The Deer Park Dharmacast

Sister Dang Nghiem shows us the proper way to invite the sound of the bell. She also teaches us how to cultivate that peacefulness when we hear noises that might otherwise cause stress.

Lay practitioner Patrick Burke made the video.  A higher resolution version is at www.burkepost.com.

This is the full audio version of the Bells of Mindfulness video.

 

Dear Friends

Thich Phuoc Tinh, known to the Sangha as The Venerable, here offers a wonderfully direct talk to encourage us forward in our practice. He reminds us that if we stop practicing when we are feeling good, we are like a person rubbing sticks together to start a fire, and stopping just as the sticks grow warm, before the real fire begins. The Dharma, he tells us, is a dharma of action, not of intellect.

This dharma talk is offered for Tet, the Vietnamese lunar new year. May the renewal and rejoicing that is going on at the Monastery carry deeply into your life.

A collection of The Venerable’s dharma talks is available as a book. Be Like a Tree, Zen Talks by Thích Phước Tịnh is a collection of the Venerable’s uniquely practical and inspiring talks, helping us in our practice with non-fear, recognizing our thoughts and feelings, creating space in our lives, loving and being loved, cultivating our spirituality, and tasting the enjoyment of our own lives. The talks were compiled by OI Member Karen Hilsberg, and the book is available at lulu.com and amazon.com.

Please enjoy these offerings, and may there be renewal in your every mindful breath. 

 

Dear Friends,

We hope you will enjoy this short interview with a local Deer Park practitioner.   J.C. Earle practices with the Compassionate Heart Sangha in Los Angeles, and he's a frequent visitor to Deer Park.  In this video, J.C. discusses his understanding of mindfulness, using his garden as a metaphor for consciousness.  A higher-quality version of this video is available at burkepost.com.   This Vidcast was created by another Deer Park practitioner, Patrick Burke, and we are very grateful to him for this offering.

Please enjoy cultivating your garden as you watch this offering.

 

Dear Friends,

Last night at the Dharma Nectar Hall of Lower Hamlet in Plum Village, lay and monastic practitioners from around the world gathered to concentrate our energy into a new song which could represent the Wake Up movement. Thanks to the good conditions of a visit from Joe Reilly, Melina Bondy and many talented monks, nuns and lay friends, the fruit of our practice is posted here.

To learn more, or to join the Wake Up movement look no further than the website at http://wkup.org.

For more of Joe Reilly's songs, follow the link to his website at http://joereilly.org.

Open your eyes!

Dear Friends,

Often at the end of retreats at Deer Park, a panel of Monks and Nuns will offer a question and answer session with the retreat’s participants. These sessions are always a precious opportunity for the retreat participants to seek guidance in their practice, and for our monastic brothers and sisters to share their unique insights.  This question and answer session was offered on the last day of Deer Park’s recent Mindfulness and Education retreat. The panel of monks and nuns answer questions from the college students and other visitors at the retreat on loneliness and connection, monastic life and values, and mindfulness of habit energies, cravings and addictions.

Please enjoy these offerings, and may the support of our monastic brothers and sisters be felt deeply in our practice.

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.

Dear Friends

In this out-of-the-ordinary edition of the Deer Park dharmacast, we would like to share two songs by singer/songwriter Joe Reilly.  Joe, a practitioner in the Plum village tradition, is a face commonly seen visiting Deer Park when his touring takes him through the region.  But his music can be heard at the monastery much more often, as his light-hearted, meaningful songs have become regular staples at any programs and retreats involving children and families. To learn more about his music please head to www.joereilly.org . The songs shared here are I Love Nature, and Peace Love and Unity, from his cd Children of the Earth.

We present these playful songs to celebrate the family retreat at Deer Park.  Relax, and enjoy.

Dear Friends,

The 21-Day Retreat is now underway in Plum Village. Thay offered this talk to the newly arrived retreatants, beginning with a sharing on his meetings with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and continuing on to discuss how we can support President Obama in his practice of using loving speech and deep listening.

"When Barack Obama manifested, I regretted a little bit, because Martin Luther King, Jr. was not there to witness the fruit of our efforts. ... But finally, I saw that we are the continuation of Martin Luther King. He is happy to know that everything he has done has borne fruit.

Obama is not an individual, Obama represents a Sangha. So our work is to keep the Sangha close to Obama, to offer our support. I offer this for you to reflect on it. There must be a way. Wherever there is a will there is a way."

Dear Friends, We often experience our emotions like waves, crashing on the shore.  But a wave’s beginning can be miles away, or thousands of feet underwater.  The same is true for our emotions.  In this talk, Sister Dang Nghiem shows us that while we may not notice emotions until they crash upon us, looking deeply we can see that their origin is far below the surface.  In this way we can be mindful of our habitual reactions and responses, recognizing them before we are swept away with them.    Please enjoy these offerings, and may they inspire the depth of your practice.

Dear Friends, 

This Dharma talk is the final talk of Deer Park’s Heart of the Winter Retreat, a time of intensive study and practice for the monastics.

To bring this three-month time of retreat to a close, Sister Huong Nghiem, or Sister True Fragrance, here offers an insightful and very pragmatic talk on looking deeply and skillfully into our practice and our lives. She offers many insights on how we can fine-tune our practice to best serve us, to identify what the root of our suffering is on a very personal level and so transform our lives at the base. The talk ends with a question and answer session with the community.

Please enjoy these offerings, and may they be nourishing to your practice.

Dear Friends

Thích Phước Tịnh, known to the Sangha as the Venerable, here offers a wonderful and direct talk on living deeply as a human being, going inward to find deep meaning in your life, and so transcending happiness and suffering, fortune and misfortune. This dharma talk was offered for Tet, the Vietnamese lunar new year, and leads us toward renewal in our life and in our practice.  We offer a deep bow of gratitude to Sister Dang Nghiem for offering a wonderful translation of this talk. 

We are delighted to announce that for the first time the Venerable’s dharma talks are available in a book. Be Like a Tree, Zen Talks by Thích Phước Tịnh is a collection of the Venerable’s uniquely practical and inspiring talks, helping us in our practice with non-fear, recognizing our thoughts and feelings, creating space in our lives, loving and being loved, cultivating our spirituality, and tasting the enjoyment of our own lives. The talks were compiled by Order if Interbeing member Karen Hilsberg, and the book is available at lulu.com and amazon.com.  

Please enjoy these offerings, and may there be renewal in your every mindful breath.

Dear Friends,

Deer Park has been alive with energy these past weeks with the monks, nuns, and visitors joyfully celebrating Tet, the lunar New Year. Celebrations included thrilling dragon dances, and the making of hundreds of traditional earth-cakes. This dharma talk was given by Thay Phap Hai just before Tet at a Day of Mindfulness.  It was offered as the monthly talk for Order of Interbeing Members and Aspirants but all of us can also find great benefits for our practice.  It is on the topic of Appropriateness: appropriateness in a practitioner’s actions, and in the Bodhisattva vow.

Remember that the public is encouraged to attend these regular Days of Mindfulness at Deer Park Monastery in Escondido California, Blue Cliff Monastery in New York, and at Plum Village in the south of France. There is information at the end of the podcast on how you can attend.

Happy New Year!

Today’s podcast was the result of a wonderful experiment at Deer Park.  Zen Teacher Thay Phap Hai and two Order of Interbeing members, Karen Hilsberg and Kenley Neufeld, shared a dharma talk on self-renewal.  These wonderful teachers offer insights into how we can begin anew with ourselves and practice right away by watering our own flower.  We can also reflect on our relationships and our lives and find new places to be open to experience and to life.  With these insights we can set our intentions for the new year.   We hope you enjoy your flowering watering and have a joyous and happy new year.  

Dear Friends

The annual Winter Retreat opened very joyfully at Deer Park on November 15.  From requests in past year's Winter Retreats for more structured study during these three months, the community has planned a number of courses for monastic and lay practitioners this winter.   The Deer Park Podcast will offer the once a month special teachings on the 14 Mindfulness Trainings by senior Dharma teachers in Deer Park. The talks are planned to form one coherent in-depth look into the nature of the trainings of the Order of Interbeing. In this way, as a Sangha, we may enrich our practice and more directly see ways to engage with the practice in ourselves, in our families, and in society.  This podcast is a wonderful offering from Thay Phap Dung on Openness.

Hello everyone

Dharma teachers Thay Phap Ho and Sister Dang Nghiem offer a recitation of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing.  Thich Nhat Hanh says in this book, Interbeing, “If we practice these trainings deeply enough, we will recognize that each training contains every other training. Studying and practicing them can help us understand the true nature of interbeing-we cannot just be by ourselves alone; we can only inter-be with everyone and everything else. To practice these mindfulness trainings is to become aware of what is going on in our bodies, our minds, and the world. With awareness, we can live our lives happily, fully present in each moment we are alive, intelligently seeking solutions to the problems we face, and working for peace in small and large ways. I hope you will join me in practicing these mindfulness trainings or the equivalent from your own tradition. It is crucial for our own well-being and the well-being of the world.” 

You may like to recite these once a month to help nourish your practice. Please enjoy!

If you would like to read the text of the trainings please visit http://www.deerparkmonastery.org/mindfulness-practice/the-fourteen-mindfulness-trainings

 

Dear Young Friends

On September 19, 2008, the Wake Up movement for young Buddhists and non-Buddhists for a healthy and compassionate society was announced.  Wake Up is a community of young Dharma practitioners who want to help their society which is overloaded with intolerance, discrimination, craving, anger and despair.  They practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings, ethical guidelines offered by the Buddha; the most concrete practice of true love and compassion, clearly showing the way towards a life in harmony with each other and with the Earth. If you are a young practitioner we encourage you to learn about the Wake Up movement in your country.  You can learn more at http://wkup.org.  Today’s podcast is dedicated to young people and is taken from our 2008 Teen Retreat- Be True, Be Beautiful.  Let us know if you would like to hear more podcasts for youth.

 

Dear Friends.

Today we are happy to share a new kind of offering with you.  We are initiating a series of podcasts called the “Elements of Practice”.   We are so fortunate to have our first offering in this series from Thay Phap Hai, one of our wonderful and experienced dharma teachers here at Deer Park Monastery.  In Sitting Meditation, Part 1, he shares the basics of how to sit, why we sit, and other elements of this practice.  We learn how to be 'noble' and that every place you sit can be a place of awakening.  You may also enjoy practicing with the guided meditation included in the talk.  One of the goals of our podcast is to support individual and sangha practice wherever it is occurring.  We hope this offering will help strengthen your practice. 

Please also visit our new website at www.deerparkmonastery.org and learn more about our tradition and practice.   Please enjoy your sitting.  

May you and all beings be well.

Greetings Friends

Here is an excerpt from one of Thay’s talks focusing on some lessons for beginning practitioners.  For example, the practice of leaving behind can bring great happiness.  He also discusses skillful ways to relate to your suffering and shares that whether we suffer a little or a lot, is entirely up to us.   We hope you enjoy this wonderful talk.

Please enjoy your peaceful breath.

 

Dear Friends

This month we offer a wonderful sharing from Dharma teacher Larry Ward at the UN Vesak conference in Vietnam.  “The question is not what may I do to be saved, but rather, what must we do to be saved.  And by ‘we’ I mean the whole planet”.  It is a wonderful talk and we hope you enjoy it.  To Larry’s many gifts already offered to the world a new one is added— Love’s Garden by Peggy Rowe Ward and Larry Ward explores the spiritual dimension of relationship. Larry and Peggy share stories from their own life and offer clear and useful exercises to illustrate how Buddhist principles can help couples navigate difficulties and misunderstandings and deepen their commitment to each other and to their spiritual practice. Love’s Garden is a perfect guide to help cultivate love in all of our relationships. You can learn more about it and order it www.parallaxpress.org/lovesgarden.

Please enjoy these offerings and your mindful step- full of life and healing.

 

Dear Friends

The practice of Beginning Anew is the deep teaching offered by Dharma teachers Sr. Dang Nghiem and Br. Phap An.  It is a wonderful practice that can help heal relationships and improve communication and understanding—the foundations for love. This excerpt from the Stonehill College Retreat in 2007, also offers teaching on the power of our minds and how asking the simple question, “Am I sure?”, can relieve much suffering. 

Please enjoy your breath and the beautiful spring days as the dharma rain of Beginning Anew begins to fall.

Dear Friends

We hope you are enjoying the beautiful spring.  Here is Part 2 of the 2007 Question and Answer from our College Retreat at Deer Park Monastery.  Dharma teachers offer their insights on many subjects including the impacts of society on our consciousness and how to stay calm and happy.  Br. Phap Ho moderates.

Our next college retreat offers students the opportunity to have a different kind of ‘spring break’ by learning the nourishing practices of mindfulness, meditation, and deep relaxation.  EAT:  Mindful Consumption for the Body and Mind for college students of all ages will be held from April 18-20 at Deer Park Monastery.  You can find more information here.  http://www.deerparkmonastery.org/activities/Retreat%20Schedule/2008_Retreat_Schedule.html

 Until then, please enjoy the spring flowers and your peaceful breath.

 

Dear Friends,

This month we offer the first of a two part Question and Answer session held during our most recent College Retreat.  Several monastic Dharma Teachers share their insights in response to questions from our college students.  Sr. Viet Nghiem shares why she was so happy to say goodbye to her camera. Br. Phap Luu discusses life before and after death.  Brother Phap Ho leads the question and answer session.   

 

If you are able, attending a retreat is a very wonderful way to grow solidity and joy in your practice.  All three of our practice centers offer retreats.  If you are interested, please visit the web sites of Deer Park Monastery in Southern California, Blue Cliff Monastery in New York, or Plum Village in France to see when the retreats are offered.  At Deer Park, our next retreats for young people are our Mindful Consumption for the Body and Mind retreat for College students from April 18-20 and our Be True, Be Beautiful retreat for teens from June 18-22.   

Please be well and enjoy your peaceful step on the Earth.

Dear friends, please download and read over this sheet, which we have been distributing at many of our retreats during this past tour. It lists actions we can take in our daily lives to reduce our impact on our ecosystems and the planet. If you like, fill it out and send it back to us at Deer Park Monastery so we may collate and enter your commitment to a growing list of the commitments of practitioners all over the world. Our actions inspire others, which inspires us. Thank you.

This week we offer you a talk that Thay gave in Denver, Colorado on August 29th, 2007 during this summer's tour. It was entitled "Our Environment: Touching Our Gift of Life," and in it Thay looks deeply at our present situation as human beings on the planet Earth. Please consider filling out the Earth Peace Treaty Commitment Sheet, to help ourselves, our communities and our planet.

The two-and-a-half month trip to Vietnam this year has finished with success. Thay and the Sangha have continued on for ten days of retreats and days of mindfulness in Hong Kong, and we now are in Chiang Mai, Thailand for a five-day retreat.

This week we offer you Thay's first talk in Hong Kong, at the University of Hong Kong on 10 May, 2007. Thay fields a number of questions from the audience, including: What can we do to help the situation of global warming? What is Thay's impression of people in Hong Kong? What is the relationship of light to the practice?

 

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.

This week we invite you to listen to an evening of sharing which took place during the second night of the Order of Interbeing Retreat this past week at Deer Park Monastery. Monastics and lay friends share about the current situation of energy consumption in relation to our practice and global warming. Also included is a new chant for the Gatha for Inviting the Bell offered by Sisters Mai Nghiem and Thai Nghiem, which you may download separately here.

This week's offering is the talk given by our teacher in Plum Village on New Year's Eve. Thay encourages us to make a deep aspiration for the New Year, and to put it into practice.

Please write to us and tell us your aspiration to practice here in the comments on www.dpcast.org, or at our e-mail dpcast@gmail.com.

Happy New Year!

This holiday week we offer you the audio from one of the Dharma Teacher Lamp Transmissions during the recent Beauty and Well-Being Great Ordination Ceremony in Plum Village, France. Four lay dharma teachers from Italy were chosen to receive the lamp this year, including Diana Petech (right), the teacher on this week's dharmacast.

Enjoy.

This week we offer a chant recorded by Sister The Nghiem of Green Mountain Dharma Center: Discourse on Love. This chant is a common one in the Pali tradition of Theravadan Buddhists. The English translation was done by our teacher Thich Nhat Hanh with the help of Plum Village monks and nuns. The text and music can be found here in PDF format.

This chant and other songs by Plum Village Monks and Nuns are on the Oasis CD.

Enjoy your breathing.

Dear Friends,

This week we offer the recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings that was offered by Thay Phap Lai this past Sunday. Please use this in your own practice of these trainings week to week.

Smile.

Dear Friends,

This week we share a dharma talk that our teacher Thay gave in Plum Village on October 29, 2006, shortly before the recent U.S. elections.  It offers a deep view into both the nature of our current world situation and the nature of this path of practice.

Thay Phap Tri hosts.

Dear Friends,

This week we have our monthly question and answer session with two monks recently arrived from Plum Village, Thay Phap Lai and Thay Phap Thanh (right.) Sister Susan also joins us to answer a number of questions sent to us via e-mail in the past few weeks. Brother Stream moderates.

Enjoy.

Dear Friends,

This week we offer the orientation given on the first night of the recent Retreat for College Students at Deer Park. Sister Thuan Nghiem (Harmony, right) and Brother Phap Luu (Stream) cover the basic practices of mindful breathing, sitting and walking, in addition to sharing from their own experiences in college. This talk is a good introduction to the fundamental practices of the Plum Village tradition.

Please enjoy this offering, and thank you for your comments and feedback.

Dear Friends,

This week we publish one of the talks from our recent college retreat. Our abbot Thay Phap Dung speaks about his own path of practice, and what it means to bring meditation into our lives. Brother Phap Huu hosts.

May you be well.

Dear Friends,

This week's edition of the Dharmacast includes an introduction to the practice of walking meditation offered by Sister Chau Nghiem (Jewel) and a session of evening chanting led by Br. Phap Khoi. Br. Phap De hosts this Halloween broadcast.

May you touch peace and solidity with each step.

Dear Friends,

This week we are happy to share with you a question and answer session that we participated in this past Thursday afternoon in the Ocean of Peace Meditation Hall here at Deer Park. Brother Stream hosts, and Thay Abbot Brother Phap Dung (see photo), Brother Phap Ho, Sisters Chau Nghiem and Viet Nghiem answer questions posed over e-mail to the monks and nuns. We ended spontaneously with the song, The Island Within.

If you would like to send in a question for an upcoming Q&A session, feel free to write us at dpcast@gmail.com. All names are kept confidential.

Enjoy the brisk autumn air.

This week Brother Stream interviews Thay Phap Dang, a Dharma Teacher and the Abbot of Maple Forest Monastery in Vermont. Thay Phap Dang was invited by the Deer Park Sangha along with Thay Vo Ngai to support us during the recent Vietnamese Retreat. He shares about his life and practice as a monk of 17 years, about his experiences teaching in Vietnam, and also shares a song, "Close to Thay."

The broadcast ends with the flute solo, "Song for the Buddha," by the Basque musician Laurent Bernays, from the Refuge Tree CD.

May you be well.

This week Brother Phap Luu offers readings of two sutras on mindful breathing translated from Chinese by our teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. These sutras were the main texts used during the 21-day retreat this past June entitled "The Breath of the Buddha." Included as well are some recent news items from Deer Park, and a brief introduction to sitting meditation.

We look forward to a Question and Answer session to take place in the coming week, so please e-mail us any questions you may have about the practice of mindfulness in daily life. A panel of monks and nuns will share based on these questions. You may also put a question in the comments to this week's show.

A PDF of Sutra 803 is available here, and of Sutra 810 here. The Chinese texts with Pinyin and Sino-Vietnamese are available here (803) and here  (810).

May you breathe in peace.

In this talk from Plum Village on 01 Oct 2006, Thay investigates the true nature of power in the light of the Buddha's teaching, and he describes how we may realize this power in our present-day lives. Also: what are the powers of a true teacher?

A two part release, in this talk from Plum Village on 01 Oct 2006, Thay investigates the true nature of power in the light of the Buddha's teaching, and he describes how we may realize this power in our present-day lives. Also: what are the powers of a true teacher?

Tree Meditation is the title of a song from the album Refuge Tree.  Please enjoy, the whole album can be purchased at the Unified Buddhist Church Gateway.  To find more information about the singer please visit Joe Reilly's webpage.

We have a week left before Thay speaks to UNESCO (Oct 7th, 2006), We can use all the help we can get to spread spread the word far and wide. 

Lyrics to Tree Meditation

No Car Day petition

UBC Gateway

A Lotus for You,
Michael Nguyen

Another gift from the hidden mountains of Escondido, CA. This time we can enjoy a talk from Sister Chau Nghiem (Jewel) which she gave on the first full day of the POC Retreat.

I was surprised by words of thanks I recieved this past weekend.  It gave me a warm feeling.  In the mist of our busy schedules we might forget to say a few words of gratitude which can make someone's day.  Lets try this one and remember to use it now and again.

I know you are there and I am happy

Please enjoy our podcast!

A Lotus for You,
Michael Nguyen

We need your help, we have until October 7th to get more than 10,000 people to sign and support the No Car Day initative!  Please pass this message the world over by sending the following link to as many people as you can.

http://www.deerparkmonastery.org/petition/index.html

CLICK HERE TO SIGN PETITION!

Lets do what we can to make a difference.

Thay talks about No Car Day in this embedded video:


A Lotus for You,
Michael Nguyen

Embedded Video of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

Order DVD from UBC Gateway 

Watch More TNH from Google Video

3 post in a day, I hope you enjoy.

A Lotus for You,
Michael Nguyen

A little treat for the e-community.  Laura Hunter, a regular at DP loves this song and I thought it would be a nice gift.  If you have attended a retreat hosted by the Plum Village Sangha then you should be familar with this song.  For those who haven't, I am sure you will enjoy this treat!

You can order the full album "A Basket of Plums" from the UBC Gateway.

A Lotus for You,
Michael Nguyen

Did we keep you waiting?  Here is the 2nd installment of the Soul of Gratitude retreat: the practice of Touching the Earth. Brother Larry Ward gives the introduction, and he is joined in the readings by Brother Phap Khoi (right), Sister Chau Nghiem (Jewel) and Sister Susan. This show is hosted by Brother Phap Ho.

Friend of DP,
Michael Nguyen

It has only been a week since our first DPCast but it feels as though Deer Park has been apart of my life forever.  We have had some wonderful feedback from the e-community and we have read every word!  Thank you so much for such encouraging e-mails and comments.

Not to keep you, our second DPCast is hosted by Sister Jewel.  This is the talk the Dharma Teacher Larry Ward offered on the third day of the retreat. I haven't listened to it yet, so lets breathe in together, breathe out together and enjoy this wonderful gift from the Hidden Mountains of Escondido, CA.

Be sure to check the Deer Park website for more information about living in the present moment.

Friend of DP,
Michael Nguyen

Seven years ago the Deer Park Dharma Cast first started. Here is the initial episode, a hidden treasure brought to light again.

This is our first attempt, please give us feedback so we can improve upon what we offer to you and the e-community. Brother Phap Luu chants the morning chant, and Brother Phap De (right) offers a guided meditation.

In our first dpcast you'll find some chanting, sutra reading, etc...  just give it a go.

To find out more information about Deer Park Monastery itself please visit the following link.  Deer Park Monastery Website

For a pdf file of the sutra that is read on the dpcast you can download it by following this link.  Chanting P Download

Friend of DP,
Michael Nguyen