Buddhist Monks

A Journey Toward Peace

The introduction to The Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hanh says “Spirituality is not religion. It is a path for us to generate happiness, understanding, and love, so we can live deeply each moment of our life. Having a spiritual dimension in our lives does not mean escaping life or dwelling in a place of bliss outside this world but discovering ways to handle life’s difficulties and generate peace, joy, and happiness right where we are, on this beautiful planet.” Photographer Geoff Oliver Bugbee, drawn to the peaceful, happy faces and purposeful actions of Buddhist monks from various orders around the world, captured the accompanying images during his travels starting in 1994 to share their lessons of living in the present with others. Below, Sister Hien Nghiem (Sister True Dedication), of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village order in the South of France, shares her spiritual journey and insights. For me, Buddhism is more a way of living, an art of living, than a religion. It is ancient wisdom—more than 2,500 years of it. Thich Nhat Hanh is one of those great lights who will go down in history as someone who has made these teachings effortlessly relevant and helpful to our modern way of living. He often teaches and writes so simply, with such elegance, it’s hard to see all the wisdom and brilliance within and behind the words. It’s a bit like watching Michael Jackson dance. Part of his genius was making his dancing look so effortless—and he was one of the best dancers of his generation. For me, Thich Nhat Hanh’s books are like that. They look simple, but they’re genius. An Oasis of Calm The ancient depth of Buddhism has the capacity to address our deepest concerns. In the book The Art of Living, Thich Nhat Hanh shares eloquently and with great depth a very accessible Buddhist way to approach questions like, “What does it mean to be alive?” or “What should I do with my one, precious life?” or “Where do we go when we die?” or simply, “Who am I?” As an engaged Buddhist community, our monasteries are a kind of oasis, a refuge for people to come and live a mindful way of life alongside us, all year round. I’m currently living in Plum Village, France, and we recently had more than 8,000 people come to stay with us for a week or more in 2016. We help people learn how to cultivate a moment of happiness and how to handle a moment of suffering, of challenge, when things are just too much. We help people learn how to relax, how to arrive in every step, how to land into the present moment and find peace and ease there. We don’t learn these things in school, so oftentimes people are learning it for the first time with us. Teaching in Every Moment Thich Nhat Hanh used to say that we are very lucky: We can already see the impact of our mindfulness practices and teachings on people, just in how their faces relax and brighten up after a week with us. So our life is strangely public. Everywhere we go, our life is our message. We do our best to cultivate joy and happiness. Sometimes people see us cry, but most of the time they see us smile. We’re human: humans practicing a deep life of mindfulness. That touches people. Some of us may live our lives so that day flows into another day, and we live just to “get through it.” We do things other people suggest we do. We do what everyone expects us to do. But if we’re really honest with ourselves, I think all of us need and want a spiritual dimension to our lives. Spirituality helps reclaim our lives, to live the kind of life we want to live. We dare to dream, and we dare to realize our ideals. Living in mindfulness is like living in high-resolution. Suddenly we’re awake to the hyper-connectivity of everything. And we realize that we are not alone and that everything we do, no matter how small, has meaning. It’s part of the song of life. About Geoff Oliver Bugbee “For me, photographing Buddhist monks began as a peripheral undertaking on my photo assignments in Asia. The practice of compassion and nonviolence are personal pillars of strength in my life, so I’ve always been intrigued with the spiritual deeper dive and lifestyle of Buddhist monks and nuns. No matter my whereabouts, without exception monks have allowed me into their daily business—whether it be walking in their footsteps in the Yangon, Myanmar, streets for alms; observing a head-shave ritual in Sikkim, India; or poking into the middle of a cacophonous monastic debate in Lhasa, Tibet.”
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Ken Baker from E Online

Finding Faith in La La Land

Journalist Ken Baker recently departed from his usual beat, chronicling the latest celebrity escapades for E! News, to embark on a deeper quest. After two decades as a Hollywood reporter, he was experiencing “existential anxiety.” Plagued by panic attacks and tormented by thoughts that he would one day die, as would his wife and two children, “I was distracted, unsettled, sad all the time,” he says. “I realized that to become a happier, healthier, more balanced person, I needed to rediscover and define my spiritual faith, practices and values.” Ken, who also founded the Mindful Writing Center, an online writing academy, recounts that journey in his new book The Ken Commandments: My Search for God in Hollywood. Raised Catholic in Buffalo, New York, he begins his hunt for holiness by returning to his early faith. He takes Bible study classes with a preacher who tends to a flock of young Hollywood stars like Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, and glimpses Gwen Stefani at services. He sits beside the Kardashians on Easter Sunday at a church that Kris Jenner helped launch. He would go on to discuss atheism with Adam Corolla, have a disquieting visit to Scientology’s Celebrity Centre and what he describes as a “profound experience” with a young psychic who “was able to reveal to me knowledge about myself that was so deep I had forgotten about and had never written or shared.” In the end, it was the meditation practice that Ken began under the tutelage of Deepak Chopra that brought him out of his funk. “It’s not an overstatement to say meditation saved my life, or at least saved the quality of my life,” he says. Today, Ken meditates daily, beginning each 20-minute practice with four questions: Who am I? What do I most desire? What am I grateful for? What is my dharma, or purpose, in life? He also tries to be more mindful throughout the day, less reactive about, say, E! not assigning him the big Miley Cyrus interview. “Old Ken would get caught up in ego. Why didn’t I get it? I’m the best interviewer,” he says. Now he realizes that “comparison is the thief of joy, and there’s nothing to gain from becoming so attached to something that’s outside my control.” Listen to our podcast: The Ken Commandments With Ken Baker Shelley Levitt is a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles and editor at large for Live Happy. Her work has appeared in Real Simple, People, SUCCESS and more.
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“Belief,” filmmaker David Shadrack Smith

New Documentary Explores the World of “Belief”

Even if you don’t immediately recognize his name, it’s likely that you know the work of filmmaker/producer David Shadrack Smith. As founder of part2 pictures, he has been behind such compelling projects as National Geographic’s Hard Time documentary series and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network’s Our America with Lisa Ling. Now he has taken on his most ambitious project to date. Belief, a series that airs for seven consecutive nights beginning Oct. 18 on OWN, looks at mankind’s eternal search to connect with something greater than ourselves. The series shows some of the rituals, practices and beliefs around the world that connect us to each other—and to a greater power. Narrated and executive produced by Oprah Winfrey, it was filmed in 33 locations and took three years to complete. We caught up with David to talk about this groundbreaking project. Live Happy: What made you want to take on this project? David: This is so clearly one of the ways to understand the world we live in. The quest for meaning, these questions—that’s what connects us as a species. When you start to break it down, you see we are so connected in the quest. We all want to answer the questions, ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Why am I here?’ I immediately saw the rich tapestry of the story. LH: How did working on this series affect you? David: I think in general it made me so much more compassionate and aware of how millions of people around the world engage with their beliefs … I realized that most people want to be the best possible version of themselves, and their beliefs are there to help them do that. It made me feel more connected to my fellow humans. LH: What do you hope viewers take away from the series? David: I hope they get a little bit of deeper understanding of our connection to each other. We are seeking a common goal: to be our best self, to raise our family well and to understand what we’re doing here. I hope their takeaway will be our connectivity and common goals. LH: Why do you think the time is right for a series like this? David: Timing is everything. In our first meeting, Oprah said, “Do you think we can change the world with this series?” We knew it was that important. At this moment, as technology and travel make more things possible, we are coming in contact with each other in ways that’s never happened before—and that’s leading to a lot of conflict, and a lot of awareness of conflict, which creates amplification of conflict. For this series to come into the world at this time is really important; we can step back and come at it from a singular human consciousness. LH: This was such an ambitious undertaking—did you accomplish what you set out to do? David: I was amazed that, through all of it, we really did deliver the series that we set out to make. [In the beginning] I didn’t know if we could pull it off.  In this headline-grabbing world of conflict, it’s important to go deeper than our differences and discover what makes us the same. Listen to an expanded interview with David Shadrack Smith on our Podcast. View the trailer at www.oprah.com/belief
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Illustration of a woman in prayer

The New Prayer

Sitting in the 250-year-old Quaker meetinghouse high in the mountains of Vermont, I can almost touch the deep, round silence that connects those who have gathered here for worship this beautiful spring morning. The handful of men and women scattered on the old benches sit with their heads bowed, hands resting quietly in their laps or tucked under one of the hand-knit afghans placed around the room to counter the morning chill. Most of those present have their eyes closed, and one, I suspect, is fast asleep. But another is looking thoughtfully out one of the two-story windows toward the trees, and another, hands lifted up, eyes closed, gently sways back and forth. A log shifts in the old wood stove. The silence shifts as well, and slowly eyes open and meet, smiles appear, and hands reach out one to the other in greeting. New Space, a Different Place Praying with others can be a richly textured experience. Whether it’s done in the silence of a Quaker meeting or as part of a group singing an ancient melody with its origins deep in the sands of the Negev, communal prayer is often a joyously multidimensional experience that moves us into a new space. “Prayer is a doorway to God,” explains Brent Bill, Quaker pastor, director of the new meetings project for Friends General Conference and author of the forthcoming book Finding God in the Verbs: Crafting a New Language of Prayer. “It’s an opportunity to open ourselves, engage in an authentic dialogue, and get as close to God as possible.” Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, executive director of the Mechon Hadar education center in New York and author of Empowered Judaism, agrees. “In Jewish practice, men and womenare required to pray three times a day in a group called a minyan,” he says. It can be a rigorous schedule for those unaccustomed to it, but, he adds, “it’s been my experience that being in a room where dozens of people are praying together pushes me to a different place. It allows me to ride the enthusiasm of others, concentrate better and focus more on prayer.” Nor is the effect limited to the minyan. Catholics who stand and clasp hands to recite the “Our Father” prayer report the same experience, as do Protestants who respond in unison to biblical readings from the pulpit, Quakers who sit silently in God’s presence and Muslims who kneel shoulder to shoulder in daily prayers. When Edgar Hopida, communications director for the Islamic Society of North America, hears the afternoon call to prayer over his office intercom in Plainfield, Ind., for example, he welcomes the opportunity to walk downstairs to the building’s prayer room, remove his shoes, and stand, shoulder to shoulder, with others to pray. As they alternately bow, kneel and sit, the group’s prayers will progress through several cycles that include reciting verses from the Quran, praising God and asking forgiveness, until those who are praying conclude by turning to their neighbors, first on the right, then on the left, and blessing them with “Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah”—“Peace be upon you, mercy be upon you.” Asking God to bless the person next to you with peace and mercy can be transformative. “I’ll be stressing at work and then I get into prayer, and I realize—`Yeah, I can get through this day,’ ” Edgar says. “Prayer with others helps me focus on the divine and those with whom I pray.” The Power of Connection Edgar’s experience is one that Debbie Eaton, head of women’s ministries at the 20,000-member Saddleback Church in Southern California, sees every day. Whether she’s praying with one other woman or 450, the result is the same. “When I’m praying with someone, particularly with someone who is struggling, judgment just goes away,” Debbie says. “They could be telling me the most horrible thing, and I just see them in the light of love. I can sense God holding that person—and I feel such joy, peace and love.” A few miles up the California coast, Carolyn Taketa, director of small groups at Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, shares Debbie’s perspective. “There’s a sense of unity, power, care and support in communal prayer,” she explains. “In a small group that prays, it doesn’t matter that you’re a CEO, that you have special needs or that you’re homeless. All that stuff gets stripped away. There’s just you, your friends, and a clear sense of God’s presence.” She sighs. “There’s such power, beauty and simplicity in that.” When a friend in Carolyn’s prayer group shared that her marriage was over, for example, the group cried with her for the loss of her husband, the pain to her children, and the bad choices that had been made as the marriage unraveled. “Then we made a circle around her and supported her with prayer,” Carolyn says. “We stood in God’s presence. And when we finally lifted our heads, there was a deep sense of peace.” Half a world away, Diane Heavin, the Texas-based co-founder of the Curvesfitness centers, had a similar experience a few years ago as she walked the Great Wall of China to raise money for breast cancer research. At her request, the names of thousands of men and women with cancer had been sent to her by Curves’ members from around the world. So every morning, all along the Great Wall, Diane, her friend Becky, and 30 or so walkers would gather in a group on the wall to pray for those whose names they had brought—all carefully written on index cards. The walkers were from different faiths and countries, but as Becky and Diane would begin to pray out loud, one by one, others would join in and begin to read some of the names. It was an amazing experience, Diane says. “This was a brutal walk. We all had achy bodies, we missed our families, and we were emotionally taxed.” But by the time the last prayers had been said, every member of the group had been blessed with a renewed strength, an increased awareness of God, and a closer connection to one another. “Even those who don’t define themselves as religious or who see themselves as non-theist seem to sense that something powerful is going on” when they experience prayer in community, Brent says. Even when it’s something as simple as sitting with others as they bless a family dinner, or hiking up a hillside in silence with others before the Easter dawn, many non-theists sense a presence. “Some of us call it God, others call it ‘Greatness’ or ‘Higher Power,’ or they don’t label it at all.” Brent smiles. “I’m easy with that.” Getting Out of Your Head Although communal prayer offers a powerful way to connect with the divine, those who actually sing prayers in community suggest that communal prayers expressed through music may transcend just about everything else. “The place that I’m able to go when song is a part of the prayer is much more intense,” Rabbi Elie says. In fact, “sometimes I think of the experience as transcending cognition. There are so many words in Jewish tradition, and the music takes me outside of the intellectualization of the prayer text to a different spiritual place.” That place is one regularly inhabited by musician Joey Weisenberg, creative director of the Hadar Center for Communal Jewish Music, a faculty member at several Jewish seminaries, and the prayer leader of Brooklyn’s oldest synagogue. One day he’s teaching cantoral students and baby rabbis, the next day it’s a children’s choir. Then he’s leading Friday night and Saturday morning Shabbat services. There’s a Jewish choir the next day, next week a workshop in Wisconsin, and every Tuesday night he and his band are on deck at Kane Street Synagogue. And that doesn’t touch on the days he’s in a recording studio laying down tracks that feature the hundreds of niggunim—ancient prayer melodies that replace words with nonsense syllables—that he’s rescued from the past. The niggunim remind him of the riffs he heard played in the blues bars where he grew up in Milwaukee—and with their unique ability to speak the wordless language of the soul and perhaps touch the divine, the niggunim are his passion. “The whole purpose of prayer is to crack open our hearts, our hardened hearts, just a little bit,” explains Joey, “and music is perhaps the best tool I’ve ever seen—I’ve ever experienced—for opening up a heart. It can prune away the shells that we have around ourselves so that, as we sing together, the harsh exterior of ourselves begins to be cut away.” Eventually, says Joey, as we become more vulnerable, as we learn to listen deeply to the music and one another, the wordless melodies of the niggunim will offer us an actual experience, in real time, of the divine. Sitting in my study one morning as I finish this story and listen to an MP3 of Joey’s music, the sun slowly rises over the mountain that shelters my cottage. The woods that surround my clearing etch their shadows on snow that has yet to melt, and the soft sounds of chickadees and titmice near my open window make their way into the room. Eventually, the niggun I’m listening to slows, then fades. Only the deep, rich silence of Presence surrounds me.
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Hands Positioned as in Prayer isolated on white

God Online

When Indiana’s Enten Eller, director of electronic communication at Bethany Theological Seminary, was asked to facilitate the technology that would join three Kansas ministers-in-training with four others in Florida, he didn’t expect that it would lead to one of the most moving experiences he’s had in bringing people and technology together.The students needed to complete several activities as part of the work required for their ordination certificate. So, with Enten’s help, they utilized a combination of Adobe Connect video software for meetings and Skype for audio to get it done. They sang hymns together, often started by one of the students in Florida with the rest joining in with harmony.The high point, however, says Enten, was an “anointing service,” which, in the Church of the Brethren denomination to which they belong, is a ceremony of healing and renewal. A minister applies oil to the forehead of someone who is hurting three times to represent the forgiveness of sins, presence of God, and healing of mind, body and spirit. The minister then lays his or her hands on the person and prays for the individual’s healing.The students gathered in a circle at each of their locations and conducted the ritual with one another. “While the oil could not pass over the distance,” says Enten, “the prayers and support most certainly did, and we were all a bit astounded at how the distance seemed to vanish between us. We felt the Presence and close to each other—with a feeling of the Spirit uniting us, unbounded by space or time.”
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Meeting of Support Group

Faith-Based Friendships Increase Well-being

People who go to church have higher levels of well-being than those who don’t, according to a Gallup Poll; but a study in the American Sociological Review shows that happiness has more to do with your friendships at your place of worship than your faith. Chaeyoon Lim, a sociology professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, says “the evidence substantiates that it is not really going to church and listening to sermons or praying that makes people happier, but making church-based friends and building intimate social networks there.” With faith-based friendships, people experience a sense of connectedness and belonging that may improve their sense of well-being. Cultivate your friendships at your church, synagogue or place of worship, and you just may end up more satisfied with your life. Try these reminders: Be the person you want to meet. If you want a friend, be a friend. Your smile and friendly banter can easily lead to new friendships at church. Greet people and introduce yourself to someone new each week. Consider attending your place of worship at the same time weekly so you can see many of the same faces. Recognition more easily leads to new friendships. Ask another person or family out for breakfast or coffee after a service. Gretchen Rubin, best-selling author of The Happiness Projectsays, “Radiate energy and good humor. Because of the phenomenon of ‘emotional contagion,’ people catch the emotions of other people, and they prefer to catch an upbeat, energetic mood.” Don’t just attend services; attend the activities hosted by your congregation. People who attend functions hosted by their church are likely to have similar interests and values, and more open to making new friendships. Events after services are often more casual in nature and more conducive to forging friendships. Get to know the leaders in your church or synagogue. If you attend services at a large congregation, it can be a bit intimidating trying to get to know people in the beginning. If you are new to your church or synagogue, focus on the leadership first—because it’s their job to know everyone, and they can introduce you to other people. Volunteer- Offer to make food for a function, hand out bulletins or welcome newcomers; organize an event or help with community fundraisers; get involved with religious study, youth groups, sporting events or other projects affiliated with your church. As you work alongside others, friendships will naturally evolve. “Rather than trying to figure out what everybody can do for you, start looking for things you can do for somebody else,” says Joel Osteen, pastor of the Lakewood Church whose church sermons are broadcast worldwide. “Make relational deposits wherever you go. Be a giver rather than a taker. Give compliments freely and seek to make every person you meet feel important.” Faith and friendships offer a sense of connectedness that’s tied closely to personal contentment. Friendships with a shared religious connection you can count on for social support provide a sense of security and belonging. As you invest in others and build your community of friendships, you also will be making deposits in your own well-being. SandraBienkowski, owner of The Media Concierge, LLC, is a national writer of wellness and personal development content and a social media expert.
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Closeup portrait of a young woman praying

Faith Therapy

Monterrey, Mexico may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking about happiness. Poverty, corruption, unfulfilling jobs and lack of education are social issues that touch most families there either directly or indirectly. And yet as, Dan Buettner explains in his book Thrive, the people living in this community share an abundance of what he refers to as “happiness assets ” that increase both their longevity and their quality of life.Central to this community’s happiness is the practice of faith. Even if you don’t consider yourself religious, you can benefit by adopting some of their habits.Believe something bigger—and better—than yourself.Many of the world’s religions are based in belief in a god that is omnipotent and omnipresent. “But simply believing in God alone doesn’t guarantee happiness,” writes Buettner. An uplifting faith, one that allows for peace and hope, is what the people in Monterrey seem to share… and it makes a positive difference in their lives.Connect with people who support and encourage you.Their “supercharged faith helps people cope with hardship–even if it just means having someone listen to one’s problems,” Buettner writes. Community has long been linked to longevity. Having people you can trust to share your struggles, and in turn people you support and encourage, is a common trait in all Blue Zones. (A Blue Zone is an area where people live long and especially happy lives.)Faith-based communities are often referred to as families that are linked by the bonds of love and shared belief. They offer a place to turn in times of tragedy and a community with whom to celebrate life’s joys. Knowing you aren’t alone and that other people deeply care for your well-being can give you a healthy, happier outlook on life.Participate in faith-building, stress-relieving activities regularly.Growing up, Sunday mornings weren’t altogether stress-free. My parents took turns hollering for me and my siblings to drag ourselves out of bed. Then there was the prospect of what to wear—nothing ever seemed right. Then came the inevitable fights with my sister in the car on the way to church. We arrived at the building tense and frustrated. Thankfully, all that stress evaporated as soon as the singing started.The fact is worship, meditation, prayer, and turning your mind from self-focused to things of an eternal, spiritual nature all help reduce stress. Research shows that those who meditate regularly have higher levels of activity in the left prefrontal cortex of the brain, “the part of the brain where happiness ‘lives,’” says Buettner. Other research suggests that belonging to a faith-based community can add between four and fourteen years to your life when you meet at least four times a month. A weekly time to rest, pray and focus on family, friends and faith—whether that’s for an entire day or just a few hours—helps you connect with what really matters in life.Be good to yourself.Most spiritual practices of the world offer advice for “good living.” That advice often includes abstaining from behaviors that are considered risky—sexual promiscuity, drug use or excessive drinking for example. You don’t have to be religious to understand how such behaviors could negatively affect your physical health and mental health, or shorten your lifespan. The reality is that those who avoid risky behaviors tend to live longer.However, more important than the list of dos and don’ts that exist in most religions is the underlying belief that each person has innate value and is worthy of respect—including self-respect. That belief shows up in various ways, from practices regarding diet and health to acknowledging that every person has a purpose on this planet. The core message is: This life is a gift, cherish it.Faith connects people in a powerful and unique way. It offers a way to reduce stress and increase peace... and it very well may help you live happier.Erin K. Caseyis a writer, editor and book coach who helps people share their message. She is a Texan living in Ireland, and she loves to talk with people about why faith matters in the real world.
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