The Deer Park Dharmacast

Brother Phap Ho is offering 6 classes during this winter retreat 2016-2017, on the first three foundations of mindfulness: body, feelings, mind. Below is a summary of the third class. The recording includes sharing and instructions, as well as practice and questions at the end. We hope you enjoy listening and practicing with us.

Here is the image, drawn on the board, regarding our consciousness and sense doors:

This talk was offered by Most Venerable Phuoc Tinh during our New Years Day of Mindfulness. The Venerable's teaching invites us to experience life deeply and enjoy the wonders of spring every day. 

The poem in Vietnamese is:

Sister Kinh Nghiem helped translate this talk.

Brother Phap Don offers a peaceful and joyful setting for this talk. He shares his experience in arriving and enjoying each step as well as how to connect with nature for nourishment and healing.

This talk is based in continuous practice, present moment, peaceful and happy dwelling. May this sharing be of benefit.

Brother Phap Ho is offering 6 classes during this winter retreat 2016-2017, on the first three foundations of mindfulness: body, feelings, mind. Below is a summary of the second class. The recording includes sharing and instructions, as well as practice and questions at the end. We hope you enjoy listening and practicing with us.

This talk was offered in Vietnamese by Sr Truc Nghiem (Sr Bamboo) during our weekend with Order of Interbeing members of Southern California. It was translated by Sr Bach Nghiem (Sr Clarity).

Our sister shares about how we can practice mindful breathing and stopping with the sound on the bell in order to nurture our calm and capacity to dwell in the present. She also shares how this ongoing practice can help us come in contact with and transform suffering deep in our consciousness. 

This Dharma Talk is the second for our Winter Retreat. The theme for the Sunday Dharma Talks this winter is: Nurturing our Roots, Strengthening our Branches - essentials of Plum Village Practice.

Thay Phap Dang recently moved to Deer Park Monastery from Plum Village in France.

Brother Phap Ho is offering 6 classes during this winter retreat 2016-2017, on the first three foundations of mindfulness: body, feelings, mind. Below is a summary of the first class. The recording includes sharing and instructions, as well as practice and a question a the end. We hope you enjoy listening and practicing with us.

Enjoy 30 minutes silent sitting meditation with the Sangha of Solidity Hamlet. Br Phap Ho offers some introduction to sitting: following our breathing, as well as the Evening Chant.

Talk from Winter 2016-2017 Retreat Opening Day.

Translated by Sister Kinh Nghiem.

Br. Phap Vu reflects on the 2016 US election, shares how to practice with its results and ends with a short question and answer session.

A short biography of Br. Phap Vu: http://www.tnhtour.org/2015/09/03/meet-the-monastics-chan-phap-vu/

2016 Mindfulness Retreat for People of Color
 
Dear Friends,
 
This is the  Question & Answer Session (and final recording) from The Path of True Love: Healing Ourselves mindfulness retreat for People of Color.
We are deeply grateful to our teachers Br. Larry Ward, Rev. angel Kyodo williams and Rev. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, Br. Man Tue, Sister Hang Nghiem for all the shining wisdom, compassion, joy and skillfulness they offered nourishing our healing and inspiring wise action.

Some of the questions posed:
1.     What do we do about our public schools?

2.     How do we handle our anger? i.e. police violence

3.     How do we help others when we are being triggered?

4.     How do we continue our meditation when anxiety comes up?

5.     How do we partner in activism for collective liberation?

6.     How have you strived to perfect love in this practice?

...and others

 

Let us now stop, listen deeply and contemplate these teachings and sharings to cultivate our individual and collective healing and great aspiration to strengthen the Beloved Community.
You can also listen to these talks on the Deer Park Dharmacast Soundcloud page
https://soundcloud.com/deerparkdharmacast/

2016 Mindfulness Retreat for People of Color

Dear Friends,

We are happy to continue sharing the Dharma talks from The Path of True Love: Healing Ourselves, our recent mindfulness retreat for People of Color.

Rev. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel begins her talk by reflecting on her early encounter with Zen as a person of color. Rev. Zenju refers to people of color meditation groups as "cultural sanctuaries" and responds to the perceptions of these spaces as "exclusionary" and counter to "oneness."  Rev. Zenju also presents the teachings on store consciousness and the direct experience of transformation when seeds arise.

Rev. Zenju also reads selections from her latest work, The Way of Tenderness: Awakening Through Race, Sexuality, and Gender.


A few excerpts Rev. Zenju's talk:

We as people of color have specific spiritual work to contend with, and the term "people of color" suggests that work rather than the idea of separation based on skin color for the sake of harming those who are white---that is not the intention.

***

The civil rights movement...it wasn't about us being able to sit at the counter in Newberry's to eat hamburgers...it wasn't just  that. It was about love, creating love and seeing people as people and creating love and to rid ourselves of a consciousness of hatred.  That's what that movement was about. Of course, we took some of the gifts that came out of that movement, the civil rights movement, but at the same time, it was still misunderstood that it was for one particular group of people when it was for the entire humanity.

***

My embodiment was exactly where the awakening was going to happen. Where else was it going to happen? It wasn't going to drop from the sky. I've been given a gift about who I am, all that I have experienced so that I can awaken to something much larger than that, much further than that---and still have that...When I began to see this is my gateway...I felt I needed to share with people that we already have what we need to head toward enlightenment or to engage it, to engage oneness.  I can engage oneness because I am here, the oneness that is right here...When I began to see this embodiment was the gateway to boundlessness, I began to walk it differently--not where it was something that burdened me, but something that could be used...

--Rev. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

Let us now stop, listen deeply and contemplate these teachings and sharings to cultivate our individual and collective healing and awakening.

To stay connected with Rev. Zenju, visit http://zenju.org/.

2016 Mindfulness Retreat for People of Color

Dear Friends,

We are happy to continue sharing the Dharma talks from The Path of True Love: Healing Ourselves, our recent mindfulness retreat for People of Color.

Today, Rev. angel Kyodo williams offers a presentation and reading based on the newly published book, Radical Dharma.  In this sharing, Rev. angel invites us into a long overdue conversation about race alongside love and liberation.  As part of this conversation, Rev. angel speaks about the social construct of whiteness, while calling us back into our humanity and to be in touch with the "thing underneath the thing."

A few excerpts:
"...we have the greatest potential to actually pull it up at its roots.  Interestingly enough, we have that opportunity through this gift of the Dharma that actually invites us to be able to look with clear seeing eyes at things that are not real...that are figments of our imagination and figments of other people's imaginations...Race is a grand social figment."  

"As Dharma teachers, the way we survived the aggression and violence of a white dominant form of Dharma that was coming to us---is that we got underneath the thing. We got to the thing underneath the thing. We had to get down to who we really were. And simultaneously appreciate our teachers, our lineages, the texts as they were given but also have a fundamental trust in who we were in our basic humanity."

"What does Dharma become when it's expressed through the experience of someone who lives in a Black body."

--Rev. angel Kyodo williams

Let us now stop, listen deeply and contemplate these teachings and sharings to cultivate our individual and collective liberation and great aspiration to strengthen the Beloved Community.

To stay connected with Rev. angel, visit http://angelkyodowilliams.com.

2016 Mindfulness Retreat for People of Color

Dear Friends,

We are happy to continue sharing the Dharma talks from The Path of True Love: Healing Ourselves, our recent mindfulness retreat for People of Color.

Today’s Dharma talk, entitled “Engaging the Five Mindfulness Trainings" was offered by Br. Larry Ward on the second morning of our retreat.  You can read more about The Five Mindfulness Trainings: The Path of Happiness here.

Let us now stop, listen deeply and contemplate these teachings and sharings to cultivate our individual and collective healing and great aspiration to strengthen the Beloved Community.

To stay connected with Brother Larry Ward, visit The Lotus Institute http://www.thelotusinstitute.org/.

"The calling of the Lotus Institute is to offer mindfulness teachings, principles and practices that encourage individual healing and transformation, professional growth, and development in ways that enhance planetary, social evolution."

2016 Mindfulness Retreat for People of Color

Dear Friends,

We are happy to begin sharing the Dharma talks from The Path of True Love: Healing Ourselves, from our recent mindfulness retreat for People of Color. 

Today’s Dharma talk, entitled “The Alchemy of Grief: Turning Suffering into Light" was offered by Br. Larry Ward on the first morning of our retreat. 

Br. Larry provided a general outline of his talk:

• Poem
• Why I Practice
• It’s About Love (verb)
• Yoniso and Ayoniso
• Nutriments and De-Nutriments
• Poem

Let us now stop, listen deeply and contemplate these teachings and sharings to cultivate our individual and collective healing and great aspiration to strengthen the Beloved Community.

To stay connected with Brother Larry Ward, visit The Lotus Institute http://www.thelotusinstitute.org/.

"The calling of the Lotus Institute is to offer mindfulness teachings, principles and practices that encourage individual healing and transformation, professional growth, and development in ways that enhance planetary, social evolution."

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Deer Park Dharmacast - Dharma flowing from the Ocean of Peace. Today, we bring you Thich Nhat Hanh's new translation of the Heart Sutra as chanted by monastics at Deer Park Monastery. To read about the Heart Sutra and Thich Nhat Hanh's reasons for the new translation, head to the article at plumvillage.org.  May this new translation bring us closer to clear understanding and may everything be illuminated.

Now,  enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear friends,

Welcome to the Deer Park Dharmacast -- Dharma flowing from the Ocean of Peace.

Before the talks of the Miracle of Mindfulness Tour, the monastics offered chanting in both English and Vietnamese. Today, we offer those to you. May they fill your heart with joy and peace.

Now, enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends,

Dear friends, 

This week we continue with Sister Dang Nghiem's sharing on the first four exercises in the Buddha's teaching on mindful breathing. Dwelling in the body grounds us. With our breath, solid concentration and kind relaxation, we can begin to walk towards freedom and begin deep healing.  

Dear friends, 

This week we share with you the first part of Sister Dang Nghiem's talk from the Miracle of Mindfulness retreat. For the children, our sister gives a teaching on patterns in nature and in our families. Then with the adults, she illuminates the ordinary nature of mindfulness in our everyday lives. The interbeing of all things comes to light as she prepares to discuss the Buddha's teaching on awareness of breath.

Now, enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply. 

Now, enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply. 

Today we continue a talk given by Sister Hang Nghiem. She offers The Four Diligences as a way to practice taking care of the seeds in garden of our mind. So often we are concerned with the seeds and gardens of others; our sister reminds us to take time to recognize and tend to our own seeds. 

Dear friends,

In addition to the podcasts, which are usually offered as 30 minute sections of talks, we wanted to offer full length talks as requested by some Dharmacast listeners.

This is the second talk in a series of talks on the Eight Verses of Mind Training by Brother Phap Hai. This is the full talk for those who would prefer to listen to talks in their entirety.

The second talk on the Eight Verses is available here. To stream, click the link.  To download, right-click and select 'Save as.'

Enjoy!

Dear friends,

In addition to the podcasts, which are usually offered as 30 minute sections of talks, we wanted to offer full length talks as requested by some Dharmacast listeners.

Brother Phap Hai is offering a series of talks on the Eight Verses of Mind Training and we felt it was a good place to start offering the full talks for those who would prefer to listen to talks in their entirety.

The first talk on the Eight Verses is available here. To stream, click the link.  To download, right-click and select 'Save as.'

Enjoy!

Today we share a talk by Brother Phap Hai, shortly after his return to Deer Park from Europe. Our brother reminds us of the the meaning of the word: gratitude. To feel gratitude is to know what has been done for us. May we look back and look inside to remember. 

Dear friends,

We're taking a break this week! Our staff is going sailing/opening a new theater show/etc. What are you doing? Let's all take a break together!

Every year on Lunar New Year's eve, Thay recites a poem and gives a dharma talk with insights into Vietnamese poetry, culture, and tradition. This year, as our teacher receives treatment in the hospital, Venerable Thich Phuoc Tinh continues the tradition. He recites a poem of Thay's and gives us a rare glimpse into the life of our teacher. 

Dear friends,

Today we continue to explore the Five Mindfulness Trainings with the second half of sharings by lay friends at Deer Park during the Holiday Retreat. Our friends share their experience with the two trainings on Loving Speech and Deep Listening, and Nourishment and Healing. May these sharings fill your heart and nourish your practice.

Remember, you can always find the Deer Park Dharmacast at dpcast.net, on Facebook, iTunes, and Twitter. Now, enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply. 

The Dharmacast is taking a day off!  Enjoy this archived talk from Fall 2014, where Sister Kinh Nghiem connects the Four Immeasurable Minds and the Four Mantras. http://deerpark.libsyn.com/the-four-immeasurable-minds

Dear friends,

Happy Friday to you! Another week for exploring our podcast archives.http://deerpark.libsyn.com/healing-in-our-relationships

We can learn so much from our lay teachers and fellow practitioners. In this Q&A session from a couples retreat last year, three lay teachers help us understand how to heal ourselves and our relationships. 

I've been going through some transitions (moving and new job) but our team will have a new podcast out to you next Friday. Stay tuned!

This week, we invite you to enjoy our archives of talks. One such lovely talk is one given by Thay last year at Deer Park. Our teacher shares on The Better Way to Live Alone. Enjoy!  http://deerpark.libsyn.com/arriving-and-being-alive

Dear friends,

Dear friends,

Dear friends,

We are happy to offer the full talks from the People of Color Retreat at Deer Park in 2014.  The orientation, dharma talk, and question and response session are available for download at the links below. 

POC Retreat 2014 Orientation

POC Retreat 2014 Dharma Talk

POC Retreat 2014 Question and Response

Enjoy.

Dear friends,

Dear friends,