Saturday the 27th and Sunday the 28th of Sept.

The beautiful ecology and spirituality center Punto Zero, near the city of Putaendo, hosts our public weekend retreat. The majority of the 100 participants are from Chile but a few have traveled all the way from Argentina and Peru. During the orientation, our breath is seen as the heart of a camelia flower and the practices of sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindful eating, noble silence... as the petals of the flower. Outside, the mountains, the gardens filled with rosemary, almond trees and cactuses, the little ponds, the brook and the sinuous paths make an ideal setting for walking meditation. ‘Breathe, smile and go slowly.’ The authors of this blog won’t tell you how delicious and healthy the food served at Punto Zero is, in order to avoid watering seeds of greed and jealousy in anyone!! Suffice to say that we practice mindful eating really well. After a well-deserved total relaxation session, we split in 6 different Dharma Discussion groups, amongst which one is reserved for meditation teachers and one for young people. We take care of our bodies by practicing zen jogging, automassage, qigong, yoga and taichi.

automassage outside, surrounded by the beautiful Chilean mountains

On the second day, after the morning meditation we wake up to our indivisible connection with Mother Earth. Placing our forehead on the ground in the child’s pose, we release feelings of alienation, remember what is truly essential for our happiness as a human community and vow to transform the habits which harm our precious Planet. During the Dharma talk, Brother Phap Luu explains fundamental buddhist teachings such as the Noble Eightfold Path, the two aspects of buddhist meditation : stopping and looking deeply –samatha and vipassana, and appropriate attention –yoniso manaskara. He also teaches how to recognize, accept, embrace and look deeply into a painful emotion. Sr Boi Nghiem shares about the importance of loving oneself, being kind to oneself and how to put into practice the 6 Plum Village mantras that have the power to heal and improve our relationships :
- Darling, I am here for you.
- I know you are there and that makes me very happy.
- I know you suffer and that is why I am here for you.
- Darling, I suffer. Please help me.
- This is a happy moment.
- Darling, you are partly right.
Sister Hai Nghiem is very touched when, during Dharma sharing, a mother relates that this morning, thanks to the Dharma talk, she was able to resolve a dispute with her 18-year old daughter by using the mantras.

group picture of the retreatants before saying goodbye!

The end of this retreat also marks the end of our events here. We feel truly grateful to have had the opportunity to sow good seeds in the soil of Chile, to have met many kind and warm-hearted people and to have received lots of inspiration and support on our path of practice.  ¡Muchas gracias Chile!

Friday, the 26th of Sept.

a happy teacher successfully learning how to invite the bell

200 educators, mostly high school teachers, gather for an afternoon of mindfulness in the Centro Patrimonial Recoleta Dominica. They are very eager to learn methods to improve the well-being in their classrooms and respond very well to the practices of inviting and listening to the bell, walking meditation, mindful movements, and so on. Brother Phap Khai makes everyone laugh with his unique way of guiding us through tangerine meditation: recognizing the shape, color and texture of the tangerine, looking deeply into the conditions that brought it about -the tree, the rain, the sun, the farmer..., seeing the hidden potential of the tangerine (‘You know, this tangerine can turn into a song...because when I eat it, I’m happy, and when I’m happy I might want to compose a song!’), slowly peeling (‘Let us try not to damage the flesh!’), smelling, smiling and salivating, placing a section on one’s tongue (‘Don’t bite into it yet!!’), masticating carefully, aware of the movements of the tongue and jaws before swallowing. We divide into seven groups of discussion. The participants feel encouraged in their aspiration to bring mindfulness to their classroom; they learn from one another’s experiences and we clarify eventual questions regarding Plum Village basic practices. We end this warm-hearted session all together with a presentation on Wake Up Schools and an invitation to the next gathering of the local Sangha, so that the participants will be able to keep on nurturing their practice and form a network of mindful educators in Chile.

Thursday, the 25th of Sept.

sisters leading walking meditation outside

In the morning, we come to the Universidad Mayor. About 500 university students from different faculties (mostly pedagogy, psychopedagogy and medicine) have shown interest in mindfulness practice. We all gather in the gymnasium to practice singing, guided meditation, breathing, walking meditation, tangerine meditation. We learn about how to deal with strong emotions. At the end we divide in small groups for sharings and questions and answers. They like asking about our life in the monastery, about how to continue the practice outside and how to help others benefit from the practice.

This evening’s Wake Up event takes place in La Reina and is attended by some 200 young people. We are once again happily surprised to see how much Chilean friends enjoy singing along and applausing in the Plum Village way. Today, we take more time to guide pebble meditation. As each of the participants takes refuge in his or her breath and follows the exercises (flower-fresh, mountain-solid, still water-reflecting, space-free), the energy of the room settles into peace and concentration. Then Brother Phap The introduces walking meditation : how to focus on our breath and steps. ‘Since we are all beginners in mindfulness, we may feel solid not so much as a mountain yet but rather as a volcano...and it’s fine, we just keep on training from where we are.’  After the walk, we share a vegetarian meal in silence, at the end of which, two friends speak about their impressions on mindful eating and their aspiration to incorporate the practice in their everyday life. Aurora offers everyone a session of deep relaxation.

enjoying total relaxation :-)

And before parting, an enthusiastic discussion takes place in order to initiate the first Wake Up Sangha in Chile.

Wednesday, the 24th of Sept.

In the morning, we visit the Pedro Apostol school located in Puentealto, a popular suburb of Santiago. After a brief encounter with the principals, we enter the schoolyard and are joyfully welcomed by hundreds of children and teenagers smiling, looking and touching us with great curiosity: “De donde son?” “Como se llama?” “Cuantos anos tiene?”.

arriving into the hall

Then we spend two and a half hours with 300 teenagers aged 14 to 18. The seven of us introduce basic mindfulness practices: following our breath, singing, nourishing happiness, taking care of difficult emotions. We play a game to help us become aware of our steps while walking at different speeds amongst other people. We continue with tangerine meditation and conclude with questions and answers. The more we share and interact with these young people, the more responsive they become and the more we are able to overcome possible preconceived ideas about each other as well as barriers of age and culture. At the end, it is hard for us to find our way out of the 20-minute long session of taking photos with small groups and hugging them goodbye.

sitting meditation in the theatre

We have been told that after the announcement of the evening public talk in a major newspaper of Santiago (El Mercurio), about 1500 people have signed up to attend! As the hall can only host 300, some 200 friends follow the talk on a screen in a nearby room and the staff of the Auditorio Telefonica streams the talk online for the remaining 1000 people. Brother Phap Luu speaks about mindfulness in daily life, the importance of not blaming and not straining oneself in the practice and about the intimate relationship between happiness and suffering. Brother Phap Lieu tells us his personal life story, from growing up in warring Vietnam, immigrating to France and becoming a doctor to ordaining as a buddhist monk. In this way, he shares about healing the emotional wounds of the war kept in the collective consciousness, recognizing the influence our parents have had on us, reconciling with them and bringing a spiritual dimension into our lives in order to overcome feelings of emptiness.

Later we open the space for questions from the audience. Sister Boi Nghiem especially awakens us to the necessity of being truly present for our loved ones when they are in need. At the end of the event, we meet some lay practicioners who would like to ask about more personal issues. It’s very nice to come into closer contact with the Chilean. They are gentle people, full of heart and gratitude.

Tuesday, the 23rd of Sept.

¡Hola a todos!
We have finally arrived in Chile, after unexpected difficulties with the airlines. We are staying in a former trappist monastery in the north of Santiago. We are so moved to meet the friends who, in the past few months, have put their hearts into making all the upcoming events possible.