Announcing the Wake Up US Tour: 3 weeks, 10 monastics students of Thich Nhat Hanh, 5 lay friends and unlimited joy sharing the practice of mindfulness with young people in universities, high schools, hospitals and detention centers.
But we NEED your support – Please help support this tour by clicking here: http://www.indiegogo.com/wkup
We’re very happy to announce that Plum Village will be hosting our annual young people’s retreat again this Summer, in the Upper Hamlet, and this year it will be a full week long – starting on the afternoon of Monday August 22nd and finishing on the afternoon of Monday August 29th.
Registration is now open at: http://register.plumvillage.org/youthretreat/youth2011
Take a break from stress and busyness, and come and join us in the beautiful nature of South-Western France, where several hundred young monks, nuns, young men and young women will together create a joyful, refreshing and peaceful retreat. You will have the chance to learn and experience the arts of sitting meditation, deep total relaxation and walking meditation on our legendary paths through fields and forests. We will learn how to really be there for ourselves and for each other, and to really listen to our own hearts and to one another. We will live together simply, healthily and joyfully – with music, dance, sport, hikes and bonfires.
What more could we possibly want?
Facebook event invitation here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=213912305307233
When 04 June · 13:30 – 18:00
Location To be confirmed, London
The Wake Up London Sangha invites you all to a special afternoon of mindfulness with a guest monk from Plum Village! Brother Phap Lai, or Brother Ben is coming to London next week and has kindly offered to share his time and energy with our budding community.
We will probably have lunch and walking meditation in the park and then an indoor meeting where we will practice sitting meditation under the guidance of Brother Phap Lai and also listen to his dharma talk and have a question and answer session.
Exact details of times, location and activities to be announced later on…….Location-wise, it will most likely be St. James Park for the lunch and then for the indoor event, our usual meditation hall at the Friends Meeting House, near Leicester Square.
Email us to get in touch: wkuplondon gmail.com
Some info on Brother Phap Lai:
Brother Phap Lai was recently on the worlds first Wake Up Universities tour in the UK in March with six other monastic students of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. His name means ‘Coming of the Dharma and he was ordained May 2002 making him the first born and bred Englishman monk of Plum Village.
He enjoys sharing the practice with young people – from children to young adults. He has run a few 4 week teenage programmes (part of the annual Summer Family Retreat) here in Plum Village.
During his 3 year stay in Deer Park, California, he enjoyed the regular college student retreats, teenage camps and weekly childrens programmes. He enjoys impromptu music jams, hanging out with his young brothers and injecting the odd dose of British humour into the community life (eg. putting on skits during the many festivals in Plum Village).
Br Phap Lai first came across Thay’s teaching at the age of 28 and immediately knew he’d struck gold. He learned how to meditate, how to become a little more mindful in daily life and very importantly how to recognize and take care of his emotions. Discovering the joy of being still and coming back to himself was a revolution. Knowing what an incredible difference it would have made had he found the practice earlier in life fires his inspiration to share with young people.
As well as tours in the US, UK and S.E.Asia with our Teacher as a one year old Dharma Teacher Br Phap Lai has conducted retreats in Israel/ Palestine and Ireland. In his previous life Br Phap Lai’s science degree landed him a wonderful job as an Environmental Protection Officer with the Scottish EPA until the even more wonderful career of a monk opened up to him. He misses the Scottish hills and rock climbing – just a wee bit.
Exciting news has been announced about a documentary being made about our monastic brothers and sisters on tour with Thay in the US! Read more here and stay updated!
In March 2011, monks and nuns from the Plum Village Meditation Centre will be visiting UK universities to offer introductory workshops on mindfulness. These workshops will offer practical exercises in mindfulness of breath, body and mind, and share ways to cope with stress, release tension and handle strong emotions, including anger, loneliness and despair. They will share their experiences of using simple practices to awaken to joy and happiness in daily life and nourish a heart of compassion.
More information here http://uk.wkup.org/
About the monastics and the tour
The tour poster:
Wake Up London is a community of individuals practicing together to promote peace and reconciliation within ourselves and for our planet. We’d love to highlight what’s happening within our community, and how the practice is positively impacting our society.
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