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Tư Châu
The three-month winter retreat is a precious time to dwell peacefully, not going anywhere except in urgent cases, helping each person to stop, look deeply into their thoughts, speech, and actions, thereby taking mastery of their life, reducing suffering, and planting seeds of peace. In the Sangha, elder brothers, elder sisters, and younger siblings are always ready to support us in recognizing our present state, together returning to the island within (Pali: Attadīpa, Chinese: Tự Châu), a place of deep refuge thanks to the power of mindfulness. Mindfulness helps us recognize the three karmas, avoid running after fame, wealth, sensual pleasures, or addictive habits, thereby preserving wholesome seeds in our mind and in our relationships with others.
Meditation practice includes two essential elements:
- Stopping (Shamatha) – stopping, the moment of awakening that helps us wake up and let go of the wrong path (as in the story of Angulimala)
- Looking deeply (Vipashyana) – looking deeply, seeing clearly where our thinking, speech, and actions are leading us
Just as brain cells communicate directly, with no single cell as the master, the Sangha is a harmonious network, each person like a cell sending pure signals. Currently, there are more than 800 Sanghas in Europe and America as the result of the mission to sow seeds of peace and insight for future generations.
