Carolyn White is a member of the Cedar Society, the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation’s legacy giving program. As a children’s author, poet, and the world’s leading expert on leprechauns, she enjoys varied opportunities to water wholesome seeds in society and in herself. She has practiced in the Plum Village tradition since 1997. She lives in East Lansing, Michigan.
My Background
I am a storyteller and, I hope, a deep practitioner in the Plum Village tradition. I grew up in a Jewish household. I even visited Israel in 1968 after the Six-Day War. But Judaism wasn’t satisfactory for me. Thich Nhat Hanh (“Thay”) has said that we can’t divorce ourselves from our backgrounds, and it’s true: I’ll always be Jewish in history, culture, and ethnicity. But I have found what I was looking for spiritually in Buddhism.
Why I Chose the Plum Village Tradition
The Plum Village tradition was my complete opposite. I had lived the life of an individualistic, show-off storyteller in flamboyant clothes. Talk about a superiority complex! So Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings about kindness and collective community inspired me. His message to “go like a river” gave me a new perspective on how to live life. It was everything I wasn’t. Now it is me.
Carolyn explains why she chose the Plum Village tradition:
Watching My Evolution
In 1997, after a long illness, I traveled to the Omega Institute in upstate New York to hear Thich Nhat Hanh speak. There I decided to take the Five Mindfulness Trainings. The fourth training about Right Speech challenged me; would I be able to speak without slyness, sarcasm, and snark? But a fellow practitioner said, in the most cavalier way, “You’re already going in that direction. Just take the Five Mindfulness Trainings already!” So I did. That cavalier attitude made a tremendous difference in my practice. And I was actually given the Dharma name Wise Speech of the Heart. This may have transformed me more than anything else.
Carolyn receives the Dharma name Wise Speech of the Heart:
My Practice Today
I wake up with the Waking Up gatha:
Waking up this morning, I smile.
Twenty four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.
Then I brush my teeth in awareness of the water in the sink. I sit outside and meditate. When I open my eyes, the first heavenly blue morning glory has just opened. Sometimes I see deer.
Then I read a Dharma book, write in my journal, read poetry, write poetry, exercise, get dressed, and go walk in the woods. I like to take my friends to the woods and introduce them to the wildflowers and trees.
Once weekly, my Sangha meets via Zoom. We also practice walking meditation in the forest, setting in the woods little stone Buddha statues my friend created.
My Inspiration to Become a Cedar Society Member
I’ve asked myself how I can best contribute to the world in these years of my life. I don’t believe in giving large amounts of money to individual people, and my personal circumstances make living in a mindful community or taking monastic vows impossible. So I see donating to the Cedar Society as my continuation.
We are very grateful for Carolyn’s deep practice and generous contribution to the Plum Village Community as a member of the Cedar Society, the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation’s legacy giving program. Thank you Carolyn!
To learn more about the Cedar Society, visit tnhf.org/legacy-giving.