It’s very precious to have someone show us how our practice is going. When a friend shines light on our practice we benefit greatly, because we have many wrong perceptions that can keep us in a prison of self-pride. That is why when we are offered guidance, we can make…
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Four Springs in Asia
By Therese Fitzgerald For more than 30 years, Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) had hoped to go to China to repay the debt he feels to so many generations of Buddhist teachers whose writings and practices were so important to his own formation, by visiting Buddhist temples in China and by offering the Buddha's Dharma…
Walking on Ice
By Jack Lawlor Even the Buddha's Sangha experienced difficulties. His cousin, Devadatta, once attempted to divide the Sangha and lead it himself. And the Buddha himself could not mediate the dispute over etiquette between the Precept master and the Sutra master at Kosambi-at least, not initially. The Upakkilesa Sutta describes how the bhikkhus at Kosambi were…
Cranberry Juice
Mindfulness for College Students By Ben Howard For their first assignment in "The Art of Meditation," my course in mindfulness practice, I asked the students to read the opening chapter of Thich Nhat Hanh's, The Miracle of Mindfulness. I also urged them, whenever drinking, to use both hands, giving the act of drinking their full…
Breaking up as a Mindfulness Practice
By Octavia Baker For months, I was clinging to my relationship with my partner, thinking we could somehow stay together without my becoming a parent, although he wanted to have children. I thought my partner could adopt my best friend’s children. He could become a mentor, a big brother. He…
Awakening and Responding to Climate Change
By John R. Snyder and George Hoguet In January 2014, the Order of Interbeing discussion list hosted a particularly rich dialogue about climate change and our practice. It became clear that many of us who are locally involved in climate change initiatives have felt isolated and sometimes overwhelmed by the…
Discovering the Roots of Buddhism in Vietnam
A Journey of Healing, Hope, and Coming Home White Cloud Sangha, March 2013; photo by Duong Tan Phung We walked slowly, silently, mindfully in the moist morning heat, following the dirt path through the ancient gate to the sisters’ hall. Bowing to the Buddha, we found our relaxed and upright…
Visiting Ven. Thich Huyen Quang
By One of His Lay Students Following is a report by an elderly Vietnamese woman who recently visited Ven. Thich Huyen Quang, Executive Director of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, currently under house arrest. This report was given to us by Ven. Thich Minh Dung, a disciple of Ven. Thich Huyen Quang. I…
Letters from the Editors
Hong-An Hisae Matsuda Dear Thay, dear Sangha, At the beginning of the year, our senior editor Brother Phap Luu and I had a nourishing discussion about how some of our international Sangha friends practiced in the midst of political impermanence. This inspired the editorial team to explore how to practice…
Bowing
An Exercise for Young People By Terry Masters Note: What you might say is in boldface. The answers to questions in parenthesis are the answers our children gave us. Materials Needed: Colored felt-tipped pens Bowing is a deep form of communicating. A bow may mean hello, thank you, goodbye, or…