Students of Thich Nhat Hanh and practicing the Plum Village Tradition
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Loving Response to the Rohingya Refugee Crisis
COORDINATED BY THICH NHAT HANH/NORTH AMERICA SANGHA Dear Friends: As many of you may know, since 2012 Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh has been consistent in his defense of the well-being of the Rohingya people, who are Muslim, against discrimination and violence in an overwhelmingly Buddhist country, Myanmar. Since last fall, over 647,000 impoverished Rohingya refugees…
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Reading the News Mindfully
I will start with a confession: I am a news junkie, but one who, despite that, tries to read the news mindfully, though admittedly there is something of a contradiction in this. Thay has on a number of occasions encouraged us to read the news no more than once a week, warning that reading it…
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Urgent Response to Rohinghya Suffering
Dear Friends, In an effort to mitigate the suffering of Rohingya refugees fleeing from Myanmar into nearby Bangladesh, we are writing to enlist your help in our capacity as the Care-Taking Council of the Dharma Teachers ordained by Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh residing in North America. Since 2012, Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh and our Council…
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On a National Resolution of Atonement
The following letter was written by Robb Kushner, an Order of Interbeing Aspirant. Robb has given permission to post and share this very instructive and thoughtful statement. ~ Kenley Letter to Sen. Cory Booker – On a National Resolution of Atonement Jersey City, NJ 07302 14 August 2017 The Honorable Cory Booker 359 Dirksen Senate Office…
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The Soulmate of the Buddha
We write to share a happiness that in 2018, Plum Village will be hosting their bi-annual 21 Day Retreat from June 1-21. It is a retreat focused for experienced Buddhist practitioners, especially from our Order of Interbeing community, but is also open to the general public. The retreat will be conducted in English with respective…
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Practicing Compassionate Political Speech Through Deep Looking
Because of its emotionally charged nature, it is difficult to engage in political speech in a mindful, compassionate way. I often ask myself, How do I remain compassionate when criticizing others? Can we criticize others without disparaging or demonizing them, especially when we speak of them perpetuating injustices and other forms of harm to others?…
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The Time To Act Is Now !
In The World We Have (2008), Thay spoke to us with some urgency about the Bells of Mindfulness – the floods, droughts, sea level rise – that have been happening all over the planet, trying to wake us up from our sleep-walking. His language about the danger to civilization from our rapidly changing climate, due to…
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North American Ordination (2017 Only)
Dear Dharma Teachers, Dear Order Members, Dear Aspirants, In 2017 there will be three opportunities for aspirants from North America to be ordained into the Order of Interbeing. In order to facilitate the process, the Care-Taking Council of the Dharma Teachers Sangha of North America (including both monastics and lay Dharma Teachers) have clarified the…
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A Letter of Support
In light of hearing from so many who are struggling amid these times of political changes, I felt called to offer this letter, of which I hope will offer some support and benefit. Dear friends along the path, I know you suffer, and I am here for you. I see that your anger and fear…
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The Creative Tension Between Fostering Dialogue and Social Justice
I teach sociology and global studies at the college level, which means that thorny social issues regularly come up in my classroom. As part of observing the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings in the classroom, I try both to foster dialogue between students of different worldviews, encouraging them to understand and respect each other, and also to…