American JuBu

In the current issue (Spring 2020) of Tricycle Magazine, there is a review article about Emily Sigalow’s new book, “American JewBu: Jews, Buddhists, and Religious Change.” I was deeply moved by this review to the extent of making a comment. Here is what I wrote: I was brought up in a conservative kosher home in […]

Lights in the Dark

Paul Tingen, a fellow Order of Interbeing Member in the Plum Village Tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh has made this wonderful offering of music which he calls “Light in the Dark.” It is an acoustic guitar rendition to the tune of Leonard Cohen‘s Hallelujah. Paul hopes that we keep in mind the lessons […]

Walk With Me

Last Friday, I attended the world theatrical premier of a new film by Max Pugh and Marc J. Francis called, “Walk With Me.” It is tagged as “A journey in mindfulness featuring Thich Nhat Hanh.” The movie was narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch and featured monks and nuns from Plum Village. Sister Dinh Nghiem was present […]

Prayer of the Mothers

The song “Prayer of the Mothers”, was born as a result of an alliance made between singer-songwriter Yael Deckelbaum, and a group of courageous women, leading the movement of “Women Wage Peace”. The movement arose on summer 2014 during the escalation of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, and the military operation “Tzuk Eitan”. On […]

Reverence for Life

Reverence for Life is the first of the Five Mindfulness Trainings authored by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (known as “Thay” by his followers.) In the time of the Buddha it was known as the first precept and, in fact, at that time, all of the precepts were simple statements like, “Not to kill,” “Not […]

Happy Continuation to Thich Nhat Hanh

Please join me in wishing a Happy Continuation to Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) on his 90th continuation day today! The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation had invited people to submit a three minute video of how we continue Thay. This is similar to what I had to say in my video: Continue in Good Health My […]

Can You Hear Mother Earth?

In this special message from Sister Chan Khong, she asks, “Can you hear Mother Earth? In this excerpt from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, we learn of the desperate situation we are in. Please wake up, my children, and see what you are doing. Your atomic bombs have laid waste to billions of precious lives, […]

For a Future to be Possible

The final session of the Earth Holder Retreat was on the theme of “For a Future to be Possible” on Sunday, May 1 at the Deer Park Monastery. The panel discussion was led by Brother Phap Ho (Brother Protection) and included Kristin Barker (founder of One Earth Sangha), Jayna Gieber (director of “People of the […]

Mindful Advocacy for Mother Earth

Mindful Advocacy for Mother Earth was the topic of the workshop on the evening after Sister Mai Nghiem‘s dharma talk on Nurturing Practices. There were four panelists: Laura Hunter, Heather Mann, Nomi Green and me, all members of the Earth Holder Sangha as well as the Order of Interbeing (OI). This video was filmed by […]

A Brown Robe, a Brown Coat

“A Brown Robe, a Brown Coat” is a poem by my dharma brother and fellow Order of Interbeing (OI) member, Mike McMahon. It was posted on the OI listserv yesterday and many brothers and sisters had wonderful things to say about it. A Brown Robe, a Brown Coat I was a person in the world. […]