Mindfulness and Liberation True Love Global Sangha: - The ...

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global SANGHAInternational Delegation in Indonesiaphoto by Hardy ChungMost of the ID landed in Jakarta the day before the retreat andbused together in hours of slow, rainy rush hour traffic. When wearrived, we shared flashlights and helped each other find our bedsthrough the maze of buildings dedicated to retreat housing. Thenext morning, as we oriented ourselves to the facility and nearbytown, Dharma teacher Peggy Rowe gently and consistently introducedthe other Dharma teachers to us, so we could honor Thay’slineage and its holders, blending respect and inclusiveness as wemet each other.The retreat was dense with practice: sitting, walking, silence,mindful exercises, Dharma discussions, and deep relaxation. Wehad to balance self-care within group activities. Peggy encouragedmindfulness of body wisdom, to honor when it needed torest, to move, to relax. Gentle presence rather than rigid practicebecame the norm.Gestures of offering Kleenex, sharing herbs, letting onwhere the nearest ice cream could be bought, and sharing smilesof recognition reflected and generated kindness, compassion,inclusivity, and joy. An atmosphere of kind attention developedas members of the ID met irritation and cranky comments withdeep listening and kindness, asked questions instead of ignoringsilences, and demonstrated a willingness to meet others. Beginner’smind became more available, the mind guided by freshness,not prejudices of the past or attachment to ideas. It encouragedspontaneous responses to who was participating, who was hovering,who was oblivious, who was suffering, who was joyful. Welived the inclusiveness of “going as a Sangha,” demonstrating thatwhen we do that consciously, every moment becomes the livingDharma, filled with the actions of true love. With these ten daystogether, including the retreat and the half day at Borobudur, theID Sangha body was well tended, warm, vital, and trusting, fertilesoil for Sangha wisdom.Dharma RainWe boarded the bus for the stormy ride back from Borobudurto Yojakarta and tried to settle ourselves from the intensely fullmorning and the buzzing vendors who profited from our excitement.Peggy stood at the front of the bus with the microphone. Shesaid, “We have just been charged by Dharma rain. It is vibrating inus and around us, like the rain falling here. We have an opportunityto sit together in silence and receive this nourishment. Deep intoour bodies. To share it with our ancestors, without whom we wouldnot be experiencing this moment. To offer it to the generations tocome. To extend it to the world we live in in this moment. Absorbit deeply, and share it fully. Otherwise it will disperse through usin our old patterns of chatting, of shopping, of getting irritableand grumpy, of planning, of daydreaming, of depression, of distraction.”We breathed in and out. A quiet depth opened as ourcollective practice absorbed the gifts of the morning and sharedtheir merit through interbeing and mindful presence.An hour later, sitting in the front seats of the bus, we saw theeffects of the continuing downpour: motorcyclists intently walkingtheir bikes through thigh-high water; two men unloading garbagefrom the back of a small truck stuck in a hole while water swirledabove its wheels; one-and-a-half-foot-high streams gushing downnarrow cement streets. When we were invited to come forwardand share with the group a Dharma moment, a child’s song, a joyto nourish the heart, the Dharma was expressed through each ofus, both in heartfelt offerings and in deep listening. Attention wason love, not fear. The Sangha was living the Dharma, the Dharmawas alive, and Buddha nature was present. I feel great gratitudeto the Dharma lineage in the Order of Interbeing, and the giftof living Dharma shared by Thay, his Dharma teachers, and hisSangha.Miriam Goldberg, TrueRecollection of Joy, is apsychotherapist who lives inthe Santa Cruz mountains withher husband and practices withHeart Sangha.42 Winter/Spring 2011
global SANGHAA Great HorizonPlum Village Sangha in ThailandBy Lynda Berry and Karen HilsbergIIn October 2010, Thailand welcomed the Plum Village Sanghawarmly. An international delegation of about thirty-six practitionersfrom the U.S., England, Italy, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Germany,Canada, and Australia spent one week touring and one week withthe Plum Village Sangha outside of Bangkok. Eighty to ninetypercent of the Vietnamese monks and nuns from Bat Nha Monasterywere there, plus new monks and nuns who were ordainedin Thailand. Thay was reportedly very happy, and so were the BatNha sisters and brothers, to be reunited after being expelled andscattered from Vietnam.Plum Village ThailandOn our second day with the Sangha, we went to Pak Chong tovisit the land that the Sangha is in the process of purchasing. It is apicturesque setting among green hills. Within the next two years,the Sangha will build a new practice center there, convenientlylocated for people from Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, andCambodia. It will include a wing of the European Institute forApplied Buddhism. The first priority is to pay off approximately$750,000 owed for the land; then to build a meditation hall for1,000 people, then two hamlets.Meanwhile, 279 monks and nuns are staying in two privatehomes. The Sangha has built a huge, temporary, thatched roofmeditation hall that seats 1,000. During our visit, it was full withmonks and nuns who were present for a monastic retreat. We wereall nourished by the ordination of novice nuns and monks and alamp transmission ceremony for thirteen young monastics fromVietnam. There was an intense energy of mindfulness and beautifulchanting by Thay. He personally cut a lock of each novice’s hairduring the ordination ceremony.At the end of the lamp transmission ceremony, Thay sharedthe following with the new Dharma teachers and the Sangha:“As monastics we have a great horizon, high and wide. Keep thelight and transmit it to the later generations. We are aware thatthe Buddha and the patriarchs are our roots. We vow to receivethe wisdom, compassion, peace, and joy that the patriarchs havetransmitted. We vow to transform our suffering and help peopleof modern times to transform their suffering and to open DharmaTemple Reflecting Pool, Pak Chong, Thailandphoto by Paul Davisthe Mindfulness Bell 43
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