April 2023 Deer Park Monastics Visit

April 17-23, 2023

How can you apply Engaged Mindfulness in your daily life? How might mindfulness help us to collectively address the challenges we face as a human species? How do these practices inform our approaches to handling strong emotions, such as our individual and collective grief? Join us in exploring these topics and more through a week of presentations, discussions, meditation practice and classroom discussions with 10 senior monastic Dharma teachers from scholar, poet, peace activist and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's Deer Park Monastery in California. They will share practical examples of how mindfulness practices can be applied in the context of our daily lives to cultivate insight, compassion, build resilience, non-fear and nurture a culture of inclusivity and loving kindness.

The week will be filled with plenty of opportunities to meet, discuss, and meditate together.  This webpage will be updated daily as more information is available.

Public Events

Public events include the following:

  • Morning guided meditation Tuesday, April 18, - Friday, April 21st, from 8-9am in Rollins Chapel. No registration required. 
  • A Public Talk on "Applied Mindfulness" on Tuesday, April 18th at 4:30 in Rollins Chapel. No registration required. 
  • Afternoon meditations (sitting and movement) on Wednesday and Thursday at 4:30 (stay tuned for locations). No registration required. 
  • A Public Talk on "Engaged Mindfulness for a Creative and Spiritual Response to the Climate Crisis" on Friday, April 21st at 1:00 in Occom Commons. No registration is required, but seating may be limited. 
  • A 4-hour retreat on Friday evening (4-8pm) for the Dartmouth community - especially students (must use dartmouth email address to register).  Dinner will be provided.  Register by 4/18 6pm to receive a meal. Location: Church of Christ at Dartmouth College.  $15 registration fee for students; $20 for staff and faculty. Registration Link  (Dartmouth pricing note: Before purchasing your ticket, log into the HOP website first with your Dartmouth email address in order to get pricing related to your role as student, staff, or faculty.)  
  • A 2-day retreat on Saturday and Sunday, April 22-23, in Rollins Chapel (Saturday: 9-5pm and Sunday: 9-3pm). You must be able to attend both days to register.  Registration fee: $20 for students, $50 for the Dartmouth College Community (must register with a Dartmouth email address); and $100 for the Community at large.  Lunch will be provided both days.  Register by 4/18 6pm to receive a meal. Registration Link (Dartmouth pricing note: Before purchasing your ticket, log into the HOP website first with your Dartmouth email address in order to get pricing related to your role as student, staff, or faculty.) 
  • If you are Dartmouth student, staff, or faculty encountering financial barriers to attending, please contact student.wellness.center@dartmouth.edu

In addition to these public events, monastics will visit several classes over the course of the week as well as have dinner discussions with students from several House Communities and Affinity Groups

Expenses and Sponsors

After expenses, all proceeds will be donated to the Plum Village Deer Park Monastery to help support the Deer Park Monastery to remain open and accessible as a refuge of peace and mindfulness to anyone who would like to visit, whether for a day of mindfulness or a three-month retreat.  Unfortunately, we cannot provide tax receipts for this event.

This week has been sponsored by Biology 3: Mindful Physiology, The William Jewett Tucker Center, the Student Wellness Center; with additional support from The Dartmouth Center for Advancement and Learning (DCAL); The Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, The Dartmouth Sustainability Office, The Irving Institute, The Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies; Geisel Wellness; OPAL; Allen, West, North Park, and South Houses; and the Shabbaz Center for Intellectual Inquiry.