1
00:00:20,446 --> 00:00:23,458
Good morning, dear Sangha.

2
00:00:23,458 --> 00:00:28,019
Welcome to the Summer Opening in Plum Village.

3
00:00:28,206 --> 00:00:31,333
Today is the 6th of July, 2014

4
00:00:31,333 --> 00:00:36,521
and we are in the Assembly of Stars meditation hall

5
00:00:36,521 --> 00:00:42,379
in the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village.

6
00:00:42,419 --> 00:00:46,848
Mindfulness is a kind of energy

7
00:00:47,158 --> 00:00:51,883
that we can generate.

8
00:00:53,358 --> 00:00:56,004
Everyone has the capacity to generate

9
00:00:56,004 --> 00:00:59,697
the energy of mindfulness.

10
00:01:00,881 --> 00:01:08,033
That energy allows us to be aware of what is going on.

11
00:01:10,172 --> 00:01:13,328
Going on in our body,

12
00:01:13,846 --> 00:01:16,356
going on in our feelings,

13
00:01:20,804 --> 00:01:25,595
going on in our perceptions, in our mind,

14
00:01:26,439 --> 00:01:31,916
and going on around us, in the world.

15
00:01:31,916 --> 00:01:35,769
So mindfulness, you can define it as the kind of energy

16
00:01:36,234 --> 00:01:39,241
that allows us to be aware of what is

17
00:01:39,659 --> 00:01:42,785
happening in the here and the now.

18
00:01:43,049 --> 00:01:46,183
In our body, in our feelings, in our mind,

19
00:01:46,532 --> 00:01:50,527
and in the world, which is the object of our mind.

20
00:01:51,269 --> 00:01:54,420
In the Buddhist tradition

21
00:01:55,121 --> 00:01:58,467
we always try to remember that the world

22
00:01:58,770 --> 00:02:01,916
is the object of our mind.

23
00:02:02,983 --> 00:02:08,347
Our mind and the world form perception,

24
00:02:08,780 --> 00:02:13,955
subject of perception and object of perception.

25
00:02:22,535 --> 00:02:26,066
And mindfulness is the kind of energy

26
00:02:26,066 --> 00:02:31,796
that allows us to be in the here and the now.

27
00:02:33,546 --> 00:02:34,973
If you are not in the here and the now

28
00:02:35,003 --> 00:02:39,114
you cannot know what is happening in the here and the now.

29
00:02:40,809 --> 00:02:44,402
So mindfulness is also the capacity to help us

30
00:02:44,402 --> 00:02:52,280
to be established in the here and the now.

31
00:02:56,441 --> 00:03:02,161
And we know that life and all the wonders of life

32
00:03:02,346 --> 00:03:07,201
are available only in the here and the now.

33
00:03:07,558 --> 00:03:11,675
And mindfulness helps us to go home to the here and the now

34
00:03:11,675 --> 00:03:14,984
and get in touch with life, with the wonders of life

35
00:03:14,984 --> 00:03:17,428
that are available in the here and the now.

36
00:03:17,428 --> 00:03:20,006
It's so simple.

37
00:03:20,795 --> 00:03:26,600
So we have an appointment with life.

38
00:03:28,867 --> 00:03:33,543
J'avais un rendez-vous avec la vie.

39
00:03:34,866 --> 00:03:40,480
And that appointment takes place in the present moment.

40
00:03:44,456 --> 00:03:48,646
And if you miss the present moment,

41
00:03:48,706 --> 00:03:50,932
you miss your appointment with life,

42
00:03:50,932 --> 00:03:53,832
which is very serious.

43
00:03:57,586 --> 00:04:03,577
So next time when someone asks you whether you have time,

44
00:04:06,526 --> 00:04:09,405
you may say I have an appointment,

45
00:04:09,405 --> 00:04:12,224
and with whom? With life.

46
00:04:12,923 --> 00:04:15,511
I don't want to miss that appointment with life,

47
00:04:15,511 --> 00:04:17,860
that is why I always try to be home

48
00:04:17,860 --> 00:04:20,261
in the here and the now.

49
00:04:23,058 --> 00:04:26,430
In the here and the now I get in touch with nature,

50
00:04:31,210 --> 00:04:34,854
with the refreshing and healing elements

51
00:04:34,854 --> 00:04:39,883
of nature that are in me and around me.

52
00:04:40,222 --> 00:04:43,517
Because I need nourishment and healing.

53
00:04:45,165 --> 00:04:48,704
So I have to go home to the

54
00:04:48,822 --> 00:04:51,567
here and the now in order to get the

55
00:04:51,567 --> 00:04:54,302
nourishment and healing that I need,

56
00:04:54,302 --> 00:04:56,962
because I have been running all my life

57
00:04:56,962 --> 00:04:59,554
looking for something in the future,

58
00:04:59,554 --> 00:05:06,010
elsewhere, and I have missed my appointment with life.

59
00:05:07,555 --> 00:05:10,002
Because of that I have become sick.

60
00:05:10,002 --> 00:05:13,218
I suffer, that is why I have to learn to

61
00:05:13,218 --> 00:05:16,512
go home to the here and the now and get in

62
00:05:16,512 --> 00:05:21,547
touch with the elements of life that can be

63
00:05:21,737 --> 00:05:24,665
healing and nourishing. And mindfulness

64
00:05:24,665 --> 00:05:27,997
helps me to go home to the here and the now

65
00:05:27,997 --> 00:05:32,444
and get in touch with the wonders of life.

66
00:05:35,123 --> 00:05:40,339
Mindfulness is always mindfulness of something.

67
00:05:42,822 --> 00:05:48,679
When you drink you tea, and if you are

68
00:05:48,679 --> 00:05:51,750
aware that you are alive and you are drinking

69
00:05:51,750 --> 00:05:55,662
your tea, that is mindfulness of drinking.

70
00:05:57,519 --> 00:05:59,490
And you might choose to drink your tea

71
00:05:59,490 --> 00:06:03,150
always in mindfulness, if you want.

72
00:06:04,021 --> 00:06:08,048
Because drinking like that, you are very alive.

73
00:06:08,048 --> 00:06:10,524
You are living deeply that moment of life

74
00:06:10,524 --> 00:06:14,678
given to you to live.

75
00:06:15,324 --> 00:06:23,247
So I like to make a commitment to drink my tea mindfully.

76
00:06:26,312 --> 00:06:34,372
And when I drink my tea mindfully, I am concentrated in my tea.

77
00:06:35,684 --> 00:06:39,115
So the energy of mindfulness carries

78
00:06:39,115 --> 00:06:42,817
within itself the energy of concentration.

79
00:06:43,151 --> 00:06:45,683
When you are very aware of something,

80
00:06:45,683 --> 00:06:48,363
you are concentrated on it.

81
00:06:49,121 --> 00:06:53,701
And if you are concentrated you begin to see things deeply.

82
00:06:57,447 --> 00:07:09,207
Suppose I hold my cup mindfully. And because

83
00:07:09,666 --> 00:07:19,065
I am holding my cup mindfully I am truly here

84
00:07:19,065 --> 00:07:22,561
and established in the present moment.

85
00:07:23,516 --> 00:07:29,253
And suppose I pour the hot water

86
00:07:33,466 --> 00:07:35,836
in my pot

87
00:07:37,166 --> 00:07:38,577
In my teapot

88
00:07:38,577 --> 00:07:40,626
mindfully

89
00:07:40,626 --> 00:07:44,155
I have concentration,

90
00:07:44,155 --> 00:07:46,927
and that concentration allows me to see many things.

91
00:07:48,534 --> 00:07:53,055
I see that this water has come from deep

92
00:07:53,425 --> 00:07:56,575
up in the mountain, deep in the earth.

93
00:07:57,019 --> 00:08:00,524
It has come to me

94
00:08:01,794 --> 00:08:03,784
in this bottle

95
00:08:06,571 --> 00:08:10,622
And as I pour the tea mindfully,

96
00:08:14,272 --> 00:08:17,685
with concentration,

97
00:08:18,255 --> 00:08:24,749
I can see many things that people who are not mindful cannot see.

98
00:08:25,047 --> 00:08:27,715
I can see that there is a cloud in my tea.

99
00:08:29,475 --> 00:08:32,085
Yesterday it was a cloud floating in the sky.

100
00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:39,545
Now it is the tea.

101
00:08:40,657 --> 00:08:43,643
And that is why when I drink my tea,

102
00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,950
I see that I am drinking my cloud,

103
00:08:48,442 --> 00:08:52,715
and the cloud has not died, even if it is

104
00:08:52,715 --> 00:08:57,264
no longer in the sky, but it has not died,

105
00:08:57,264 --> 00:09:06,260
because it is here, in it's new form of manifestation.

106
00:09:06,829 --> 00:09:13,545
I can listen to my tea, to my cloud.

107
00:09:14,297 --> 00:09:19,959
And if my concentration is very strong

108
00:09:19,959 --> 00:09:24,767
I can discover the nature of no birth and no death

109
00:09:24,767 --> 00:09:30,034
of my cloud. I know that it is impossible

110
00:09:30,034 --> 00:09:33,656
for a cloud to die, because to die means

111
00:09:33,656 --> 00:09:39,081
from someone you suddenly become noone,

112
00:09:39,081 --> 00:09:43,216
from something you suddenly become nothing,

113
00:09:43,216 --> 00:09:48,093
and that is what we mean by dying.

114
00:09:48,483 --> 00:09:55,798
But if I am mindful, concentrated, I'd be full of insight.

115
00:09:56,116 --> 00:10:01,057
I can see that my cloud can never die.

116
00:10:01,515 --> 00:10:07,122
It can become snow or rain or ice, but it

117
00:10:07,122 --> 00:10:10,766
can never become nothing.

118
00:10:10,766 --> 00:10:16,315
So I touch the nature of no birth and no death of the cloud.

119
00:10:16,780 --> 00:10:22,306
And if I continue, I can see myself having

120
00:10:22,306 --> 00:10:26,837
that nature of no birth and no death.

121
00:10:26,837 --> 00:10:30,894
If the true nature of the cloud is no birth and no death,

122
00:10:30,894 --> 00:10:35,929
then my own nature is the nature of no birth and no death

123
00:10:37,304 --> 00:10:41,307
And if I can touch deeply the nature of

124
00:10:41,307 --> 00:10:45,874
no birth and no death in me, I am free from fear.

125
00:10:45,874 --> 00:10:52,219
Fear of dying, fear of becoming nothing.

126
00:10:52,443 --> 00:10:59,158
So mindfulness carries within itself that

127
00:10:59,158 --> 00:11:05,621
energy of concentration, and it carries

128
00:11:05,621 --> 00:11:11,789
within itself also the energy of insight.

129
00:11:11,789 --> 00:11:15,097
Mindfulness, concentration, insight,

130
00:11:15,097 --> 00:11:18,111
that are three kinds of energies that we

131
00:11:18,111 --> 00:11:21,864
can generate. And these three kinds of

132
00:11:21,864 --> 00:11:27,587
energies have the power to help us suffer less,

133
00:11:27,587 --> 00:11:36,472
and help us to generate feelings of joy and happiness.

134
00:11:36,803 --> 00:11:39,513
And all of us are capable of generating these

135
00:11:39,825 --> 00:11:43,218
three kinds of energies.

136
00:11:43,614 --> 00:11:46,455
And to practice meditation, Buddhist meditation,

137
00:11:46,593 --> 00:11:51,037
is to generate these three kinds of energies.

138
00:11:51,243 --> 00:11:56,380
And everyone can do, and right in the beginning of the practice.

139
00:11:56,517 --> 00:11:59,480
You can learn to drink your tea mindfully.

140
00:11:59,550 --> 00:12:04,423
You can learn how to walk mindfully.

141
00:12:09,186 --> 00:12:12,164
You can learn how to breathe mindfully.

142
00:12:14,685 --> 00:12:17,534
And when mindfulness is there,

143
00:12:17,534 --> 00:12:22,021
concentration is there, and insight will be there.

144
00:12:22,548 --> 00:12:25,744
And with mindfulness, concentration, and insight,

145
00:12:25,744 --> 00:12:30,295
I can live very deeply every moment

146
00:12:30,295 --> 00:12:34,422
of my daily life. I do not waste my life.

147
00:12:34,422 --> 00:12:38,295
I feel alive in every moment.

148
00:12:38,295 --> 00:12:42,241
And I will not regret later on that I have

149
00:12:42,241 --> 00:12:46,733
wasted my life running after fame, power,

150
00:12:46,733 --> 00:12:51,149
wealth, sensual pleasure. Because I feel

151
00:12:51,149 --> 00:12:56,582
joy, happiness every moment of my daily life.

152
00:12:56,582 --> 00:13:00,704
That is thanks to the power of mindfulness,

153
00:13:00,704 --> 00:13:05,507
the power of concentration and insight.

154
00:13:07,058 --> 00:13:10,780
So the first energy is mindfulness.

155
00:13:12,341 --> 00:13:16,793
It's written in Chinese like this.

156
00:13:19,330 --> 00:13:21,382
The upper part of the word, the character

157
00:13:22,789 --> 00:13:29,280
it means now. Now, the present moment.

158
00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:36,070
And the later, the lower part is "tâm"

159
00:13:36,767 --> 00:13:42,261
and it means mind. When you bring your mind home

160
00:13:42,261 --> 00:13:46,330
to the present moment, you are mindful.

161
00:13:46,330 --> 00:13:52,242
So mindfulness is to bring your mind back

162
00:13:52,242 --> 00:13:56,129
to the present moment. When you begin to

163
00:13:56,129 --> 00:14:05,080
breathe in mindfully, you bring your mind

164
00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:10,832
home to your body.

165
00:14:11,952 --> 00:14:17,222
The opposite of mindfulness is dispersion,

166
00:14:17,606 --> 00:14:25,077
forgetfulness. 'Thất niệm."

167
00:14:26,070 --> 00:14:29,919
And there are those of us who drink our tea

168
00:14:29,919 --> 00:14:32,536
and do not know that we are drinking our tea.

169
00:14:33,592 --> 00:14:37,276
There are those of us who walk but do not know that they are walking.

170
00:14:38,152 --> 00:14:40,175
Those of us who have a body,

171
00:14:40,485 --> 00:14:41,896
all of us have a body,

172
00:14:41,896 --> 00:14:46,360
but we forget that we have a body.

173
00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,346
When you spend two hours with your computer

174
00:14:50,346 --> 00:14:53,896
you might forget completely that you have a body.

175
00:14:53,896 --> 00:14:57,899
Your mind is caught in the computer,

176
00:14:57,899 --> 00:15:01,659
and you leave your body alone.

177
00:15:01,659 --> 00:15:06,286
In that moment body and mind are not together.

178
00:15:06,286 --> 00:15:10,798
And if body and mind are not together you are truly not alive.

179
00:15:10,798 --> 00:15:18,323
You are truly alive only when your mind is with your body.

180
00:15:21,202 --> 00:15:24,917
Usually in our daily life our body is there

181
00:15:24,917 --> 00:15:27,604
but our mind is elsewhere.

182
00:15:28,171 --> 00:15:33,444
Our mind is caught in the suffering concerning the past,

183
00:15:33,513 --> 00:15:39,394
or the worries concerning the future, in our projects.

184
00:15:40,568 --> 00:15:45,409
And therefore, body one place and mind in another place.

185
00:15:45,409 --> 00:15:49,707
In that case there is no mindfulness.

186
00:15:49,735 --> 00:15:51,525
And you are not truly alive.

187
00:15:51,525 --> 00:15:54,856
You are not truly there in the here and the now.

188
00:15:55,396 --> 00:15:58,278
So if you know the practice of mindful breathing

189
00:15:58,278 --> 00:16:00,964
you begin to breathe in mindfully.

190
00:16:00,964 --> 00:16:05,000
Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.

191
00:16:05,307 --> 00:16:10,095
And it may take two or three seconds for

192
00:16:10,095 --> 00:16:13,223
you to breathe in mindfully. And by

193
00:16:13,223 --> 00:16:15,944
breathing in mindfully you bring your mind

194
00:16:15,944 --> 00:16:19,529
home to your body. And when mind and body

195
00:16:19,529 --> 00:16:21,374
are together, you are established in the

196
00:16:21,374 --> 00:16:24,801
here and the now. You are fully alive.

197
00:16:24,801 --> 00:16:29,896
You are fully present, and that makes true life possible.

198
00:16:35,795 --> 00:16:39,970
And sitting, walking, eating, washing,

199
00:16:40,434 --> 00:16:45,592
live deeply every moment of your daily life,

200
00:16:45,959 --> 00:16:50,199
and you do not waste your life.

201
00:16:53,156 --> 00:16:55,528
So mindfulness is the energy that helps

202
00:16:55,528 --> 00:16:59,787
us to bring our mind home to our body

203
00:16:59,787 --> 00:17:04,615
so that we can be established well in the here and the now

204
00:17:04,615 --> 00:17:10,032
and get in touch with the wonders of life

205
00:17:10,032 --> 00:17:13,609
that help us to heal and to nourish,

206
00:17:13,860 --> 00:17:20,882
to be nourished. "Chánh niệm."

207
00:17:25,815 --> 00:17:28,526
Smrti.

208
00:17:33,988 --> 00:17:41,814
And when you are mindful you are concentrated.

209
00:17:42,427 --> 00:17:49,682
"Định" means concentration. Samadhi.

210
00:17:52,669 --> 00:17:57,272
They are not two separate energies.

211
00:17:57,534 --> 00:18:03,501
If you are mindful, there is some concentration already in here.

212
00:18:07,769 --> 00:18:18,024
So we can say that concentration is already there in mindfulness.

213
00:18:18,629 --> 00:18:27,613
And when concentration and mindfulness are powerful enough

214
00:18:27,613 --> 00:18:31,377
then you can see manifested insight.

215
00:18:31,544 --> 00:18:34,609
"Tuệ."

216
00:18:38,275 --> 00:18:43,133
Prajna.

217
00:18:48,609 --> 00:18:57,486
So in mindfulness you have concentration and insight.

218
00:18:57,486 --> 00:19:00,599
In concentration you have mindfulness and insight.

219
00:19:00,599 --> 00:19:03,493
If you look into one you can recognize the

220
00:19:03,493 --> 00:19:08,816
two other energies. And Buddhist practitioners they know

221
00:19:08,816 --> 00:19:12,857
how to generate these three kinds of energies

222
00:19:12,857 --> 00:19:16,949
so that they can be alive. They can be fully alive,

223
00:19:16,979 --> 00:19:21,294
fully present in order to live their life deeply.

224
00:19:26,154 --> 00:19:28,705
And if you practice

225
00:19:29,424 --> 00:19:31,679
for a week

226
00:19:32,609 --> 00:19:34,999
the practice of mindful breathing,

227
00:19:36,329 --> 00:19:37,784
mindful walking,

228
00:19:37,784 --> 00:19:39,794
mindful eating,

229
00:19:41,254 --> 00:19:45,226
and then you can notice that the amount of

230
00:19:45,793 --> 00:19:50,616
mindfulness, concentration, and insight in you

231
00:19:50,616 --> 00:19:58,016
have grown much more stronger.

232
00:19:58,245 --> 00:20:00,683
And it is these three kinds of energies

233
00:20:00,683 --> 00:20:03,185
that can help us suffer less and help us

234
00:20:03,185 --> 00:20:08,465
generate more joy and happiness.

235
00:20:08,465 --> 00:20:15,888
With these three kinds of energies

236
00:20:15,888 --> 00:20:19,077
we can do many things.

237
00:20:19,536 --> 00:20:23,057
With mindfulness, concentration and insight

238
00:20:23,057 --> 00:20:29,702
we can generate a feeling of joy

239
00:20:34,401 --> 00:20:40,848
and generate a feeling of happiness

240
00:20:42,911 --> 00:20:45,773
"Hỷ"

241
00:20:47,096 --> 00:20:50,078
and "Lạc"

242
00:20:53,752 --> 00:21:00,168
So the practitioner of Buddhist meditation

243
00:21:00,168 --> 00:21:06,126
is capable of generating a feeling of joy

244
00:21:08,488 --> 00:21:14,304
or a feeling of happiness whenever she wants to.

245
00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:23,328
And with the energy of mindfulness, concentration and insight,

246
00:21:27,965 --> 00:21:30,581
a practitioner of Buddhist meditation

247
00:21:30,581 --> 00:21:35,273
should be able to bring in a feeling of joy

248
00:21:35,273 --> 00:21:39,634
a feeling of happiness whenever we want.

249
00:21:39,634 --> 00:21:45,327
And that is done with the energy of mindfulness

250
00:21:45,327 --> 00:21:48,030
concentration and insight that we generate

251
00:21:48,030 --> 00:21:53,337
with the breathing, with the walking, and so on.

252
00:21:53,337 --> 00:21:58,929
And the principle, the mechanism is very simple.

253
00:21:58,929 --> 00:22:04,085
How to create a feeling of joy for ourselves,

254
00:22:05,732 --> 00:22:09,760
and to be nourished by that feeling of joy.

255
00:22:10,139 --> 00:22:13,229
Mindfulness.

256
00:22:14,207 --> 00:22:16,192
Mindfulness is born from,

257
00:22:16,657 --> 00:22:21,358
ah, joy is born from mindfulness.

258
00:22:22,216 --> 00:22:29,605
This is a sentence well known in the Buddhist literature.

259
00:22:33,059 --> 00:22:40,929
"Niệm sinh hỷ"

260
00:22:45,788 --> 00:22:53,184
Joy born from mindfulness.

261
00:22:58,405 --> 00:23:05,732
And joy born from mindfulness, and joy

262
00:23:06,169 --> 00:23:12,219
can be born also from concentration, "định"

263
00:23:12,219 --> 00:23:19,350
and from insight, "tuệ"

264
00:23:26,292 --> 00:23:33,004
The mechanism is simple. When you breathe in mindfully,

265
00:23:36,614 --> 00:23:39,371
breathing in I know I am breathing in.

266
00:23:39,573 --> 00:23:44,030
I focus my attention on my in-breath.

267
00:23:44,030 --> 00:23:47,989
I stop the thinking. I just become aware

268
00:23:47,989 --> 00:23:50,873
of my in-breath. My in-breath is the only

269
00:23:50,873 --> 00:23:56,229
object of my mind. I focus all my attention

270
00:23:56,229 --> 00:24:00,761
on my in-breath. I am concentrated.

271
00:24:00,761 --> 00:24:06,080
I allow mindfulness and concentration to be present.

272
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:10,599
And suddenly I discover I'm alive.

273
00:24:10,599 --> 00:24:15,148
That is insight. It's very clear.

274
00:24:15,148 --> 00:24:20,451
When you breathe in mindfully you know that you are alive

275
00:24:20,451 --> 00:24:27,243
because someone who is already dead does not breathe in anymore.

276
00:24:27,243 --> 00:24:30,371
So just breathing in mindfully you get the

277
00:24:30,371 --> 00:24:34,170
insight that you are alive. And you know something?

278
00:24:34,170 --> 00:24:39,571
To be alive is the most wonderful thing.

279
00:24:40,258 --> 00:24:43,699
To be alive. To be still alive is the most

280
00:24:43,699 --> 00:24:49,688
wonderful thing. That is the miracle.

281
00:24:49,688 --> 00:24:53,069
So breathing in I know I am alive.

282
00:24:53,069 --> 00:25:00,082
That is insight born from mindfulness of breathing.

283
00:25:00,082 --> 00:25:05,986
I feel I am alive. I have a body and I can

284
00:25:05,986 --> 00:25:08,989
get in touch with the many wonders of life

285
00:25:08,989 --> 00:25:15,870
like the sunshine, the rain, the vegetation,

286
00:25:15,870 --> 00:25:23,524
the flowers, the river, the people.

287
00:25:23,524 --> 00:25:25,135
So that kind of awareness, that kind of insight

288
00:25:25,135 --> 00:25:32,304
can help you to generate a feeling of joy right away.

289
00:25:32,304 --> 00:25:37,941
Joy is born from mindfulness, concentration and insight.

290
00:25:37,941 --> 00:25:42,571
When you come home to the here and the now

291
00:25:42,571 --> 00:25:44,176
you recognize the fact that there are

292
00:25:44,176 --> 00:25:46,148
so many conditions of happiness that are

293
00:25:46,148 --> 00:25:50,757
already available. More than enough for

294
00:25:50,757 --> 00:25:56,413
you to be joyful and happy.

295
00:25:56,413 --> 00:26:01,550
If you take a piece, a sheet of paper, and

296
00:26:01,550 --> 00:26:08,528
try to write down the conditions of happiness that you already have.

297
00:26:10,708 --> 00:26:13,441
That is an exercise.

298
00:26:14,766 --> 00:26:17,639
Sitting at the foot of the plum tree

299
00:26:17,639 --> 00:26:23,755
you write down all the conditions of happiness that you already have.

300
00:26:23,755 --> 00:26:26,718
I don't think that one page is enough.

301
00:26:26,718 --> 00:26:29,956
I don't think that two pages are enough.

302
00:26:29,956 --> 00:26:32,645
Three pages are not enough either.

303
00:26:32,865 --> 00:26:34,278
You have more conditions to be happy,

304
00:26:34,278 --> 00:26:38,639
more than enough conditions in order to be

305
00:26:38,639 --> 00:26:41,242
joyful and happy. And mindfulness helps

306
00:26:41,242 --> 00:26:44,620
you to recognize these conditions.

307
00:26:44,620 --> 00:26:50,025
And happiness can be born right away, joy also.

308
00:26:50,302 --> 00:26:53,688
And that is the mechanism of joy and happiness.

309
00:26:53,688 --> 00:26:55,503
Mindfulness, awareness of the conditions

310
00:26:55,503 --> 00:27:01,021
of happiness that are already available.

311
00:27:01,021 --> 00:27:05,150
It's very clear. Suppose you say you practice,

312
00:27:05,150 --> 00:27:09,206
breathing in I am aware of my eyes.

313
00:27:10,348 --> 00:27:16,393
So the object of your mind, your mindfulness is your eyes.

314
00:27:17,874 --> 00:27:22,097
Breathing in, you focus your attention on your eyes

315
00:27:22,097 --> 00:27:28,811
and you discover that your eyes are still in good condition.

316
00:27:28,811 --> 00:27:31,284
There are those of us who have lost our eyesight

317
00:27:31,284 --> 00:27:35,531
and they cannot see anything anymore.

318
00:27:35,531 --> 00:27:40,363
And you are, you still have eyes in good condition.

319
00:27:40,363 --> 00:27:45,152
That is a big condition of happiness.

320
00:27:45,152 --> 00:27:49,594
Because you have eyes still in good condition

321
00:27:50,284 --> 00:27:53,903
you need only to open your eyes and then

322
00:27:53,903 --> 00:28:00,605
a paradise of forms and colors become available.

323
00:28:00,605 --> 00:28:07,896
Nature is so beautiful. The stars, the galaxies are so beautiful.

324
00:28:07,896 --> 00:28:12,842
Imagine you are an oyster living in the depth of the ocean.

325
00:28:13,443 --> 00:28:19,383
You never have a chance to see the stars in the sky

326
00:28:19,383 --> 00:28:22,612
and the beautiful waves on the surface of the ocean.

327
00:28:22,612 --> 00:28:27,595
Because you have eyes still in good condition,

328
00:28:27,595 --> 00:28:29,941
you only need to open them and then

329
00:28:31,871 --> 00:28:37,795
the beautiful cosmos is available to you.

330
00:28:38,542 --> 00:28:41,625
There is a paradise of forms and colors

331
00:28:41,625 --> 00:28:45,447
available in the here and the now.

332
00:28:45,447 --> 00:28:47,766
And you can get in touch because you have

333
00:28:47,766 --> 00:28:52,593
eyes still in good condition.

334
00:28:52,593 --> 00:28:56,583
And your eyes is only one of these conditions of happiness.

335
00:28:56,583 --> 00:28:59,702
You will discover

336
00:29:00,792 --> 00:29:02,552
thousands and thousands

337
00:29:02,702 --> 00:29:07,660
of conditions like that, in your body and around you.

338
00:29:09,612 --> 00:29:13,815
The French have a song about this.

339
00:29:13,815 --> 00:29:15,925
Qu'es qu'on attend pour etre heureux.

340
00:29:16,426 --> 00:29:18,397
Why do you have to wait in order to be happy?

341
00:29:18,397 --> 00:29:21,008
You can be happy right now.

342
00:29:21,008 --> 00:29:24,279
Qu'es qu'on attend pour faire la fete.

343
00:29:24,279 --> 00:29:27,378
There is a lot of wisdom in that song.

344
00:29:27,378 --> 00:29:30,002
We can celebrate life.

345
00:29:30,010 --> 00:29:33,544
We can make happiness possible right now because

346
00:29:35,144 --> 00:29:36,603
the conditions of happiness

347
00:29:36,603 --> 00:29:40,299
are more than enough for you to enjoy.

348
00:29:40,617 --> 00:29:42,772
You do not have to run into the future

349
00:29:42,772 --> 00:29:49,035
and look for some more conditions of happiness.

350
00:29:49,035 --> 00:29:53,652
So that is the mechanism of the practice of joy and happiness.

351
00:29:53,652 --> 00:29:55,698
Going home to the here and the now.

352
00:29:55,698 --> 00:30:01,121
Recognize the presence of the wonders of life available.

353
00:30:01,121 --> 00:30:05,464
Recognize the fact that the Kingdome of God

354
00:30:07,772 --> 00:30:10,117
is available in the here and the now.

355
00:30:13,393 --> 00:30:17,979
And suddenly joy and happiness are born.

356
00:30:18,335 --> 00:30:22,420
That is the art of happiness. You can create

357
00:30:22,420 --> 00:30:24,716
joy and happiness using the energy of

358
00:30:24,716 --> 00:30:30,324
mindfulness, concentration and insight.

359
00:30:30,324 --> 00:30:35,091
You can do it. It takes some training.

360
00:30:35,091 --> 00:30:38,006
And that you can learn the habit of being happy,

361
00:30:40,226 --> 00:30:41,732
of being joyful.

362
00:30:44,737 --> 00:30:46,363
You are so lucky.

363
00:30:46,653 --> 00:30:50,973
You are so wealthy and you think that you are poor.

364
00:30:53,057 --> 00:30:58,798
You have to go and beg for some happiness

365
00:30:58,798 --> 00:31:02,249
elsewhere in the future.

366
00:31:02,628 --> 00:31:08,134
Buit in fact, you are very wealthy.

367
00:31:09,860 --> 00:31:13,481
You are a treasure of happiness available in the here and the now.

368
00:31:13,568 --> 00:31:15,759
Even the Kingdom of God is available to you

369
00:31:16,018 --> 00:31:18,426
in the here and the now.

370
00:31:18,926 --> 00:31:21,718
For those of us who practice mindfulness,

371
00:31:21,718 --> 00:31:24,155
the Kingdom is available,

372
00:31:27,612 --> 00:31:32,472
And if you do not enjoy the Kingdom of

373
00:31:32,472 --> 00:31:34,144
God in the here and the now,

374
00:31:34,144 --> 00:31:38,414
because you have not made yourself available to the Kingdom.

375
00:31:40,090 --> 00:31:43,101
And to make yourself available to the Kingdom,

376
00:31:43,101 --> 00:31:45,549
it's not so difficult. Just breathe in

377
00:31:45,549 --> 00:31:49,737
mindfully and bring your mind home to your body

378
00:31:50,864 --> 00:31:54,206
and you can recognize the Kingdom of God in every pebble,

379
00:31:54,206 --> 00:31:58,858
in every flower, in every child.

380
00:31:58,858 --> 00:32:00,946
With mindfulness, concentration and insight,

381
00:32:00,946 --> 00:32:08,049
you can touch the Kingdom of God in every moment.

382
00:32:08,248 --> 00:32:11,774
And that is the art of happiness using

383
00:32:11,774 --> 00:32:16,248
mindfulness, concentration and insight.

384
00:32:16,248 --> 00:32:22,793
The other side of the practice is with

385
00:32:22,793 --> 00:32:27,443
mindfulness, concentration and insight you can handle suffering.

386
00:32:28,063 --> 00:32:31,685
There is anger, fear, despair in you,

387
00:32:31,968 --> 00:32:34,037
and if you know how to make good use

388
00:32:34,037 --> 00:32:36,417
of mindfulness, concentration and insight

389
00:32:38,481 --> 00:32:43,404
you can recognize the pain, the suffering.

390
00:32:43,404 --> 00:32:49,057
You can embrace it tenderly.

391
00:32:50,507 --> 00:32:53,437
You can allow compassion to be born.

392
00:32:53,437 --> 00:32:55,602
And then you suffer less.

393
00:32:56,161 --> 00:32:59,173
Right away.

394
00:33:03,097 --> 00:33:05,970
There is a way to suffer.

395
00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:09,989
The Buddha knows how to suffer.

396
00:33:09,989 --> 00:33:14,064
That is why he suffers very little.

397
00:33:16,794 --> 00:33:19,780
And we can learn his art of suffering.

398
00:33:20,106 --> 00:33:25,106
If you know how to suffer, you suffer much less.

399
00:33:25,443 --> 00:33:29,742
How? With the energy of mindfulness,

400
00:33:29,742 --> 00:33:35,790
concentration and insight, you suffer much less than other people.

401
00:33:36,066 --> 00:33:39,202
Learn the art of going home to yourself.

402
00:33:39,202 --> 00:33:42,083
Recognize the suffering. Embrace it tenderly

403
00:33:42,083 --> 00:33:44,730
with mindfulness and concentration and insight

404
00:33:44,730 --> 00:33:47,540
and you suffer much less.

405
00:33:47,540 --> 00:33:49,755
Especially when you know how to make good use

406
00:33:49,755 --> 00:33:58,118
of the collective energy of compassion generated by the sangha.

407
00:34:01,207 --> 00:34:04,445
With mindfulness, concentration and insight

408
00:34:04,605 --> 00:34:07,338
you suffer less. Much less.

409
00:34:07,851 --> 00:34:10,792
And you can even go further.

410
00:34:13,007 --> 00:34:16,156
You can make good use of suffering

411
00:34:16,346 --> 00:34:20,128
because suffering is useful.

412
00:34:20,329 --> 00:34:26,047
It's like when you grow lotus flowers you need the mud.

413
00:34:28,434 --> 00:34:32,134
Without the mud you cannot grow lotus flowers.

414
00:34:34,690 --> 00:34:38,140
If you know how to handle suffering.

415
00:34:38,492 --> 00:34:46,017
If you can handle fear, anger, despair.

416
00:34:46,017 --> 00:34:49,123
If you know how to make good use of the suffering

417
00:34:49,123 --> 00:34:57,587
then you can produce many beautiful lotus of happiness.

418
00:34:57,587 --> 00:35:01,315
So a good practitioner is someone who knows

419
00:35:01,315 --> 00:35:04,159
how to make good use of suffering in order

420
00:35:04,159 --> 00:35:10,596
to create understanding, compassion, and happiness.

421
00:35:10,596 --> 00:35:14,686
And that is why we can speak of the goodness of suffering.

422
00:35:14,686 --> 00:35:18,566
The usefulness of suffering.

423
00:35:18,566 --> 00:35:26,271
It's like the mud. You should not be afraid of the mud.

424
00:35:26,271 --> 00:35:28,107
You know how to make good use of the mud

425
00:35:28,107 --> 00:35:32,808
in order to produce beautiful lotuses.

426
00:35:32,808 --> 00:35:35,992
So the practictioner does the same.

427
00:35:35,992 --> 00:35:37,777
The good practitioner does the same.

428
00:35:37,777 --> 00:35:40,425
He knows how to make good use of suffering

429
00:35:40,425 --> 00:35:43,768
and create understanding, compassion,

430
00:35:43,768 --> 00:35:50,921
transformation, healing, happiness.

431
00:35:50,921 --> 00:35:55,432
So on the one hand there is the art of happiness.

432
00:35:55,432 --> 00:35:57,330
How to be happy.

433
00:35:57,330 --> 00:36:00,878
On the other hand there is the art of suffering.

434
00:36:00,878 --> 00:36:05,702
And we learn that if we know how to suffer we suffer much less.

435
00:36:05,702 --> 00:36:07,294
And you can make good use of suffering

436
00:36:07,294 --> 00:36:16,069
in order to create compassion, understanding, and happiness.

437
00:36:16,069 --> 00:36:19,530
And practicing with brothers and sisters in the community

438
00:36:19,530 --> 00:36:25,457
you learn from their experience how to do these things.

439
00:36:25,457 --> 00:36:32,331
On one hand, you learn how to produce

440
00:36:32,331 --> 00:36:36,179
a feeling of joy and happiness to nourish

441
00:36:36,179 --> 00:36:39,499
yourself and help nourish the other person.

442
00:36:39,499 --> 00:36:42,748
On the other hand, you learn how to suffer

443
00:36:42,748 --> 00:36:44,848
so that you suffer less, and you can

444
00:36:44,848 --> 00:36:49,632
create happiness out of your suffering.

445
00:36:49,632 --> 00:36:55,412
We continue tomorrow in French.