This coming Sunday October 4th, 2009, thousands of people from Sanghas and communities around the world will sit together to give support to our Brothers and Sisters in Vietnam so that they can continue to practice freely together.
Let us come together and sit for 15 to 30 minutes. If you are at home, sit. If can be with your Sangha, sit. Gather your friends and loved ones and sit. Show the monks and nuns in Vietnam that we are here for them.
To give more impact and solidarity to our sitting, we propose that everyone wear a small piece of yellow cloth on their left shoulder. The yellow color is a symbol of the sanghati robe (ceremonial robe) that monks and nuns wear.
You also may like to read these Contemplations Before Sitting.
Enjoy your sitting and remember to send us your pictures to helpbatnha.photos[at]gmail.com!
Thank you,
Plum Village Fourfold Sangha
SAMPLE INVITATION LETTER TO SEND OUT TO OUR SANGHA
Dear Co-Practitioners,
We would like to invite you to join us this Sunday, October 4, 6-8pm, for a very special evening of mindful sitting, walking, and sharing at the Plum Blossom Sangha. This evening is being organized as part of a worldwide day of mediation to support the 376 young monks and nuns of Bat Nha Monastery in Vietnam who are facing on-going violence from government-authorized police and mobs. The monastic brothers and sisters, followers of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, were on September 26, 27, and 28 violently attacked and evicted from their monastery by police and local mobs after their monastery was completely vandalized. The monastic sangha, currently residing at a nearby temple that typically houses 5 people, continues to be physically and verbally threatened by police, government officials and local mobs who have sealed off access to the temple.
On Sunday, we will send our loving, healing and compassionate energy to them and all those who have been affected by this violence. We will also have an opportunity to write to Vietnamese officials, US representatives, media and NGOs asking for their support in this difficult situation. Additionally, we hope to have press coverage of this evening; your presence will not only contribute supportive energy to the sangha, it will also help us raise awareness about the challenges facing the Bat Nha community and other religious practitioners in Vietnam.
WHAT: “Don’t just do something, sit there!” A Global Day of Mediation To Support the 376 Refugee Monks and Nuns from Bat Nha Monastery who are facing on-going violence. Austin event is hosted by Plum Blossom Sangha.
WHEN: Sunday, October 4, 2009 6-8pm
WHERE: 1122 South Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX (next to the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar).
Sincerely,
Members of Plum Blossom Sangha and Wake Up Austin – Young Buddhists for a Healthy and Compassionate Society, practicing in solidarity with Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village International Sangha
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE BAT NHA SITUATION
Bat Nha Monastery, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, was a mindfulness center practicing in Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition with 376 monks and nuns. It was Vietnam’s fastest-growing and most progressive monastery – and one of the most popular among Vietnamese youth. Bat Nha was famed for its monthly mindfulness days, which regularly attracted crowds of 800 people, with bus-loads traveling from across the country. The Plum Village monastic community at Bat Nha was started in 2005 when Thich Nhat Hanh was invited by the Abbot of the monastery, with the approval of the Vietnamese Central Government, to create a monastic community that would live and practice there according to the Plum Village tradition. In June 2008, the abbot said he was under pressure from the government (specifically from the religious police and from The Government Committee for Religious Affairs) to not sponsor the monks and nuns to stay there any longer, sparked possibly by suggestions by Thich Nhat Hanh to the President of Vietnam to remove control of religion in Vietnam. The situation since then deteriorated with regular threats and attacks and the violent removal of the entire monastic community from the Monastery on September 27 and 28. The 376 refugee monks and nuns (as of Oct 1) are taking shelter at a nearby temple (with a capacity of housing 5 monastics), however, government-authorized groups of police and local mobs continue to persecute them. The government of Vietnam seems intent on completely disbanding the Plum Village sangha in Vietnam. These attacks come at a time when other religious practitioners in Vietnam have also been attacked.
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese-born monk, author and human rights activist who helped found the “engaged Buddhism movement” and popularize Buddhism in the West. He has sold millions of books worldwide and set up numerous mindfulness practice centers in Europe and America to learn and practice the art of mindful living. Nhat Hanh may have changed the course of U.S. history when he persuaded Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1966 to oppose the Vietnam War publicly, and so helped galvanize the peace movement. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize the following year by Dr. King.
For more information:
http://www.helpbatnha.org
http://plumvillage.org
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/01/world/AP-AS-Vietnam-Buddhist-Standoff.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8278336.stm
http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Clients/ReadArticle.aspx?ID=71595
http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Clients/ReadArticle.aspx?ID=71590
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26128274-12377,00.html
http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/71429.htm
I have told many people about the recent events in Vietnam and mentioned that I would be sitting today (Oct. 4th) and my husband and my sister-in-law both wanted to sit with me, and this will be the first time they have meditated. They have beautiful hearts. May our family sitting together give the monks and nuns at Bat Nha and elsewhere in Vietnam support and peace.
Greetings to Thầy and members of the Order of Interbeing (OI),
Although our Lotus in the Desert sangha (Las Vegas, Nevada) is not strictly aligned with OI, many members have deep connections to the teachings of Thầy and we try to support the clarity of thought, perception, and livelihood that arises through Buddhist practices. Many of us have been following the events at Bat Nha Monastery, and today at our regular sangha meeting we will dedicate the sitting to reaching out in compassion, loving kindness, and equanimity.
Feel free to add Las Vegas to you map of locations that will be sitting in sympathetic meditation today (04Oct09).
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