By Lorraine Keller

In 2005, after twelve years of reading Thay’s books and a visit to Plum Village, I received the Five Mindfulness Trainings at the Deer Park retreat. Some members of the Order of Interbeing motivated me to start a Sangha in a city where there was none.

I thought I wasn’t ready, but in January 2006 I found the courage to start a regular Monday sitting in Mexico City, where I live. For a year only two or three people came, but by 2009 there were around twelve regulars, all with lovely stories about how the teachings had changed their lives forever.

Most of the people in Mexico City are Catholics and members of other Christian denominations; of the various Buddhist sects, Tibetan Buddhism predominates. However, I have found people to be very open to Thay’s teachings. When talking about the teachings, I make an effort to avoid using words from foreign languages; instead I talk about inner peace and the transformation of suffering as the main themes, without labeling them “Buddhist.” Most of all, I try to be an example of how the teachings can transform a person’s life.

Today, the Las Flores Sangha has two sittings per week with about twenty-four regulars. We have Days of Mindfulness every month, when practitioners bring family and friends and share what they have learned. We bring Thay’s books so that people can have access to them. We share with newcomers the importance of taking responsibility for the violence in our country.

The Las Flores Sangha has made it a goal to put into practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings by organizing teams in the areas of ecology, nutrition, social and family violence, and end-of-life support.

Ecology

Jose Antonio Gonzalez and Paulina Parlange have prepared a beautiful presentation for people who live in poor communities near beaches and forests in Mexico to make them aware of the importance of conserving natural resources and taking care of the environment. Jose and Paulina have already done a wonderful job in Michoacan, and they are now leading a workshop in Oaxaca. We are preparing a simple email presentation to send to our friends about how much damage we do to our planet with our unmindful actions and how we can, through small daily decisions, reverse these actions.

Nutrition

One Sangha member, Cecilia Dominguez, is preparing a menu guide of nutritionally-balanced vegetarian meals to help us become more vegetarian every day. She is helping anyone who wants to have a more meaningful, mindful diet. We hope to publish a practical, simple guide in Spanish.

Social and Family Violence

Every two weeks, I practice at Casa Hogar Margarita, a shelter for poor girls from violent families, which I founded in 1998. We teach the parents meditation, and we have a Dharma sharing about violence in childhood, in families, and in our society. Our intention is to help parents and other family members understand their seeds of anger and transform them into understanding and compassion, so as to avoid repeating the same violence with their children. We will soon teach the children a daily meditation to practice before supper.

Last summer, I gave a free workshop for teachers from low-income public schools to help them learn meditation techniques and to understand the sources of suffering and violence. The goal of the workshop was to help them become more peaceful, understanding teachers.

Being with Dying

Three women from our Sangha are helping people with loved ones who are dying or have recently died. Our Sangha practices Joan Halifax’s meditations (which Caleb Cushing shared with us) at least monthly to help people become aware of the inevitability of death as a normal passage and a continuation of life.

Where Peace Is Needed

In September 2009, after completing a course of chemotherapy and right before my surgery, I was profoundly happy to be ordained into the Order of Interbeing at the Deer Park retreat. Four practitioners from the Las Flores Sangha came with me and brought family members. I was so happy to translate Thay’s last Dharma talk for them. They were very touched.

With every decision I make, I go to the teachings for guidance, and every time I find help. Meditation has taught me to love myself and to feel secure and peaceful, no matter what happens in my life. It has helped me to face cancer treatment with gratitude, acceptance, love and compassion towards myself and others.

I am profoundly grateful that I have had the chance in this life to learn about Buddhism through Thay’s teachings, and I am committed to spreading it all around me, especially in my country, where social justice and peace are so deeply needed.

Lorraine Keller, True Mountain of Jewels, practices with Mexico City’s Las Flores Sangha. She was ordained in 2009, right after finishing eight chemotherapy treatments and just before undergoing cancer surgery. She enjoyed being alive to listen to Thay. She arrived at the surgery full of peace and joy; the doctors could not believe it.