By Shelley Anderson
About sixty Order of Interbeing members gathered in late June 2019 at the European Institute of Applied Buddhism (EIAB) in Germany to practice together at the international Order of Interbeing Retreat. It was inspiring to see Order of Interbeing friends from Mexico, Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and more than half a dozen European countries.
The theme of the Order of Interbeing gathering was the Buddhist contribution to a global ethic.
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By Shelley Anderson
About sixty Order of Interbeing members gathered in late June 2019 at the European Institute of Applied Buddhism (EIAB) in Germany to practice together at the international Order of Interbeing Retreat. It was inspiring to see Order of Interbeing friends from Mexico, Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and more than half a dozen European countries.
The theme of the Order of Interbeing gathering was the Buddhist contribution to a global ethic. In daily Dharma talks, Sister True Virtue explained the history of our respected teacher Thay’s efforts to translate Buddhist ethical insights into a more secular language for the world. She spoke of the Ten Vows of Samantabhadra and of an essential ethical consideration: does the proposed action bring happiness or suffering? “Ethics should be something to relieve suffering,” she emphasized, adding that a Buddhist contribution to a global ethics would “always keep mindful walking and meditation but maybe let go of our Buddha statues.”
There were several afternoon panels. During one panel, Order of Interbeing members from Mexico, Hong Kong, Israel, and Palestine spoke about developments within their Sanghas; in another, two Order of Interbeing members from the Netherlands explained the ongoing cooperation between the Dutch Sangha and practitioners in Hungary. A panel on socially engaged Buddhism highlighted some ways Order of Interbeing members are working to alleviate suffering in the present moment.
Ray Nakano spoke passionately about efforts in Canada to address the climate crisis, including a new initiative to help people speak to Sangha members, neighbors, and work colleagues about the crisis.1 “I believe that, as Order of Interbeing members and Dharma teachers, we are well positioned to deal with the fear, anger, and anxiety that can result from dealing with climate change, both personally and in others. Our mindfulness practice is a very good counterpoint to the climate crisis,” he said.
There were more loving examples of how Order of Interbeing members throughout the world work to relieve suffering. An ecological community and farm have been established in northern Italy where “care for the mind and care for the earth” co-exist.2 Also, ARISE (Awakening through Race, Intersectionality and Social Equity) members continue striving to heal the wounds of racial and social inequity in order to transform this suffering into understanding and love in action. Finally, Vu Dung spoke movingly of her involvement in the School of Youth for Social Service (SYSS). The SYSS was set up by Thay and Sister Chan Khong in 1965, during the American war in Vietnam, to support village development.
Toward the end of the retreat, members gathered for a recitation of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings. Hearing the mindfulness trainings being read aloud in each member’s mother tongue, including French, Swedish, Spanish, Chinese, and English, brought home exactly how international the Order of Interbeing is becoming.
After two well-deserved lazy days, a retreat for Dharma teachers, Dharma teacher aspirants, and Order of Interbeing members began. Sister True Virtue’s Dharma talks were generously and skillfully given. She explored the Four Noble Truths even more deeply and offered retreatants a sutra unfamiliar to many: the “Sutra on Transforming Violence and Fear.”3 Several retreatants said they assumed, from the sutra’s topical opening lines, that Thay himself had written it only a few years ago. The sutra begins, “Let us listen and observe to understand how, from a peaceful and secure situation, we have brought society into a state of terrorism and violence. How have successive generations behaved for the situation to become like this? I want to talk to you about this suffering and tell you how I have been able to let go of fear.”
Much of the violence referenced in this sutra was the result of a prince’s pride being hurt years before. His humiliation, Sister True Virtue explained, was like an ever-present, sharp-pointed knife the prince could not let go of. “Everywhere there are people with sharp-pointed knives in themselves that they can’t take out,” she said. “That sharp-pointed knife can stab us many times a day—all our past hurts and wounds can come up in the present.”
There was much to share and discuss after the Dharma talk. How to deal with difficult behavior in a Sangha? How to deal with misconduct, including sexual misconduct, on the part of Sangha leaders? Three American Dharma teachers recently underwent training at the Faith Trust Institute and are currently preparing to train other Order of Interbeing members, Dharma teachers, and Sangha leaders on ways to deal with such abuse. How best to prepare aspirants who wish to join the Order of Interbeing? Dharma teachers met together for Dharma sharing on these and other issues, while core Order of Interbeing members and aspirants met separately for their own sharing.
Both retreats were deeply enriching and nourishing. It was a joy and a privilege to practice together as a fourfold Sangha with friends from other cultures. A similar gathering will be held at EIAB in 2020 to look more deeply at sutras, such as the Discourse on the Dharma Seal and the Middle Way. The international Order of Interbeing Retreat will take place March 26-29, 2020. This retreat is open to all core members of the Order of Interbeing as well as to those who have been formally accepted as aspirants to core membership.
This retreat will be followed by an international Dharma Teacher Retreat from March 31 to April 3, 2020. The Dharma talks are open to Dharma teachers who have received Lamp Transmission in the lineage of Thich Nhat Hanh, officially recognized aspirants to the Lamp Transmission, core Order of Interbeing members, and formally accepted aspirants to core membership of the Order of Interbeing.
Please see the EIAB website (in German and English) at www.eiab.eu for more information.
1 www.climatefast.ca/kitchen-table-conversations
2 www.pardesa.org
3 King Virudhaka Sutra no.16 of the Arthapada Taisho 198, corresponding to
Attadanda Sutta, Sutta Nipata no. 935-954.
Shelley Anderson, True Great Harmony, was a nonviolence trainer and former Program Officer for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Women Peacemakers Program. She and her wife live in the Netherlands and practice there with the Open Hart Sangha.
