Like a coin, the precepts have two sides, and both are essential for our practice. One side guides us toward what is beneficial and protects us. The other side is the emptiness of the precepts. To describe the first aspect, I would like to share this story: When I was…
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Be Mindful in Daily Life
Photo by Renee Burgard Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly alive, present, and at one with those around you and with…
True Wonderful Action
By Anissa Housley I’m in Estes Park, Colorado. The cavernous meeting hall is filled with people. It’s early morning; everything is dimly lit. Monks and nuns sit onstage and Thay is leading the ceremony for the transmission of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings. I’m standing, I’m prostrating, I’m kneeling, I’m singing.…
A Sacred Wound
By Barbara Casey One Valentine's Day I was able to deeply touch the pain of not feeling included. It was a warm, blue sky February day and I was extraordinarily happy to be with my beloved. I think it was because I was feeling so happy and safe that when a small interaction touched in me…
Dharma Talk: The Different Faces of Love
Teachings on the Dimension of Action of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion from the Universal Door Chapter of the Lotus Sutra When the bodhisattva named Inexhaustible Mind heard the name Avalokitesvara, he asked the Buddha, "Why did that bodhisattva get such a beautiful name?" The Buddha replied, "Because the…
Mindful Consumption
In this Dharma talk from 2007, Thay offers many teachings on interbeing, including seeing ourselves as a five-year-old child, meditation on a grain of corn, contemplating the actions of our right and left hands, and the Sutra of the Son’s Flesh.
Growth in Wake Up Nijmegen
By Manon Wetzels and Reinier de Nooij Nijmegen Snagha The seed for Wake Up Nijmegen germinated during a retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh in Papendal, the Netherlands, in the spring of 2009. In a gathering of young people at the retreat, there was fertile soil, plenty of Dharma rain, and…
Crumbling the Walls of Separation
In Israel and Palestine, where I lived from December 2018 to...
Dharma Talk: Everyone Can and Will Become a Buddha
Excerpt from Lotus Sutra book, by Thich Nhat Hanh, recently published by Parallax Press. In Chapter Twenty of the Lotus Sutra we are introduced to a beautiful bodhisattva called Sadaparibhuta, “Never Disparaging.” The name of this bodhisattva can also be translated as “Never Despising.” This bodhisattva never disparages living beings,…
Singing a Dharma Talk, Writing a Song
By Joseph Emet On June 8, 2002 during the Hand of the Buddha retreat, Thich Nhat Hanh shared an experience of music: “When the Sangha comes together, the silence, the deep mindful breathing, is music. We enjoy that music very much. There are times when we sit together and we…