This week we will reflect on our ancestral roots to better understand the nature of Interbeing, our habitual responses, perceptions, and great potential for transformation and healing, in ourselves and the world.
practicing mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh.
Meeting in person: SUNDAYS 4-5:30 pm PST
Bard Hall at
First Unitarian Universalist Church (UU)4190 Front St, San Diego CA 92103
Parking is provided in the Ace lot with a church pass (available onsite)
Tuesday, March 6 at DBT
Pete will facilitate:
Sunday, March 4 at UU
Dmitry will facilitate:
How do we restore our energies, recenter ourselves after being thrown off balance, and maintain a clear direction in our lives? How do we find the strength to maintain our ethical standards and to be of help to others? In our gathering, as always, we will be cultivating joy and peace, even in the midst of personal and societal suffering surrounding us. To facilitate this focus we will bring mindfulness to various obstacles of peace and shine light on the question of self.
Tuesday, February 27 at DBT
Tree will facilitate:
I would like to speak about the Three Jewels of taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, which is a fundamental practice in our tradition. I invite everyone to consider how these Three Jewels reveal themselves to us as we deepen our practice of looking for refuge, for a safe place that we can rely on. When we touch these Three Jewels directly and experience their capacity to bring about transformation and peace, our faith is strengthened and the Three Jewels become our life.
Sunday, February 25 at UU
Dear Friends,
This Sunday we recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings. I will share my recent experience of practicing to welcome the trainings in my heart, rather than criticizing myself from a dualistic mind.
Dave Sommer
Tuesday, February 20 at DBT
Pete will facilitate:
Our tradition and lineage is now officially identified as Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism. On Tuesday we will have a chance to understand and explore what Engaged Buddhism is and how we can cultivate this practice in our lives.
In a 2003 interview Thay offered these words, "Engaged Buddhism is just Buddhism. When bombs begin to fall on people, you cannot stay in the meditation hall all of the time. Meditation is about the awareness of what is going on - not only in your body and in your feelings, but all around you. When I was a novice in Vietnam, we young monks witnessed the suffering caused by the war. So we were very eager to practice Buddhism in such a way that we could bring it into society. That was not easy because the tradition does not directly offer Engaged Buddhism. So we had to do it by ourselves. That was the birth of Engaged Buddhism.
Buddhism has to do with your daily life, with your suffering and with the suffering of the people around you. You have to learn how to help a wounded child while still practicing mindful breathing. You should not allow yourself to get lost in action. Action should be meditation at the same time."
Sunday, February 18 at UU
Marge will be facilitating sangha and we will learn directly from our teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh (by DVD!), about the Lotus in the Jewel – The Bell of Mindfulness. Thay’s beautiful, joyful and inspiring teaching was recorded at the 21 Day Retreat in 2014, shortly before he had his stroke. In this Dharma talk, Thay shows us how to use the bell in our meditation and consider it the call of the Buddha.
Sunday, February 11 at UU
Pete will share on “Nourishing Happiness and Caring for Suffering:”
In our tradition we are encouraged to cultivate awareness of suffering and look deeply to help us develop compassion and find ways out of suffering. At the same time we are encouraged to dwell happily in the present moment. Are these intentions incompatible? How do we bear witness to suffering when our world is on fire and still live in a way where conditions of happiness are nourishing us? I consider this the art of living. With the tools that Buddha and Thay have offered we can cultivate a practice that lights our path and penetrates all areas of our lives. Hope to see you this Sunday.
Tuesday, February 6 at DBT
Dijana will share about the fifth of the Five Mindfulness Trainings:
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.
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.
Here is a Dharma talk by Thay that includes mindful consumption.
Sunday, February 4 at UU
Here is a guided meditation by Thay:
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