Welcome to WE-INTERARE. This page is dedicated to INTERBEING (with my views and poems on interbeing at end of this page).

Quick Reference: Please click here for a quotation from Thich Nhat Hanh (from Goodreads) on interbeing or this charming video here (YouTube) when he first “introduced” the word interbeing to the world.

You can also further explore the meaning of interbeing and other resources from Thich Nhat Hanh (such as some of his poems) in the section below.

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Articles —

(1) Please click here for a quotation from Thich Nhat Hanh (from Goodreads) on interbeing. This is a short read.

(2) Please click here for an authorised excerpt from the book ‘The Art of Living’ by Thich Nhat Hanh. It is titled “The Insight of Interbeing” and helps us to understand the meaning of “interbeing” and how we all “inter-are”. This is a longer read.

(3) There is also an interesting article related to interbeing on “the fullness of emptiness” by Thich Nhat Hanh. Please click here (Lion’s Roar)

(4) For an article on interbeing and the nature of perception. from Thich Nhat Hanh, please click here (The Mindfulness Bell)

(5) For an article on environmental interbeing by Thich Nhat Hanh, please click here (Mindfulness Bell).

(6) For a more in depth look at interbeing as a teaching of the Buddha on interdependent co-arising, with a more traditional “Buddhist” angle, you may like to try this article (click here) from learnreligion.com. This is a longer read.

Note: TNH has written extensively on the theme of interbeing in number of books, audio-books and videos. I would recommend that you try one of his books as interbeing is a core teaching for him.

Poems —

(1) For words and audio from Thich Nhat Hanh in poetry form about interbeing, please click here (“Please Call Me by My True Name”, Plum Village website).

(2) For a poem called “Interrelationship” by Thich Nhat Hanh, please click here.

(3) For a a further 6 poems from Thich Nhat Hanh with one poem called ‘Interbeing’ please click here (Plum Village).

Videos —

(1) To see a short 3 minute YouTube video clip that shows Thich Nhat Hanh (young and charming as ever) introducing the word interbeing to the world, please click here (with closed caption in Italian available)

(2) For a much longer Plum Village dharma talk from Thich Nhat Hanh on interbeing please click here for this YouTube video.

(3) For a short animation on interbeing and our connection (or disconnection) to nature, please click here for this YouTube video.

“Understanding and love are interdependent. Love is made of understanding and understanding is made of love” - Thich Nhat Hanh

My verses on Interbeing —

Interbeing

Interbeing means we are together -

We have never truly been apart,

For we are deeply connected,

Our life pulses with all other life.

Interbeing means we are family -

We are related to everything,

We are sisters and brothers,

We are from the same one family.

Interbeing means we can see clearly -

Every action flows on in transformation,

Death is just a conventional marker,

All things continue in everything.

Interbeing means walls are illusions -

Walls of the mind and walls of society.

Although they populate our world,

They are actually artificial.

Interbeing means we can walk freely -

Understanding our habit of discriminating,

From parents, friends and society,

And from our own past suffering.

Interbeing means we take responsibility -

For our actions can affect everybody.

We flow together in helpful harmony,

We feel love for this amazing planet.

Interbeing means we dwell in love -

We see kindness and love as our own,

We share and receive gratefully,

Help all people in our community.

Interbeing means we stop running,

We dwell in a river most amazing,

We are connected to everything,

We abide in peace and harmony.

— Luan Dinh

My poem on Interbeing and how we inter-are:

We Inter-Are

If you can see that all things inter-are with each other,

Then you will not be fooled by the labels of the mind.

Because all things depend upon all others,

There cannot be or will ever be a separate I.

Without a separate I then all things are inconceivable,

All things are transient labels of the mind.

All people are wondrous trails of smoke,

Great endless chains of mysteries.

Although we are not exactly the same,

We are also not totally different…

We are more than our rising thoughts,

More than a string of names and labels.

When we realize our deep connections,

We will understand our non-separation.

We are an endless river flowing,

Intermixing with everything.

With this understanding, we can see…

All the things that we quarrel about…

They are like ants on an oak tree,

A little pebble swirling in the sea.

Words and descriptions are provisional,

They can never describe our whole being.

It is like this with all thoughts and things,

Intangible and quite magical!

When we touch our inter-being,

We realize our great dependence,

We see that we are not separate,

We go beyond old illusions.

Mist and fog will disperse…

With the rising of the sun.

Calm lakes and green forests,

Rain clouds and bright flowers.

— Luan Dinh

For a a short poem that describes interbeing called “Sun Within All”, please click here.

What ‘interbeing’ means to me: a personal perspective —

Interbeing is a return to the deeper meaning of the teaching on interdependent co-arising in Buddhism - "This is, because that is. This is not, because that is not. This comes to be, because that comes to be. This ceases to be, because that ceases to be."

When I say “deeper meaning” I mean that it invites us to go beyond the realm of mere concepts into the living realm of insights and a feeling of deep connections. From this deepening insight, comes greater compassion for the people (and living things) in our lives and a together action that naturally arises. Our feeling of being deeply connected can deepen to a point where our discrimination diminishes significantly enough to bring benefit to our daily life and those that come into contact with us. That is when the ‘insight of interbeing’ has real beneficial effect that goes beyond just words and concepts.

This is my personal understanding of the meaning and you can explore it in the links above and in my contribution in these pages… of course, you will develop your own insights of interbeing as you come to experience it in your daily life. When you feel deeply connected to the world around you that is interbeing. As our feeling of connecting deepens, our interbeing deepens. This is what ‘interbeing’ means for me.

Another way of seeing ‘interbeing’ can be presented like this:

What if the world was always connected? This is its natural state - the state of interbeing, the state of all things being interconnected. The human mind however likes to identify, discriminate, and name… objects, thoughts and feelings. This is how we learn about the objective world since we were young - all this being sensible and understandable in many ways (you might recognize that children often live in a much more care-free world than adults as they make less distinctions).

However as an enquiring adult or young person, we might like to expand our horizon to go beyond the words and concepts that we have been brought up on and see the world in a more connected way. For me, when objects connect, they are no longer distinct objects that are cut-off from each other. When we really connect, we are no longer subjects distinct from objects - we are no longer cut-off from other people or anything. This is already entering the realm of interbeing, which has always been here with us!

Anyway, that’s enough of me talking, thank you for listening. I hope you enjoy returning to your more connected and loving home - that is always there waiting to be discovered!

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“Being fully present is enough to occupy us our whole lives.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

- A Pearl of Blue and White -