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In this fourth Dharma talk of our 40 Years Retreat, “Now We Have a Path: We Have Nothing More to Fear”, Brother Phap Linh shares how we can recognize trauma in ourselves and those around us, as well as how we can care for it and help it to heal. He describes David Treleaven’s five principles of Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness, and relates these principles to our practice in the Plum Village community. He suggests, for example, that communal practices such as Dharma sharing, sharing mindful meals, and walking meditation can also be seen as powerful means of “co-regulation”, establishing a safe ground on which we can enjoy walking together the path of mindfulness, understanding, and love.

Brother Phap Linh shares that shares that when we root ourselves in a deep confidence based on personal experience and time-tested traditions and practices, we can also open and allow these traditions to be enriched by other frameworks and modes of inquiry. He relates his own process of embracing and healing deep trauma by entrusting himself completely to basic practices such as walking meditation. He shares that deep freedom and healing, as well as effective engagement to relieve suffering in the world, is possible when we learn to be in touch with the ultimate dimension and dwell happily in the present moment.