[gong sounds]

Good morning, dear respected Thay,
dear noble Sangha,

today is November the 16th
in the year 2017

and today I have the great opportunity

to offer the first Dharma talk
of the winter retreat.

Looking at the community,
I see a very big family.

For any of you who is here
for the first time at our winter retreat,

welcome to the Plum Village family,

welcome to the spiritual family.

I hope that during your time with us,

you will arrive and 
feel at home at every moment.

When you walk you'll see that you're not
walking in a foreign place

but you feel that this is your home too.

In our tradition the winter retreat has 
a very important aspect for us monastics

but also for all those who aspire to live

and to put into practice 
the life of mindfulness.

In this tradition that carries
the spirit of calming, of being at home,

learning to still oneself in mind and body

and also to enrich and deepen
our practice, our aspirations,

and at the same time, learn to live 
in harmony with the community.

Today I would like
to break it down one by one

with the practices that I have used
throughout my years in these retreats.

As a monk, I never knew
that we would travel so much.

The idea was, you go and shave your head,
you wear a robe and you sit all day

but actually it's quite opposite.

The more you learn 
and the more you practice,

you actually see that what you have,
you don't want to be selfish about it

you want to be able 
to share it with other people.

So, in this tradition we have 
the culture of opening our doors

to welcome the many people 
to come and learn and practice with us

and at the same time as a monastic,

we have the opportunity to travel 
to different places around the world

to be in touch with different cultures,

to be in touch with different environments

and in order to share what we 
have invested our self into,

to touch the wonderful 
seeds in other people.

So actually, as a monk 
we also travel so much

and travelling has its benefits,

we get to expand our horizons

we get to see and learn
new things to enrich our life

but at the same time, learning to be home 
and learning to be still is as important.

Going home,

what is important is to be 
in touch with ourselves

with the real how, who we are 
how we are doing

we have to always come 
back to that question

because mindfulness is the ability

to know what is going on
inside of us and around us

it's easier sometimes to take care of 
somebody else than to take care of oneself

so here we need to learn

and we need to really put our energy 
in caring for ourselves

in order to fuel ourselves 
with the practice,

with the energy of mindfulness

so that we have something
that we can offer throughout the year.

I see that our roots are very important.

All of us, we have roots that we have to 
be in touch with and have to connect to.

And as a monastic, as a practitioner

the roots of our spiritual family

is something that we always 
have to be in touch with

and as a lay member we can also 
be in touch with those spiritual roots

they're coming from our ancestors

coming from our culture

it is deep down inside

the feeling of wanting 
to be able to touch peace

the ability to be in touch with happiness

the ability to make one mindful in-breath

those are all spiritual elements 
that are deep down inside of us.

And we have this very special opportunity

every day, to enrich it,

every day to deepen it,

every day to cultivate it.

These roots are what connects
all of us in this room

we all have aspiration

but how can we live in harmony
and how can we be happy together?

It's because deep down inside
we all do have a same aspiration

and when we are in touch with that,
we can feel the connection,

we can feel the interbeing of one another.

Me and my brown brothers,
my brown sisters,

me, brown eyes in the robe, 
the brown family,

we have to see that,
we have to see those roots

that connect all of us.

There's always a void 
that comes from time to time

the feeling of loneliness,

a feeling of separation is there,

but when you can make an in-breath,

or you can connect to your brothers' 
or your sisters' energy of practice,

then, somehow you feel embraced 
by their presence,

you feel embraced by their practice.

That connection is one of the values

and one of the treasures 
of being in a community,

and as a member of this community 
we also have the responsibility

to offer that to our brothers and sisters,

to offer that to our community.

So, just like the practice 
of mindful breathing,

the first exercise is to identify 
the in-breath and the out-breath.

Very basic but very crucial.

When you have the capacity to recognize

and to identify just the in-breath 
and the out-breath

then that means you will have the capacity

to identify your suffering
and your happiness.

The things that are going on
happening inside.

So if you cannot identify 
your in-breath and your out-breath

at any moment that you need,
then there's some training to do.

If we cannot identify our 
in-breath and out-breath,

then how can we recognize
what is going on inside of us?

That's why the basic,
fundamental practice is very crucial.

It lays our foundation,

for us to go deeper 
into other elements in our practice.

So at any moment in the day 
in the retreat you feel lost,

you know there is a friend with you,

and that is your breath.

The breath is always with you, 
no matter what.

As long as you are alive, 
that breath is with you.

So identifying and 
being one with the breath,

it's a discipline and 
it's an important practice

because that is what is the beginning
of the practice of awareness.

The beginning of mindfulness,

just one in-breath and one out-breath.

And when we follow along 
with the second practice,

if we follow our in-breath
from the beginning to the end

and we follow our out-breath 
from the beginning to the end,

when we're able to practice in that way,

we give rise, and there is 
a concentration that is born within us.

And when you are concentrated like that,
you give your mind a break,

a break from running 
from thought to thought,

from this to that,

but concentrated with just one 
in-breath and one out-breath

and that develops the concentration 
which helps still the mind.

And at the same time,
when the mind is still,

then the body will also follow.

Sometimes the mind is too active.

Then we pay attention to the body,

that's what comes at third practice.

As you breathe in,
you become aware of your body

as your body is a physical presence.

It's sometimes easier to be aware 
of the physical presence.

Sometimes the mind is harder to grasp,
it's harder to follow

but the body is something you can feel.

The tension, the pain or the relaxation.

A relaxation you can offer to your body.

Aware of your body as you breathe in,

and relaxing the body as you breathe out.

You can feel it in your shoulders,
you can feel it in your neck

your chest, your abdomen,
your whole body.

And when we learn 
to be in touch with the body,

we are one with the body,

then we're also welcoming 
the mind home to the body.

And the more we are able to recognize,
and be with the body and the mind

then we are enhancing our presence 
in the here and the now.

The practice is to be
in the here and the now,

and that is the aspiration.

But I don't think we can always 
be in the here and the now,

not many of us are there yet.

If you are, you are the Buddha

and we'll be bowing to you.

But most of us,
we are part time Buddha's, right?

Like what Thay says, not full time, 
but we are part time.

So the more we are in touch with the 
present moment, with our body and mind,

the more we enhance our capacity of
being in the present moment,

and we are nourishing more 
our Dharma body.

Each and every one of us 
has our physical body

that we care for by exercising

by sleeping, by resting and by food,

but when you start to practice 
and you are in this community

there is a second body you give rise to

and that manifests as you practice

and that is the Dharma body.

The Dharma body also needs food,

and the food comes from the practice.

You know, every morning when we do sitting
and we hear the morning chant,

the Dharma body is bringing morning light.

So each and every one of us 
has this fire within,

this fire that glows.

When you look...

one of the reasons why I
became a monk...

... was because I saw how
beautiful the monastics were

they had this glow,
and many of you still do.

They had this glow

this glow that didn't
need words to express

but they carry it
through just a way of being

the way of walking,
the way of approaching me,

the way of sharing.

I will never forget 
my first encounter with a monk,

a Plum Village monk.

it was in 1996,
my first time to Plum Village.

My father said, we were going to France

so I thought, oh, Paris, Eiffel Tower,

but the first stop
was Village des Pruniers.

I had no idea what
we were getting ourselves into

and I remember the monk picking us up
from Sainte-Foy-La-Grande.

He was the first young monk 
that I've ever met in my life,

and the way he greeted us,
kind of blew me away.

Just the way he bowed.

He joined his palms
and he bowed to us.

And I was only nine

and I somehow felt, oh my god!
A monk is respecting me,

wow! this is weird, this is rare...

and I was really in awe by his presence.

And then the way he took our luggage,
the way he brought us to our room,

he showed us where to serve our food.

Just a very small detail
I carried in my heart

I carry in my consciousness, too, now,

it's something that changed my perspective
of Buddhism or of a monastic

and that wasn't done by word,

that wasn't done by a Dharma talk.

That was done just by his presence,

but that was done, and what 
I saw, was his Dharma body.

His Dharma body that he has cultivated 
through many years of practice,

and that has been
translated into his daily life.

So each and every one of us

we have this Dharma body that we are
cultivating and nourishing.

And nourishing it is as important 
as nourishing our physical bodies

and in this winter retreat,

it really carries the essence 
of deepening the practice,

of resting, of being at home.

It's like a big reunion, 
a big family reunion

for many of our brothers and sisters
from afar, coming home,

and many of our lay friends,

having the courage to come for 90 days,

to let go of the outside

to let go of the noise outside 
and cut ourselves off

and to come and to rest.

So it's something 
that is very, very valuable,

these moments, that we have to recognize,

just like the in-breath and out-breath,

every day, we have to recognize.

One of my younger brothers said, wow, 
today is day 89 of the winter retreat!

I don't know if he's 
counting it down as in,

I have to value 89 more days, or as,
oh man, I got 89 more days.

well I leave it for that brother to see,

but every day is an opportunity.

Just like our gatha,

<i>Waking up this morning,
24 brand-new hours</i>

and we can say, waking up this morning
another day with the community

how lucky we are!

And being in the winter retreat 
is also the practice of not going out

and not going out here,

our teacher expanded it not to 
just physically go out of the boundaries

that's why we have boundaries
in the winter retreat.

It's to help our habits of running,
of wanting to go out.

So to rest means to be still,

and to heal, we also 
have to learn to be still.

So we can learn from the animals.

The animals, when they are hurt
they know how to rest.

They don't have medication like we do,

but they know how to rest.

We have medication, but sometimes 
we don't know how to be still.

So going out and having 
the boundary, is a practice,

it's something to help us, 
it's a helping hand

so that we don't have the urge.

Sometimes our habit is the urge
to always go out,

never feeling still,
stillness.

And to go deeper into this practice,

going out here, is also in here.

So for many of the winter retreats,
our teacher always encouraged us

to take a break from social media.

That's also very important and 
maybe a bit difficult practice.

Being online is a necessity,
but there should be a limit

and there should be a practice to it.

So going out here is not just 
physically, but also mentally.

So that is also the practice 
of the winter retreat,

and the spirit of the winter retreat.

Learning to be with oneself,

learning to be with this community.

To rest is such an important practice
and it sounds so simple, resting.

I think we all need this,

but at the same time it's so hard 
because there is so much to do

there's so much we want to learn,

there's so much we want to achieve.

But the question always comes,

how much are we sacrificing 
in order to reach those achievements?

Even as a monastic, there's so much to do.

I'm the abbot of Upper Hamlet

and I see, the more I'm a monk, 
it seems like the more I'm busy.

and it's my koan this winter retreat,

how do I rest? How to rest?

How to rest more and 
how to be more present for the community,

it's my ongoing koan, my ongoing practice

because there is 
a restlessness that I have.

I feel that moments 
where I'm not doing something,

it's a moment that I
should be doing something, right?

I think I'm not the only one 
that had this feeling.

So learning to rest is a necessity

because I always ask myself

to do that, to finish something 
do I feel more achieved,

or do I feel more connected?

Sometimes I feel I achieve 
a lot of things for the community

but I am distancing myself more
from the community.

So there's one side, 
I'm achieving for the Sangha

but at another side, I'm distancing 
myself from the community.

So I have to revisit this

and I have to see what are my
relationships with work, with service?

Service is a very important aspect 
of a monastic or as a person

we all want to feel that we are 
offering something back to society,

but to what expense 
and how much of stability

and of value, of peace 
and happiness that we have

that is actually the real thing 
that I want to offer

to my brothers and sisters
and to the community.

That was my beginner's mind, but somehow,

slowly it became more projects,
and projects, and projects.

so for those of us 
who are in the community

today I feel I have this opportunity 
to speak more to the internal family,

because we're all
here for the three months

and we're all of the monastics 
that are here at another residence,

because all of us, 
we go through the same thing

we all go through the sense 
and the feeling of doing too much,

not having enough time to rest,

not having enough time to be 
in touch with our real aspiration.

Yes, my real aspiration was, 
I think it was to be enlightened,

and I shouldn't forget that, right?

And I think each and every one of us 
has to come back to it,

and not be carried away by the projects.

The projects are there,
it's always gonna be there,

but at the same time we have 
to revisit our beginner's mind,

our bodhicitta from the beginning.

And when we are not in touch with that

then it's very easy to take a detour.

And this detour, 
how long it goes depends on us.

It depends on our capacity to be 
with the in-breath and out-breath,

recognizing again,

what is our aspiration? 
What was it that brought us here?

So I know that to be restful 
and to heal, and to be there,

means, I have to be true 
and I have to honor my aspiration,

I have to honor my goals.

And that means, having to retrain oneself

re-disciplining oneself.

The monastic culture in the 
tradition in the monastery,

there is a discipline,
and this discipline is not to...

the discipline here is not, 
if you do something wrong, you get a stick

or you're gonna get scolded,

but the discipline here is a discipline
to enhance our beginner's mind,

our aspiration,

because we have habits.

All of us have habits and 
if we don't have a discipline

if we don't have a training

then it's too easy 
to fall back into our habits.

Just like when you exercise, right?

the exercising to build the body 
doesn't mean just a physical activity

but it also means our diets,
what we eat, what we intake.

So, in the community, in the schedule in 
this sangha it's the same, we have that.

So our guideline, the spine 
of the community is the schedule,

the community schedule.

And the community schedule 
is what unites all of us,

and what collects 
the energy of the community,

collects every individual presence,

and when everybody is there,

you just are embraced by this powerful 
collective energy of mindfulness,

energy of presence.

Just like yesterday,

I don't know how you felt,
but in the ceremony,

when the community chanted together,

I ride the wave of the
Sangha at that moment,

I said wow, this is awesome!

You have to be able 
to recognize those moments,

to ride the wave of the Sangha

because the energy of the
Sangha are waves that come,

and if you have a surfboard,
you can go very far.

and sometimes you may 
drown a little bit, right?

Suffering comes from time
to time, that's okay,

but there are other safeguards,

there are other surfboards
that are always riding these waves

and having the capacity,
having the realization

to take refuge into our
brothers and sisters,

our friends or practitioners,

it's at the same time
as essential as practicing for oneself.

So the wave of the Sangha is there, 
the surfboards of the sanghas are there,

and we sometimes have 
to learn to open our hearts.

Open ourselves a little bit.

It doesn't mean you have to show us
everything at the beginning,

you know, you can 
take it step by step.

Sometimes we have 
to see also what is inside of us,

what is going inside 
and how much to bring out,

because everything has 
to come with moderation

Plum Village is not a transformation box.

Some people have the idea, you come to 
Plum Village and you go out as a flower.

You come in one end and then 
you come out as a different form.

That means that you 
don't have the capacity

to see the mud that's also there,

and then we set our goals too high, 
and we set our own expectation

or we set the expectation 
of the community too high.

I love the way Thay shared, 
that the community is an organism,

it's a living body, and each and 
every one of us is a member,

is a cell in this body.

And when the cells are in harmony, 
then the body is healthy

and it works, it's strong.

But sometimes there are some parts 
of the body that aren't working so well,

but it doesn't mean the body dies.

But the other parts would take care,

take care of the place that is injured,
the place that needs healing.

So we have to also see ourselves
as a cell in this body.

So the moments when we serve 
and we support the community,

like the cooking, the washing up, 
the raking of the leaves,

all of that is caring for this body

and then when we come 
to the sitting meditation,

we come to the walking meditation,
we come to the meals,

those are also caring for the body.

When there is unison, the Harmony brings 
about the strength of the collectiveness,

and the collectiveness here, 
in the body of the community.

So let us all breathe together

as we listen to a sound of the bell,

to harmonize the collective energy of
everyone that is here in this hall.

[gong sounds]

Sometimes it's good to have 
a refresh button in ourselves,

in what is going on
inside of our life with our life,

and sometimes there needs 
to be a new opportunity,

a new condition in order for us to feel 
that we have the opportunity to refresh.

Just like a computer has 
the button to reboot,

sometimes we also need that.

So the winter retreat is an opportunity
to press that reboot button,

whether you are a monastic or you're a
lay, it's all the same,

we have this opportunity to refresh
and to reboot ourselves.

It's like the changing of the season,
it's a new season, a new beginning,

and in a new beginning, you feel like
everything is possible, right?

A lot of us come here, I think, 
we have goals, we have an aspiration

I think for ourselves, too, 
the monks and the nuns in the community

we should also have the goals 
and aspiration,

even though this is home, 
but it's a new season

and every season we want to feel and 
see that we can enrich our life more,

and we can enrich our Dharma body more.

So we need certain moments in our life
that contain momentum to push ourselves.

For myself, every winter retreat is 
a time to revisit my aspiration.

just like I shared, just to come back 
to my bodhichitta, my beginner's mind.

Come back, ask yourself, 
what is it again that made me a monk?

What is it again that made me a nun?

and for our lay friends, what is it that 
made me come to Plum Village to practice?

And when you are in touch with that, 
and you can answer that,

then you can see, ah, 
first of all I want to be here,

and when you want to be here,
that's a source of energy.

I hope nobody forced you to be here

because when you see that you want to
be here, then your attitude also changes.

Your attitude towards
living in the community,

your attitude towards the activities, 
your attitude to the practice.

I've been a monk for 15 years now, 
and yes, sometimes it gets boring.

And sometimes I take it for granted.

I'm like, oh man, 
I gotta go and sit again!

you know, oh man, I got to line up
and eat, have cold food...

and then sometimes you're in line, 
you hear the scraping sounds,

oh man, the cooking team 
didn't cook enough food again...

you know?

so there are moments like
that you know we all go through,

and there are moments sometimes that if we
are not careful, then it carries us away,

that carries us very far away.

So the winter retreat for me 
is always this rebutton

this button to click, to restart, refresh.

And we all know, for the monastics,

at the end of the winter retreat,
we all get this report card, right?

we all get this shining light letter,

that tells us the things that we
have enriched ourselves in,

and things that we need to put 
more energy into transforming,

or put more energy into
training.

But for me it's like, why do I have 
to wait until the end of the retreat?

Why do I have to wait until the 
closing ceremony to receive that letter?

Why don't I see that 
right now, right here?

This is a new opportunity. 
This is a new start to refresh oneself.

And it's funny, like, 
as a monk, I live in this community,

and I would say, 
I have all the best conditions

to enrich my life 
in the practice of mindfulness,

in the practice of sitting,
of walking or studying.

But sometimes, when I go on a home visit

and I say, okay, I'm gonna make 
the best out of this, I'm gonna...

every day I'm gonna wake up 
at five o'clock, drink tea,

there's no schedule, 
I can do whatever I like

I can sit as long as I want, 
I want to read as much as I want,

so but then I ask myself, 
but why can't I do that in this community?

Why can't I do this in this 
environment, where this is home?

This is my field!

This is my field where I have planted 
all these seeds that I want to harvest.

and I just see, it's just a state of mind.

The mind is a painter, right?

So sometimes we have to mentally
tell ourselves, this is a new beginning.

We have to refresh that button.

We have to refresh our aspiration,
we have to refresh our practice.

And each and every one of us 
has now 89 days to do that,

and when you look at it, that's a lot.

That's a lot of days, 
a lot of opportunities.

and what I've learned to do is, 
I have to learn to break down.

I break down my aspiration,
I got to break down my goals.

So like I said, we may sometimes carry
a very high expectation for oneself,

and then there's a moment you say, 
oh I'm not I'm not giving myself 100%.

Then you start to lose motivation 
and then you lose your energy

of wanting to arrive 
at the goals that you set.

So as a practitioner, you have 
to learn to break it down,

we have to learn to break our
aspiration down, break our goals down.

Don't just try to be 
a fully enlightened Buddha.

See and value the part time
Buddha that we can become.

So we have to take the baby steps.

For example, Thay gave us many 
homeworks throughout the years.

I remember one year, Thay printed out
for each and every one of us

it's like a business card 
and it said, 100% .

and anything we do, we have to see, 
I want to do it 100%.

So you got to break down your day.

Today, our aspiration is to be
mindful throughout the day.

That's the aspiration. 
Reality? Not so much.

So we have to be real 
and we have to choose.

All right, today, 
every time I open the door,

I'm gonna close the door mindfully.

Make that a practice.

And the next week, choose something else.

The moment I see the brother, 
the sister I don't like, I will smile.

I don't need them to smile back
but I will smile to them.

That's a very difficult practice, 
but that's our aspiration right?

To grow compassion, 
and to grow understanding.

Another aspiration,
every moment I come into the hall

I don't wait until I sit in the hall 
to practice sitting,

but the moment I'm in the hall, 
the first step I take,

that should be a step of mindfulness.

so, be skillful, be creative, and 
make these small aspirations into reality.

Make these small goals into reality.

and when you can taste 
the fruit of those practices,

and you can see those achievements,

then you see, ah, 
I have the capacity to do this.

Not only Thay can do this, not only 
my elder brothers and sisters can do it,

but I can do it, too,

and when you can taste and you can 
feel and you can recognize

those fruits of practice,
that gives you so much more motivation.

It gives you more aspiration,

like when you help somebody,
you get back so much,

that's the same. When you can see 
the goals that you set and you can do it,

it gives back to you so much.

And at the same time, it gives 
to the community just the same,

to the collective practice and
collective energy of the Sangha.

[gong sounds]

So take this opportunity 
to rekindle our fire.

We all have a very strong fire 
at the beginning,

and for some of us, the fire has dimmed 
down quite a bit and we need to rekindle,

we need to relight that fire,

we need to enhance it again.

Because with that, it gives warmth within,

and it gives warmth 
to our aspiration and our goals,

and it gives purpose.

A feeling that we have a purpose.

It's so important because 
the purpose brings connection,

and connection is something that is 
very important in community life.

For some of you 
who are here for three months,

this may be the first time you're living 
in a room with eight people together.

You're sharing the space 
and this practice is very deep,

it's a practice of no self.

You see, their well-being 
is your well-being.

And your well-being is their well-being.

Their happiness is your happiness.

Your happiness is their happiness.

And you get to learn, you get 
to see somebody else's transformation,

and somebody else's practice.

And this is something
that is very meaningful.

It's something you will remember,

because it will also touch you.

Touch the roots that you have
planted in this community,

and for monastics 
we also have the opportunity,

every winter retreat we get new roommates.

We change rooms and we get new roommates.

And this is also 
an opportunity for us to learn,

to really learn to be open 
to our new brothers,

our new sisters in a room,

and also the practice of no self,
seeing them in you and you in them,

and the support that you can offer,

it's not just for them,
but it's for you too.

and one of the things that I have
learned when living with somebody

is that their transformation 
sometimes is your transformation.

Sometimes they transform something 
and it moves inside of you, too.

and you kind of thank them, 
thank you for practicing

now I don't have to do that.

But at the same time, 
the things that you are practicing

and that you are transforming, enhancing,
also affects them.

And in our practice, that's called the
interbeing, interconnectedness.

In the community, 
taking refuge is a practice.

Refuge here is not just a shelter,

but also, sometimes we have to learn 
to surrender ourselves to the community,

and sometimes we have to learn
to borrow the energy of the Sangha.

Sometimes, our teacher would say,

when you're feeling down, and you feel 
like you want to be alone,

that's actually a time when you 
need to be with the Sangha,

to borrow and to take the collective
energy of the community.

Sometimes when you're feeling down, 
if you're feeling weak,

oh yeah, maybe I'll skip 
sitting meditation today,

the community will understand, 
I'm feeling down, I'm feeling weak.

They'll say I need space, but actually,
if you go, and you sit,

and then you take in 
the collective energy of the community,

that may be actually what you really
need, that energy of the community,

this collectiveness.

So the community is there, 
and we all will be challenged at times,

like, do I go with the community 
or do I not? Do I go, do I not?

and sometimes this yoyo, 
this back and forth, back and forth,

sometimes you just gotta learn 
to let go, I just go, I just flow.

That's part of our training in the 
monastic community and the Zen tradition

so sometimes we have to see 
not just our own needs,

we'll have to see the collectiveness.

that sometimes are our own thinking is
what's distancing ourselves more and more,

but when you learn 
to be embraced and to surrender

that can enrich yourself much more.

So that is something I think each and 
every one of us will be challenged with

throughout this winter
retreat from time to time.

and just remember, sometimes 
learning to let go is what is needed.

Let go, just go for it,
why not? Give it a try.

Just like the courage why not? 
I'm here for three months, you know?

So all of these moments that we have 
here together, will later become a past.

and so every moment is a precious moment

and there's a moment for you 
to draw and to paint.

The practice, the Sangha, are the paint,
they are the brushes that we give to you

and each and every one of us 
will paint our own picture,

and we'll paint our own foundation 
in this winter retreat.

I hope we make use of the paint 
and of the brush and of the paper

that the community is offering for us,

so that in the future when we look back,

like, wow, those three 
months were really rich,

those three months 
really enhanced my life.

And as for a monk or a nun, wow, those 
three months being with the community,

the collectiveness, really helped me
develop, really helped me grow.

So every moment that we have,
eighty nine more days,

they're all opportunities .

So you become the painter now

and you have to paint this picture that 
for the future can become a foundation,

and that can become a beautiful past.

A few days ago, I received a letter 
from a friend in England who I don't know,

but wrote to Thay and the community,

and our friends shared that a few years 
ago, he was training to do the marathon,

but he fell into an accident 
which fractured his spine,

and through the healing, 
there was some obstacle,

where now he cannot move a lot
and cannot go very far.

And through that pain and through 
that suffering, he found Plum Village.

And guess what? Through YouTube.

And from YouTube he expanded to books,

and then following Thay's Facebook page
and following Plum Village Facebook page,

and I didn't know this, 
but apparently there are people

who do also follow our winter 
retreat through Facebook.

So they also apply the same principle 
of the schedule in their daily life,

and they follow the Dharma talks that are
offered throughout the winter retreat,

and our friend shared that he has done
two winter retreats with the community

via Facebook...
I was like... wow!

and here we are physically in Plum Village

here we are physically with a community,
monks, nuns, lay men, lay women

how rich and how lucky we are!

So after reading that letter I said okay, 
you know, I can't take this for granted.

This is such a rich and 
such an important moment for me.

So I wish everyone a very happy
and successful winter retreat.

So let us be there for each other,

let us enjoy the practice 
and let us enrich our lives,

so that we can also enrich society

that very much needs the 
collective energy that we cultivate here.

Thank you,
brothers and sisters