Essays

Latest Essays

Previous Essays 2005

  • If you liked this post, you'll love Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds, a new best-of collection of Berkun's famous essays and posts from 2000-2011.

    Buy now on Amazon.com $8.69 (print / kindle), Barnes & Nobles, & iBookstore.


Leave a Comment / What do you think?

Your email is never published nor shared (comments policy).

19 thoughts on “Essays”

  • Ann - May 7, 2012 at 11:18 pm #

  •                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                  Ann Elizaga
                                                                                                                 English 1B (9:15-10:35)
                                                                                                                    Mrs. Alexandria White
                                                                                                                               May 4,2012
                                                     

                                                   
                                                  Call me by My True Names
                                                           Thich Nhat Hanh

       In Thich Nhat Hanh’s book “ Call me by My True Names,  Hanh shows In his  collection of more than 100 poems composed over the last forty years, Thich Nhat Hanh’s clarity shines forth, transforming the pain and difficulty of war and exile into a celebration of awareness and the human spirit.     Hanh’s  poems have an almost uncanny power to disarm delusion, awaken compassion, and carry the mind into the immediate presence of meditation. Thich Nhat Hanh writes with the voice of the Buddha. (This came from a book review, make sure you cite where this came from! & fix the language, it is unclear.)
      The way the author intreprets in his poems of the deep empathy for those we have trouble understanding in one of his works called “ Recommendation”, which Hanh explains that he wrote this poem in 1965 for the young people in the School of Youth for Social Service who risked their lives everday during the war, recommending them to prepare to die without hatred.      According to one of Hanh’s works “ Recommendation”, he shows in his poem of how young people are prepared to die without hatred he expresses in a line of his poem “ Even as they strike you down with a mountain of hatred and violence; even as they  step on you and crush you like a worm, even as they dismember and disembowel you, remember, brother, remember: man is not our enemy.    The only thinng worthy of you is compassion- invincible, limitless, unconditional.   hatred wil never let you face the beast in man. “ (Hanh,18). (Please review OWL @ Purdue’s website for guidelines on MLA citation practices for poetry)  Hanh explains further in his poem that if you die because of violence, you must mediate on compassion in order to forgive those who kill you.    According to Hanh, when you die realizing this state of compassion, you are truly the child of the Awakened One.    Even if you are dying in oppression, shame, and violence, if you can smile with forgiveness, you have great power.   What do you think about that? Very fascinating perspective.
      According to another of Hanh’s works “ Call me by my True Names”, Thich Nhat Hanh explains throughout this poem of understanding.   It is about not judging one for their crime but rather seeing what got them to that point.  Hanh explains that if raised under certain circumstances, one may end up a certain way.   I intrepret this poem as encouraging the practice of deep empathy for those we have trouble understanding.   Hanh is urging us to treat everyone kindly and look at all living beings with eyes of compassion.
      The way the author explains these ideas throughout his poem is by a line in his poem “ I am the twelve-year-old girl refugee on  a small boat, who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate.   And i am the the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving. (Hanh,72).      Hanh explains in this quote that the pirate doesnt understand what he did wrong to the girl in the boat, because his heart isnt capable of understanding, and not capable of having compassion towards the girl.   He also explains further in his poem that if raised in a certain circumstance we would all turn like the pirate, so we cant just judge the pirate for what he done but understand and see what got him to that point.
      As you read through Hanh’s works you notice that throughout his works, he shows the influence of western Buddhism.   His teaching and practices aim to appeal to people from various religious, spiritual, and political backgrounds intending to offer mindfulness practices for more western sensibilities. make sure you cite this info, where did it come from? Include the citation at the end of the quote.   According to Thich Nhat Hanh, his approaches has been a combination of a variety of traditional zen teaching with insights from other Mahayana Buddhist traditions.    His methods came from thousand buddhism, and ideas from written  psychology to offer a modern light on mediation practices.     Hanh shows in his presentation of the Prajnaparamita in terms of “ interbeing” has doctrinal antecedents in the Huayan school of thought, (31) which ” is often said to provide a philosophical foundation “ for Zen.(32).    He explains this through various of quotes, and sayings throughout his many works in his book “ Call Me by my True Names”, which has various short poems expressing his religion, and his engaged buddhism teachings.
       Nhat Hanh has also been a leader in the Engaged Buddhism movement (he coined the term), promoting the individual’s active role in creating change. He cites the 13th-century Vietnamese King Tr?n Nhân Tông with the origination of the concept. Tr?n Nhân Tông abdicated his throne to become a monk, and founded the Vietnamese Buddhist school in the Bamboo Forest tradition.     According to Seaox,   Hanh was a A Buddhist monk since the age of sixteen, Tha^y (“teacher,” as he is commonly known to followers) earned a reputation as a respected writer, scholar, and leader. He championed a movement known as “engaged Buddhism,” which intertwined traditional meditative practices with active nonviolent civil disobedience.        Seaox Air-Medical explains further that this movement lay behind the establishment of the most influential center of Buddhist studies in Saigon, the An Quang Pagoda. He also set up relief organizations to rebuild destroyed villages, instituted the School of Youth for Social Service (a Peace Corps of sorts for Buddhist peace workers), founded a peace magazine, and urged world leaders to use nonviolence as a tool. Although his struggle for cooperation meant he had to relinquish a homeland, it won him accolades around the world.    
       Hanh explains further that the government saw  him as a threat-ironic, when one considers the subjects of his teachings: respect for life, generosity, responsible sexual behavior, loving communication, and cultivation of a healthful life style.   In Nguyen Giang’s  article “ Religious tension mounts in Vietnam”, he explains why the government thought Hanh as a threat, because his diplomatic charm offensive worked, the thinking goes, and there are fears that any further relaxation would potentially threaten the party’s monopoly on power.
    For example, the government says Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh’s followers were asked to leave by the monastery’s abbot – they describe the standoff as a conflict between two Buddhist factions, but critics say the clampdown began when Thich Nhat Hanh urged the government to stop controlling religion and called for the religious police to be disbanded.    Talk more about this controversy, also why are details about his life at the end of the essay? Shouldn’t his background be more near the beginning?
      To conclude, Hanh  shows In his  collection of more than 100 poems composed over the last forty years, Thich Nhat Hanh’s clarity shines forth, transforming the pain and difficulty of war and exile into a celebration of awareness and the human spirit.    Hanh’s  poems have an almost uncanny power to disarm delusion, awaken compassion, and carry the mind into the immediate presence of meditation. Thich Nhat Hanh writes with the voice of the Buddha, and that he  instructment in developing a socially engaged Buddhism in the face of the tremendous upheavels of today’s world’s.    
     
     
                                                 

     Cited Pages:
    Hahn, thich. Call Me by my True Names. 1993.
    Air-Medical, S.. Thich nhat hanh. N.p., 2001. Web. 4 May 2012. .
    Thich nhat hanh. N.p., 2012. Web. 4 May 2012. .
    Giang, Nguyen. “Religious tension mounts in Vietnam.” BBC News. BBC Vietnamese service, 09/3. Web. 4 May 2012. .
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                  Ann Elizaga
                                                                                                                 English 1B (9:15-10:35)
                                                                                                                    Mrs. Alexandria White
                                                                                                                               May 4,2012
                                                     

                                                   
                                                  Call me by My True Names
                                                           Thich Nhat Hanh

       In Thich Nhat Hanh’s book “ Call me by My True Names,  Hanh shows In his  collection of more than 100 poems composed over the last forty years, Thich Nhat Hanh’s clarity shines forth, transforming the pain and difficulty of war and exile into a celebration of awareness and the human spirit.     Hanh’s  poems have an almost uncanny power to disarm delusion, awaken compassion, and carry the mind into the immediate presence of meditation. Thich Nhat Hanh writes with the voice of the Buddha. (This came from a book review, make sure you cite where this came from! & fix the language, it is unclear.)
      The way the author intreprets in his poems of the deep empathy for those we have trouble understanding in one of his works called “ Recommendation”, which Hanh explains that he wrote this poem in 1965 for the young people in the School of Youth for Social Service who risked their lives everday during the war, recommending them to prepare to die without hatred.      According to one of Hanh’s works “ Recommendation”, he shows in his poem of how young people are prepared to die without hatred he expresses in a line of his poem “ Even as they strike you down with a mountain of hatred and violence; even as they  step on you and crush you like a worm, even as they dismember and disembowel you, remember, brother, remember: man is not our enemy.    The only thinng worthy of you is compassion- invincible, limitless, unconditional.   hatred wil never let you face the beast in man. “ (Hanh,18). (Please review OWL @ Purdue’s website for guidelines on MLA citation practices for poetry)  Hanh explains further in his poem that if you die because of violence, you must mediate on compassion in order to forgive those who kill you.    According to Hanh, when you die realizing this state of compassion, you are truly the child of the Awakened One.    Even if you are dying in oppression, shame, and violence, if you can smile with forgiveness, you have great power.   What do you think about that? Very fascinating perspective.
      According to another of Hanh’s works “ Call me by my True Names”, Thich Nhat Hanh explains throughout this poem of understanding.   It is about not judging one for their crime but rather seeing what got them to that point.  Hanh explains that if raised under certain circumstances, one may end up a certain way.   I intrepret this poem as encouraging the practice of deep empathy for those we have trouble understanding.   Hanh is urging us to treat everyone kindly and look at all living beings with eyes of compassion.
      The way the author explains these ideas throughout his poem is by a line in his poem “ I am the twelve-year-old girl refugee on  a small boat, who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate.   And i am the the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving. (Hanh,72).      Hanh explains in this quote that the pirate doesnt understand what he did wrong to the girl in the boat, because his heart isnt capable of understanding, and not capable of having compassion towards the girl.   He also explains further in his poem that if raised in a certain circumstance we would all turn like the pirate, so we cant just judge the pirate for what he done but understand and see what got him to that point.
      As you read through Hanh’s works you notice that throughout his works, he shows the influence of western Buddhism.   His teaching and practices aim to appeal to people from various religious, spiritual, and political backgrounds intending to offer mindfulness practices for more western sensibilities. make sure you cite this info, where did it come from? Include the citation at the end of the quote.   According to Thich Nhat Hanh, his approaches has been a combination of a variety of traditional zen teaching with insights from other Mahayana Buddhist traditions.    His methods came from thousand buddhism, and ideas from written  psychology to offer a modern light on mediation practices.     Hanh shows in his presentation of the Prajnaparamita in terms of “ interbeing” has doctrinal antecedents in the Huayan school of thought, (31) which ” is often said to provide a philosophical foundation “ for Zen.(32).    He explains this through various of quotes, and sayings throughout his many works in his book “ Call Me by my True Names”, which has various short poems expressing his religion, and his engaged buddhism teachings.
       Nhat Hanh has also been a leader in the Engaged Buddhism movement (he coined the term), promoting the individual’s active role in creating change. He cites the 13th-century Vietnamese King Tr?n Nhân Tông with the origination of the concept. Tr?n Nhân Tông abdicated his throne to become a monk, and founded the Vietnamese Buddhist school in the Bamboo Forest tradition.     According to Seaox,   Hanh was a A Buddhist monk since the age of sixteen, Tha^y (“teacher,” as he is commonly known to followers) earned a reputation as a respected writer, scholar, and leader. He championed a movement known as “engaged Buddhism,” which intertwined traditional meditative practices with active nonviolent civil disobedience.        Seaox Air-Medical explains further that this movement lay behind the establishment of the most influential center of Buddhist studies in Saigon, the An Quang Pagoda. He also set up relief organizations to rebuild destroyed villages, instituted the School of Youth for Social Service (a Peace Corps of sorts for Buddhist peace workers), founded a peace magazine, and urged world leaders to use nonviolence as a tool. Although his struggle for cooperation meant he had to relinquish a homeland, it won him accolades around the world.    
       Hanh explains further that the government saw  him as a threat-ironic, when one considers the subjects of his teachings: respect for life, generosity, responsible sexual behavior, loving communication, and cultivation of a healthful life style.   In Nguyen Giang’s  article “ Religious tension mounts in Vietnam”, he explains why the government thought Hanh as a threat, because his diplomatic charm offensive worked, the thinking goes, and there are fears that any further relaxation would potentially threaten the party’s monopoly on power.
    For example, the government says Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh’s followers were asked to leave by the monastery’s abbot – they describe the standoff as a conflict between two Buddhist factions, but critics say the clampdown began when Thich Nhat Hanh urged the government to stop controlling religion and called for the religious police to be disbanded.    Talk more about this controversy, also why are details about his life at the end of the essay? Shouldn’t his background be more near the beginning?
      To conclude, Hanh  shows In his  collection of more than 100 poems composed over the last forty years, Thich Nhat Hanh’s clarity shines forth, transforming the pain and difficulty of war and exile into a celebration of awareness and the human spirit.    Hanh’s  poems have an almost uncanny power to disarm delusion, awaken compassion, and carry the mind into the immediate presence of meditation. Thich Nhat Hanh writes with the voice of the Buddha, and that he  instructment in developing a socially engaged Buddhism in the face of the tremendous upheavels of today’s world’s.    
     
     
                                                 

     Cited Pages:
    Hahn, thich. Call Me by my True Names. 1993.
    Air-Medical, S.. Thich nhat hanh. N.p., 2001. Web. 4 May 2012. .
    Thich nhat hanh. N.p., 2012. Web. 4 May 2012. .
    Giang, Nguyen. “Religious tension mounts in Vietnam.” BBC News. BBC Vietnamese service, 09/3. Web. 4 May 2012. .
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

     

     
     

     

  • Reply
  • kfuiree - January 10, 2011 at 4:58 pm #

  • write an essay about a kind of behavior that you do not like

  • Reply
  • Nnamdi - October 21, 2010 at 7:45 am #

  • do you believe that violence in television programs leads to violence in our society?

  • Reply
  • Harris - June 29, 2010 at 3:21 am #

  • Hi Scott,

    How can I get to your essays from #1 to #39.

    Regards,

    –Harris M Qureshi

  • Reply
  • Ed Nelson - September 28, 2009 at 7:45 pm #

  • Confession I’ve looked with some care at only essay topics from the list “Latest Essays — January 2009.” From that list, I presume to provide a few minor repairs, to wit:
    #60 “ever elusive” would work better as “ever-elusive.”
    #56 “5 minute” would be clearer as “5-minute.”
    #55 “”starts” should have the plural form, “start.”

    Plainly, you’ve been told often enough that you think and write well. I seek only to say I agree with that assessment. I hope my fading mind is able to hang on to yoyur name and site, since I suspect I’d benefit by subsequent re-examination, thus return.

    Thank you. —Ed Nelson

  • Reply
Scott's Bestselling Books
  • Confessions of a
    Public Speaker
  • Provocative and funny secrets from a veteran speaker, you'll laugh as you learn.
  • Buy now at Amazon Book Details
  • The Myths of Innovation
  • The classic bestseller, now in paperback with 4 new chapters.
  • Buy now at Amazon Book Details
  • Making Things Happen
  • The classic and bestselling handbook for any project leader, packed with tactics and stories.
  • Buy now at Amazon Book Details
Photos from Recent Events (view flickr stream)

You're reading Scott Berkun, All rights reserved unless noted. You can subscribe here Blog RSS Comments (RSS)