Author Archives: Waves and Water Sangha

Dear friends

The Zendo has been closed and we will not be gathering until further notice. Please remember we are all one, connected in wonderful ways even if we do not practice together in the same space.

In the next few days we will be sending information concerning the possibility of internet gatherings (via Zoom) for the Sangha. In the meantime, please be aware of this on-line retreat (information below) organized with Plum Village by Lions Roar.

May we be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit.
May we be safe and free from injury.
May we be free from anger, fear and anxiety.

Free Online Summit
In the Footsteps of Thich Nhat Hanh

To Sign In: https://promo.lionsroar.com/free-summit-thich-nhat-hanh-aff-00urvpxn/

You’re invited to join our community for a free 5-day online summit with nine senior Plum Village teachers, hosted by the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation in partnership with Lion’s Roar.

We hope this email finds you safe and well during this time of uncertainty. Knowing you are there, as a member of our beloved community, fills us with true happiness.

And we want to be there for you as well. If you can’t come to Plum Village, Plum Village will come to you. To help you stay grounded as our lives and communities reorganize. We hope to give you a renewed sense of ease, so that in the midst of uncertainty, you will have a gentle smile on your face, and in the midst of isolation, you will remember that we inter-are.

Thay has touched the hearts of millions with his message of peace, non-violence, and kindness. From difficult beginnings as a Vietnamese monk forced into a life of exile, he has been instrumental in making Buddhism relevant for modern times.

Join us from March 25-29 to experience Thay’s legacy with teachings, meditations, and practices offered by nine senior Dharma teachers he has trained directly. Including Sister Chan Duc, Brother Phap Hai, Brother Phap Dung, Sister Dang Nghiem, Brother Phap Luu, Anh-Huong Nguyen, Shantum Seth, Larry Ward, and Peggy Rowe-Ward, this summit is a rare opportunity to connect deeply with the heart and home of our living Plum Village tradition and community.

Sign up for free to explore 5 key themes and dozens of teachings, guided meditations, and reflections during this online event.

Day 1: Building a Foundation of Mindfulness

Explore Thay’s core teachings on mindfulness, meditation, and walking meditation, supported by guided practices and reflections.

DAY 2: Understanding our Mind with Buddhist Psychology

Dive deeper into Thay’s insight into the nature of our minds: How can we relate best to others? How can we bring mindfulness to our media consumption? And how can we work with our own strong emotions?

DAY 3: Embodying the Beloved Community: Relationships and Community Building

Get transformative insights into relationships and the importance of community, looking at topics such as the meaning of love, healing the inner child, and how to connect meaningfully and compassionately with others.

DAY 4: Interbeing: Tending to Mother Earth

How can we take refuge in the Earth, restoring our sense of ourselves as a part of a bigger picture? Discover concrete strategies to help heal our alienation from the Earth, nourish our gratitude, and dwell happily in the present moment.

DAY 5: For a Future to Be Possible

How can we remain mindfully engaged with a world that’s in turmoil? Explore practices and skillful action that can help you bring courage, kindness, and resilience to the greatest challenges of our time.
Trailer In the Footsteps of Thich Nhat Hanh

As our world shifts, we hope you will join us in continuing to turn to our practice for refuge. When we take care of ourselves, we can earnestly say to others, “I am here for you.” Our world needs our solidity and calmness now more than ever.

With deep bows of gratitude,

The monastics of Plum Village

Good afternoon dear friends

I apologize for my hasty post. I needed more Sangha eyes to clarify my earlier post!

After discussion and deep looking, we have decided to suspend our Sangha gatherings until April 2. At that time, we will have a better sense of how to go forward. Most of our core Sangha work with the public and we want them to stay healthy -= especially getting sufficient rest. Some of us have compromised health (and are of the nature to be old) and so want to be very careful!

Please let us practice together when we are apart, taking care of each other, with our hearts open and our hands clean!

Bethan

Good afternoon dear friends

Please forgive my hasty post that was unclear….

After discussion and deep looking, we have decided to suspend our Sangha gatherings until the beginning of April. At that time, we will have a better sense of how to go forward. Most of our core Sangha work with the public and we want them to stay healthy -= especially getting sufficient rest. Some of us have compromised health (and are of the nature to be old) and so want to be very careful!

Please let us practice together when we are apart, taking care of each other, with our hearts open and our hands clean!

Bethan

Dear Friends

We will not be meeting on Thursday Jan 16 due to bad weather conditions.  We look forward to practising with you the following week.

May all beings be safe.

Waves and Water Caretaking Council

Dear Friends

Happy 2020!  I hope you have had a joyful and nourishing holiday season.  Waves and Water will resume our sangha gathering this week.

We will begin the year with the recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings on Thursday, Jan 9.  In the weeks to follow, we will continue our study/practice period on the Six Paramitas.  This month, we will be practicing with the Fifth Paramita –Dhyana (Meditation/Meditative Concentration).  With mindful curiosity, we will look at our experience of meditation, including the Five (or more) Hindrances to our practice.

All are welcome – you don’t need to have attended the entire practice period.  We look forward to practicing with old and new friends.

Good morning dear friends

Last night following Sangha there was a most wonderful full moon! And next week (December 19) we will gather for a mostly silent evening of sitting, walking, deep relaxation and tea. After this gift, there will be solstice and slowly the light returns.

To honour this period of deep stillness – and the need many of us feel for less complicated lives at this time of year – we will not gather on December 26 or January 2.

We will, however, be present for our annual participation in the New Year’s Eve gathering with Mountain Rain Zen and BC Insight Meditation. We practice together to cultivate peace in our hearts, our families, our communities, and in our world. Beginning at 7:00, each hour will consist of 50 min. sitting meditation, ten min. walking meditation and 10 min. chanting. To close, at midnight, we will ring the temple bell 108 times to dispel our many delusions, followed by tea and refreshments at midnight. You may come and go as you wish – there is no need to stay for the whole evening! (Refreshment contributions welcome! Sweet, savoury, or beverage.)

May you be well, may all beings be well.

Tea Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh photo 12.1.19 en route to Bangkok by Peter Kuhn

Please excuse double posting – the photo has been removed as many have not received the post.

1st December, 2019

Dear Beloved Community,
We’re happy to announce that on Thursday 28th November, Thay traveled from Hue, Vietnam to Bangkok, Thailand for a full medical check-up in Bangkok. The trip and hospital visit went smoothly.

Yesterday morning, Thay decided to travel on to visit our community at Thai Plum Village in Pak Chong, a few hours’ drive north of Bangkok. At this point, we anticipate that Thay will stay at Thai Plum Village for a short while, before returning again to Tu Hieu Root Temple in Hu? ahead of the Lunar New Year.

Since his 93rd birthday last month, with the cold and rains in Hue, Thay’s health has been somewhat weaker, and he caught pneumonia. In order to have check-ups with specialists, which were difficult to organise in Vietnam, last week Thay chose to go to Bangkok, where he received treatment last year

On 28th November, Thay arrived in Thailand accompanied by a doctor, a nurse, and five monastics. The doctor remarked that Thay seemed to be “doing even better in the air.” Rather than lying down, Thay sat upright and alert, and spent most of the journey contemplating the beautiful landscape below. Thay was met at the airport by fifty monastic and lay students, before going directly to the hospital.

Thay had a check-up and a new set of blood tests—his first since traveling to Hu? this time last year—and the results were very promising. As soon as Thay had rested, he was ready to leave the hospital right away, and decided to travel up to Thai Plum Village in Pak Chong, on the edge of the Khao Yai National Park, arriving yesterday morning (30th November).

Thay is very comfortable in the clear air of Khao Yai, and the weather is sunny and dry. Both Thay and the whole attendant team have been resting and eating well, surrounded by the joyful young community.

We will wait to see how long Thay chooses to spend in Thai Plum Village; he may stay on to support the upcoming ordination of novice monks and nuns in two weeks’ time. We have the impression Thay will want to return to Vietnam soon, where he has been enjoying spending time, and has been eagerly following the renovation of the Tu Hieu shrine hall.

We are grateful that Thay is so clear and engaged with respect to his medical care, which helps us make decisions to support his needs. We are learning from Thay’s grace and dignity as he rides the waves of physical fragility. We are investing all our hearts in nurturing Thay’s spiritual community, continuing his teachings and aspiration in the world.

With love and trust,
The Monks and Nuns of Plum Village

Tea Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh photo 12.1.19 en route to Bangkok by Peter Kuhn

Good evening dear friends

This Thursday we will have a recitation of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Tiep Hien Order of Interbeing, followed by discussion. Please join us!

And the following Thursday, November 14, we will not be gathering. This is the week of Mountain Rain’s sesshin at Lake Loon – we can join them in our hearts and our breath…. Sitting, sitting, stillness, stillness….

This month we are practicing the third Paramita – kshanti paramita – inclusiveness or patience. On November 21 we will explore how patience – the other side of anger – can be cultivated in our body, speech and mind.

With sunshine in all our hearts,