Dear Friends,

The Super Flower Blood Moon exiting eclipse greeted us over Deer Park this morning as the sound of the temple bell resonated through the valley. The monastic community overflows with joy for having opened our doors this past weekend for Vesak, the Buddha's Birthday Celebration, to vaccinated lay friends for the first time since the pandemic started. Yesterday we welcomed a small group of Wake Up Ambassadors in-person to support us for the Wake Up Earth online retreat, going on now. Stay tuned to the website for openings at the end of June and throughout July.

Dharma Teacher Peggy Rowe-Ward responds to a question on the nature of mind and its objects; we offer you as well the transcript of a teaching on the Three Doors of Liberation from Thay at Deer Park in 2013.

Our native resident Western Rattlesnakes have awoken in the warming weather; we encountered one ensconced on the fringe of Cougar Ridge Road in Daley Ranch. My dear friend, are you sleeping or are you lying in wait?

Enjoy the sun high on the ecliptic as the solstice approaches.

With love,

The Nuns and Monks of Deer Park Monastery

Celebrating the Buddha's Birthday — deerparkmonastery.org

Photos by Brother Duc Khiem

On Sunday May, 23rd the Brothers and Sisters of Deer Park Monastery were joined by friends from many local sanghas to celebrate Vesak: the birth of the Buddha. It was a truly wonderful day and we are glad we were able to share it with so many of you.

Mind and Objects of Mind Manifest At the Same Time — deerparkmonastery.org

Question Answered by Peggy Rowe-Ward

"Classical science is based on the belief that there is an objective reality that exists independently of the mind. In Buddhism, however, there is mind and there are objects of mind, and they manifest at the same time; we can’t separate them. In quantum physics, scientists have begun to see that their mind affects the particle they are observing.” I would be really grateful if you can help me clarify this deep insight into reality.

Joyfully on the Noble Path — deerparkmonastery.org

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Letting go of wrong views or incomplete views is possible with meditation. You can look deeply into a cloud or a pebble or anything, because everything is teaching you the ultimate. A flower is teaching impermanence, no-self, interbeing, and nirvana. We need to have the kind of ear that can listen to the Dharma talk given by the flower, the cloud, and so on.

Western Rattlesnake Lying in Wait — deerparkmonastery.org

Photos by Brother Phap Luu

Out on a walk Tuesday evening we discovered this small Western Rattlesnake—coiled, lying in wait, but not threatening.