October 8 ~ The Big Picture

“If we worry about the big picture, we are powerless. So my secret is to start right away doing whatever little work I can do. I try to give joy to one person in the morning and remove the suffering of one person in the afternoon. If you and your friends do not despise the small work, a million people will remove a lot of suffering. That is the secret. Start right now.”
— Sister Chân Không

Watercolor portrait of Sister Chân Không, Vietnamese Buddhist nun and peace activist “Do the little work,” she teaches softly. “Do not worry about the big picture.” With luminous grace, Buddhist master Sister Chân Không (1938–), known as True Emptiness, embodies the healing power of presence and compassion. Born on a small farm in war-torn Vietnam, the eighth of nine children, she has devoted her life to helping, and easing suffering wherever she walks.

A lifelong collaborator of Thich Nhat Hanh, Sister Chân Không has become a gentle bridge between East and West, translating mindfulness into daily action. Her kindness flows like water—steady, transformative.

A loving caregiver to refugees and orphans, she once said of war, “We saw that in order to survive we had to walk in the direction of beauty.” Her journey remains a living expression of compassion and peace.

The secret, she reminds us, is not to change the world all at once, but to tend gently to one heart, one act, one breath at a time.

Begin where you are. Heal what you can. 🌸