Berit Talan
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bberit.bsky.social
Berit Talan
@bberit.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.5K following 390 posts
Plum Village practitioner 🧘🏻🪷 Dharma Name: Spacious Sanctuary of the Heart
BWCA lover 🛶🏕️🐻🐺
native plants gardener 🧑🏻‍🌾🌱🌻🌷🐝🦋🐦
mom 🚸
🇩🇪 in MN 🇺🇸
she/they 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈
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bberit.bsky.social
I just listened to a Dharma talk by Marisela Gomez, a Dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition. She reminded us that our purpose here is to be love. Not be loved and not to love. But to be love. Embody love. That this is particularly important ..

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#ThichNhatHanh #Mindfulness #Buddhism #Zen
Calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh on rice paper in traditional Chinese black ink mixed with some of his tea. A zen circle and in the circle the writing: Love like a Buddha and Thay's red seal, which bears his lineage name and Dharma title, Trung Quang Nhat Hanh
February 9, 2025 at 10:55 PM
bberit.bsky.social
I just signed up for the Sound of Zen retreat (2/19 - 2/23) at Magnolia Grove Monastery, a Mindfulness Practice Center in the tradition of Plum Village, in Batesville, MS.

Anyone want to meet up in person? 😀🙏🪷

magnoliagrovemonastery.org/the-sound-of...

#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness
Photo of the grounds of Magnolia Grove Monastery, a retreat center in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. A pond with a foot bridge across it leading to a white statue of the Boddhisatva Avalokiteshvara, the bell tower behind the pond and the meditation hall in the background.
January 31, 2025 at 4:05 AM
bberit.bsky.social
Breath Awareness

When we follow our breath, there are different parts of our bodies, where we can experience the breath. The rising and falling of our abdomen, the air cool at our nostrils as with breathe in and warm as we breathe out, the throat.

#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness

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Calligraphy in black traditional ink on rice paper. A Zen circle with Breathe you are alive written inside
January 30, 2025 at 11:06 PM
bberit.bsky.social
"It only takes one breath." When I heard Thay say this in a podcast 18 years ago it filled me with such hope. My mind was in chaos. Meditation was impossible. But I thought I can do 1 breath. It didn't matter if it was ragged or short or painful - as it

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#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness
Calligraphy in black ink on rice paper by Thich Nhat Hanh. Zen circle with the writing Breathe inside it
January 28, 2025 at 3:42 PM
bberit.bsky.social
The Island of Self:

One of the foundational practices is to take to refuge in our breath. Thay instructs us


„Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.“

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#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness #Buddhism #meditation
Gatha to readjust the posture while meditating Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Mindful breathing is my anchor. breathe A Thich Nhat Hanh Meditation Journal
January 27, 2025 at 11:01 PM
bberit.bsky.social
How do we manage in these challenging times? Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us of the Buddha's teaching of taking refuge in the island of self. "When the Buddha was in his 80th year and knew that he would soon pass from this life, he felt a lot of compassion ..
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#PlumVillage #Buddhism #Zen #Mindfulness
Thich Nhat Hanh in a brown robe sitting in deep concentration his hand in a mudra after inviting the bell.
January 27, 2025 at 12:18 AM
bberit.bsky.social
as well as many Dharma books. Everything else was lost. Please help the community build accommodations for the monastics and rebuild and restore Thay's room.
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Burned out ruins of the Purple Cloud building in Plum Village. The oldest and most cherished building in Lower Hamlet, it contained Thich Nhat Hanh's room - a sacred space where he spent his time when in Lower Hamlet.
January 24, 2025 at 10:21 AM
bberit.bsky.social
Plum Village needs our help. Last night the Purple Cloud building in Lower Hamlet burned down. Purple Cloud was the hearth and home of Lower Hamlet since PV’s founding in 1982. Please donate to help the community rebuild!
Thay’s room was there—... (1/3)
plumvillage.org?form=PVLHFir...
January 24, 2025 at 10:21 AM
bberit.bsky.social
I feel what you're saying. I keep going back to this gatha. And to the teaching of taking care of our sense doors & the 5th mindfulness training: "...I am determined not [...]to use [...] any other products which contain toxins, such as certain websites, electronic games, ...(1/2)
Photo of a large still lake or the ocean, no land to be seen, the blue sky above with some white clouds. In white writing: Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor. Thich Nhat Hanh
January 22, 2025 at 9:37 PM
bberit.bsky.social
Tea meditation is such a lovely practice. It feels easy to be present: the smell of the tea, the warm cup against my hand, the liquid running down my throat. And it's a deep practice. There is a cloud in my tea.
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#Buddhism #Mindfulness #ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #meditation
Calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh in black ink mixed with a little bit of his tea on rice paper. The writing inside the zen circle reads "there is a cloud in your tea"
January 17, 2025 at 5:12 PM
bberit.bsky.social
"These words and music have been composed to serve as Dharma instruments helping us come back to the deepest place in ourselves, the place where we are most awake and alive. Chanting is often the most direct and immediate way to reconnect...

#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness #Buddhism
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Photo of lotus leaves in the background with the opening gatha for The Lotus of the Wonderful Dharma: Universal Door Chapter in white text: Chanting the Lotus Sutra by night, the sound shook the galaxies. The next morning when planet Earth woke up, her lap was full of flowers.
January 16, 2025 at 9:41 PM
bberit.bsky.social
I take refuge in songs, poetry, and somatic exercises. This poem was written by Thay during the Vietnam war after the bombing of Ben Tre and the comment made by an American military man, “We had to destroy the town in order to save it.”
#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness #Buddhism #poetry
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Framed calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh: For Warmth I hold my face in my two hands. No, I am not crying. I hold my face in my two hands to keep the loneliness warm— two hands protecting, two hands nourishing, two hands preventing my soul from leaving me in anger.
January 14, 2025 at 6:47 PM
bberit.bsky.social
Here is a gatha to remind us of the both the deliciousness of food and the suffering it contains. Artwork by Healing with Art by Gloria Keh.

Mindful eating is one of my favorite practices.

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Artwork by Healing with Art by Gloria Keh. Abstract artwork featuring a red face symbolizing the sun above a stylized landscape in black and white with a few red flowers. Text reads: "This plate of food, so fragrant and appetizing, also contains suffering." - Thich Nhat Hanh.
January 13, 2025 at 7:35 PM
bberit.bsky.social
As I sit down to eat lunch today, I get in touch with the miracle that is this food. All the causes and conditions that made this food available to me. I also get in touch with the suffering contained on these plates. The working conditions of farm

#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness
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Lunch served on four plates on a white table. Plates contain quesadilla, and various vegetable, fruits and tofu.
January 13, 2025 at 7:35 PM
bberit.bsky.social
I have started to say this gatha out loud as I enter my meditation space. It helps me transition to the cushion, focuses my mind, and is a vow of how I want to spend the next moments.

#Buddhism #Meditation #Mindfulness #Zen #ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage
A gatha for Entering the Meditation Room Entering the meditation room, I see my true self. As I sit down, I vow to cut off all disturbances. Thich Nhat Hanh Present Moment, Wonderful Moment: Mindfulness Verses for Daily Living
January 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
bberit.bsky.social
Anapanasati.Sutta: "The Buddha is always there within you. One way to reach the Buddha, anytime and anywhere, is through your breath." Here's a beautiful guided meditation by Thay on this.

tiny.cc/TNHbuddhabre...

#Buddhism #Meditation #Mindfulness #Zen #ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage
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Thich Nhat Hanh holding the hands of two children is leading a public walking meditation in a French city
December 31, 2024 at 2:15 AM
bberit.bsky.social
This postcard with Thay’s calligraphy is in my meditation corner. The purpose of sitting meditation is to enjoy. Don’t try to attain anything! Sitting itself is healing.
Sometimes I don't want to sit. Too busy, too tired, too scattered.
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#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness #Zen #Buddhism
Postcard with a calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh that says "enjoy sitting"
December 24, 2024 at 2:18 AM
bberit.bsky.social
Solstice: Lighting three candles for blood, spiritual and land ancestors. Reciting this poem. Remembering dear ones who passed in 2024. Going for walking meditation in the dark. Giving to the flames my notes of what calls to me in the refuge of ...
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#poetry #solstice #mindfulness #PlumVillage
Photo of snow covered pine trees with a starry sky above and the first light on the horizon. A poem: How the Light Comes I cannot tell you how the light comes. What I know is that it is more ancient than imagining. That it travels across an astounding expanse to reach us. That it loves searching out what is hidden, what is lost, what is forgotten or in peril or in pain. That it has a fondness for the body, for finding its way toward flesh, for tracing the edges of form, for shining forth through the eye, the hand, the heart. I cannot tell you how the light comes, but that it does. That it will. That it works its way into the deepest dark that enfolds you, though it may seem long ages in coming or arrive in a shape you did not foresee. And so may we this day turn ourselves toward it. May we lift our faces to let it find us. May we bend our bodies to follow the arc it makes. May we open and open more and open still to the blessed light that comes. by Jan Richardson
December 21, 2024 at 7:03 PM
bberit.bsky.social
This evening was our sangha's annual tea ceremony. I almost didn't go as I'm in a Chronic Fatigue flare and feel crappy. I am glad I went. Practicing is always nourishing but practicing together is so powerful. Co-regulation is medicine.
#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness
Photo of Thich Nhat Hanh's simple tea pot and glass tea cup on a wooden tray.
December 20, 2024 at 3:27 AM
bberit.bsky.social
As I mindfully eat my lunch, tomato and peppers, hummus and carrots, kiwis and grapes, I marvel that all this is just sunlight and star dust. I have such gratitude for plants that have found such ingenious ways to spin these two together.

#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness #Zen #Buddhism
Photo of Thich Nhat Hanh in his brown robes standing at a wooden table chopping carrots. He looks with full concentration at the vegetables and chopping board.
December 18, 2024 at 7:08 PM
bberit.bsky.social
This book was really eye opening for me with regard to what you're describing.
Book cover: The chaos machine by Max Fisher. The inside story of how social media rewired our minds and our world.
December 17, 2024 at 3:12 PM
bberit.bsky.social
Someone shared this poem with me yesterday and I keep going back to it. I particularly like the lines

The days are nouns: touch them
The hands are churches that worship the world

#poetry #mindfulness
Daily These shriveled seeds we plant, corn kernel, dried bean, poke into loosened soil, cover over with measured fingertips These T-shirts we fold into perfect white squares These tortillas we slice and fry to crisp strips This rich egg scrambled in a gray clay bowl This bed whose covers I straighten smoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanket and nothing hangs out This envelope I address so the name balances like a cloud in the center of sky This page I type and retype This table I dust till the scarred wood shines This bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash again like flags we share, a country so close no one needs to name it The days are nouns: touch them The hands are churches that worship the world Naomi Shihab Nye
December 15, 2024 at 11:47 PM
bberit.bsky.social
Slow walking meditation is a formal practice that you do for 10 min unlike walking meditation, which you can do anywhere. In Plum Village you take one step with your inbreath, one step with your outbreath.

#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness #Zen #Buddhism

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Brother Phap Huu in the dark brown robes of Plum Village monastic is pictured from the back in the Still Water Meditation Hall practicing slow walking meditation.
December 13, 2024 at 6:50 PM
bberit.bsky.social
This poem spoke to me this morning. In what way can I be a light today?

#poetry
“The Buddha’s Last Instruction” by Mary Oliver “Make of yourself a light,” said the Buddha, before he died. I think of this every morning as the east begins to tear off its many clouds of darkness, to send up the first signal — a white fan streaked with pink and violet, even green. An old man, he lay down between two sala trees, and he might have said anything, knowing it was his final hour. The light burns upward, it thickens and settles over the fields. Around him, the villagers gathered and stretched forward to listen. Even before the sun itself hangs, disattached, in the blue air, I am touched everywhere by its ocean of yellow waves. No doubt he thought of everything that had happened in his difficult life. And then I feel the sun itself as it blazes over the hills, like a million flowers on fire — clearly I’m not needed, yet I feel myself turning into something of inexplicable value. Slowly, beneath the branches, he raised his head. He looked into the faces of that frightened crowd.
December 12, 2024 at 3:53 PM
bberit.bsky.social
Today I remembered the second practice of Right Diligence. "Changing the CD" or as the Buddha taught it "Changing the Peg". Consciously bringing up a positive mental formation to take the place of a negative one.

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#ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillage #Mindfulness #Zen #Buddhism
December 12, 2024 at 4:39 AM