Order of Interbeing | Tiep Hien

Category: Personal Story

  • Sitting down is an act of revolution

    Sitting down is an act of revolution

    The act of sitting down is an act of revolution — Thich Nhat Hanh Sitting down is revolutionary because it means you are stopping and choosing to rest in this place, in this moment. It’s revolutionary, because modern life is so busy. At work I’m busy getting things done, then I turn to projects at […]

  • Joanne Friday

    Joanne Friday

    On January 20, 2021, Joanne Friday, our beloved dharma teacher, partner, friend, and mentor, transitioned from the Historic dimension into the Ultimate dimension. Joanne was a Dharma teacher in the Tiep Hien Order, the Order of Interbeing, founded by Buddhist monk and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. In 2003 she received authority to teach from […]

  • A Letter of Support

    In light of hearing from so many who are struggling amid these times of political changes, I felt called to offer this letter, of which I hope will offer some support and benefit. Dear friends along the path, I know you suffer, and I am here for you. I see that your anger and fear […]

  • Serving The Ill And Dying

    I began working as a healthcare chaplain in 2005, the same year I was ordained in the Order of Interbeing.  For those unfamiliar with the role, healthcare chaplains help patients cope with their changing lives using the patient’s own language of meaning, whether that language is religious, scientific, philosophical or based upon their life experiences.  […]

  • Philip Seymour Hoffman and Me

    Happiness, the End of Suffering, and Recovery Forty-six. That’s not so old — young in fact. He and I are both 46, with young children, and in a long term relationship. We both got sober very young and then maintained that sobriety for many years. Mr. Hoffman made it 23-years, and I’m about to reach my 25th […]

  • A New OI Aspirant

    As I walked with the Sangha through the Oak Grove at Deer Park last summer I heard myself say, “I am a good wife.”  I was startled and happy to hear that spontaneous belief.  For years, when I became irritated, impatient, or outright angry with my husband, I would say to myself, “What a lousy […]

  • Replanting A “Forest of Interbeing”: Spiritual Community As Food

    Several months ago, four young friends living in three different countries embarked on a journey together to replant a deforested rainforest in the south of Mexico. The “Forest of Interbeing” project includes the purchasing of 9 hectres of land, roughly 900 acres, in Los Tuxtlas region, in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Formerly home to […]

  • The End of Suffering

    Happiness, the End of Suffering, and Recovery Forty-six. That’s not so old – young in fact. He and I are both 46, with young children, and in a long term relationship. We both got sober very young and then maintained that sobriety for many years. Mr. Hoffman made it 23-years, and I’m about to reach […]

  • Shifting Weight

    Leave the tender moment alone. -Billy Joel. The way to use life is to do nothing through acting. The way to use life is to do everything through being. -Lao Tzu I had noticed her as I walked by the room on the way to see my patient. Jeans, sneakers and flannel shirt curled up […]

  • When Next I Spill My Tea

    The morning in June, 2002, that I was going to be ordained in the Order of Interbeing, I was doing walking meditation after breakfast. I was staying at Upper Hamlet of Plum Village, in France, where the ceremony was going to be held. Because people who were staying in the other hamlets had to travel, […]