By Terry Masters The Buddha taught: “…I want to tell you that there is a wonderful way to be alone. It is the way of deep observation to see that the past no longer exists and the future has not yet come, and to dwell at ease in the present…
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Cleaning the Sponge
A Dharma Talk on Beginning Anew By Sister Dang Nghiem and Brother Phap An At the Stonehill retreat in New York, two senior Dharma teachers teamed up to speak about the practice of Beginning Anew. This excerpt preserves some of the playfulness, humor, and depth of their presentation, which took…
A Net of Sangha Jewels
By Jack Lawlor There is a famous metaphor in the Avatamsaka Sutra about the Jeweled Net of Indra, which likens the interdependent, interwoven nature of reality to a vast net of jewels in which each jewel is reflected in the other. The Sanghas that have been inspired by Thich Nhat…
Helping Congress Be Like a Sangha
By Scott Nance The next time a congressman or congresswoman is waiting at the airport, maybe he or she won’t be caught up thinking about his or her next meeting, or an upcoming vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Instead, he or she may be doing…
Dharma Talk: The Buddhist Understanding of Reality
Plum Village, France 21 June 2009 At the Path of the Buddha retreat, Thay focused on global ethics. A handout (see below) summarized four different approaches to ethical questions. Here is an excerpt from Thay’s last Dharma talk, in which he discussed the Buddhist approach. We study this line: “Both…
Bearing Witness, Being With
By Cao Ngoc Phuong Fourth Precept of the Order of lnterbeing "Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering by all means,…
Loving the Whole
Reflections on Touching the Earth By Leslie Rawls Mist drifted across the Pacific mountain meadow as Sister Chan Khong’s voice guided several hundred retreatants in the practice of Touching the Earth beneath towering redwoods. It was 1993 and my first encounter with a practice I came to treasure: The Five Touchings…
Lotus Flowers Sing in Lower Hamlet
By Ian Prattis photo by Jitka Slamova During the 2001 Summer Retreat in Plum Village, I found a way to put the Three Refuges to good use in a totally unexpected manner. I was staying in Lower Hamlet with my friend Carolyn, and we had asked Sister Jina, the Abbess…
How Silence Nourishes Our Love
By Joann M. Joann and her husband at the beach; photo by Brian Drapeaux Aware of my suffering from sexual violence and clumsy attempts at love, I celebrate with great gratitude the gift of my relationship with my beloved husband, who is also committed to the mindfulness trainings and exploring…
Touching the Master
By Aparna Pallavi photo by Karen Hilsberg “Go back and take care of yourself. The wounded child in you needs you. Your suffering, your blocks of pain need you. Your deepest desire needs you to acknowledge it.” Each word touched my hurting heart like a tender dewdrop. My whole…