Author Archives: sangha

Dear friends

We are very pleased to share that six Plum Village monastic friends are coming to Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Surrey as part of their Canadian tour.  As the organizing committee is still working on the logistics, registration is not open currently.  However, the following are the dates for you to pencil in.

Sept 25^th : a Day of Mindfulness in English  (10am -5 pm) at UBC Asian Center

Sept 27-30 : 4-day Commuters’ Retreat (in English)  at UBC Asian Center

Oct 4-6 :  3-day Residential Retreat in Vietnamese at Dharma Lotus Buddhist Society Temple, Surrey

Please monitor the website below for details, updates, and upcoming registration. 

Going As a River Monastic Tour 2024

“My life is my teaching” – honoring our ancestor Thay

In January 2024, Thay’s monastics and lay disciples from around the world will gather in Vietnam to honor our beloved teacher as he becomes an ancestor in our lineage.

The Ceremony of Transformation to Ancestor marks the end of the International Plum Village Community’s two-year mourning period. And it recognizes Thay as the fifth patriarch of Tu Hieu Temple – his root temple – and the founder of the Plum Village Sangha.

Please join us tomorrow, Sunday, January 21, at 6:30 p.m. to practice this Ceremony together.

Dear friends –

We will gather this evening – January 7, 2024 – to welcome the New Year with segments from the Plum Village New Year Ceremony. This will include the large drum invitation to the New Year, sitting and movement meditation, and a guided meditation from the Ceremony to honour BEGINNING ANEW together. There will be an opportunity for sharing and wonderful practice of the song “Little Star” by the Plum Village Band.

NEXT WEEK we will recite together the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings and begin a study and practice of the first three Trainings: Openness; Non Attachment to Views; and Freedom of Thought.

Dear friends

I hope you are all enjoying the last long weekend of the summer.  Tomorrow, the first Sunday of September, we will resume our Zoom sangha gathering at 6:30 pm.   Please visit our Sunday night practice page for details. All are welcome. If this is your first time joining us, please be sure to email us ahead of time so that we will know to expect you. (wwsangha [at] gmail.com)

We will begin our Fall practice period with the recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.  In the weeks to follow, we will continue with our study and practice of the Six Paramitas.  Our Dharma sister Louise will also be offering opportunities for us to learn and practice with EcoDharma.

Looking forward to practicing with you again…

Dear Friends

We hope you are enjoying a restful and nourishing long weekend.

This is just to remind you that Waves and Water Sangha will not be meeting during the month of August.

We look forward to our next gathering on Sunday, September 3, when we will be reciting the Five Mindfulness Trainings.  Please visit our Sunday Night Practice web page for details.

May everyone be happy and safe, and may all hearts be filled with joy.

Waves and Water Sangha will offer two Days of Mindfulness: Saturday April 8 and Saturday May 13 from 10:00 to 3:00. We will be able to meet in person at the Mountain Rain Zen Centre or on Zoom.

Bethan will join us to provide instruction that may support both our individual and Sangha practice. We will be learning the Plum Village forms for inviting the bell, sitting and walking meditation, guided meditation, and facilitating a Sutra Service and formal meal. There will be an opportunity to learn the form for deep relaxation and Touching the Earth.

The core instruction will take place April 8  and on May 13, those who received the training at the first Day of Mindfulness will have the opportunity to offer their practice to the Sangha.

There will be limited number of places available so please register as soon as possible.

Please register by emailing us at : wwsangha@sangha

Dear friends,

Once again, we have a wonderful opportunity to begin the year by taking refuge in the Mindfulness Trainings and most especially in the Sangha, our dear Community of Practice. 

On Dec 31, Mountain Rain Zen Community and friends from other sanghas will be offering the annual New Year’s Eve retreat  “ to cultivate peace in our hearts, our families, our communities, and in our world”. Beginning at 8 pm, each hour will consist of 50 min. sitting meditation, ten min. walking meditation and 10 min. chanting – ending with bells at midnight.   

Waves and Water Sangha has been participating in these evenings for many years. Each year, we offer our tradition’s version of Metta Sutta — Discourse on Love chanted by Sister The Nghiem.  Please join us (by Zoom or in-person) to welcome the New Year with the practice of loving kindness and peace.  You need not stay for the entire evening. There will be an opening to enter and exit at the end of each hour.

Visit Mountain Rain Community website to register for the evening, either via Zoom or in person.  By donation.

During the holiday season, several of the monastic centres in the Plum Village tradition are also offering live streaming of Dharma talks, chanting , sitting and the Ceremony to Welcome the New Year.  Please consult the schedule here. .  Some of these events will be recorded and available later on the Plum Village Youtube Channel.

Our regular Sunday Zoom gathering will resume on Sunday Jan 8.  We will have the Ceremony and the Recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings preceded by a period of sitting and movement meditation.  In the coming months, we will continue to practice with our basic format. Week 1 : Recitation of the Mindfulness Trainings. Week 2 : streamed Dharma talks.  Week 3 : Sutra study and recitation/guided meditation. Week 4 : Engaged Buddhist practice / Readings (engaging with the world without and within.)

For the month of January, we will be practicing with Beginning Anew and our aspirations for the coming year.

All are welcome.  We look forward to practicing with you.

Please consult Waves and Water Sangha website for more information about our practice.

Please note: You cannot “reply” to this message. To be in touch with the Sangha please e-mail wwsangha@gmail.com ALSO the blogposts may not continue. Please check the front page of the website (wavesandwater.org) for ongoing information, especially changes.

Dear friends

We are entering a time of the longest nights when we have an opportunity to realize the refuge to be found in stillness and silence, away from light and bustle. We will gather this evening to recite the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings. Next week we will practice with a guided meditation on the transitory nature of all things. And on the third Sunday (December 18) we will practice with a Sutra service and offerings of gratitude for our time together.

Speaking as Bethan (rather than the voice of the Sangha) this will mark my last time of practicing with you in this particular way as I step back from Waves and Water Sangha. What a wonderful journey this has been – How grateful I feel for the last 11 years! After much deep looking I have the intention to look deeply into my habit energies of body, speech and mind. I will be focusing on Plum Village teachings – in particular our liturgy – with a focus on the Refuge Chant – where we find our vow “to let go of all worries and anxiety in order to be light and free.”

Our Order of Interbeing Sangha Sister Susu has such a deep commitment to practice and to Sangha! She will hold the space on Sunday evenings to hold the Sangha with stillness and silence as well as to explore the teachings and engage in discussion. Waves and Water Sangha will continue beautifully into the future as long as the causes and conditions are sufficient. We have not been practicing the Five Remembrances in theory but also in practice and especially with our voices! We will chant together again.

Dear friends – our Sangha sister Rebecca has recorded a most wonderful teaching video for a core chant: The Five Remembrances. She draws on her recent experiences with some friends to provide a context for the Five Remembrances. Then she most wonderfully teaches us not only how to sing the chant but how to live it. And in that process she also helps us more effectively learn and practice all the chants and songs in our tradition.

Please join us for a wonderful hour of listening and singing. At home, you will be able to sing to your heart’s delight. When you are done – this chant will be held most wonderfully by body and mind – always available. [And in case you want to chant with Rebecca we will post a simple audio file under RESOURCES in the next week or so.]

With deep gratitude for Rebecca and her practice and the generous sharing of her gifts….

Dear friends,

Due to ill health amongst the Sangha leadership, we are cancelling the Day of Mindfulness originally scheduled for November 29. REGULAR SUNDAY EVENING SANGHA GATHERING WILL CONTINUE.

We have been practicing with the Five Remembrances in the recent weeks – and are now given the opportunity to practice with “I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape having ill health.” Our teacher Thich Nhat Hanh taught us that practising the Five Remembrances is not only about reciting and acknowledging the inevitable. It is Buddha’s teaching to help us get in touch with our fear – the fear of the unknown and uncomfortable places that old age, illness, death and separation open up for us.
May all beings be peaceful, healthy and light in body and spirit.