Each year it brings great joy to host the Wake Up Retreat for young people ages 18-35 years old. This was a vision of Thay that began about 15-years ago and has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. During our 1-week retreat we held a session of questions and answers where those attending the retreat can come forward and pose a question for a panel of monastics.
The panel in this recording include Sister Huong Nghiem, Brother Phap Luu, Sister Chuyen Nghiem, and Brother Minh An. In the recording below, we have about 15-minutes of joyful singing. The date is April 7, 2023 and we are in the Ocean of Peace Meditation Hall.
- In my practice, how can I trust that I’m having an insight instead of another delusion or mental formation?
- This morning I decided to wake up and read some manga on my phone. And I noticed feelings craving, sexual desire, and craving in me. But also find it hard to stop reading manga. I’m hooked on the storyline. Other things I do in the world are also unwholesome. How do I manage/negotiate what is wholesome and unwholesome?
- How do you prepare and how do you process the grief and heartache of loosing someone you love?
- Because we communicate and interact from our individual perspective, how can we cultivate a more true perception of reality?
- I feel within me a great conflict with the power and politics with the path of peace. The choice about my energy. Internal freedom or freedom externally. I’m very passionate about campaigning and organizing.
- How to go about deepening the practice. Letting go and not get stuck with ‘not good enough’?
- With all the parts of this practice, if you had to choose, what part of the practice has been most transformational or revolutionary for you as an individual?
- Can you talk about the difference between self-care and selfishness?
- How to break the association between our self-worth and our outer appearance (social status, wealth, etc.)?