Teachers
A number of Order of Interbeing members in the the UK have been recognised by Thich Nhat Hanh as dharmacaryas or dharma teachers, receiving the ‘lamp transmission’ in a formal ceremony in which gathas (insight poems) are exchanged between student and teacher.
Martin Pitt (Chan Hoc – True Learning)
Martin Pitt
Martin received the Fourteen Mindfulness trainings in 1990, and the lamp transmission in August 1994.
Martin’s Initiation Gatha:
A spider’s web catches the morning sun,
Behold – the whole universe in a single dewdrop,
How wonderful that I am here to see it.
Thay’s Gatha:
The true dharma can only be touched by direct experience
In order to practice the Way, onemindedness should be there
There are ten thousand birds singing in the Dharma Forest.
Behold: our true person appears every time one flower blooms.
Murray Corke (Chan Dai Tap – True Great Practice)
Murray Corke
Murray received the Fourteen Mindfulness trainings in 1994, and the lamp transmission in November 2004.
Murray’s Initiation Gatha:
Mind burdened by generations of errors,
A shower of rain slows my steps
The call of a bird cracks open my heart
Smiling, I walk on in freedom.
Thay’s Gatha:
The Mahayana has just set the Dharma Wheel in motion
Five continents come together, praising from near and far
The song of Zen is striking up with joyful sounds
The Earth trembles, the devas congratulate you.
Jane Coatesworth (True Flower of Awakening)
Jane Coatesworth
Jane received the Fourteen Mindfulness trainings in 1995, and the lamp transmission in November 2004.
Jane’s Initiation Gatha:
I sing to the tree
The silence between phrases is vast and arresting.
The tree, graceful and steady,
does her best with what she has.
Grateful, my heart is refreshed.
Thay’s Gatha:
The flowers of enlightenment are blooming everywhere,
The breeze floats the perfume of Zen far and wide.
So many members of the Sangha are gathered together.
The Buddha mind whether in the North or South,
past or present, is the same.