The Deer Park Dharmacast

This talk was offered by Thay to foreigners living in Hanoi on April 25, 2007. Included are questions and answers from the audience, and a reading of the letter that Thay offered to the people of Vietnam as part of the three reconciliation ceremonies in Ho Chi Minh City, Hue and Soc Son, north of Hanoi.

The delegation traveling with Thay has just left Hanoi for 10 days of talks and a retreat in Hong Kong.

This week we offer a talk for intellectuals and others given at the Sandy Beach Hotel in Da Nang. The quality of the recording is not great due to background noise, but it is intelligible, and the talk is worth the trouble. A number of questions are answered by Thay towards the end.

The talk is translated by Sister Dang Nghiem.

 

This week we offer a talk from the first day of the Three Day Reconciliation Ceremony in Hue at Dieu De Temple. The ceremony was the second one on this trip, after the one in Vinh Nghiem Temple, TP Ho Chi Minh. Loved ones of people of all nationalities remembered those who died in wars and in boats during the past century in Vietnam by writing their names on hundreds of sheets. These sheets were carried on trays during the ceremony. The ceremonies have given many people here a chance to be released from the suffering caused by the violent death of loved ones.

The talk is translated by Sister Gioi Nghiem.

This week Sister Dang Nghiem follows Thay on a tour of the Tu Hieu Temple, where he trained as a novice. The tour begins across the road from the temple, at the Bodhi Stupa in a pine forest, and continues down to the old showering well before heading up to the Buddha Hall. The audio has only been partially edited, so please enjoy your breathing during the walking sections. Today is the last day of the three-day reconciliation ceremonies in Hue at Dieu De Temple. Tomorrow morning the Sangha travels to Da Nang for a nine day visit.

This week we offer an interview with the Venerable Thay Duc Nghi, the founder and abbot of Prajna Temple in Bao Loc, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam. Thay Duc Nghi offered Prajna Temple as a place where young monks and nuns could practice according to the Plum Village tradition during Thay's last trip to Vietnam. Now Prajna has grown to over 300 monks and nuns in residence in just two years, thanks to the support of Thay Duc Nghi and numerous Dharma Teachers from Plum Village. In the interview the Venerable shares about his experience as a monk and, in particular, his experience of renewal in contact with the Plum Village practice.

Brother Phap Khoi translates, and Brother Stream and Sister Jewel pose questions.

Greetings from Bat Nha (Prajna) Temple near Bao Loc in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam. Thay and the Sangha arrived here over a week ago and, after a three day trip to Da Lat where Thay lived and taught as a young Dharma Teacher, offered a retreat for lay pracitioners which is finishing today. We will now have a retreat for monastics, followed by the Precepts and Lamp Transmission Ceremonies.

This talk is from the lay retreat and is the third talk Thay gave during the retreat. Questions include: How can we continue the practice after Thay and the Sangha leave? What can we do about capital punishment? Can we ordain as monastics, and how do we convince our parents to let us ordain?

Now we are two weeks into Thay's second trip back to Vietnam. The delegation has left TP Ho Chi Minh for Prajna Temple in Bao Loc, about five hours northeast of the city. After a three day visit to Da Lat we are back at Prajna for the Lay Practitioners' Retreat.

This Dharma talk is Thay's second talk in TP Ho Chi Minh on Feb. 23, at Vinh Nghiem temple, to an audience of a few thousand. Included are questions about maintaining mindfulness in daily life, about the film based on Old Path White Clouds, and information on the reconciliation ceremonies for those killed in the wars of the past century in Vietnam.

This week we offer the first of Thay's talks in this year's trip to Vietnam. This talk was given at the Phap Van Temple in TP Ho Chi Minh on Feb. 22, 2007 to an audience of lay and monastic practitioners. The translation into English was done by Sister Dang Nghiem.

We will do our best to keep talks and other material from this three-month trip available, but please understand if there are lapses. These are due to a lack of internet connection. We leave tomorrow for Prajna Temple in Bao Loc.

This week Thay offers a teaching on how to maintain beginner's mind even when we are years into the practice. Also, how do the precepts support our practice?

On Feb 18 we plan to leave for a three month trip in Vietnam, Hong Kong and Thailand. We will do our best to maintain the podcast during this time, but there may be gaps when we do not have regular internet access. Please understand, and stay tuned.

Welcome to this month's question and answer session on the Deer Park Dharmacast. Sister Dang Nghiem (photo) and Sister Hanh Nghiem answer questions that have been sent in over the past few weeks. How do we practice with jealousy? What distinguishes Thay's tradition from Zen and Vipassana?

Brother Phap Luu hosts.