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Wake Up USA us.wkup.org The Wake Up Movement was founded in 2008 by Zen Master Thch Nht Hnh. Wake Up - Young Buddhists and non-Buddhists for a Healthy and Compassionate Society - is a world-wide network of young people practicing the living art of mindfulness. Blue Cliff Monastery 3 Mindfulness Road Pine Bush, NY 12566 www.bluecliffmonastery.org Blue Cliff Monastery was founded in 2007 and is an extension of Plum Village meditation center in France, founded by Zen Master Thch Nht Hnh. Blue Cliff Monastery is open all year round for anyone to experience mindful living. Copyright 2011 by Unified Buddhist Church All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America This booklet has been created by young practitioners for young practitioners. Please pass me on or recycle me.
Welcome. We recognize that life can get busy. Real busy. And stressful. And overwhelming. Finding the time to pause and reflect is difficult, especially amidst an ever-growing to-do list and inbox that keeps piling up. But somehow you found yourself here, and for that we are grateful. Youve arrived at just the right time and youre in just the right state of mind. All of the things you did prior to now are done and everything you need to do later can wait. You are here! As for us, well, were here as well. Were part of the Wake Up movement. We represent a world-wide network of young people practicing the living art of mindfulness. If you know a thing or two about mindfulness, great. If youre new to the practice, even better. The most important thing to remember about mindfulness is that it is to be experienced. Words and people can describe it, but its true transformative power will be seen when you are able to practice it for yourself. Thats what were here to help you with. Being mindful is simple, but not always easy. The practices well cover will equip you with your own mindfulness toolkit that you can use anywhere, anytime, with anybody. Practicing mindful breathing, sitting, walking, eating, talking and listening... all of these can open doors of happiness and peace. They provide some space between you and the stress found in the realities of everyday life. With this space comes joy, relief, and healing ; you are free to just be. With gratitude,
Contents
Practicing Together Breathing Sitting Meditation Walking Meditation Eating Meditation Deep Relaxation Practice Dharma Sharing Practice Beginning Anew Practice Dealing With Anger Songs for the practice The Five Mindfulness Trainings Wake Up Mission Statement Wake Up Sangha Stay Connected to Keep the Flame of Awakening Alive Upcoming Events 4 5 7 8 11 12 13 15 18 25 29 33 35 37 38
Practicing Together
In the Lakota tradition there is an insight: Mitakuye Oyasin All are related. In our daily lives we often think and act in a way as if we are all alone and separate from the rest of humanity, from the rest of the world. We compete against each other, we talk badly about each other and so on, acting as if we are all separate. This brings about much suffering for ourselves and others. We have not woken up to reality yet. When we practice mindfulness, we come together as a spiritual family. We practice together, and the collective energy of mindfulness helps us all return to life in the present moment. Little by little, by sitting, walking, eating and playing together we feel more close to the people around us. We come closer to ourselves, aware of our bodies, our feelings and our minds. We awaken our capacity to be in contact with the wonders of life. We are not carried away by our anxiety, our anger or our craving. We often talk about the interbeing nature of all things: How can we be here without our parents, the Earth, the sun, the bees? When we practice together we start to embody this insight. This brings us much joy and peace.
When you are motivated by the desire to transcend suffering , to get out of a difficult situation, and to help others to do the same, you become a powerful source of energy that helps you to do what you want to do to transform yourself and to help other people.
- Thch Nht Hnh Taming the Tiger Within
Breathing
Welcome to one of our most basic practices called Mindful Breathing. It is, simply put, being aware of your in-breath and out-breath. At first, we can be mindful of 3 in- and outbreaths and gradually build our awareness and concentration over more breaths, and over a longer period of time. I find for myself that my breath is the most reliable and portable tool that I always have to hand when I am overwhelmed by strong emotions. My breath is my favorite anchor that I turn to when I need to find my center and reestablish solidity. When I feel a rush of anxiety or boiling rage escalating inside, I resort to calming myself with mindful breathing. One of my favorite exercises is:
In - Out Deep - Slow Calm - Ease Smile - Release Present Moment - Wonderful Moment
The most important thing is to enjoy and not control your breath. Its okay if its short or long or deep or shallow. With time and practice it will naturally become deeper and slower.
Every time you feel lost, alienated, or cut off from life, or from the world, every time you feel despair, anger, or instability, practice going home. Mindful breathing is the vehicle that you use to go back to your true home.
- Thch Nht Hnh Taming the Tiger Within
Sitting Meditation
Sitting Meditation is a time to be still. In Plum Village we have a song called Happiness is Here and Now. One line goes, No where to go, nothing to do. I think sitting meditation is when we can stop and be in our body. We can feel happy. Sitting meditation is a designated time for us ; it is my time. When our body has stopped moving, it gives our mind a chance to calm down also. Practicing sitting meditation we want to unite our body and mind. This desire to feel our body, to be in our body, to understand our body, to fully embrace our body and to heal our body is an act of love. It takes determination to settle into our body and to become aware of this world within us. When our body is at ease and comfortable, it does not take effort to sit like a mountain - to sit solidly and in freedom. But I think we all know that when we are unhappy or we have strong emotions, whether pleasant or unpleasant, it is a challenge to be still. What allows us to be able to sit still and be calm is to follow our breathing. This exercise of being aware of our in- and out- breath brings the light of awareness to shine forth onto these strong emotions. When we understand something, or want to understand something, it is much easier for us to be present for it, unconditionally. Mindfulness of our breath is an anchor that grounds us to our Mother Earth. It keeps us in place even when the winds of thoughts and feelings are blowing forcefully. Training ourselves to be mindful of our breath is like making a best friend. When we have a best friend, we connect more openly with other people, because we have someone to take refuge in someone we believe understands us well. If our best friend is friends with someone else, then we too can be friends with him or her and at the least manage to hang out with him or her. That someone else, our next friend we meet on this path, is our body. Once we have made friends with our body, then it is easier and we have more confidence in making friends with our mind.
Sitting to relax, to enjoy, to understand As our practice deepens sitting meditation can become like sitting and having a good cup of coffee or juice with a long time dear friend. You are just sitting and enjoying each others company and listening wholeheartedly without any judgment. You are there simply in order to understand, so you can be there for your friend. It is like that with sitting meditation as we get to know our body and mind. We want to sit so we can understand and know how to live our life more fully and happily without regrets. Since we are sitting with our best friend the breath, we feel secure and blessed to have someone so faithful by our side. We do not need to be afraid of not being enough because we understand ourselves, and our limits and our potential. We know we have weaknesses but we know our faithful friend will be by our side and shed light on these areas as is needed throughout our life, so we can take it easy. This awareness of being enough is a great insight that can only come when we stop and care for ourselves, not allowing ourselves to be caught and carried away by the mainstream of society. We learn to live wisely from our understanding and wish to love life. Bitesize sitting sessions We do not need to sit for long. If we can sit peacefully and joyfully for 5-10 minutes in the morning, that is enough to water the seed of stopping and of coming back to ourselves. We can also sit for 5-10 minutes, breathing in and out in the evening before crashing on our bed to knock out for the night. Sitting for short periods like that is enough for us to be more aware of our actions of body, speech, and mind in order for us to develop and grow into a beautiful human being.
Walking Meditation
Walking meditation is my closest friend. It is always available, always there for me. My meditative steps soothe, reassure, comfort and embrace me when I need it most. I practice walking meditation wherever I am, walking from building to building. I practice it when Im happy, when Im angry, when Im lonely, when Im sad. Walking puts me in touch with myself, and with the wonderful and healing elements of life around me. It sets me free from the junk and grounds me in reality.
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Not walking like a zombie To walk in meditation simply meansto walk knowing we are walking. Walking like this Im awake to my steps, awake to my life right here, right now. I put all my attention, all my heart, into my steps. Simply being with each step is enough to bring stillness and freshness to my walking moment. Synchronizing mind, steps and breathing I bring 100% of my attention to the contact between my feet and the ground, and I gently combine my steps with my breathing. Breathing in, perhaps I take three or four steps. Breathing out, I take five or six steps. Im just a breathingwalking being in that moment. Landing into the present moment Im someone whose mind is always buzzing, but when I walk, I really let go of the thoughts whizzing around in my head: I let go of tension that may be there, regretting something Ive said or done, or hurt or disappointment about something that happened in the past; and I let go of my fears, anxieties and stress about what Im facing ahead. And I just focus on my steps. Freeing myself from the weight of the past, and freeing myself from angst about the future, I land, lightly and freely into the present moment. Awakening to life, to freedom I feel the contact of my feet with the ground, and take my steps solidly and freely, rather than trippingly. Each step is my life: I cannot find my life in the future. So each step is worth taking for real, and not in a hurry. So I gently put all my attention into the point of contact between my feet and the ground. I know when Im walking on asphalt, or pebbles, or grass or gravel. I feel that relationship. I feel the breeze on my face, the warm sunshine or chill at dusk. I feel the expanse of the sky above me and the vast earth beneath me. I hear the sound of the birds, the wind in the trees or the roar of traffic & bustle of life around me. Walking like this I feel a kind of freedom. Eye of the urban storm I used to walk like this through downtown London on my way to work in the newsroom. I learnt that I could walk freely but also fast. I could walk fast without hurrying, because I was there with every step. Even though there was traffic, sirens, and stress all around me, I used my mindfulness to bring my attention to the sky, the trees, the river, the earth. I found sources of solidity and freshness, and chose them as my reference point. As I walked I would let go my worries go into the sidewalk, and release the tension in my shoulders and chest. I felt like I was master of my life, and my environment not carried along by the rush-hour majority, not taking on their stress as my own. My inner-city walking meditations were moments of freedom and of rest, when I was really myself, and really living my life. 11
Eating Together
Its like Sitting Meditation, but Yummier. Eating is one of the most regular and dependable things that we already do in our daily life. Mindful eating, or Eating Meditation, is a great way to incorporate a regular dose of mindfulness into our everyday practice - at least three times a day! In eating meditation, we take the time to connect more deeply with the food we have before us. Whether its a snack, a drink, or a full meal, we slow down to see, taste, and recognize exactly what it is we are putting into our body. Looking deeply into our food, we become aware of the many conditions that have come together for the food to be on our plate. With this awareness, we water seeds of gratitude and compassion for the nourishment we are able to receive at the cost of much energy and hard work, and this awareness then also becomes a source of nourishment for us. The Tortoise and the Hare Slowing down is an important part of becoming more present during our meals. We give ourselves full permission to eat in a leisurely, attentive way instead of rushing through our meal to get it out of the way of more important things. When we give ourselves time to chew the food carefully and thoroughly, we can connect more deeply with the tastes and textures of our food, and become more aware of the nutriments that we are incorporating into our body. We also have the time to observe and embrace certain habit energies - did we put too much food on our plate? are we eating beyond what our body is needing? are our minds wandering towards the future or the past? are we using the food to nourish ourselves or are we using it to run away from our anxieties and suffering? As we touch old habit energies about our way of consuming, we are able to recognize and smile to them, and then gently set course for a healthier way of eating and living.
Setting aside time to be with ourselves as we enjoy a mindful meal is a wonderful way to lay claim to an oasis of peace in our daily lives. And its a practice we can share together with our friends and family, as well. Happy eating!
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Deep Relaxation
Just Chill Its so important to relax. But our lives can be so hectic, and our minds so complex. Thats why its much easier to start with our bodies. We know that when our body is relaxed, our mind will naturally follow. Just as when our body is tense and agitated, our mind will be as well. I think that many of us may have a notion that relaxation is something that can only be achieved at a later date, after we have attained [insert life goal here]. Only after weve purchased our dream house on the beach will we finally allow ourselves to let go and enjoy. We may feel that we require a day-spa, or a massage, to facilitate our relaxation. Weve lost confidence in our own bodys ability to heal itself. But relaxation is something that can occur within the space of a few skillful in-and-out breaths. At first it may actually feel like our bodies are in more pain than before. Without noticing it, our bodies have accumulated a reservoir of tension; the pain has been there all along - we just hadnt noticed it yet.
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Wishing the pain away, wanting to get rid of the discomfort as quickly as possible will not help. The harder we try to force ourselves to relax, the more tense we may become. We have to gently embrace the tension, stress and discomfort with compassion, recognition and acceptance. Allowing our stress to surface so that it can be cared for, this is the key. After you have located a point of pain, direct the breath towards it. I guarantee that after five minutes of wholehearted practice, the suffering will diminish. Try it trust your body.
Dharma Sharing
Dharma Sharing is an opportunity for us to share deeply our experience of applying the practice of mindfulness in our lives. It is a time for us to share our happiness and also share our difficulties. Its a safe space where we can share freely whatever is real for us, whatever is on our heart, perhaps even things we have never felt able to share before. But most of all it is an opportunity for us to listen to each other. How many times in our lives have we felt that noone is really listening to us? And how many times have we not really been able to listen to our friends and our loved ones because our mind is occupied with other things (or because were busy texting )? In a session of Dharma Sharing, we learn to listen deeply to each other, offering each other our full presence, not allowing ourselves to be carried away by judging or reacting to what the other person is saying. We listen deeply by focusing our attention on our breathing, again and again bringing our mind back to our body and letting go of our thinking. When we share, we share to the whole group. We try to avoid crosstalk, and we definitely dont give anyone advice. We get enough advice already. The best way to protect the space for everyone is to keep our sharing to our own experience. When we all share our own experience, the wisdom of the group manifests, and we are able to touch true brotherhood and sisterhood.
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Beginning Anew
At times we need to say something to our friend, our parents, or our partner, and we dont find the right time or space to say it. The practice of Beginning Anew helps us to create a space in which we can share our happiness or our pain in such a way that the other person or people are able to listen and to receive it. The guidelines of the practice help to maintain an energ y of peace and openness during the whole sharing , making it possible to for us to truly hear and to be heard. The added presence of a trusted and experienced facilitator in the Beginning Anew session can expand the capacity of the space to hold even quite difficult conflicts and emotions. Find a quiet space where you are unlikely to be interrupted. It is nice to put a beautiful flower or plant--even a pine cone--in the center of the space where you sit. If you are a group practicing together, you may like to sit in a circle around the flower; two may sit on either side of it facing inwards. It is even possible to practice Beginning Anew by yourself alone with a flower! Enjoy the beauty of the flower before you as you follow your breathing. It is helpful to have a practitioner who has experience with Beginning Anew to help guide the meeting. He or she can help invite the bell to begin, and may share the guidelines of Beginning Anew with everyone; during the meeting he or she will know when it is appropriate to remind everyone to come back to their breathing and listen to the sound of the bell. It is best if that person is not too emotionally involved in any conflict that may be brought out in the meeting. If there is no one to go over the guidelines, one person may just read this text out loud to begin. In Beginning Anew only one person may share at a time. When you would like to share you join your palms before your chest and bow, or
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use some other gesture which is clear and acceptable to the group. If we are in a circle you may like to stand up, walk mindfully to the flower in the center, pick it up, and walk back to your seat to sit down. Place the flower in front of you to remind you to bring beauty to your words as you share. The others practice not to interrupt you as you speak until you gesture that you have finished by joining your palms and bowing. When we share we begin with the practice of watering flowers. We share the things that we genuinely appreciate about the other person or people. This is not mere flattery; it is the practice of recognizing the good qualities in the other person and pointing these out to them. We share from our heart and not just by way of lip service. We want to let them know that we are grateful for their presence. A skillful practitioner will water flowers not just by recognizing abstract qualities in the other person, like kindness or joyfulness, but by pointing out concrete things that the other person has done to demonstrate these qualities. For example, I really appreciated how you washed the dishes for everyone last night without being asked. That was very kind. By learning to skillfully water the flowers of those around us we build brotherhood and sisterhood--the foundation of our relationships and our communities. The second step is to share our own weaknesses and unskillful actions. We are not perfect in every way; everyone has things they can work on. This is the moment to recognize those concrete things we have thought, said or done in the past few days or weeks that have been unskillful or hurtful to others, and also to make the commitment to do better. In this way we cultivate humility and keep ourselves open to receiving feedback from others. When others hear our sharing , their hearts naturally open with compassion and understanding. When we genuinely acknowledge our own shortcomings, others are much more open to receiving feedback from us.The third step is to share how we have been hurt by something we perceive the other person has thought, said or done. We always start from the level of our perceptions; in this way we acknowledge that our perceptions may be wrong , leaving space for the other person or people to offer their own perception about what happened. You may like to start by saying : I feel hurt because I perceived you said or did this or that. We can speak truthfully about our own emotions and experience of our perceptions, but we do not blame or judge the other person. This may seem difficult, but it is the best way to leave space for the other person to explain their own perceptions about what happened. Reconciliation can only come about when everyone recognizes the role they played in bringing about a
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situation of suffering. Beginning Anew creates the space for this kind of reconciliation to take place. By first watering the flowers of the other person and then recognizing our own shortcomings, we prepare the soil for the flower of true reconciliation to grow. If the other person is not skillful enough in their speech, a strong emotion like anger may come up. At that point it is better not to respond or react, but to follow our breathing. It may be better not to respond to the other person in that same meeting but to leave some time, even a week or more, to let the emotion settle so that we may respond, using the same steps above, at a later time. There is a fourth step that is sometimes added where you may ask the group for support to go through a difficult time. Perhaps a loved one has died, or perhaps we are just having a strong emotion come up in our daily life. We may let the others know about this and ask for their love and support. You may like to practice only the first and second steps in a session of Beginning Anew. Be sure, however, not to proceed to the third step without having fully practiced the first and second step beforehand. In that way you help prepare the other person for a sharing that may be difficult for them otherwise to receive. In this way Beginning Anew can become a powerful tool for building trust, intimacy, and brotherhood and sisterhood in your family, group of friends, or community.
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Defuse Me
If I were a bomb ready to explode, if I have become dangerous to your life, then you must take care of me. You think you can get away from me, but how? I am here, right in your midst. (You cannot remove me from your life.) And I may explode at any time. I need your care. I need your time. I need you to defuse me. You are responsible for me, because you have made the vow (and I heard it) to love and to care. I know that to take care of me you need much patience, much coolness. I realize that in you there is also a bomb to be defused. So why dont we help each other? I need you to listen to me. No one had listened to me. No one understands my suffering, including the ones who say they love me. The pain inside me is suffocating me. It is the TNT that makes up the bomb.
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There is no one else who will listen to me. That is why I need you. But you seem to be getting away from me. You want to run for your safety, the kind of safety that does not exist. I have not created my own bomb. It is you. It is society. It is family. It is school. It is tradition. So please dont blame me for it. Come and help; if not, I will explode. This is not a threat. It is only a plea for help. I will also be of help when it is your turn.
- Thch Nht Hnh Please Call Me By My True Names
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Waking Up
Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live each moment fully, and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.
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Drinking Tea
This cup of tea in my two hands, mindfulness is held uprightly. My mind and body dwell in the very here and now.
Walking Meditation
The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, a gentle wind blows, with each step, a flower blooms.
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5. In Out
In, out Deep, slow Calm, ease Smile, release. Present moment, Wonderful moment.
7. Arrived
Arrived, arrived, at home, I am at home. Dwelling in the here and dwelling in the now. Solid as a mountain, free as a white cloud. The door to no-birth and no-death is open, free and unshakable.
11. I Am A Cloud
I am a cloud, I am the blue sky, I am a bird spreading out its wings. I am a flower, I am the sunshine, I am the Earth receiving a seed. And I am free when my heart is open. Yes I am free when my mind is clear. Oh dear brothers, oh dear sisters, Lets walk to together mindfully (joyfully). (2x)
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13. No Discrimination
The sun, it shines on everyone. (2x) No discrimination, no discrimination The rain, it falls on everyone, (2x) No discrimination, no discrimination My heart belongs to everyone, (2x) No discrimination, no discrimination
16. Happiness
Happiness is here and now. I have dropped my worries. Nowhere to go, nothing to do, no longer in a hurry. Happiness is here and now. I have dropped my worries. Somewhere to go, something to do, but I dont need to hurry.
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There are those who are so discouraged that they no longer have the courage to love. They suffer a great deal just because they made an attempt to love and failed . The wounds within them are so deep that it makes them afraid to try again. We are aware of the presence of these people among us, all around us. We have to bring them the message that love is possible. Our world desperately needs love.
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despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to working in a way that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on Earth and reverse the process of global warming.
True love is a love without possessiveness. You love and still you are free, and the other person is also free. The kind of love that has no joy is not true love. If both parties cry every day, then thats not true love. There must joy and freedom and understanding in love.
- Thch Nht Hnh Taming the Tiger Within
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Wake Up: Young Buddhists and non-Buddhists for a Healthy and Compassionate Society Mission Statement
Wake Up is a community of young Dharma practitioners who want to help their society - a society overloaded with intolerance, discrimination, craving, anger and despair. Their practice is the Five Mindfulness Trainings, ethical guidelines offered by the Buddha - the most concrete practice of true love and compassion. They clearly show the way towards a life in harmony with each other and with the Earth. If you are a young practitioner you are encouraged to join the Wake Up movement in your country. We may feel anger and frustration when we see the environmental degradation caused by our society, and we feel despair because as individuals we dont seem to be strong enough to change our way of life. Wake Up offers us a way to pool our energy and act in synchrony. Let us get together and form a Wake Up group in our own town. Our collective practice will surely bring transformation and healing to individuals and society. Let us get in touch with young practitioners from Plum Village, both monastic and lay, to get more support and information. 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. When members of the Wake Up Community come together they like to hang out and connect with each other. They listen to a Dharma teaching, participate in a Dharma sharing, recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings and do sitting and walking meditation. The practice helps them to release the tension in their bodies and their feelings, to live more deeply and enjoy more each moment of their daily lives, and to use compassionate listening and lov-
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ing speech to help restore communication and reconcile with other people, and help others in society to do the same. Dharma sharings help us to share our practice with each other, to deepen our understanding of the Five Mindfulness Trainings, and to find more appropriate ways to apply them right away in our daily lives. In this way, we are changing society in the direction of compassion and harmony. Together we can discover many concrete ways to help, such as:
offering guided relaxation sessions to our classmates before exams organizing regular sessions of sitting, walking and eating meditation with our friends - at home, in parks or public spaces learning to handle our stress, anger, fear and depression so we can offer joy, happiness and wisdom to our friends and society bringing mindfulness practices to the worlds of activism, social work and healthcare consuming in a way that reduces suffering and pollution and helps save our planet - such as eating as vegan as possible actively caring for our immediate environment - such as organizing clean-ups of beaches and planting trees promoting Car-Free Days where we are organizing and facilitating Deep Ecology workshops to help us wake up to the situation of the planet creating organic vegetable gardens in our backyards and cities working together with local charities to help those in need, and supporting aid projects in the developing world
Members of the Wake Up Community can also organize camps and retreats so that many others, young and less young, can come and share the practice of joyful and mindful living, and so we can all nourish ourselves through contact with nature. The Five Mindfulness Trainings encourage everyone to live in such a way that our planet Earth will be able to survive for a long time. These Trainings are the foundation of the lives of the members of the Wake Up Movement and represent their ideal of service. Mindfulness, Concentration and Insight are the energies we cultivate through our practice and that can bring about tolerance, non-discrimination, understanding and compassion. In the last three decades, Plum Village has helped to train many young people in Europe, North America and Asia in this way. Now it is possible to set up Wake Up groups in each town and country. Please share with us in Plum Village what you are planning to do and what you are trying to achieve. We shall do our best to support you.
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Wake Up Sangha
In Holland, many Wake Up sanghas are forming and we now have a young sangha in almost every big city. This is great, but how did this happen? It almost always begins with just one or two practitioners who have a deep aspiration to continue to practice together with others. For us it started with 5 young people from Rotterdam going to a Wake Up retreat in Holland (that young people organized and asked monks and nuns to come and support). We all really wanted to come together again, so we made an appointment the week after to do so. This first sangha meeting was at my home. With some improvised cushions and tea, we started. We shared the ideal that no one person is the leader of the group and that everybody is responsible. Although in the long run some people felt comfortable sitting at the bell and others did not, the spirit of doing it together always remained. I remember that we first did some sitting and then spoke about what we would like to do at a sangha meeting. We made a list and everybody voted, if and how many times we wanted to do things. The list went something like this: Every time: - Sitting meditation - Dharma sharing - Drinking tea Often: - Guided meditation - Reciting 5 Mindfulness Trainings - Deep Relaxation practice - Outside walking meditation - Dharma talk - Singing - Games
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Sometimes: - Touching the Earth practice - Sharing a meal - Yoga/exercises - Other teachings - Other meditations We started our sangha meeting once a week and we always tried to have a meeting. It seems that having a regular meeting at a fixed time makes a sangha stronger. Sometimes there were not so many people, but as we were all first practicing for ourselves, that did not matter. A sangha meeting can be very deep with only 3 people. For me the young sangha really nourished me. We grew strong connections and felt more and more as brothers and sisters. It helped that during the sharings we could very easily open up and share our difficulties, as we had a safe place and atmosphere. I would like to encourage everybody to form a sangha - you can do it too. Wake Up Sangha cookbook Ingredients: * Consensus on activities to do together * Safe place to meet each time * Regular meetings * A bell * Sitting cushions or improvised rolled-up blankets * Song lyrics * Printed copies of the 5 Mindfulness Trainings * Some inspired people Optional: * Planting Seeds: Mindfulness for Children book by Thch Nht Hnh * Attending/organizing retreats for young people
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wkup.org
bluecliffmonastery.org deerparkmonastery.org
Batesville, Mississippi Pine Bush, NY In the Great Hidden Mountain of Escondido, CA
Wake Up International
magnoliagrovemonastery.org plumvillage.org
fiveyears@plumvillage.org pvom.org
Wake Ups spiritual birthplace - a monastery in the Dordogne, France For more infromation on the 5-year monastic training program Live streaming of teachings from Thch Nht Hnh Sanghas all over the planet in the Plum Village tradition Lay Mindfulness Practice Center in the Plum Village tradition, NH
iamhome.org
morningsuncommunity.org
>>contact the Wake Up monastics in North America atus@wkup.org >>follow them on Twitter @wkup >>get connected @facebook.com/wkupusa Get in touch with Wake Up groups along the East Coast:
u s @ w k u p. o r g b o s t o n @ w k u p. o r g d a rt m o u t h @ w k u p. o r g r h o d e i s l a n d @ w k u p. o r g p e n n @ w k u p. o r g p r o v i d e n c e @ w k u p. o r g n y c @ w k u p. o r g c o l u m b i a @ w k u p. o r g
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Led by Dharma Teacher Joanne Friday Saturday, November 19, 2011, from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. @Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Avenue, New York City ... for further information please contact info@joannefriday.com.
Hosted at Blue Cliff Monastery, 3 Mindfulness Rd, Pine Bush, NY March 12-17, 2012 Leave the city behind, get a breath of fresh air and celebrate awakened living with a lively group of young mindfulness practitioners amidst the forests and creeks upstate. theres even a special rate: $100-$150 room and board (according to your means) for further information please contact office@bluecliffmonastery.org.
Hosted at Blue Cliff Monastery, 3 Mindfulness Rd, Pine Bush, NY June 22-24, 2012 August 17-19, 2012 ... for further information please contact office@bluecliffmonastery.org.
Organized by Deer Park Monastery, Escondido, Southern California April 2-16, 2012 ... for further information please visit deerparkmonastery.org.
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