Summer 2006 A Journal of the Art of Mindful Living Issue 42 $7/£5 Thich Nhat Hanh The Keys to the Kingdom of God Jewish Roots The Better Way to Live Alone in the Jungle A Mindfulness Retreat for Scientists in the Field of Consciousness A Convergence of Science and Meditation August 19–26, 2006 Science studies the brain from your family to a seven-day mindfulness In the beautiful setting of Plum outside, but do we know what happens retreat to learn about our minds using Village, we will enjoy the powerful when we look inside to experience Buddhist teachings and recent scientific energy of one hundred lay and mo- our own minds? Ancient Buddhist findings. nastic Dharma teachers, and enjoy the wisdom has been found to correspond brotherhood and sisterhood of living in During the retreat participants very closely with recent scientific dis- community. Lectures will be in English are invited to enjoy talks by and pose coveries on the nature of reality. Dis- and will be simultaneously translated questions to Zen Master Thich Nhat coveries in science can help Buddhist into French and Vietnamese. Hanh. Although priority will be given meditators, and Buddhist teachings on to neuroscientists and those who work consciousness can help science. Zen in the scientific fields of the brain, the Master Thich Nhat Hanh and the monks mind, and consciousness, everyone is and nuns of Plum Village invite you and welcome to attend. For further information and to register for these retreats: Upper Hamlet Office, Plum Village, Le Pey, 24240 Thenac, France Tel: (+33) 553 584858, Fax: (+33) 553 584917 E-mail: [email protected] www.plumvillage.org Dear Readers, Hué, Vietnam, March 2005: I am sitting in the rooftop restaurant of our lovely hotel overlooking the Perfume River, enjoying the decadent breakfast buffet. A Journal of the Art of Mindful Living (Once I snuck a few of the freshly made in the Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh crèpes to a French nun in the Plum Village delegation, much to her delight.) Today I am visiting with Delores Nims, Issue 42 Summer 2006 a Sangha friend from Oregon. We talk of my desire to write about the trip and I Advisor and Editor Sister Annabel remind her that she offered to introduce Managing Editor Janelle Combelic me to the editor of the Mindfulness Bell, Associate Editor Barbara Casey Barbara Casey. “But, you were just having breakfast with her!” says a bemused Delores. “Oh, that Barbara!” Design LuminArts Thus began a new friendship and a marvelous working Proofreader Elaine Hild relationship. I started by editing the sections about the Vietnam trip Subscription Manager David Percival in the summer and autumn 2005 issues; then, much to my surprise, Website Design Lien Ho Barbara asked me if I would take over editing the magazine. I’ll Webmaster Brandy Sacks never forget the shock I felt, reading her emailed proposition, as I sat at my computer in the farmhouse near Plum Village where I Sangha Directory Leslie Rawls spent that summer; but it didn’t take me long to accept. Back on Advisory Board Thay Phap Kham U.S. soil, I worked with Barbara on the winter issue, and then took Peggy Rowe Ward over as editor in February when Barbara’s mother suddenly died. Please hold her and her family in your prayers, as they journey Richard Brady through this challenging transition time. Jerry Braza The daily practice of mindfulness, concentration, and insight yields surprising and miraculous fruits. The blessings that have come my Submissions way since I devoted myself wholly to the practice are too numerous to be counted. Editing the Mindfulness Bell is one of the best. I am Writing: Please send us the fruits of your practice. We deeply grateful to my teacher, my friends and mentors in the four- welcome feature articles (1,500 to 2,000 words), essays, fold Sangha, Barbara and all those who have worked so hard on and stories, as well as poetry. We especially welcome submissions from young people of any age. Please send this magazine, and the worldwide community of practice. writing to: Janelle Combelic, mindfulness.bell@yahoo. It is a privilege to serve the sangha in this way. Not only do I get com; or to Barbara Casey, 645 Sterling Street, Jackson- to do the work that I love—editing and writing—but I am meeting ville OR 97530, U.S.A. extraordinary people all over the world. On top of that, I get to Images: We welcome photos, artwork, and cartoons read many beautiful and inspiring accounts of the practice; I only from your local Sangha, family, and community. Please wish we had space to print them all! That is one of the hardest send digital images, as TIFF or JPEG files no larger than 2 MB, to Janelle Combelic, mindfulness.bell@yahoo. aspects of an editor’s job. com. Send original original photos and artwork to Bar- One way to publish more of your wonderful writing is to solicit bara Casey, 645 Sterling Street, Jacksonville OR 97530, U.S.A.; we can promptly return all originals. shorter pieces. I am inspired by one of my favorite magazines, The Sun, to introduce a new feature into the next issue of the Advertising Inquiries: David Percival, [email protected] Mindfulness Bell: a “Readers Write” section. The topic will be The Mindfulness Bell is published three times a year the First Mindfulness Training. Write from your own experience, by the Community of Mindful Living, Deer Park Monas- simply and sincerely, about how this Training has changed the way tery, 2499 Melru Lane, Escondido CA 92026, U.S.A. you live or view the world. Feel free to comment on all facets of the Correction: In the Autumn 2005 issue (#40) the Training as Thay has rewritten it. Please keep it short (under 500 “Walking Meditation Song” by Laurie Rabut contained words) and submit it to [email protected] by July 1. errors in the music. For the correct music, please contact Laurie Rabut at [email protected]. May our collective mindfulness—the healing power of love—bring peace to a world much in need. May the joyful expression of creativity inspire more and more hearts to dance! Blessings of peace, On the Cover: The visitors’ center at Maple Forest Monastery, photo by Lisa May Loveless. A freelance photographer residing in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Lisa May took an interest in Buddhist practice because of her brother, Chan Phap Bi, who is now a monk. ISSUE NO. 42 - SUMMER 2006 dharma TALK 4 The Keys to the Kingdom of God By Thich Nhat Hanh jewish ROOTS 10 Coming Home By Alexa Singer-Telles 11 Jewish Roots, Outstretched Branches, and Buddhist Leaves By Laureen Lazarovici 12 Dreaming with My Dad By Sister Hanh Nghiem 14 There and Back Again wonderful MOMENT By Louis Weiss 15 I Ate the Cosmos for Lunch By Caroline Nicola 16 Healing All Moments By Jill Siler 18 The Better Way to Live Alone in the Jungle By Terry Masters 20 Carts and Koans By John Beaudry monastic INSIGHT 22 On the Way Home By Sister Annabel, True Virtue 25 The Quest for the Holy Grail By Brother Phap Hai 28 Fragrance of Tea Flowers By Sister Dang Nghiem mental HEALTH 30 Mindfulness in a State Psychiatric Hospital By Bruce Hilsberg 32 Thanksgiving By Cathy Nason 33 Inner Therapy By Ryan Niemiec book REVIEWS 44 This Tender Place: The Story of a Wetland Year Laurie Lawlor practicing WITH CHILDREN 36 Joyful Purpose of the Heart 44 Little Pilgrim By Annie Mahon Ko Un 37 Presently Minding My Children 45 The Wonder of the Tao: A Meditation on By Cynthia Marie-Martinovich Lardner Spirituality and Ecological Balance James Eggert 38 Joleah’s Gift By Judith Toy vietnam RELIEF 46 Please Help to Support Our Two Monasteries in Vietnam 38 Why Not Meditate All the Time? By Bill Menza sangha NEWS 40 Thich Nhat Hanh Receives Bridge of Peace Award By Peggy Rowe 42 There Is No Way to Community, Community Is the Way By Silvia Lombardi dharma TALK G Pen and ink drawing of Thich Nhat Hanh by Jacob Bowley The Keys to the Kingdom of God New Year’s Eve Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh 31 December 2005, Lower Hamlet, Plum Village 4 Summer 2006 dharma TALK “I have a treasure of understanding, compassion, love, wisdom in me, and I want these elements to come forward to help me to sort out this situation, to help me to be on the right path.” Good afternoon, dear Sangha. In the teachings of Christianity of God there is suffering—but in Buddhist teaching it is clear and Judaism there is the Kingdom of God. In Buddhism we speak that suffering and happiness inter-are. Where there is no suffering about Buddha Land, the Buddha Field. You might like to call it there is no happiness either. We know from our own experiences the Kingdom of the Buddha. that it is impossible to cultivate more understanding and compas- sion if suffering isn’t there. It is with the mud that we can make In Plum Village we say that the Kingdom of God is now or flowers. It is with the suffering that we can make compassion and never, and this is our practice. In Plum Village the Kingdom of understanding. God, the Pure Land of the Buddha, is not just an idea. It’s some- thing you can taste, you can touch, you can live in your daily life. A Logical Proposition It is possible to recognize the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of the Buddha, when it is there.