Practicing at Home

We invite you to visit http://deerparkmonastery.org/be-mindful-in-daily-life/ for ways to joyfully practice, or to notice how you are mindful in your life. Some of the (many) topics covered there in daily mindfulness are:

  • Living Together
  • Bell of Mindfulness
  • Breathing
  • Waking Up
  • Sitting Meditation
  • Eating Together
  • Resting
  • The Body of Practice
  • Dharma Sharing
  • Working Meditation
  • The Kitchen

In Thich Nhat Hanh’s tradition, the Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings offer concrete ways to bring mindfulness into ethical living. MCPS has increased our focus on bringing our practice into the world we live in through social and ethical justice.

This article addresses Sustainability with mindfulness:

“Sustainability is the ability to live fully in the present without compromising the future.” 

Here are some gathas that you can use right away in different contexts of your life:

Waking Up
Waking up this morning, I smile.
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at all beings with the eyes of compassion.

Brushing Your Teeth
Brushing my teeth and rinsing my mouth,
I vow to speak purely and lovingly.
When my mouth is fragrant with right speech,
a flower blooms in the garden of my heart.

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.

Drinking Tea
This cup of tea in my two hands,
mindfulness held perfectly.
My mind and body dwell in
the very here and now.

Talking on the Telephone
Words can travel thousands of miles.
May my words create mutual understanding and love.
May they be as beautiful as gems,
as lovely as flowers.

Driving a Car
Before starting the car
I know where I am going.
The car and I are one.
If the car goes fast, I go fast.

Washing the Dishes
Washing the dishes
is like bathing a baby Buddha.
The profane is the sacred.
Everyday mind is Buddha’s mind.

Sitting or Walking Meditation
I have arrived,
I am home
In the here,
In the now.
I am solid,
I am free.
In the ultimate
I dwell.

Laying in Bed
Resting in the ultimate dimension,
using snowy mountains as a pillow
and beautiful pink clouds as blankets.
Nothing is lacking.

Another wonderful practice is THE FIVE CONTEMPLATIONS (said before meals)

PLUM VILLAGE

This food is the gift of the whole universe, the Earth, the sky, numerous living beings and much hard work.

May we eat in mindfulness so as to nourish our gratitude.

May we recognize and transform our unwholesome mental formations, especially our greed, and learn to eat with moderation.

May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that we reduce the suffering of living beings, preserve our planet and reverse the process of global warming.

We accept this food so that we may deepen our practice of understanding and love, strengthen our sangha and nourish our ideal of serving living beings

LAS CINCO CONTEMPLACIONES
Estos alimentos son un regalo del universo entero, la tierra, el cielo y mucho arduo trabajo.

Que podamos comer con plena conciencia a sustentar nuestra gratitud.

Que podamos transformar nuestros estados mentales conflictivos y aprendamos a comer con moderación.

Que podamos comer solo alimentos que nos nutran, promover salud y proteger nuestro planeta.

Aceptamos estos alimentos para llevar a cabo el camino del entendimiento y del amor.

MCPS THURSDAY MORNING VERSION

This food is a gift of the entire universe, the Earth, the sky and much hard work.

May we eat in mindfulness so as to nourish our gratitude.

May we transform our unskillful states of mind and learn to eat with moderation.

May we eat only foods that nourish us, promote health and protect our planet.

We accept this food to realize the path of understanding and of love.