Author Archives: Waves and Water Sangha

Dear friends

Neither coming nor going, the summer days are continuing into autumn. We hope you had a nourishing time in August with many opportunities to water your seeds of peace and joy.

Tomorrow, Sept 6 , from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, we return to our weekly practice on Zoom. The Zoom link and detailed information about our evening can be found here.

As it is the first Sunday of the month, we will recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings and share our reflections.   

Please note these upcoming gatherings :

• The Last Sunday of Each Month: Waves and Water Sangha offers an in-person practice at Mountain Rain Zendo, with an option to join via Zoom.  6-8 pm . Details here.
• Save the date : On Saturday, December 19 (10:00 am – 4:00 pm), Dharma Teacher Tracey Pickup will visit from Calgary to lead a Day of Mindfulness at Mountain Rain Zendo, 2016 Wall Street, Vancouver.  An invitation will follow this month. All are welcome.

With joy and gratitude, we look forward to practicing together and taking refuge in the Sangha .

Dear friends

Just a reminder that there will be a Peace Walk tomorrow at Trout Lake. Please see below for details. All are welcome.

Dear friends

I am forwarding a warm invitation from the organizers of Peace Walk in the Plum Village Tradition. All are welcome.

Dear friends

This is an invitation to and a reminder of our in-person sangha on th fourth Sunday of the month (June 28) 6-8 pm at Mountain Rain Zen Community – 2016 Wall St, Vancouver.  Please note that we will begin 30 minutes earlier than the usual .

If you are unable to join us in person, you are also welcome to attend via Zoom.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89551327240
Meeting ID: 895 5132 7240
Password: 891639

We look forward to practising with you.

Dear friends

We hope you are enjoying today’s refreshing rain.

This is a reminder that Waves and Water Sangha will be holding a Day of Mindfulness on Sunday May 31 (3:30 pm- 7:30 pm) at Mountain Rain Zendo, 2016 Wall Street, Vancouver. The doors will be open at 3:15. Please bring a bag lunch for a formal meal– tea will be provided.

This event is by donation. Please RSVP to wwsangha@gmail.com.

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

PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE NO ONLINE SANGHA GATHERING ON THIS DAY.

Good afternoon dear friends –

Tomorrow – Sunday May 3 at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom we will recite together the Five Wonderful Precepts as offered by Thich Nhat Hanh in 1990. In them we can discover seeds not only of the tradition Five Noble Precepts but also of the Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing.

We will begin our four-week study of the verses from Thay’s book Understanding Our Minds (originally titled Transformation at the Base). May 3, 10, 17, 24,

On the fifth Sunday on May 31^st (3:30-7:30 pm) we will have a Day of Mindfulness available both in-person and by Zoom where we bring together our experiences from this study period.

Please join us – We will discover together (and again) Store Consciousness, Manos Consciousness, Mind Consciousness, the Five Sense Consciousnesses and all the Seeds! We can understand better how we move from a sense impression to attention then feeling then perception then volition/intention and ACTION!

Dear friends

On Sunday, April 26, Waves and Water Sangha will gather in person at Mountain Rain Zendo, 2016 Wall Street, Vancouver ( Google map location). You are also welcome to join us on Zoom as usual.  Please note that the start time is 6pm (half hour earlier than usual).

We will have sitting and walking meditation practices in the first hour.  In the second hour, we will have tea meditation followed by a video dharma talk by the late Dharma Teacher Larry Ward on The pursuit of Liberation and dharma sharing.

Please contact us at wwsangha@gmail.com if you have questions. We hope you can join us.

Dear friends

I am forwarding an invitation to a multi-sangha Peace Walk in the Plum Village tradition on May 2, 2026 at Trout Lake. Please see the poster below for details.

Good afternoon dear friends –

As we await spring’s arrival our March practice will focus on Loving Kindness.

On March 1 we recited the Five Mindfulness Trainings and looked deeply within them for the presence of The Four Brahmaviharas – what Thay calls the Four Elements of True Love. Loving kindness; Compassion; Sympathetic Joy; Equanimity.
On March 8 we practiced with a Guided Love Meditation by Thay as well as the Chant of Compassion and the Loving Kindness Song
March 15 – We will practice with a Sutra Service focused on love and compassion
March 22 – We will practice with Thay’s book: Cultivating the Mind of Love

March 29        DAY OF MINDFULNESS IN PERSON – ALSO ZOOM
Mountain Rain Zendo – 2016 Wall St, Vancouver, 3:30-7:30.
Includes formal meal – tea provided. Please bring a bag meal
Suggested Donation of $15.00. Donation on a sliding scale accepted, no one will be turned away.  
RSVP: wwsangha@gmail.com

There will be no regular sangha gathering on Zoom on March 29 and May 31.

May 31           DAY OF MINDFULNESS IN PERSON – ALSO ZOOM
Mountain Rain Zendo – 2016 Wall St, Vancouver. 3:30-7:30
Includes formal meal – tea provided please bring a bag meal.
Suggested donation of $15.00. Donation accepted on a sliding scale, no one will be turned away.  
RSVP: wwsangha@gmail.com

IN PERSON SUNDAY PRACTICE – ALSO ZOOM
April 26, June 28, July 26
Mountain Rain Zendo – 2016 Wall St, Vancouver, 6:00 to 8:00.
Please arrive at 5:45 (arrival at 6:20 also possible)
Helpful but not necessary RSVP: wwsangha@gmail.com

Good evening dear friends!

As the New Year continues into February we look around us and see almost everywhere attachment, aversion and delusion. So much suffering. We also see mystical morning fog, early afternoon sunshine and the calm darkness of evening. Birds sing and then are silent. People smile and offer helping hands. So much joy.

Last Sunday evening we engaged with the Ceremony to Honour Thich Nhat Hanh on the fourth anniversary of his transformation. On Sunday January 25^th we will have two periods of silent sitting with mindful movement meditation. Then, we have an opportunity to view the 2022 biographical documentary A CLOUD NEVER DIES.

In these difficult times we will have a chance to see how “in the face of violence, fear, and discrimination, Thich Nhat Hanh’s courageous path of engaged action reveals how insight, community, and a deep aspiration to serve the world can offer hope, peace, and a way forward for millions.”

On February 1^st we will recite the Eight Diversity Trainings and explore our aspirations for Awakening the Heart of Love in these difficult times. https://wavesandwater.org/site/practice/eight-diversity-trainings/

Throughout February we will reflect on the Hungry Ghost energy that lives in us, surrounds us and affects us all in the environment of our everyday lives. In a Dharma Talk Thay begins “Our society is organized in such a way that we produce tens of thousands of hungry ghosts every day. They have not received love from their parents, society, or tradition. Nobody has understood them. That is why they are very hungry for love and understanding, and they are looking for something to believe in.” 

ZEN AND THE ART OF SAVING THE PLANET:

We will also practice with resilience and resistance by engaging with an on-line panel discussion by instructors from the course based on Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet (ZASP). Some of our Sangha members have taken this course and highly recommend it. The next course will take place 1st March – 19th April 2026.  You can find out more at https://plumvillage.org/courses/zen-and-the-art-of-saving-the-planet

NOTE: please “UNSUBSCRIBE” if you no longer wish to receive our blogposts.

Please join us on ZOOM. You can find the instructions on our website wavesandwater.org

If you would be interested in PRACTICING IN PERSON at the Mountain Rain Zendo 2016 Wall Street on Sundays 6:30-8:30 please e-mail us at wwsangha@gmail.com