By Annie Mahon When I took refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha many years ago, I was given the dharma name “Joyful Purpose of the Heart.” At the time I didn’t think much about it. Frankly, the name didn’t mean much to me. Joyful Purpose? I had…
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Toward Greater Inclusiveness
By Scott Plous Last fall, I attended a wonderful mindfulness retreat at the Omega Institute. For four glorious days, 800 people practiced sitting, walking, and smiling together. Thay gave a series of eloquent Dharma talks on how to love one another, and several hundred retreat participants ended up taking the precepts. Halfway through the retreat,…
Ethnic Diversity
Picture the person sitting next to you in class asking you about your ethnicity. You tell this person that your ethnic background is Chinese. Now picture this person proceeding to make almond eyes, speaking in an "Asian" voice, and making references to Ninjas. Hold on a minute. Ninjas are Japanese warriors, not Chinese. This is…
Rejoicing with the Sangha in Hanoi
By Sister Hanh Nghiem The seven-day retreat on Engaged Buddhism in Hanoi was truly wonderful. I was touched by the rooted feeling of being a community. Before the orientation, the Order of Interbeing, monks, and nuns were on stage ready to invoke the name of Avalokiteshvarya. Looking out at the…
Healing My Suffering
By Caleb Cushing Until I stop breathing, learning to recognize my suffering will remain my challenge. My parents trained me to suppress. Father never mentioned his parents. Mother never mentioned that her middle-aged mother committed suicide. I was “not allowed” to “make noise.” To be “well brought-up,” I was to…
Answering the Call of the Heart
Now a lay Dharma teacher, Jem offers insights from his deep Earth-holding practice, surviving stage four cancer, and disrobing after eighteen years as a monk.
Second Body Practice in a Lay Sangha
Weaving the Web By Caleb Cushing Some of us in the 25-member Pot Luck Sangha were intrigued by the Second Body practice that Thay described in "Taking Care of Each Other." (The Mindfulness Bell, Spring 1999) Being openly responsible for supporting another person's practice and simultaneously encouraged by another sounded profound. We imagined that a Sangha's…
Going Home to Nature to Shift the Climate Narrative
Salina Khan-Fuchigami shares how mindfulness radically changed her understanding and approach as an environmental educator, from watering the seeds of fear and despair to cultivating reverence for nature and life.
One Drop of Color
Many times I have testified of my suffering and written at length on race...
Gathas for the Practice of Mindful Living
Interview with Brother Chan Phap Luu Brother Chan Phap Luu, one of the editors of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Stepping into Freedom (Second Edition), shares about the changes reflected in the book. The Mindfulness Bell: How has the training for novices changed since the first edition of Stepping into Freedom…