On the Journey

This is a Dharma Talk I offered at Deer Park Monastery on December 8, 2022. How can we integrate trauma awareness and healing into our mindfulness practice? Using Plum Village tradition practices in support of trauma healing on collective and individual levels. 

I’m saying farewell to NYC as I look west and am about to begin my travels to Deer Park Monastery. Reflecting on my time and work in the city and new possibilities. Reflecting on the where we are as a human family and supporting the processes of transformation and healing we so much need.

Originally recorded on March 22nd, the second day of spring, I contemplate what it means to be a nonviolent revolutionary in the spirit of Thich Nhat Hanh and Extinction Rebellion. Framing this is healing ourselves and our collective trauma. Through awakening and healing, there is the possibility of making a collective response to the epic crisis of climate chaos. This crisis is already causing devastating destruction and will continue to unfold both slowly and rapidly, over the next decades and centuries. Great change is underway. Our need to end our addiction to fossil fuels, as well as transform the very fabric of our society, has reached a now or never moment—can we make the change?

What is possible for us, individually and collectively as we respond to the crises of the 21st century—social and ecological challenges on a global scale? We face challenges from wealth inequity & poverty to climate and ecological destruction, to patterns of violence, conflict & oppression. What does grounding in the body and becoming present with ourselves and each other, then looking deeply allow us to see? How can we respond wisely from a place of groundedness, fearlessness, and compassion without attachment to outcomes? This episode was inspired by a recent TED talk, part of the TED Countdown Summit,  3 questions to build resilience—and change the world.  The talk was offered by a fellow monastic that I am grateful to have spent time with during my own monastic journey— Sister True Dedication, a Zen Nun ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh.

What is it like to hold our own experiences and feelings? What allows us to do that? What's it like to do this for others, what's it like to be received or felt by others or the spaces around us? This episode explores some of these notions—grounding and connecting even when conditions around us are less than ideal—when there are stresses within us and around us. This is an invitation to feel together, to be present, to take the time to be there, to allow ourselves to be received by people and life, and communities around us. There is a poem to explore some of this at the end of the episode.

Join me for this short guided practice on touching beauty. Grounding ourselves in the body in the present moment can often allow us to touch sources of beauty within us and around us.  This in turn can create a deep sense of aliveness, resilience, and connection on our journey. Blessings on the way.

As our lives become increasingly complex and social systems are strained, uncertainty can lead to anxiety and fear. Cultivating compassion allows us to remain centered and to find ways toward engaged and meaningful responses to the challenges we face.

All of us experience being overwhelmed at times in our lives. We may feel a sense of hopelessness or despair, a feeling of being collapsed. Or we may feel intense fear and panic. Or it may be the energy of deep anger or rage. How do we relate to and practice with these energies? What can we do towards healing and transformation? How can we honor and respect this deeply human experience of being overwhelmed? 

How can we meet our deep need for love and connection? Thich Nhat Hanh's first mantra on love is "I am here for you." Presence is one of the most powerful dimensions of love—being present is being love. How can we access this kind of presence? One way to generate this kind of presence is through our practice of embodiment. This is the practice of being there, first of all for ourselves and our present moment experience, so that we can be present for our loved ones, for all life, and Mother Earth.  Recently, Peter Levine and other trauma healers have been sharing that it's our sense of isolation or aloneness that is the primary driver of traumatic experience.  At the end of the episode, I share a poem entitled "I love you." I'm wishing us all powerful, healing, and connecting love in our lives.

What is authentic hope? How it can support us on the path of practice. Includes a poem and some reflections on active hope.