Practice is likened to a piece of music, requiring harmony between the six elements of the Sangha (Six Harmonies) and within each person (the five aggregates: form, feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness). When eating or sitting in meditation with mindfulness, every cell and mental formation in body and mind participates, creating an art of nourishment, transformation, and bringing happiness to oneself and to the larger community. The breath and the steps are like conductors, guiding everything to flow together in one “river”—a state where there is no longer dispersion or forgetfulness, but wholesome habit energy, a way of living with mindfulness.

Observing the sound of the bell (the signal of mindfulness) and keeping to the schedule is not merely a matter of organization, but arises from the self-motivation of each person’s ideal heart. If:

• upon hearing the three sounds of the bell, we stop all speaking and thinking
• we go immediately to the place of appointment
• we do not need reminders from the teacher or elder brothers
  then each member naturally blends into the common symphony, setting an example for lay friends and strengthening the Sangha.

This year, the Sangha has many opportunities to practice and express the collective piece of music:

1. The 21-day retreat based on the Anapanasati Sutra
2. The Summer Opening retreat with young people from 40–50 countries
3. The neuroscience retreat on memory, habit energy, and the store consciousness (alaya-vijnana)
4. The proposal to extend the Rains Retreat by one month, following the experience of the Buddha with 1,000 monastics
   All activities—eating sticky rice cakes, Christmas, New Year, Tet—become the ingredients, nourishing and completing the Sangha’s symphony.

With hearts established in mindfulness, the English rendition of “Chúng con hiện tiền tâm thanh tịnh” was chanted to invoke support from the fourfold Sangha, the Three Jewels, holy beings, and protection from eight misfortunes and three paths of suffering. Two couplets were composed for Bat Nha Monastery to remind practitioners that

• The Pure Land is a place of leisurely wandering, where one no longer seeks anything
• Dwelling peacefully in the present moment, what more is there to pursue?
  expressing that each walking step, each of the twenty-four hours, can already be Pure Land practice, free of seeking and fully present.

Further inscriptions propose that individual effort creates collective refuge:

1. A drop of water becomes a river / At ease, one returns to play in the great ocean
2. Each step creates the Pure Land / Leisurely, we ascend to stroll the high hills
3. A single parasol leaf falls / A thousand daffodils bloom, the earth follows the sky singing the song of no-birth
   these six lines evoke a body of practice that, like a Bose-Einstein condensate or a laser, transforms the many into one unified field of energy capable of cutting through afflictions.

The passing of Sister My Nghiem at age twenty—after just over one year of monastic life—illustrated the power of Sangha care and practice: daily visits, healing chants, meals, gentle massage, and joint meditation helped her meet death with ease and a final smile. Her departure became both a testament to genuine brotherhood and sisterhood, and an inspiration for living each moment fully in the refuge of the Three Jewels.

The three hamlets of Plum Village form a peaceful space, in contrast to a world full of conflict and violence, where practitioners come to seek a bit of peace, to sit and eat in silence, and to feel the brotherhood and sisterhood. Thay observes: the practice of mindfulness and the cultivation of proper conduct in the four postures—walking, standing, sitting, and lying down—generates the energy of peace, deeply imprints it into our brains and cells, and becomes a spiritual gift for our ancestors, our descendants, and for everyone in our daily steps.

Looking back at the first twenty-five years in Plum Village, the New Hamlet, Upper Hamlet, and Lower Hamlet had only muddy paths, no chairs, no central heating, just long benches and wood stoves, meager meals, and a jar of sesame salt or a few pieces of chocolate were precious. Thay washed his own robes, wrote “Old Path White Clouds” in a cold room with his hands warmed by the stove, and each day, two or three hours of writing was an hour of intimate conversation with the Buddha. Although conditions are now much improved, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and the precepts still require us to live with “three basic insufficiencies”—just enough food and clothing, simplicity, and humility—in order to maintain a simple and modest way of life, to serve life in the spirit of Bodhi, and to continue the work of Thay and the ancestral teachers.

1. The four postures of practice—walking, standing, sitting, lying down—must all be maintained in mindfulness.
2. Mindfulness generates the energy of peace, which is deeply imprinted as a habit energy in our brains and cells.
3. The precepts are the foundation for peace, happiness, and serve as an example for other practitioners.

Sitting meditation as a cell of the Sangha body, not as a separate island
– Sitting upright, with a stable back, is an offering to the entire Sangha; each in-breath brings happiness to all, each out-breath gently shares, smiling is for the Sangha, not for the individual
– Practicing like this helps us break out of the shell of the self, to become non-local, non-temporal, to live with no-self, unborn and undying, right in the present moment

The Sangha body is a social body operating on the Six Harmonies

1. Harmony in dwelling together: living under one roof, sharing conveniences
2. Harmony in sharing benefits: when someone lacks, we fill in; when someone has more, we offer to others
   When the Sangha meets, if there is suffering (quarreling, difficult attitudes, etc.), we need to gather like an immune response to heal: not to punish, but to use mindfulness and compassion to shine light, embrace, support each other, and to transform difficulties into reconciliation

Within the body exists the central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, nourished by cerebrospinal fluid within the ventricles, and the peripheral nervous system with 31 pairs of nerves radiating in the following order:

• 8 pairs of cervical (neck)
• 12 pairs of thoracic (back)
• 5 pairs of lumbar (lower back)
• 5 pairs of sacral (sacrum)
• 1 pair of coccygeal (coccyx)

Sensory information from the receptors is transmitted via afferent pathways to the central nervous system, processed through synapses connecting sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons, then responded to via efferent pathways to the effectors (motor organs) along the reflex arc. The speed of transmission can reach one-thousandth of a second, ensuring rapid reflexes and maintaining homeostasis.

In the practice community, similarly, it is necessary to establish a “nervous system”: the central system (the caretaking council, caretaking team, the council of Dharma teachers) and the peripheral system (monastics, practitioners, lay friends), so that any difficulty or suffering arising from an individual “cell” can be reported centripetally in a timely manner, and decisions or support can be transmitted centrifugally without delay. Within each individual, there must also be a spiritual immune system—protecting the six sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind)—to guard against negative influences, while practicing Right Attention and contemplation to prevent the arising of Wrong Attention.

Each cell in the body is assigned a specialized function – such as nerve cells transmitting information, lung cells breathing, liver cells transforming toxins – while at the same time always nourishing itself through the activity of two types of protein molecules on the cell membrane:

1. Receptor proteins receive information from the external and internal environment
2. Effector proteins rely on the received data to generate impulses for movement, protection, and nourishment of the cell

Inside the cell is the cytoplasm containing the nucleus with the system of chromosomes (chromosome, gene) carrying the hereditary seeds, along with organelles such as mitochondria that produce energy. Every organ, even the central and peripheral nervous systems (sympathetic, parasympathetic), develops from a primitive cell that contains all these capacities.

Similarly, each monastic member in the Sangha, when taking on a specialized responsibility – cooking, building, organizing retreats, and so on – must continuously nourish themselves through sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindful breathing, maintaining freshness and mindfulness in their deportment, so as not to “die as a cell of the Sangha body.”

In the upcoming winter retreat, the Sangha will:

1. Review the foundational teachings of Plum Village (Dị Bộ Tông Luân Luận)
2. Divide into specialized groups – children’s program, logistics, Dharma sharing, etc. – to record and systematize more than 20 years of organizational experience
3. Maintain continuous communication through Dharma sharing, working together, and even in daily activities, in order to build a healthy, harmonious, and joyful Sangha body

The Five Eyes include

• The flesh eye (the physical eye, the worldly eye, the dusty eye) cannot see far or deep
• The heavenly eye, the Dharma eye, and the Buddha eye are to see clearly the true nature
• The Sangha eye: a new contribution of Plum Village to 2,500 years of Buddhism

From the scientific perspective, all living beings – from single-celled organisms that appeared after 3 billion years to multicellular beings after 750 million years – are sangha, assemblies of cells that specialize (differentiation) into various systems: central and peripheral nervous systems for communication, heart, liver, kidneys… The cell membrane, only 7 nanometers thick, contains lipids and proteins forming a “mem-brain” that receives and processes both internal and external signals, manifesting subtle intelligence. Thanks to this, the cell knows how to open and close its doors to let in oxygen and nutrients, and expel toxins, just like reflexes in the peripheral nervous system.

The sangha body is also a biological organism: each member is like a cell that needs

1. Harmony in dwelling together (living together 24 hours a day)
2. Harmony in practicing the precepts together (mindfulness–silence–observing the precepts)
3. Harmony in sharing views (integrating all information from within and without)
4. Harmony in sharing benefits
5. Harmony in sharing aspirations
6. Harmony in practicing the precepts together

When communication is good – from Dharma discussions, mindfulness, specialized meetings (sound, cooking, children…) to mindful walking – the sangha operates like a common river: specialization, coordination, and sharing of information to make timely decisions, avoid difficulties, and generate strength and happiness, maintaining longevity just like a healthy body.

The practice of mindfulness is effective when we practice correctly according to the Dharma and for a sufficient amount of time to nourish the energies of concentration and insight; only then do we have the capacity to handle sorrow, anger, and craving. If mindfulness is still weak, afflictions become stronger, and the effectiveness of mindfulness will manifest immediately when we practice correctly; if there are not yet results, we need to seek out a teacher or the Sangha for consultation. Mindfulness, concentration, and insight are the backbone of Buddhism; we should not ask whether mindfulness is effective or not, but rather whether we are practicing correctly according to the Dharma.

To build a strong Sangha, first we must have a great aspiration, a vast bodhicitta, to avoid loneliness and a sense of lack. The brotherhood and the relationship between teacher and student nourish each other, and this very love also nourished the Buddha. Preventing attachment is always easier than dealing with attachment. When we discover attachment, we need to:

1. Use “Sangha eyes” to share with a fellow practitioner and verify whether it is truly a difficulty or not.
2. If four or more people agree, bring it to the larger precepts council so that immediate measures can be taken to prevent it.

The Great Bell in the morning and evening is a tradition of the meditation hall that has existed for thousands of years. The bell inviter, before inviting the bell, must bow to the bell and practice mindful breathing according to the gatha:

• Body, speech, and mind in perfect oneness, I send my heart along with the sound of the bell.
• May all who hear it awaken from forgetfulness and transcend the path of sorrow and pain.
  Each sound of the bell brings mindfulness back to the present moment, uplifts the breath, creates Noble Silence, and brings joy and peace to the heart. The morning bell, with its short intervals, encourages radiant energy; the evening bell, with its spacious resonance, creates a space of deep tranquility.

The sound of the bell not only serves the sangha, from the abbot to the youngest novice, but also awakens the conscience of those outside, and can cause a thief to lay down his knife, or a murderer to startle and drop his weapon. The bell is a companion on the path, a reminder to live mindfully, to sow wholesome seeds, and to help protect the sacred spirit of the land and the spiritual culture with each mindful breath.

Daily schedule during the retreat:

1. Wake up at 5 a.m., practice walking meditation to and from the meditation hall, sit meditation for 45 minutes, and practice Touching the Earth.
2. 7:30 a.m. group walking meditation, 8:30 a.m. silent breakfast.
3. 10 a.m. Dharma talk, 12:30 p.m. mindful lunch.
4. 4 p.m. Dharma discussion, followed by community work or sports.
5. 6:30 p.m. dinner, 8 p.m. sitting meditation for 45 minutes and chanting (if any).
6. 9:30 p.m. lights out, Noble Silence until 6 a.m.

The 71st day of the retreat at Upper Hamlet, Phap Van Temple, with 19 days left until the end. The term monastics is translated as those who have left home, the ordained community. The Ceremony of Invitation for Admonition (Tự Tứ) will be held on the 15th so that the uncles and teachers from Tu Hieu can attend. In the list of apprentice Dharma teachers, three names were missing and have now been added:

1. Brother Phap Nhuan
2. Brother Phap Tu
3. Sister Hanh Lien

The issue of the telephone line was raised urgently: the bicycle tire was flat so the teacher could not guide meditation, and there was no compassionate line to call for help. The teacher reminded everyone to practice the First Mantra—Darling, I’m here for you—by being present 24 hours a day for anyone who calls, even while cooking, gardening, or taking turns in each hamlet, using the telephone as a symbol of love and being ready to share with each other the plan of service.

Caring for retreatants and Sangha facilities still has many shortcomings: lack of restrooms in Lower Hamlet and New Hamlet, lack of a common room for visits, tea and snacks; classrooms and meditation rooms are often noisy. The teacher called on each hamlet to:

• establish their own residence rules, with the Dean of Students responsible for maintaining purity
• form a “retreatant care team” to make up for the lack of facilities with kindness and attentiveness
• improve the internal switchboard system, transferring calls after office hours to the “Activity Bell” team to be on duty for the phone

The Dien brothers lived together in harmony until the third brother began to feel afraid of being at a disadvantage, and immediately asked to divide the family property and live separately. The three brothers decided to cut down the ancient tree to split it into three parts, but the next night the tree had withered and died. The tree stopped living because it “hurt in its heart” at the intention of separation, just like the pain of brotherhood being divided. Realizing this, the third brother was moved, asked to live together as before, and from then on the three brothers lived in harmony for the rest of their lives.

The sound of the bell signals the lesson on brotherhood in the sangha: fear, jealousy, and the thought of “wanting to be number one” are like the third wife, destroying the spirit of unity. To build a strong sangha, we need to

• recognize and transform the “enemy within” (fear, jealousy)
• encourage many “nuclei” (small groups) to function naturally on the basis of brotherhood
• continuously learn, create, and adapt to new circumstances without clinging to old forms

Training and ordination must also apply this principle: elders (senior brothers, sisters, teachers…) place brotherhood and the responsibility of guidance above authority, caring for and regularly communicating with the novices so that they may progress day by day. When brotherhood is strong, the sangha will have faith, happiness, and enduring vitality.

Maitrī, that is, friendship, is the root of all love – not only romantic love between man and woman, but also the love between father and child, mother and child, siblings, friends, descendants, homeland, humanity, and the environment. In the Buddha’s teaching, there are three other words alongside maitrī:

• karuṇā (compassion)
• muditā (joy)
• upekṣā (equanimity)

The monastic life and the sangha require the cultivation of brotherhood through the practice of mindfulness. The four elements that nourish oneself and the sangha, as mentioned in the morning meditation, are:

• freshness
• solidity
• calmness
• freedom

Every day, we should ask ourselves, “Today, what have I generated to nourish myself and to nourish the sangha?” so that we do not starve ourselves or our companions.

The upcoming three-month trip to Vietnam is a historic adventure, requiring each person to be diligent in purifying body and mind, to practice repentance, and to offer wholeheartedly their clarity and sincerity. Those of you who remain at home also need to offer your support through daily mindfulness, ensuring that the atmosphere both inside and outside the country is solid, so that the mission may be accomplished.

Studying the history of the original Sangha is not for accumulating knowledge as in taking exams, but for contemplating the present, seeing clearly our own path of practice, determining what needs to be continued or abandoned, and making a firm commitment to practice what the future requires. While listening to the Dharma, we need to reflect on our own position, recognize suffering inside and outside, and from there apply the teachings to resolve those sufferings.

The diversification of schools in Buddhism is healthy because it brings a diversity of insight. From the split into the Sthavira and Mahāsāṃghika schools 140 years after the Buddha’s Parinirvana, to about twenty schools after several hundred years, there was a “hundred flowers blooming” without conflict. For twenty-two years, Plum Village has been both conservative in preserving the essence and progressive in renewing, offering practical fruits:

• The Earth Touching Practice responds to the aspiration for repentance of both monastics and laypeople
• The Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Ten Novice Precepts are presented clearly, practically, in non-religious language
• Prostration meditation and the second body renew the methods of practice
• The novice monastic code textbook has been compiled to replace the 400-year-old version
• The Vietnamese Chanting Book continues the tradition, carrying the essence of the Dharma

In every present moment, our life has both input and output. Output manifests through the three karmas:

• Thought (mental karma) arises from right view or wrong thinking,
• Speech (verbal karma) – right speech or harmful words,
• Action (bodily karma).
  When we generate a thought or speech based on right view and right thinking, we create happiness both within and around us; conversely, when it arises from wrong view and wrong thinking, we sow suffering. Input includes air, food, news, sounds… The quality of the input largely determines the quality of the output; therefore, we practice guarding the six sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind) with the guard – that is, mindfulness – to neutralize all toxins, transforming garbage into flowers.

To realize the nature of non-self and the unceasing continuation, three images should be used:

1. The teapot represents output: when pouring hot water in succession, the essence of tea spreads throughout the pot, the cup, the poem, the work;
2. The stream of human life: all thoughts, speech, and actions are transmitted into the future, going beyond the boundary of the five skandhas;
3. The banyan tree and the bamboo grove: roots hang down from each branch into the earth to create a new trunk, like “a body outside the body” – not one, but not many, not truly born or destroyed, not truly nothing. Therefore, all skandhas do not possess a self, but are only a network of continuous continuation.

The decisive principle in the sangha: when meeting to make a decision, there are five main cases for the relationship between “what the teacher wants” and “what the sangha wants”:

1. The teacher wants – the sangha decides;
2. The sangha decides – the teacher supplements;
3. The teacher wants – the sangha disagrees – the teacher reconsiders;
4. The sangha wants – the teacher disagrees – the teacher reconsiders;
5. The sangha wants – brings it to the teacher for final decision (rarely happens).
   The two opposite cases (the teacher forces his will, or the teacher does not want but the sangha still does it) are both not allowed; the spirit is to rely on the Dharma, not on the person, and the collective insight of the sangha is more important than the individual’s opinion.

Sexual energy is also a common energy supplied by food and can be used for many activities such as

• learning, studying sutras, learning languages
• social work, helping the elderly, children, the sick
• meditation practice, which requires essence, energy, and spirit to concentrate and give rise to insight

When we know how to redirect this common source of energy toward our ideal, our bodhicitta, sexual energy is no longer entirely channeled into desire, and we become healthier and happier.

The four foundational stones of monastic life:

1. Brahmacarya (celibacy)
2. Solitude
3. Obedience
4. Voluntary poverty

Practicing voluntary poverty includes eating vegetarian food, prioritizing organic food, and protecting the environment (saving water, electricity, fuel).

In a multicultural Sangha, it is not about East or West, but about being skillful and appropriate to the psychology and needs of the practitioner; each individual tries to learn new languages, try new dishes, share and harmonize in order to build a happy and harmonious Sangha.

The cause of family breakdown and many mishaps in the Sangha is not necessarily due to ordination itself, but rather due to a lack of methods for managing sexual energy, because this is a natural function that exists in both our human and animal nature. Over 2,600 years of tradition, the Sangha has developed insight to manage this energy, from moderate eating, conserving vital energy, to the practice of walking meditation, sitting meditation, and open dialogue. In Plum Village, it has been recorded that in 22 years, three young monks and two young nuns had to “return home” because they did not wholeheartedly engage in the practice, and we always organize a tea meditation to bid farewell in a spirit of protection, not punishment.

Compared to the three Catholic orders, each code of conduct mentions chastity and concepts such as exclusive relationship or inclusive love, showing that Buddhism stands out with the four elements of true love:

1. loving-kindness (maitri)
2. compassion (karuna)
3. joy (mudita)
4. equanimity (upekkha)

Daily practice and measures to protect the Sangha include:

• observing the precept on sexual misconduct, and revealing when necessary to the Sangha in order to be rescued
• organizing tea meditation, New Year’s Day ceremonies with the Eight Reverences and a commitment to mutual protection
• studying medicine and psychology to understand the consequences of nocturnal emission, conserving vital energy, and transforming sexual energy (sublimation)
• establishing an internal committee in collaboration with outside experts to build training programs and Dharma discussions on sexual energy

The sharing focuses on the system of practice of y chi su (spiritual mentor), y chi de (spiritual younger brother), and y chi muoi (spiritual younger sister) within the Sangha, with the purpose of building brotherhood and sisterhood, transmitting the practice, and supporting each other. Each Dharma teacher describes their own way of organizing, the time for weekly meetings, forms of activities (brewing tea, eating cakes, writing sharing articles, Q&A), topics for mindfulness contemplation and walking meditation, as well as how to observe and listen to each individual in order to support the transformation of monastics. The community is encouraged to learn from one another and to inherit the spirit of “the elder guiding the younger” as in the original tradition of the early Sangha.

List of the number of y chi muoi/y chi de and some main features of the teachers’ activities:

1. Sister Linh Nghiem: 7 y chi muoi, often asks about the practice needs of the younger sisters, brews Thai tea and encourages sharing of difficulties and weekly experiences
2. Sister Chan Duc: 7 y chi muoi, mostly Westerners, mainly uses exercises from the Deer Park Rains Retreat, meets individually when needed and adjusts skillful means
3. Sister Dinh Nghiem: 6 y chi muoi, lets the group decide their own program, often sits together, reads and writes articles for each other, builds sisterhood through written exchanges
4. Sister Kinh Nghiem: 3 y chi muoi (ages 20–50), meets not on a fixed schedule but in the afternoon when free, sits together drinking tea, creates a family-like atmosphere among sisters
5. Sister Dieu Nghiem: 8 (later reduced to 7) y chi muoi, communicates mainly in English, interacts 7 days a week, asks at the beginning of the season about practice goals, changes mentees so the sisters have diverse exposure
6. Sister Doan Nghiem: 7 y chi muoi, declined 1 person, emphasizes honesty and authenticity, avoids formality, shares topics of mindfulness contemplation, prepares tea and cakes, and keeps the time seriously
7. Brother Phap Dang (Phap Van): each y chi su has a maximum of 6 members (4 y chi de, 1 y chi su, 1 assistant), meets Wednesday evenings, sequentially reflects on monastic life, sitting meditation, walking meditation, and how to interact with sisters
8. Sister (Cambodia): 2 groups, 5 novice aspirants meet Friday and Monday noon, 5 ordained members practice together with Brother Phap Don, introduce weekly topics, guide on monastic deportment, meditation cushions, and shamatha/vipashyana meditation
9. The whole community: all practitioners are encouraged to become y chi for someone younger, to rely on each other like a herd of buffalo crossing a river, recognizing the strength that grows from the community of the Sangha throughout the retreat.

A happy meeting is a fundamental gathering that determines the destiny and happiness of the sangha, with the purpose of finding ways to bring happiness to the sangha and to transform suffering. This meeting is not only joyful during its course but also truly helps to resolve the difficulties of the community, through the practice of mindfulness, not through singing or entertainment. The number of hours and meetings is determined according to need; meetings can last for many hours or take place over several sessions if necessary, but always with attention to saving time, avoiding unnecessary prolongation that leads to fatigue.

One of the key techniques to increase the effectiveness of the meeting:

1. Establish a specialized committee (5–10 people) to study the issues that need to be addressed in advance, then bring the survey project and recommendations to the community in the meeting for discussion, revision, and quick decision-making.
2. Proposal: present the project clearly, ask the community, “Is this project clear and complete enough to be accepted or rejected?”, then invite those who wish to revise it to work with the committee to perfect it before voting.
3. The skill of the facilitator, secretary, and rapporteur: invite the bell at the right time, cut off unnecessary speech when needed, encourage those with good ideas to speak to the point, and limit off-topic comments to no more than three minutes.

Frank speech in the meeting is encouraged because this is the space and time for each member of the sangha to contribute their insight. Participants must speak with loving speech and humility, while also practicing deep listening. If a proposal has been entrusted to someone to carry out, but someone else “oversteps” and does it first, the affected person may go directly to discuss; if it cannot be resolved, it may be brought to the community for adjustment, in order to prevent recurrence and to maintain a happy and effective meeting situation.

The seed of the prodigal child—sadness and self-pity—is present in each person, often transmitted through many generations. When that seed arises, the thought of wanting to leave home, leave the country, leave the sangha, or leave the community is very normal and should not be blamed. I have gone through such periods many times, including times when I wanted to leave the country forever because of jealousy and opposition, but thanks to the love of my root teacher and the practice, the seed of self-pity was gradually transformed.

• The short story of the blind young woman and the young scholar is based on the following images:
  • open the book to page 12
  • take three breaths (in – out – in – out – in – out)
  • two pearls appear under the pillow
  • rub the two pearls on the eyes to restore sight
  • the miracle only happens when the young woman cannot see the young scholar
  • each time she meets him, the two pearls are lost again
  • the young scholar must go into exile to preserve the young woman’s sight

The 1964 poem titled Humbly Bowing to Return fully depicts the state of the naive young man:

• two hands symbolize love, heart, mind, and life
• many times have shed blood on the scale of love
• wish to return them and pray they are not crushed
• love that does not calculate, falling on wild grass graves as well as on burning roses
• the old wound is not yet healed but still returns like a gentle surrender

I emphasize that the practice and care of the “prodigal child seeds” in each person is the key to preserving happiness and brotherhood, regardless of any difficulties, jealousy, or opposition around us.

Sitting meditation nourishes and heals right in each breath, each moment of being present here and now; it is not something we have to wait many years for. Every breath, every step during walking meditation brings joy, called thiền duyệt or the joy of meditation, and it is a mistake to think that we must endure hardship now in order to buy happiness in the future. In dynamic sitting meditation, there are four words: Chỉ Quán Đả Tọa—just sit down, do not struggle, do not seek, awaken mindfulness, concentration, and insight—be aware that you are alive and present—happiness endures, as in the phrase que la joie demeure.

The Sangha gathers to preserve the life of the Dharma—taking inspiration from the Va-ri people, who meet regularly, are united, happy, uphold the law, and respect hierarchy. For a meeting to always have happiness, brotherhood, and communication, it is necessary to

• keep the meeting short and end on time
• choose a facilitator skilled in leading the meeting and an assistant with a bell
• limit each sharing to a maximum of 3 minutes, and invite the bell at the third minute
• use loving speech, humility, and speak frankly and directly about what needs to be said in the meeting

There are three channels of communication within the larger Sangha—novices, novice nuns, bhikshus, and bhikshunis:

1. Happy meetings of novices and novice nuns so everyone can share briefly, and then send their input to the council of fully ordained members
2. Deep listening—each month, elder brothers and sisters sit and listen deeply to the hearts of the novices and novice nuns
3. Dharma teacher of reliance—each novice and novice nun has a Dharma teacher of reliance, chosen according to affinity, for personal guidance and practice

During the three-month Rains Retreat at Deer Park, the sangha practiced many Dharma doors such as chanting “Homage to the Tathagata,” walking meditation, beginning anew, and observing the precepts. At the same time, we came together to discuss the urgent needs of the sangha: from building brotherhood and collective energy of practice, to strengthening the inner resources of each individual through the island within and the mind of Bodhi. As the sangha grows in number, it is necessary to balance simplicity in daily life with a level of organization clear enough to maintain the precepts, communication, and effective implementation of collective decisions.

The topics of learning and practice most emphasized by the sangha include:

1. Developing the capacity for collective organization to sustain trust and shared energy (thematic meetings, mindfulness record-keeping, archiving and following up on decisions)
2. Nurturing brotherhood in daily life: meeting, sharing, playing, supporting one another, maintaining a gentle spirit and openness
3. Arranging classes in Dharma, Vinaya, and practice appropriate to the level of novices and bhikshus, helping both Western and Vietnamese young people to take deeper root in the Way
4. Preserving the roots of tradition (precepts, simple living) while applying progressive elements to suit the Western context without losing our identity
5. Supporting members who are suffering, discouraged, or unstable in their practice by encouraging dialogue, caring for the island within, and providing clear direction through a guiding teacher.

The Dharmaguptaka School and the Tamraṣāṭīya School (Theravāda/Sthavira) are two sibling branches of the Vibhajyavāda school, which arose about 140 years after the Buddha’s Parinirvana. The Dharmaguptaka School was transmitted to China and then to Vietnam, bringing with it the Four-Part Vinaya, which most Vietnamese monastics study and practice. The Tamraṣāṭīya School was transmitted southward; Tamraṣāṭīya means “copper” (tamra) + “leaf” (ṣāṭīya), because their robes were reddish-yellow, resembling the color of copper. Later, it was renamed the Theravāda School. Comparing the two Vinaya collections, we see that the twenty sections (khandhakas) are almost identical:

• 1. Ordination Section – Great Section (Mahākhandhaka)
• 2. Recitation Section – Uposatha Section
• 3. Rains Retreat Section – Entering the Rains (vassa)
• 4. Invitation Section
• 5. Suspension Section
• 6. Robes Section – Medicine Section
• 7. Medicine Section – Kaṭhina Robe Section
• 8. Kaṭhina Section
• 9. Kuddāmiya Section
• 10. Campa Section
• 11. Kha-trach Section – Saṅghakamma Section
• 12. Human Section – Separate Residence Section
• 13. Depository Section – Miscellaneous Section
• 14. Value Section – Value Recitation Section
• 15. Schism Section
• 16. Dispute Resolution Section
• 17. Bhikkhunī Section
• 18. Dharma Section – Ritual Dharma Section
• 19. Lodging Section – Sleeping and Sitting Equipment Section
• 20. Miscellaneous Section – Miscellaneous Matters Section

Regarding cognition (pramāṇa), there are four main types:

1. Direct perception (pratyakṣa): correct intuition is true direct perception, incorrect is pseudo-direct perception.
2. Inference (anumāna): inductive/deductive reasoning, correct or incorrect.
3. Scriptural authority (āgama): revelation of the sages.
4. Non-valid cognition: mistaken pseudo-direct or inferential perception.

Along with these is “practical cognition,” that is, the practice itself. “Sanghakaya cognition” synthesizes direct perception, inference, scriptural authority, and practical cognition of the practicing community, and is the only “lamp” on which we can rely. Taking refuge in the Sangha means taking refuge in the collective insight, which does not oppose individual insight, because the insight of each practitioner is an integral part of the collective insight of the Sangha.

The Pali Vinaya of the Dharmaguptaka School consists of five parts called the five books. The first two parts discuss the precepts and the details of their meanings, while the fifth part is a practical summary. The third part is called the Mahāvagga (Great Section), which contains 10 Skandhakas (Pali: Khandhaka), and the fourth part is the Cullavagga (Lesser Section), which contains 12 Skandhakas. The term Matrika (Ma-dak-la-ya) means “mother,” and is used to refer to the entire Vinaya collection, such as Vinaya Matrika, from which the sub-chapters, the Skandhakas, arise.

The Mahāvagga (Great Section) has 10 Skandhakas:

1. Mahākhandhaka (Great Skandhaka): Ten verses recounting the Buddha’s story, relating to teacher and disciple, and the transmission of the major precepts
2. Uposatha Khandhaka: Preparation for reciting the precepts every half month, maintaining purity and harmony
3. Vassapāṇāyaka Khandhaka: Organizing the rains retreat during the rainy season
4. Pavarana Khandhaka: The ceremony of atonement and seeking guidance after the rains retreat
5. Bihāra-Thammā Khandhaka: Principles for the use of footwear and protective items
6. Bhesajja Khandhaka: Instructions for the use of medicines, dietary regulations during the Buddha’s travels
7. Kathina Khandhaka: Procedures for receiving new robes after the rains retreat
8. Civara Khandhaka: Regulations for offering, types, colors, and distribution of robes
9. Campeyya Khandhaka: Rectification of Sanghakamma in the village of Champa, lawful procedures for Sanghakamma
10. Kosambi Khandhaka: Recording the schism of the Kosambi Sangha, encouraging reconciliation

The Cullavagga (Lesser Section) has 12 Skandhakas:

1. Kamma Khandhaka: Types of Sanghakamma, dealing with grave offenses, unrepentant, and those who do not abandon wrong views
2. Parivāsa Khandhaka: Special residence, Manatta, Marāja, and rehabilitation
3. Samuccaya Khandhaka: Methods for handling complex offenses and concealing recidivism
4. Samatha Khandhaka: Putting an end to disputes and quarrels within the Sangha
5. Kuddhaka-vatthu Khandhaka: 110 cases of offenses and their specific resolutions
6. Senāsana Khandhaka: Dwellings, beds, pillows, and management of the Sangha’s property
7. Saṅghabhedaka Khandhaka: The story of Devadatta’s schism and three attempts to harm the Buddha
8. Vatta Khandhaka: 55 daily practices such as dining hall etiquette, almsround, and toilets
9. Pātimokkha-ṭṭhapanā Khandhaka: Temporarily suspending the recitation of the precepts when there are impure members
10. Bhikkhunī Khandhaka: Establishment of the Bhikkhuni Sangha, Gotamī’s request for ordination, and the Eight Revered Rules
11. Pañcāsatikā Khandhaka: The first council (500 monks), proposal to reduce the precepts
12. Sattasatikā Khandhaka: The second council (700 monks), raising ten unlawful matters of the Eastern region

The idea of a multicultural Sangha began with the image of a circle symbolizing a community of both Asian and Euro-American roots, sharing the aspiration to live happily, peacefully, and harmoniously. Each member, whether of Jewish, Vietnamese, European, or American descent, is “seeking their true home,” going beyond the comforts of culture (food, language, customs). That true home is a place of deep dwelling, leading to the second fruit of the four fruits—the fruit of having arrived, having come home—that is, happiness in the present moment.

The Dharma doors of practice emphasize three gradual steps:

1. Peaceful abiding: sitting still, without the desire to run away.
2. True home: with each breath, each step, returning to our roots.
3. Communication and relationship: embracing and accepting ourselves before establishing genuine connection with our brothers and sisters.

When each individual in the Sangha has “arrived and come home,” the Sangha becomes a Dharma instrument: accompanying all cultural elements, helping each person both accept their roots and transform the world—whether in Asia or Europe, in Buddhism or in daily life—by the wisdom of “dwelling happily in the present moment” rather than longing for a future paradise.

After the Buddha entered Nirvana, 100 years later, Buddhism split into over 20 sects, each with its own expanded Vinaya serving as the foundation for its Vinaya literature. To this day, only six collections of Vinaya texts in Pāli, Chinese, Sanskrit, and Tibetan remain available for study, collectively called the canonical Vinaya literature. The second part is the Pratimokṣa sūtra (precepts sutra), a recitative text consisting of an introduction, procedures for sanghakarma, recitation of the precepts, questions, and encouragement. At Plum Village, the precepts sutra of the Dharmaguptaka school (Four-Part Vinaya) has been renewed, with 250 precepts for bhikshus and 348 precepts for bhikshunis. The third part is the non-canonical Vinaya literature (Vinaya commentaries), including commentaries and expositions such as the Samantapāsādikā, the Sutra on the Causes and Conditions of the Vinaya, and so on.

1. The six complete expanded Vinaya collections of the schools

   • Tāmraśāṭīya/Theravāda school in Pāli
   • Dharmaguptaka school – including the Four-Part Vinaya
   • Mahāsāṃghika school
   • Mahīśāsaka school
   • Sarvāstivāda school
   • Mūlasarvāstivāda school

2. Eleven Vinaya commentarial works and expositions in the Chinese Tripitaka

   1. Samantapāsādikā (Buddhaghosa)
   2. Śikṣāsamuccaya Vinaya-vibhaṣā (18 volumes)
   3. Sutra on the Causes and Conditions of the Vinaya (10 volumes)
   4. Sarvāstivāda Vinaya-vibhaṣā (9 volumes)
   5. Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya Compendium (14 volumes)
   6. Upāli’s Questions to the Buddha Sutra
   7. Buddha’s Abhidharma Sutra (2 volumes)
   8. Vinaya Mother Sutra (8 volumes)
   9. Vinaya Twenty-Two Clarifications Treatise
   10. Śāriputra’s Questions Sutra
   11. Buddha’s Teaching on the Five Dharmas for Bhikṣus Sutra

Vinaya literature, called the Vinaya Pitaka, consists of three main parts:

1. The Broad Vinaya (Quảng luật)—the fundamental part of the Vinaya Pitaka, divided into three sections:

• Sūtra Vibhanga—explains the nature and origin of each precept;
• Skandhaka—comprises 22 chapters regulating the daily life of the Sangha (such as the rains retreat, robes, medicines, etc.);
• Parivāra—19 chapters discussing various detailed matters.

2. Prātimokṣa Sūtra and Karma Vacana—para-canonical recitation texts, including the preface, procedures for communal acts (karma), questions, conclusions, and selections of the Buddha’s teachings.
3. Treatises and Commentaries—works that explain and discuss the precepts and the Vinaya, composed by scholars and venerable disciples.

The Broad Vinaya has been transmitted and recorded in the following major schools:

• Theravāda—Pāli version, with Romanized edition (Oldenberg), Thai, and Burmese versions;
• Sarvāstivāda—The Ten Recitations Vinaya, 61 fascicles in Chinese (translated in 404);
• Dharmaguptaka—The Four-Part Vinaya, 60 fascicles in Chinese (translated 410–413), including six sections: Bhikṣu Vinaya, Bhikṣuṇī Vinaya, 20 Skandhaka, Miscellaneous Vinaya Rules, Section of Regulations, and Ekottara Vinaya;
• Mahāsaṅghika—The Broad Vinaya in two parts: Bhikṣu Vinaya and Bhikṣuṇī Vinaya (translated 416–418);
• Mahīśāsaka—The Five-Part Vinaya, 30 fascicles (translated 423), divided into five: Bhikṣu Vinaya, Bhikṣuṇī Vinaya, nine procedures for receiving precepts, seven procedures for resolving disputes and communal acts, eight methods for resolving disruptions and Vinaya assemblies.

February 6th, 2004, at the Pacific Meditation Hall, Deer Park Monastery, the Northern California Gathering takes place over three or four days each year, with the participation of six Vietnamese monks and nuns from Deer Park and Maple Forest Monastery. Most of the attendees are practitioners who have been ordained for 30–40 years, living alone, without a sangha, yet have not fallen away, creating confidence that the monastic life can be sustained even while working and having to struggle alone with the difficulties of body and mind. Sister Chau Nghiem wishes for the Plum Village and Deer Park practitioners to meet these venerable ones to strengthen their faith.

In the Rule of Saint Benedict, there are four types of monastics:

1. Cenobite: living in a monastery, practicing according to a rule and under the authority of an abbot.
2. Anchorite or hermit: having been trained for a long time in the monastery, now living alone and struggling with the weaknesses of the flesh and wandering thoughts, relying on the grace of God.
3. Sarabaite: self-practicing monastics, without rules, whose nature is soft like lead, indulging in desires, calling what they like holy and what they dislike unwholesome.
4. Gyrovague: wandering monks, roaming from province to province, staying three or four days in each place, slaves to their own will and desires, worse than the Sarabaite.

The Christian and Buddhist experience both affirm the essential importance of the sangha: the support, illumination, and great joy that comes from participating in the Prajnaparamita career of the World-Honored One. The Vietnamese elder monks and nuns who have practiced for many years and now live together with Plum Village are a precious support for the Western sangha, especially for young people who are still uncertain about their ability to remain steadfast throughout a lifetime of monastic practice. Sharing experiences, Dharma discussions, and lessons from the Rule of Saint Benedict help everyone recognize their place in the sangha and find the faith and strength not to abandon the path of the Dharma.

Just stopping, refrain, don’t do it; when we stop, it is “trì” – preserving intact (as in holding the alms bowl, upholding the precepts); if we do not stop but “tác” – act – then we violate the precepts, causing them to be damaged. For things that should not be done, we follow “chỉ trì, tác phạm”: not killing, not stealing, not engaging in sexual misconduct… if we stop (chỉ), we are able to uphold the precepts; if we act (tác), we violate them. Conversely, for things that must be done, “chỉ phạm, tác trì”: for example, reciting the precepts, going into the rains retreat, helping those in distress… if we stop (chỉ), we violate; only by acting (tác) can we uphold the precepts.

The practice of the precepts is expanded into three groups called the Threefold Pure Precepts (Tam Tụ Tịnh Giới):

1. The Precept of Restraining Evil Conduct (Nhiếp Luật Nghi giới) – don’t do (refrain from all evil) and maintain the precepts, deportment
2. The Precept of Cultivating Goodness (Nhiếp Thiện Pháp giới) – do what is wholesome (kusala), intervene when seeing suffering
3. The Precept of Benefiting All Beings (Nhiêu Ích Hữu Tình giới) – great compassion, reaching out to rescue and reduce the suffering of all beings

The traditional set of precepts for bhikshus is 250 (Dharmaguptaka tradition), for bhikshunis 348, Theravāda tradition 227; the number increases as the community recognizes new problems that need to be addressed to protect the Sangha. The Buddha was always flexible, adapting the precepts according to circumstances – for example, allowing the carrying of dry food when crossing the desert, permitting cooking when hungry, and using a steward to hold money.

A novice records… a feeling of loneliness, wishing to be oneself in the stream of practice. He shares that he studies the Dharma to understand more deeply, not because he is “forced,” and strives to confidently develop his own unique talents.

The bell inviting us to the morning sitting meditation resounds a great bell half an hour before the official meditation time, marking the path to the meditation hall as the meditation hall itself, and strictly prohibiting cars, including golf carts, from entering during the time from 2:15 to 2:30, both in the morning and afternoon, totaling nearly 5 hours of car-free time each day. The caretaking teams and Dharma teachers have the responsibility to block the road, placing Bodhisattvas guarding the path so that lay practitioners are also aware to observe the regulations, in order to protect the pure space for walking meditation and to increase the joy for both the Sangha and lay practitioners.

Life in the Sangha always upholds the spirit of “a drop of water in the river”: sitting meditation, listening to Dharma talks, eating, chanting—all must be done with the community, not separately. The Sangha is not an ordinary Vietnamese temple but a place to sow the seeds of the Dharma into Western civilization, needing to transform the forms of solemnity, rituals, chanting, eating, and walking to suit the capacities of Westerners, in order to engage in dialogue and dispel the layers of “garbage” of suffering, despair, and discouragement created by modern culture.

Some principles for revising the precepts to serve the two purposes of protecting the Sangha and bringing ease to practitioners:

1. The precepts must be a means of mindfulness, not becoming attachment to rules or mere ritual.
2. The precepts need to be adapted to circumstances (gradually individually liberating, not fixed everywhere).
3. Precepts are established to counteract wrongdoings, and can be revised, supplemented, or abolished when no longer appropriate.
4. The revised code of precepts is called Universal Ease (Prātimokṣa), meaning that step by step, in every place, it leads to freedom and happiness.

This morning, walking meditation on the fragrant path among the mountains and forests, between the moon and the mountains, with just two feet, two lungs, and mindfulness, one can enter the Pure Land right in the present moment. Meditation and the Pure Land become one; there is no need to wait for the future, for each step of walking meditation is already walking in the present Pure Land. The song “Taking Refuge in Amitabha” with its six words and pauses is used for walking meditation, with the rhythm of three steps per breath—expressing the joy and the capacity to nourish happiness right within body and mind.

1. Taking refuge in A 2. Mi-ta pause 3. In the wondrous ultimate dimension pause 4. The slope returns, the heart’s slope turns back pause

Building the sangha begins with our own joy and connecting brothers and sisters in the weekly “happy gathering.” This is not a meeting to solve work, but a milestone to nourish brotherhood and sisterhood, to enhance the quality of happiness, and to avoid the trap of formality. Novices, novice nuns, bhikshus, bhikshunis, and lay friends—all have the right to organize and participate—including on the day of “Upavasatha” (Uposatha) to purify the precepts body, maintain the order of practice, and keep the fourfold sangha strong. Walking in groups of five, seven, or ten in the Pure Land is not a dream, but the reality we are living.

Today is the last day of the sangha’s trip. This evening there will be a Dharma talk in Denver, then we will rest before departing in the morning for Deer Park, Maple Forest, or the Pure Land of the Dharma Nectar. During this journey, brothers and sisters have deepened and nurtured their love for one another and learned from both positive and negative experiences. The focus of individual practice includes:

• The weekly meetings of bhikshus, bhikshunis, novice monks and novice nuns are the lifeblood of the sangha, even more essential than Dharma talks, Dharma discussions, or walking meditation;
• When a small symptom appears in the sangha, it must be spoken about immediately so it can be addressed, not allowed to become a bigger problem;
• The “elder” precept on the internet–email is a preventive precept: there must always be a second person present, and each monastery should have only one shared email address.

Financial and communal regulations:

1. Whatever lay friends offer as dana should be given to the Sangha Fund so that all members may benefit; it is not to be received privately, even if there is personal affection.
2. On the occasion of offering to the sangha, lay friends are encouraged to learn to offer equally, without distinction between senior monks, bhikshus, or novices.
3. The abbot plays the role of “the mother’s hand,” keeping a reserve fund to help younger brothers or sisters in difficulty; all personal funds (allowances, social security, etc.) are contributed to the common fund, and the sangha guarantees 100% care for everyone’s health.
4. Consumption of arts–books–DVDs must be reviewed by the teaching committee; only educational materials are kept, and all cultural “garbage” (martial arts films, nostalgic music) must be absolutely destroyed within the monastery.
5. Study is to be prioritized with inner learning: reading sutras, commentaries, and books of the root teacher or guiding teacher first; outer learning, worldly books are only introduced as samples for research, not to be read indiscriminately.

The third meeting of the sangha at YMCA Camp continued the practice of reflecting on what has been lived, heard, seen, and practiced during the journey. The previous two meetings at Stonehill College and Garrett Divinity School helped the community to heal wounds, develop trust in the sangha, and find ways to strengthen the life of the sangha body. The retreat for law enforcement officers in California opened up new opportunities for Dharma teaching and mutual training so that both teacher and students could grow together, emphasizing that the journey is not only about working but also about training.

The most important factor is to build a strong, autonomous monastic sangha without needing intervention from the Teacher, thanks to the application of the “tac phap yet ma” procedure – all decisions related to community life are made by the council of fully ordained members. Currently, there are eight monasteries (Vững Chãi, Trong Sáng, Sơn Hạ, Xóm Thượng, Rừng Phong, Thanh Sơn, Từ Nghiêm, Cam Lộ) at about 35–50% capacity for self-governance; the common goal is to surpass 50%, moving toward 70% so that the sangha can flow like a river in one direction, nourishing brotherhood and transmitting insight to the younger generation.

In the practice of living together, each member must take initiative in mindfulness of breathing, mindful steps, and mindful feelings, avoiding the position of being a victim. The three basic principles of the sangha meeting are:

• All opinions are received, but the final decision rests in the hands of the fully ordained members
• The minority must follow the majority once consensus has been reached
• Avoid saying “they” and only use “we,” “the sangha,” as oneself in order to form a strong community

I am very happy to see many familiar faces again on this trip, because it is an opportunity to live together, work together, and build brotherhood. These trips are not only to serve the people, but are also part of the training program so that each practitioner, including myself, can gain more experience and insight. In the West, most people see Buddhism as a kind of Protestant Buddhism, needing only lay Dharma teachers and not monastics; Zen centers such as Rochester or San Francisco have only priests (who come from lay friends) but do not have a true sangha. Meanwhile, the Plum Village sangha practices the principle of non-possession, sharing all material comforts and insight according to the Six Harmonies, living as a family, a kind of “spiritual communism” to preserve the original spirit of the Buddha’s way.

For Buddhism to take deep root in the West, there needs to be a true monastic community. I emphasize the mission of the monastic sangha—both monastic communities are the foundation of the Fourfold Sangha—to transmit the original spirit, which is very different from the lay Buddhism approach of teachers such as

• Jack Kornfield
• Joseph Goldstein
• Zen Master Suzuki
• Zen Master Mayumi
  as well as dedicated lay teachers from the Theravada, Zen, Tibetan, and Korean traditions. Exemplary lay friends who understand and cherish monastics include
• Pritam Singh
• Larry Ward
• Jacques Lalo
• Santum
  To ensure continuity, a monastic trust will be established, dedicated to nurturing and educating monks and nuns, funded by contributions from Vietnamese and Western lay friends. This is the path for the Plum Village sangha to continue the original tradition, not just as a temporary movement but as a deep and enduring root of the Buddha’s way in the West.

The land of emptiness, the country of the present moment, is an “unconquerable nation”—it is lost only when we no longer wish to dwell there, and it is restored only when we invest our whole heart and energy into it. When we abandon the present moment, whether for a few times a day or for many years, we lose our citizenship in that land, and it is very rare to regain it in this lifetime if we do not cherish it.

Within the Sangha exists a collective energy capable of healing both individual and collective wounds. A retreat—especially the three-month Winter Retreat—must be organized with the highest priority given to living together, so that:

• wounds have the opportunity to heal,
• brotherhood and sisterhood in the community are strengthened,
• only what has been refined and is beautiful is transmitted.

Key points emphasized:

• only transmit what is fully ripe, to avoid sowing further suffering,
• the strength of the Sangha is increased when technology is a tool, not a master,
• celebrating 25 years of Plum Village with 2,500 English books sold out and a second edition being printed,
• Thay’s health has improved after treatment with Mycostatin and Flagyl for fungal and bacterial infections,
• in the spirit of mindfulness, chanting and meditation songs also help nourish the energy of healing.

Each time we hear the bell or sit in meditation, the practice consists of three main steps to invite all the cells in our body to participate, not just the ears and consciousness:

• listen to the bell as a signal to generate *mindfulness* that permeates the brain cells, heart, kidneys, skin, and so on

• allow *concentration* to spread like a laser beam—that is, photons coming into phase in a common *field*, behaving as a single photon

• from that unified state arises a powerful *energy of concentration*, capable of cutting through attachments, bringing joy, freedom, and non-self

This concept has been demonstrated by quantum science and neuroscience through two examples:

1. a laser operates thanks to stimulated emission of radiation—photons are stimulated to emit in phase, creating a powerful beam of light

2. the formation of a *Bose-Einstein condensate* at a temperature of -273.15°C causes atoms to lose their individuality and behave as a unified mass

3. PET scans show that happiness increases activity in the left frontal lobe, while anger activates the right frontal lobe—meaning we can transform anger into loving-kindness

Practicing sitting meditation, walking meditation, or mindful eating can all help us reach the state of cellular coherence, bringing peace and healing to the body, while also transforming individual habits into the collective energy of the sangha.

Each monastic contains within themselves three bodies – the Buddha body, the Dharma body, and the Sangha body – all of which need to be cared for so that the seed of enlightenment can sprout and grow.

1. The Buddha body is the seed of enlightenment, though fragile, it can be nourished through insight and the practice of mindfulness.
2. The Dharma body is the living reality in our daily life: walking, breathing, speaking – all must be accompanied by mindfulness so that insight is not lost.
3. The Sangha body is the body of the monastic community; one needs to take refuge in the Sangha, rely on the precepts and the guidance of the community in order not to practice alone.

Building the Sangha is the most noble work of a monastic, simply called Sangha building.

• Brotherly love: nourishing each other through simple gestures – offering praise, rejoicing in each other’s merits, supporting one another’s shortcomings.
• The practice of shining light: the community gathers, each person offers their reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of the practitioner, then writes a shining light letter consisting of three parts: watering the positive seeds, pointing out the weaknesses, and offering methods of practice.
• Continuous mindfulness practice: each step, each breath, each smile helps to nourish oneself and the Sangha.

Building a meditation hall or translating sutras is not yet the essence if there is not a strong brotherhood. Each sitting meditation, walking meditation, Dharma discussion must be accompanied by the question: does this practice help to nourish body and mind and build the Sangha? If not, we must stop and adjust so that we do not starve ourselves and the community of practice.

The path of monastic life is the path of ethics, of spirituality, a nonviolent revolution based on the mental formation of non-harming (ahimsa/avihimsa) – that is, the mind of great compassion, not causing harm to oneself or to any living beings. Among the fifty-one mental formations, non-harming is the last wholesome mental formation in the group of eleven wholesome mental formations, equivalent to the mind of great compassion. Non-harming is not passive resignation; it requires a readiness to sacrifice oneself in order to save living beings. Siddhartha (the Buddha) refused the political machinery, which was full of craving, anger, and ignorance, choosing first the spiritual path, and only then helping the world. Although not crushed by the machinery of politics, a monastic can still become lost in the machinery of study and practice, causing the beginner’s mind – the original bodhi mind – to wither away if there is a lack of right thinking and mindfulness.

The path of the eightfold noble practice (The Noble Eightfold Path) is presented through three closely connected elements:

• mindfulness – the capacity to dwell in the present moment in order to recognize all motivations, freeing oneself from craving, anger, ignorance, and the pursuit of fame and gain
• concentration – maintaining insight into impermanence, non-self, and interdependent co-arising in each breath, each step, each action
• insight – arising from concentration, a view that is in accord with reality, giving rise to the true substance of the mind of loving kindness and compassion
  Practicing mindfulness–concentration–insight helps us generate love each day, so that our words, actions, and the only legacy we leave behind when we “pass away” is not worldly achievements, but a compassionate heart, words of forgiveness, and actions that relieve suffering.

Today, I would like to introduce the concept of the machine as a dangerous political-religious apparatus, capable of crushing the wholehearted aspirations of patriotic youth.

1. The Chinese Revolution of 1911 marked the transition from the feudal Qing dynasty to the Republic, with Puyi abdicating and Sun Yat-sen becoming the first president before yielding to Chiang Kai-shek.
2. The two parties—the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party—first allied and then struggled for power, leading to internal purges in which hundreds of thousands of patriotic youths lost their lives.
3. Vietnamese youth before 1945 joined both the Vietnamese Kuomintang and the Vietnamese Communist Party, swept into the international machinery directed by Moscow, and then experienced mutual purges—exemplified in the novel “The Thanh Thuy River” (by Nhat Linh), where three travelers received orders to eliminate each other on their journey home.

From the political machine to the religious machine, Vietnamese Buddhism was also not spared from oppression and elimination:

1. Venerable Thich Mat The—the author of “A Brief History of Vietnamese Buddhism”—was surrounded and starved until he had to emigrate; many young devotees were not allowed to be ordained during the time of division.
2. Elder Thieu Chuu—the chief editor of the Sino-Vietnamese Dictionary, who cared for seventy orphans at Quan Su Pagoda—was forced to commit suicide, showing how the machinery of authority viewed religion as “opium.”

The key lesson: love and idealism are only genuine when inseparable from the lives of our compatriots. The spirit of non-attachment to views—as taught in the Diamond Sutra and the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings—is the path for the Dharma not to become a fanatic machine, helping us transcend all isms and dogmas.

Three foundational questions to begin the journey of practice

1. Who am I?
2. What am I doing here?
3. Where am I going, in which direction am I heading?

In daily life, we easily fall into the illusion that we know who we are and the path we are walking. Practice is the art of looking deeply into our perceptions to see our mistakes, to correct them, and to awaken insight, thereby clearly recognizing our true destination.

The path of a monastic and of Siddhartha is propelled by two unchanging sources of energy:

• love: love for our ancestors, culture, homeland, family, and ourselves
• revolution: the determination to break down the old structures full of afflictions, to build a new order based on peace, happiness, and social justice

Unlike political revolutions, which are full of violence and conflict, the revolution of the Buddha’s way is a nonviolent revolution, beginning with the transformation of our own hearts—letting go of anger, craving, and ignorance. The mind of awakening, the mind of loving kindness, and the spirit of brotherhood—as manifested in the nonviolent, self-sacrificing act of Thich Quang Duc and the poem The Fire of Compassion—are powerful energies for transforming both the individual and society in a sincere and wholesome way.

This retreat invites each person to contemplate these three foundational questions, to kindle the energy of love and the will for nonviolent revolution, so that the youthfulness of our spirit does not fade, our hands remain unstained by blood, and each step we take brings our entire lineage, ancestors, Sangha, and future generations to the shore of peace and happiness.

Thay tells the story of his younger brother named Song, who just passed away in Chicago at nearly seventy years old. Song had five daughters, affectionately called the “Five Dragon Princesses,” and possessed three virtues: gentleness, filial piety, and steadfastness. After many years apart, when Song came to America to study, he gave up beer, alcohol, martial arts films, and cigarettes, listened only to dharma talks and Plum Village music, diligently practiced, and always cherished memories of the old mustard flower garden full of butterflies. Thay affirms that Song continues to be present through us, through his children, grandchildren, and disciples who inherit his three virtues.

Thay shares the plan to publish a message of compassion and forgiveness in the New York Times on September 25th, with a full-page ad costing $40,000 and a quarter-page the next day, calling on America to respond to violence with compassion. According to a survey, 71% of Americans support retaliation, while Senator John McCain declared no tolerance for the enemy. Thay attended a talk at Riverside Church on “responding to violence with compassion,” quoting the Gospel of Saint Luke: “Father, please forgive them because they know not what they do,” and the Sermon on the Mount about loving your enemies, while encouraging two forms of forgiveness—declaration and programs to care for victims.

Thay guides the practice of mindfulness through three basic methods:

• Walking meditation: using “the Buddha’s feet,” synchronizing the breath with each step following The Long Road Turns into Joy to nourish freedom.
• Prostration meditation: three steps—touching (bringing hands to the forehead, to the heart, and to the earth), letting go (opening the hands to show there is no separate self), and receiving (breathing in and opening the heart to ancestors, the Buddha, bodhisattvas, and Mother Earth)—to transform anger, pride, and to continue the ancestral stream.
• Sitting meditation: regulating the body (settling the body), calming the mind (settling the emotions), then either simply recognizing whatever feelings arise, or practicing guided meditation for a specific purpose (for example, chanting the beginner’s mind gatha—“The bodhi mind arises, transcending the world…”). The sangha is encouraged to integrate mindful breathing into daily life so that when sitting in meditation, the mind is not distracted (“like a chicken scratching in a shrimp pot”), and the spirit of spiritual family, teacher and student, brothers and sisters is nurtured through collective practice.

The present moment is the only place where the candle radiates its light, its beauty, and its warmth; if we are busy chasing after the future, we no longer have energy for the present. Pouring all our energy into building projects, degrees, or charity work while forgetting the present moment is to fall into “conceptual nourishment,” which becomes an obstacle to life and to practice. To take care of the present moment, we only need to examine it as we would a grain of rice: take a moment to see whether it contains

• the substance of nourishment for body and mind
• the substance of healing for body and mind
• the substance of joy, happiness, and progress on the path
  If not, then the whole “pot of rice” that is our life is burning or half-cooked.

A monastic is like an orange tree – present to produce the flowers of understanding, the flowers of compassion, and the fruits of happiness right in the present moment; not waiting until the future to offer these gifts. Success depends on two kinds of “retribution” in karmic fruition:

• primary retribution (nature/inborn) – the form, the seeds of consciousness inherited from our parents
• secondary retribution (nurture/acquired) – the circumstances, the environment that nourishes us
  A true Sangha is a wholesome environment of nourishment, building brotherhood and sisterhood on the foundation of the Bodhi mind. Each step, each smile, each word spoken with mindfulness is a gift that nourishes the Sangha, helping ourselves and our elder brothers, elder sisters, and younger siblings to go further on the path of practice.

After the candle has burned out, when there is no more wax or wick, that original “candle” no longer exists, but its flame and energy continue to be present in the form of light, heat, ash, and may even become a leaf or a poem… This is the principle of dependent co-arising: all phenomena do not arise from nothing but manifest when conditions are sufficient, and do not disappear but only become hidden when conditions are no longer present. This view is distinct from two opposing wrong views:

• Annihilationism believes that after burning out, nothing remains at all;
• Eternalism believes that the flame remains unchanged forever.

The teachings also point out two more wrong views: Identity view holds that the two flames before and after are one and the same; Difference view holds that they are completely different. Beyond these four propositions (existence – non-existence – both existence and non-existence – neither existence nor non-existence), there is no other way to answer. The practice is to see the unborn nature of all dharmas, meaning not birth and death, but only manifestation and hiding.

Practicing mindfulness and the insight of the Middle Way helps us:

1. See that the candle, ourselves, and our loved ones are neither born nor die, transcending notions of birth, death, permanence, annihilation, identity, and difference.
2. Understand that past, present, and future inter-are – the past has not disappeared, the future is already present in the now – so we can transform suffering and build happiness in every moment.

In Buddhist language, the following terms can be used simultaneously to clearly distinguish between lay and monastic practitioners:

• Upāsaka: one who is close to the monastic community
• Lay friend: one who still lives at home, as opposed to one who has left home
• Layperson: both lay men and lay women
• Monastic (renunciant): both monks and nuns

The “Beginning Anew Gatha” is a chant that each practitioner must personally record based on their own experience, and recite daily in order to nourish the original source of energy that inspired us to leave everything behind and enter the monastic life. When reading it again, the content should clearly state:

1. The original aspiration and the journey of overcoming obstacles to become a monastic
2. The joy and happiness upon being accepted into the monastic community
3. The details of the longing and contemplation that help rekindle the original flame of aspiration

The “Aspiration to the Pure Land” chant (page 33) consists of eight verses summarizing the teaching of the intrinsic nature of Amitabha, the Pure Land as mind-only, and the practice of mindful recitation of the Buddha’s name with undistracted mind, leading to “the nine grades of lotus flowers manifesting in the present, benefiting both self and others.” Mindfulness of Amitabha in the ultimate dimension, together with the wondrous light of infinite radiance and infinite lifespan, will shine upon and carry the practitioner, helping them to attain peace with every step and to transform afflictions, so that “the Pure Land is walked step by step, steadily and at ease, right here and right now.”