The Deer Park Dharmacast

Dear Friends,

 In our next focus on the Elements of Practice we look at the first of two basic practices of the dharma: stopping and looking deeply.  In this dharma talk, Brother Phap Ho guides us in Stopping – coming to rest in the present moment, allowing our minds to become clear and rest in awareness.  We are then able to look deeply, to see that there are so many conditions for our happiness right around us that we might not notice otherwise, that we lose in the busy-ness of our lives.  And through this awareness, we are also able to look deeply into ourselves, to look at how we are constrained by the habits of our lives and minds, as so find freedom.

Please enjoy these offerings, and may they guide us toward the crystal clarity of the present moment.

 

Dear Friends,

In this dharma talk Sister Dang Nghiem explores neurologist Paul MacLean’s idea that our brains actually consist of three brains layered by evolution atop one another – the reptilian brain, the mammalian brain, and the intellectual Neocortex. Through the practice of mindfulness, Sister Dang Nghiem shows us how we can train ourselves to react from the highest level of our brain’s evolution, and so cultivate our minds to bring us greater happiness and peace, and to be a calm presence in the world.

Please enjoy these offerings, and may they guide us toward the peace of a carefully cultivated mind.

 

Dear Friends,

The situation at Bat Nha Monastery has reached an apex in the past 24 hours. One hundred policemen have shown up at Bat Nha Monastery. Three of our brothers, Phap Hoi, Phap Tu and Phap Sy have been taken and have not been seen. The rest of the monastics have been pulled out into the rain, and are apparently waiting for a truck to bring them away--where we don't know. Please practice to send your energy of peace and support. Your help now is more urgent than ever. If any of you can help in any way, especially those who might be present in Vietnam, thank you. Let the Bodhisattvas protect our young brothers and sisters.

We are trying to keep the latest information posted at http://helpbatnha.org

With palms joined,
The Monks and Nuns of Deer Park Monastery

Dear Friends

Our practice is to learn to listen to the innate wisdom that is inside of us, instead of the voices of judgment and expectation that battle for our attention.  In this dharma talk, through sharing of very personal stories of care-taking for her mother, Sister Tue Nghiem helps us to see this wisdom within ourselves and to listen to, as she calls it, “our voice.” In this talk she shows us that by being present with ourselves we are able to keep from taking for granted the precious elements in our lives that support us – our health, family, friends, sangha, and our spiritual practice.  The dharma talk concludes with a guided meditation in which Sister Tue Nghiem teaches us to make room inside ourselves to listen for this voice of wisdom.

Please enjoy these offerings, and may they guide us toward who we really are.