The Deer Park Dharmacast

Dear Friends, This week we have a continuation from last week's podcast, as we listen to the second half of Brother Phap Hai's talk from Deer Park's 2012 Mindfulness Retreat. Brother Phap Hai shares lessons from Master Dogen's 13th century Zen text, "Instructions for the Cook".  Furthermore, he shares that to go with the three roots of suffering, three different minds can be cultivated: joyful mind, magnanimous mind, and parental mind. Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends, This week's dharma talk was given by Brother Phap Hai at the 2012 Mindfulness Retreat at Deer Park Monastery.   Known for his poetic and engaging dharma talks, he shares the Buddha's teachings about the three roots of our suffering; greed, ill-will, and delusion; and the eight winds or worldly dharmas; gain, loss, status, disgrace, praise, blame, pleasure and pain.   Brother Phap Hai challenges us to look critically at our lives and ask two questions: what is practice? and are we sure? You will notice the sound of the wind and a lovely baby during the talk.  Enjoy the imperfectness of the recording.  =) Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends,    This week's dharma talk was given by Brother Phap Don at the recent People of Color retreat at Deer Park Monastery on the concept: "I have arrived, I am home."   How can we arrive and find our true home?  Brother Phap Don first offers us the repetition and mindfulness of the daily mundane activities and then describes the Buddha's 12 mindfulness exercises.  Join the DP Dharmacast team in welcoming (back) Soren Kisiel, who is kindly recording the introductions for the weekly podcasts. Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends, During the New Year's retreat, Brother Phap De gave a wonderful dharma talk on gratitude.  Although it's the middle of the year, I thought it would be a good time to revisit the message.  Brother Phap De delves deeply into gratitude to our parents.  With Mother's Day having just passed and Father's Day coming up, I thought we might have our parents on our minds. Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply. "When we're addicted to our own thinking, it is the cause of almost all of our suffering. And that experience kills the possibility of gratitude." "A quote from the Buddha: I tell you, there are two people that are not easy to repay. Which two?  Your mother and father." 

Dear Friends, Welcome to the Deer Park Dharmacast -- the podcast that puts the Dharma in your pocket. Deer Park recently hosted a People of Color retreat.  Part of the retreat was a question and answer session where retreatants were invited to ask questions from the heart to a panel of laywomen, laymen, monks and nuns.  Today, we offer you an excerpt of the question and answer session. Perhaps you have asked yourself these questions at one point in time? -- How can we share the importance and need for dedicated People of Color or Wake Up (young adult) retreats? -- How do we practice when the people around us are not practicing? -- What can we do to stop ourselves from speaking out of anger? We hope you enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply. Remember, you can always find the Deer Park Dharmacast online at DPcast.net, on iTunes, Twitter, or Facebook

Thay Phai Hai explains the meaning behind the Chinese characters for mindfulness. Preview: "A new understanding can emerge..." Michael provides the listeners with a visual for their reference.  

Kiss the ground with your feet as Thay Phap Hai takes us on a journey to meet a gentleman of the past. Preview: "Allow your path to be an expression of who you are." Make sure to download the bonus content "Discourse on Love," contact the Deer Park bookstore if you are interested in the full album in addition to similar works.  

Breathe with me as Sister Kinh Nghiem shares her story mixed in with a Buddhist story.  Self-described as a city girl, she scatters the seeds we need to grasp the true nature of the practice. Preview: "100%, this is your ticket!" This time the artwork was submitted by none other than myself, Michael Nguyen.  I'd like to ask for experienced audio editors to join our team.  Please get in touch because we have many dharmacasts which needs tender love and care.

Stay seated as Thay Phap Khoi shares about the good sight meditation, the 8 fold path and a rewritten song that by coincidence shares the same name as the retreat he is speaking at.Preview: "Be here now, be here now, savor your tea and drink your cloud.  Sit with ease, walk in peace the path will turn to joy you'll see." Enjoy the artwork submitted by Jeffery Levan, 12 years old of Houston.  He says he will learn how to meditate.  Let's support young Jeffrey by supporting ourselves.

Come a bit closer as Thay Phap Ho shares from his life experience and a well of knowledge at the 2012 Family Retreat.  The winter winds may be sneaking up on us but rays of light continue to be transmitted around us.   Preview: "Full blown anger will take us away." If you use Twitter, follow us @dpcast to get the dharma instantly in your pocket. 

This is the opening Dharma Talk with two special guest dharma teachers:  the most Venerable Suhita Dharma, the first ordained African American Buddhist monk, and the Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams, founder of the Center for Transformative Change in Berkeley.  The teachers share about the retreat theme, Transforming Suffering: Touching Peace & Freedom. If you would like to attend a retreat to practice in the Plum Village tradition, please check the following websites for retreat information in your area.   www.deerparkmonastery.org  www.bluecliffmonastery.org  www.magnoliagrovemonastery.org  www.plumvillage.org  Peace

Dear Friends Here is part two of this wonderful talk from the People of Color retreat at Deer Park.  Our guest teachers are joined by Sister Huong Nghiem to respond to written questions from retreatants.  The topics cover how we might approach reconnection with those we may be separated from, compassionate eating, addressing grief and how to avoide being an 'angry activist'. Please accept this offering for the benefit of all beings.

Dear Friends On July 27-29, 2012, Deer Park Monastery hosted its first People of Color Retreat in five years.  The retreat weekend came together with two special guest dharma teachers:  the most Venerable Suhita Dharma, the first ordained African American Buddhist monk, and the Rev. Angel Kyodo William, founder of the Center for Transformative Change in Berkeley.  This first podcast is the first dharma talk session given Saturday, July 27, by both Rev. Angel and the Venerable inspired by the retreat theme, Transforming Suffering: Touching Peace & Freedom. The next 3 podcasts are comprised of the closing dharma talks(part 1) and Question & Answer session of the 2012 People of Color Retreat Weekend (Part 2), Transforming Suffering: Touching Peace & Freedom.  The Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams and the Most Venerable Suhita Dharma speak of our responsibility to transform our anger and suffering, as well as our call to bear witness. The closing talks are followed by a Q/A panel session where they are joined

Today we learn about the 5 Hindrances and their antidotes from our wonderful teacher, Thich Chan Phap Ho--Protector of the Dharma.  Phap Ho encourges us to have the courage to do the things in life that we want to do and reminds us that living our life mindful of interdependence and interbeing will bring us to the right path.  We also learn how to turn neutral feelings into happiness.  For example, if you have ever experienced anger, you can see that the state of not being angry is always a great happiness!   Please enjoy this wonderful talk

Dear Friends We had a special session during the family retreat on mindful parenting.   Our sister Nomi Green shares her insights as a parent and as a professional about children and our relationship with them--and ourselves. Please enjoy! With this podcast, we also welcome a new editor to our Podcast Family--welcome Genevieve!

Dear Friends This wonderful talk is by our beloved Phap De, Younger Brother.  Phap De offers many deep insights about the nature of suffering and offers practical methods to transform it.  He reminds us that our perceptions are mostly wrong and mostly made up of our past.  He shares deeply about the nature of judgement and forgiveness reminding us that the more we can forgive, the more we can feel forgiven. Enjoy this deep talk. 

Dear Friends As summer begins, we thought we would offer a musical treat from Joe Reilly's new CD--Hello Ocean.  This CD is dedicated to the True Ocean Family who ordained as order of Interbeing Members in September of 2011.  The CD also includes a wonderful song called 'Monkey Mind' that might help you change your relationship with your own monkey mind too.   If you would like more info on how to purchase a copy of the CD, you can email Joe at joereillymusic@gmail.com.  Smiling to the Sun and the Ocean, within us and outside of us

Dear Friends, welcome to the Deer Park Dharmacast. Today we offer a dharma talk from Brother Phap De on Mother Earth, given here at Dear Park with the approach of the Christmas holiday.  Brother Phap De is an American born monk, to whom Thich Nhat Hahn gave a monastic name meaning “Young Monk.” Here Thay Phap De speaks about his Christian upbringing and beliefs, and describes how Thich Nhat Hahn taught him to bring his heavenward attentions down to a loving and peaceful Mother Earth. Please find a solid, upright, and relaxed position to enjoy today’s dharma talk.

Dear Friends Deer Park is offering a series of theme weekends during the year.  The first weekend was a wonderful offering from Dharma Teacher Eileen Kiera.  Eileen is a resident Dharma teacher at Mountain Lamp near Bellingham Washington.  http://mountainlamp.org/  Eileen Kiera is an ecologist by training and a vegetable gardener by passion, but the practice and support of the Dharma has been her primary focus for the past 24 years. She's a student of Thich Nhat Hanh and Robert Aitken, Roshi. Thich Nhat Hahn acknowledged her as a dharma teacher in 1990, and since then she's led retreats in many places in the U.S., Europe and Australia.  This wonderful weekend Alive as a Bodhisattva Eileen shared about the practice and the path of a Bodhisattva.  This talk was the opening orientation.   If you would like more information on the theme weekends at Deer Park, please visit http://deerparkmonastery.org/events/theme-weekends  Please find an relaxed, upright, and stable position and enjoy this beautiful offering.

On the second talk of the weekend, Dharma Teacher Eileen Kiera shares about the practice, presence, body, and  great vows of three powerful bodhisattvas-- Avalokiteshvara, Manjusri, and  Samanthabhadra.  We learn that if we can cultivate the energy and practice of compassionate listening, looking deeply, and responding with appropriate action we can embody these bodhisattvas in our lives.  When they are embodied in us, it can be said that they live in the world. We hope you enjoy these talks.  Please explore other talks by Dharma teacher Eileen Kiera at the Mountain Lamp website at http://mountainlamp.org/audio/eenkiera.html