He's been a Buddhist monk for more than 60 years, as well as a teacher, writer, and vocal opponent of war—a stance that left him exiled from his native Vietnam for four decades. Now the man Martin Luther King Jr. called "an apostle of peace and nonviolence" reflects on the beauty of the present moment, being grateful for every breath, and the freedom and happiness to be found in a simple cup of tea.
The moment I meet Thich Nhat Hanh at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan, I feel his sense of calm. A deeply tranquil presence seems to surround the Zen Buddhist master.

 ANNOUNCEMENT

Dharamsala, India -- Tibetans spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama presided over a special prayer session dedicated for the victims of last month’s devastating earthquake that rattled Southwest China’s Sichuan province here this morning.

More than 2000 people, including Tibetan Buddhist monks, nuns and foreign devotees, joined the prayer gathering here today, which also marked the beginning of Buddhist holy month of Saka Dawa, the annual festival that represents the three most important events of the life of Lord Buddha - his birth, enlightenment and parinirvana.

YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar officials riding on trucks in central Yangon used loudspeakers uesday to warn against new anti-government protests, one day after Buddhist monks led 100,000 people in the streets.
"We warn the monks and the people not to participate in protest marches," local government officials shouted into loudspeakers from at least two trucks circling around the nation's commercial hub.
"We will take action under the existing law," they warned, echoing threats carried in state media since late Monday.
More protests were expected Tuesday, again led by the monks whose revered status has made them rallying figures for public anger that erupted more than one month ago after a crippling hike in fuel prices.
State media Tuesday explicitly ordered the monks to stay out of politics, and accused foreign media of fuelling the protests that have become the biggest challenge to the government in nearly 20 years.

His Holiness Sakya Trizin Ngawang Kunga is the head of the Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism and highly respected by the Dalai Lama.
He is in Bournemouth to give teachings at Bournemouth University and is staying in Throop for the duration of his visit, organised through the Tibetan Buddhist Centre at Charminster.
Like his counterpart the Dalai Lama, he travels the world to spread a message of peace and compassion and raise awareness of the situation in his homeland Tibet.

In all meditations and The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, The Breath Meditation is the superiority over the dhamma. It is a sudden Enlightened  Zen by contemplating directly the human heart with a clear awareness and without open hole that enters the spread of false  thoughts. The breath is the liasion base  from the  Manas (Afflicted Consciousness) and Alaya (Foundation Consciousness)  to continue the life impacting into the cause and effect of birth and death of the beings. Therefore, correct breath can not only make the body and mind stable but release from the erroneous consciousness with chaining  Samsara, the cycle of births and deaths (birth, death, and rebirth: reincarnation) by the karma. What is the karma?

OAKLAND, Calif., June 12 — The lesson began with the striking of a Tibetan singing bowl to induce mindful awareness.
With the sound of their new school bell, the fifth graders at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School here closed their eyes and focused on their breathing, as they tried to imagine “loving kindness” on the playground.
“I was losing at baseball and I was about to throw a bat,” Alex Menton, 11, reported to his classmates the next day. “The mindfulness really helped.”