The Deer Park Dharmacast

Thay Phap Hai offers guidance reflecting personal experiences, current events, dharma teachings & beautiful poetry. We are welcomed to give ourselves permission to be fully present to what is happening, experience ease and also explore any reactivity to situations. There's an invitation to look at darkness' we face individually and as a nation with curiosity & openness, to see what is actually happening in order to wake up to kindness & live fully in the present moment.

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

Sr Kinh Nghiem shares her own questions and answers about true love for ourselves and the other. Her reflections come from personal experience and current events.  

Translation by Sr Kinh Nghiem

Brother Kai Ly shares about Bodhicitta, the mind of love. There are also several wonderful stories about how he met with Thay and the valuable lessons that he learned from these encounters.

Translation by Sr Man Nghiem

Dharma talk from Venerable Phuoc Tinh on the opening day of the Winter 2017-2018 Retreat. Translation by Sister Kinh Nghiem.

Dear Beloved Listeners , Brother Phap Dung started with a talk for the children, please excuse us for not having the complete recording of this portion. Following this portion, Brother Phap Dung shares his experience of returning to the US during the 2017 US tour.

This is the Third Dharma talk of the retreat offered by Brother Phap Luu at Deer Park Monastery on September 17, 2017. The retreat theme is Awakening the Source of Understanding. The retreat is part of the larger US Tour with the theme Awakening Together.

During this question and answer session with Brother Phap Dung, Sister Huong Nghiem, Lyn Fine, and John Salerno-White we listen to seven questions. The date is September 16, 2017 at Deer Park Monastery. The retreat theme is Awakening the Source of Understanding. The retreat is part of the larger US Tour with the theme Awakening Together. 1. What are the forms/practices in our community that exists for shining eyes on something we witness? 2. Being angry/negative and the use of products like Nestle (which is used at the monastery). 3. How do we honor the tradition of our lineage and recognize and support multiple genders? 4. How do I better recognize and water the seeds of determination and practice? 5. What is the equality complex? 6. Story of suffering. 7. Needing support in finding my tribe, my sangha. How do I heal this sense of not belonging?

This is the Second Dharma talk of the retreat offered by Sr. Thệ Nghiêm at Deer Park Monastery on September 15, 2017. Topics include Mindfulness, Concentration, and Insight and the Four Kinds of Nutriments. The retreat theme is Awakening the Source of Understanding. The retreat is part of the larger US Tour with the theme Awakening Together. Video: https://youtu.be/2AvpHoBHPIg

This is the First Dharma talk of the retreat offered by Sister Dang Nghiem at Deer Park Monastery on September 13, 2017. The retreat theme is Awakening the Source of Understanding. The retreat is part of the larger US Tour with the theme Awakening Together. Video: https://youtu.be/mrThKTx-A9M

Translation by Sr Bach Nghiem

The Venerable shares his personal experience along with ancient Buddhist practice methods of successfully handling life’s changes and impermanence. Key components of this talk are creating harmony in relationships by first caring for our own body, mind and feelings. In described marriage ceremony, “mixing earth and lighting a candle” becomes a valuable metaphor of individuals coming together, transcending such differences as cultural backgrounds and race with right effort for a successful union. We are taught to live with greater happiness by having: faith, precepts/trainings, generosity and insight. The art of happiness is a skill that takes effort; much more effort than the art of fear, despair and anger. We are encouraged to begin practicing when we’re young, to learn and mature the practice of true love, known as the 4 immeasurable minds; cultivating love for ourselves and others. By learning to love ourselves when young, we can avoid the complex of inferiority and take better care of our body, and other

From Wake Up 2017 Retreat

Sister Kinh Nghiem offers meditation of the body.

In this talk, Brother Phap Ho shares on the theme of this year's Wake Up Retreat, Loving Yourself, Healing the World. He talks about his personal experience with mindfulness, concentration and insight emerging in the light of the four elements of love. With our daily practice guided by the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we can create healing for ourselves, for those around us, and for the wider world. Enjoy.

Sister Kinh Nghiem offers insights on cultivating true love using the Buddha's discourse on love, and including her personal experience. She offers guidance on being at peace by utilizing loving speech and having relationships with qualities of being upright, honest, just, and humble. Weaved within the talk are practices of having reverence for the other, watering each other's positive seeds, and letting go of pride. Practical ways of applying true love are offered by using the 6 mantras.