Photo of Thay from India tour continues to inspire practitioner

There are moments in time, captured on film, that may at first blush seem insignificant.

In this image to the right, for instance, we see a photo taken of Thay from behind, walking toward a large tree, with another monk following closely behind. It could be almost anywhere.

But to the woman who snapped the photo more than twenty years ago, it represents a transformative moment in her life as a practitioner in both the Plum Village and Soto Zen traditions. 

Ruby Odell, who lives in Arizona, was one of 10 Americans accompanying Thay and several monastics on a retreat to India in the 1990s. She said Thay led the group to sit beneath the Bodhi tree (where the Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment) at Bodh Gaya in Bihar, India.

"Thay had a wish to commune with the Buddha, I think," Ruby said. "We went to the Bodhi tree together at four o'clock in the morning to sit beneath it, and Thay gave us a loving Dharma talk and spoke as though the Buddha was his brother." 

The group later traveled to Deer Park in Sarnath, where the Buddha is said to have begun teaching after his awakening. It's there, too, where 2500 years later Ruby took the photo of Thay.  

"That's part of why the picture is so special," she said. "Thay simply stood quietly there and I just took the shot not realizing how profound it truly was and is.”

Soon, she said, young children came up to ask for alms, and Thay reached down to give them his loving attention. Then they all sat together beneath an ancient and majestic tree that provided shade for everyone, sharing their lunch and fresh bottled water with the children. 

“I used to have a photograph of that, too: Thay sitting under the tree and two little girls on either side of him, leaning into his arms, his heart, with such peaceful smiles on their faces,” Ruby said, adding that it was clear the children adored him. 

“It was a glorious time,” Ruby said. “Unforgettable.”