We are all Guru's

Did you know guru means teacher? I didn't know this until the last weekend. I was given this gem of information while on retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh and the monastics from Plum Village. What is it that we teach you may ask? We teach whatever it is we represent be it happiness, love, joy, sadness, fear, suffering. All these emotions are within us and also outside of us because there is no separation. The cosmos is everywhere in all things simultaneously. Some would say we are all interconnected and others would say we are all inseperable. It all pretty much adds up to the same thing.

There are an infinite number of pathways to enlightenment, or should I say to be enlightened ... as it may be more a state of being rather than a destination. And what is enlightenment? Ah, that's the ultimate question that upon answering transcends itself.

At the weekend I participated in a Buddhist Retreat for educators led by Tay, which means teacher, or as I now realise it also means guru. Tay is the affectionate name given to Thich Nhat Hanh. It is pronounced more like Tie. He has travelled to the UK with over 50 monks and nuns from Plum Village to share with us their way of being in the world. If you want a small insight into this travelling band of merry people take a look at this ...