Waves and Water Sangha Vancouver

Good afternoon dear friends.

As mentioned in our last blogpost, Hollyhock – a non-profit learning centre on Cortes Island – is bringing two Sisters from Deer Park Monastery to British Columbia for an evening program (April 22) in Vancouver and a four-day program at their centre (April 24-29).

http://hollyhock.ca/programinfo/the-only-way-out-is-in-vancouver/

The Mindfulness Practice Community of Vancouver is offering Sangha members   subsidized tickets for the Vancouver evening and invitesWaves and Water Sangha members to also contact them.

The tickets cost $38.09 and MPC is offering them for $17.50 in order to allow as many Sangha members as possible the opportunity to attend – as well as to offer the Sisters an experience of our Sanghas!

If you are interested, please email Harreson at harreson@mindfulnessvancouver.org

Good afternoon dear friends –

We would like to let you know about several things – a Day of Mindfulness April 11; our practice plans for the next few months; practice and retreat possibilities in other locations; and an update on Thay’s health sent from Plum Village. Before the message is a link to a joyful minute of shared time with Thay: Please enjoy your laughter

APRIL 11, 2015  DAY OF MINDFULNESS

Please join us on Saturday, April 11, for a Day of Mindfulness: This is a Ceremony! We will gather at 9:45 and complete our practice by 3:15. The morning includes three periods of sitting and walking meditation and a Sutra Service. We each bring a bag lunch and practice eating meditation together. Tea is provided.

In the afternoon, we begin with a guided relaxation – you are invited to bring a blanket or shawl. Then we will explore what it means that we have a “form” for our practice. How can we skilfully include “Ceremony” in our daily lives, in a way that supports our well-being and the well-being of others. There will be a talk and then some discussion in small groups. We will have a period of sitting meditation before completing the day.

Suggested donation is $10-$25 and everyone is welcome – your presence is a gift. Please do not let financial issues determine your decision to attend!

Our next Day of Mindfulness will be June 13: DILIGENTLY KEEPING OUR BODIES HEALTHY

SPRING PRACTICE

In April, we will continue to explore socially engaged practice by exploring a line from the Discourse on Happiness: “To live in the world, with your heart undisturbed by the world – This is the greatest happiness.” We will begin this Thursday with Thay’s poem and the song “Please call me by my true names” as a basis for considering, over the next weeks, how we might respond to our strong emotions of confusion, fear, and anger – emotions that often lead to righteousness and a sense of urgency.

In May we will explore a line from the Refuge Chant, “I vow to live simply and sanely with few possessions” beginning with a panel on mindful consumption. In June we will continue with that verse from the Reguge Chant: “And to keep my body healthy.” How can mindful eating and mindful movement support our practice.

RETREATS

Hollyhock – a non-profit learning centre on Cortes Island – is bringing two Sisters from Deer Park Monastery to British Columbia for an evening program (April 22) in Vancouver and a four-day program at their centre (April 24-29). You may find our more information through their website: https://hollyhock.ca/programinfo/the-only-way-out-is-in-vancouver/ AND https://hollyhock.ca/programinfo/be-beautiful-be-yourself/

Deer Park Monastery near San Diego offers retreats throughout the year with a major gathering of monastics and lay practitioners October 27-November, 2015You may find our more information through their website: http://deerparkmonastery.org/join-a-retreat/

Mountain Lamp Community in Washington State is also offering retreats through the spring and summer. You may find our more information through their website: http://mountainlamp.org/

SMILING

A joyful – and surprising – moment with Thay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSkR4TjvJnY

A MESSAGE FROM PLUM VILLAGE

April 6, 2015
To our Dear Beloved Friends,

We are happy to report that Thay’s health has continued to improve at the specialist stroke rehabilitation clinic in Bordeaux, where he has been steadily recovering his strength.

In the warm spring weather in the last few weeks, Thay has been able to enjoy going outside, sitting under a tree and listening to birdsong, drinking a cup of tea and enjoying the sound of the bell.

This week the medical team have given their approval for Thay to leave the rehabilitation clinic and return to his Hermitage at Plum Village. We are deeply grateful to the entire medical team at the University Hospital in Bordeaux for their professionalism and wholehearted care to support Thay’s healing over the past four and half months.

Thay expressed his clear wish to return home, and arrived on Friday April 3, in time to enjoy the beautiful magnolia blossoms and the first spring leaves as they unfurl. We are all very glad that Thay can come back to his spiritual home, where his devoted team of monastic attendants are continuing to support him and care for him 24 hours a day, under the guidance of visiting doctors and nurses.

We hope that in the nourishing and peaceful environment of Plum Village, and with the support of on-site physical therapy and speech therapy, Thay will have favourable conditions to treat his hemiparesis and make progress in swallowing and recovering his speech.

We would like to thank our global spiritual family for your loving energy and support. Thay’s journey of recovery will be long, and we thank you for continuing to send him your prayers and energy of compassion and healing.

It has been a pleasure to welcome so many of you at our monastic practice centers in America, Europe and Asia in the past few months as we walk, hand in hand, the beautiful path of awakening that Thay has opened up for us all.

With love and trust,

The Monks and Nuns of Plum Village

Plum Village, France
February 19, 2015

To all Plum Village Practice Centers,
To all Practice Centers and Sanghas World Wide,
To our Dear Beloved Friends,

As we enter the Lunar New Year, and our practice centers conclude our annual 90-day Winter Retreat, we are very happy to report that our dear Teacher continues to steadily make extraordinary progress.

Thay has now moved to a specialist stroke rehabilitation clinic, where he is receiving the best possible professional care. The team of monastic attendants work closely with doctors, nurses and professional therapists, and accompany Thay twenty-four hours a day, offering massage, acupuncture and comfort care, and helping Thay with his physical training.

Thay is steadily recovering his strength and rebuilding his muscles day by day. We have been struck by Thay’s great determination, motivation, courage and concentration as he sets his own program to train himself to learn anew how to sit upright, stand, and move his limbs.

The medical team is also helping Thay learn to swallow again, and last week Thay was able to drink his first cup of tea since November. The attendants prepared Thay’s favorite tea in his cup, and Thay even signalled to invite everyone to drink a cup of tea with him. Contemplating the tea, Thay smiled, put his hand on his heart, and looked up. All could clearly see that Thay was reminding everyone to bring our mind back to our body and to look deeply into the tea, really enjoying the tea and the presence of those around us.

During the last full moon of the lunar year, Thay enjoyed watching the moon rise from his bed, and invited the attendants to enjoy it silently with him. In the peace and joy with which he enjoyed the moon, we can see Thay’s love for the wonders of life and his generosity in teaching us to cherish these wonders at every moment.

With each week that passes Thay is becoming increasingly alert and engaged. Although Thay is not yet able to speak, he has begun to vocalize, and is developing a means of communicating silently with his attendants and physicians. Thay’s path of healing is still long, yet we know that every moment can be a moment to deeply touch the wonders and miracles of life.

We are very grateful for the great compassion and support that Thay has received from his global Sangha Body, creating wonderful conditions for his recovery and healing. We are thankful for your practice of mindfulness and prayers sending positive energy to Thay, and for your letters, donations, and the many beautiful children’s drawings.

Here in France the cold winter is beginning to give way to beautiful blossoms, in time to decorate the hamlets for the Lunar New Year, Thay’s favorite festival. Last week the community prepared hundreds of traditional “Earth Cakes”, and stayed up all night with music and song to cook them over open fires. Each New Year Thay offers us a compact “parallel verse,” to guide our practice in the year to come. For this New Year of the Goat the Plum Village elders have chosen an excerpt of a poem written by Thay, which hangs at the altar of the Still Water Meditation Hall in Upper Hamlet:

Look deeply to understand clearly
Listen deeply to truly love

These phrases have been written in calligraphy and prepared in “diamonds” that can be printed and posted around your home or workplace, as gentle reminders to practice. (You may download the print-friendly pdf here >>>)

Wishing you health, happiness and many fruits of the practice,

The Monks and Nuns of Plum Village

Future reports on Thay’s recovery will be posted officially at plumvillage.org, langmai.org, villagedespruniers.org, and www.facebook.com/thichnhathanh.

Good rainy afternoon dear friends –

This evening after sitting walking and tea meditation we will practice with a single line of the Five Mindfulness Trainings: “I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy.” As practitioners we may have very different responses to this line – and this evening is our opportunity to share both the underlying meaning of TRUE HAPPINESS and also how we understand this statement in our own lives and in the lives of other. We will continue with this study and practice for the next several weeks….

AND this Saturday we have a Day of Mindfulness. Thich Nhat Hanh has offered us a new translation of the Heart Sutra and we will read and discuss it this together. We will listen to the music and we will also learn together the final  mantra: Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha!

Please arrive at 9:45 and don’t forget a bag lunch! More information concerning Days of Mindfulness with Waves and Water may be found at: http://wavesandwater.org/site/practice/days-of-mindfulness/

Enjoying rain drops on windows….

Good morning dear friends –

This evening, after sitting and walking and tea meditation, we will be practicing deep relaxation with bells and guided meditation. Please bring a blanket if you like! All are welcome.

For the rest of the month we will complete our study and practice of the Four Establishments of Mindfulness. We have had a wonderful opportunity over the last months to open our hearts and minds, to transform our actions. All are welcome – there is no need to have begun at the beginning!

On Thursday, February 5, we will have a Ceremony to Recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

And on Saturday, FEBRUARY 14, we will have a DAY OF MINDFULNESS from 9:45 to 3:15. Our practice will include an exploration of Thich Nhat Hanh’s new translation of the Heart Sutra – The Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore. We will read it together and explore its meaning. We will also learn to chant it!

Soon – under RESOURCES on the website – we will have posted the words, the music for the melody line and Thay’s Commentary. By February 1st we will have posted also an mp3 of the melody line played on piano.

No one will force you to chant! You may simply enjoy the Sangha rain as we fearlessly learn the chant together….

Plum Village, France
January 3, 2015

Happy New Year! May you and your loved ones enjoy a truly New Year, blossoming with health, happiness and peace. We would like to thank everyone for continuing to generate the energy of healing and compassion for our Beloved Teacher.

In the last three weeks Thay has gradually emerged into wakefulness, and has his eyes open for much of the day, to the point where the doctors can now say that he is no longer in a coma. In his current state, Thay is able to recognize familiar faces. He is very responsive to verbal stimuli and has brought everyone great joy by starting to smile in the last few days.

One of Thay’s close attendants recounted some shared memories from being on Tour with Thay. There was a particularly humorous story which, to his astonishment, even made Thay smile and chuckle. However at the present time Thay is not yet able to speak. This indicates some degree of aphasia, which is being monitored closely and may evolve favourably in response to therapy.

Thay’s physical condition remains stable, and thanks to the excellent care Thay has received from the medical staff, he is able to enjoy being comfortable and at ease. Thay is investing great effort in his physiotherapy sessions. He is making daily progress, and the attendants are learning from his mind of determination, as they witness him practising the exercises from time to time throughout the day.

There are plans for Thay to be transferred to a specialist Stroke Rehabilitation Clinic soon. In the Rehab Clinic he will get the best possible care and training in order to regain as much as he can in his speech ability and movements.

Today in Plum Village we concluded our special Christmas and New Year Retreat. Nine hundred people, including many friends from near and far, participated in our New Year’s Celebrations on the 31st. We practised walking meditation together along Upper Hamlet’s legendary paths, burned New Year Resolutions in a bonfire, listened to a nourishing Dharma Talk from a senior Dharma Teacher, and enjoyed a festive meal and lively performances, ranging from jazz to rap, kung fu and an in-house skit of “The Goodfather”.

Sister Chan Khong offered a Total Relaxation and Touching of the Earth, and the whole community sat in meditation as midnight arrived, signalled by the giant temple drum and bell. Thay has built a beautiful community for us all to take refuge in, and we know the peace and joy of our spiritual family is Thay’s peace and joy.

A real sangha always carries within itself the energy of love, the energy of brotherhood and sisterhood, hope and compassion. Our sangha is our home. Our sangha is our hope.  TNH, December 24, 2010

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

Good afternoon dear friends –

There was fog this morning – and now it’s gone!Low hanging clouds in the north mountains. It’s a lovely time to practice breathing in and out. . . .

On Thursday evening, January 1st, Waves and Water Sangha will celebrate new beginnings and healthy continuations with a tea ceremony. We will meet at the usual time and place. There will be tea and cookies and chocolate and fruit. There will be poems and songs and readings and stories – whatever you would like to bring along. One Sangha member has promised a New Yorker cartoon that will make mindfulness of the mind in the mind stunningly clear – including manas, clearly depicted!

Some of us will also celebrate New Year’s Eve with Mountain Rain Zen and other sister Sanghas. 108 bells leading up to midnight – plus chants for peace interspersed with sitting and walking all evening long. Go to http://www.mountainrainzen.org/events/2014/12/31/new-years-eve-retreat for all the details. You can arrive when you want and leave when you want. . . .

With love and understanding from the Sangha

Good evening dear friends –

Please note that there WILL be a Sangha gathering on Thursday, December 18 and Thursday, January 1. There will NOT be a Sangha gathering on Thursday, December 25.

May all beings being peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit. . . .

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
December 13, 2014

To all Plum Village Practice Centers,
To all Practice Centers and Sanghas worldwide,
To our Dear Beloved Friends,

Thay continues to surprise the doctors with his strong vital signs and steady, peaceful breathing. They are still amazed that Thay has been able to survive and even to show small signs of progress.

A few days ago, one of the doctors shared that “Thay is an enigma”, and another said they were “witnessing a miracle.” When a top neurosurgeon from the US visited last week, he was deeply impressed by the medical team’s commitment to giving Thay every possible chance of recovery.

In recent days Thay has been showing some indications of wakefulness, but he continues to remain in a deep coma. There have been times when Thay had his eyes open for more than two hours, and is responsive, but he is not yet showing clear signs of communication. The doctors remind us that it may be weeks or months before we can understand the damage caused by the hemorrhage and discover the extent of healing that may be possible.

The medical team has started to stimulate Thay to have more wakefulness. Every day the nurses help Thay sit in a chair, and in addition to acupuncture and massage from the attendants, physiotherapists come to activate Thay’s body. We sing to Thay, and we also let Thay listen to Sangha chants and beautiful sounds of nature.

We are very grateful to the EIAB and Maison de L’Inspir’ sanghas and all the Venerables from Vietnam and elsewhere, who came to offer their support and presence in Plum Village, as well to all the many lay practitioners who have offered your presence, or sent energy, letters and drawings of love and support. We can feel the Sangha body, as an extension of Thay’s body, finding nourishment and healing. Here in Plum Village the Sangha continues with our Winter Retreat, offering Days of Mindfulness, monastic days, dharma talks, dharma circle sharings and classes, deepening and strengthening Thay’s sangha body.

On December 18th there will be a Monastic Ordination Ceremony for new novices, as Thay would have wished. The monastic community will ordain 31 new monks and nuns in Thailand, nine in Plum Village, and one new novice monk in Deer Park Monastery, California. This group of new monastics will belong to the “Red Oak Family”. This event is momentous for our Plum Village community as we continue the work and love of our Teacher. There truly is only continuation.

During the holiday season, please take some time off to take care of yourself, your loved ones, and friends. Find time to be with nature, to enjoy the stars, and the white clouds and to truly come home and be at home within ourselves, as Thay always encourages us to do. You may like to write love letters instead of spending money and consuming more. The New Year is a wonderful opportunity to begin anew with ourselves and let go of resentments and regret.

We will release another update about Thay’s health in the New Year.

Until then, may you and your family touch true peace and happiness.
May you be able to enjoy your true home.

Good evening dear friends

We would like to remind everyone that Waves and Water Sangha is offering a Day of Mindfulness this Saturday, December 13. We will practice with The Refuge Chant – resting in our intention “to live simply and sanely with few possessions, to keep our bodies healthy.” As we investigate mindful consumption at this time of year, we also give ourselves up to soft and peaceful darkness. Please arrive by 9:45 and remember to bring a bag lunch! More information on our Days of Mindfulness can be found at http://wavesandwater.org/site/practice/days-of-mindfulness/

Also – a reminder for the New Year’s Eve practice with Mountain Rain Zen Community and sister Sanghas. Beginning at 7 p.m. there will be 40 minutes of sitting, 10 minutes of walking, 10 minutes of chanting each hour, ending by midnight with the sound of 108 bells to dispel our many delusions. We are welcome to come and go as our schedules permit.

Finally, here is the text of Thay’s talk – offered by Sr Chan Khong – at the Vatican December 2.

SUMMIT OF WORLD FAITH LEADERS
TO END MODERN SLAVERY & HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Vatican City, December 2, 2014

SPEECH BY

ZEN MASTER THICH NHAT HANH

Read by Venerable Bhikkhuni Thich Nu Chan Khong, his eldest monastic student
**Watch the Video Footage here**

Your Holinesses, Your Excellencies, Your Emminencies, dear Most Venerables, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. Please allow me to read the words that our Beloved Teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, wished to deliver here today:

“We are grateful to gather today to announce to the world our commitment to work together to end Modern Slavery; and to plea to those who traffic in human beings to stop their exploitation; and to ask world leaders and organisations to protect the dignity of these young women, men and children. They are our daughters and sons, our sisters and brothers.

“It is clear that in this age of globalisation, what happens to one of us, happens to us all. We are all interconnected, and we are all co-responsible. But even with the greatest good will, if we are swept away by our daily concerns for material needs or emotional comforts, we will be too busy to realise our common aspiration.

“Contemplation must go together with action. Without a spiritual practice we will abandon our dream very soon.

“Each of us, according to the teaching of our own tradition, should practice to touch deeply the wonders of Nature, the wonders of life in each of us, the Kingdom of God in each of us, the Pure Land, Nirvana in each of us, so we can get the healing and nourishment, the joy and happiness born from the insight that the Kingdom of God is already available in the here and now. The feeling of love and admiration for nature, that we all share, has the power to nourish us, unite us, and remove all separation and discrimination.

“By being in touch with everything that is refreshing and healing, we can free ourselves from our daily concerns for material comforts, and will have a lot more time and energy to realise our ideal of bringing freedom and compassion to all living beings. As it says in the Gospel, “Do not worry about what you will eat or drink or wear. Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself.”

“In our work to end modern slavery, we must find the time to take care of ourselves, and to take care of the present moment. By doing so, we can find some relative peace in our body and mind to continue our work. We need to recognise and embrace our own suffering, our anger, fear, and despair so that the energy of compassion can be maintained in our hearts. When we have more clarity in our mind, we will have compassion not only for the victims, but for the traffickers themselves. When we see that the traffickers have suffered, we can help them wake up and stop what they are doing. Our compassion can help transform them into friends and allies of our cause.

“In order to sustain our work of compassion, we all need a spiritual community to support us and protect us – a real community, where there is true brotherhood and sisterhood, compassion and understanding. We should not do this work as cavaliers seuls, as lone warriors. The roots of modern slavery run deep, and the causes and conditions, the networks and structures supporting it are complex. That is why we need to build a community that can continue this work to protect human life not just until 2020, but long into the future.

“The world in which we live is globalized, and so too is this new form of slavery, that is connected to the economic, political and social systems. Therefore our ethics and morality also need to be globalized. A new global order calls for a new global ethic. We have to sit down together, as people of many traditions, as we are doing now, to find the causes of this suffering. If we look deeply together, with clarity, calm and peace, we will understand the causes of modern slavery, and we can find a way out.”