Monday, December 14, 2009
Making Custom Boat Seats
Profile Maple Village - by Chanco (from the Mindfulness Bell - Nov. 1996)
(traduction en Français à venir....)
THE MAPLE VILLAGE SANGHA PROFILE
Twelve years ago (summer 1984), Toan and Quyen Do went to Plum Village.They enjoyed their experience so much that they had invited Thây to Montreal to teach us. At the end of 1984 they invited about ten of us to their place: Thây had finally agreed to come and give a retreat in Montreal. At the time, for almost all of us, what people do in a retreat was a mystery, but we were enthusiastic about organizing one under Thây's guidance. In September 1985, we had our first retreat with Thây at Camp-Les-Sommets, a simple week-end resort. It was all it took for the Maple Village Sangha to take form and begin its marvelous journey.
For that first retreat, our small group spent many week-ends searching for a good location the retreat. We got together to make cushions for sitting meditation, to prepare meal menus, to enjoy being together... We looked after almost everything; but none of us knew that we also need a bell in a retreat! We ended-up using a cassette tape and a big speaker for the mindfulness bell. Thây called our bell master for that retreat: the Electronic Bell Master.
In 1986, we organized our second retreat with Thây at the Entrelac Scout Camp. This time we were Equipped better, with big and small bells. The high-light of this Retreat was the ordination of our first six Next-Porch brothers and sisters. Seeing as sitting in His room was searching a name for our dharma Eldest brother, an oriental plant cactus mà chúng brought along for the Retreat began blooming; Seeing our Elder Brother gave the dharma names Khai Tam (Opening of the Heart) - Chan Hoi ( True Understanding). That night, instead of sitting meditation, We enjoyed two hours with Found in a tea Ceremony celebrating the biết mà Quynh flower to bloom and wither within three hours.
For five years in a row Thay came to teach us every year! The Maple Village was not only blessed by Thây's and Sister Chân Không's loving care, but also by contributions and support from many friends in Canada, in the US and in other countries. Five-year after our first meeting, the Maple Village made a home on a hilly wild land of 100 acres with a lake. A road was built and a building was constructed with electricity and water. The building is simple but large enough to host some 100 participants with a meditation hall, a dining&activity hall, and a dormitory.
In 1996, eleven years after our first retreat, we are still together on our mindful and joyful journey. Hundreds of people have joined us in the practice of mindfulness, and we cannot count the many numbers of people who have taken the five trainings at the Maple Village. Some forty brothers and sisters belong to the Order of Interbeing, among them ten are Dharmacarya, and at least one sister has become a nun, practicing now in Plum Village. Not all of them are living in Montreal, however; many have brought the practice with them to their city and built strong sanghas in Boston, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Quebec City. Every year, many of them come back to participate in our Spring retreat with Sister Annabel, in our Fall retreat with our Dharmacaryas, or just in a Day of Mindfulness during the summer months at the Village.
In Montreal, the present core sangha consists of some fifteen families. Meditations are held on Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon, as well as Monday,Wednesday and Thursday nights. Some particular points of the Maple Village are noteworthy: - we are all volunteers and working part-time for the Maple Village Society, - three languages (French, English and Vietnamese) are often used in our activities since the first retreat, - we keep participation fees of our activities as low as possible, - our core community includes many non-TiepHien members, who are sometimes even more dedicated than the ordained ones.
However, an end-result which touches us and make us appreciative of our sangha much more than any statistics is this: Maple Village has become our second family. Slowly we discovered that we have more sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and friends than we previously perceived. A phone call from a caring elder sister, a small gift from a younger brother, an advice from a concerned uncle, and a helping hand from a considerate friend are some most precious offers we continually received. Suddenly, for some of us who are living alone, we are not truly alone anymore. We are understood and loved by other members of the Maple Village as a family member. This family link between us has developed through doing things together -in the practice of mindfulness, loving-kindness and compassion. Together we practiced sitting meditation, and together we cleared bushes for a walking meditation path. Together we repaired damages of a spring flood in the Village building; and together we sang Breathing In, Breathing Out for people in a prison. Together we celebrated the birth of a new baby; and together we mourned the death of one beloved Dharmacarya brother. Of course, we do have problems and improvements to make in this second family too. We have learned good lessons from wanting to do everything-together, from doing-things-on-our-own, or from doing-thing-for-results. We know that living together is an art to learn with the practice of mindfulness; but we also know that the others are trying their best and we the same.
If our story of the Maple Village inspires you, maybe you too have been a member of our Maple Village Family without knowing it. Come, visit us once and become part of our family. Together we shall help the children to build and launch lanterns onto the lake under a full moon; together we shall show the children how to pray for peace by being peaourselves. On this continuing mindful journey, many new brothers and sisters have just joined us and have discovered a special link, a very family-ar and comforting link, a link of a "Famille-Sans-Frontières".
ChanCo
(Nov. 04, 1996) 
(traduction en Français à venir....)
THE MAPLE VILLAGE SANGHA PROFILE
Twelve years ago (summer 1984), Toan and Quyen Do went to Plum Village.They enjoyed their experience so much that they had invited Thây to Montreal to teach us. At the end of 1984 they invited about ten of us to their place: Thây had finally agreed to come and give a retreat in Montreal. At the time, for almost all of us, what people do in a retreat was a mystery, but we were enthusiastic about organizing one under Thây's guidance. In September 1985, we had our first retreat with Thây at Camp-Les-Sommets, a simple week-end resort. It was all it took for the Maple Village Sangha to take form and begin its marvelous journey.
For that first retreat, our small group spent many week-ends searching for a good location the retreat. We got together to make cushions for sitting meditation, to prepare meal menus, to enjoy being together... We looked after almost everything; but none of us knew that we also need a bell in a retreat! We ended-up using a cassette tape and a big speaker for the mindfulness bell. Thây called our bell master for that retreat: the Electronic Bell Master.
In 1986, we organized our second retreat with Thây at the Entrelac Scout Camp. This time we were Equipped better, with big and small bells. The high-light of this Retreat was the ordination of our first six Next-Porch brothers and sisters. Seeing as sitting in His room was searching a name for our dharma Eldest brother, an oriental plant cactus mà chúng brought along for the Retreat began blooming; Seeing our Elder Brother gave the dharma names Khai Tam (Opening of the Heart) - Chan Hoi ( True Understanding). That night, instead of sitting meditation, We enjoyed two hours with Found in a tea Ceremony celebrating the biết mà Quynh flower to bloom and wither within three hours.
For five years in a row Thay came to teach us every year! The Maple Village was not only blessed by Thây's and Sister Chân Không's loving care, but also by contributions and support from many friends in Canada, in the US and in other countries. Five-year after our first meeting, the Maple Village made a home on a hilly wild land of 100 acres with a lake. A road was built and a building was constructed with electricity and water. The building is simple but large enough to host some 100 participants with a meditation hall, a dining&activity hall, and a dormitory.
In 1996, eleven years after our first retreat, we are still together on our mindful and joyful journey. Hundreds of people have joined us in the practice of mindfulness, and we cannot count the many numbers of people who have taken the five trainings at the Maple Village. Some forty brothers and sisters belong to the Order of Interbeing, among them ten are Dharmacarya, and at least one sister has become a nun, practicing now in Plum Village. Not all of them are living in Montreal, however; many have brought the practice with them to their city and built strong sanghas in Boston, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Quebec City. Every year, many of them come back to participate in our Spring retreat with Sister Annabel, in our Fall retreat with our Dharmacaryas, or just in a Day of Mindfulness during the summer months at the Village.
In Montreal, the present core sangha consists of some fifteen families. Meditations are held on Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon, as well as Monday,Wednesday and Thursday nights. Some particular points of the Maple Village are noteworthy: - we are all volunteers and working part-time for the Maple Village Society, - three languages (French, English and Vietnamese) are often used in our activities since the first retreat, - we keep participation fees of our activities as low as possible, - our core community includes many non-TiepHien members, who are sometimes even more dedicated than the ordained ones.
However, an end-result which touches us and make us appreciative of our sangha much more than any statistics is this: Maple Village has become our second family. Slowly we discovered that we have more sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and friends than we previously perceived. A phone call from a caring elder sister, a small gift from a younger brother, an advice from a concerned uncle, and a helping hand from a considerate friend are some most precious offers we continually received. Suddenly, for some of us who are living alone, we are not truly alone anymore. We are understood and loved by other members of the Maple Village as a family member. This family link between us has developed through doing things together -in the practice of mindfulness, loving-kindness and compassion. Together we practiced sitting meditation, and together we cleared bushes for a walking meditation path. Together we repaired damages of a spring flood in the Village building; and together we sang Breathing In, Breathing Out for people in a prison. Together we celebrated the birth of a new baby; and together we mourned the death of one beloved Dharmacarya brother. Of course, we do have problems and improvements to make in this second family too. We have learned good lessons from wanting to do everything-together, from doing-things-on-our-own, or from doing-thing-for-results. We know that living together is an art to learn with the practice of mindfulness; but we also know that the others are trying their best and we the same.
If our story of the Maple Village inspires you, maybe you too have been a member of our Maple Village Family without knowing it. Come, visit us once and become part of our family. Together we shall help the children to build and launch lanterns onto the lake under a full moon; together we shall show the children how to pray for peace by being peaourselves. On this continuing mindful journey, many new brothers and sisters have just joined us and have discovered a special link, a very family-ar and comforting link, a link of a "Famille-Sans-Frontières".
ChanCo
(Nov. 04, 1996)
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