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

I hope everyone has had a wonderful August, enjoying the outdoors and especially last week’s “super blue” rare moon.

I have been working for a long time to truly understand and act on Thay’s many lessons about not identifying ourselves with or by our emotions and thoughts.  This relates to his larger guidance about impermanence, a concept I’ve also struggled to fully grasp.

I recently heard a podcast from Tara Brach that talked about the power of “mindful witnessing” what is happening inside us.  That made me think again of some of Thay’s writings, so I went back to his “The Pocket Thich Nhat Hanh” book and found a very relevant reading, “Blocks and Knots.”  

Dear Friends,

This Monday is Labor Day, an annual celebration of American workers. The holiday has been around since the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the contributions of workers. 

We will meet online Monday evening, 7-8:30PM, Wednesday morning 7-8AM in person at 3812 Northampton Street, and Friday 12-1PM online.

On Monday evening, we will meditate together and then reflect on how we might consider our own labor – our work, using the lens of mindfulness.

We will listen to part of a talk by the monastic Sister True Dedication on Mindfulness and business and then reflect together on what we heard and how we might apply this to our lives.

Sister True Dedication reminds us that  in our practice, the ends of our work - our work “product” is not the only aspect that matters. How we accomplish our work is also important. What we leave behind from our work is much more than our output. What is the quality of our impact?

Dear Friends, this week we will meet on Monday evening in person 7-8:30PM at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW), Wednesday morning from 7-8AM online, and Friday 12-1PM online. 

On Monday, Susie will facilitate. We will be reading and referencing the final pages in Thich Nhat Hahn’s book, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet, pages 297-end. He writes: “Be alive – Be the miracle”

If you are looking for a way to connect with others while growing your awareness, please join us.

On the last pages in the Afterword, Sister Chan Khong writes: 
You are the Future

I have been young like many of you, and full of determination to change the situation of suffering in myself, my family, and the world. And yet, often when I achieved what I thought was "right," it was at great cost to myself and my close relationships. It was only when I met Thay that I learned how to handle those difficult moments when I felt lost and overwhelmed by anger, fear, and despair. Thay taught me to always remember to come back to my breathing, and dwell only with the breathing, from within. In this way we can be our best: we can be stillness and give rise to a clear mind. Then, deep awakening and compassion can manifest, right in that moment, in our own hearts, and it becomes possible to see it and touch it even in the heart of our so-called "enemy."

Dear Friends, this week we will meet on Monday evening online 7-8:30PM, Wednesday morning from 7-8AM at our meditation space (3812 Northampton St), and Friday 12-1PM online.

On Monday we will read the Five Mindfulness Trainings and focus on the 1st Training Reverence for Life.  Camille will facilitate. 

The Five Mindfulness Trainings are one of the most concrete ways to practice mindfulness. They are not commandments, but rather invitations to consider our ways of living. They support us in practicing compassion and understanding. 

The First Mindfulness Training: Reverence for Life

“Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, or in my way of life. Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger, fear, greed, and intolerance, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking, I will cultivate openness, non-discrimination, and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence, fanaticism, and dogmatism in myself and in the world.”

Dear Friends, this week we will meet on Monday evening online 7-8:30PM, Wednesday morning from 7-8AM in person at our meditation space (3838 Northampton Street) and Friday 12-1PM online.

We will continue reading Zen and The Art of Saving the Planet, pages 225-255: True Love: Is It The Real Thing?  

Magda will facilitate. Please bring a cup of tea or any other drink you would like to enjoy in each others’ company as we discuss how this beautiful chapter may help bring meaning to our lives. There is no obligation to read the chapter ahead of time.

TRUE LOVE FOR MY MOTHERS

Thich Nhat Hanh’s (Thay’s) message in True Love feels very personal to me during my two-week stay with my ninety-year-old Mother in Puerto Rico.  At my Mother’s vulnerable age, she needs the full presence that is at the core of Thay’s definition of love. Being with my Mother has become an act of mindfulness, understanding that every moment may be the last I spend with her physical manifestation. Thay’s words about exercising true love by taking care of the Earth could just as well be said about my Mother: I should take care of my Mother in the way my Mother has taken care of me. My Mother and I are one.

Dear Friends, this week we will meet on Monday evening in person 7-8:30PM at our meditation space (3838 Northampton Street), Wednesday morning from 7-8AM online, and Friday 12-1PM online.

On Monday we will read the Five Mindfulness Trainings and focus on the 5th training: Nourishment and Healing. Annie and Ellen will co-facilitate. 

The Five Mindfulness Trainings are one of the most concrete ways to practice mindfulness. They are not commandments, but rather invitations to consider our ways of living. They support us in practicing compassion and understanding. 

The Fifth Mindfulness Training: Nourishment and Healing

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I will practice looking deeply into how I consume the Four Kinds of Nutriments, namely edible foods, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness. I am determined not to gamble, or to use alcohol, drugs, or any other products which contain toxins, such as certain websites, electronic games, TV programs, films, magazines, books, and conversations. I will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing, healing and nourishing elements in me and around me, not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor letting anxieties, fear, or craving pull me out of the present moment. I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness, anxiety, or other suffering by losing myself in consumption. I will contemplate interbeing and consume in a way that preserves peace, joy, and well-being in my body and consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family, my society and the Earth.

Dear Friends, this week we will meet on Monday evening online 7-8:30PM, Wednesday morning from 7-8AM in person at our meditation space (3838 Northampton Street) and Friday 12-1PM in person.

On Monday we will continue reading Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet, pages 187-224: Brave Dialogue: The Power of Listening, and Annie will facilitate.

In this section - which, by the way is amazing -  Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) and Sister True Dedication share the value of listening to all points of view in the society and in our personal lives (and the ways those two inter-are), the practice of transforming our anger into compassion, and techniques for practicing deep listening.

I found all of it very helpful, but especially Sister True Dedication’s writing on her “tricks” for being able to listen to differing views in a way that allows the other person to unburden themselves and that leads to healing for all.

This Monday evening we will meet in person from 7-8:30 PM and Susie will facilitate.

We will continue our summer reading of Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet. This week we will focus on pages 151-186, Right Fuel: Guard Your Mind, Nurture Your Aspiration. You don’t need to have read the book to join us.

In this section, Thay writes:

Where’s Your Horse Going?

There's a Zen story about a man on a horse galloping very quickly. At the crossroads a friend of his shouted, “Where are you going?” And the man replied, “I don't know. Ask the horse!”

This Monday evening, we will meet in person at our meditation space at 3812 Northampton St NW DC 20015 from 7-8:30 PM. Camille will facilitate the evening. 

If you are following along with the summer reading book (Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh) this week we are reading pages 79 to 92. You do not have to read the book to join our Monday evening meditations or conversations.

A paragraph from this week's reading:

"In our time of globalization, harmony will be impossible without some kind of shared values or global ethic. The "Five Mindfulness Trainings" are five short paragraphs that express a Buddhist contribution to a global spirituality and ethic.  They propose a spiritual practice that can bring about true happiness and true love, protect life, restore communication, and bring about the healing of the planet and of every one of us on Earth. They are a way out of this difficult situation in the world. The insights of no-self and interbeing are a firm foundation from which you can change your life and behavior.  From these insights, right action - for your own well-being and the wellbeing of our planet - will naturally flow.  Following the path of the Five Mindfulness Trainings, you can already set off on the path of transformation and healing and you can become a bodhisattva, helping to protect the beauties of diverse cultures and helping to save the planet."

On each Monday night this summer, we will read a section of one of Thich Nhat Hanh’s books, which will serve as our meditation and dharma sharing topic for the evening. The book is Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet and this Monday we will start with pages 1. - 37.

We will read the Five Mindfulness Trainings together and focus our dharma conversation on the Third Mindfulness Training, specifically one of the additions to this training that were finalized in 2022:

Recognizing the diversity of human experience, I am committed not to discriminate against any form of gender identity or sexual orientation.

These changes to the Third Mindfulness Training came about as a result of input from the worldwide sangha, especially the LGBTQIA+ community and allies. The new text helps us become more aware of our discriminating/fearful mind and sets an intention not to discriminate based on forms of gender identity or sexual orientation.

I recently purchased the Shambala little book called “The Pocket Thich Nhat Hahn,” which literally fits in your pocket. I was thumbing through the little gems in the book which cover a wide variety of Thay’s teachings and insights.  Two of them, not directly related, really spoke to me, particularly at this time.  One was about recognizing and addressing our “habit energy;”  the other was about the need to rest. The connection for me was a powerful one.

Near the end of his life, the Buddha spoke about being an island unto ourselves. Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) often refers to this island as a place of refuge inside of ourselves. There’s even a Plum Village practice song called The Island WIthin:

Breathing in, I go back to the island within myself.

There are beautiful trees within the island,

There are clear streams of water, 

There are birds, sunshine, and fresh air.

Breathing out, I feel safe.

I enjoy going back to my island.

This week will welcome folks who are new to us at 6:15 and offer some guidance on the flow of the evening.

Dear Thay, dear friends,

On Monday we will practice together and then read and explore our experience with the Five Remembrances, a verse recited regularly by Buddhists all over the world:

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.

I am of the nature to have ill-health. There is no way to escape having ill-health.

I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.

All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.

I inherit the results of my actions of body, speech, and mind. My actions are my continuation.

This Monday evening, we will read the Five Mindfulness trainings and focus on True Happiness- the second Mindfulness Training

There is so much I can learn from this training, True Happiness. I read and practice this training over and over and I still find bits of understanding and wisdom that I have missed. 

In Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay)’s book Happiness, Thay says, “Happiness is not something to seek out, but instead something to relax into.” 

We can cultivate happiness in each moment. I often find that I can touch happiness when I am resourcing myself in nature. In moments when I am stressed, feeling tense, and not able to concentrate, I can often find happiness in taking a walk, watching and listening to the birds, enjoying all the colors in nature, and gardening. All of these activities help me to center, calm, and find peace. And yet when I go home and back to the challenges in my life, I am often back where I started - stressed, tense, and agitated.