Waves and Water Sangha Vancouver

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

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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

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…