meditation – Komunitas Zen Plum Village

I am a seeker. Long ago, I realized that my physical needs were met a thousand times over shelter, safety from the elements, clean water, clothes, and nutrition. Yet, I felt a longing for connection and belonging that I struggled to satisfy in my own home and in the city of Angels, Los Angeles. I yearned to contribute and be the change I wanted to see in the world: peace in oneself, peace in the world, as our teacher Thich Nhat Hanh’s teaching with his own life: My life is my teaching.

Of all the books, workshops, seminars, and meditation retreats I attended from various people and organizations, I found myself repeatedly returning to Deer Park Monastery on a mountain in Escondido near San Diego. There, I practiced Zen meditation with monks, nuns, and lay practitioners like myself. I was drawn to the comforting feeling of simply being—without judgment, without mistakes. This wonderful sense of acceptance and belonging at Deer Park or Plum Village mindfulness events allowed me to easily connect with so-called strangers, some of whom organically and gradually became my lifelong friends, even now that I’ve moved across the ocean to Bali, the healing island of the gods.

In Los Angeles, I happily joined different organizing teams for sanghas and Plum Village events quite often, on and off, during my 13 years of practicing mindfulness. Working with mindful friends towards a common mission of serving others and bringing the pure teaching and life-changing path to those in need brought me great joy and happiness. My needs for connection and contribution were beautifully and meaningfully met. I also had opportunities to learn and grow, gaining insights from great mindful teachers (both monastics and lay practitioners) and practicing mindful breathing, deep looking, and loving speech, especially in challenging situations involving less mindful individuals, including myself 

Moving to Bali last year, I noticed that the Plum Village tradition here is not as established as in Southern California. Initially, I felt sad and missed the wonderful communities I had in the past. But, as with everything in life, it is not about the outer circumstances but how we perceive them—whether as a victim or as a learner eager to grow. So, I decided to step up and bring more mindfulness events to the expat community here, where I see a huge need despite the seemingly perpetual vacation lifestyle many of us lead.

I’m thankful for the chance to step up as the main organizer of two beautiful Days of Mindfulness so far. Each event brought a wonderful co-organizer (who hopefully will become a lifelong friend) and obstacles that were overcome beautifully, resulting in beneficial experiences for many friends, some of whom had never heard of Thay or knew how to walk mindfully before.

For the first Day of Mindfulness, monastics contacted my co-organizing friend out of the blue, announcing their visit to Bali (which doesn’t yet have a Plum Village monastery, though one is coming soon, much to my joy) just five days before the planned event. We quickly coordinated with Green School, changed the date, and had four beautiful nuns lead the entire event.

Reflecting on how mindfulness and the Plum Village tradition have shaped my last 15 years, I feel thankful and happy. The practice is extremely simple—just returning to our breath, which even a child can do naturally and unconsciously. Yet, consistency is key and makes all the difference. As adults, we are now learning to breathe, walk, eat, listen, and talk all over again.

I love the pure teaching of Buddha as a philosophy of life. We measure our practice progress not by rigid, shallow, and egoic parameters like how often we sit, how much we know about Buddhist concepts, how little meat we eat, or how much charity work we do but by how compassionate we become towards ourselves and others, and how our lives harmonize with outer circumstances and those around us.

When I first encountered the practice in 2010, I was going through the toughest time of my life. Despite deep postpartum depression and years of physical, emotional, and relationship struggles, occasional visits to Deer Park recharged me every time, bringing me hope and much-needed self-belief. However, I lacked the consistency to bring mindfulness into my daily life.

Now, 15 years later, I realize the ultimate power of giving. To me, GIVING means:

Bring mindfulness to those ready to learn and practice it consistently,
Offering discounts and accepting full refunds in my mental health practice,
I deeply listen to my wounded inner child, my partner, and my daughter, understand the emotions and needs behind our words and actions, and respond with acceptance and clarity.

We cannot give without receiving. It is a universal law, like breathing out and in. Since intentionally centering myself on giving, I have received more and more in beautiful natural ways—physically, emotionally, financially, and in my relationships. Living my dream healer life in Bali is another manifestation of this giving philosophy that I am slowly bringing into reality in my daily life.

Living this intentional life of giving and the three right livelihoods I chose, mindfulness is invaluable. It is the energy we cultivate consistently in our daily lives through rituals of mindful teeth brushing, walking, dishwashing, sitting meditation, and even arguing or any other daily rituals that speak to oneself). So, when triggering moments arise, we have the light of mindfulness and awareness to illuminate the darkest corners of our unpresent, autopilot states of being.

Stay tuned for more Days of Mindfulness events! The next one is on August 10 from 9 AM to 1 PM in Canggu, Bali. And another one at the end of August at Green School Bali. (Kim Dang)

Fun With Dharma, KMVB UPH @PondokSadhanaAmitayus Cipayung

A constant feeling of consternation and curiosity combined together, a mind filled with thoughts that are unnecessary, a dormant way of thinking. That was how I felt before the five days pilgrimage began at Pondok Sadhana Amitayus, Cipayung, West Java. Well, it was not exactly a pilgrimage as I just spent the days at one place but it was definitely a journey for my soul.

KMVB UPH (Keluarga Mahasiswa Vidya Buddhis, Universitas Pelita Harapan) hosted an event called “Fun with Dharma” which basically means learning Dharma in a fun way. It was hosted in Cipayung, at a place called Pondok Sadhana Amitayus. It was led by Bhante Nyanabhadra (Br. Pháp Tử), a student of the world-renowned Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh. Bhante Nyanabhadra faced through many challenges in order to become one of 800 disciples of this great Zen master.

The challenges surely created many experiences for him because I can feel the knowledge emitting from his mouth every time he answered one of our stupid question. Stupid questions lead to great replies and great replies led to a great quote. “Do your best but not to be the best!” One of the spontaneous quote that he made during the Dharma Talk.

I can feel the burgeoning growth of my soul after listening talk about the principles of Buddhism. The ever-increasing Dharma knowledge about Buddhism. What is admirable about Bhante Nyanabhadra is his open-mindedness towards everyone’s perspective. Some might criticize him about how he acts but no matter what, people cannot criticize the way he pour the Dharma into us. It was poured in the most simplistic way, thus I can understand them easily.

For instance, I asked a very difficult question about finding the right partner and although, sometimes he found the questions rather complicated and unanswerable, he still provided us the best possible solution that he can think of. Not only that, the solution he provided was not biased in any way because he demonstrated his answer with perspectives not only his but also others’ perspectives. In the end of every Dharma talk session, he would say “Do not believe 100% of what I have said, always take time to digest them.” I was in awe of his modesty despite his achievements and intelligence.

It was not just Bhante Nyanabhadra that made the pilgrimage whole, but also the system. What I meant by system is how we eat, walk, taking the stairs, meditate, stopping when the clock chimes every 15 minutes and many others. Just by the way we eat, we were growing as a family of friends; because we have to wait for everyone to get their food and sit on our little circle of awkwardness. It was awkward at first, but the results were magnificent.

The solidarity, the sense of belonging, the feeling of a family; all of that dormant feelings woke up from their dreams. Furthermore, with the 15 minutes of constant chiming created a more unique sensation. Bhante Nyanabhadra instructed us to go back to our breath every time the clock chimes. Therefore, I have to stop and observe our pattern of breathing when I hear the ‘bell’ sound. It was strange at first but one of the funniest moments was probably invented there.

We consistently meditated at 5:30 am in the morning for 5 consecutive days. There was sitting meditation, walking meditation, and mindful movements. The sitting meditation lasted about 20-30 minutes in which Bhante Nyanabhadra gives simple instructions such as “Breathing in, I am aware of my in breath. Breathing out, I am aware of my out breath.” It helped us to get into the zone.

Afterwards, we did some walking meditation indoor and outdoor. In the case of outdoor, we ambled and ventured in the nature behind the house. Being in the present moment that I was, I observed how the leaves dancing when the wind blew past them; the grass gently kissing our feet; the mountains spreading across the horizon; the boundless blue sky; the tinkling sound of the bell.

All in all, the Amitayus pilgrimage experience was absolutely a good way to end our exam and start our holiday. The experiences that I obtained during this event was priceless and it was all thanks to our karma that I was able to attend “Fun With Dharma” with many other friends. I cannot say that I have completely understood Buddha’s teachings however, I for sure gained a drop of enlightenment in the boundless ocean of Buddha’s teachings.