By Linda Spangler I had wanted to go to Vietnam for a long time. I grew up with the Vietnam War on TV and watched the fighting and the nightly list of American dead. Escaping the draft was a frequent topic of conversation in my high school. I could not understand how anyone could…
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Dharma Talk: Liberating Our Hearts – Practicing with the Paramita of Inclusiveness
Before our airplane takes off, we are told the way to use the oxygen mask. And we are always told that we have to put on the oxygen mask for ourselves first, and only then can we place the oxygen mask on our child, the young person sitting next to…
Settling in at St. Michael’s
By Kim Warren Over 300 people gathered at St. Michael's College in Burlington, Vermont last May for Thay's 21-day retreat on the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing. Thay, monks, nuns, and lay Dharma teachers led us as we learned about and practiced the exercises in the sutra. Being together at an urban college…
The Other Shore
Thích Nhất Hạnh teaches us about interbeing, impermanence, no discrimination, and the end of civilization: "Mother Earth does not discriminate. If you throw perfume or flowers on her, she’s not proud. If you throw urine or excrement on her, she’s not offended. For her, everything is perfect. She knows that without this, the other cannot be. Without the mud, the lotus cannot be. So we can learn a lot from Mother Earth."
Ancestral Roots
By AJ Johnston Children of the Whitney on altar, Antioch Baptist Church, Whitney Plantation. Photo by Edissa Nicolás-Huntsman “With understanding and compassion, you will be able to heal the wounds in your heart, and the wounds in the world. Embrace your suffering, and let it reveal to you the way…
Letter from the Editor
To Our Readers The Invitation ceremony has concluded the three-month winter retreat in Deer Park Monastery. Members of the Fourfold Sangha are sitting on the beach with nowhere to go, nothing to do; enough to make us very happy. During the three months of the retreat, the Fourfold Sangha has…
In the Shape of Your Palm
By Duncan Liddle The Fifth Remembrance: My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand. In my bathroom, there is a rubber plant. It's a very beautiful plant, and it means a lot to me because I grew it…
When Giants Meet
Dedication of the Beloved Community Garden at Magnolia Grove Monastery Beloved Community Garden, Magnolia Grove Monastery. Photo by Paul Davis “If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood on the shoulders of giants.” — Isaac Newton What happens when two giants meet? We invite…
Hovering with Your Children
One of my favorite activities is hanging out and watching my children, just watching, not necessarily doing anything for or with them. Often, I sit at the antique wooden table in our kitchen and look out our picture window at their activity. This window frames the life work of my children engaging in play. By sitting and…
From the Editor
While The Mindfulness Bell is officially the journal of the Order of Interbeing, our hope is to reach beyond the Order's core community to include everyone who finds Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings and practice inspiring. This global Sangha is made up of a wide variety of people with very different life experiences-Europeans, Asians, North Americans, Jews,…