Look with your heart

On some days we feel so lonely, so separate from everyone else. We might think that nobody can understand us. On difficult days we might feel vulnerable and it is easy to drown in suffering. Let me take your hand. Let me take you into the forest to observe. 

We can enjoy the quiet peacefulness of the soft green moss; we can dwell in the solidity of the trees and in the freshness of clear streams. Looking only superficially you might get the impression that the trees are isolated. You might see lonesome tree trunks carrying the weight of heavy branches by themselves. Let us take a closer look though, let us look with our hearts. All those fir trees, the spruces, the beech trees and even the small saplings have deep roots under the earth. Using only your eyes you cannot look under the earth. That doesn’t mean that those roots don’t exist. 

Christmas Songs | And More Children's Songs!

The Pointer

 

 The Zen teacher’s dog loved his evening romp with his master. The dog would bound ahead to fetch a stick, then run back, wag his tail, and wait for the next game. On this particular evening, the teacher invited one of his brightest students to join him – a boy so intelligent that he became troubled by the contradictions in Buddhist doctrine.

“You must understand,” said the teacher, “that words are only guideposts. Never let the words or symbols get in the way of truth. Here, I’ll show you.”

With that the teacher called his happy dog.

“Fetch me the moon,” he said to his dog and pointed to the full moon.

“Where is my dog looking?” asked the teacher of the bright pupil.

“He’s looking at your finger.”

“Exactly. Don’t be like my dog. Don’t confuse the pointing finger with the thing that is being pointed at. All our Buddhist words are only guideposts. Every man fights his way through other men’s words to find his own truth.”

Cliffhanger

One day while walking through the wilderness a man stumbled upon a vicious tiger. He ran but soon came to the edge of a high cliff. Desperate to save himself, he climbed down a vine and dangled over the fatal precipice.
As he hung there, two mice appeared from a hole in the cliff and began gnawing on the vine.
Suddenly, he noticed on the vine a plump wild strawberry. He plucked it and popped it in his mouth. It was incredibly delicious!
- See more at: http://theunboundedspirit.com/10-short-zen-stories/#sthash.1RvinXoj.dpuf

Tibetan Bowl - Deep Eseoteric Healing Vibrations

from Klaus aus Freiburg im Breisgau

Dear Thay Phap Nhat,

thank you very much for your wonderful teachings last weekend.

I am still impressed of everything that happened in waldbröl.

Never before I  left a seminar in such a good mood.

I am so gratefull, that I had the chance to meet you.

And I wish to meet you again soon.

Unfortunately I cannot join you in your vietnam trip this year, hoping that you will do it again.

Please let me know, when you are in the southwest of germany,

please let me know if I can do anything for you.

I am looking forward to a short answer, so I know my email arrived

chuc may man

Klaus aus Freiburg im Breisgau

what lies behind us

and what lies before us

is nothing compared

to what lies within us

Simple Vegan Cheese Recipes

Thay Phap Nhat was arranging stones at Achim and Maaike`s house (28-11-2015)

Guided Meditation for Sleep... Floating Amongst the Stars

Namo Valokitesvaraya

Plum Village Evening Chant

You Are Me - Thich Nhat Hanh

You are me and I am you.
It is obvious that we are inter-are.
You cultivate the flower in
yourself so that I will be beautiful.
I transform the garbage in myself so
that you do not have to suffer.
I support you you support me.
I am here to bring you peace
you are here to bring me joy.

Dear President Hollande

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Plum Village 

This moving letter to the President of France was written by Sister Mai Nghiem, a French nun and Dharma Teacher in the Plum Village Tradition, currently residing at Deer Park Monastery in California. Thay (Thich Nhat Hanh) has often taught us the practice of writing “love letters” to our political leaders at times of shock, turmoil and fear. Many of us remember his powerful letter to President George W. Bush in 2006. 

You may be inspired by Thay and Sister Mai Nghiem’s example, to look deep in your heart and do the same.

Deer Park Monastery
2499 Melru Lane
Escondido
CA 92026
USA

"Even if I knew that the world ended tomorrow, I'd plant an apple tree today."

Love is unreasonable. Beauty is unreasonable. Faith is unreasonable.

Dalai Lama on Paris attacks: 'Work for peace, and don't expect help from God and governments'

Following the deadly Paris attacks, the Tibetan spiritual leader tells DW that people should not expect God to resolve man-made problems, and that a systematic approach is needed to foster humanistic values. 

For millions of his devotees across the world, the Dalai Lama is the embodiment of humanity and compassion. The Dalai Lama, whose real name is Tenzin Gyatso, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, and is known for his decades-long struggle for Tibet's autonomy.

The Fire of Mindfulness - Thay Phap Nhat

We can learn the methods of mindfulness practice within a few days, but it takes months or years until they really become our experience. We don't need to hurry. We don't need to think that we have to be successful right away.

 The practice cannot be like instant noodles. The practice can better be compared with rice. When I was a little boy, I learnt to cook rice on fire. If we want to eat rice, we need fire and water in order to cook it. The fire has to be burning during the whole time of cooking. If for example we use rice that has to be cooked for 20 minutes, the fire needs to burn for 20 minutes. If the fire is extinguished after five minutes, then burning again for five minutes, then extinguished again etc., then the rice will never be cooked.

It is the same in our practice. We need to keep the fire alive, so that later we can enjoy the fragrant rice. This fire is the energy of mindfulness, concentration and insight. In the practice of mindfulness meditation, the energy of mindfulness is very important. That is also why its name is „mindfulness“ meditation.

 Each time we are mindful, we are generating the energy of mindfulness. In our modern world we have to bring meditation into our daily life. Meditation is not only taking place while we are sitting in the meditation hall. After the sitting our practice continues. If  our meditation is only taking place inside the meditation hall, we are not able to integrate it into our daily life. That is why we start practicing mindfulness meditation as soon as we wake up in the morning, and we continue until we go to bed at night.

Let the earth heal you. Let us heal for the earth.

The clouds cry my tears with me.

The branches shake in the storm with me.

The earth embraces my suffering with me.

The gentle wind releases my fears with me.

The daisies smile my smiles with me.

The trees stand solidly with me.

The stars wish my wishes with me.

The blue sky dreams my dreams with me.

The clouds cry your tears with you, too.

The branches shake in the storm with you, too.

The earth embraces your suffering with you, too.

The gentle wind releases your fears with you, too.

The daisies smile your smiles with you, too.

The trees stand solidly with you, too.

The stars wish your wishes with you, too.

The blue sky dreams your dreams with you, too.

https://sowingtheseedsofloveblog.wordpress.com/

True Emptiness – thay Phap Nhat

I come here this morning

Sitting down on the green grass

Up in the sky a cloud appears in five auspicious colours

The figure of a Buddha statue is peaceful

I wave my hand to welcome the warm glow of dawn

The time in the box of notions suddenly (disappear) flies a way

Space is looking for time

But only see the existence

The green leaves, the white cloud and good natured plants

The earth and the sky are quiet, still

I am melted, thawed into reality

My eyes become chlorophyll

My ears become triumph a victory song

My body is mingled, dissolved into the wind, the soil, the cloud

The sun is falling, the wind is falling

The rain is falling, the snow is falling

Everything is falling into eternity

True Emptiness

In true emptiness the miraculous, wonderful existence is fully contained

Existing in the flow of intercontinuation of life

This very moment

Sacred moment

Full, eternal moment.

Upon this earth - Milarepa

Milarepa

Upon this earth, the land of the Victorious Ones,
Once lived a Saint, known as the second Buddha;
His fame was heard in all the Ten Directions.
To Him, the Jewel a’top the eternal Banner of Dharma
I pay homage and give offerings.
Is He not the holy Master, the great Midripa?
Upon the Lotus-seat of Midripa
My Father Guru places his reliance;
He drinks heavenly nectar
With the supreme view of Mahamudra;
He has realized the innate Truth in utter freedom.
He is the supreme one, Jetsun Marpa.
Undefiled by faults or vices,
He is the Transformation Body of Buddha.
He says: “Before Enlightenment,
All things in the outer world
Are deceptive and confusing;
Clinging to outer forms,
One is ever thus entangled.

Looking For Each Other - Thich Nhat Hanh

 I have been looking for you, World Honored One,
since I was a little child.
With my first breath, I heard your call,
and began to look for you, Blessed One.
I’ve walked so many perilous paths,
confronted so many dangers,
endured despair, fear, hopes, and memories.
I’ve trekked to the farthest regions, immense and wild,
sailed the vast oceans,
traversed the highest summits, lost among the clouds.
I’ve lain dead, utterly alone,
on the sands of ancient deserts.
I’ve held in my heart so many tears of stone.
Blessed One, I’ve dreamed of drinking dewdrops
that sparkle with the light of far-off galaxies.
I’ve left footprints on celestial mountains
and screamed from the depths of Avici Hell, exhausted, crazed with despair
because I was so hungry, so thirsty.
For millions of lifetimes,
I’ve longed to see you,

The Paper of Life - thay Phap Nhat

When we wake up in the morning, there are 24 brandnew hours before us. Each of these hours is like a blank piece of paper. We have the right to write on it all the things that can make us happy. But most of the time in our daily life, we are not aware that we have this right. We wake up, and all the suffering of the past is coming up in us. 

We are not aware that there is a new day before us. For me, there is a new life beginning every morning when I wake up. When I wake up from sleeping, there is really beginning a new life for me. Most of us write on their paper again and again the things that make them suffer. We repeat the same suffering again and again, and there is not even a little blank space left on our paper. Sometimes our suffering is so big that we cannot accept it. But as a meditation practitioner we have to see the following point clearly: Every morning when we wake up, our new life is beginning. We can write on our paper all the things that make us suffer. But we can also choose to write the things that make us happy. The first line that we are writing on our paper is the smiling in our face. We always have to remind ourselves that we have the right to choose what we wish for our life. If we can do that, we will become a happier person.

Every-Minute Zen

Zen students are with their masters at least ten years before they presume to teach others. Nan-in was visited by Tenno, who, having passed his apprenticeship, had become a teacher. The day happened to be rainy, so Tenno wore wooden clogs and carried an umbrella. After greeting him Nan-in remarked: “I suppose you left your wooden clogs in the vestibule. I want to know if your umbrella is on the right or left side of the clogs.”

Tenno, confused, had no instant answer. He realized that he was unable to carry his Zen every minute. He became Nan-in’s pupil, and he studied six more years to accomplish his every-minute Zen.

from  Collection of Stone and Sand

Hello Vietnam (Lời Việt- English Sub)

Slopes of Mount Kugami - Ryokan

Slopes

 of Mount Kugami –

 in the mountain’s shade

 a hut beneath the trees – 

how many years

 it’s been my home? 

The time comes

 to take leave of it –

 my .though/ts wilt

 like summer grasses,

 I wander back and forth

 like the evening star –

 till that hut of mine

 is hidden from sight, 

till that grove of trees 

can no longer be seen,

 at each bend

 of the long road, 

at every turning,

 I turn to look back

 in the direction of that mountain 

 translated by Burton Watson: from the book Ryokan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan.

Enlightenment is like the moon - Dogen

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water.

The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.

Although its light is wide and great,

The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.

The whole moon and the entire sky

Are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

Two Sciences of Mind

 by Barry Boyce

Left: MRI of a head-section showing the cerebral cortex, the corpus callosum, the pons and medulla, and the cerebellum. Image by Mehau Kulyk / Science Photo Library.

 

Barry Boyce reports on the dialogue between cutting-edge science and Buddhism’s 2500-year study of the mind.

In 1979, two cognitive scientists, Francisco Varela and Eleanor Rosch, and a computer scientist named Newcomb Greenleaf — all freshly minted Buddhists — organized what was to be a groundbreaking conference at The Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Recently established by Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the institute was designed to be a place where meditation traditions and western scholarship would meet on common ground.

Empty your cup

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea.

He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull.

No more will go in!” “Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

Thich Nhat Hanh Receives the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, renowned for bridging Eastern and Western spirituality, is the 2015 Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award recipient.

Bishop Martin Amos traveled to Deer Park Monastery in southern California to present the award on Saturday, October 31, 2015 to the 89-year old Zen master. Sister Chan Khong and Brother Phap Dang accepted the award on behalf of Thich Nhat Hanh, who continues to recover in San Francisco, in the presence of 120 monastics and 500 retreat participants.

Thich Nhat Hanh is receiving the Pacem in Terris award on the 50th anniversary year of Martin Luther King Jr.’s selection for the same award. The two religious leaders shared a peace and nonviolence bond that influenced the political climate in the late 1960s.

Disappearance- Thich Nhat Hanh

The leaf tips bend
under the weight of dew.
Fruits are ripening
in Earth’s early morning.
Daffodils light up in the sun.
The curtain of cloud at the gateway
of the garden path begins to shift:
have pity for childhood,
the way of illusion.

Late at night,
the candle gutters.
In some distant desert,
a flower opens.
And somewhere else,
a cold aster
that never knew a cassava patch
or gardens of areca palms,
never knew the joy of life,
at that instant disappears-
man’s eternal yearning.

Working Very Hard

 A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, “I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it.” 

 The teacher’s reply was casual, “Ten years.”

 Impatiently, the student answered, “But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?” 

The teacher thought for a moment, “20 years.”

The Dalai Lama | Messenger of Peace | Documentary 2015

Plum Village Morning Chant

Digging my own well

During the last weekend, I participated in the coursse „Mindfulness is the Source of Happiness“ with thay Phap Nhat. On the last day, he draw a picture of a pond and a well. Looking at the pond, it first seems that there is a lot of water in it; we can even take some water out of it and bring it somewhere to share it with others. But when the sun is shining, the water will evaporate and the pond may dry out. When we are looking at the well, we see that it is smaller than the pond on the surface, but it is very deep. When we take water from the well, we take it from deep down from the stream. This source of water will never be empty, because the stream continues to flow down there under the soil. Thay Phap Nhat explained the meaning of this picture for our practice. We can accumulate a lot of knowledge by studying. But if we stop at that point, we will be like a pond that can easily dry out. If we want to go deeper, we have to really become a practicioner; we have to dig our own well by developing the energy of mindfulness so that we are able to draw the water directly from the source.

Buddha’s Zen

Buddha said: “I consider the positions of kings and rulers as that of dust motes. I observe treasures of gold and gems as so many bricks and pebbles. I look upon the finest silken robes as tattered rags. I see myriad worlds of the universe as small seeds of fruit, and the greatest lake in India as a drop of oil on my foot.

 I perceive the teachings of the world to be the illusion of magicians. I discern the highest conception of emancipation as a golden brocade in a dream, and view the holy path of the illuminated ones as flowers appearing in one’s eyes.

 I see meditation as a pillar of a mountain, Nirvana as a nightmare of daytime. I look upon the judgment of right and wrong as the serpentine dance of a dragon, and the rise and fall of beliefs as but traces left by the four seasons.”

from collection of Stone and Sand

K16002- Liebevolle Kommunikation

A course with Thay Phap Nhat

Date(s) - 07.Jan.2016 - 10.Jan.2016 at the European Institute of Applied Buddhism (EIAB)

registration here

https://eiab.eu/?event-tags=bruder-phap-nhat

In diesem Kurs werden wir die Fähigkeit entwickeln, mit Mitgefühl zuzuhören und uns selbst auf eine liebevolle Weise auszudrücken.

Die Praxis des Innehaltens und tiefen Schauens erlaubt es uns, sowohl uns selbst als auch unsere Konfliktpartner besser zu verstehen und befähigt uns, unsere Beziehungen durch liebevolle Kommunikation zu vertiefen, anstatt zu urteilen und zu beschuldigen.

Kurssprache: Englisch mit deutscher Übersetzung

K15117 Meditation im Täglichen Leben

 A course with Thay Phap Nhat

Date(s) - 17.Dez.2015 - 20.Dez.2015 at the European Institute of Applied Buddhism (EIAB)

registration here
https://eiab.eu/?event-tags=bruder-phap-nhat

Es ist Luxus, sich in unserem geschäftigen Leben Zeit für Meditation zu nehmen. Daher bleiben wir oft in unseren Alltagsroutinen gefangen und vergessen, was in unserem Leben vor sich geht.

Meditation eröffnet uns einen Moment des Innehaltens, um dessen gewahr zu werden, was in unserem Körper, in unseren Gefühlen, in unserem Geist und in der Welt vor sich geht.

In diesem Kurs werden wir lernen, innezuhalten und Konzentration (Samadhi) zu kultivieren, um tief in unsere Situation zu schauen und Einsicht zu gewinnen. Wir werden gemeinsam mit der Sangha Sitz- und Gehmeditation praktizieren, um uns an der kollektiven Energie zu erfreuen.

Kurssprache: Englisch mit deutscher Übersetzung

K15114 Wir Können Unsere Gewohnheiten Verändern…

A course with Thay Phap Nhat

Date(s) - 10.Dez.2015 - 13.Dez.2015 at the European Institute of Applied Buddhism (EIAB)

registration here
https://eiab.eu/?event-tags=bruder-phap-nhat

In diesem Kurs werden wir verstehen lernen, wie Gewohnheitsenergien im individuellen Leben entstehen. Und wir werden lernen, alte Gewohnheiten zu verändern und neue zu erschaffen. Wir werden auch die Möglichkeit haben, das Gelernte in unserem Alltagsleben anzuwenden.

Wir werden eine Reihe von Übungen ausprobieren, die uns helfen, unsere Gewohnheiten besser zu verstehen.

 Wir werden entdecken, dass viele negative Gewohnheiten ein grundlegendes Bedürfnis in uns befriedigen. Wenn wir dies erkennen und akzeptieren, können wir uns entscheiden, andere heilsamere Wege zu gehen und neue Gewohnheitsenergien entwickeln.

Kurssprache: Englisch mit deutscher Übersetzung

Everything changes

“Suzuki Roshi, I’ve been listening to your lectures for years,” a student said during the question and answer time following a lecture, “but I just don’t understand.

Could you just please put it in a nutshell? Can you reduce Buddhism to one phrase?”
Everyone laughed. Suzuki laughed.

“Everything changes,” he said. Then he asked for another question.

Thich Nhat Hanh to receive Catholic “Peace on Earth” award

by Lion's Roar Staff| October 26, 2015

Thich Nhat Hanh has been chosen to receive this year’s Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award. A representative of Nhat Hanh, along with 120 monastics in his order, will accept the award on his behalf on October 31 — the 50th anniversary of the same honor being granted to his friend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Given annually since 1964 by Davenport Catholic Interracial Council, the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award is a Catholic peace award in commemoration of Pope John XXIII’s 1963 encyclical letter Pacem in terris (Peace on Earth). The award is given, “to honor a person for their achievements in peace and justice, not only in their country but in the world.”

Dr. King recommended Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967 saying, “Nhat Hanh has… traveled the world, counseling statesmen, religious leaders, scholars and writers, and enlisting their support. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity.”

Thich Nhat Hanh suffered a stroke last November and in July he was taken to California for rehabilitation.

The Great Bell Chant (The End Of Suffering)

The Path To True Love

 A course with Thay Phap Nhat

 Date(s) - 19.Nov.2015 - 22.Nov.2015

Address

Schaumburgweg 3
Waldbröl
North Rhine-Westphalia
Cologne
51545
German

Sometimes the desire, or the intention, to make someone happy is not enough; we must also have the ability to do it.

This ability to bring happiness into someone’s life is an act of love, something that we can learn and cultivate. We can do this by looking deeply and recognising the suffering in ourselves. By recognising, embracing and transforming our own suffering, we love ourselves.

When we are able to love ourselves then we are also able to give our love to others. The practice of mindfulness, which we will cultivate in this course through walking and sitting meditation as well as deep relaxation, will help us to follow the path of true love.

Course language: English with translation into German

 

Der Pfad Zu Wahrer Liebe

Manchmal reicht die Intention oder der Wille, jemanden glücklich zu machen, nicht aus, und wir benötigen auch die Fähigkeit, Glück zu bringen.

Diese Fähigkeit Liebe zu bringen, ist der Akt der Liebe, eine Fähigkeit, die wir erlernen und kultivieren können. Wir können dies tun, indem wir tief schauen und das Leiden in uns selbst erkennen. Indem wir unser Leiden und unsere Schwierigkeiten erkennen,
umarmen und transformieren, lernen wir, uns selbst zu lieben.

 Wenn wir fähig sind, uns selbst Liebe zu schenken, dann sind wir auch fähig, anderen Liebe anzubieten. Mit der Praxis der Achtsamkeit, die wir während dieses Kurses durch die Praxis des Sitzens, Gehens und der Entspannung kultivieren, können wir sicher auf dem Pfad wahrer Liebe reisen.

Kurssprache: Englisch mit deutscher Übersetzung

registration hier

https://eiab.eu/?event=k15104-der-pfad-zu-wahrer-liebe

Coming and Going - thay Phap Nhat

Coming leisurely

Going freely

The drop of water dissolve in the river

Arriving at the ocean