old-path-white-clouds-thich-nhat-hanh

meditation. Just before dawn on the day of the assembly, Venerable Ananda attained the Great Awakening. After practicing sitting
meditation all night long, he finally decided to rest. As his back touched his sleeping mat, he attained enlightenment.
That morning when Venerable Mahakassapa met Venerable Ananda, he looked into Ananda’s eyes and knew at once what had
happened. He told Ananda he would see him at the assembly.
Svasti looked up and saw the white clouds floating across the blue sky. The sun had risen high, and the green grass along the riverbanks
sparkled in the morning light. The Buddha had walked on this very path many times as he traveled to Varanasi, Savatthi, Rajagaha, and
countless other places. The Buddha’s footprints were everywhere, and with each mindful step, Svasti knew he was walking in the footsteps
of the Buddha. The Buddha’s path was at his feet. The same clouds the Buddha had seen were in the sky. Each serene step brought to life
the old path and white clouds of the Buddha. The path of the Buddha was beneath his very feet.
The Buddha had passed away, but Venerable Svasti could see his presence everywhere. Bodhi seeds had been planted throughout the
Ganga basin. They had taken root and given rise to healthy trees. No one had heard of the Buddha or the Way of Awakening forty-five
years before. Now saffron-robed monks and nuns were a common sight. Many Dharma centers had been established. Kings and their
families had taken the refuges, as had scholars and officials. The poorest and most oppressed members of society had found refuge in the
Way of Awakening. They had found liberation for their lives and spirits in the Way. Forty-five years before, Svasti was a poor, untouchable
buffalo boy. Today he was a bhikkhu who had transcended all the barriers of caste and prejudice. Venerable Svasti had been greeted
respectfully by kings.
Who was the Buddha that he had been able to effect such profound change? Venerable Svasti asked himself that question as he watched
the buffalo boys busily cutting kusa grass along the shore. Though many of the Buddha’s senior disciples had passed away, there remained
bhikkhus of great effort and attainment. Many of these monks were still young. The Buddha was like the seed of a mighty bodhi tree. The
seed had cracked open in order for strong roots to take hold in the earth. Perhaps when people looked at the tree, they no longer saw the
seed, but the seed was there. It had not perished. It had become the tree itself. The Buddha taught that nothing passes from existence to
non-existence. The Buddha had changed form, but he was still present. Anyone who looked deeply could see the Buddha within the
sangha. They could see him in the presence of young bhikkhus who were diligent, kind, and wise. Venerable Svasti understood that he had
a responsibility to nurture the Dharma body of the Buddha. The Dharma body was the teaching and the community. As long as the Dharma
and the Sangha remained strong, the Buddha would remain present.
Venerable Svasti smiled as he watched the buffalo boys cross to his side of the river. If he didn’t continue the Buddha’s work by
bringing equality, peace, and joy to these children, who would? The Buddha had initiated the work. His disciples would have to continue it.
The bodhi seeds that the Buddha sowed would continue to put forth roots throughout the world. Venerable Svasti felt as if the Buddha had
sown ten thousand precious seeds in the earth of his own heart. Svasti would tend those seeds carefully to help them grow into strong,
healthy bodhi trees. People said that the Buddha had died, yet Svasti saw that the Buddha was more present than ever. He was present in
Svasti’s own mind and body. He was present everywhere Svasti looked—in the bodhi tree, the Neranjara River, the green grass, the white
clouds, and the leaves. The young buffalo boys were themselves the Buddha. Venerable Svasti felt a special relation to them. In a moment,
he would strike up a conversation with them. They too could continue the Buddha’s work. Svasti understood that the way to continue the
Buddha’s work was to look at all things with awareness, to take peaceful steps, and to smile with compassion, as the Buddha had done.
The Buddha was the source. Venerable Svasti and the young buffalo boys were rivers that flowed from that source. Wherever the rivers
flowed, the Buddha would be there.