paths, three traditions, yet one heart of Dhamma.

Tomorrow, my journey continues at Thich Nhat Hanh’s Blue Cliff Monastery. I’m deeply looking forward to it—and to the drive through the breathtaking fall scenery along the way.

Each place, though shaped by different languages and rituals, holds the same essence of peace. It reminds me that the Dhamma is like the moonlight—shining differently through each forest, yet always illuminating the same truth.

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