Two-thirds into our trip, we’ve faced many difficulties—from interpersonal tensions in our New Hamlet to grieving the loss of Thầy Giac Thanh—but through collective effort and the support of the Green Mountain, Maple Forest, Deer Park, and all three Plum Village hamlets, we’ve transformed conflict into deepened practice. In America, over one hundred monastics and laypeople gathered for Thầy Giac Thanh’s cremation, and Thầy sent a letter urging continued practice so his presence lives on. Upon Thầy Giac Thanh’s recommendation, Sư em Pháp Dung has been appointed acting abbot of Deer Park; the fourfold Sangha is called to support him and allow Thầy Nguyên Hải a three-month relief before his full return.

When individual interventions fail, the Sangha follows a four-step process to restore harmony:

1. Individual outreach to guide a brother or sister back to right practice
2. Sangha council meeting to offer advice and warning
3. Prescription of a traditional purification practice when warnings go unheeded
4. Collective acceptance of the council’s decision, with later sharing of overlooked details if needed

This method has been applied to several sisters—Thành Nghiêm, Độ Nghiêm, Thuần Nghiêm, Bích Nghiêm—and shown to heal and renew. Thầy emphasizes early communication of “small things” so they don’t become “big things,” reminding us that caring for our “second body” (the Sangha community) requires constant mindfulness, reverence, and the power of the great vow (bodhicitta). By taking refuge in the Buddha (“my mindfulness”), the Dharma (“my mindful breathing”), and the Sangha (“my five skandhas”), we cultivate the strong desire needed to transform suffering into compassion and ensure the Sangha remains a living embodiment of the Three Gems.

This talk details walking meditation in Plum Village as a valuable practice for releasing tension and living deeply, connecting with reality, and finding joy and happiness. Walking slowly and mindfully, repeating the mantra “I have arrived, I am home,” helps embrace the present moment, breaking habits of rushing and seeking happiness elsewhere. Buddhist teachings urge living fully in the present, emphasizing stopping and concentrating to calm and focus. Practicing mindfulness leads to inner freedom, happiness, and touching Nirvana, akin to waves recognizing they are water. Mindfulness empowers actions, turning daily tasks into sacred practices, manifesting the Pure Land here and now. Practicing mindfulness heals ourselves and the Earth, embodying interconnectedness and inner peace, leading to genuine happiness and Nirvana.

The second remote Dharma talk was given on January 28, 1996, from Plum Village to Cam Lo Meditation Hall in Australia, with about 100 listeners at Cam Lo and the Sen Bup Sangha. The content of the Dharma talk focused on “Living Joyfully in the World” (Cư Trần Lạc Đạo) by the Great Master Truc Lam, after introducing the Winter Retreat with the Zen Masters of the Tran dynasty:

1. Tran Thai Tong
2. Thuong Chieu
3. Tue Trung Thuong Si
4. Tran Nhan Tong (Great Master Truc Lam)

Thay reminded, for the 1,250th time, that love must be made of understanding: only when we have experienced suffering can our love not bring harm; true love is also the capacity to generate the energy of loving kindness for others. If we rush to serve without practicing with the sangha, we will easily suffer and fail.

Before studying the third section of Living Joyfully in the World, Thay offered these reminders:

• “Maintain your clarity, do not lose yourself in wrong paths” – that is, to contemplate in order to understand clearly and not be swept away by wrong views.
• “Transform yourself and study in the true lineage” – to practice mindfulness, precepts, concentration, and insight as taught by the Buddha.
• “Harmony in views, harmony in speech without contention” – to share a common understanding, to use loving speech so as not to hurt one another, the foundation for harmony and happiness within the sangha itself.

Walking meditation is as important as Sitting Meditation; it helps blood circulation, prevents numb legs, and allows us to get in touch with the freshness of nature. In Plum Village, we have listening meditation, speaking meditation, Touching the Earth, breathing meditation, walking meditation, Eating Meditation, and tea meditation. We need determination to practice in every step we take to tame the “monkey mind and wild horse,” transforming the wild horse in our mind into a tame one. We need to invest 100% of our body and mind into each step to cause a refreshing breeze to rise and a lotus flower to bloom (Step by step the refreshing breeze rises, Step by step the lotus blooms). When walking, coordinate your breathing with the number of steps; if you are carried away by the ghost of forgetfulness, use your breathing or take refuge in a person walking solidly to return.

Walking meditation complements Sitting Meditation, helping us embrace our pain and suffering like a mother holding her baby with the energy of mindfulness. We can ask for supporting mindfulness from a Dharma friend to become more solid. We should not complain and turn others into garbage bins; instead, we must store up the firewood of happiness for the winters of our life. Every day is a gift of 24 brand new hours; we need to walk in mindfulness instead of wandering around in suffering. The story of Angulimala reminds us about stopping: The Buddha has stopped his wandering; it is only living beings who have not yet stopped.

We do not need to jostle to buy plane tickets to India to find the Buddha, because we can hold the Buddha’s hand and practice walking meditation right in the present moment using the substance of mindfulness. The Buddha is pristine love; to find the Buddha is to find oneself. Besides walking meditation, Touching the Earth is also an important practice for repentance and for helping afflictions and karmic obstacles fall away. There are different ways to practice:

1. One step, one prostration.
2. Three steps, one prostration.
3. Seven steps, one prostration.

Each practitioner must approach at least six people to offer them guidance with all their heart; these can be teachers, friends, or even someone not present at the retreat. After choosing a trustworthy person, write a personal letter expressing your wish to receive guidance, and ask them to nominate five more people. When you receive the letter of guidance, touch the earth three times before reading it, and receive the advice with a heart of gratitude. The community has fifteen days to practice this ancient tradition of self-examination.

Zen Master Thuong Chieu—belonging to the Vo Ngon Thong lineage but who also served as abbot of Luc To Temple (associated with the Ty Ni Da Luu Chi lineage)—made an important contribution to the history of Vietnamese Buddhism by collecting and transmitting materials that led to the compilation of the book “Thien Uyen Tap Anh.” He emphasized the study of mind: if, in practice, you understand clearly the workings of the mind (simple recognition), you will expend little effort and achieve great success; otherwise, you will become needlessly weary.

The steps of practice according to Thuong Chieu:

1. Simply recognize all psychological phenomena (joy, sorrow, anger, fear…) as they arise, just knowing “I am angry” or “I am sad” without judgment or suppression.
2. Use the energy of mindfulness to embrace and look deeply into the mental formation, as a mother holds her child, gradually transforming the roots of suffering.
3. Maintain mindfulness (of the breath, of the steps, of the Buddha) to invite wholesome mental formations to manifest and nourish them to grow strong, while preventing negative seeds from arising.

The Zen master concluded that the Way cannot be attained—seeking outside only leads to distraction—because the Dharma body (the mind as the Tathagata-garbha) shines throughout the ten directions right in the present moment.

Happiness in the Present Moment means living happily in the present moment with what is happening, instead of dreaming of happiness in the future. Suffering is not an obstacle but a necessary ingredient to experience happiness: if we do not know hunger, we cannot know fullness; without sickness or confinement, we cannot appreciate the joy of freedom. It is precisely the experience of suffering, impermanence, and non-self that gives rise to peace, relaxation, and liberation right in the present moment.

To practice dwelling happily in the present moment, first we need to

• maintain mindfulness in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down so that stability and relaxation radiate from us
• have deep awareness of impermanence and non-self as essential conditions of life
• see ourselves as a part of the Sangha, so that each step, each breath nourishes peace and happiness for ourselves and those around us.

This year, the Winter Retreat continues to study the six Zen schools that have been present in Vietnam from the third century until now, namely:

• Master Tang Hoi (3rd century)
• Dat Ma De Ba (5th century)
• Ty Ni Da Luu Chi with Master Vinitaruci (6th century)
• Vo Ngon Thong (9th century)
• Thao Duong (11th century)
• Truc Lam (13th century)

The Truc Lam Zen school – Bamboo Forest – is a comprehensive, national tradition, born in the Tran dynasty, with Zen Masters Thuong Chieu, Thong Thien, Than Nghi, Hien Quang… and the flourishing period of King Tran Thai Tong, Tran Nhan Tong, along with the Truc Lam Three Patriarchs: Phap Loa, Huyen Quang.

Tue Trung Thuong Si – a lay Zen master of the Tran dynasty – taught to break attachment to forms such as precepts, patience, vegetarianism… in order to see the original Dharma body as impermanent, neither pure nor impure, neither separate nor still. Verses such as “keeping precepts and patience only adds to karma, not to merit,” or “form is emptiness, emptiness is form,” all point out that merit and demerit, form and emptiness, mindlessness are not the Way, but all arise from a mind that does not cling to notions, living in mindfulness, not seeking after words.

Practice walking meditation, mindful breathing to recognize the “wondrous original melody, naturally sung” – the miraculous song available in each breath. Our true home is not far away, but right in the present moment: every pine tree, path, bell sound, flower petal, peaceful step is a Dharma practice and a place to come home to.