When the Buddha was eighty, during his last retreat near Vaishali, he became very sick, healed himself through concentration, and gave short Dharma talks preparing his disciples for his passing by urging them to take refuge in the island within (attadīpa saraṇa)—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha inside. Using the “eye of an elephant queen” as a metaphor, he showed that mindfulness lets us see life’s wonders deeply—moon, stars, trees, mountains—and live each moment fully, so that when the body disintegrates, there is no regret.

Karma is action (karma-hetu) and its fruit (karma-phala), or retribution, which has two aspects:

1. The manifesting of our five skandhas—form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, consciousness
2. The environment (y-báo) we create, both individual and collective.
   With mindfulness we monitor our thinking, speaking, and doing so that our actions yield beauty rather than suffering. Universal mental formations—touch (sparśa) and attention (manaskāra)—operate always; through yonisomanaskāra (appropriate attention) we water the seeds (bīja) of peace, joy, concentration, and insight, using bells, telephones, clocks, or computer reminders to return to the breath and the island within.

Three concentrations (the three doors of liberation) for avoiding wrong perceptions and despair:
• Emptiness (śūnyatā): things are empty of a separate self, full of non-self elements (no birth, no death)
• Signlessness (animitta): freedom from attachment to form or appearance, touching true nature beyond birth and death
• Aimlessness (apranihita): peace and enlightenment are here and now, not destinations—living as the “busynessless person” (vô sự nhân), fully awake in each breath and step

The human body in the lotus position is “one of the most beautiful positions,” offering solidity and ease. In Plum Village we practice a weekly Lazy Day—a “day in” without schedule—to reclaim our capacity to be truly lazy and rest, since our workaholic habits make idleness unbearable. Love is not best expressed through money but through our presence, freshness, peace and freedom, which we can cultivate by pebble meditation with four pebbles:

1. freshness (a flower): “Breathing in, I see myself as a flower… Breathing out, I feel fresh,” restoring our “flowerness” to offer to those we love
2. solidity (a mountain): “Breathing in, I see myself as a mountain,” to cultivate stability, handle emotions and become a refuge
3. still water: “Breathing in, I see myself as still water… Breathing out, I reflect things as they are,” for peace, clear perception and wisdom
4. freedom (spaciousness): “Breathing in… spaciousness,” so we can give space and freedom to ourselves and others

Our body and mind “inter-are”—like water and wave—and Buddhist teaching names eight consciousnesses: six sense consciousnesses (eye, nose, tongue, ear, body, mind), the seventh (manas) which seeks pleasure and runs from suffering, and the eighth (store consciousness, Ālaya-vijñāna) that functions even without mind and holds seeds (bīja) of mindfulness, concentration and insight. Mindfulness practice integrates mind consciousness into every action—breathing, walking, washing, cooking, driving—to transform manas’s craving and ignorance into insight, compassion and liberation.

Sometimes the Buddha appears as a statue, but that is not the real Buddha. Bowing to the bronze or stone Buddha “outside” can touch the Buddha “inside,” just as saluting a cloth flag can touch one’s sense of nation. Whether one bows or not, the true practice is to touch the Buddha within by being peaceful, mindful, compassionate, calm—and thereby manifesting Buddhahood in every action.

Sitting and walking meditation teach us to be Buddhas in action. Sitting is an art in which

1. body,
2. breath, and
3. mind
   come together to produce refreshment, healing, and joy. Walking mindfully means enjoying each step as if it “kisses the earth,” bringing calm and happiness with every footfall. When one thousand people sit or walk together like this, they generate a nourishing collective energy.

Meditation comprises two inseparable factors:
• samatha: stopping, resting, calming, and
• vipassanā: looking deeply with mindfulness and concentration.
Through stopping the habitual running and looking deeply into our actions and thoughts, healing and insight arise here and now.

Our monastic Sangha arrived two days early from Stonehill College, where our retreat hosted over 1 100 people committed to finding “a way of life that brings more peace, more stability” in a world still at war and threatened by hurricanes. The heart of this meditation retreat is generating the energy of mindfulness through conscious breathing—our anchor that brings body and mind into one, cultivates clarity and stability, and can be practiced anytime (standing in line, waiting for the bus, at the bank).

Conscious breathing serves as a foundation—like a cargo truck that can carry additional “cargo” (anger, joy, etc.)—and underpins all our practices:

1. Three-breath bell: three sounds remind us to stop, relax body and mind, and return to the present.
2. Sitting meditation: three mornings and two ceremonies; a three-point foundation (two kneecaps + tailbone), straight but not rigid spine, Soft Belly, Chrysanthemum Posture, pelvis rolled forward.
3. Walking meditation: ordinary steps but with full awareness—two steps per in-breath and out-breath (or adjust to your pattern), lifting feet deliberately to “walk like a Buddha.”
4. Eating meditation: chew 30–50 times, notice appearance, texture, taste, tongue movements; touch interbeing of food (sun, rain, air, soil), smile at and share meal with community.
5. Bells, chime clocks, telephone rings and “electronic liberation” (e.g., turning in cell phones) act as daily “bells of mindfulness.”
6. Noble Silence from evening through after lunch teaches us to observe speech, mind, and bodily actions, and use a notebook to record habitual mind reactions.

Choose one practice as a cornerstone to carry into daily life, or for experienced practitioners, explore a new corner—pour the practice into every “nook and cranny” of life to cultivate peace, stability, and freedom from running.