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To feel love, be loved, and to share love is the spiritual need of human beings. This is the heart of our spiritual path: how to grow to a state of boundless love that is not restrained by any conditions. Sister Lực Nghiêm (“Sister Power”) dives deeply into the 6 ingredients of the path: motivation, determination, patience, inspiration, creativity and courage. Why do we seek a community of practice? Can we break through the ideas we have about ourselves as we reflection on our motivations on the spiritual path? We might have the willingness to change – and at times there is clarity about what changes we need to implement, but there are many layers to that change. As we let go of our thinking, our ego (“manas” in Buddhist tradition), we return to simply being a living being, to be fully present in the present. When we surrender to the present moment, we touch our suffering and can find compassion for ourselves. This will then flow into other people’s hearts. Our constant thinking prevents us from getting in touch with the source of life, which is love.

As the new year begins to unfold, we have the opportunity to look back: What have we cultivated in ourselves in 2022? Was there a habit energy that manifested strongly, carrying us away? And how about our relationships? Were we able to cultivate deep friendship? Do we hold pain inside of us about how we have been relating to our loved ones? Whatever might come up in us, we can train ourselves to recognize, accept, and look deeply into it. Acceptance is a deep practice of being at ease with ourselves, knowing that we have a path of practice to follow and to enjoy. As we get in touch with our struggles and suffering, we also see that others have their owns to bear. We begin to develop more patience and kindness. We come to see ourselves and others as human beings, manifesting based on many conditions. By practicing like this, we cultivate our capacity to love.

What is the spiritual meaning of Christmas in our times? In a society of consumerism where we can easily feel alienated, we are longing for an atmosphere of simplicity and love. If the most important element of Christmas is our brotherhood, sisterhood, and siblinghood, then how can we practice in order to generate this true kind of love? Sister Chan Duc (True Virtue) shares how love is made of understanding. To truly love someone, we need to understand that person. And to understand them, we need to have good communication based on deep listening, loving speech, and openness. This journey starts by coming back inside of ourselves to listen to our own pain, rather than blaming someone for it. As we walk on the path of understanding and love, we can also keep in mind that understanding is boundless. We always learn something new about the other person and by doing so, we also learn more about ourselves. We learn to see what is not immediately visible in us and in others, and our understanding and love grow more and more each day.

In Zen, we often say that the moment of death is the moment that reveals how we have been practicing. Indeed, the fear of dying is the base for all other fears. As practitioners, death should be an object of our contemplation. Sister Insight shares her experience of practicing in a way that helps her to let go of clinging, of suffering and of perceptions. Contemplating death brings us back to what is most essential in life and helps us to live each day fully and meaningfully. We become determined to live our life with kindness and love and to savor every moment. Experiencing the death of a beloved one, or grieving over the state of our planet, are also difficult moments in our lives. Even though there is the teaching of impermanence, a loved one’s passing still is a loss. And in addition to the loss, we might be struggling with guilt and regret inside of our heart. Sister Insight shares her personal experience of having gone through the loss of her mother and her teacher. Taking refuge in the Sangha, getting in touch with Mother Earth, taking refuge in the island of self and dwelling in the present moment, were the four key practices that helped her. Below are some reflection questions and home practices to help us bring the teachings from Sister Insight’s talk into daily life.  1. Letting go of guilt and regret “When our loved ones die, it is our guilt and regret that eat into us.” (Sister Insight) Look into the causes and conditions that came together to contribute to the situation that you regret or feel guilty about. Is it really “you” and “you” alone who was responsible?Write a letter to our loved ones who have passed away and express your regret.What were their joys, passions, and dreams? How can you continue to live those joys, passions, and fulfill their dreams?Offer your love and care to those who are alive, right by your side, and you will experience what Thay means by “In true love, there is no separation between the lover and the beloved”. 2. Going through grief and loss Take refuge in the sangha, in a community of practice. Get in touch with Mother Earth and see the interbeing of the elements inside and outside of ourselves. Breathe mindfully, stay present, see clearly, and do not run away from or suppress emotions.Recognize the stories that are the “second arrows” –  smile to them and let them go.

Practicing the Six Harmonies is a deep practice to ensure a long life in the Sangha and continue on the path of transformation with our spiritual friends, even when facing difficulties in communication. If we are still unable to deeply connect with another person through the heart, maybe because of unresolved conflict, we can still practice to offer simple material gifts or a smile, to open the path of transformation wider. It is also important to learn to express our needs and thoughts with one another to increase understanding. We can learn to do so with gentleness, openness, while remaining firm and solid. We can also deepen our practice of the Five Mindfulness Trainings with our loved ones to help with this. It is easier to practice when there is harmony in the sangha or with loved ones, although it is not always possible. When it is not possible, “60% of harmony is good enough”. With faith in our practice of mindfulness, we know that transformation is always possible, and we can continue to take solid steps on our path.

Are you aware of your body in daily life? Do you take time to pause and relax between activities? How do you start your day? Do you take a moment to touch a feeling of gratitude and joy for being alive? Let’s explore these and many more questions as we are gently guided by one of the eldest disciples of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh – Sr. Tu Nghiem (Sr. Elleni). As a practitioner, we need to know how to nourish our body and mind with beauty through what we consume with our senses. We need to be aware of our body and mind, in order to recognize what causes us well-being and ill-being, so we can choose the direction in which we want to go. The Four Noble Truths and the Five Mindfulness Trainings will help us to live in a healthy, ethical and balanced way. They show us very concrete ways to help reduce the suffering around us.

What do you truly want for your life? Knowing this becomes a source of energy on our path. When we see our path clearly, we are no longer afraid. Mindfulness is the energy of awareness that enables us to apply the practice in our daily life. This allows us to live our life in a way that is in line with our aspirations. We need to train ourselves to let go of our thinking and come back to our body and our breath. Words for reflections from Sr. Tuệ Nghiêm: 1. What are your aspirations? What are your life’s purposes? 2. How do you practice to realize your aspirations? 3. What are the activities in your daily life that could become Dharma Doors to help you wake up and dwell deeply in the present moment? 4. Practice the mantra: Breathe, Smile, Accept.

Br. Minh Hy invites us to connect to great ancestral teachers who played a very important role in Thầy’s journey of renewing Buddhism. Inspired by their example, we can improve and refine our own practice, with faith and perseverance. We can make their practice come to life as we apply it to our current times, as Thầy has done throughout his life. Indeed, the ancient Buddhist wisdom on the mind and the way out of suffering is timeless: the challenges of our society have their roots in afflictions that lie within our own mind. Learning to understand it, and to find appropriate practices for ourselves, is the way out of suffering. This Dharma Talk was offered on the Memorial day of our Ancestral Teacher, Master Nhật Định, founder of our teacher Thầy’s root temple in Huê, Vietnam. Reflection Questions & Home Practices 1. Note down the occurrences during the day when you are able to hold back words that may hurt others. How does it feel immediately and afterwards? How does it affect the people around you? 2. “Mindfulness of love and gratitude help us untie the internal knots” (Br. Minh Hy). Looking deeply into a situation in your life, are you able to see the myriad causes and conditions that have brought it about? Can you feel gratitude for some of those causes and conditions?

Sister Thuận Nghiêm (Sister Harmony) takes us along her life-long journey of transforming her way of thinking and speaking with the practice. She shares many true stories about the importance of checking our perceptions and speaking more humbly and lovingly. The impact of our speech is immediate and wide. The quality of our relationships and of our inner peace depend a great deal on our way of speaking. This is also true of peace in the world. “We can start a war with words.” Speaking, as well as listening, is an art. Thanks to our daily practice and the support of our community, we can learn to speak in a completely different way. Our words don’t need to come from a place of hurt and blindly follow our habit energies anymore. They can become an expression of our mindfulness and love, inspiring and touching the hearts of many people. Reflection Questions (approved by Sr. Thuan Nghiem) 1. Words that inspire confidence, joy, hope During the day, note three occasions when your words inspired confidence, joy, or hope. How did you feel afterwards? What were the conditions that allowed you to speak lovingly? 2. Shedding leaves As we observe the dancing Autumn leaves around us, what are the leaves we can shed in our life to lighten our load? Perhaps certain possessions, ideas, projects, habits…? 3. A day of “Forget-you-not” When you come together with sangha friends for an Evening or a Day of Mindfulness, how do you help each other to cultivate a concentrated energy of mindfulness, rather than a dispersed energy of a “flea market”?

“Do not abandon your aspiration too early!” Through her own experience of fearlessness, hope, compassion, anger, and despair during the war in Vietnam, Sr. Chan Khong shares how she transformed unwholesome seeds through mindfulness practices in our Plum Village tradition. Touching on difficult topics such as suicide, alcoholism and self judgements, Sr. Chan Khong showers us with practice songs and stories that touch the seeds of hope and transformation. Like a loving grandmother, she offers a lived wisdom of the Dharma and deep faith with openness. She emphasized the importance of choosing appropriate mindfulness practices that work for us given our personal preferences and circumstances, including hugging meditation, walking meditation, chopping vegetables, cooking, singing, dancing etc…