Luckily a friend took wonderful pictures - click here to experience our celebration in 64 images.
The evening before the community enjoyed a hike to the mountain for sunset and rising full moon - click here for 54 pictures from the mountain.
]]>With no further delay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CsDi9TbChA&feature=youtube_gdata
an image tells a story of more then a thousand words
Noises in the Night
A cold still night, suddenly awake, urgent needs
Too much tea last night
Breathing in, I have to go out
Quietly, slowly unzip my sleeping bag
I know everyone is listening
So, is it the quieter but slow tent door zip
Or the fast, quick, but noisy zip
I guess I don’t need pants
But the moon is so bright
Standing outside now, freezing, cold legs
Walking on the noisiest leaves I have ever seen
Then back inside I slowly zip my tent again
Then my sleeping bag and it seems noisier zipping back up
The unmistakable Deer Park campground
Symphony of zippers
David Percival
True Wonderful Roots
TOGETHER WE ARE ONE RETREAT
hot dusty trail
900 suitcases bake in the sun
letting go of all hurry
evening chant
“ heart broken
“ open
a child
asks a monk “ where is
“ all your hair ?
the wonders of life
this wonderful moment
breathing as one
3rd day of retreat :
i take a smaller portion
at the food line
silent lunch meditation
one crow gulps the whole cosmos
a granite boulder
above the white clouds
zen master drinks tea
alone
with 900 people each
alone
stone buddha
perfect communication
both of us silent
turtles & carp
swimming in the gurgling pond
monks playing pingpong
what i notice in others
is most true about myself
temple altar
¿ where's buddha ?
look at the flowers !
walking quite slowly
a student holds back branches
on his teacher's path
new ordinees
rising from prostration
spring forth from the ground
a foggy morning
through clefts in the clouds
mountains flowing down
after our retreat
18,000 toes
go as a river
the voice of the bell
continues
in earth's fragrance
— gary gach, 'together we are one' retreat, deer park monastery, september 2011
]]>You can listen to the result here - soundcloud -click here!
A short video of We're all moving, to a journey to nowhere - vimeo -click here!
We had a lot of fun singing and playing, hope you enjoy listening and singing along.
]]>We hope that you are touching joy and peace this summer. We are enjoying working together as a Sangha, community of practice, in preparation for the time our teacher will stay and practice with us there at Deer Park. In our time of working, we follow our breathing, and put our heart into what we are doing, enjoying the miracle of being able to show our care in these concrete ways. The Days of Mindfulness and Retreats have already started as we are clearing paths and putting in bunk-beds in harmony.
We are also very happy that there are more active participants helping maintain, update and beautify this website. We would like to draw your attention to our Image Gallery, that is a little hard to find if you do not already know the way.
Personally I like the pictures Rain at Deer Park and the Waterfall, since rain here is truly a blessing. A blessing that we have also been offered today.
May we touch love and understanding every day, so that our world can heal and we can come to live together as one people on this planet.
Brother Phap Ho (Protection)
]]>Our annual Family Retreat is blossoming beautifully. Friends from ages 5 months - 82 years were represented during the We Are Family Retreat earlier this month. A total of 240 people came and half the group consisted of young people under 18. More pictures from Family Retreat.
]]>How can we guide the next generation of young people to a world that is more sane and healthy – bodily, emotionally, and spiritually?
What teachings and practices of Buddhism can help us find true happiness and freedom, and handle and deal with our current social and economical state?
We congratulate the Buddhist Supreme Sangha Council and all the participants and organizers of the 8th UNDV conference, for gathering as a community to celebrate and enjoy our togetherness and to build brotherhood and sisterhood. It is our conviction that the Buddhist teachings and practices can make a major contribution towards a global spirituality and ethic that can guide humanity in this critical moment.
With the various crises we are witnessing in different parts of the world, it is clear that the era of independent nations with borders and separate interests is gradually coming to a close; that the suffering and pain of one nation is fundamentally linked to and is shared by the hearts of people of all nations; that the instability and depression of another nation affects the prosperity and security of peoples all over the planet. In our present time and place, it is clear that social and economic development and all the challenges that come with it are no longer individual matters.
But we are not without hope. The problems that confront our planet and our humanity – environmental tension, social and family dysfunction, economic instability, and political unrest – give us an opportunity to pause, recognize, re-examine the sources of our suffering, and find a path that can lead us towards a brighter future and to an even brighter present. This is the basic formula that the Buddha used during his own lifetime to guide his fellow beings to tend to their suffering. This basic formula can help guide us now, to our own salvation. The three distinctively Buddhist virtues of mindfulness, concentration, and insight can lead us to this salvation. Applied appropriately and skillfully, they can help us discover a global ethic and a mindful way of living that can guide the development of our society towards a more sane and healthy direction.
We must find ways to apply the Buddhist teachings – namely, the practice of mindfulness, the teachings on suffering and well-being, the wisdom of inter-being and non-discrimination, the Five Mindfulness Trainings (5 Precepts-see attached), and the teachings on the Four Nutriments – so that our society can become more mindful in its production and consumption; so that companies and individuals can produce less toxic waste that harms our collective minds and the environment, and can consume less and in a way that nourishes our body and heart. We as individuals and as nations should apply the Buddhist teachings of moderation, of knowing that we already have enough.
In the intimacy of our homes, fathers and sons apply the teachings so they can have more time and be more present for one another (rather than for their computer screens), and can restore communication by learning to listen deeply and speak more lovingly.
In the sterile classrooms and cold halls of our institutions, teachers and students can learn ways to support one another as in the warm atmosphere of the family, to be less stressful, to relax and handle their feelings and emotions, and to apply themselves in a direction that is meaningful and wholesome – graduating young people not just for the work-force of a capitalistic machine, but for a kinder and freer generation who cooperate more than compete.
In power oriented offices of companies and governmental workplaces, colleagues and fellow workers can serve more mindfully, building brotherhood and sisterhood, nourishing their compassion and generosity, and guiding our society in the direction of true happiness and reconciliation.
In our modern times, as we look for models of development in the ten directions, freedom to develop is highly prized and sought after, but at what price to our young ones and our fragile environment and at what cost to our individual and collective body and consciousness. It is never too late to pause and reflect and to find practices that can bring responsibility and ethical behaviors back into our society, our governments, into our families, and our lives.
With love and trust,
Thích Nhât Hạnh
]]>A documentary film about the monks and nuns of the Plum Village tradition traveling to share the Dharma throughout the US for three months.
Many of you may know of Thay, of Thich Nhat Hanh, the beloved Zen Master, the gentle monk that has helped bring engage Buddhism to the West. Now, meet his array of monastic students.
A small team of monks and nuns, with the help of a professional documentary film maker, will share their life while they travel with their teacher this Fall 2011 on the “Now Is The Time: This is It!” US-Tour. Many people, young and old, have asked and been curious about the life of the monastics – what their life is like during the day, the month, the year. The classic question to the monks and nuns have always been along the lines of, “What is you life like?” “Why did you become a monk/nun?” “How do you all handle living together with so many people from different backgrounds and upbringing?” Now you will have an opportunity to glimpse behind the scenes, behind the bells, behind the tour of their life.
We need your support to realize this project. We need to raise $30,000 just to cover the basic expenses to make this film – a reputable film maker to follow the Sangha on tour, editing costs, and an assistant if needed. Please help us spread the news to your friends and family, to your Sanghas and social networks.
Thank you so far to everyone for the outpouring of support and enthusiasm for this project. You have warmed our hearts. It is great to know that many of you want to see this film made.
May the Bodhisattvas protect us on this endeavor.
May our ancestors and patriarchs guide us on this journey.
May we all find joy, fun and meaning in the hours of our day.
Thank you for your love and trust.
Brother Phap Dung
On behalf of the ON The ROAD team.
]]>We ventured into Red Rock Canyon State Park north of Mojave, CA. We spent 4 nights there and discovered the rocks as we hiked during the day. The last night we spent at Silverwood Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains.
We love Nature, Nature is Cool. The cliffs are our classroom, the dirt is our school. Frosty nights are our teachers, the bonfire is our friend. And on our togetherness our joy depends.
]]>When we come together to slow down, to be quiet, to come back to ourselves, we always profit. Our happiness and peace continues to grow.
For pictures from this wonderful day in Ojai, click here!
We sent energy to our friends in Japan, offered our prayer and chanted, listen here!
]]>The course is still available on-line!
(Sr Bich Nghiem could not be present for the tea meditation and photo, since she was preparing some younger sisters for their ordination today.)
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