STARTING ON OCTOBER 14, 2025:

A MEDITATION THEME FOR EACH WEEK
Posted here every Tuesday

Suggestions for meditation:
* First, read the Post for the week.
* Then start your meditation by listening to the Guided Meditation video above—it is less than 5 minutes long, and it is the gateway to the Meditation Space.
* Then, bring to mind the Post you just read, and continue sitting.
This combines the advantages of Guided Meditation and Meditating with a Theme.
You can do this whenever and wherever you wish.

POST 3, October 28: BREATHE, SMILE

Imagine a person who is calm and peaceful… for only 20 minutes a day, while they are on the meditation cushion. Would you be impressed?
At Plum Village, we watched as Thich Nhat Hanh walked, stood, and sat. He was giving a Dharma talk with his presence. His talks were full of information as well as wisdom: he was like Wikipedia on two legs; writing on the blackboard Chinese, Sanskrit, Vietnamese, English, and French versions of important terms and sayings. One day after a talk, I snuck up to the platform to see what was on the lectern. I expected to see all kinds of notes in different languages. Instead, there was only one word there, written in large letters: BREATHE.

BREATHE, and SMILE express the essence of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings. These words were everywhere in Plum Village—in the kitchens, the dining rooms, and in the washrooms: There were similar reminders at the entrances of the shower stalls, and above the urinals.
“Meditation can be practiced almost anywhere—while sitting, walking, lying down, standing, even while working, drinking, and eating.” wrote Thich Nhat Hanh.

ENTERING THE MEDITATION SPACE is presented here as the way to begin a meditation session.
But consider that the real challenge is not only entering that space, but staying in it. Being calm, peaceful and open is good not only while meditating; it is also useful when you are late to somewhere, with misbehaving children, or facing challenges at work. Otherwise, you might do or say things that make a problem worse rather than solving it. It is also what I do at night as I go to sleep
Here, BREATHE means LET THE BODY BREATHE, or BE ONE WITH THE BREATH.
Go beyond the ego. Be yourself.
SMILE refers to a relaxed face. “The face is the mirror of the mind,” goes a saying. A relaxed face is the mirror of a relaxed mind. Awareness of tension in face muscles, and worry lines in the forehead, are important parts of a body scan.

“BREATHE, SMILE” summarises awareness and transformation: breathe slowly from the belly, and relax your muscles, including the face muscles. When relaxed, the whole body smiles together with the face. Practice this during red lights on the road; while your supper is heating on the stove; and during challenging moments. Practice it all day long.

POST 2, October 21: LANGUAGE LEADS US ASTRAY!

We tend to say things like ‘my eyes’, ‘my heart’ and ‘my body’. This makes those body parts appear like accessories, like a handbag. In fact, we do not have a body, we are a body. We are made up of eyes, a heart, sexual organs, and the rest. Take them all away, and what is left? Where has the ‘I’ gone?
We use the same possessive language for our children, parents, and intimate partners.
‘My wife’ is a common expression; however, one cannot own another person any more than one can own a cloud! Even more problematic is the fact that this wife who is ‘yours’ is also thinking of you as ‘hers’! This sense of double ownership often creates problems; in the worst case, it fuels the 50, 000 or so femicides each year in the world. It is also behind much of the stress we create.

Who is that person who owns body parts, and other humans?

In Zen, we acknowledge that basically, that ‘I’ is a mental construct.

Yes, it is useful; it helps us navigate this life. But don’t take it too seriously. Consider that children make a big deal of this ME and MY business. They cry, and throw tantrums over ownership of things like toys.
Let’s grow up!
And let’s watch our language…

During the many years I spent my summers in Plum Village, I haven’t heard Thich Nhat Hanh refer to himself as “me”. His teachings emphasize a lack of a separate, individual self. Instead of using “me,” he frequently used “we,” “our,” and phrases that emphasize interconnectedness.
One exception is his famous poem, “Call Me by My True Names”. Here, he uses ‘me’ purposefully in order to enlarge that notion: our sense of identity is plural rather than singular.
Think of the many identities a person may have simultaneously, such as Mommy, Daddy, Manager, Son, Daughter, Teacher, Neighbour, Soldier, Police officer, Nurse, Dentist, or Patient… More importantly, those identities are sometimes the result of the society we live in and its outlook. Russian soldiers who are fighting in Ukraine, bombing cities, and killing women and children have socially conferred identities. Can we feel empathy for them?
In his poem Thich Nhat Hanh said YES.

To come back to possessive words such as Me and Mine: Purposefully avoiding their use has practical benefits. It helps us to keep in mind the dream-like existence of our sense of self.
This, in turn improves our relationships and parenting. It also reduces stress.
John Lennon was on the same wavelength in his song, Imagine:

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man.
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world.

POST 1, October 14, 2025: STAY GROUNDED, AND DO YOUR THING
Do you get upset at people?
At your manager at work, at other drivers on the road, or at politicians?
Here is another way to way to see those people:
‘Men are from Mars; Women are from Venus’ is a helpful metaphor for making sense of the incredible diversity of character and mindset of people. Let us widen that metaphor; in fact, our diversity is not limited to expats from just those planets.
Among us, there are also people from the five other planets: From Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
And there are also people who are from the Earth.
Buddha is one of those. His iconic sitting posture while touching the Earth with his hand bears witness to this: He is grounded and earthy. He stays in touch with this wonderful planet.
Let us be like him. Let us be grounded and calm as we encounter mercurial people, saturnians, and those who are from Neptune. And most importantly, those who are from Ur-anus!
And also, from Jupiter—Jupiter is the Latin name of Zeus, the king of gods. He knows everything.
Don’t try to argue with people from Jupiter!
And don’t depend on people from Mercury. Mercury is the Latin name for the Greek god Hermes, who is a trickster. And also, on people from Neptune who, like the Roman god of the sea, are unpredictable, and sometimes ill-tempered.
And mythology tells us that Saturn was a terrible father—he ate his own children!
In metaphorical terms, our beautiful planet attracts many such extraterrestrials!
Yet, that is life—that’s the world we live in.

“Make your mind like the Earth that receives all things steadily,” said Buddha to himself as he touched the Earth. Indeed, for the Earth, rain is okay, hail is okay, snow is okay. Sunshine is okay, and cloudy days are okay. Butterflies are okay, and wasps are okay.
We do not get upset when the temperature outside plummets; we turn on the thermostat.
Let us turn to our inner wisdom instead of getting upset. Let us smile at the extraterrestrials who are around us. They are doing their thing.
Let us also do our thing. Let us stay cool, grounded, and in touch with our own values as we work, play, parent, and have relationships.
While sitting with this theme, touch the Earth with the fingertips of one hand like the Buddha. See yourself as the Buddha.
Find equanimity in your heart.
Don’t give others the power to determine your state of mind.
And, stay grounded with each breath.

PAST PROGRAM:

THE BUDDHA IN US…
(guided by Joseph Emet)

“Buddha means the Buddha in us” wrote Thich Nhat Hanh in The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching.
To many of us, the first Buddha in this sentence is the historical Buddha, the Buddha that we recognize in his images, sitting upright in the lotus pose.
What does the second Buddha, the Buddha in us mean? And how do we achieve the oneness of these two Buddhas that Thich Nhat Hanh affirms?
This is important, as there lies the difference between a religious practice where one follows the teachings of a historical person, and the Zen practice where one cultivates the state of mind of the person who created the teachings. One issue with following teachings that originated long ago is that they may contain elements of an old worldview such as patriarchy or puritanism.
Zen practice is the key to living with equanimity, a loving heart, and a holistic mindset that sees the interconnected nature of reality.
During the next 4 weeks, we will explore the full meaning of the Zen view.

Please send a message to Joseph at josephemet @ gmail.com if you intend to attend these sessions. (Please remove the spaces around the @ sign)