It was a chilly autumn evening, and the full moon had just risen, when the young swordsman arrived at the foot of the mountain. The wilderness was bathed in the light of the moon glimmering playfully on branches and leaves. It seemed that nothing had changed during the seven years he was away, and yet it was…
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Letter from the Editor
Dear Thây, dear Sangha, One of my fondest memories of the 2004 Vietnam trip is the tea ceremony that closed the first monastic retreat. The setting is Hoang Phap Temple, a large Buddhist retreat center outside of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). But first I need to tell you…
Relationship Dharma
We need to create environments where people can succeed in the practice. Interpersonal relationships are the key. With the support of even one person, you develop stability, and later you can reach out to others. —Thich Nhat Hanh I sit on the patio across the table from my housemate of…
Listening Deeply
By Teri West Over the past year, I have spent more time in my forty-five-year-old son’s company than I had done since his teenage years. I have been staying with him for extended periods to help him and his three sons through difficult times with the break-up of his marriage.…
Freedom Is Our Practice
May 13, 2004 New Hamlet, Plum Village photo by Paul Davis Good morning, dear Sangha. Today is May the thirteenth in the year 2004, and we are in the Loving Kindness Temple in the New Hamlet. In the Buddhist teaching there is the concept of aimlessness, apranihita, which I translate…
What’s All This Bowing About?
A friend handed me a note that asked about bowing practice.
Being the Practice
From a talk given in the New Hamlet, Plum Village. Dear Mahasangha, good afternoon. Today is the 9th of December in the year 2001. It seems that the object of mind and the subject are not separate. I could think that I am the subject and Plum Village is the object of my…
A Harmonious World Begins in the Mind
Plum Village Delegation Travels to Buddhist Forum in China In April 2006, four of us, Brother Phap Ân, myself, Sister Giac Nghiem (Soeur Elizabeth) and Sister Tung Nghiem (Sister Pine), had the honor and privilege to travel to China for the First World Buddhist Forum. When we arrived at Hangzhou,…
Awakening and Deepening White Awareness
The murder of George Floyd and systemic inequalities revealed...
Entering the Stream of the Practice
Brother Phap Hien (Brother Michael) Brother Phap Hien's insight gatha Remembering your peaceful steps along the ancient path, the sound of the old bell carried me out into the night sky. I return now with a bright message from faraway stars, and Oh, how my weary feet adore the tender…