Deer Park Monastery

05/28/2026

We are happy to announce that Hidden Mountain Record issue #3, which recaps the year 2025, is now available.

Hidden Mountain Record is Deer Park Monastery’s annual publication that tells the stories and highlights of how mindfulness and Engaged Buddhism have evolved at Deer Park over the past year.

This publication is the result of much hard and loving work from our monastic sangha, Parallax Press, the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation, and lay friends.

Hidden Mountain Record issue #3 is now available for your download here: https://deerparkmonastery.org/books/the-hidden-mountain-record-3/

05/26/2026

Recently, we hosted 110 BIPOC friends for our BIPOC mindfulness weekend.

The lantern-candle light walk to Pray for Peace was the last activity of the day on Saturday. The whole sangha came together, gathered by the Ocean of Peace meditation hall at 7:30 pm to receive the lantern and walk in meditation to Mount Yen Tu where we placed the lanterns.

All of us stood around the lantern circle and offered our chant (The Discourse on Love and May The Day Be Well)

After the ceremony, we practiced walking meditation down to the meditation hall to close the evening in silence and peace around 9:00pm.

“Communities of resistance should be places where people can return to themselves more easily, where the conditions are such that they can heal themselves and recover their wholeness.”
— Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh in The Raft Is Not the Other Shore (129)

For more BIPOC resources, visit https://deerparkmonastery.org/community/bipoc/

05/21/2026

🐾Coyote Tracks May Issue Out Now!🐾

Dear beloved community,

Families are carrying so much right now. Many parents are navigating overwhelm, disconnection, technology overload, and the challenge of finding moments of true presence together. At the same time, we know how deeply healthy relationships, mindfulness, and compassionate community can support the well-being of children and families.

This month, we are joyful to share Happy Families Change the World, a new online course rooted in decades of family mindfulness practice in the Plum Village tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and developed in partnership with researchers from Dartmouth College.

Alongside the course, Dr. Diane Gilbert-Diamond, Dr. Orlaith O’Sullivan, Brother Pháp Lưu, and Sister Phú Nghiêm will offer a free webinar exploring how these practices can become more accessible to families around the world.

This offering is especially meaningful as it is the first wider-world offering connected to the Thích Nhất Hạnh School of Interbeing, our new Plum Village-inspired elementary school opening near Deer Park Monastery this fall.

We are also deeply grateful to celebrate a beautiful fundraising milestone: together, our global sangha has now raised $700,000 toward bringing this vision to life, including more than $100,000 raised through the Rhythm of the Earth Mindful Music Festival.

As we continue to support children, teens, and families through retreats, mindful education, and intergenerational practice, we are reminded that peaceful, connected families truly can change the world.

We invite you to enjoy your breathing as you read through the May issue of Coyote Tracks.

Read Coyote Tracks here: https://tracks.deerparkmonastery.org/p/happy-families-change-the-world-hidden

With gratitude and warmth,
Your Brothers and Sisters at Deer Park

05/20/2026

Brother Stream (Br Phap Luu) at Deer Park Monastery responds to a practitioner's question about what to do when focusing on our breath makes us feel even more fear and anxiety.

05/19/2026

With deep gratitude, we would like to thank everyone who joined us for the Rhythm of the Earth Mindful Music Festival and everyone who has already offered their support to the Thích Nhất Hạnh School of Interbeing.

Because of your generosity—through ticket purchases, onsite offerings, YouTube donations, volunteer service, and countless acts of support—we have raised $100,000 through the festival fundraiser so far, bringing our total funds raised up to $700K!

Together, we are one step closer to our aspiration of raising $1 million by August to help bring this vision into being.

In a world shaped by conflict, isolation, and increasing disconnection, this school is a living response: a place where children can learn peace as a way of life. A place where mindfulness, compassion, community, and reverence for the Earth are not simply taught, but lived each day together.

Every offering—whether large or small—is part of this collective awakening.
As Thầy reminded us, “The next Buddha may take the form of a Sangha.” We truly feel this school is being born through the energy of community, shared aspiration, and love.

If you feel called to support the Thích Nhất Hạnh School of Interbeing and a new wave of mindful education, we invite you to make a donation today.

Donate here: https://giving.tnhf.org/page/schoolofinterbeing

05/16/2026

During our recent trip to New York, we had the opportunity to sit down with D. Graham Burnett, a historian of science and professor at Princeton University, who has become a leading voice in critiquing the attention economy and the phenomenon he calls “human fracking” — the systematic extraction and monetization of human attention by digital platforms.

At “Whose Mind? Reclaiming Attention in the Age of Distraction,” Brother Phap Luu and D. Graham Burnett discussed attention fracking and how mindfulness techniques help us take back our minds and reclaim sovereignty over the land-grab of our consciousness.

Gratitude for Eileen Mahoney and Clay Williams for hosting us.

The event was held at St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church’s Community House on April 22, 2026.

05/15/2026

In this short video, Sister Dinh Nghiệm of Plum Village shares her excitements for the upcoming "The Sun My Heart" Retreat at YMCA of Colorado.

Learn more & register here: https://deerparkmonastery.org/visit/events/the-sun-my-heart-colorado-retreat/

You and your family are warmly invited to join us for The Sun My Heart Retreat, held August 9–15, 2026 at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado.

During this retreat, mindfulness communities and friends from across North America gather to practice the teachings of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in the Plum Village tradition of Engaged Buddhism and build a beloved community.

Hosted by monastics of the Plum Village tradition, this precious retreat offers us a chance to restore our connection to nature and cultivate transformational healing in ourselves, in our relationships, and in the world.

Learn more & register here: https://deerparkmonastery.org/visit/events/the-sun-my-heart-colorado-retreat/

05/14/2026

Compassion in Action: The Science of Caring in collaboration with the Thich Nhat Hanh Center for Mindfulness in Public Health and Simmons University.

Featuring Dr. Walter Willet, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Brother Phap Luu, Dr. Chris Germer, Dave Vago, and other mindfulness experts, this one-day symposium brought together esteemed scientists, public health experts, and visiting monastics from the Plum Village tradition to explore how evidence-based mindfulness and compassion practices can help improve individual and population health, with particular attention to how cultivating compassion—in ourselves, our communities, and our planet—can serve as a powerful force for healing and transformation.

Thank you for hosting us

05/14/2026

05/05/2026

Brother Phap Luu and Meena Srinivasan share about our upcoming Rhythm of the Earth Mindful Music Festival on Fox News.

This in-person festival is an invitation to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with the rhythms of the Earth, with one another, and with the simple joy of being alive.

Expect soulful music, calming rhythms, mindful activities, and a welcoming community rooted in peace and positive energy.

Bring your friends, your smile, and your open heart for a day of good tunes, mindful presence, and celebration in nature—all in support of the Thich Nhat Hanh School of Interbeing, a new K-5 school dedicated to integrating mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and academic excellence for the next generation.