Thich Nhat Hanh speaks first words after Stroke

The monks and nuns of Thich Nhat Hanh‘s Plum Village community have issued a new statement regarding the Vietnamese Zen master’s ongoing post-stroke therapy. As reported here, Nhat Hanh recently arrived in California’s Bay Area for various forms of treatment. In their letter, the monks and nuns highlight different aspects of said treatment and how Thay, as Nhat Hanh is affectionately called, is responding. He’s even spoken his first post-stroke words, thanks to speech therapy. From the letter:

It has been two months now since Thay arrived in America, with the hope of getting more intensive treatment to recover from his stroke. Thanks to the incredible support of our Beloved Community we have been able to obtain the very best doctors and therapists for Thay, across all treatment modalities. We are happy to be able to share that Thay is benefitting from the best of Western, Eastern, conventional, and alternative medical approaches. Thay is receiving acupuncture every day, as well as physical therapy, speech therapy, osteopathy, and neurofeedback, with the support and oversight of a phenomenal team of doctors at UCSF.

With Thay’s advanced age, the severity of the hemorrhage, as well as various complex health issues, recovery is extremely challenging. When Thay first started physical therapy, Thay was very engaged and enthusiastic with his therapists and the program that they had created for him. Preparing for Thay’s sessions of physical therapy, we could all feel the joyful determination in his body language. We would tell him, “Thay, let’s get ready for physical therapy” and Thay would raise his fist in the air and smile, as if to say “Let’s go!”

However, the level of fatigue and physical discomfort that Thay was experiencing when we first arrived in the US limited his ability to participate in the sessions. With the help of the whole team of doctors and therapists we have been able create an integrated program of treatment which allows Thay to have restful sleep, and more alertness, ease and peace in his body, enabling him to more fully participate in the sessions of therapy.
A recent breakthrough has been that whilst using a partial weight support walking frame, Thay’s right leg has started to make small movements, initiating the stepping motion.
Thay has received training from three different speech therapists over the last two months, one of whom was able to help Thay speak his first words since the stroke. It was a legendary day. We are happy to be able to share his very first words:

In, out (several times)
Happy (several times)
Thank you (several times)
and “Vui quá” (meaning, “So happy,” in Vietnamese)
It was like a guided meditation. Everyone was crying and laughing at the same time, including Thay.

Unfortunately, as the speech therapist who helped him to achieve this breakthrough lives far from San Francisco, she had to go back home after three days and Thay lost some momentum. We have tried a number of other speech therapists but have not been able to maintain Thay’s initial rapid progress. We are still looking for a local speech therapist, ideally fluent in Vietnamese, who would be able to work with Thay several times per week.

The letter goes on to tell more about Nhat Hanh’s time in the Bay Area, as well as the community’s plans for the fall, which include a tour by the monks and nuns. 

Read the complete posting here

Read the whole letter here.

Via Acariya Mahā Boowa

"Instead of trying to rely on ourselves we always put our hopes in other things, other people. We can't stand on own two feet. This is because the heart isn't wise enough to check whether the objects it grasps hold of are right or wrong, good or bad. It doesn't know how to care for itself, how to help itself, because there's no one to teach it. There's nobody to advise on how to know which things are dangerous and which are beneficial, which things should be held on to and which things shouldn't. The heart therefore continues indiscriminately to grasp hold of anything, whether good or bad, as long as it likes the look of it. Even if it isn't gratifying, the heart's characteristic trait is still to keep on grasping and clinging. Why should it be like this?"

-'To the Last Breath Dhamma Talks on Living and Dying'

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 15/09/201

Project Everyone - Metas Globais
7. ENERGIA RENOVÁVEL
"A raça humana tem uma única chance de permanecer existindo: encontrando meios de fazer com a energia renovável se torne sua principal fonte de energia".

Project Everyone - Metas Globais
7.ENERGÍAS RENOVABLES
"La raza humana tiene una única oportunidad de permanecer existiendo: encontrando medios para hacer que la energía renovable se convierta en su principal fuente de energía."

Project Everyone - Global Goals
7. AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY
"The human race has one way of remaining alive: to figure out how to make renewable energy into our main energy source."

‪#‎FlordoDia‬ ‪#‎GlobalGoals‬ ‪#‎MetasdoMilênio‬ ‪#‎SriPremBaba‬

Today's Daily Dharma: Present for All of It

“No one really knows what will happen from one moment to the next: who will we be, what will we face, and how will we respond to what we encounter? We don’t know, but there’s a good chance we will encounter some rough, unwanted experiences, some surprises beyond our imaginings, and some expected things, too. And we can decide to stay present for all of it.”

—Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel, "Open Stillness"

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