By Aparna Pallavi photo by Karen Hilsberg “Go back and take care of yourself. The wounded child in you needs you. Your suffering, your blocks of pain need you. Your deepest desire needs you to acknowledge it.” Each word touched my hurting heart like a tender dewdrop. My whole…
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Plum Village
Excerpts from True Virtue: The Journey of an English Buddhist Nun
Loving the Whole
Reflections on Touching the Earth By Leslie Rawls Mist drifted across the Pacific mountain meadow as Sister Chan Khong’s voice guided several hundred retreatants in the practice of Touching the Earth beneath towering redwoods. It was 1993 and my first encounter with a practice I came to treasure: The Five Touchings…
Thay in Disguise
By Vickie MacArthur Lower Hamlet, Plum Village; photo by Vickie MacArthur In the fall of 2017, I had the opportunity to stay at Lower Hamlet in Plum Village for four weeks. This was not my first visit; I had been blessed to attend the 21-Day Retreat in both 2012 and…
The Role of the Lay Sangha
in the Time of Buddha Shakyamuni By Sister Annabel, True Virtue With the publication of Freedom Wherever We Go (1)the Revised Pratimoksha (precepts of the fully-ordained Buddhist monks and nuns) becomes available to be studied and read by laypeople. Traditionally, lay practitioners have not been permitted to read the Pratimoksha.…
How Silence Nourishes Our Love
By Joann M. Joann and her husband at the beach; photo by Brian Drapeaux Aware of my suffering from sexual violence and clumsy attempts at love, I celebrate with great gratitude the gift of my relationship with my beloved husband, who is also committed to the mindfulness trainings and exploring…
Cleaning the Sponge
A Dharma Talk on Beginning Anew By Sister Dang Nghiem and Brother Phap An At the Stonehill retreat in New York, two senior Dharma teachers teamed up to speak about the practice of Beginning Anew. This excerpt preserves some of the playfulness, humor, and depth of their presentation, which took…
Spanning a Bridge
Still With Faith While Thay and the delegation were in Hue, there were fewer visitors and retreatants than in 2005. Yet we continued our activities as planned. Thay gave Dharma talks with utmost compassion and inclusiveness. Sometimes while I was translating his words into English, I felt dizzy and nauseous.…
A Net of Sangha Jewels
By Jack Lawlor There is a famous metaphor in the Avatamsaka Sutra about the Jeweled Net of Indra, which likens the interdependent, interwoven nature of reality to a vast net of jewels in which each jewel is reflected in the other. The Sanghas that have been inspired by Thich Nhat…
My Father’s Teachings
By Fred Eppsteiner It wasn't easy for my father to age. To see his hair turn grey, his hairline recede, and then gradually disappear till only a few strands remained. To lose the energy of his youth and feel the weariness and discomfort of his aging body. He was both saddened and angered by…