The Deer Park Dharmacast

Dear friends,  This week we have a Question and Response session from a recent Mindful Couples retreat at Deer Park Monastery.  Brother Phap De begins by sharing his experiences of love before and after becoming a monastic.  Then, three dharma teachers, Tony Sylvester, Peggy Rowe, and Jerry Braza, respond to questions on how to heal ourselves and our relationships.  In the end, it all comes down to practice, time, and understanding with others and with ourselves.  Remember, you can always find the Deer Park Dharmacast at dpcast.net, on Twitter, Facebook, and iTunes. 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's sharing is from a Question and Response session earlier this summer at Deer Park Monastery.  Sister Hang Nghiem responds to a short, yet profound, question, "What is important?"  She shows us that with mindfulness, we can see that this present moment is important, especially if a difficult emotion is arising.  Then, Sister Hang Nghiem and Brother Phap De share on the roots of frustration and resentment and how we can begin to better understand ourselves and others.   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 return to sharing question and response sessions from recent retreats at Deer Park Monastery.  Today we combine related questions from two different sessions to help us understand, "How do we forgive others and how do we forgive ourselves?"  Sister Hang Nghiem shares her experience of forgiveness and invites us to continue to practice with her every day. 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, Recently, a listener emailed us to ask the question, "As an engaged Buddhist, how can I stop the destruction of Mother Earth and leave my children a clean planet?" In the very same week, Brother Phap Ho offered for us to feature the first recording of his blog, Earth Protection Here and Now.  We hope that you find today's podcast a wonderful response to our listener's question.  Sometimes we want to know what to do, but Brother Phap Ho shares that the very first step to environmental conservation is to look deeply and reframe our perspective on this planet and our relationship to it.   For more insights, visit his blog at earthprotectionhereandnow.wordpress.com. 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 continue to offer excerpts of recent Question and Response sessions from this year's retreats to help us bring the practice into our daily lives.  This week, we present questions and responses on practicing mindfulness at home with our families.  How do we best guide our children?  And how can we practice when our family is not practicing?  Brother Phap Ho and Brother Phap Tuyen share from their experiences before and after becoming monks and give real examples of how to approach specific situations. As always, 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, Recently on the Dharmacast, we've heard our monastic brothers encourage us to bring the practice into our daily lives.  But the question arises: How do we *actually* do that?  So for the next few weeks, we'll offer segments from recent Question and Response sessions at Deer Park to answer that question. This week, our focus is work.  How do we apply the practice at work?  Brother Phap Ho and Sister Karen, a lay dharma teacher, offer practical examples of mindful work and share how to achieve a healthy work and home life balance. On the topic of work, The Deer Park Dharmacast team has a great time putting together the podcasts for you each week.  Thank you for listening.  If you love our podcasts and want to get involved, please join our small team of volunteers!  Whether it's selecting content, editing audio, or managing our social media, we need more help to keep the Dharmacast going.  All of our work is virtual, over the internet, so wherever you are in the world, and whatever your skills are,

Dear Friends, Today we share with you the second half of a talk given recently by Brother Phap Hai at Deer Park Monastery.  Everyday spiritual practice continues to be the focus of his sharing, but now Brother Phap Hai focuses on how we practice.  He delves into the concept of bodhichitta, the mind of love, by sharing the story of the 8th century teaching, The Way of the Bodhisattva, by the Indian monk, Shantideva.  Brother Phap Hai reminds us that our practice should not be rigid and dry, but rather infused with great love.  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." 

Dear Friends, Welcome to the Deer Park Dharmacast -- the podcast that puts the Dharma in your pocket. Deer Park recently hosted a People of Color retreat.  Part of the retreat was a question and answer session where retreatants were invited to ask questions from the heart to a panel of laywomen, laymen, monks and nuns.  Today, we offer you an excerpt of the question and answer session. Perhaps you have asked yourself these questions at one point in time? -- How can we share the importance and need for dedicated People of Color or Wake Up (young adult) retreats? -- How do we practice when the people around us are not practicing? -- What can we do to stop ourselves from speaking out of anger? We hope you enjoy this moment to stop and look deeply. Remember, you can always find the Deer Park Dharmacast online at DPcast.net, on iTunes, Twitter, or Facebook

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.