0:00:20.446,0:00:23.458 Good morning, dear Sangha. 0:00:23.458,0:00:28.019 Welcome to the Summer Opening in Plum Village. 0:00:28.206,0:00:31.333 Today is the 6th of July, 2014 0:00:31.333,0:00:36.521 and we are in the Assembly of Stars meditation hall 0:00:36.521,0:00:42.379 in the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village. 0:00:42.419,0:00:46.848 Mindfulness is a kind of energy 0:00:47.158,0:00:51.883 that we can generate. 0:00:53.358,0:00:56.004 Everyone has the capacity to generate 0:00:56.004,0:00:59.697 the energy of mindfulness. 0:01:00.881,0:01:08.033 That energy allows us to be aware of what is going on. 0:01:10.172,0:01:13.328 Going on in our body, 0:01:13.846,0:01:16.356 going on in our feelings, 0:01:20.804,0:01:25.595 going on in our perceptions, in our mind, 0:01:26.439,0:01:31.916 and going on around us, in the world. 0:01:31.916,0:01:35.769 So mindfulness, you can define it as the kind of energy 0:01:36.234,0:01:39.241 that allows us to be aware of what is 0:01:39.659,0:01:42.785 happening in the here and the now. 0:01:43.049,0:01:46.183 In our body, in our feelings, in our mind, 0:01:46.532,0:01:50.527 and in the world, which is the object of our mind. 0:01:51.269,0:01:54.420 In the Buddhist tradition 0:01:55.121,0:01:58.467 we always try to remember that the world 0:01:58.770,0:02:01.916 is the object of our mind. 0:02:02.983,0:02:08.347 Our mind and the world form perception, 0:02:08.780,0:02:13.955 subject of perception and object of perception. 0:02:22.535,0:02:26.066 And mindfulness is the kind of energy 0:02:26.066,0:02:31.796 that allows us to be in the here and the now. 0:02:33.546,0:02:34.973 If you are not in the here and the now 0:02:35.003,0:02:39.114 you cannot know what is happening in the here and the now. 0:02:40.809,0:02:44.402 So mindfulness is also the capacity to help us 0:02:44.402,0:02:52.280 to be established in the here and the now. 0:02:56.441,0:03:02.161 And we know that life and all the wonders of life 0:03:02.346,0:03:07.201 are available only in the here and the now. 0:03:07.558,0:03:11.675 And mindfulness helps us to go home to the here and the now 0:03:11.675,0:03:14.984 and get in touch with life, with the wonders of life 0:03:14.984,0:03:17.428 that are available in the here and the now. 0:03:17.428,0:03:20.006 It's so simple. 0:03:20.795,0:03:26.600 So we have an appointment with life. 0:03:28.867,0:03:33.543 J'avais un rendez-vous avec la vie. 0:03:34.866,0:03:40.480 And that appointment takes place in the present moment. 0:03:44.456,0:03:48.646 And if you miss the present moment, 0:03:48.706,0:03:50.932 you miss your appointment with life, 0:03:50.932,0:03:53.832 which is very serious. 0:03:57.586,0:04:03.577 So next time when someone asks you whether you have time, 0:04:06.526,0:04:09.405 you may say I have an appointment, 0:04:09.405,0:04:12.224 and with whom? With life. 0:04:12.923,0:04:15.511 I don't want to miss that appointment with life, 0:04:15.511,0:04:17.860 that is why I always try to be home 0:04:17.860,0:04:20.261 in the here and the now. 0:04:23.058,0:04:26.430 In the here and the now I get in touch with nature, 0:04:31.210,0:04:34.854 with the refreshing and healing elements 0:04:34.854,0:04:39.883 of nature that are in me and around me. 0:04:40.222,0:04:43.517 Because I need nourishment and healing. 0:04:45.165,0:04:48.704 So I have to go home to the 0:04:48.822,0:04:51.567 here and the now in order to get the 0:04:51.567,0:04:54.302 nourishment and healing that I need, 0:04:54.302,0:04:56.962 because I have been running all my life 0:04:56.962,0:04:59.554 looking for something in the future, 0:04:59.554,0:05:06.010 elsewhere, and I have missed my appointment with life. 0:05:07.555,0:05:10.002 Because of that I have become sick. 0:05:10.002,0:05:13.218 I suffer, that is why I have to learn to 0:05:13.218,0:05:16.512 go home to the here and the now and get in 0:05:16.512,0:05:21.547 touch with the elements of life that can be 0:05:21.737,0:05:24.665 healing and nourishing. And mindfulness 0:05:24.665,0:05:27.997 helps me to go home to the here and the now 0:05:27.997,0:05:32.444 and get in touch with the wonders of life. 0:05:35.123,0:05:40.339 Mindfulness is always mindfulness of something. 0:05:42.822,0:05:48.679 When you drink you tea, and if you are 0:05:48.679,0:05:51.750 aware that you are alive and you are drinking 0:05:51.750,0:05:55.662 your tea, that is mindfulness of drinking. 0:05:57.519,0:05:59.490 And you might choose to drink your tea 0:05:59.490,0:06:03.150 always in mindfulness, if you want. 0:06:04.021,0:06:08.048 Because drinking like that, you are very alive. 0:06:08.048,0:06:10.524 You are living deeply that moment of life 0:06:10.524,0:06:14.678 given to you to live. 0:06:15.324,0:06:23.247 So I like to make a commitment to drink my tea mindfully. 0:06:26.312,0:06:34.372 And when I drink my tea mindfully, I am concentrated in my tea. 0:06:35.684,0:06:39.115 So the energy of mindfulness carries 0:06:39.115,0:06:42.817 within itself the energy of concentration. 0:06:43.151,0:06:45.683 When you are very aware of something, 0:06:45.683,0:06:48.363 you are concentrated on it. 0:06:49.121,0:06:53.701 And if you are concentrated you begin to see things deeply. 0:06:57.447,0:07:09.207 Suppose I hold my cup mindfully. And because 0:07:09.666,0:07:19.065 I am holding my cup mindfully I am truly here 0:07:19.065,0:07:22.561 and established in the present moment. 0:07:23.516,0:07:29.253 And suppose I pour the hot water 0:07:33.466,0:07:35.836 in my pot 0:07:37.166,0:07:38.577 In my teapot 0:07:38.577,0:07:40.626 mindfully 0:07:40.626,0:07:44.155 I have concentration, 0:07:44.155,0:07:46.927 and that concentration allows me to see many things. 0:07:48.534,0:07:53.055 I see that this water has come from deep 0:07:53.425,0:07:56.575 up in the mountain, deep in the earth. 0:07:57.019,0:08:00.524 It has come to me 0:08:01.794,0:08:03.784 in this bottle 0:08:06.571,0:08:10.622 And as I pour the tea mindfully, 0:08:14.272,0:08:17.685 with concentration, 0:08:18.255,0:08:24.749 I can see many things that people who are not mindful cannot see. 0:08:25.047,0:08:27.715 I can see that there is a cloud in my tea. 0:08:29.475,0:08:32.085 Yesterday it was a cloud floating in the sky. 0:08:34.400,0:08:39.545 Now it is the tea. 0:08:40.657,0:08:43.643 And that is why when I drink my tea, 0:08:43.920,0:08:47.950 I see that I am drinking my cloud, 0:08:48.442,0:08:52.715 and the cloud has not died, even if it is 0:08:52.715,0:08:57.264 no longer in the sky, but it has not died, 0:08:57.264,0:09:06.260 because it is here, in it's new form of manifestation. 0:09:06.829,0:09:13.545 I can listen to my tea, to my cloud. 0:09:14.297,0:09:19.959 And if my concentration is very strong 0:09:19.959,0:09:24.767 I can discover the nature of no birth and no death 0:09:24.767,0:09:30.034 of my cloud. I know that it is impossible 0:09:30.034,0:09:33.656 for a cloud to die, because to die means 0:09:33.656,0:09:39.081 from someone you suddenly become noone, 0:09:39.081,0:09:43.216 from something you suddenly become nothing, 0:09:43.216,0:09:48.093 and that is what we mean by dying. 0:09:48.483,0:09:55.798 But if I am mindful, concentrated, I'd be full of insight. 0:09:56.116,0:10:01.057 I can see that my cloud can never die. 0:10:01.515,0:10:07.122 It can become snow or rain or ice, but it 0:10:07.122,0:10:10.766 can never become nothing. 0:10:10.766,0:10:16.315 So I touch the nature of no birth and no death of the cloud. 0:10:16.780,0:10:22.306 And if I continue, I can see myself having 0:10:22.306,0:10:26.837 that nature of no birth and no death. 0:10:26.837,0:10:30.894 If the true nature of the cloud is no birth and no death, 0:10:30.894,0:10:35.929 then my own nature is the nature of no birth and no death 0:10:37.304,0:10:41.307 And if I can touch deeply the nature of 0:10:41.307,0:10:45.874 no birth and no death in me, I am free from fear. 0:10:45.874,0:10:52.219 Fear of dying, fear of becoming nothing. 0:10:52.443,0:10:59.158 So mindfulness carries within itself that 0:10:59.158,0:11:05.621 energy of concentration, and it carries 0:11:05.621,0:11:11.789 within itself also the energy of insight. 0:11:11.789,0:11:15.097 Mindfulness, concentration, insight, 0:11:15.097,0:11:18.111 that are three kinds of energies that we 0:11:18.111,0:11:21.864 can generate. And these three kinds of 0:11:21.864,0:11:27.587 energies have the power to help us suffer less, 0:11:27.587,0:11:36.472 and help us to generate feelings of joy and happiness. 0:11:36.803,0:11:39.513 And all of us are capable of generating these 0:11:39.825,0:11:43.218 three kinds of energies. 0:11:43.614,0:11:46.455 And to practice meditation, Buddhist meditation, 0:11:46.593,0:11:51.037 is to generate these three kinds of energies. 0:11:51.243,0:11:56.380 And everyone can do, and right in the beginning of the practice. 0:11:56.517,0:11:59.480 You can learn to drink your tea mindfully. 0:11:59.550,0:12:04.423 You can learn how to walk mindfully. 0:12:09.186,0:12:12.164 You can learn how to breathe mindfully. 0:12:14.685,0:12:17.534 And when mindfulness is there, 0:12:17.534,0:12:22.021 concentration is there, and insight will be there. 0:12:22.548,0:12:25.744 And with mindfulness, concentration, and insight, 0:12:25.744,0:12:30.295 I can live very deeply every moment 0:12:30.295,0:12:34.422 of my daily life. I do not waste my life. 0:12:34.422,0:12:38.295 I feel alive in every moment. 0:12:38.295,0:12:42.241 And I will not regret later on that I have 0:12:42.241,0:12:46.733 wasted my life running after fame, power, 0:12:46.733,0:12:51.149 wealth, sensual pleasure. Because I feel 0:12:51.149,0:12:56.582 joy, happiness every moment of my daily life. 0:12:56.582,0:13:00.704 That is thanks to the power of mindfulness, 0:13:00.704,0:13:05.507 the power of concentration and insight. 0:13:07.058,0:13:10.780 So the first energy is mindfulness. 0:13:12.341,0:13:16.793 It's written in Chinese like this. 0:13:19.330,0:13:21.382 The upper part of the word, the character 0:13:22.789,0:13:29.280 it means now. Now, the present moment. 0:13:30.440,0:13:36.070 And the later, the lower part is "tâm" 0:13:36.767,0:13:42.261 and it means mind. When you bring your mind home 0:13:42.261,0:13:46.330 to the present moment, you are mindful. 0:13:46.330,0:13:52.242 So mindfulness is to bring your mind back 0:13:52.242,0:13:56.129 to the present moment. When you begin to 0:13:56.129,0:14:05.080 breathe in mindfully, you bring your mind 0:14:05.080,0:14:10.832 home to your body. 0:14:11.952,0:14:17.222 The opposite of mindfulness is dispersion, 0:14:17.606,0:14:25.077 forgetfulness. 'Thất niệm." 0:14:26.070,0:14:29.919 And there are those of us who drink our tea 0:14:29.919,0:14:32.536 and do not know that we are drinking our tea. 0:14:33.592,0:14:37.276 There are those of us who walk but do not know that they are walking. 0:14:38.152,0:14:40.175 Those of us who have a body, 0:14:40.485,0:14:41.896 all of us have a body, 0:14:41.896,0:14:46.360 but we forget that we have a body. 0:14:46.360,0:14:50.346 When you spend two hours with your computer 0:14:50.346,0:14:53.896 you might forget completely that you have a body. 0:14:53.896,0:14:57.899 Your mind is caught in the computer, 0:14:57.899,0:15:01.659 and you leave your body alone. 0:15:01.659,0:15:06.286 In that moment body and mind are not together. 0:15:06.286,0:15:10.798 And if body and mind are not together you are truly not alive. 0:15:10.798,0:15:18.323 You are truly alive only when your mind is with your body. 0:15:21.202,0:15:24.917 Usually in our daily life our body is there 0:15:24.917,0:15:27.604 but our mind is elsewhere. 0:15:28.171,0:15:33.444 Our mind is caught in the suffering concerning the past, 0:15:33.513,0:15:39.394 or the worries concerning the future, in our projects. 0:15:40.568,0:15:45.409 And therefore, body one place and mind in another place. 0:15:45.409,0:15:49.707 In that case there is no mindfulness. 0:15:49.735,0:15:51.525 And you are not truly alive. 0:15:51.525,0:15:54.856 You are not truly there in the here and the now. 0:15:55.396,0:15:58.278 So if you know the practice of mindful breathing 0:15:58.278,0:16:00.964 you begin to breathe in mindfully. 0:16:00.964,0:16:05.000 Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. 0:16:05.307,0:16:10.095 And it may take two or three seconds for 0:16:10.095,0:16:13.223 you to breathe in mindfully. And by 0:16:13.223,0:16:15.944 breathing in mindfully you bring your mind 0:16:15.944,0:16:19.529 home to your body. And when mind and body 0:16:19.529,0:16:21.374 are together, you are established in the 0:16:21.374,0:16:24.801 here and the now. You are fully alive. 0:16:24.801,0:16:29.896 You are fully present, and that makes true life possible. 0:16:35.795,0:16:39.970 And sitting, walking, eating, washing, 0:16:40.434,0:16:45.592 live deeply every moment of your daily life, 0:16:45.959,0:16:50.199 and you do not waste your life. 0:16:53.156,0:16:55.528 So mindfulness is the energy that helps 0:16:55.528,0:16:59.787 us to bring our mind home to our body 0:16:59.787,0:17:04.615 so that we can be established well in the here and the now 0:17:04.615,0:17:10.032 and get in touch with the wonders of life 0:17:10.032,0:17:13.609 that help us to heal and to nourish, 0:17:13.860,0:17:20.882 to be nourished. "Chánh niệm." 0:17:25.815,0:17:28.526 Smrti. 0:17:33.988,0:17:41.814 And when you are mindful you are concentrated. 0:17:42.427,0:17:49.682 "Định" means concentration. Samadhi. 0:17:52.669,0:17:57.272 They are not two separate energies. 0:17:57.534,0:18:03.501 If you are mindful, there is some concentration already in here. 0:18:07.769,0:18:18.024 So we can say that concentration is already there in mindfulness. 0:18:18.629,0:18:27.613 And when concentration and mindfulness are powerful enough 0:18:27.613,0:18:31.377 then you can see manifested insight. 0:18:31.544,0:18:34.609 "Tuệ." 0:18:38.275,0:18:43.133 Prajna. 0:18:48.609,0:18:57.486 So in mindfulness you have concentration and insight. 0:18:57.486,0:19:00.599 In concentration you have mindfulness and insight. 0:19:00.599,0:19:03.493 If you look into one you can recognize the 0:19:03.493,0:19:08.816 two other energies. And Buddhist practitioners they know 0:19:08.816,0:19:12.857 how to generate these three kinds of energies 0:19:12.857,0:19:16.949 so that they can be alive. They can be fully alive, 0:19:16.979,0:19:21.294 fully present in order to live their life deeply. 0:19:26.154,0:19:28.705 And if you practice 0:19:29.424,0:19:31.679 for a week 0:19:32.609,0:19:34.999 the practice of mindful breathing, 0:19:36.329,0:19:37.784 mindful walking, 0:19:37.784,0:19:39.794 mindful eating, 0:19:41.254,0:19:45.226 and then you can notice that the amount of 0:19:45.793,0:19:50.616 mindfulness, concentration, and insight in you 0:19:50.616,0:19:58.016 have grown much more stronger. 0:19:58.245,0:20:00.683 And it is these three kinds of energies 0:20:00.683,0:20:03.185 that can help us suffer less and help us 0:20:03.185,0:20:08.465 generate more joy and happiness. 0:20:08.465,0:20:15.888 With these three kinds of energies 0:20:15.888,0:20:19.077 we can do many things. 0:20:19.536,0:20:23.057 With mindfulness, concentration and insight 0:20:23.057,0:20:29.702 we can generate a feeling of joy 0:20:34.401,0:20:40.848 and generate a feeling of happiness 0:20:42.911,0:20:45.773 "Hỷ" 0:20:47.096,0:20:50.078 and "Lạc" 0:20:53.752,0:21:00.168 So the practitioner of Buddhist meditation 0:21:00.168,0:21:06.126 is capable of generating a feeling of joy 0:21:08.488,0:21:14.304 or a feeling of happiness whenever she wants to. 0:21:15.359,0:21:23.328 And with the energy of mindfulness, concentration and insight, 0:21:27.965,0:21:30.581 a practitioner of Buddhist meditation 0:21:30.581,0:21:35.273 should be able to bring in a feeling of joy 0:21:35.273,0:21:39.634 a feeling of happiness whenever we want. 0:21:39.634,0:21:45.327 And that is done with the energy of mindfulness 0:21:45.327,0:21:48.030 concentration and insight that we generate 0:21:48.030,0:21:53.337 with the breathing, with the walking, and so on. 0:21:53.337,0:21:58.929 And the principle, the mechanism is very simple. 0:21:58.929,0:22:04.085 How to create a feeling of joy for ourselves, 0:22:05.732,0:22:09.760 and to be nourished by that feeling of joy. 0:22:10.139,0:22:13.229 Mindfulness. 0:22:14.207,0:22:16.192 Mindfulness is born from, 0:22:16.657,0:22:21.358 ah, joy is born from mindfulness. 0:22:22.216,0:22:29.605 This is a sentence well known in the Buddhist literature. 0:22:33.059,0:22:40.929 "Niệm sinh hỷ" 0:22:45.788,0:22:53.184 Joy born from mindfulness. 0:22:58.405,0:23:05.732 And joy born from mindfulness, and joy 0:23:06.169,0:23:12.219 can be born also from concentration, "định" 0:23:12.219,0:23:19.350 and from insight, "tuệ" 0:23:26.292,0:23:33.004 The mechanism is simple. When you breathe in mindfully, 0:23:36.614,0:23:39.371 breathing in I know I am breathing in. 0:23:39.573,0:23:44.030 I focus my attention on my in-breath. 0:23:44.030,0:23:47.989 I stop the thinking. I just become aware 0:23:47.989,0:23:50.873 of my in-breath. My in-breath is the only 0:23:50.873,0:23:56.229 object of my mind. I focus all my attention 0:23:56.229,0:24:00.761 on my in-breath. I am concentrated. 0:24:00.761,0:24:06.080 I allow mindfulness and concentration to be present. 0:24:06.080,0:24:10.599 And suddenly I discover I'm alive. 0:24:10.599,0:24:15.148 That is insight. It's very clear. 0:24:15.148,0:24:20.451 When you breathe in mindfully you know that you are alive 0:24:20.451,0:24:27.243 because someone who is already dead does not breathe in anymore. 0:24:27.243,0:24:30.371 So just breathing in mindfully you get the 0:24:30.371,0:24:34.170 insight that you are alive. And you know something? 0:24:34.170,0:24:39.571 To be alive is the most wonderful thing. 0:24:40.258,0:24:43.699 To be alive. To be still alive is the most 0:24:43.699,0:24:49.688 wonderful thing. That is the miracle. 0:24:49.688,0:24:53.069 So breathing in I know I am alive. 0:24:53.069,0:25:00.082 That is insight born from mindfulness of breathing. 0:25:00.082,0:25:05.986 I feel I am alive. I have a body and I can 0:25:05.986,0:25:08.989 get in touch with the many wonders of life 0:25:08.989,0:25:15.870 like the sunshine, the rain, the vegetation, 0:25:15.870,0:25:23.524 the flowers, the river, the people. 0:25:23.524,0:25:25.135 So that kind of awareness, that kind of insight 0:25:25.135,0:25:32.304 can help you to generate a feeling of joy right away. 0:25:32.304,0:25:37.941 Joy is born from mindfulness, concentration and insight. 0:25:37.941,0:25:42.571 When you come home to the here and the now 0:25:42.571,0:25:44.176 you recognize the fact that there are 0:25:44.176,0:25:46.148 so many conditions of happiness that are 0:25:46.148,0:25:50.757 already available. More than enough for 0:25:50.757,0:25:56.413 you to be joyful and happy. 0:25:56.413,0:26:01.550 If you take a piece, a sheet of paper, and 0:26:01.550,0:26:08.528 try to write down the conditions of happiness that you already have. 0:26:10.708,0:26:13.441 That is an exercise. 0:26:14.766,0:26:17.639 Sitting at the foot of the plum tree 0:26:17.639,0:26:23.755 you write down all the conditions of happiness that you already have. 0:26:23.755,0:26:26.718 I don't think that one page is enough. 0:26:26.718,0:26:29.956 I don't think that two pages are enough. 0:26:29.956,0:26:32.645 Three pages are not enough either. 0:26:32.865,0:26:34.278 You have more conditions to be happy, 0:26:34.278,0:26:38.639 more than enough conditions in order to be 0:26:38.639,0:26:41.242 joyful and happy. And mindfulness helps 0:26:41.242,0:26:44.620 you to recognize these conditions. 0:26:44.620,0:26:50.025 And happiness can be born right away, joy also. 0:26:50.302,0:26:53.688 And that is the mechanism of joy and happiness. 0:26:53.688,0:26:55.503 Mindfulness, awareness of the conditions 0:26:55.503,0:27:01.021 of happiness that are already available. 0:27:01.021,0:27:05.150 It's very clear. Suppose you say you practice, 0:27:05.150,0:27:09.206 breathing in I am aware of my eyes. 0:27:10.348,0:27:16.393 So the object of your mind, your mindfulness is your eyes. 0:27:17.874,0:27:22.097 Breathing in, you focus your attention on your eyes 0:27:22.097,0:27:28.811 and you discover that your eyes are still in good condition. 0:27:28.811,0:27:31.284 There are those of us who have lost our eyesight 0:27:31.284,0:27:35.531 and they cannot see anything anymore. 0:27:35.531,0:27:40.363 And you are, you still have eyes in good condition. 0:27:40.363,0:27:45.152 That is a big condition of happiness. 0:27:45.152,0:27:49.594 Because you have eyes still in good condition 0:27:50.284,0:27:53.903 you need only to open your eyes and then 0:27:53.903,0:28:00.605 a paradise of forms and colors become available. 0:28:00.605,0:28:07.896 Nature is so beautiful. The stars, the galaxies are so beautiful. 0:28:07.896,0:28:12.842 Imagine you are an oyster living in the depth of the ocean. 0:28:13.443,0:28:19.383 You never have a chance to see the stars in the sky 0:28:19.383,0:28:22.612 and the beautiful waves on the surface of the ocean. 0:28:22.612,0:28:27.595 Because you have eyes still in good condition, 0:28:27.595,0:28:29.941 you only need to open them and then 0:28:31.871,0:28:37.795 the beautiful cosmos is available to you. 0:28:38.542,0:28:41.625 There is a paradise of forms and colors 0:28:41.625,0:28:45.447 available in the here and the now. 0:28:45.447,0:28:47.766 And you can get in touch because you have 0:28:47.766,0:28:52.593 eyes still in good condition. 0:28:52.593,0:28:56.583 And your eyes is only one of these conditions of happiness. 0:28:56.583,0:28:59.702 You will discover 0:29:00.792,0:29:02.552 thousands and thousands 0:29:02.702,0:29:07.660 of conditions like that, in your body and around you. 0:29:09.612,0:29:13.815 The French have a song about this. 0:29:13.815,0:29:15.925 Qu'es qu'on attend pour etre heureux. 0:29:16.426,0:29:18.397 Why do you have to wait in order to be happy? 0:29:18.397,0:29:21.008 You can be happy right now. 0:29:21.008,0:29:24.279 Qu'es qu'on attend pour faire la fete. 0:29:24.279,0:29:27.378 There is a lot of wisdom in that song. 0:29:27.378,0:29:30.002 We can celebrate life. 0:29:30.010,0:29:33.544 We can make happiness possible right now because 0:29:35.144,0:29:36.603 the conditions of happiness 0:29:36.603,0:29:40.299 are more than enough for you to enjoy. 0:29:40.617,0:29:42.772 You do not have to run into the future 0:29:42.772,0:29:49.035 and look for some more conditions of happiness. 0:29:49.035,0:29:53.652 So that is the mechanism of the practice of joy and happiness. 0:29:53.652,0:29:55.698 Going home to the here and the now. 0:29:55.698,0:30:01.121 Recognize the presence of the wonders of life available. 0:30:01.121,0:30:05.464 Recognize the fact that the Kingdome of God 0:30:07.772,0:30:10.117 is available in the here and the now. 0:30:13.393,0:30:17.979 And suddenly joy and happiness are born. 0:30:18.335,0:30:22.420 That is the art of happiness. You can create 0:30:22.420,0:30:24.716 joy and happiness using the energy of 0:30:24.716,0:30:30.324 mindfulness, concentration and insight. 0:30:30.324,0:30:35.091 You can do it. It takes some training. 0:30:35.091,0:30:38.006 And that you can learn the habit of being happy, 0:30:40.226,0:30:41.732 of being joyful. 0:30:44.737,0:30:46.363 You are so lucky. 0:30:46.653,0:30:50.973 You are so wealthy and you think that you are poor. 0:30:53.057,0:30:58.798 You have to go and beg for some happiness 0:30:58.798,0:31:02.249 elsewhere in the future. 0:31:02.628,0:31:08.134 Buit in fact, you are very wealthy. 0:31:09.860,0:31:13.481 You are a treasure of happiness available in the here and the now. 0:31:13.568,0:31:15.759 Even the Kingdom of God is available to you 0:31:16.018,0:31:18.426 in the here and the now. 0:31:18.926,0:31:21.718 For those of us who practice mindfulness, 0:31:21.718,0:31:24.155 the Kingdom is available, 0:31:27.612,0:31:32.472 And if you do not enjoy the Kingdom of 0:31:32.472,0:31:34.144 God in the here and the now, 0:31:34.144,0:31:38.414 because you have not made yourself available to the Kingdom. 0:31:40.090,0:31:43.101 And to make yourself available to the Kingdom, 0:31:43.101,0:31:45.549 it's not so difficult. Just breathe in 0:31:45.549,0:31:49.737 mindfully and bring your mind home to your body 0:31:50.864,0:31:54.206 and you can recognize the Kingdom of God in every pebble, 0:31:54.206,0:31:58.858 in every flower, in every child. 0:31:58.858,0:32:00.946 With mindfulness, concentration and insight, 0:32:00.946,0:32:08.049 you can touch the Kingdom of God in every moment. 0:32:08.248,0:32:11.774 And that is the art of happiness using 0:32:11.774,0:32:16.248 mindfulness, concentration and insight. 0:32:16.248,0:32:22.793 The other side of the practice is with 0:32:22.793,0:32:27.443 mindfulness, concentration and insight you can handle suffering. 0:32:28.063,0:32:31.685 There is anger, fear, despair in you, 0:32:31.968,0:32:34.037 and if you know how to make good use 0:32:34.037,0:32:36.417 of mindfulness, concentration and insight 0:32:38.481,0:32:43.404 you can recognize the pain, the suffering. 0:32:43.404,0:32:49.057 You can embrace it tenderly. 0:32:50.507,0:32:53.437 You can allow compassion to be born. 0:32:53.437,0:32:55.602 And then you suffer less. 0:32:56.161,0:32:59.173 Right away. 0:33:03.097,0:33:05.970 There is a way to suffer. 0:33:06.760,0:33:09.989 The Buddha knows how to suffer. 0:33:09.989,0:33:14.064 That is why he suffers very little. 0:33:16.794,0:33:19.780 And we can learn his art of suffering. 0:33:20.106,0:33:25.106 If you know how to suffer, you suffer much less. 0:33:25.443,0:33:29.742 How? With the energy of mindfulness, 0:33:29.742,0:33:35.790 concentration and insight, you suffer much less than other people. 0:33:36.066,0:33:39.202 Learn the art of going home to yourself. 0:33:39.202,0:33:42.083 Recognize the suffering. Embrace it tenderly 0:33:42.083,0:33:44.730 with mindfulness and concentration and insight 0:33:44.730,0:33:47.540 and you suffer much less. 0:33:47.540,0:33:49.755 Especially when you know how to make good use 0:33:49.755,0:33:58.118 of the collective energy of compassion generated by the sangha. 0:34:01.207,0:34:04.445 With mindfulness, concentration and insight 0:34:04.605,0:34:07.338 you suffer less. Much less. 0:34:07.851,0:34:10.792 And you can even go further. 0:34:13.007,0:34:16.156 You can make good use of suffering 0:34:16.346,0:34:20.128 because suffering is useful. 0:34:20.329,0:34:26.047 It's like when you grow lotus flowers you need the mud. 0:34:28.434,0:34:32.134 Without the mud you cannot grow lotus flowers. 0:34:34.690,0:34:38.140 If you know how to handle suffering. 0:34:38.492,0:34:46.017 If you can handle fear, anger, despair. 0:34:46.017,0:34:49.123 If you know how to make good use of the suffering 0:34:49.123,0:34:57.587 then you can produce many beautiful lotus of happiness. 0:34:57.587,0:35:01.315 So a good practitioner is someone who knows 0:35:01.315,0:35:04.159 how to make good use of suffering in order 0:35:04.159,0:35:10.596 to create understanding, compassion, and happiness. 0:35:10.596,0:35:14.686 And that is why we can speak of the goodness of suffering. 0:35:14.686,0:35:18.566 The usefulness of suffering. 0:35:18.566,0:35:26.271 It's like the mud. You should not be afraid of the mud. 0:35:26.271,0:35:28.107 You know how to make good use of the mud 0:35:28.107,0:35:32.808 in order to produce beautiful lotuses. 0:35:32.808,0:35:35.992 So the practictioner does the same. 0:35:35.992,0:35:37.777 The good practitioner does the same. 0:35:37.777,0:35:40.425 He knows how to make good use of suffering 0:35:40.425,0:35:43.768 and create understanding, compassion, 0:35:43.768,0:35:50.921 transformation, healing, happiness. 0:35:50.921,0:35:55.432 So on the one hand there is the art of happiness. 0:35:55.432,0:35:57.330 How to be happy. 0:35:57.330,0:36:00.878 On the other hand there is the art of suffering. 0:36:00.878,0:36:05.702 And we learn that if we know how to suffer we suffer much less. 0:36:05.702,0:36:07.294 And you can make good use of suffering 0:36:07.294,0:36:16.069 in order to create compassion, understanding, and happiness. 0:36:16.069,0:36:19.530 And practicing with brothers and sisters in the community 0:36:19.530,0:36:25.457 you learn from their experience how to do these things. 0:36:25.457,0:36:32.331 On one hand, you learn how to produce 0:36:32.331,0:36:36.179 a feeling of joy and happiness to nourish 0:36:36.179,0:36:39.499 yourself and help nourish the other person. 0:36:39.499,0:36:42.748 On the other hand, you learn how to suffer 0:36:42.748,0:36:44.848 so that you suffer less, and you can 0:36:44.848,0:36:49.632 create happiness out of your suffering. 0:36:49.632,0:36:55.412 We continue tomorrow in French.