Planting Seeds of Self-Respect
Published in September 1991
I teach meditation, Aikido, and nonviolence to kids in East Los Angeles who come from neighborhoods of violence, drive-by shootings, and drugs. The gangs the kids are sometimes pressured into joining reflect the battles their parents at home are fighting with drugs, low self-esteem, and…
Transforming Anger in Prison
Published in September 1991
I teach meditation at a juvenile prison in Kansas. One Friday evening I was teaching meditation to a new group of young men, drawing heavily on my experience from the retreat and Thich Nhat Hanh. After I gave a brief definition of meditation, a…
Family Illness
Published in September 1991
Just three days after our retreat in Chicago with Thich Nhat Hanh, I received a late-night phone call from my mother. My dad had been rushed to the hospital, his skin sickly pale for lack of oxygen. Mom sounded convinced that Father was going…
Other articles in this issue
Poem composed by Thich Nhat Hanh
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Alfred Hassler, one of the primary supporters of Thich Nhat Hanh in the American peace movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, passed away in June. Thay and Sister Phuong…
From the Editors
It is obvious from the response to Thich Nhat Hanh's tour of North America this past Spring that we aren't the only ones who care about breathing, smiling, and rebuilding society from the…
The Five Wonderful Precepts
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Following the Spring Retreats, Thich Nhat Hanh re-translated the Five Precepts to express their implications more thoroughly and to rephrase the "Do not's" in a way that articulates these positive practices: …
Meeting in Silence
Carpooling to school one Monday morning, my fellow teacher asked, "How was your weekend?" As the Educator's Sangha had just met that Sunday, I described the afternoon. Tina listened attentively as I spoke…
Teachings Given to the Sick
By Ananda Mahathera I heard these words of the Buddha one time when the Lord was staying in the monastery in the Jeta Grove in Anathapindika's park, near Shravasti. At that time…
Announcements
Plum Village Chanting Book This collection of sutras (discourses of the Buddha) and other chants and ceremonies is now available in a lovely spiral-bound edition from Parallax Press, P.O. Box 7355, Berkeley, CA…
“Insight Poems”
These insight poems were presented at Plum Village on the evening of August 15 at a special tea with Thay to celebrate the end of the summer retreat. Healing is to give…
Five Precepts & Social Change
By Patricia Ellsberg Since attending two retreats with Thich Nhat Hanh at Mt. Madonna, this spring, I have had the feeling of being "in love," not just with Thay and Sister Phuong…
Present Moment, Wonderful Moment
When I was growing up, my father had many things to teach me about things like honesty, loyalty, generosity, and thoroughness. Now, at age 79, he lives with Alzheimer’s disease in a nearby…
Gatha for the Sick
By Sister Annabel Laity
I accept the cancer in this body,Knowing that it is not me.Hand in hand we play and practice together,That all who suffer may be free. NAMO RATNATRAYAYAI pay respect to…
Teaching Smiling
Reading Being Peace has been a real help to me, in my personal life, with my family, and at work. I now practice deep breathing and smiling instead of talking when I…
