Adventures in Deer Park: My First #WakeUp Retreat (Part 2: Interbeing)

Altar in the Large meditation Hall at Deer Park Monastery

Hello again, everyone! I'm back with another round of teachings from Deer Park Monastery. This time, we are going to be talking about the Buddhist concept of Interbeing. This is very similar to the Hindu philosophy that i wrote about a while back, Advaita Vedanta (which, roughly translated, means The Knowledge of Non-Duality). Both of these philosophical ideas acknowledge the illusion of separateness that we all experience and they both dispel separateness as just that: an illusion. Interbeing is the same as Advaita Vedanta, but this Buddhist philosophy does not include a God, Source, or anything of that nature. So, instead of saying that "We are all God, God is everything, therefore we are everything," the concept of Interbeing states that "Everything is everything." So, although it excludes a deity or ultimate consciousness, these two ideas are the same on a fundamental level.

Thich Nhat Hanh explains this idea in his book, "No Mud, No Lotus." He says that the lotus cannot grow without the mud or the sunlight. Therefore, it is clear that the lotus itself contains sunlight and mud. It is made of sunlight and mud. This means that as much as it is its own being (lotus flower), it is also just sunlight and mud.

Picnic dinner atop a mountain outside Deer Park Monastery

For me, this idea (as well as the Hindu philosophy, Advaita Vedanta) is very healing. Whenever I am feeling down, I try to remember the essence of this teaching from the Great Thich Nhat Hanh. I am made of what I love. I am the sum of my relationships, my food, my environment, and my interests. I cannot see that which is not part of me, so whenever I listen to music, see art, or take a walk into the wilderness, I remind myself that I would not be able to see the things that I love if they were not a reflection of who I am at my core. This is true for all beings. You cannot see that which is not part of you, so fill your physical and mental space with things that make your heart glow and you will become more and more a part of them and they will do the same with you.

I hope you enjoyed this post! I will make a few more posts about what I learned in my time at the monastery because the experience was just so profound for me. Let me know what you want me to write about on my Instagram or by leaving a comment on this post.

with so much love,

Emma