The Deer Park Dharmacast

In this talk Sr Hang Nghiem shows a clip from one of Thay's talk in 2004, invites us to be light and playful in our practice. Our sister offers a song and commentary. Translation by Sister Bach Nghiem.

Brother Phap Ho is offering 6 classes during this winter retreat 2016-2017, on the first three foundations of mindfulness: body, feelings, mind. Below is a summary of the forth class. The recording includes sharing and instructions, as well as practice and questions at the end. We hope you enjoy listening and practicing with us.

In this talk Thay Phap Hai shares with us how to enter through the door of signlessness in order to practice with perceptions and preconceived notions.     

Thay Phap Dang offers a beautiful and insightful talk with Emptiness (Sunyata) as main theme. As you listen to the Dharma Talk, allow it to wash over your like a sprinkling rain. Allow yourself to sit comfortably and follow your breathing, relaxing your body. May this talk and your practice bring about great benefit.

Nurturing our Roots, Strengthening our Branches, this months focus is the present moment. In this talk Sr Kinh Nghiem (Sr Reverence) shares about the monastic practice of sharing a room, changing room and hamlets. Our sister use a Russian doll to help us go deeper into ourselves, to embrace our sorrow and to nurture our joy. As you listen to this talk you can enjoy the natural flow of your breathing in and out of your body. May this sharing and your practice be of benefit you in your daily life.  

Brother Phap Ho is offering 6 classes during this winter retreat 2016-2017, on the first three foundations of mindfulness: body, feelings, mind. Below is a summary of the third class. The recording includes sharing and instructions, as well as practice and questions at the end. We hope you enjoy listening and practicing with us. Here is the image, drawn on the board, regarding our consciousness and sense doors:

This talk was offered by Most Venerable Phuoc Tinh during our New Years Day of Mindfulness. The Venerable's teaching invites us to experience life deeply and enjoy the wonders of spring every day.  The poem in Vietnamese is: Ai trói lại mong cầu giải thoát Chẳng phàm nào phải kiếm thần tiên Vượn nhàn, ngựa mỏi, người đã lão Như cũ am mây trang một chõng thiền. Sister Kinh Nghiem helped translate this talk.

Brother Phap Don offers a peaceful and joyful setting for this talk. He shares his experience in arriving and enjoying each step as well as how to connect with nature for nourishment and healing. This talk is based in continuous practice, present moment, peaceful and happy dwelling. May this sharing be of benefit.

Brother Phap Ho is offering 6 classes during this winter retreat 2016-2017, on the first three foundations of mindfulness: body, feelings, mind. Below is a summary of the second class. The recording includes sharing and instructions, as well as practice and questions at the end. We hope you enjoy listening and practicing with us.

This talk was offered in Vietnamese by Sr Truc Nghiem (Sr Bamboo) during our weekend with Order of Interbeing members of Southern California. It was translated by Sr Bach Nghiem (Sr Clarity). Our sister shares about how we can practice mindful breathing and stopping with the sound on the bell in order to nurture our calm and capacity to dwell in the present. She also shares how this ongoing practice can help us come in contact with and transform suffering deep in our consciousness. 

This Dharma Talk is the second for our Winter Retreat. The theme for the Sunday Dharma Talks this winter is: Nurturing our Roots, Strengthening our Branches - essentials of Plum Village Practice. Thay Phap Dang recently moved to Deer Park Monastery from Plum Village in France.

Brother Phap Ho is offering 6 classes during this winter retreat 2016-2017, on the first three foundations of mindfulness: body, feelings, mind. Below is a summary of the first class. The recording includes sharing and instructions, as well as practice and a question a the end. We hope you enjoy listening and practicing with us.

Enjoy 30 minutes silent sitting meditation with the Sangha of Solidity Hamlet. Br Phap Ho offers some introduction to sitting: following our breathing, as well as the Evening Chant.

Talk from Winter 2016-2017 Retreat Opening Day. Translated by Sister Kinh Nghiem.

Br. Phap Vu reflects on the 2016 US election, shares how to practice with its results and ends with a short question and answer session. A short biography of Br. Phap Vu: http://www.tnhtour.org/2015/09/03/meet-the-monastics-chan-phap-vu/

2016 Mindfulness Retreat for People of Color   Dear Friends,   This is the  Question & Answer Session (and final recording) from The Path of True Love: Healing Ourselves mindfulness retreat for People of Color. We are deeply grateful to our teachers Br. Larry Ward, Rev. angel Kyodo williams and Rev. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, Br. Man Tue, Sister Hang Nghiem for all the shining wisdom, compassion, joy and skillfulness they offered nourishing our healing and inspiring wise action. Some of the questions posed: 1.     What do we do about our public schools? 2.     How do we handle our anger? i.e. police violence 3.     How do we help others when we are being triggered? 4.     How do we continue our meditation when anxiety comes up? 5.     How do we partner in activism for collective liberation? 6.     How have you strived to perfect love in this practice? ...and others   Let us now stop, listen deeply and contemplate these teachings and sharings to cultivate our individual and collective healing and grea

2016 Mindfulness Retreat for People of Color Dear Friends, We are happy to continue sharing the Dharma talks from The Path of True Love: Healing Ourselves, our recent mindfulness retreat for People of Color. Rev. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel begins her talk by reflecting on her early encounter with Zen as a person of color. Rev. Zenju refers to people of color meditation groups as "cultural sanctuaries" and responds to the perceptions of these spaces as "exclusionary" and counter to "oneness."  Rev. Zenju also presents the teachings on store consciousness and the direct experience of transformation when seeds arise. Rev. Zenju also reads selections from her latest work, The Way of Tenderness: Awakening Through Race, Sexuality, and Gender. A few excerpts Rev. Zenju's talk: We as people of color have specific spiritual work to contend with, and the term "people of color" suggests that work rather than the idea of separation based on skin color for the sake of harming those who are white---that is not the intenti

2016 Mindfulness Retreat for People of Color Dear Friends, We are happy to continue sharing the Dharma talks from The Path of True Love: Healing Ourselves, our recent mindfulness retreat for People of Color. Today, Rev. angel Kyodo williams offers a presentation and reading based on the newly published book, Radical Dharma.  In this sharing, Rev. angel invites us into a long overdue conversation about race alongside love and liberation.  As part of this conversation, Rev. angel speaks about the social construct of whiteness, while calling us back into our humanity and to be in touch with the "thing underneath the thing." A few excerpts: "...we have the greatest potential to actually pull it up at its roots.  Interestingly enough, we have that opportunity through this gift of the Dharma that actually invites us to be able to look with clear seeing eyes at things that are not real...that are figments of our imagination and figments of other people's imaginations...Race is a grand social figment."   "As Dha

2016 Mindfulness Retreat for People of Color Dear Friends, We are happy to continue sharing the Dharma talks from The Path of True Love: Healing Ourselves, our recent mindfulness retreat for People of Color. Today’s Dharma talk, entitled “Engaging the Five Mindfulness Trainings" was offered by Br. Larry Ward on the second morning of our retreat.  You can read more about The Five Mindfulness Trainings: The Path of Happiness here. Let us now stop, listen deeply and contemplate these teachings and sharings to cultivate our individual and collective healing and great aspiration to strengthen the Beloved Community. To stay connected with Brother Larry Ward, visit The Lotus Institute http://www.thelotusinstitute.org/. "The calling of the Lotus Institute is to offer mindfulness teachings, principles and practices that encourage individual healing and transformation, professional growth, and development in ways that enhance planetary, social evolution."

2016 Mindfulness Retreat for People of Color Dear Friends, We are happy to begin sharing the Dharma talks from The Path of True Love: Healing Ourselves, from our recent mindfulness retreat for People of Color.  Today’s Dharma talk, entitled “The Alchemy of Grief: Turning Suffering into Light" was offered by Br. Larry Ward on the first morning of our retreat.  Br. Larry provided a general outline of his talk: Poem Why I Practice It’s About Love (verb) Yoniso and Ayoniso Nutriments and De-Nutriments Poem Let us now stop, listen deeply and contemplate these teachings and sharings to cultivate our individual and collective healing and great aspiration to strengthen the Beloved Community. To stay connected with Brother Larry Ward, visit The Lotus Institute http://www.thelotusinstitute.org/. "The calling of the Lotus Institute is to offer mindfulness teachings, principles and practices that encourage individual healing and transformation, professional growth, and development in ways that enhance planetary, soci