and all Our Ancestors in the Year 2013
Dear Beloved Mother Earth - Bodhisattva Mahagaia
Dear Beloved Father Sun – Bodhisattva Mahavairocana Tathagata
Dear Beloved Ancestors, both Spiritual and Genetic,
We present ourselves before you at this solemn moment of the New Year to mindfully express our gratitude and our deep aspiration as a spiritual family. We know that Mother Earth, Father Sun and our ancestors are always present and alive in us and that you are a solid place of refuge for all us.
Dear Father Sun, your infinite light is the nourishing source of all species. You are our sun, you are Amitabha, you are a great Buddha, a great Bodhisattva, our Great Tathagata Sun, our source of limitless light and life. Your light shines upon Mother Earth offering us warmth and beauty, helping Mother Earth to nourish us and make life possible for all species. When we pay homage to Mother Earth, we see you in Mother Earth. You are not only in the sky but you are also in the earth and you are ever present in Mother Earth and in us. Every morning, you manifest from the East like a bright pink disc, a vast halo shining radiantly in the ten directions. You are the kindest of Fathers with the great ability to understand and be compassionate and yet at the same time you are incredibly bold and courageous.
We continuously practice looking deeply to see that there is a heart inside of each and everyone of us. If our heart were to stop beating, then we would die instantly. But when we look up towards the sky, we know that you, Father Sun, are also our heart. You are not just outside of this tiny body of ours, you are part of the whole cosmos, a part of our solar system. If you were to disappear, then our life as well as that of Mother Earth would end too. Therefore, we aspire to look deeply to see you, Father Sun as our heart, to be able to see the interrelationship, the inter-being nature between Father Sun, Mother Earth, us and all beings. We aspire to practice to love Mother Earth, Father Sun and to love one another with the radiant insight of non-duality and inter-being in order to help us transcend all kinds of discrimination, fear, jealousy, resentment, hatred and despair.
Dear Mother Earth, breathing in, we see that we and all of our ancestors are your children. With your patience, stability, endurance and creativity you have raised us and guided us tirelessly through many lifetimes. You have given birth to us as well as to countless Great Beings, Buddhas, Saints, and Bodhisattvas. You are the great Earth, you are Terra, you are Gaia, you are this beautiful blue planet. You are the Earth Refreshing Bodhisattva–fragrant, cool, and kind. We see that though we and our ancestors have made many mistakes, you have always forgiven us. Each time we return to you, you are ready to open your arms and embrace us.
Because of our wrong perceptions and discrimination we have lived a life of separation, hatred, loneliness, suffering, and despair. We have allowed individualism to prevail, and it has caused a lot of damage and hardship to you and to ourselves. We have run after fame, wealth, power, and sensual pleasures and have forgotten that these pursuits can never bring us true happiness.
We have spent many lifetimes not able to recognize your presence as the Pure Land, as the Kingdom of God, as the most wondrous home that we have. We have run after a distant Promised Land, in heaven or in the future. This has caused us and you much suffering. Tonight as we touch the Earth, we let go and offer you and our ancestors our true presence. We have arrived. You are our home, our only home.
We have learned that only love and compassion can make our lives meaningful, allowing us to protect and preserve your beauty, and allowing us to heal ourselves. We can learn to live as one family -- as a community of brothers and sisters, all children of the same Great Mother Earth, Great Father Sun giving our descendants a chance for a healthy and a bright future. We know that only through building brotherhood and sisterhood in the present moment can we make this bright future a reality on earth.
Dear Mother Earth, Dear Father Sun and Dear Ancestors, tonight, on the occasion of the New Year 2013, we give rise to the deep aspiration to begin anew. We would like to begin anew and ask for your forgiveness for all the mistakes we have made. With great respect we make the deep aspiration and promise to learn to breathe and walk mindfully each moment of our daily life. We shall learn to live simply and learn to love with compassion and non-discrimination, as you do. We shall learn to listen to your voice, Mother Earth, Father Sun, to understand you more deeply in order to hear the guidance you and our ancestors offer us. We promise that we shall learn to remain openhearted so that we will be able to communicate better with the members of our family and our community. We aspire to look and to listen with the eyes and ears of our family and our community. We aspire to use peaceful and loving speech with our brothers, sisters, friends and children. So that we may live in harmony and peace, in the very heart of our family and our community, just as bees in the same beehive and cells in the same body. We aspire to learn to see the happiness and well-being of our family and community as our own happiness and well-being.
We promise to stop running away from our suffering, but to practice recognizing, embracing and transforming it. Only by understanding the roots of our suffering can we heal and touch true happiness, and at the same time, restore your beauty and freshness.
You have been calling out to us for many lifetimes and some of us have been able to hear your pain. Countless times you have asked us this question: “Can I have faith and confidence in you? Can I count on you?” In this solemn moment, with palms joined and with one heart, we respectfully offer to you our sincere answer: “Holy and Compassionate Father Sun and Mother Earth, you can count on us. You can have faith and confidence in us.”
We shall practice for you, Mother Earth, Father Sun, for all our ancestors and future generations so that joy, peace, harmony and love will always be present in this world. Please accept our offerings of incense, flowers, fruit, tea, and love. Respected Father Sun, Respected Mother Earth, Dear Ancestors please have trust in us.
]]>Peace is possible if only we give peace a chance. The miracle of children is that they are naturally open to receive and to immediately put into practice a way, a life based on understanding and love. Their minds and bodies are fresh and new. Their life refreshes our own commitment to live and practice what we teach. The laughter, singing, and dancing of children is a precious, wonder of life, a world wonder.
Sincerely, Deer Park Children's Program
]]>Dear Sanghas throughout the Earth,
Dear Dharma Brothers and Sisters,
Our loving Mother Earth is still there for us, right beneath our two feet. She is a miracle, a jewel in the cosmos, refreshing and healing. She has shown unlimited patience throughout human history and an uncanny ability to transform just about anything with equanimity and acceptance. She is now calling us for help. She is suffering from our human activities based on our craving, discrimination, fear, and despair.
The Gift of Practice - This holiday season, we have a chance to express our love and care for Mother Earth by the way we care for our self, our family and our environment. We can practice mindfulness to care for our inner environment, our feelings and our emotions so that we do not lose ourself in worries about the future or regrets about the past, or lose ourself with our feelings and thinking in the present moment. We practice in such a way that we are peaceful, free and happy right in the here and now. We can practice to be more relaxed in our body and mind as we drive our car to work, or cook for our family, or play with our friends, or even rest when we return home. We can look deeply into our relationships with our loved ones, with our environment, our neighborhood, and our workplace and find skillful ways to care, to renew and to improve them. Care is a priceless gift.
Having Enough – Concretely this Holiday Season, we invite you to make an effort to find ways that you can give a gift that does not require you to spend a lot of money or even any at all. The greatest gift is, of course, our practice, our true presence, our understanding and love. The giving of this gift will require more effort, more creativity, and deeper looking into your beloved. You can make something. You can surprise him or her with a message that has been waiting for so long. “Dear Father, I know you are there and I am happy.” “My son, I am here for you completely.” “My dear, I am sorry; let us begin a new chapter.” “Dear Mother Earth, I take refuge in you and bow down deeply.” A reminder, a memory, a simple attention with skillfulness in expression can touch and transform. Understanding and compassion cannot be bought.
This is an invitation to all practitioners throughout the world to join us this Season for a silent resistance – to the mass pressure to consume, to the forces that cause us to run away from ourself in forgetfulness. Let us change the way we spend our Holiday Season this winter. Let us show our care for the planet in concrete ways. Let us say to Mother Earth that She can have trust in us. And please share this with the larger community by writing about your priceless gift: your gift of practice; your gift of transformation.
With trust and confidence,
Brother Pháp Dung and the Plum Village Community
Please share about how you are doing and how you practice during the Holidays. We can't wait to hear from you!
Click here for the Priceless Gift Blog!
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The past week we celebrated Thanksgiving Day. What a wonderful day we had, remembering the wonders of life, the fresh air, the solid earth, the delicious food that everyone brought along and the presence of our loved ones. And yet thousands of conditions to feel grateful for are readily available for us. When I feel grateful I also tend to feel happy and content. The sweetness of being alive, as a human being on this precious planet becomes alive. I hope you are also able to enjoy this tremendous gift.
I hope that you, your family and loved ones are happy and that all of you have good health. This time of the year is so special and I hope that all of you have time to spend it with family and loved ones during this coming Holiday Season.
I have heard much about you Dear Mr. and Mrs. 1 %, but I am not sure if we have ever met. My name is Brother Protection and I am a 6-foot-2, Buddhist Monk, with a shaved head and brown robes, and I wear glasses. I just turned 40 years old this year, and it's been 11 years since I lived and worked as a lawyer in Stockholm, Sweden. If you see me around, please stop and say hello. I would love to meet you in person.
Last year I was interviewed by Occupy Boston's Newspaper, together with some other monks and nuns. I remember saying that as we practice walking and sitting meditation we make happiness and peace possible in the present moment. We also wish for everyone, the 100%, to be happy and peaceful. I looked up toward the tall high-rises and prayed that everyone up there would be free of worry, stress and frustration.
I know that you must have studied and worked very hard to become part of the 1%. I can also imagine that you have a lot of responsibilities toward many people. Money and power offers not only liberty, but a lot of responsibility as well. I hope this is not burdening you too much. I truly hope that you will be able to relax during this Holiday Season.
As a Buddhist Monk I do not have a lot of money or power, but I do feel much responsibility toward the Earth, the people, animals and plants on this planet. We all understand that there is just this one planet in our solar system that is inhabitable. When I look up at the full moon I also look with the eyes of my ancestors and future generations of people of this Earth. I hope they will also be able to come in touch with the peaceful radiance of the full moon soaring through the dark sky. I hope that everyone on all continents will have enough food to eat and access to clean water. I hope that everyone will be able to feel safe in their family, society and country, not having to go through the devastation and the suffering of war. My Christmas wish this year is for all of us to reflect on what can we do to make this a reality and then act on our insights and the insights of scientists on which we rely. We need your help!
Our natural environment is undergoing great stress due to the way we humans are using the resources of this earth. Our air, water and the Earth itself is getting polluted. The CO₂ levels are increasing and the planet is warming up, causing desertification, extinction of many species, stronger and more frequent natural disasters, etc., all leading to hardship for so many. Were we to use all the identified fossil fuel resources, including the tar sands, the climate of this planet would change dramatically and we would no longer recognize it. We know that everything changes and that nothing lasts forever, but wouldn't it be nice to take care of the natural environment so that many more generations of people will be able to enjoy the wonders of glaciers, of vast forests, of abundance of animal species, of predictable and reliable seasons which make agriculture possible? Together we can reduce our emissions and support initiatives and research into renewable and sustainable energy sources. The Earth needs our caring support. We receive everything we have from the Earth. Let's see what we can do for the Earth.
There are thousands of children dying every day due to malnutrition and lack of clean water. I try to imagine a young mother with children, crying from hunger, getting sick by dirty water. And here in southern California, where I currently stay, people play golf in areas where we only get 10 inches of rain a year! The golf course is watered with water from the Colorado river, which is not reaching the ocean anymore. On this planet we grow more then enough food for everyone to have plenty to eat, but we throw much away because it does not reach the standards that we have set up. A lot of crops and water resources are also used for animal food production. Even in this rich country, 1/6 have issues with hunger, at the same time as obesity is soaring. There is something strange, something scary, with this whole situation. It seems that with our advancing technology we have lost some of our common sense. I am sure that together we can find ways to share the resources of this planet so everyone has enough conditions to feel safe and at ease.
I know that there will always be 1% and that the 99% will also always be there. In the past the 1% did not have the information and technology that we have to understand the situation of the 99%. The 1% have many times felt responsible for the rest of society due to their level of education and influence. It is not easy to be part of the 1%, and therefore I truly wish you to be happy and at ease. In the past the 1% did not clearly understand the situation of others, even to the degree that they have asked why the people don't eat pastry if they don't have bread.
When we understand clearly the situation of people in difficult situations we cannot blame them anymore, or simply say that they are the cause of their own misery. There are so many studies showing that when young women in developing countries get a basic level of education they will start having children later and the number of children decreases significantly. In this country we might feel that the poor and uneducated just have to make more effort to overcome their difficulties, and some miraculously do. But we also have to be aware how unevenly the resources for schooling are being distributed and how much energy the teachers in under-served neighborhoods have to focus on the social problems that the children bring. What would we have done, growing up in a neighborhood with drugs, gangs and violence, with a father in jail and a drug addicted mother? What are the sufferings of a mother addicted to crack? Did she receive love, respect and education when she was a little girl? Many studies also show that everyone has the capacity to transform their life and learn the skills needed to become capable of taking care of themselves and their families. But due to the difficulties and lack of opportunities for many past generations, they need our help to get back up on their feet. They need our acceptance and love to be able to feel good about themselves again. Discrimination is causing so much suffering around the world, but when we stop to listen and look deeply, we recognize that we are all human beings, wishing to be able to love and care for our families, wishing to live in peace and freedom. The great diversity of colors, languages, culture and views become a wonderful asset for a more prosperous human existence on this planet.
I thank you Dear Mr. and Mrs. 1% for listening to my thoughts and feelings. I know that you have the means and influence to do great things for our planet and all people. But don't worry or feel burdened. You are not alone. There are many of us who are very eager to help you. We are all part of the 100%, and remembering and caring for all is a great joy. To support everyone to truly develop their talents and qualities will make our planet and society an even more amazing place to live.
Again, I wish you and your loved ones much happiness and peace as you enjoy the holidays together.
In joy and gratitude – Brother Protection
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We will be on the road for three full weeks and are receiving much support from local friends in our community in terms of arranging the events, food, housing and so on. We will host events at Universities, Detention Center and offer a couple of weekend retreat (Portland and Seattle), and more. These events are geared toward young adults (18-35).
We will also host mindful meditation sessions in public, Peace is Peace. We will gather with friends for walking and sitting meditation in our cities, Eugene, Portland and Seattle. For these events everyone is welcome.
You can find more information about this tour and posters on our
Wake Up Tour Website or on Wake Up USA's Facebook page.
Photos available on the Deer Park Photostream.
Experience and enjoy the retreat through this photostream on Flickr.
]]>On May 6, 2012, a group of young friends, their parents, Sister Hoang Nghiem, and me, Sister Phu Nghiem, sat in the Circle Garden of Solidity Hamlet and shared a story of the young Buddha. Some friends came for the first time, others had familiar faces. We shared our happiness about Buddha's birthday. One of the traditions that we enjoy practicing every year is bathing the baby Buddha. We bathe the baby Buddha to remind ourselves that on that day, a special person was born, and also to remind ourselves that we are special people with understanding and love.
With our two hands forming a lotus bud in front of our hearts, we slowly walk to the baby Buddha. We offer him a gentle smile and ask permission to bathe him. We then carefully scoop a ladle of fragrant water and pour it over the baby Buddha. We gently put the ladle back with deep gratitude from our hearts.
We shared with each other how wonderful it was just to be able to bathe the baby Buddha. We reminded each other to remember to water the flower of love and understanding whenever we take a bath or a shower, so that we will not easily forget that we are a miracle.
]]>Luckily a friend took wonderful pictures - click here to experience our celebration in 64 images.
The evening before the community enjoyed a hike to the mountain for sunset and rising full moon - click here for 54 pictures from the mountain.
]]>With no further delay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CsDi9TbChA&feature=youtube_gdata
an image tells a story of more then a thousand words
Noises in the Night
A cold still night, suddenly awake, urgent needs
Too much tea last night
Breathing in, I have to go out
Quietly, slowly unzip my sleeping bag
I know everyone is listening
So, is it the quieter but slow tent door zip
Or the fast, quick, but noisy zip
I guess I don’t need pants
But the moon is so bright
Standing outside now, freezing, cold legs
Walking on the noisiest leaves I have ever seen
Then back inside I slowly zip my tent again
Then my sleeping bag and it seems noisier zipping back up
The unmistakable Deer Park campground
Symphony of zippers
David Percival
True Wonderful Roots
TOGETHER WE ARE ONE RETREAT
hot dusty trail
900 suitcases bake in the sun
letting go of all hurry
evening chant
“ heart broken
“ open
a child
asks a monk “ where is
“ all your hair ?
the wonders of life
this wonderful moment
breathing as one
3rd day of retreat :
i take a smaller portion
at the food line
silent lunch meditation
one crow gulps the whole cosmos
a granite boulder
above the white clouds
zen master drinks tea
alone
with 900 people each
alone
stone buddha
perfect communication
both of us silent
turtles & carp
swimming in the gurgling pond
monks playing pingpong
what i notice in others
is most true about myself
temple altar
¿ where's buddha ?
look at the flowers !
walking quite slowly
a student holds back branches
on his teacher's path
new ordinees
rising from prostration
spring forth from the ground
a foggy morning
through clefts in the clouds
mountains flowing down
after our retreat
18,000 toes
go as a river
the voice of the bell
continues
in earth's fragrance
— gary gach, 'together we are one' retreat, deer park monastery, september 2011
]]>You can listen to the result here - soundcloud -click here!
A short video of We're all moving, to a journey to nowhere - vimeo -click here!
We had a lot of fun singing and playing, hope you enjoy listening and singing along.
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