How’s your breathing in this moment?
As we breathe in and out, we know we are breathing with each other in the It’s Now Virtual Meditation Hall.
The Five Contemplations
This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings, and much hard and loving work.
May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive this food.
May we recognize and transform 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 reduces the suffering of living beings, stops contributing to climate change, and heals and preserves our precious planet.
We accept this food so that we may nurture our brotherhood and sisterhood, build our Sangha, and nourish our ideal of serving all living beings.
We have the chance to participate in “The 5 Mindfulness Trainings Transmission Ceremony” and receive the 5 Mindfulness Trainings. To receive the 5 Mindfulness Trainings means we make the commitment to ourselves to make these trainings apart of our life. By doing so we know it will help us to be more happy, free and to suffer less.
Whether you’re officially receiving the 5 Mindfulness Trainings or not you’re invited to join us in this virtual ceremony.
Our body and mind are intimately connected. So on our path to happiness and well being we also need to keep our body happy and well too!
We’re invited to use this time to exercise. A brief walk outside, jogging, yoga, weight lifting, etc…
Enjoy!
In this technological and fast paced time, as Mother Earth is calling for our help, we explore how
inclusivity is a key to unlock our potential for awakened action. Only with a spiritual dimension in
our lives will we have the wisdom and moral courage to heal the discrimination and violence of our
society. With the deepest insights of the Buddhist tradition as our guide, we will find our inner light
and see clearly the way out of the interconnected planetary crises we face.
Brother Phap Dung (Dharma Embrace) grew up in Los Angeles, trained as an architect, and is now a senior disciple of Thich Nhat Hanh, loved by young and old for his dynamic creativity and urban cool. He is one of the senior monks spearheading the Zen Master’s project of training teachers to bring mindfulness into schools, businesses, politics and healthcare settings.
This is an excerpt from an LA Times interview: [Br. Phap Dung is] a Vietnamese refugee who came of age as a San Fernando “Valley Boy” break dancing and skateboarding. He says he struggled in school, fending off racial taunts, before eventually graduating from USC and working as an architect in Santa Monica. But after a few years, he says, he began to feel that his profession was “all about money and ego,” with scarce opportunities to design socially meaningful projects. He visited Deer Park several times for retreats, was captivated by the gentleness he found there and decided to become a monk. ”I’d found a way of living that was much more meaningful,” said the [former] abbot, who frequently works with troubled youth. “The way it helps people is much more direct.”
This retreat has been legendary! We’ve been able to meet like minded people. We’ve been able to touch moments of peace and joy along with touching moments of transformation and healing.
In this Closing Session: Celebrating with Plum Village we’ll come together with Plum Village, France as one big virtual family to close this remarkable retreat.