When we look deeply into ourselves, we see both flowers and garbage. Each of us has anger, hatred, depression, racial discrimination, and many other kinds of garbage in us, but there is no need for us to be afraid. In the way that a gardener knows how to transform compost into flowers, we can learn the art of transforming anger, depression, and racial discrimination into love and understanding. This is the work of meditation.
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
excerpt from Touching Peace
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Walking Meditation - 2009 Young Adults Retreat: Reawakening to Our True Freedom |
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Dearest friends,
Beginning Mon., July 6th, 2009, Blue Cliff will be entering a dormant stage so that the Sisters & Brothers can prepare for the 2009 U.S. Teaching Tour. Although we will be closed during the week, we will still be hosting Days of Mindfulness (including Precept Recitations) on Sundays, & Community Work Days on prescribed Saturdays. No retreatants will be hosted during this time, as we will be traveling with Thay & the Sangha throughout the U.S. Blue Cliff will be completely open beginning November, for our annual Winter Retreat.
The 21-Day Retreat taught by Thay, The Path of the Buddha, is currently underway in Plum Village, France. The Sisters & Brothers at Blue Cliff will be following along, as usual, every Day of Mindfulness beginning at 9:30 a.m.
As Thay gives four Dharma Talks per week, we invite all our friends who are interested in following the whole retreat, (guiding us towards a Global Ethic) to joyfully join us on Wednesdays & Saturdays as well, at 4:30 p.m., in the Jade Candle Hall.
Also, our Summer Retreat is almost upon us! Everyone - couples, individuals, families - are joyfully invited to come! There will be fun activities & mindfulness programs for both children & teenagers, so please bring the young bodhisattvas! More information can be found here.
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Blue Cliff will continue to have Days of Mindfulness (open to everyone) every Thursday and Sunday, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and ending approximately 4:00 p.m. If you cannot stay for the whole day, don't worry. :)
Click here for more information about our Mindfulness Days.
The next Community Work Day will be: Saturday, June 20th.
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Excerpt from Thay's new book: The World We Have |
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We do not have to sink into despair about global warming; we can act. If we just sign a petition and forget about it, obviously nothing is going to change. Urgent action must be taken at the individual and the collective levels. We all have a great desire to be able to live in peace and environmental sustainability. What most of us don’t yet have are concrete ways of making our commitment to sustainable living a reality in our daily lives.
To read the full article, please click here
Source: Shambhala Sun Magazine
To order THE WORLD WE HAVE, please click here |
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New Products
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The Qi Kong method “Duong Sinh” (life sustaining) [1] Way of the Heart” consists of four exercises based around the use of a long light stick. Each exercise consists of four movements; giving 16 movements in all. The movements in this particular Qi Kong method were invented by the elderly Mai Bac Dau, and revised by Zen master Tinh Tu who put the instructions together in a compact form and added photographs to make them easier to remember and practice.
For more information, please click here
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Featured Poem:
Poetry / Prose from participants of the Creative Arts Retreat
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Land of Blue Cliffs, tell me your story, you whose blue cliffs are hidden.
When the last glacier retreated, leaving your hills scoured and
covered with stones from far places, did you rejoice?
When the first people came, they used you lightly. Did they have a choice?
The tribes from Europe came with attitude + iron. They thought they could own you.
--- Read more ---
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Music: Joy
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Be Engaged |
Resources for sharing mindfulness with children and a place to share ideas
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This is a four-fold Sangha resource and we need your help and participation. Plum Village monastics are currently posting up the principle practices we share with children in the Plum Village tradition: Practicing with the bell, Pebble meditation, the Two Promises, Deep Relaxation for Children, Touching the Earth for Children, Eating meditation, embracing strong emotions, walking meditation, etc.
http://mindfulkids.wordpress.com
For more information, please click here
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Young Buddhists and non-Buddhists for a Healthy and Compassionate Society
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Buddhism needs to be recognized as a source of wisdom, a long tradition of the practice of understanding and love and not just of devotion. The spirit of the Dharma is very close to the spirit of Science; both help us cultivate an open and non-discriminating mind. You can join the Wake Up Movement as a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, an agnostic or an atheist. The practice of maitri, of loving kindness, the practice of sisterhood and brotherhood, is at the foundation of the Dharma.
For more information, please click here
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Blue Cliff Wish List
Dear Dharma Friends,
Thank you for your generosity and care for Blue Cliff. Your continued support allows us to continue to share both the practice and the practice environment of our monastery with so many people.
For more information, please click here |
Photo Gallery |
Dear Friends,
Please check out our gallery for photos of recent activities at Blue Cliff
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