Via REDDIT // Engaged Buddhism is just Buddhism. - TNH

 

“Engaged Buddhism is just Buddhism. When bombs begin to fall on people, you cannot stay in the meditation hall all of the time. Meditation is about the awareness of what is going on— not only in your body and in your feelings, but all around you.” -Thich Nhat Hahn 

A Reddit commentator said: 

This quote reminds me of Jack Kornfield talking about his experiences practicing with Ajahn Chah. Here's a story (from my memory) he shares in his podcast Heart of Wisdom:

During the Vietnam war, a group of peacekeeping missionaries (Christian iirc) were passing through Chah's monastery. They had been actively engaged in trying to resolve the conflict so they had seen their share of human suffering and were more than a little burnt out. Chah invited them to stay at the monastery and rest for a while. During their stay, they couldn't help but notice all the people going about their practice as if nothing were going on in the outside world. Bombers would be flying overhead while groups sat on their butts meditating. So, the peacekeepers approached Chah and said, "how can you all sit here and do nothing? There's a war out there, we have to do something!" Chah said, "I can't answer this right now. Stay a few more days and I'll reply."

So a few days passed, and Kornfield tells how they saw that it was the sort of place where people lived in harmony with each other. If you needed help with a task, people would offer their assistance. If you lost a wedding ring, someone would place it by the well in hopes you would spot it and no one would snatch it for their own gain. So time came when Chah replied to the peacekeepers something like, "See how the human heart's at war with itself and the country falls to chaos. This place is a living library of what's possible." And Kornfield commented how the peacekeepers realized that in war, everything's at risk of being lost, including the human heart. So the practice kept alive this truth that there's a better way.