Tribute to Two Amazing Leaders and Teachers

Over the last 30 days, the world has lost two amazing leaders and teachers whose lives were dedicated to helping empower and enlighten people through the teachings of the power of choice.

Thich Nhat Hanh just passed on Jan 22nd at the age of 95 and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu passed on Dec 26th at the age of 90. The lives and teaching of both of these incredible beings have touched my life and helped me grow my daily practices to cultivate compassion, joy, peace, and a sense of love for all beings. 

When I reflect back on how each one has impacted my own life I’m brought to a similar theme from both. Both teach in their own way the power of learning how to cultivate the ability to actually step into the present moment, with true consciousness versus being on an autopilot of hidden belief systems, past pasts, trauma, or future worries and projects that rob us of conscious choice. They understood that our true power, our true nature, is only brought forward when we consciously match the power of our choice to be in alignment with our spirit.

Thich Nhat Hanh said, “At any moment, YOU HAVE A CHOICE that either leads you closer to your spirit or further away from it.”

Desmond Tutu said, “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” 

When you read about their lives, they have both been subject to different forms of oppression, discrimination, and experiences that could cause any person to harden their hearts and never see that they have the power of choice. One of the most amazing inspirations to me is that they did not make this choice. They consistently chose actions that aligned with love, compassion, AND actions that supported building and teaching these qualities to all beings.

I wanted to highlight a few ways in which I have shared a few of my favorite teachings of them both.

Connecting with Joy Episode One – The Book of Joy – this book is a transcript of the time that Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama spent together sharing how they have chosen to cultivate JOY in their lives. This book is the inspiration behind my podcast, Connecting with Joy. 

Touching the Earth – In this blog, I shared one of Thich Nhat Hanh’s most popular guided meditations for helping us explore the concept that we are all connected and inviting us into compassion, forgiveness, and committed actions to help bring us closer to our spirit.

If you would like more support on different memorial practices and resources for honoring Thich Nhat Hanh, his organization – Plum Village has just released a special resource page with meditations as well: Plumvillage.org/memorial-practice-resources/

I hope these offerings are as supportive to empower you as they were for me.