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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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Dharma Talk: Cultivating Our Bodhisattva Qualities
Bodhisattvas are awakened beings. We also have our nature of awakening, no less than they, but we have to train ourselves. One way is to practice invoking the names of four great bodhisattvas—Avalokiteshvara (Regarder of the Cries of the World), Manjushri (Great Understanding), Samantabhadra (Universal Goodness), and Kshitigarbha (Earth Store).…
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…
Monks & Nuns: Behind the Projections onto the Robe
Part One By Lori Zimring De Mori On a quiet summer morning in the French countryside near the village of Thenac, several hundred people sit patiently in the boxy, light-filled room which serves as Upper Hamlet’s main meditation hall in Plum Village. Children are at the front—some squirming, some with…
Explaining the Reasons for the Grand Offering Ceremonies
By Thich Nhat Hanh Preparations for these ceremonies were being made at least three months before Thay left for Vietnam. The full text of this letter is available on the Plum Village website in Vietnamese; it gives specific instructions as well on how to set up the altar. I imagine…