by Pam Marraccini | Uncategorized
Mother Earth has been here for a long time. She is mother to all of us. She knows everything. The Buddha asked the Earth to be his witness by touching her with his hand when he had some doubt and fear before his awakening. The Earth appeared to him as a beautiful mother. In her arms, she carried flowers and fruit, birds and butterflies, and many different animals, and offered them to the Buddha. The Buddha’s doubts and fears instantly disappeared.
Whenever you feel unhappy, come to the Earth and ask for her help. Touch her deeply, the way the Buddha did. Suddenly, you too will see the Earth with all her flowers and fruit, trees and birds, animals and all living beings that she has produced. All these things she offers to you.
by Pam Marraccini | Buddha, heart, love, Thich Nhat Hanh, Uncategorized, understanding
Thich Nhat Hanh, Answers From The Heart
The teaching of the Buddha aims at helping us to generate the energy of love and understanding. If we can practice that energy, it will first of all help us to satisfy our need to be loved. And then, with that capacity of love and understanding, we can embrace the people who are with us now. We can make them happy while we are happy ourselves.
by Pam Marraccini | Uncategorized
GO BACK TO THE BODY
Breathing mindfully takes our mind back to our breath and, if we continue, to our whole body. We go back to our body and reconcile with it. We get to know what’s going on in our body, the wrongs we have done, the conflicts we’re having, and we’ll know what to do and what not to do in order to be on good terms with our body. With mindful breathing, we come to recognize our body as our home. We might say:
Breathing in, I am aware of my body.
Breathing out, I smile to my whole body.
—Your True Home: The Everyday Wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh
by Pam Marraccini | Uncategorized
A message from Plum Village.
Dear Dharma Brothers & Sisters,
We’re very happy to announce the publication next week, on June 6, of Thay’s book THE ART OF LIVING, an edited selection of Thay’s unpublished teachings from 2013-14. It includes Thay’s remarkable teachings from the June 2014 21-day Retreat in Plum Village, France (the last 21-day retreat taught by Thay), with the theme “What happens when we die? What happens when we’re alive?” So perhaps the title of the book could also be, “THE ART OF LIVING AND DYING”
We hope those of you who were at the 21-Day Retreat will appreciate reading a full exposition of Thay’s teachings on the Cosmic Body, reincarnation, life-force, and so on. And those who missed the retreat will have a chance to discover some of Thay’s precious teachings before his stroke.
In THE ART OF LIVING, Thay’s insights are set within the context of the Seven Concentrations he focussed on in the last year or two of his teachings: combining the 3 Doors of Liberation with the last 4 Exercises of Mindful Breathing (making a total of 7).
We are grateful for the support of HarperOne publishing, in allowing us to produce an accessible yet profound Dharma book, that we hope will be an inspiration for Thay’s students everywhere, and a support for the deepening of our collective practice.
We hope that many of you will have a chance to read and study the book, as individuals and as sanghas. We invite you to get involved by writing an honest review on THE ART OF LIVING Amazon page, and by participating in discussions on the book’s Goodreads page. We’d especially love to see comments and reviews from those of you who attended the 2014 21-Day Retreat, and who’ve already had a chance to put these teachings into practice.
Perhaps, in the future, monastic and lay Dharma Teachers may be able to offer some structured study of the book, along the lines of Br Phap Hai’s wonderfully successful “The Sun My Heart” Book Club. If you have any ideas for this, please let us know.
We welcome your feedback.
With gratitude and appreciation,
Sister True Dedication
on behalf of the Plum Village Editorial Team
editors@plumvillage.org
by Pam Marraccini | awareness, compassion, equanimity, happiness, joy, love, meditation, mindfulness, present, suffering, Uncategorized, understanding
Digging Deep p66
Practicing loving kindness meditation is like digging deep into the ground until we reach the purest water. We look deeply into ourselves until insight arises and our love flows to the surface. Joy and happiness radiate from our eyes and everyone around us benefits from our smile and our presence. If we take good care of ourselves, we help everyone. We stop being a source of suffering in the world, and we become a reservoir of joy and freshness. Here and there are people who know how to take good care of themselves, who live joyfully and happily. They are our strongest support. Whatever they do, they do it for everyone.
Immeasurable Minds p81
Loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity are described as unlimited states of mind because they continue to grow and they cannot be measured. The more you practice, the more you see your love growing and growing until there is no limit. The more you practice compassion, the more it grows. The more you cultivate joy the more joy you will feel and be able to share. The more you understand, the more you love: the more you love, the more you understand. They are two sides of one reality. The mind of love and the mind of understanding are the same.
Fulfillment p86
We should practice in such a way that every moment is fulfilling. We should feel satisfaction in every breath, in every step, in every action. This is true fulfillment. When you breathe in and out, there is fulfillment. When you take a step, there is fulfillment. When you perform any action, there is the fulfillment that comes from living deeply in the present moment.
Natural Happiness p87
If you walk with true awareness of every step, without having a goal to get anywhere, happiness will arise naturally. You don’t need to look for happiness. When we’re in touch with the wonders of life, we become aware of the many conditions of happiness that are already there, and naturally, we feel happy. The beauty around us brings us back to the present moment so we can let go of the planning and worries that preoccupy us. When you look at the person you love, if he is absorbed in anxiety, you can help him get out. “Darling, do you see the sun? Do you see the signs that spring is coming?” This is mindfulness; we become aware of what is happening now and we are in touch with the conditions of happiness that are there, inside us and all around us.
by Pam Marraccini | compassion, garden, love, seeds, Thich Nhat Hanh, Uncategorized, understanding
You have two gardens: your own garden and that of your beloved. First, you have to take care of your own garden and master the art of gardening. In each one of us, there are flowers and there is also garbage. The garbage is the anger, fear, discrimination, and jealousy within us. If you water the garbage, you will strengthen the negative seeds. If you water the flowers of compassion, understanding, and love, you will strengthen the positive seeds. What you grow is up to you.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
(Painting: Van Gogh)
