Tết new year festival with Thich Nhat Hanh (2005, Saigon). Photo by Kate Cummings.
DHARMA FESTIVALOracle Reading
Year of the Dragon
Join us in celebrating Tết, the Lunar New Year, through the magic and mystery of the oracle reading. In 2024, we celebrate the year of the dragon.
This special evening will include a meditation, a talk by Sister Kinh Nghiem on the Lunar New Year in Plum Village, and a Q&A period where participants have the option to ask the oracle a question and receive their reading. Come with a question that is alive in your heart and an open-minded curiosity about the oracle's response.
Through poetry and storytelling, the oracles will invite you to look deeply into your current circumstances so that you may tap into your own inner dragon and find resiliency, beauty and power in the year ahead. In Vietnamese mythology, all people are the descendents of the dragon and the fairy, and through the ways of the dragon, they are given life-bringing rain and agriculture, alongside prosperity and strength.
Thursday, January 11, 2024
4:00–5:30 pm pacific time | 7:00–8:30 pm eastern time
Online event
Free with donations deeply appreciated
Meet the oracles
Sister Kinh Nghiem
Sister Nghiem is a fully ordained nun and senior Dharma Teacher in the Plum Village Tradition. Growing up in the monastery and working closely with Thich Nhat Hanh as his attendant for more than 17 years, she has developed an interest in creating and sharing mindfulness practices in ways that are accessible and inclusive to all. She has traveled across 25 countries leading retreats in local communities, schools, universities, juvenile halls, prisons, and businesses.
Ava Avalos
Ava is a dancer, Dharma teacher and doctor currently working as an HIV Specialist in Botswana. She is Latinx from Southern California and integrates her Mexican roots with those of Africa, where she has lived for 20 years. She is a devoted student of yogis Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman and brings her love of the body, dance and yoga to her practice.
Peggy Rowe Ward
Peggy is the co-founder and Director of Education at The Lotus Institute. She is a senior Dharma teacher trained under Thich Nhat Hanh, a certified trainer at the Trauma Resource Institute, and author of Love’s Garden: A Guide to Mindful Relationships. Through meditation, movement, and art, Peggy offers a path of deep insight that enables her students to discover and embody their most creative and authentic selves.
Larry Ward, PhD
Larry is the co-founder and Executive Director of The Lotus Institute. He is a senior Dharma teacher trained under Thich Nhat Hanh, a certified trainer at the Trauma Resource Institute and the author of America's Racial Karma: An Invitation to Heal. As a teacher, Dr. Ward interweaves insights with personal stories and resounding clarity that express his Dharma name, “True Great Sound.”
Register for the event
Everyone who registers will receive a recording. This event is best experienced live. After registering, you’ll arrive on our donation page where you may choose to make a contribution.