Celebrating Thay: Happy 100th Continuation Day! – Magnolia Grove Meditation Practice Center

October 11, 2026

Kaleidoscope

Excerpt from At Home in the World by Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh

“…When I was a child, l used to enjoy playing with a kaleidoscope that I made from a tube and a few pieces of ground glass. When I turned the tube, many wonderful patterns and colors revealed themselves.

Every time made a small movement of my fingers, one image would disappear and give way to the next. I didn’t cry at all when the first spectacle disappeared, because I knew that nothing was lost; another beautiful sight always followed…

…When we look into a kaleidoscope, we see a beautiful symmetrical image; and whenever we turn the kaleidoscope, the image disappears. Can we describe this as a birth or a death? Or is the image merely a manifestation? After this manifestation, there’s another manifestation that’s equally beautiful —nothing is lost. I have seen people die very peacefully, with a smile, because they understand that birth and death are only waves on the surface of the ocean, not the ocean itself, just like the beautiful images in the kaleidoscope.

There is no birth and no death. There is only continuation…”

To read more, please visit:
https://www.parallax.org/product/at-home-in-the-world/

October 11, 2026

Dear Friends,

We cordially invite you to honor our Beloved Teacher’s 100th Continuation day!

This is a special day where we will celebrate both our Teacher’s 100th Continuation day and our Opening Ceremony of the 90-day Rains Retreat.

To celebrate his legacy as his continuation in the Dharma, we invite you to join us in honoring him not on this day alone but also in our everyday lives.

One of Thầy’s greatest joys in life was walking meditation.

Together, let us walk with Thầy’s mindful steps. Let us breathe with Thầy’s mindful breaths.

Let us walk and breathe mindfully in such a way that there is no longer any divide between Thầy and ourselves.

The student has long since become the teacher and they really are just one, without any separation or difference.

Together, we will embody Interbeing at its finest as we immerse ourselves fully in this wonderful
art called walking meditation, together, as a community.

The program for this day is as follows:

5:30 Be-In Sharing memories about Thầy
8:30 Walking Meditation
9:45 Live Dharma Talk
11:30 Opening Ceremony for the Rains Retreat
12:45 Lunch

We look forward to seeing you!

This year, how will you choose to honor Thầy for his 100th Continuation Day?

Thầy often reminded us:

“…I can see very clearly that wherever you are, you are my continuation, and in one way or another, you are carrying me into the future. We, teacher and student, will continue to climb the hill of the century, offering our love, understanding, freedom and solidity to the world, today and ever after. And, do you know? When our mahasangha climbs the hill of the century, the scenery is truly spectacular…”

Thầy sees in you Thầy’s continuation, Thầy will never die.

“…Thầy prays that the Buddha watch over you all so that you can be protected in body and mind, and be able to nourish your joy and be a refuge for the Sangha and for all who come. Thầy sees clearly that you are the continuation of the Buddha, the ancestral teachers and of Thầy. Through you, Thầy is immortal. Thầy has faith in you, and this faith is so solid and unshakable. Thầy holds you all in his heart, with all his love and trust. May the Buddha and Ancestral Teachers offer you great strength and energy…”

– “Climbing Together the Hill of the Century”

“…Human rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. yearned to build a beautiful community – a happy community, with solidarity and capacity for activism and engagement. He called such a community “The Beloved Community”. Unfortunately, he was assassinated at the age of 39 in Memphis, so he could not realize his beautiful dream. We are more fortunate. We have been able to set up sanghas everywhere, and so wherever we go, we can feel at home. (“The Sangha body is everywhere, my true home is right here.” We have continued that aspiration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and every day, our practice is to generate brotherhood and sisterhood, to cultivate joy and the capacity to help people. This is a concrete way to realize and continue that dream. But more than that, the problems of our time have become global. The Buddha of the 21^stcentury can no longer manifest as an individual, “One Buddha is not enough.” If Maitreya – the Buddha to be born, will manifest in this century, Thầy believes that he will manifest in the form of “A Beloved Community…”

– “Climbing Together the Hill of the Century”

Thầy often wrote letters of loving encouragement such as these for his students. To read more, please visit: https://plumvillage.org/articles/in-love-trust-letters-from-a-zen-master

You may also like to write love letters such as this for yourself, your loved ones, and even letters of reconciliation to heal our broken relationships. When we heal ourselves with loving speech and deep listening, we too, can offer this in turn to our loved ones and eventually with due time, even those who have hurt us.

Thầy, our beloved teacher, has shown us how to embody loving speech and deep listening in his everyday life as well as through his books and dharma talks. Let us continue Thầy and keep this practice alive and flourishing for many future generations to come.