Going As A River - Edmonton Sangha, Escondido, CA (2026)

04/15/2026

“Like a drop of water flowing towards the sea, it knows that it can hardly succeed alone. It could evaporate half-way, become a cloud, wander here and there and never reach the sea. But if that drop of water enters a river and allows the river to embrace and transform it, then for sure it will arrive at the sea. As practitioners we must allow the sangha to lead, embrace, and carry us, for us to succeed.”

“There are people who ask, “Where can we find the Buddha today?” That is very easy to answer. When you can find a sangha with the practice, with the capacity to generate mindfulness, concentration, and insight, then you have found the Dharma–and when you have found the Dharma, the Buddha is there. The Buddha is truly present in the Dharma and the Sangha.”

October 11, 2022
Thich Nhat Hanh on... / True Sangha

https://plumvillage.org/articles/true-sangha

03/18/2026

“When you wake up and you see that the Earth is not just the environment, the Earth is us, you touch the nature of interbeing.” - Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet

You’re warmly invited to join us for our upcoming mindfulness gathering on Wednesday, March 18th from 6:30-8:30pm at the Belgravia Community Hall (Lower Hall) 11540 - 73 Ave NW.

Amber will be sharing information, and a video from the course Zen and the Art of Saving The Planet. The topic will be: “The Courage to Listen” with Sister Peace.

If you’d like a bit of quiet time or would like to help with setup, you’re welcome to arrive any time after 6:00pm.

Photo courtesy our siblings who recently traveled to the beautiful

03/04/2026

The Five Mindfulness Trainings

“The Five Mindfulness Trainings have their root in the Five Precepts offered by the Buddha. They have been expanded and updated so that they represent a way to bring mindfulness into every area of life. Rather than hard and fast rules, they offer us a path to cultivate and develop actions of body, speech and mind that can create a more healthy and compassionate world.

The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future.“

https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness/the-5-mindfulness-trainings

You’re warmly invited to join us for our upcoming mindfulness gathering on Wednesday, March 4th from 6:30-8:30pm at the Belgravia Community Hall (Lower Hall) 11540 - 73 Ave NW.

On the first gathering of each month, we come together to recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings, an opportunity to reflect and renew our commitment to mindful living.

If you’d like a bit of quiet time or would like to help with setup, you’re welcome to arrive any time after 6:00pm.

02/25/2026

In the lead-up to the 60th Anniversary of the Order of Interbeing, to be celebrated at the June 2026 retreat “Nurturing the Fire” in Plum Village, sanghas worldwide are invited to “build the fire” of connection and shared intention. During the fourth week of the retreat, an Assembly of lay Order members—together with monastic members—will gather as an OI Council to help shape the Order’s global structure for the future. This is a collective opportunity to envision and support the future of our spiritual community, beginning simply by coming together to practice, listen, and share, in the spirit of Thầy’s wisdom of “drinking tea before deciding.”

You are warmly invited to join us Wednesday, February 25th, from 6:30–8:30 pm at the Belgravia Community Hall (Lower Hall), 11540 – 73 Ave NW, for our mindfulness gathering.

In this spirit, Alda will share about her journey and aspiration as an OI member, her upcoming participation in the June Assembly, and begin opening this fire-building process together as a Sangha. We will touch on a brief history of the Order, reflect on the role the Order plays in our tradition and lineage, and lay some groundwork for inviting current OI aspirants to formally share their aspirations in the months ahead.

If you would like some quiet settling time or wish to help with setup, you are most welcome to arrive any time after 6:00 pm.

For more information or practice guidelines please visit goingasariver.org

02/18/2026

Enjoy this cooler evening as winter begins to return to us with a snowy embrace this upcoming family day.

Please join us for our upcoming mindfulness gathering on Wednesday, February 18th, either in person or using the below online Zoom link. Catherine and I will lead us through a discussion around our recent retreat experience at Deer Park during the Rains Retreat and hope to inspire (with accompanying slide show) why you may also wish to consider these rare opportunities to cultivate mindfulness, find deep rest and build community is a supportive, peaceful environment.

6:30-8:30pm at the Belgravia Community Hall (Lower Hall) 11540 - 73 Ave NW.

or online at:

Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83317316822?pwd=CogwSQZyvo8S9ClpUCTakoIAkgxHlt.1

Meeting ID: 833 1731 6822
Passcode: 873044

ZOOM LINK ALSO AVAILABLE IN OUR STORY!

02/16/2026

As we reflect on the Lunar New Year and the celebration of Family Day, we are invited to remember that our roots, our family and our ancestors exist in many forms.

“The practice of Touching the Earth is to return to the Earth, to our roots, to our ancestors, and to recognize that we are not alone but connected to a whole stream of spiritual and blood ancestors. We are their continuation, and with them we will continue in future generations. We touch the earth to let go of the idea that we are separate and to remind us that we are the Earth and part of life.

When we touch the earth we become small, with the humility and simplicity of a young child. When we touch the Earth we become great, like an ancient tree sending her roots deep into the earth, drinking from the source of all waters. When we touch the earth, we breathe in all the strength and stability of the earth, and breathe out our suffering — our feelings of anger, hatred, fear, inadequacy, and grief.

We join our palms to form a lotus bud and we gently lower ourselves to the ground so that all four limbs and our forehead are resting comfortably on the floor. While we are Touching the Earth we turn our palms face up, showing our openness to the Three Jewels — the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Even after practicing . . . one or two times, we can already release a lot of our suffering and feeling of alienation and reconcile with our ancestors, parents, children, friends”

— Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddha Mind, Buddha Body

Photos from Going As A River in sangha celebration of Tet 2026, Vietnamese Lunar New Year

02/11/2026

Solid as a Mountain – Parallel Verses for the Year of the Horse

Plum Village joyfully offers these parallel verses to welcome Tết, the Lunar New Year of the Horse.

What is this Tradition all about?
Every Lunar New Year’s Eve, our beloved teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, has established a tradition of offering the sangha a simple poetic couplet in calligraphy which can inspire and nurture our mindfulness practice throughout the year. Thay’s innovation has been to offer the couplet in English, French and Vietnamese (rather than in Chinese characters). The Plum Village Community is very happy to continue this beautiful tradition.

To learn more about this message for the next year and to access a copy to print for yourself visit https://plumvillage.org/articles/solid-as-a-mountain-parallel-verses-for-the-year-of-the-horse

Please consider joining Going As A River Sangha for our upcoming mindfulness gathering on Wednesday, February 11th where Lucy will help introduce us to Tet, or the Lunar New Year celebration. This is a time for family reunions, honoring ancestors, and new beginnings.

6:30-8:30pm at the Belgravia Community Hall (Lower Hall) 11540 - 73 Ave NW.

If you’d like a bit of quiet time or would like to help with setup, you’re welcome to arrive any time after 6:00pm.

02/04/2026

Each morning the light begins its quiet return a bit earlier each day. In this turning of the season, you’re warmly invited to join us for our upcoming mindfulness gathering on Wednesday, February 4th from 6:30-8:30pm at the Belgravia Community Hall (Lower Hall) 11540 - 73 Ave NW.

On the first gathering of each month, we come together to recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings, an opportunity to reflect and renew our commitment to mindful living.

Below you’ll also find the link to Brother Phap Linh’s short talk that was shared last week, which several sangha members asked for:

Embracing Pain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU1fqTiL8gc

If you’d like a bit of quiet time or would like to help with setup, you’re welcome to arrive any time after 6:00pm.

01/07/2026

We hope this message finds you well rested as we move through this holiday season. Happy New Year to all.

You’re warmly invited to join us for our upcoming mindfulness gathering on Wednesday, January 7th, from 6:30-8:30pm at the Belgravia Community Hall (Lower Hall)11540 - 73 Ave NW.

As this is our first gathering of the month, we will come together to recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings, an opportunity to reflect, nourish our aspirations, and renew our commitment to mindful living.

If you’d like a bit of quiet time or would like to help with setup, you’re welcome to arrive any time after 6:00pm.

01/01/2026

Looking back at 2025 and all that we have gone through together as a planet, we see that our unhealed traumas, our fears and deep rooted belief in our separateness continue to cause much personal and planetary harm. We vow to transform the roots of war, hatred and violence, by every day generating the energy of non-violence and non-discrimination in our thinking, speaking and acting. We shall continue to challenge the boundaries of our hearts by asking ourselves: Do we have enough wisdom and courage to forgive those who have hurt us? Knowing that only by releasing the grievances of the past can we move forward as a species.

Dear Ancestors, you have taught us that no amount of wealth and power can guarantee our happiness, security and peace. True security and agency lies in our power to love and to be happy, here and now, and no one can take that away from us. We vow to actively cultivate generosity and cooperation as a way to help build a new culture of simple living, sharing and mutual trust.

In the face of despair and division, we vow to always stick together, to be a refuge for each other, and to strengthen our spiritual family as a community of nonviolence, offering each other courage to turn the tide of collective consciousness toward a more peaceful and compassionate world.

Dear Ancestors, please accept our offerings of fruits, flowers, and the incense of our heart, as a sign of our deep aspiration, respect, and love.

-Excerpt from December 31, 2025 New Year Prayer to Our Ancestors, Plumvillage.org

🙏🏽

Join for weekly practice in the new year. Wednesday nights 630-830 at Belgravia Community League. Learn more by visiting goingasariver.org for practice details.

12/21/2025

Celebrating World Meditation Day✨

Last year in a landmark decision, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 December as World Meditation Day to raise awareness about meditation and its benefits, recalling the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

To advance and promote World Meditation Day, a two-day conference: “United and Present-Global Solutions from Within: A Mindful Approach to Diplomacy, UN Work, and Beyond” was held from 9-10 December 2025 in the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. Sister Dinh Nghiem was invited as a panelist to share the Plum Village mindfulness practices.

Global Moment of Silent Meditation
We sincerely invite you to join this global moment of silent meditation on Sunday, December 21st, World Meditation Day.

Let go of distractions, gently close your eyes, and let your 15-minute meditation be a gift to the world. Your participation is the key force driving the evolution of global consciousness, forming a wave of harmony and positivity.

We look forward to your participation—across regions, cultures, and time zones—in this shared meditation moment on Sunday, December 21st.

Read more on the Plum Village website here https://plumvillage.org/articles/celebrating-world-meditation-day

Going As A River - Edmonton Sangha

04/15/2026

03/18/2026

03/04/2026

02/25/2026

02/18/2026

02/16/2026

02/11/2026

02/04/2026

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12/21/2025

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