By Joan Halifax The Selva Lacandona of Chiapas, Mexico, is the second largest rainforest in the Western Hemisphere. In the 1940s, it covered more than 13,000 square kilometers. Today 3,312 square kilometers are preserved. Called the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, its presence has a profound effect on many aspects of our lives, including the weather…
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The Being Peace Practice Centre
Teri West shares the interwoven nature of the long journey towards helping to found a practice centre in the UK and her path to becoming a Dharma teacher.
Caring for Those Who Are Dying
By Hope Lindsay Patty, a Sangha friend, is a nurse for Mercy Medical Center Hospice in Roseburg, Oregon. Many people know that hospice is a cluster of care services for individuals in the last six months of life. When someone is diagnosed with a terminal condition, a team of health…
Master Tang Hoi for Our Time
By Sister Annabel, True Virtue photo by Paul Davis “Mindfulness of breathing is the great vehicle used by the Buddhas to save beings who are drifting and sinking in the ocean of suffering.” This is the opening sentence of a text that was studied in a course for Dharma teachers in training at…
Nirvana is our daily business
Photo courtesy of PVCEB In celebration of this release, editor and translator Sister Annabel Laity sat down and answered some questions about the message of Enjoying the Ultimate, misconceptions about Nirvana, and why Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh chose this chapter to teach to his students. Sister Annabel Laity (Chan…
The Importance of the Dharma Discussion Guidelines
At our weekly Sangha gatherings, we present the Dharma Sharing (Dharma Discussion) Guidelines before each session. Doing so reminds us of our aspiration to listen deeply and to speak mindfully. The Guidelines also provide tools that enable us to build a safe and harmonious environment. Here we can learn to…
Musings on the Retreat at Deer Park From a Complete Novice
By Jim Dudley I have been a Police Officer for over twenty-seven years with the San Francisco Police Department. It is a fulfilling, challenging, rewarding, but sometimes difficult job. I have seen more than my share of violence and human tragedies. I worked two decades of patrol work with time…
Dharma Talk: Karma, Continuation, and the Noble Eightfold Path
Good morning, dear friends. Today is August 5, 2005. We’re in the Upper Hamlet of Plum Village on the last day of our summer session. Today I would like to speak about reincarnation, rebirth, and continuation. If we look at an orange tree we can see that it makes an…
Dharma Talk: The Four Noble Truths
The first Dharma talk of the Buddha after his enlightenment was about the Four Noble Truths. They express the cream of his teachings and method of practice. The Buddha continued teaching the Four Noble Truths right up until his “great passing away” (mahaparinirvana). It is important for us to study…
Writing out the War
By Therese Fitzgerald The UC Berkeley campus hosted an event for war veterans entirely different from the days of dualistic rallies. Thirty men and women, mostly Vietnam veterans, gathered in a spacious, woodsy room of the Faculty Club on a Saturday in June to spend a day with Maxine Hong Kingston nourishing their writing process.…