In early 2004, Thich Nhat Hanh and about two hundred monastics came to Southern California to spend several months at Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, California for the Rainy Season Retreat from January 4 to March 14, practicing together with the lay community. This 80-minute dharma talk was given on Sunday, January 11, 2004, at the beginning of the second week in the recently opened Ocean of Peace Meditation Hall.

Thay begins with an overview of how to begin the day in the monastery—the bell, walking meditation, sitting meditation, and chanting. How much time should we allow for these activities? Do we need to wait to begin meditation? When you hear the bell announcing sitting meditation, you begin right away with your walking. What is our practice when we are walking? What is our practice when we arrive at the meditation hall? Thay shares and outlines the Plum Village practice.

What can the dharma teacher do to contribute to the practice? The dharma teachers have a responsibility to be present for the orientation, to help support those who have newly arrived, and to assure that people truly practice in the practice center so we don’t become a “non-practice” practice center.

A reporter recently asked Thay, what happens after we die? The question is kind of a trap. What happens in the present moment? The answer to both these questions is the same. If we can answer the second question, there is no need to answer the first. What is our practice to be fully present in the here and now—to become a free person—and, with our practice, to free our ancestors?

What is the role of the sangha in helping with sitting meditation? Practicing with the wonders of life in the practice center with the support of the sangha. Thay reflects on the meaning of the kingdom of God: transforming our homes, sanghas, and practice centers into a pure land, a place of refuge where we can experience brotherhood and sisterhood and enjoy deeply every moment of our daily life.

The practice of walking, sitting, and chanting is for the care of the present moment; it is not for the future. There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way. There is no way to enlightenment, enlightenment is the way. We don’t sit for anything and do not expect anything. Just be present in the here and now. That is good enough. Don’t be caught by the idea of the Buddha that is outside of you—you are already a Buddha.

Living and working in harmony with nature, plants and animals, at Deer Park Monastery, even though we are many hundreds, we can walk in the pure land in harmony with nature. How do we practice walking meditation?

I have arrived.
I am home.
I am solid.
I am free.
In the ultimate I dwell.

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