practicing mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh
Sunday, December 22
Keith will facilitate this Sunday:
"Thay says there is relative knowledge and ultimate knowledge and our practice aims at ultimate knowledge. What is ultimate knowing? What is the path that leads us to ultimate knowing? Is it possible we could cultivate and maintain and live out of a state of ultimate knowing? How does ultimate knowing relate to what we do in our daily lives?"
"Thay says there is relative knowledge and ultimate knowledge and our practice aims at ultimate knowledge. What is ultimate knowing? What is the path that leads us to ultimate knowing? Is it possible we could cultivate and maintain and live out of a state of ultimate knowing? How does ultimate knowing relate to what we do in our daily lives?"
Sunday, December 15
Nick will facilitate our practice this Sunday, continuing with another of the Four Nutriments, Volition.
If people want to do some looking into it before Sangha, they can go to this link @ 1:07:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Thay continues his talk about Volition with his second talk from the English retreat in October:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
If people want to do some looking into it before Sangha, they can go to this link @ 1:07:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Thay continues his talk about Volition with his second talk from the English retreat in October:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Sunday, December 8
Marge will lead the group in contemplating the nutriment of edible foods and how our consumption may or may not lead to nourishment, healing,
and the relief of suffering. After sangha, staying with the theme of
edible foods, the group will share in a holiday potluck.
Sunday, December 1
Keith will facilitate on how to practice, in particular, how to meditate. Some Sangha
participants struggle with the practice and Thay tells us that it should
be very pleasant, that if we're not enjoying it we're not doing it
right. Keith will address how to make our practice deep and
concentrated and at the same time relaxed and very enjoyable, a deep
pleasure, not a struggle.
Sunday, November 17
Nick will facilitate Caring for Strong Emotions (Introduction to The Four Nutriments), focusing on consciousness and the following exercises:
Consciousness Diagram (Mother caring for her infant/Welcoming an old friend)
Selective Seed Watering
1. Keep unwholesome seeds at rest (don't water them)
Selective Seed Watering
1. Keep unwholesome seeds at rest (don't water them)
2. Calm unwholesome mental formations
(with wholesome ones)
3. Water wholesome seeds
4. Keep wholesome mental formations
there as long as possible (flower watering)
The River Analogy & The Five Mantras
The River Analogy & The Five Mantras
1.
Darling, I am here (for you)
2.
Darling, I know you are there and it
makes me happy
3.
Darling, I know you suffer and I am
here for you
4.
Darling, I am suffering and I need
your help
5. Darling, this is a happy moment
Sunday, November 10th
Pete will facilitate on True Love or what is known as the Brahmaviharas or Four Immeasurables.
Sunday, November 3rd
Dmitry will facilitate "Foundations of Mindfulness: Mindfulness of the Body." Please bring a blanket for deep relaxation.
Sunday, October 27
Marge will facilitate the recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings, plus part of a Dharma talk by Thay on Happiness is Here and Now.
Sundays, October 13 & 20
October 13 - No sangha meeting
(as so many of us will be at Deer Park on retreat with Thay)
October 20
9am-4pm: Please join us for a Day of Mindfulness with Thay at Deer Park
4-6pm: Karen will facilitate our regularly scheduled sangha practice
(as so many of us will be at Deer Park on retreat with Thay)
October 20
9am-4pm: Please join us for a Day of Mindfulness with Thay at Deer Park
4-6pm: Karen will facilitate our regularly scheduled sangha practice
Sunday, October 6th
Pete will facilitate the topic "Nourishing the Practice." Mindfulness has become a popular buzz
word and it’s easy to think of it as a destination in itself. Once we
have found the breath and learned to cultivate the energy of mindfulness
how do we continue to grow the practice and deepen our understanding,
on the cushion and everyday life?
This Sunday, Sept 1: Eating Meditation
Dear friends,
This Sunday we will practice eating meditation with the five contemplations:
This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings and much hard work.
May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive it.
May we recognize and transform our unwholesome mental formations, especially our greed, and learn to eat with moderation.
May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that we reduce the suffering of living beings, preserve our planet and reverse the process of global warming.
We accept this food so that we may nurture our brotherhood and sisterhood, strengthen our sangha and nourish our ideal of serving all beings.
This Sunday we will practice eating meditation with the five contemplations:
This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings and much hard work.
May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive it.
May we recognize and transform our unwholesome mental formations, especially our greed, and learn to eat with moderation.
May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that we reduce the suffering of living beings, preserve our planet and reverse the process of global warming.
We accept this food so that we may nurture our brotherhood and sisterhood, strengthen our sangha and nourish our ideal of serving all beings.
This Sunday, August 11th
Marge will lead us as we contemplate impermanence and the lessons it
has to teach us about living fully in the present moment and turning our
suffering into joy.
This Sunday, August 4th
We have the privilege of offering a Shining Light Ceremony for Marge, a founding member of the Open Heart Sangha and a core part of our community since inception. She has diligently worked to model her life according to the 14 Mindfulness Trainings and is formally requesting ordination into the Order of Interbeing when Thich Nhat Hanh visits Deer Park this year.
This Sunday, July 14th
Dear Friends,
At
a recent meeting at Deer Park Brother Phap Ho suggested the Sangha
address how it can serve the community, in addition to the sangha and
its members. I’d like for us to address how we respond to the greatest
need of our time, the need for a transformation in how humankind relates
to the earth. How do we as individuals and as a sangha come together
around the need to heal the human earth community? We’re at a critical
juncture in the evolution of the earth. Science makes it clear that what
we do over the next few years will determine the quality of life on
earth for the next 10 million years, and perhaps forever. How do we
contribute as best we can to a spiritual transformation of ourselves and
humanity, and practical transformations of human activity, such that a
thriving, just and beautiful planet is here for all species for all
time?
This will be our theme for this week's Sangha.
I look forward to our transformation together.
Smiling,
Keith
Universal Emptiness of the Heart
This Sunday, July 7th
Dear Friends,
This Sunday, Heather will share a dharma talk given by Phap Hai, Week 2 of the Ten Gates.
This Sunday, Heather will share a dharma talk given by Phap Hai, Week 2 of the Ten Gates.
This Sunday, June 23rd
Marge will facilitate our sangha gathering and will focus on slowing
down our pace and taking time to rest in our practice. We will practice deep relaxation in a lying down meditation, so you may wish to bring a
mat, towel or small blanket to put on the carpet. Antoinette will also
lead us in walking meditation, and we will share about our practice
during Dharma sharing.
This Sunday, June 16th
Loretta will lead us as we look deeply at our connection to our Fathers (and other ancestors) to see that there is no separate self; we are a continuation of them. They are in us and we are in them.
This Sunday, June 9th
Today our practice together will mostly be in silent sitting and walking meditation.
I'll share a reading "Happiness in the Present Moment," and offer a few reflection questions on letting go.
I'll share a reading "Happiness in the Present Moment," and offer a few reflection questions on letting go.
This Sunday, June 2nd
Dear Sangha,
I recently returned from a two week retreat at Mountain Lamp Community, a lay retreat center in our tradition in the foothills of the Cascade mountains, in the state of Washington, close to the Canadian border. A very green and very beautiful place and a wonderful, devoted and skillful community. The retreat focused on the Flower Ornament Scripture, the Avatamsaka Sutra, specifically on the last chapter, which is considered a Sutra in its own right, the Gandavyuha Sutra. The 1600 page Avatamsaka sutra is thought to have been written about 500 years after the Buddha lived, around the year 100 BCE. It was first translated into Chinese from Sanskrit around the year 200 ACE with a complete translation accomplished around 400.
Thich Nhat Hanh wrote that he thinks the poetry in the Avatamsaka Sutra is the most beautiful poetry every composed by humankind. It is richly imaginative, vast in scope and profoundly spiritual. I think the effect of entering into it is to be opened up to the infinite richness of the world in which we live. It is an invitation and a vehicles to carry us into the ultimate dimension. Interestingly this final chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra is titled “Entry into the Realm of Reality.”
I think the message of this sutra is the message of Interbeing, that we live both in the ultimate dimension and the historical dimension simultaneously. We are both wave and water, individual human being living in time and space and the whole eternal, infinite source of everything. The poetry is skillful means to seduce us into a new way of imagining ourselves and the nature of existence. It helps us feel our way into this new mode of consciousness. It is also a call to devote ourselves to practicing the way of awakening and serving all beings.
This Sunday we’ll try and find our way into this new mode of experience in which we can move through our world and our lives fully awake to the miracle and the miracles of our existence that pervade our lives, and sensitive and skillful in responding to what is happening in the present moment.
I look forward to being with you.
Blessings,
Keith Mesecher
Universal Emptiness of the Heart
I recently returned from a two week retreat at Mountain Lamp Community, a lay retreat center in our tradition in the foothills of the Cascade mountains, in the state of Washington, close to the Canadian border. A very green and very beautiful place and a wonderful, devoted and skillful community. The retreat focused on the Flower Ornament Scripture, the Avatamsaka Sutra, specifically on the last chapter, which is considered a Sutra in its own right, the Gandavyuha Sutra. The 1600 page Avatamsaka sutra is thought to have been written about 500 years after the Buddha lived, around the year 100 BCE. It was first translated into Chinese from Sanskrit around the year 200 ACE with a complete translation accomplished around 400.
Thich Nhat Hanh wrote that he thinks the poetry in the Avatamsaka Sutra is the most beautiful poetry every composed by humankind. It is richly imaginative, vast in scope and profoundly spiritual. I think the effect of entering into it is to be opened up to the infinite richness of the world in which we live. It is an invitation and a vehicles to carry us into the ultimate dimension. Interestingly this final chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra is titled “Entry into the Realm of Reality.”
I think the message of this sutra is the message of Interbeing, that we live both in the ultimate dimension and the historical dimension simultaneously. We are both wave and water, individual human being living in time and space and the whole eternal, infinite source of everything. The poetry is skillful means to seduce us into a new way of imagining ourselves and the nature of existence. It helps us feel our way into this new mode of consciousness. It is also a call to devote ourselves to practicing the way of awakening and serving all beings.
This Sunday we’ll try and find our way into this new mode of experience in which we can move through our world and our lives fully awake to the miracle and the miracles of our existence that pervade our lives, and sensitive and skillful in responding to what is happening in the present moment.
I look forward to being with you.
Blessings,
Keith Mesecher
Universal Emptiness of the Heart
This Sunday, May 26th
Vesak Day of Mindfulness at Deer Park, 9am-2pm
At our regular meeting, 4-6pm, Nick will led us in reciting the Five Mindfulness Trainings and will be bringing the energy of Vesak into our practice by shining light on what it means to bath the Buddha within and how that relates to the 5MT.
This Sunday, May 5th
Thich Nhat Hanh wrote that "every Buddhist practitioner should be a protector of the environment" (from The World We Have, A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology). Marge will facilitate and introduce the Earth Holder Bodhisattva and the Earth Peace Treaty Commitment Sheet. Please consider contemplating the treaty this week before we meet.
This Sunday, April 28th
Keith will led us in reciting the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
After sangha, anyone who would like to eat mindfully together and build our OHS community, we will meet for dinner at Zia's Pizza around 6:30pm.
After sangha, anyone who would like to eat mindfully together and build our OHS community, we will meet for dinner at Zia's Pizza around 6:30pm.
This Sunday, April 21st
The topic for sangha will be the Bodhisattva of
Deep Listening and Compassion. Loretta will include the chant Namo 'valokiteshvaraya, using a DVD from her visit to Plum Village.
This Sunday, April 14th
This Sunday at our regular gathering we will continue with the care of
the earth theme that Pete and our teacher Thich Nhat Hanh brought to us
last week. Thay wrote that "every Buddhist practitioner should be a
protector of the environment" (from The World We Have, A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology). Marge will introduce the Earth Holder
Bodhisattva and the Earth Peace Treaty Commitment Sheet, and we will
contemplate our own personal role in caring for the planet as we
approach Earth Day, April 22.
This Sunday, April 7th
This Sunday we will have the opportunity to spend 20 minutes with Thich Nhat Hanh via videotape. In this portion of a Dharma talk from last year he explores, among other things, "The Practice of Non-Practice.” If the equipment works as expected we will not only get to hear Thay talk about this practice but also see him actually doing it/demonstrating it right there for us.
This Sunday, March 10th
Loretta will be facilitating sangha and will be doing a "Touching the Earth" Ceremony. Please bring a yoga mat, towel, or blanket on which to lie while touching the earth. She will also be doing a mini deep relaxation mediation, so wear clothing that is comfortable for these activities. Fortunately, we will have extra space to spread out since we will be meeting in Bard Hall on this Sunday which is in the large room on the main floor (there will be signs pointing the way). As always, sharing our practice strengthens it, so we look forward to seeing you there.
This Sunday, February 10th
Heather will lead us in the our practice with the Fifth of the Five Mindfulness Trainings:
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.
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.
This Sunday, February 3rd
Dmitry will lead us in discussion and some interactive exercises exploring the topics of anger and using nonviolent communication to resolve conflicts.
The Fourth of the Five Mindfulness Trainings: Loving Speech and Deep Listening
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and religious groups, and nations. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence, joy, and hope. When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person. I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord. I will practice Right Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness, and gradually transform anger, violence, and fear that lie deep in my consciousness.
The Fourth of the Five Mindfulness Trainings: Loving Speech and Deep Listening
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and religious groups, and nations. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence, joy, and hope. When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person. I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord. I will practice Right Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness, and gradually transform anger, violence, and fear that lie deep in my consciousness.
This Sunday, January 20th
The Third Mindfulness Training: True Love
Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep, long-term commitment made known to my family and friends. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. Seeing that body and mind are one, I am committed to learning appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and cultivating loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness – which are the four basic elements of true love – for my greater happiness and the greater happiness of others. Practicing true love, we know that we will continue beautifully into the future.
Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep, long-term commitment made known to my family and friends. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. Seeing that body and mind are one, I am committed to learning appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and cultivating loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness – which are the four basic elements of true love – for my greater happiness and the greater happiness of others. Practicing true love, we know that we will continue beautifully into the future.
This Sunday, January 6th
Marge will be facilitating this Sunday and will lead the group in deeply contemplating the First Mindfulness Training, Reverence for Life. Whether or not you have participated in a ceremony to take the 5 Mindfulness Trainings, looking deeply at them can help guide us in our daily lives. Please read the information below, taken from the Plum Village website, and consider how this training speaks to you or what meaning it may have in your life. We will consider the other 4 in future sangha gatherings.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings
The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future.
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.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings
The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future.
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.
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