The Deer Park Dharmacast (dharma talks)

Sr. Dang Nghiem reflects on her own transforming suffering, heartbreak, letting go and realizing better health & relationship to oneself & others.

The flowers are blooming in the hidden mountains of Deer Park. Much freshness and aliveness flows through the valley and this sharing. This is the second talk of the Spring Season offered by Sister Man Nghiem (Sr Brightness).

This is a translation of Most Venerable Phuoc Tinh's talk on the last day of Winter Retreat. This is an English translation of the talk.

Sister Mai Nghiem shares her practice of recognizing, embracing and transforming suffering. She also shares the teaching of the noble eight fold path, the four nutriments, including how different types of relationship are nutriments.

Sister's Mai Nghiem poem:
☀ Why i don t want to be call an ally, ☀                                               

Ally
From the moment  i first heard the word, i got allergic to it...an ally allergy.
Why?
Well, the first thing is that in my french brain, "les alliés", as we call them,  are the good Americans and British soldiers coming to save us from the evil Germans.
Word of war, violence, and partisan conflicts.

But deeper than that, my brother, if you call me an ally, i'll get offended.
Why?
'cause i expect you, to have a higher expectation of me.
I expect you to expect me to fully embrace who i am.
I expect you to expect me to break open,
I expect you to expect me to show my shit with no shame

This is why i do not want to be an ally
'cause i don t wanna help
I don t wanna be the "good intentionned white folk" feeling so bad about it all
...and yet so disconnected...

For as long as i don't understand how ignorant i am
There is no hope
As long as i don't see myself as a slave merchant, a fanatic missionary or a murderer
There is no hope
As long as i refuse to understand how an entire society can see going on a "picnic" as being a pleasant family outing
There is no hope
As long as i shut my body and mind to the unspoken, unknown, unfelt yet raging pain of a human whipping an other human to death
There is no hope
 For as long as i keep greed, money, power, fame and sex as the only gods in my life
There is no hope
No hope for any of the  rainbow children on our beautiful Blue Mother

I heard the Earth whisper one day, that "Fearlessness is not the absence of fear but the willingness to walk into it".
This is what my white ancestors are asking me to do:
"Walk right into the darkness,
Right into the thick mist of whiteness
And free us from our ignorance
Heal our ancestral wounds....
Centuries of hatred, pride, discrimination, fear and violence.
Who will hear our cries for help if not you?
Who will quench our thirst for true amendment if not you?
Who will deliver our souls from the chains of guilt if not you?
For as long as true healing isn't taking place,
Suffering will remain the world's pace".

This is the voice of the ancestors begging for our courage and love,
Echoing the Angel's song
"It is the willingness to offer our best,
claim responsibility for our worst and
fold it all into the continuous moment to moment practice of
simply being present to what is,
that promises to deliver our future".

That's why i don't wanna be an ally
...I wanna a be a healer

In the third to last Dharma Talk for the Winter Retreat series, Thay Phap Dang shares about how we can return to the present moment, how to relax and encourages us to walk on the Earth. Thay also share about the realm of perception and how to practice to love and accept. How can we look at a person with clear awareness, without judgement, just as when we look at a flower? 

Find a calm place to listen to this talk, enjoy your breathing and the Dharma rain.

May this sharing be of benefit.

In this talk Sr Hang Nghiem shows a clip from one of Thay's talk in 2004, invites us to be light and playful in our practice. Our sister offers a song and commentary. Translation by Sister Bach Nghiem.

In this talk Thay Phap Hai shares with us how to enter through the door of signlessness in order to practice with perceptions and preconceived notions. 

Thay Phap Dang offers a beautiful and insightful talk with Emptiness (Sunyata) as main theme.

As you listen to the Dharma Talk, allow it to wash over your like a sprinkling rain. Allow yourself to sit comfortably and follow your breathing, relaxing your body.

May this talk and your practice bring about great benefit.

Nurturing our Roots, Strengthening our Branches, this months focus is the present moment.

In this talk Sr Kinh Nghiem (Sr Reverence) shares about the monastic practice of sharing a room, changing room and hamlets. Our sister use a Russian doll to help us go deeper into ourselves, to embrace our sorrow and to nurture our joy.

As you listen to this talk you can enjoy the natural flow of your breathing in and out of your body. May this sharing and your practice be of benefit you in your daily life.

This talk was offered by Most Venerable Phuoc Tinh during our New Years Day of Mindfulness. The Venerable's teaching invites us to experience life deeply and enjoy the wonders of spring every day. 

The poem in Vietnamese is:

Sister Kinh Nghiem helped translate this talk.

Brother Phap Don offers a peaceful and joyful setting for this talk. He shares his experience in arriving and enjoying each step as well as how to connect with nature for nourishment and healing.

This talk is based in continuous practice, present moment, peaceful and happy dwelling. May this sharing be of benefit.

This talk was offered in Vietnamese by Sr Truc Nghiem (Sr Bamboo) during our weekend with Order of Interbeing members of Southern California. It was translated by Sr Bach Nghiem (Sr Clarity).

Our sister shares about how we can practice mindful breathing and stopping with the sound on the bell in order to nurture our calm and capacity to dwell in the present. She also shares how this ongoing practice can help us come in contact with and transform suffering deep in our consciousness. 

This Dharma Talk is the second for our Winter Retreat. The theme for the Sunday Dharma Talks this winter is: Nurturing our Roots, Strengthening our Branches - essentials of Plum Village Practice.

Thay Phap Dang recently moved to Deer Park Monastery from Plum Village in France.

Dear Friends,

Dear friends, 

This week we continue with Sister Dang Nghiem's sharing on the first four exercises in the Buddha's teaching on mindful breathing. Dwelling in the body grounds us. With our breath, solid concentration and kind relaxation, we can begin to walk towards freedom and begin deep healing.  

Dear friends, 

This week we share with you the first part of Sister Dang Nghiem's talk from the Miracle of Mindfulness retreat. For the children, our sister gives a teaching on patterns in nature and in our families. Then with the adults, she illuminates the ordinary nature of mindfulness in our everyday lives. The interbeing of all things comes to light as she prepares to discuss the Buddha's teaching on awareness of breath.

Now, enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply. 

Today we continue a talk given by Sister Hang Nghiem. She offers The Four Diligences as a way to practice taking care of the seeds in garden of our mind. So often we are concerned with the seeds and gardens of others; our sister reminds us to take time to recognize and tend to our own seeds. 

Dear friends,

In addition to the podcasts, which are usually offered as 30 minute sections of talks, we wanted to offer full length talks as requested by some Dharmacast listeners.

This is the second talk in a series of talks on the Eight Verses of Mind Training by Brother Phap Hai. This is the full talk for those who would prefer to listen to talks in their entirety.

The second talk on the Eight Verses is available here. To stream, click the link.  To download, right-click and select 'Save as.'

Enjoy!

Dear friends,

In addition to the podcasts, which are usually offered as 30 minute sections of talks, we wanted to offer full length talks as requested by some Dharmacast listeners.

Brother Phap Hai is offering a series of talks on the Eight Verses of Mind Training and we felt it was a good place to start offering the full talks for those who would prefer to listen to talks in their entirety.

The first talk on the Eight Verses is available here. To stream, click the link.  To download, right-click and select 'Save as.'

Enjoy!

Today we share a talk by Brother Phap Hai, shortly after his return to Deer Park from Europe. Our brother reminds us of the the meaning of the word: gratitude. To feel gratitude is to know what has been done for us. May we look back and look inside to remember. 

Every year on Lunar New Year's eve, Thay recites a poem and gives a dharma talk with insights into Vietnamese poetry, culture, and tradition. This year, as our teacher receives treatment in the hospital, Venerable Thich Phuoc Tinh continues the tradition. He recites a poem of Thay's and gives us a rare glimpse into the life of our teacher. 

Dear friends,

Dear friends,

We are happy to offer the full talks from the People of Color Retreat at Deer Park in 2014.  The orientation, dharma talk, and question and response session are available for download at the links below. 

POC Retreat 2014 Orientation

POC Retreat 2014 Dharma Talk

POC Retreat 2014 Question and Response

Enjoy.

Dear friends,

Dear friends,

Dear Friends,

Today we're happy to share a talk from Brother Phap Nha, translated by Sister Quynh Nghiem.  Our brother has a clear and direct style of teaching that we hope you enjoy. 

In this talk, he speaks to the three difficulties we may encounter while sitting: sleepiness, restlessness, and dreaminess.  He also shares with us how best to read the sutras.  He recommends that we start with two basic sutras and, most importantly, that we apply the teachings to our practice and our lives.  

May your practice be ever-changing and ever-growing.  No mud, no lotus.

Remember, you can always find the Deer Park Dharmacast at dpcast.net, Facebook, iTunes, and Twitter.  Now, enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply

Dear friends,

This week, we return to talks by Thich Nhat Hanh, given this October at the Deer Park retreat.   Thay shares on many interconnected topics:  the workings of our conciousness, the transformative power of volition, the importance of sangha, and how our suffering and happiness are truly inseparable. May we all recognize our mud, and the lotuses that grow from our mud. 

We so appreciate you, our dear listeners. Thank you for your love and support over the course of this year. During the month of December, we invite you to donate to the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation. They are urgently needing support to break ground to build a safe, warm nunnery for our sisters at Deer Park Monastery. For more information and to donate, visit deerparknunnery.org. 

Remember, you can always find the Deer Park Dharmacast at dpcast.net, Facebook, Twitter, and iTunes. Now, enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply. 

Dear friends,

This week, we take a break from Thich Nhat Hanh's talks to bring you another great teacher, the Venerable of Deer Park Monastery, Thich Phuoc Tinh.  Here in California, it's fall and the Venerable begins by sharing a folk song in Vietnamese and French about autumn leaves falling.  He shares that we can choose the way that we are in touch with the things inside of us and around us.  The emotions and mental formations that arise in our heads are like the seasons of the year, rising and falling.   As practitioners, we can become observers, whether of the changing leaves of fall or changing feelings in our hearts, rather than being defined or overwhelmed by them.  We are not these emotions, we are the energy of mindfulness that peacefully watches them float by on the stream of our lives.

We're grateful to have Sister Mat Nghiem translate the Venerable's talk into English for us.  Our monastic brothers and sisters do so much at Deer Park Monastery to create a peaceful refuge for us where we can share from our heart and listen deeply to their teachings.  Right now, the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation is urgently raising funds to build new living quarters for the nuns.  Currently, the sisters' living quarters are not winterized and unsafe to the point that some sisters are living outside in tents.  The foundation has raised only $400,000 of the $1.7 million needed to build environmentally-sensitive straw-bale buildings for the nuns and a new hut for Thay. Over 40% of the estimated cost is for basic infrastructure needed even before building the nunnery.  

If you are able to donate this holiday season, please go to deerparknunnery.org.  Even the smallest amount will help them to have enough funds to break ground this winter.  The Dharmacast team is made completely of volunteers and in place of asking for donations for the podcast, this holiday season please consider donating so that the Deer Park sisters have a warm and safe place to lay their heads.  For more information and to help, go to deerparknunnery.org.

The Dharmacast team wishes you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and holiday season.  We are always here for you at dpcast.net, on Facebook, iTunes and Twitter.  Now, enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear friends,

This week, the Dharmacast team is on retreat with Thay at Deer Park Monastery.  We're looking forward to bringing the energy of peace and mindfulness back with us next week.

While we're gone, we wanted to offer you the second half of the dharma talk given by Sister Kingh Nghiem at this year's Wake Up retreat.  With Thay touring this year, many of us may have gone on a retreat or heard him speak at a public talk.  We're often deeply moved by experiences at mindfulness practice centers, but how do we take that energy home with us to sustain our practice?  Sister Kinh Nghiem offers us loving advice and many practical ideas for continuing and deepening our practice at home.

Remember, you can always find the Deer Park Dharmacast at dpcast.net, on Facebook, Twitter, and iTunes.  Now, enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear friends,

This week we have the first half of a dharma talk given by Sister Kinh Nghiem at this year's Wake Up Retreat.  She tells a light-hearted story about traveling with Thay and then shares the four mantras we can use in order to be truly present.  She encourages us to use these mantras with the people in our lives, the animals and plants around us and with the earth.

Remember, you can always find the Deer Park Dharmacast at dpcast.net, on Facebook, Twitter, and iTunes.  Now, enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends,

The end of summer is officially here and seasons are beginning to change.  Let us bring our attention to the Earth, as Sister Mat Nghiem begins her sharing with the story of The Lorax.  She goes on to look deeply into our interconnectedness with Mother Earth, both as children and as adults.  When was the last time you were in touch with nature as your five year-old child? 

Remember you can find the Deer Park Dharmacast online at dpcast.net, on twitter, facebook, and iTunes. Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends,

This week we're happy to share the closing talk of the recent Deer Park retreat for couples.  Three dharma teachers, Jerry Braza from Oregon, Tony Sylvester from Pennsylvania and Peggy Rowe from California, led couples in a weekend of developing mindfulness in their relationships.  They share their reflections on their experience at the retreat and reflect on the nurturing effect that the practice has had on their own relationships.

Remember you can find the Deer Park Dharmacast online at dpcast.net, on Twitter, Facebook, and iTunes. Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends,

Today we have a dharma talk given by Sister Quynh Nghiem.  Before the dharma talk, Brother Man Tue leads us in some mindful songs and a short guided meditation.  Then, our sister shares with us the wonderful basics of the connection between our mind, mindful breathing.  

Remember you can find the Deer Park Dharmacast online at dpcast.net, on twitter, facebook, and iTunes. Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends,

Today we share the first half of a talk given a few weeks ago by Brother Phap Hai at Deer Park Monastery.  Having recently returned from Korea and Hong Kong, he shares the importance of putting the Dharma into practice. What is preventing our life from becoming our practice?  Brother Phap Hai likens three pots of kim chi to the three qualities that hinder our ability to truly practice.  

Remember you can find the Deer Park Dharmacast online at dpcast.net, on twitter, facebook, and iTunes. Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends,

In this week's segment, we continue with Brother Phap Ho's dharma talk from the 2012 Mindfulness Retreat.  He shares why mindfulness by itself is not enough; we need to discover a spiritual path and a community to walk with to transform our suffering.  He also delves into how to understand our mind consciousness and nurture our well-being.

After hearing the Dharma, we invite you to share your experience with other listeners online at dpcast.net or on our Facebook page.  Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Remember you can find the Deer Park Dharmacast online at dpcast.net, on twitter, facebook, and iTunes. 

Dear Friends,

This week we offer the first half of a dharma talk given by Brother Phap Ho at the 2012 Mindfulness Retreat.  He explores the questions, "What is suffering?" and "How do we transform ill-being and nourish well-being?" from his own perspective, but also from the perspective of three great teachers and role models for him, the Buddha, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thich Nhat Hanh.  

Remember you can find the Deer Park Dharmacast online at dpcast.net, on twitter, facebook, and iTunes.

We invite you to share your thoughts and experiences of hearing the dharma with other listeners this week online at dpcast.net or on our facebook page.  

Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends,

This week we have a continuation from last week's podcast, as we listen to the second half of Brother Phap Hai's talk from Deer Park's 2012 Mindfulness Retreat.

Brother Phap Hai shares lessons from Master Dogen's 13th century Zen text, "Instructions for the Cook".  Furthermore, he shares that to go with the three roots of suffering, three different minds can be cultivated: joyful mind, magnanimous mind, and parental mind.

Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends,

This week's dharma talk was given by Brother Phap Hai at the 2012 Mindfulness Retreat at Deer Park Monastery.  

Known for his poetic and engaging dharma talks, he shares the Buddha's teachings about the three roots of our suffering; greed, ill-will, and delusion; and the eight winds or worldly dharmas; gain, loss, status, disgrace, praise, blame, pleasure and pain.  

Brother Phap Hai challenges us to look critically at our lives and ask two questions: what is practice? and are we sure?

You will notice the sound of the wind and a lovely baby during the talk.  Enjoy the imperfectness of the recording.  =)

Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends,   

This week's dharma talk was given by Brother Phap Don at the recent People of Color retreat at Deer Park Monastery on the concept: "I have arrived, I am home."  

How can we arrive and find our true home?  Brother Phap Don first offers us the repetition and mindfulness of the daily mundane activities and then describes the Buddha's 12 mindfulness exercises. 

Join the DP Dharmacast team in welcoming (back) Soren Kisiel, who is kindly recording the introductions for the weekly podcasts.

Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

Dear Friends,

During the New Year's retreat, Brother Phap De gave a wonderful dharma talk on gratitude.  Although it's the middle of the year, I thought it would be a good time to revisit the message.  Brother Phap De delves deeply into gratitude to our parents.  With Mother's Day having just passed and Father's Day coming up, I thought we might have our parents on our minds.

Enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply.

"When we're addicted to our own thinking, it is the cause of almost all of our suffering. And that experience kills the possibility of gratitude."

"A quote from the Buddha: I tell you, there are two people that are not easy to repay. Which two?  Your mother and father." 

Thay Phai Hai explains the meaning behind the Chinese characters for mindfulness.

Preview: "A new understanding can emerge..."

Michael provides the listeners with a visual for their reference.  

Kiss the ground with your feet as Thay Phap Hai takes us on a journey to meet a gentleman of the past.

Preview: "Allow your path to be an expression of who you are."

Make sure to download the bonus content "Discourse on Love," contact the Deer Park bookstore if you are interested in the full album in addition to similar works.