Dear Friends,

At the Nottingham retreat there were about 80 of us on the young adults

program (thatʼs quite an improvement on last year when there was no young
adults program at all!) We got together and shared our ideas and our
inspiration for Wake Up UK and thereʼs a real wave of energy flowing through
us all right now. This newsletter tells you about the following projects, events
and sanghas that have come out of that and from the other initiatives weʼve
been pursuing for a while.

1. So far this summer

2. Sanghas
3. Future retreats
4. Three new projects
5. A taste of freedom

We really hope you can participate in any of the wonderful things we have to
offer: just get in touch with us at wkupuk@gmail.com if you want to be
involved. Enjoy your breath and recognise the many beautiful things that life
has to offer you, right here and now.

Much love,
The UK organising team
1. So far this summer

a. Global Ethics for our Future: Thayʼs talk in London

The Hammersmith Apollo usually hosts famous musicians and comedians but
on the 11th August it was home to a slightly different guest. Thay nearly sold
out the 3,000 seater venue giving a talk about the Noble Eightfold Path. He
also listened to questions from those brave enough to grab a mic and gave
some really insightful answers. It was a
really great event, getting coverage in The
Times, The Independent and The
Guardian. But donʼt take their for it: thanks
to Thay Phap Luu (aka Brother web-
stream) you can now watch it at
vimeo.com/14088277

b. Living Mindfully, Living Peacefully: The retreat in Nottingham

Following the London talk all 900 places on

the Nottingham retreat quickly sold out. Led
by Thay and the monastic Sangha, we came
together for 5 days to practice the art of
sitting, walking and sharing mindfully. The
young adultʼs program was especially
beautiful (we definitely arenʼt biased – we
checked). There were wonderful sharings,
blossoming friendships and also a whole lot of fun culminating in a rushed,
bizarre, but ultimately brilliant, adaptation of the Wizard of Oz.
 “My first ever retreat with Thay and the Plum Village monastics was a life
changing experience! I have come away feeling much stronger and confident
in my practice… It was lovely to be surrounded by such caring and
compassionate people. Even being asked such an otherwise ordinary
question 'how are you?' felt so genuine and heartfelt in that environment. I felt
loved. Though I was in a peaceful environment, I went through a rollercoaster
of emotions. There were times when I felt really agitated because of the
opportunity the retreat gave for self-reflection and I didn't like what I was
seeing. I felt confronted more than ever with all the aspects I disliked about
myself. Having no where to run and hide, I learnt how to stay present with
these uncomfortable feelings and to open up to my retreat friends about this,
which felt very healing. It really shows how being present for someone can
really help them.

I remember so fondly the beautiful beaming smiles of the monks and nuns.
Thay and the Plum Village monastics stand as a living testimony to how joyful
life can be when we are living mindfully… I feel blessed to carry the support of
the Sangha with me too”

Elina, Refreshing Compassion of the Heart

Hereʼs the orientation talk for the retreat:

imeo.com/14126758. And you can also find
Thayʼs other Dharma talks from Nottingham on
the same site.

c. Truly Alive: The Youth Retreat in Plum Village

Numbers keep going up with Wake Up! Over 170 young people from all over
Europe and beyond came together for another 5 amazing days. It was a bit
warmer than Nottingham, and a bit less comfortable since we were all
camping: but this simplicity really added to the beautiful atmosphere.

Our days consisted of walking, sitting, deep

relaxation, sharing and when we were lucky
listening to Thayʼs stunning Dharma talks.
There was a wonderful atmosphere of joy and
playfulness alongside a really deep aspiration
to talk about the things that mattered.
Highlights included: Thayʼs answer to the
question “what is the meaning of life?” an Ultimate Frisbee tournament with
the monks, and (a new twist on the toploader song) ʻchanting in the moonlightʼ
with the nuns.

The organising group got loads of inspiration for new projects from people all
around Europe, and also met with Michael Slaby, the CEO of the Earth
Charter to explore collaborating with them1.

“I think my parents decided to invest in the experience for me and my brother

because at that point, we'd gained so much from the Nottingham retreat in the
way of inner growing space, cultivating well-being, perspective, deep listening
and the ability to understand what it is to be nourished and how we can
nourish others. We were opening up personally and as a family, and it
seemed like a really important opportunity to keep the momentum going…
especially given our individual situations back home in Madison. And that's
just what we did! I think both my brother and I opened ourselves up so much
that all kinds of experiences, information, connections (with very awake
people!), interconnections, knowledge about where we are in life, and what
parts of it need our love (together all the ingredients of a turning point in life)
emerged for us.”
Lissie, Dawn Redwood of the Heart

1
www.earthcharterinaction.org
 2. Sanghas

a. Breathe, you are online: Skype sessions with Wake Up UK

Local sanghas arenʼt always possible. Sometimes there just arenʼt people
anywhere near you who want to practice. But, at the risk of sounding like a
NatWest advert, there is another way.

For a number of months now the Wake Up Europe core group has been
meeting online for Dharma sharings and for organising meetings. Itʼs been a
really wonderful practice as Phap Man attests2.

Some of the Dharma Families from

Nottingham had the aspiration to meet
up on Skype to support each other in
the practice. And we want to offer this
for anyone who wasnʼt able to make it
to the retreat (or even if you did make it
to the retreat and you just canʼt get enough of them!) Weʼll make it a monthly
adventure, starting on Saturday 11th September at 8pm. Anyone and
everyone is welcome. If you want to join us then just send us an email with
ʻSKYPEʼ followed by your skype name as the subject.

b. The first meeting of the London Wake Up Sangha

Yes, thatʼs right thereʼs also a Wake Up

sangha in the UK thatʼs not on Skype! Born
out of the fresh faces of the Nottingham
retreat and the experience of some whoʼve
been with us for a while there will now be
regular meetings of Wake Uppers to practice

2
www.wkup.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=259
sitting, walking, dharma sharing and supporting each other in central London.
The first meeting will be on Saturday 18th September. If you want to be on the
mailing list for this sangha, or attend this session then just send us an email.

c. Creating new sanghas: the Wake Up map

Thayʼs always encouraging us to build local sanghas, like the emerging one in
London. Without them itʼs so hard to keep our practice alive and fresh. We
need to look for ways to practice together to keep our mindfulness alive and
bright. The easiest way to do this is to simply add yourself to this
(www.zeemaps.com/pub?group=162891) and send an email to us to let us know
youʼve done it. If you see a cluster of people near you then just let us know
and weʼll contact everyone to try and get together. So add yourself and letʼs
get building!

d. Joining Existing Sanghas

There are also loads of sanghas in the UK that donʼt have any age limit!
Whilst we really want to encourage young people to get together and support
each other, this doesnʼt mean the other groups are useless. Many of us attend
the main sanghas near us and draw strength from the experience, wisdom
and solid practice they offer. They also need our freshness and energy! So
see if thereʼs a Sangha near you: www.interbeing.org.uk/groups
3. Future Retreats

a. Living Buddha, Living Christ: A Young Christian and Buddhist

retreat

From the evening of Friday 15th October to the afternoon of Sunday 17th,
Wake Up will come together with the Young Friends and the young members
of the WCCM to hold a joint retreat.

The Young Friends is the name for the young members of the Quakers – a
Christian group founded in the C17th who worship in silence and are deeply
committed to social activism3. The main UK Sangha has done retreats with
older Quakers for a number of years
now. The Young Friends frequently
hold retreats really similar to our
weekend-long ones. So all in all, it
looks like a match made in heaven!

WCCM is short for the World

Community of Christian Meditation4. They were founded by a Benedictine
monk called Father John Main and are now under the leadership of another -
Father Lawrence Freeman. They practice meditation using the Christian
mantra ʻMaranathaʼ which is Aramaic for ʻLord, comeʼ5. Theyʼve also recently
produced a booklet called ʻYoung & Contemplativeʼ with 18-25 year olds from
all sorts of backgrounds reflecting on Christian meditation.

If you want to come, keep the date free and watch your inbox for the
registration form and more details of when, where and how.

3
www.quaker.org.uk and www.yqspace.org.uk
4
www.wccm.org
5
For an introduction by Fr Lawrence got to:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHzW3I_vbvg
 b. Connecting to our ancestors: Wake Up goes Medieval in the
Spring

It is still only a dream, but thereʼs a chance that our Spring retreat will be held
in an old C15th and C16th country house where we can do archery, watch
jousting and all sorts of cool things! No promises though.

c. The wave is the water: Wake Up goes surfing in the Summer

During a Question and Answer session with the young monks at the Plum
Village youth retreat this year someone asked, “Why do you have to give up
sensual pleasures like surfing?” Our summer retreat is going to be Phap
Manʼs answer to that. Before he became a monk he used to surf on the west
coast of the USA and now he wants
to do a practical exploration of
Thayʼs metaphor of the water and
the wave. Sometime around late
June or early July weʼre going to
have a surfing retreat down on
North coast of Cornwall. Keep your
ears open for more news as it
comes.

d. Venues

We are always on the look out for venues in which to hold retreats. Anywhere
that can sleep 30+ (sleeping on floors is fine), is not completely in the middle
of nowhere, has inside space for meditation and games and costs less than
£700 for a weekend is perfect. If you, or a family member, have a large house
youʼd be happy to let us use for a weekend then thatʼd be great too! Email us
with your ideas.
4. Three new projects

At the Nottingham retreat there was a lot of enthusiasm for new paths that
Wake Up could walk down. 3 main ones emerged that seem to have a lot of
potential and now have mailing lists of people who want to pursue them.

a. Universities and Education

Mindfulness is now a developed psychotherapy and taught all over the place
to cure anything from stress to depression. We want to offer mindfulness
sessions at every university across the country so that students have a
chance to manage their emotions and the difficulties of modern life. We also
hope this might offer a route into the Wake Up Sangha for some of those
people. Many of us got involved in meditation or Buddhism through societies
at university and we want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to
walk the beautiful path weʼre following.

A group of Wake Uppers are collaborating with the Mental Wealth project in
order to achieve this. If you want to help us then just let us know.

b. Social Activism

One of the defining characteristics of Thay's school of Buddhism is the core

concept of Engaged Buddhism. This dates back to the Vietnam war where
Thay was one of the first and most prominent monks in the country to take the
stance that, whilst meditation and inner transformation are crucial, they are
simply not enough when people around you are suffering and dying. You have
a duty to help them.

We would like to follow this conviction with Wake Up by getting more involved
with movements and organisations that are seeking to relieve suffering and
create a fairer and more sustainable future around the world. We are aiming
to bring the energy, compassion and insight that we have developed from our
practice to such causes so that we develop our movement into a powerful
source of positive change in the world.

This is all very new, and we are currently only in the process of pooling
together ideas on how we can best move forward with this. So if you would
like to get involved or if you have any ideas/suggestions of your own then
please do get in touch!

c. Inter-faith

Thereʼs a real desire for us to reach out to other Buddhist traditions and other
religions. Weʼve got the Quaker and WCCM retreat coming up in October and
lots of energy for more stuff after that. We also want someone, for each
retreat we organise, to be involved in reaching out to other traditions to join
our practice. If itʼs the kind of thing youʼd want to get involved in… well, I think
youʼve probably got the message by now… EMAIL US!

5. A taste of freedom

Many young people are drawn towards monasticism but feel scared to commit
in the knowledge that if they do so then itʼs for life. But Thay has opened up a
way for young people to become monastics without feeling itʼs forever. At the
Nottingham and the Youth retreats he announced that young adults will soon
have the chance to be monks or nuns for 5 years in his tradition. Once they
have experienced monastic life and trained in the art of mindfulness, they can
then choose to either ordain for life or to leave the monastery and become a
lay Dharma teacher. This is a real call for young people to be part of the
monastic Sangha – a project Thay is passionate about. If this interests you
then start hanging around Plum Village more! Or you can contact (no, not us
for once) the young monastics at wkupnow@gmail.com