Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, September 21, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, September 23, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, September 25, 12-1PM ET online/in person (Hybrid).

On Monday, our evening meditation will be facilitated by Magda.

As we explore the Fourth Mindfulness Training, “Loving Speech & Deep Listening,” Magda would like to explore how we listen to the elements of the Earth.

One of my favorite practices is listening to the waters that surround me. As a child, I grew accustomed to the sound of the waves—the magnificent Caribbean Sea. I also cherish listening to rivers and marveling at the life they sustain. Their irregular, gurgling sounds calm me down.

Coming from an island, the breeze—mainly iodized by the ocean—is something I deeply enjoy. My bedroom in Puerto Rico is surrounded by corners and windows, and the breeze from the front balcony, always left open at my request, comes right through.

Dear Friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, September 14, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, September 16, from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, September 18, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday, our evening meditation will be facilitated by Susie. She shares:

There is something quietly powerful about becoming aware of what we have not been aware of.

We all have blind spots.

They are the places in our lives where we cannot quite see ourselves clearly—where we do something repeatedly without asking why, where we spend our precious time and energy without realizing what we are giving away, or where an old pattern quietly makes decisions for us.

And because we cannot see the blind spot, we cannot see the habit that lives there.

Thich Nhat Hanh spoke often about habit energy—the patterns that can move us almost automatically. He taught that habit energy can be stronger than our conscious intention, causing us to repeat actions even when we know they do not serve us. Thay says, “Habit energy is a mysterious force that silently governs our speech and actions…”

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, September 7, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, September 9, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, September 11, 12-1PM ET online/in person (Hybrid).

On Monday, our evening meditation will be facilitated by Magda.

“How can we live so that the seeds of happiness in us are watered every day?” (The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, p. 178)

“Joy comes from touching things that are refreshing and beautiful, within and outside of ourselves. Usually we touch only what’s wrong. If we can expand our vision and also see what is right, this wider picture always brings joy.” (The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, p. 203)

We met by pure chance on the second day of what felt like the beginning of a new stage in my path.

I had become preoccupied with what was missing—my disappointments, mistaken perceptions, and my resistance to accepting what life was offering. Once again, I found myself living reactively. In meditation, I continued embracing my suffering as one would hold a crying child with tenderness, but I had forgotten something equally important: to nourish the joy, gratitude, and love that were already present.

I was stuck.

Dear Friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, August 31, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, September 2, from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, September 4, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday, our evening meditation will be facilitated by Jill, and we will recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings and then share about the Third Training, True Love.  

Thay teaches that the essence of True Love is the ability to bring happiness and joy to another person. To do this, we need to look deeply to understand the other person and to be fully present, but it goes deeper than that: to be fully present with another person, we need to be able to be present to ourselves. We cannot love and understand another person unless we have peace and harmony within ourselves and can fully accept and embrace ourselves without discrimination or criticism.  

In his writings, Thay taught that our first experience of love was one of dependency. As a newborn, we were helpless and dependent on our mother or other caregiver to meet all our needs. From this foundational experience, we may, as adults, have the idea that True Love means finding someone who will meet all our needs. That is something we need to look at in ourselves.

Dear Friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, August 24, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, August 26, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, August 28, 12-1PM ET online/in person.

On Monday, our evening meditation will be facilitated by Magda. We will continue our Monday evening summer reading of Thich Nhat Hanh’s At Home in the World. Our discussion will focus on the chapter called “I Have Arrived” with special emphasis on “Look into your Hand” (p. 156-7), “Walking on Country Paths” (p. 166), and “I am Not in Here” (p. 180). Read on for Magda’s reflections on this story.

“You are there for me and I am here for you — this is the teaching of interbeing.” — At Home in the World, p. 88

I am sitting where I always write when I am in Puerto Rico. Through breathing, I have slowly learned how to truly live here — within a different kind of connection: fluid, aware, and moving like the ocean surrounding the island.

Dear Friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, August 17, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, August 19, from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, August 21, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday, our evening meditation will be facilitated by Magda. We will continue our Monday evening summer reading of Thich Nhat Hanh’s At Home in the World. Our discussion will focus on the chapter called “At Home in the World,” with special emphasis on “Greeting Each Other” (p. 130) , “The Footsteps of the Buddha” (p. 138-9), and “Olive Trees” (p. 148). Read on for Magda’s reflections on this story. 

While reading At Home in the World, I realized how often I feel at home in places far from where I was born. Since leaving Puerto Rico at nineteen, I have lived in different parts of the United States and traveled widely, guided by spiritual longing and the promise of pilgrimage.

As a Venezuelan–Puerto Rican woman, I have never had a single place I could call my original home. Venezuela first became home through the stories of my grandmother, who spoke of it with such tenderness that I inherited her love for it. Later, the United States became another kind of home through friendships, community, and my children.

Dear Friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, August 10, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, August 12, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, August 14, 12-1PM ET online/in person.

This week, Annie will guide our meditation. Annie shares:

This week we continue our reading of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book At Home in the World. We have been reading the chapter “The Blossoming of Plum Village,” from the section “Brother and Sister” through the end of the chapter. If you haven’t read the book, please join us on Monday anyway, as we will read one section of the book together; you won’t have missed anything.

One of the sections from this week’s reading is called “Tangerine Meditation.” In it, Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) writes about what it means to really eat a tangerine. He describes a practice of generating insight into the Interbeingness of the tangerine and how looking deeply like this can lead to greater happiness. 

He noticed that his friend was eating while thinking and talking. (I’m guessing most of us have done this quite often.) He instructs his friend on how to use the time of eating to generate more happiness.

Dear Friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, August 3, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, August 5, from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Thursday morning, August 6, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, August 7, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday evening, Camille will guide our meditation. She shares:

This week we will focus on the first half of the chapter “The Blossoming of Plum Village” in the book At Home in the World by Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay).

In this chapter, we learn about the hardships Thay and others faced as they worked with the Buddhist Peace Delegation to help refugees in France and also those suffering in Vietnam. We also learn about the founding of the Plum Village Mindfulness Practice Center in France: how they acquired the land, worked very hard to renovate dilapidated buildings, planted numerous plum trees, and were blessed with the help of kind neighbors. 

While the first years at Plum Village were very hard, Thay shares how, with the practice of mindfulness, he found happiness in sharing tea meditation, singing songs and sharing poems, writing and binding books, sitting and walking, and enjoying those who came to Plum Village to share in the practice.

Hello Sangha Friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, July 27, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, July 29, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, July 31, 12-1PM ET online.

This week, Ellen will guide our meditation. Ellen shares:

This Monday we’ll gather in person to read and discuss the Second Mindfulness Training, “True Happiness” (full text below). It’s a very inspirational teaching – one that seems so simple, and yet is so deep and complex.

I thought it would be interesting to connect this training to Thay’s book we are reading this summer At Home in the World.  It was wonderful to find so many little gems included in a number of the short pieces that reference happiness.  Here are a few (which you can read to get the full context for these excerpts):

“Sleeping in sleeping bags on planks of wood did not prevent us from being happy.”  (Enjoy Your Sleeping Bag)

“Usually, it only takes a few minutes to drink a cup of tea, but in taking time to be truly present for one another like this, we nourish mutual understanding and happiness.” (Lotus Tea)

“But raking these leaves is not simply to have a clear path to jog or walk along; raking leaves is just to enjoy raking leaves.  So I hold the rake in such a way that makes me feel happy, peaceful, and solid during the whole time of raking.”  (Raking Leaves)

“Don’t miss the opportunities you have to sit down, without having to worry or think about doing anything.  Lay down your burdens, your worries and projects.  Just sit and feel that you are alive.  Sit with your son, your daughter, your partner, your friend.  That’s enough to be happy.”  (A Palm tree in My Garden)

Dear Friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, July 20, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, July 22, from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, July 24, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday evening, Marie will guide our meditation. She shares:

      This week we will focus on the second half of the chapter “War and Exile” in the book At Home in the World, by Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay), where the themes of practice, interbeing and engaged mindfulness shine brightly. Several quotes from these pages feel fresh and resonate deeply, strengthening my commitment to practicing – full stop. I will share some of them here, and I look forward to learning what feels meaningful to you.

“Many things can be taken from us, but no one can ever steal our determination or our freedom. No one can ever steal our practice” (74). This feels like a rallying call and motivates me to see past the parts of me that sometimes feel sorry for myself and want to give up. I can practice with them, bringing compassion and understanding, as opposed to allowing myself to be captured by them, getting caught in wrong perceptions and feeling powerless.

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, July 13, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, July 15, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, July 17, 12-1PM ET online/in person (Hybrid).

This week, Annie will guide our meditation. She shares:

For this week, we will focus on the first half of the chapter “War and Exile” in the book At Home in the World, by Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay). 

In this chapter, we read about some of Thay’s experiences living in Vietnam during the war with the French and then the American Vietnam War. He starts the chapter writing about his meeting with two different soldiers. In the first meeting, he starts to realize that the French (and later the American) soldiers were also victims of the war. They were all young men who didn’t know whether they would ever make it home to their families. He writes:

With this insight, I no longer had any anger toward the young soldier. Instead compassion for him arose within me, and I only wished him well. 

He also saw how the war itself turned the soldiers into his enemies, and how this is the nature of war. 

Under different circumstances, we could have become close friends, maybe even loving each other as brothers.

Dear Friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, July 6, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, July 8, from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, July 10, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday, our evening meditation will be facilitated by Magda. We will continue our Monday evening summer reading of Thich Nhat Hanh’s At Home in the World. Our discussion will focus on the second chapter, Life in Vietnam, with special emphasis on the story of the Hermit and the Well, summarized below. Read on for Magda’s reflections on this story. 

In The Hermit and the Well, Thầy recalls searching for a hermit in the mountains as a child. Unable to find him, he instead discovered a beautiful natural well where he rested and fell asleep. Though the hermit was absent, the solitude and intimacy with nature allowed him to experience the hermit’s presence in another form. When friends later asked about the journey, he chose silence.

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, June 29, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, July 1, from 7-8AM ET online; Thursday morning, July 2, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, July 3, 12-1PM ET online/in person (Hybrid).

This week, Camille will guide our meditation. She shares:

Welcome to our Monday evening sangha. As you may know, we are beginning our Monday evening summer reading of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book At Home in the World. Tonight, we will begin our discussion with the introduction and will continue discussions on the book through August 31. Feel free to read along with the book this summer if you have it, or if not, please just come and enjoy as we share aspects of this lovely book full of “lessons on compassion, love, endurance, and resilience.”

In the introduction of the book, Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) talks about his being exiled from his native country, Vietnam. At first, he shares that his exile was very hard. His first couple of years, he spent traveling to different countries and lecturing on the practice of Buddhism, and yet he felt he had not really arrived. He had not found his “true home.” He would dream at night about his beloved Vietnam and wake, never really remembering where he was. He was not living in the here and now.

As time went on, Thay became active working with children and spiritual leaders of different countries and began to appreciate the natural environment that was quite different from Vietnam. His practice eventually brought him back to his true home in the here and now. He stopped suffering and learned to live joyfully in the present moment.

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, June 22, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, June 24 from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, June 26, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday, Rachel H. will facilitate. She shares:

In early June, my students took one of their many annual standardized assessments. I am not a fan of these tests, and I do not bring an open heart to my thinking about them. As I was reading over a student’s shoulder, I was alarmed to see a question about triangle classification that had two correct answers. We had done a lesson on the topic the day before, and I felt like a real expert. 

I took a picture and contacted the assistant principal, and we were about to contact the central office, when he looked at the question one more time and saw the triangle’s angles differently. I was wrong! My first response was to keep arguing (inside my head), but I finally let go and laughed at my attachment to that imagined mistake. 

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, June 15, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, June 17, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, June 19, 12-1PM ET online/in person (Hybrid).

This week, Ellen will guide our meditation. She shares:

These are hard days and times. Stress feels like  the common denominator, and I find it hard to see and feel the joy and happiness that is available to us. Our teacher, Thay, has written extensively on ways mindfulness can show us the joy that’s there in front of us, and how to find that joy through mindfulness. This is different from the peace and serenity that we know mindfulness can bring with practice.

I was looking at various videos of and writings by Thay on this topic of joy. He makes it seem so easy and obvious though for me, and perhaps others, that’s not the case. But what better time to focus on how we can touch joy and happiness and how mindfulness helps us do that than now?

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, June 8, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, June 10 from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, June 12, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday, Susie will facilitate. She shares:

As I continue my meditation practice, I’m reminded again and again that it will always be just that — practice. I will always be a student. I don’t expect to ever say I’m “good” at meditation or give myself an A. Instead, I try to meet myself with forgiveness, non‑judgment, tolerance, acceptance, and love as I simply breathe in and breathe out.

 When I sit with this truth, I find myself reflecting on relating — our mindfulness practice of interbeing. Being with others, and recognizing that we inter‑are, naturally brings me back to how I relate not only to those around me, but to myself.

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, June 1, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, June 3, from 7-8AM ET online; Thursday morning, June 4, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, June 5, 12-1PM ET online/in person (Hybrid).

This week, Annie will guide our meditation and Suzanne will offer her reflections on Planting Seeds of Mindfulness.

Like many in a busy, modern world, I suffer from “monkey mind,” and its unhelpful cousin, rumination. Either my mind jumps from one topic to another like a monkey swinging through the trees, or it dwells on some past injury or an uncertain future. In the hope that reinvigorating a lapsed regular meditation practice would support more mindfulness, I turned to Thich Nhat Hanh’s (Thay) classic book The Miracle of Mindfulness for inspiration and instruction. It delivers motivation for those days when it is hard to find time or when the process of concentrating on the breath seems impossible.

Thay teaches us that mindfulness and living in the present moment throughout the day is the antidote to the suffering caused by these common mental habits:

Mindfulness is like that–it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life.

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, May 25, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, May 27, from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, May 29, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday, Annie will facilitate. We will practice Touching the Earth, a practice to deepen awareness of our interbeing nature. 

I’ve been reflecting on the moment we are in - personally, culturally and politically - and I'm seeing that one of the things that most divides us is when we forget our interbeing nature - we are all in this together -  and believe instead that we are separate individuals. 

When we slip into believing we are separate, we create enemies that we then blame and target. In the moments when we remember and recognize our interbeing, we naturally want to protect life and care for everyone; we see that no one is outside of the whole. The Buddha and Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) often taught about the interdependent nature of all beings. When we calm our bodies and minds and look deeply, we are able to see that we are not disconnected. There is no way for us to live apart from the rest of life. 

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, May 18, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, May 20, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, May 22, 12-1PM ET online/in person (Hybrid).

On Monday, our evening meditation will be facilitated by Ellen. Ellen shares:

Greetings. This Monday we’ll read and discuss the Fifth Mindfulness Training: Nourishment and Healing.

I have often found this particular training to be so full, so deep, and honestly, so overwhelming. There’s so much spirit, wisdom, and guidance here that it’s hard for me to know where to begin with trying to actualize this for my daily living. That’s a good problem to have!

Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay)’s focus here is on consumption: what we consume and how, taking great care to avoid harmful things; about not letting ourselves be consumed by the negative seeds of regret and sorrow; and how we must not consume to avoid our pain. All profound teachings.

Dear Thay, dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, May 11, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, May 13, from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, May 15, 12-1PM ET online.

Our evening meditation will be facilitated by Marie. She shares:

On Monday, we will practice together, recite the Five Remembrances, and then share our experience and/or responses to them. The Remembrances originate from the Buddha’s teachings on impermanence, and Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) encouraged us to recite them regularly as a way to transform fear into acceptance and appreciation of life.  

The Five Remembrances:

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.

I am of the nature to have ill-health. There is no way to escape having ill-health.

I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.

All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.

I inherit the results of my actions of body, speech, and mind. My actions are my continuation.

Ironically, I had forgotten about the Five Remembrances until recently.