Tea Time

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Watch a Movie About Tea

Bloom Where You are Planted

Flower Fresh. Breathing in, I see myself as a flower. Breathing out, I feel fresh and I smile. The whole body of a child is a flower. Today, I saw my son Luke as a poppy flower, blooming tall and strong on his 23rd birthday. We are all flowers in the garden of humanity. With meditation, we can keep our flowerness for a long time. Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly alive, present and at one with those around you and with what you are doing. Conscious breathing is the key to uniting body and mind and bringing the energy of mindfulness into each moment of our life. Our breathing is a stable solid ground that we can take refuge in. Regardless of our internal weather- our thoughts, emotions and perceptions- our breathing is always with us like a faithful friend. Whenever we feel carried away, or sunken in a deep emotion, or scattered in worries and projects, we return to our breathing to collect and anchor our mind. We feel the flow of air coming in and going out, we feel how light and natural, how calm and peaceful our breathing functions. At any time, while we are walking, gardening, or typing, we can return to this peaceful source of life.

The Cloud in the Tea

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Buddhism & Hinduism

Please Call Me By My True Name
by Thich Nhat Hanh

Don't say that I will depart tomorrow -- 

even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving

to be a bud on a Spring branch, 

to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,

learning to sing in my new nest,

to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,

to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,

to fear and to hope.The rhythm of my heart 
is the birth and death of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing

on the surface of the river.

And I am the bird 

that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily

in the clear water of a pond.

And I am the grass-snake

that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,

my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.

And I am the arms merchant,

selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl,

refugee on a small boat,

who throws herself into the ocean

after being raped by a sea pirate.

And I am the pirate,

my heart not yet capable

of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,

with plenty of power in my hands.

And I am the man who has to pay

his "debt of blood" to my people

dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm

it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.

My pain is like a river of tears,

so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,

so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,

so I can see that my joy and pain are one.
Please call me by my true names,

so I can wake up, and so the door of my heart

can be left open, the door of compassion.

Buddha, Shankaracharya and Swami Vivekananda Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda

Training in Mindfulness - Deer Park Monastery