Dear respected Thay,
Dear noble community
Dear young ones
Thank you for practicing
Did you enjoy practicing?
So nice to see you you can sit still huh?
I used to practice in monastery called Deer Park Monastery
in southern California
it is in America
And the monastery there is in the mountain
high up in the mountain
you have to drive a long road up the mountain
once you are up the mountain
you have to drive down to valley
that's where the monastery is
It's called the hidden mountain
Deer Park Monastery in the hidden mountain
Because from the city you can not see the monastery
Because it's kind of like in the valley of the mountain
And in that mountain used to live native Americans
You know native Americans
the ones that live in America before the europeans came
and other people came
and we found big rocks in the mountain that have little holes in them
and they make the holes like that
and put acorn from the oak trees
you can find some in the oak tree forest here
and the acorn they put in the hole
and they grind it up with a stone
and they make like a paste
it is kind of like a bread
long time ago
before they know how to baking
and you know ovens and stuff
They make these acorn powder
and they soak it in the river first
and then they make this paste
and they eat it
it is kind of like musli
or kind of like rice pudding
so there is where we find many boulders
and they have a lot of holes in them
and you can tell this is where the kitchen is
because you know you can see
you sit there you can imagine
must have been a lot of people living here
cause they have many holes in the rocks
and I bet you like they were
mothers, grandmothers, young boys and young girls
kind of helping their grandma
grinding the acorn
sometime I climb the mountain
I sit there with in a boulder
and I imagine I am a indian boy
and I sit peacefully for them
The energy is still there
sometime I go through the forest
and I pretend like I am an indian boy
and I go explore
And sometimes I find out where the coyote is
in the hidden mountain there is also living
You know what a coyote is
They make like this wild crazy sound
They live with us in Deer Park
and sometimes I am lucky
and I go and I explore
and you can find their trails
and you can find little places
where they sleep
because they put the grass and
you can see it is kind of like a little nest
and you can see where the shape maybe the coyote lay down
and those really the part of native culture
they really had connection with the coyotes
and at nighttime sometime when the monks invite the temple bell
you know the big temple bell
and before they invite it they have to wake up the big temple bell
bong bong
and the coyotes start to call
and you really smile before you even get
to chant the coyote chant already
and it makes you feel you are so connected
like they are singing with you
and only one pack sometime
there is another pack on the other valley
and they start to answer
you sit there and you feel like you are
connected to all of the nature and forest there
This is environment I grew up as a monk
and I was very close to the mountain
It is a very beautiful mountain with a lot of boulders
they look like giant potatoes