Is Buddhism a Religion?

In the March 2018 issue of Lion’s Roar magazine, there is a very interesting discussion on “Is Buddhism a religion.” I am presenting these arguments because I am a Buddhist and have two religious brothers who are orthodox Jews. I am also curios to hear whether you would consider the Plum Village tradition of Zen […]

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 […]

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 […]

Garry Shandling was a Buddhist

I did not know that Garry Shandling was a Buddhist until I read this story on the Lion’s Roar website in an article titled, “He Never Said No” – The inside story of Garry Shandling’s Buddhism. It turns out that Garry Shandling was a friend of Brother Phap Hai, a monk in the Plum Village […]

Fourteen Verses on Meditation

These Fourteen Verses on Meditation were written by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and translated from Vietnamese by ChanCo, Maple Village May 2016. I want to express my gratitude to ChanCo who wrote regarding the translation, In my translation, I have considered that these verses are verses of practice so I have tried to make […]

Nurturing Practices

This article is a summary of a wonderful dharma talk on nurturing practices given by Sister Mai Nghiem, a French nun and Dharma Teacher in the Plum Village Tradition. The dharma talk was given on April 29th, 2016 at the Earth Holder Retreat at the Deer Park Monastery last week. I was especially moved by […]

Mindfulness Trainings

The Five Mindfulness Trainings of the Plum Village Tradition and the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing are guiding wisdom for how we can be mindful in our daily lives. They were written by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) and modified over the years by Thay and the monks and nuns in […]

My Life with Thay

My life with Thay (Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh) began in a small church in Berkeley, California in 1984. By some strange coincidence, I happened to sit next to him is the second row before he was introduced to speak. I became a solo practitioner in Thay’s tradition on that day. I was shy and […]

Words Lose Their Meaning

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) has been recovering from the stroke he had last November in San Francisco at the UCSF Medical Center. It must be the best place in the world for stroke rehabilitation, or he would not be there. Words lose their meaning when you try to describe how well his treatment […]

The Art of Mini-transitions

I just received an email from Jennifer Louden on the art of mini-transitions. I wrote the following to her: In 1971 I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Swami Rama of the Himalayas and his successor Dr. Arya, who became Swami Veda Bharati. The first discourse Dr. Arya taught was about celebrating […]