The Dhutanga Robes and the Pieces of a Life

Vu Than
Mar 28
2 min read

The scraps of cloth picked from garbage and desolate places, stitched together to form a robe... What does this signify?

The Dhutanga Robes and the Pieces of a Life

The robes of those who follow the Dhutanga path are not made of fine, whole fabric, silk, or brocade. They are scraps of cloth picked from garbage or desolate places, stitched together to form a garment.

These seemingly worthless pieces of cloth, when carefully sewn together with patience and skill, become a symbol of renunciation, simplicity, and purity in life.

Each person’s life is like that robe—an assembly of fragments from the past, from experiences of joy, sorrow, success, failure, pain, or happiness. Sometimes it consists of bright, shining moments, other times it may feel like moments discarded, like a torn piece of cloth left by the roadside. But it is these seemingly insignificant fragments that shape who we are.

Image of the author of the article and the founder of the Dhutanga Community, Thân Thanh Vũ, and the Dhutanga monks.

Looking back on our lives, who can truly say that they are a perfect piece of cloth, without any scratches or seams? Every person has their own hidden corners, moments of failure, and wounds that are hard to heal. But if we can accept it all, just like a Dhutanga practitioner picking up each scrap of cloth without discrimination, we too can stitch our lives back together with patience and compassion.

The robe of a monk is a great lesson. It reminds us that nothing is useless, no past is worth discarding, and no suffering is beyond transformation.

Even if life is torn into many small pieces, it can still be sewn back into a complete robe—if we have the heart to rest in peace, the perseverance to continue, and the compassion to embrace everything that has passed.