The monastic community is practicing during the Rainy Season Retreat from January 4 to March 14, 2004 at Deer Park Monastery with the lay community. This 55-minute Dharma talk, offered by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in the Ocean of Peace Meditation Hall on Wednesday, January 14, 2004 during the second week of the retreat, reminds us of the gatha learned in the prior talk, a verse we can use while sitting, standing, walking, and lying down to listen to the music of our breathing in and breathing out.

The teaching explores the practice of Stopping (samatha) and Looking Deeply (vipasyana), “the two wings of a bird.” Stopping is not only for the mind; it also applies to the body, which often has a habit of running and a feeling of restlessness. Helping the body to stop is also helping the mind to stop. In a retreat environment the first insight is to stop running: with our practice of walking, each step is a healer, allowing us to totally surrender ourselves to the present moment and to the power of healing that is inherent in our body.

In the Plum Village tradition we offer the practice of total and deep relaxation, using the techniques of mindful breathing to allow the body to rest and embracing the body with tenderness: “Darling, I am home.” Thay guides meditations on the body and presents exercises from the Sutra on Contemplation of the Body in the Body. This practice can be very pleasant and healing.

Stopping means to be fully present, in the here and the now, and when you are fully present you are fully alive. Vipasyana helps us to see this. Another function of samatha is to recognize what is happening in the present moment; when we are able to recognize, the “blue sky” is always there. We come to Deer Park so that we can learn to practice stopping.

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