Content warning: Violence and a specific mass murder

  1. “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me […] Great care and concern are to be shown in receiving poor people and pilgrims, because in them more particularly Christ is received.” - Rule of Saint Benedict, 53
  2. “A lotus for you, a Buddha-to-be.” - Gatha for greeting someone, Chanting from the Heart, Volume 2: Ceremonies and Practices in the Plum Village Tradition
  3. “One day Venerable Ahimsaka returned from begging covered with blood and barely able to walk. Svasti ran to help him. Ahimsaka asked to be taken to the Buddha. He explained that while he was out begging in the city, some people recognised him as the former Angulimala [a notorious criminal]. They cornered him and began to beat him. Ahimsaka did not resist their blows, but joined his hands to form a lotus bud while allowing them to vent their anger and hatred.” - Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path White Clouds 56
  4. “For three days and nights, I could hardly sleep. […] During the third night, the murderer’s words that Dinh had told me, ‘I’m sorry, but we have to kill you,’ sprang into my mind, and I began to see the message of understanding and love that Thay Thanh Van had delivered at the last funeral had reached even the killers. It was obvious that these men had been forced to kill our friends, for if they refused, they themselves could have been killed. In the speech I wrote for Thay Thanh Van, I thanked the murderers for saying that they were forced to kill. ‘That proved that you did not want to kill us, but for your own safety, you had to do it. We hope that one day you will help us in our work for peace.’” - Sister Chan Khong, Learning True Love: Practicing Buddhism in a Time of War 1993, 11
  5. The divine is everywhere and in everybody, and therefore always here. How could you ever be anywhere other than at home?