Self-Help Villages and Engaged Buddhism: Part 6 of Fragrant Palm Leaves

Monday, August 5 we will meet online.

Go to calendar for our schedule


Dear Friends,

This week: we will meet Monday evening, Aug. 5, from 7-8:30PM EDT online, Wednesday morning, Aug. 7, from 7-8AM EDT in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW), and Friday, Aug 9, 12-1PM EDT online.

On Monday night, we will continue our summer book club reading of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Fragrant Palm Leaves. We will be reading through August 19. 

Annie will facilitate and we will be discussing pages 135-151. (Each week's reading pages are below.) 

Please note there is no need to own the book or read the section in advance to enjoy the practice with us. Nor is there a need to attend every practice to benefit from the readings, as each Monday practice will continue to be a stand alone and complete practice. For an introduction to the book, read this

In this section of the book, Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) shares his return to Vietnam after spending two years studying religion at Princeton and Columbia Universities. 

He finds that there is still much violence and suffering in Vietnam, and his beloved retreat farm, Phoung Boi, is now abandoned. Many villages in Vietnam are unsafe and suffering terribly as a result of the war. Thay decides to help create self-help villages and soon he will start the School of Youth for Social Service. 

“We call it a ‘self-help village,’ and it will serve as a model for the kind of ecommunity Steve and I used to talk about. The name ‘self-help village’ conveys the idea that this is a village where citizens share collective responsibility to develop the local economy and provide for education and health care.”

The School of Youth for Social Service was a group of dedicated young people brought together by Thay for two-fold action: (1) one full day every week was for practicing mindfulness together to calm body and mind and nourish aspirations, and (2) establish pilot villages for rural reconstruction and development. 

Inspired by his love for the people of Vietnam and his insights into the nature of the cosmos (which we read about in the previous chapters), Thay took his first steps toward what he called Engaged Buddhism, using the Buddhist teachings to guide compassionate action. 

“We now have an infrastructure of volunteers who can help develop self-help villages. They are equally knowledgeable about social concerns and religious teaching, and they understand effective methods to combat poverty, disease, ignorance, and misunderstanding. They do not work for wages or power, but with love and awareness. The spirit of self-help motivates them. These are young people like Steve and Nguyen Hung who are peace-loving and faithful and reject life based on materialism. They seek only the happiness that a life of service can bring. They have the right kind of spirit to succeed.”

Looking at the challenges facing our world today, do you have any local, community-based Engaged Buddhist aspirations? And, are you able to create enough time to practice and rest so that your ability to serve doesn’t burn out? How do you relate to Thay’s writing and life in this section?

I look forward to being with you on Monday to practice together and share our experiences with each other.

with love,
annie.

Upcoming reading of Fragrant Palm Leaves:

8/5 pages 133-152

8/12 pages 153-178

8/19 pages 179-end

8/26 Mindfulness Training