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(Bell)

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(Bell)

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(Bell)

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(Bell)

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Dear respected teacher,
dear sangha,

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today is November the 29th
in the year 2018,

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and we are in Upper Hamlet

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in the Still Water
sitting meditation hall.

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And we are on our lay day.

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A lay day is all our lay friends are here,

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for long term, some are here
for three months,

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some are here for a year, two years.

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So it is

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a very beautiful rains retreat tradition.

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Today is also a monastic day.

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I think they are in Lower Hamlet.

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When I first came into Plum Village,

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we didn't have monastic day or lay day.

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There are maybe 45 monks and nuns,

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we can all fit in Thay's hut.

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On Thay's deck.

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That has grown bigger and Plum Village
became more, how you call it,

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more a place of refuge.

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Somehow, the monastics,
we were like very small.

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So during the year,
we hardly get to see each other

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to practice together

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and look at some of the things
within the monastic community.

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So slowly, there was that need.

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And the same thing with lay friends.
More and more came,

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and they stay longer.

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And many of them became OI members
and Dharma teachers.

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So we feel very grateful that
the fourfold sangha grew together.

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And we wouldn't be able to have
a monastic day

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without solid, stable, happy, harmonious,
peaceful, lay friends,

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our sisters and brothers who are -

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We are very grateful here in Plum Village,
that you dedicate your life to come here,

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not just long-term, but some of you
are thinking of moving here.

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Some already have moved here.

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Before coming in here, I saw a baby.

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I think there is a family here
that lives in Thénac, I think you know.

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There are two babies in Plum Village.

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I knew them when the mother
was having the belly bulging,

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the first baby.

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So I always look at the couple and I say,

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'What have I produced in these last
three years? They produced two babies!

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(Laughter)

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So what do I do here?

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What kind of love. It's from love
that you - And your hope and your-

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You have a kind of love for your child,
and so on.

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So this is a kind of mantra for me.

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I when I see the farmers too,
when they work on the farm,

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like now, they are clipping
the grape vines.

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I used to, as a novice I came here
many years ago, in my second year

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I used to walk by them
and I felt really

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you know, they are doing a lot of work.
All I do is walk around, eat, and sit, and

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(Laughter)

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maybe wash a few dishes.

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But what do I do?

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I mean, it's cold, their hands in the -
It's very tough to be a farmer.

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And so sometimes I feel very

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like I live a very privileged life.

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I left a lot of things, my bank account,
my car,

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my blood family, my sisters, my nieces,
my nephew. I live here.

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And once in a while,
when I was a novice,

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it would come up. I felt kind of guilty.
I remember feeling, Gosh!

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It is quite -

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So it may encourage me to really look
into, what do we do here?

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What is it that we are

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producing, or offering to the world?

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I remember my university friend came
and visited me.

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She stayed for about five, or six days.

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And she was a kind of practitioner too.

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But I think we -
She was not very happy with me,

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because we were architects together.

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And she felt that I was deserting our
'save the world' aspiration.

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As a young college student graduating
after working a while,

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you have very idealistic, you know,
I'm going to save the climate!

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Save the polar bears! Or something.

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I wanted to save Los Angeles,
make it a humane city,

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with trees, and nature,
and everyone sharing, and -

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So you are very idealistic.

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And she said, she felt,
she didn't say it,

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but I could feel that she felt I was
deserting our commitment.

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I think a few of us in college,
we supported each other,

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we knew we wanted to help the world
be a better place.

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And at a moment I said, 'You know,
I'm doing my part, I'm still working here,

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doing things'. And she said, 'Yes! Sure!
It's easy for you to be in Plum Village!'

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She felt like I was hiding here.

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I haven't talked to here for a while.

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I think in a few years we will come
back together and we will do inventory.

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How much have you helped the world?
And how much have I done?

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It's very - What do you call it?

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You know, gross national happiness
kind of thing.

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What have you produced?

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How have you been useful?
This is a kind of a way of thinking

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that I was trained in in America.

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I just share with you how Plum Village
has grown so much.

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And I think now I am a few more at peace
and at ease with what Plum Village is

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and what is doing as I grew more into
this community and into the practice,

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and looked more deeply at ways
we can help better the world.

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Some of you who have been here
at least one year, or two years,

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you see so many kinds of people
go through here,

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and the kind of breakthroughs they have
in their heart, in their mind.

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The kind of reconciliation they have
with their loved ones.

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The happiness and peace
they manage to generate.

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As well as we do see anger,
and irritation, and frustration,

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these kind of daily things.

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Their eyebrows become a little bit more -

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That is already a great plus.

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The monastics, we, sometimes
after a retreat we come back to our room,

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and our residence, we say, 'Did you see
how his face changed?'

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Just one week. After one retreat,

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from the day a person comes,

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and after seven days,

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the face -

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And I think some of you are feeling that.
Maybe not in your face, but in the body,

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maybe the way you chew.

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So for me these little things,
I began to look more deeply

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as a kind of a -
I don't want to say

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it's what we do over here.
It's not what we produce,

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but it is a kind of
what Plum Village is about.

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A place for healing, transformation,
as well as for nourishment, and

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inspiration. You've been here
for the Wake Up retreat,

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five hundred young people, wow!
They come here and their battery is -

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Full capacity. And they go out there
and save the world.

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Good luck!

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(Laughter)

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But it is good. Young people
need a place where they -

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Because it's tough! We are living
at a very tough period.

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Not tougher than in the Middle Ages,
or like -

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Or the Barbaric times and so on.
But it is a tough time,

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because of the media, and the amount of

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stimulation.

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Every time I go back to the US
and I visit my family,

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I see that it's so hard to raise a family,
to raise a child now.

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So I feel a lot of inspiration

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to create more conditions for families,
supporting families, parents,

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brothers and sisters.

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So that is my reflection.

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The fourfold sangha growing
and making Plum Village be meaningful,

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is Thay's greatest wish, to create
many Plum Villages around the world.

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Ways -

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How we call it, places that are not good
for their economy.

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I have a list I'll share with you
just to make to laugh.

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I'm making a list, what Plum Village
is not good for.

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(Laughter)

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And one of the first ones is,
Plum Village is not good for the economy.

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(Laughter)

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Because people would come here,
and over, and over again,

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after we see them, they quit their job.

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(Laughter)

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That is the first thing.

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They stay and, 'How come you're here
for two weeks?' - 'I quit my job.'

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(Laughter)

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Before it was very hard for them
to find one week.

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And I see them again and I say,
'You are here for two weeks, really?'

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'Yes, I quit my job.'
And it is classic.

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If you see somebody
hanging around here a long time,

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it is probably not good for their economy.

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(Laughter)

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I thought you would laugh.

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The other one is Plum Village
is not good for your self-image.

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You know, that one is hard, uh?

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I came here and I was from L.A.
and, you know,

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I was very gangster and -

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And people start to tell you
a lot of things about yourself.

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And you kind like, mmm, -

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So your high identity and your,
kind of your -

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You know, in a Dharma discussion
that happens, you know?

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People start to break down their,

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what do we call it, their veil and
they get to really be who they are.

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And it's such a liberation

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to be who you are
without fear of being judged.

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You have to put something up
for your parents,

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for your mother, your father,
your friends, society.

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You don't have to do that here. Wow!

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So it is really bad for your self-image,
that is what I mean.

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The other one,
you are not going to like this one.

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Plum Village is not good
for your relationships.

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(Laughter)

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It is really - You thought
you were doing well in your relationships

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and then you come here and you realize,
'Oh my God! I'm -'

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(Laughter)

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Yeah? So you have to really look again
at your relationship.

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You know, this may not apply to you,
you may be fine in your relationship,

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so, don't fix it if it is not broken.
Okay?

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I only say it from a few observations.

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People really have to look at
their relationships.

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You know, they are attached,
they are projecting, so on.

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Or maybe their partner is projecting
and attached.

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So these are kind of -
And then, something happens.

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Some of the couples become
monks and nuns, so -

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(Laughter)

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It's like, 'I don't like
this double relationship.

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I want a monk type relationship.'

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Anyway, I just share a little few things.

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Anyway, let get serious, because I was
asked to share with you about a sutra.

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So let be a little Buddhist about it.

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So I was asked to share about
the Discourse on Taking Refuge in Oneself.

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And I think some of you have been around.

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I won't go through this sutra,
but this is the topic today.

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How to take refuge in oneself.
And what that means.

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And that is very -
For me,

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it is one of the essence
of Buddhist practice. It is a -

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You know, the Buddha at that time,
when he was forming,

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there was a lot of, I guess, religions?
A lot of devotional practices,

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a lot of rituals, a lot of things.
There must have been a lot of suffering.

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People looking outward,

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looking for magicians, and ritual people
that can help relieve their suffering.

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So this is the time that he was
formulating most of his teachings.

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So people like looked for
things

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that may help them connect to a God
or something, a Savior,

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something would help them bring peace.

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And also to, also to look for teachers.

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Even the Buddha did that himself.
He went around looking for teachers

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to help him find a way
so he can liberate himself.

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So you need to know the context.

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How the Buddha formulated the practice.

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In that way, you can copy him, in a way.

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Maybe understand deeply his life.
This is a young man, 29 years old,

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looking for, like you are looking for
when you come to Plum Village,

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or you find Thay's books.
We are on a search,

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spiritual search, a search for relieving
our anger, our frustration, our suffering.

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And finding peace.

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We all have this kind of innate search
to look for peace, happiness.

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As well as to relieve, and even sometimes
to avoid suffering,

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or get rid of suffering.

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So we look for a teacher.

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So people did that.
And the Buddha did that.

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And many disciples did that.

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Many of the teachers of other students
found the Buddha and so on.

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And their students also
turned to the Buddha.

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So there is this tradition
throughout the ages, I think,

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for us to learn from our teachers,
to learn from those who

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went before us.

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And I think,

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in this sutra the Buddha is very strong.

238
00:18:10,954 --> 00:18:18,841
In this sutra, two other monks,
Shariputra and Maudgalyayana,

239
00:18:19,001 --> 00:18:22,696
the two eldest monks in the community.

240
00:18:22,935 --> 00:18:26,781
This is already the sangha has grown full,

241
00:18:26,894 --> 00:18:30,534
and many monks
already following the Buddha.

242
00:18:30,717 --> 00:18:33,718
And these two monks have been teaching

243
00:18:33,881 --> 00:18:38,138
and are very well loved
by the other young monks.

244
00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,321
And they have passed away.

245
00:18:42,490 --> 00:18:44,853
So this is -

246
00:18:45,004 --> 00:18:48,675
And the Buddha saw that
a few of the monks were affected.

247
00:18:48,821 --> 00:18:56,798
His attendant, Thay Ananda, was affected.
I think he even fainted, Thay shared.

248
00:18:57,499 --> 00:19:02,396
He lost balance, as ,'Now what will I do?
They are gone! Oh!'

249
00:19:02,837 --> 00:19:08,355
So this is the context of the teaching
of why the Buddha gave this teaching.

250
00:19:08,875 --> 00:19:12,917
Because there is a kind of
attachment to the teacher.

251
00:19:13,123 --> 00:19:18,100
So in the sutra Taking Refuge in Oneself,
the Buddha is pointing

252
00:19:19,558 --> 00:19:26,437
at you letting - You know that there is
only one place that is the true security,

253
00:19:27,007 --> 00:19:33,084
that you will have refuge and safety,
solidity and so on.

254
00:19:33,482 --> 00:19:36,673
And that is the island within,
the island

255
00:19:37,799 --> 00:19:40,180
within oneself.

256
00:19:40,398 --> 00:19:42,703
This is beautiful!

257
00:19:42,885 --> 00:19:47,122
When I first learned of this teaching,
it just blew my mind.

258
00:19:47,684 --> 00:19:50,124
The island of self.

259
00:19:50,239 --> 00:19:53,565
You know, I mean self is a loaded word

260
00:19:53,747 --> 00:19:57,712
in our education growing up.

261
00:19:58,398 --> 00:20:00,695
Selfie, and so on.

262
00:20:00,815 --> 00:20:03,664
But the island of self here

263
00:20:03,794 --> 00:20:06,284
is a kind of quality that we -

264
00:20:06,414 --> 00:20:10,415
All the qualities that we think
we don't have, and we are looking for,

265
00:20:10,545 --> 00:20:14,839
out there, or in a book,
in a self-help books.

266
00:20:14,956 --> 00:20:17,560
When you are suffering,

267
00:20:17,762 --> 00:20:21,261
the self-help books keep going.

268
00:20:21,450 --> 00:20:25,564
One reference, and then you go
to the next one, and the next author.

269
00:20:26,486 --> 00:20:30,030
So we have this tendency to look outward

270
00:20:30,236 --> 00:20:32,726
for the answer.

271
00:20:33,592 --> 00:20:37,518
This for me was a revolution.

272
00:20:37,712 --> 00:20:40,590
Thay and the Buddha told me,

273
00:20:40,694 --> 00:20:43,729
the way out is in.

274
00:20:44,013 --> 00:20:47,663
So the island of self here
is to look inward.

275
00:20:48,255 --> 00:20:51,454
And more specifically, in the sutra

276
00:20:52,410 --> 00:20:57,311
is recommended that you look inward
and to meditate.

277
00:20:57,527 --> 00:21:02,585
There is a phrase that says,
"Meditate on the body in the body,

278
00:21:05,930 --> 00:21:09,630
nourishing Right Understanding
and mindfulness

279
00:21:09,787 --> 00:21:15,699
to master and transform
your cravings and anxieties."

280
00:21:16,658 --> 00:21:18,438
That is

281
00:21:21,731 --> 00:21:29,194
the best instruction that you will get
in terms of what the Buddhist path is.

282
00:21:29,419 --> 00:21:33,211
It is go back, look inside your body.

283
00:21:33,448 --> 00:21:36,261
And here the body is not,
is just one word 'body',

284
00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,164
but it means the five skandhas.

285
00:21:39,294 --> 00:21:45,253
It means also the four foundations
of your practice of meditation.

286
00:21:45,964 --> 00:21:49,965
The four foundations,
the body, the feelings,

287
00:21:50,629 --> 00:21:55,776
the mind and the objects of mind,
or the world.

288
00:21:55,941 --> 00:21:59,485
So those are the four foundations
the Buddha has taught.

289
00:21:59,656 --> 00:22:04,586
So that when you say, 'Look in the body',
the body means also the feelings,

290
00:22:04,724 --> 00:22:09,270
the perceptions, the mental formations
and our mind.

291
00:22:09,805 --> 00:22:14,915
So the body here is also the body
and how the mind works.

292
00:22:16,227 --> 00:22:20,678
So to be a good meditator
you need to know about that,

293
00:22:20,944 --> 00:22:24,694
you need to know how this body works,
you need to know

294
00:22:26,231 --> 00:22:31,275
how the mind, and how you perceive
and work in the world.

295
00:22:31,491 --> 00:22:35,115
And this is very important.
If we don't understand

296
00:22:35,285 --> 00:22:38,702
how your mind works,
you will just keep

297
00:22:40,035 --> 00:22:42,821
entangling yourself.

298
00:22:43,033 --> 00:22:45,441
And there is a method

299
00:22:46,026 --> 00:22:53,926
to slowly begin to see the subtle ways and
the more gross ways that our mind works.

300
00:22:55,013 --> 00:22:59,422
The gross way is, you know, when you sit
and meditate, it is hard to tell, right?

301
00:22:59,571 --> 00:23:01,716
It is very subtle.

302
00:23:01,876 --> 00:23:07,646
Whether that person, how they are feeling
or if they are really meditating.

303
00:23:07,950 --> 00:23:11,041
If they are doing the work.
It's hard to tell.

304
00:23:11,205 --> 00:23:15,929
They look very peaceful, but as soon as
they stand up, and go to the door,

305
00:23:16,098 --> 00:23:19,654
and open the door and close it,
you can see their mind.

306
00:23:19,779 --> 00:23:23,097
You see? That is very -
That is the gross level.

307
00:23:23,966 --> 00:23:25,957
Do you understand?

308
00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:30,155
When you see someone rushing
to the tea house, it's very obvious.

309
00:23:30,425 --> 00:23:34,200
So the body can reveal the mind.

310
00:23:34,824 --> 00:23:38,538
When you see someone take hot water,

311
00:23:41,030 --> 00:23:43,926
he pulls the lever down,

312
00:23:44,976 --> 00:23:50,388
and how they take the hot water
tells you something. It's energetic.

313
00:23:50,585 --> 00:23:52,729
It is more subtle.

314
00:23:52,889 --> 00:23:57,766
So, slowly, with meditation, you can see,
you train in gross,

315
00:23:57,932 --> 00:24:00,463
and slowly in more subtle.

316
00:24:00,596 --> 00:24:03,450
And how the body works
as well as the mind.

317
00:24:03,573 --> 00:24:08,546
So we do separate it, but actually
it's one thing. Body and mind go together.

318
00:24:09,819 --> 00:24:17,062
But it is helpful to train, so
the body sometimes can help the mind.

319
00:24:19,097 --> 00:24:21,603
Like opening the door.

320
00:24:21,792 --> 00:24:25,127
If you train to open the door
in a certain way,

321
00:24:25,286 --> 00:24:29,037
and you do it every time
you open this door,

322
00:24:30,625 --> 00:24:34,913
then, what is the mind doing?
So you are not just training your body,

323
00:24:35,090 --> 00:24:38,229
you are training your mind.

324
00:24:39,052 --> 00:24:43,877
That is why as novices, for three years
we are very -

325
00:24:45,397 --> 00:24:49,158
The brothers look at how we move.

326
00:24:49,506 --> 00:24:51,767
How we flip our robe,

327
00:24:51,935 --> 00:24:55,732
how we find ways to
put on our robe quickly, you know?

328
00:24:55,908 --> 00:24:58,667
Because we are not used to it.

329
00:24:58,860 --> 00:25:03,769
So as novice, for three years
we have to train to master our steps,

330
00:25:04,025 --> 00:25:08,305
how we cook, how we sit,
how we make tea, how we get out of bed.

331
00:25:09,267 --> 00:25:14,145
How our bed looks.
The area where we put our things.

332
00:25:14,407 --> 00:25:16,943
How the room looks.

333
00:25:17,100 --> 00:25:19,693
We call them mindful manners.

334
00:25:19,836 --> 00:25:23,358
The first three years is very, very -

335
00:25:23,546 --> 00:25:29,147
So the training in the body
is quite helpful at the beginning.

336
00:25:29,371 --> 00:25:31,648
Because the mind part,

337
00:25:31,820 --> 00:25:33,692
tougher.

338
00:25:33,823 --> 00:25:38,292
It is more subtle,
because we are quite cerebral animals,

339
00:25:38,448 --> 00:25:42,624
we are very proud, we are Homo sapiens,
Homo conscious.

340
00:25:43,376 --> 00:25:47,931
We are very smart.
So as meditators, sometimes

341
00:25:49,186 --> 00:25:52,108
we are too smarts for ourselves.

342
00:25:52,271 --> 00:25:54,811
So the body helps us.

343
00:25:54,940 --> 00:25:59,245
So here, when we say,
"Look at the body in the body",

344
00:26:00,492 --> 00:26:03,896
is to come back and use this

345
00:26:07,836 --> 00:26:12,638
vehicle, this body as a meditation.

346
00:26:13,792 --> 00:26:19,090
In another sutra, The Sixteen Exercises
on Full Awareness of Breathing,

347
00:26:19,620 --> 00:26:23,205
the Buddha gave very clear instructions.

348
00:26:24,926 --> 00:26:29,280
And he uses the breath
to observe the mind.

349
00:26:29,937 --> 00:26:32,563
Here in Plum Village,

350
00:26:33,553 --> 00:26:36,493
you have experienced
some of the guided meditations.

351
00:26:36,613 --> 00:26:39,712
They all go with the breath.
In-breath, like this

352
00:26:40,817 --> 00:26:45,112
we managed before the Dharma talk,
we heard a guided meditation.

353
00:26:45,464 --> 00:26:50,409
Breathing in, I see myself as space.

354
00:26:51,254 --> 00:26:55,022
Breathing out, I feel free.

355
00:26:55,862 --> 00:26:59,457
Imagine your body as space.

356
00:27:01,151 --> 00:27:04,152
And you feel free.

357
00:27:04,554 --> 00:27:10,022
So with the breath we can actually
learn a lot about our body.

358
00:27:11,390 --> 00:27:15,435
So the following the breath,
don't underestimate that.

359
00:27:15,921 --> 00:27:21,044
Maybe you've done it a couple of times,
maybe follow your breath a few meditations

360
00:27:21,176 --> 00:27:25,328
and you, 'Huh! This is like beginners!'

361
00:27:25,869 --> 00:27:27,985
But be careful.

362
00:27:28,161 --> 00:27:32,022
Following the breath
is a whole life's work.

363
00:27:32,205 --> 00:27:37,278
So every time you sit, establish yourself
right away to the breath.

364
00:27:38,166 --> 00:27:43,502
You breathe in, you recognize
it is an in-breath, and find out

365
00:27:44,556 --> 00:27:48,523
where is it that spot
that is most helpful for you.

366
00:27:48,830 --> 00:27:51,999
Sometimes it's near the nose.

367
00:27:52,258 --> 00:27:55,484
Sometimes it's the back of your head.

368
00:27:55,588 --> 00:27:58,003
Sometimes it's around here.

369
00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:00,336
So, it changes.

370
00:28:01,653 --> 00:28:05,418
So we take the breath
and we recognize

371
00:28:06,721 --> 00:28:09,222
it is an in-breath.

372
00:28:11,872 --> 00:28:14,057
You can out-breath.

373
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:16,642
You recognize the out-breath.

374
00:28:16,793 --> 00:28:19,813
It sound like,
'Why it has to do anything?'

375
00:28:20,643 --> 00:28:24,371
But it is the secret.

376
00:28:24,821 --> 00:28:29,281
Sometimes - There is a poem in Zen.

377
00:28:30,655 --> 00:28:37,250
You take the silk of the lotus stem,
you know, when you break the lotus stem

378
00:28:37,427 --> 00:28:41,802
and you pull the stem.
And there is a very thin silk.

379
00:28:42,443 --> 00:28:45,016
Have you ever seen it?
It's very thin.

380
00:28:45,167 --> 00:28:47,993
It's very light.

381
00:28:48,184 --> 00:28:51,845
And there is a poem where you say,
"You can take one of those silks

382
00:28:51,955 --> 00:28:56,503
and you can tame an angry tiger."

383
00:28:57,831 --> 00:28:59,831
It's beautiful.

384
00:28:59,952 --> 00:29:02,739
You don't need a whip,
you don't need a chain,

385
00:29:02,862 --> 00:29:07,873
you just need a thin silk
from the lotus leaf.

386
00:29:10,158 --> 00:29:13,003
And you can hold the tiger. Wow!

387
00:29:13,143 --> 00:29:16,939
I loved that image
when Thay first taught it.

388
00:29:17,171 --> 00:29:19,311
So you don't need -

389
00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:23,271
And what that silk thread is,
is your breath.

390
00:29:24,524 --> 00:29:28,593
Don't underestimate your breath.
If you train your breathing,

391
00:29:29,077 --> 00:29:31,297
it can actually,

392
00:29:32,321 --> 00:29:35,788
it can really hold
and bring back your mind.

393
00:29:37,089 --> 00:29:40,368
So with each breath,
even a small little breath,

394
00:29:40,568 --> 00:29:43,340
you can bring your mind back.

395
00:29:43,529 --> 00:29:45,812
It is drifting somewhere.

396
00:29:46,022 --> 00:29:49,283
So these exercises
it is what we do.

397
00:29:49,519 --> 00:29:52,512
We don't clip vine, you know.

398
00:29:52,638 --> 00:29:57,168
The grape vines. We don't build walls
with bricks.

399
00:29:57,881 --> 00:30:01,568
Monastics here, what we do,
what practitioners do here,

400
00:30:01,917 --> 00:30:07,569
is you train to have more concentration,
more mindfulness, and more insight,

401
00:30:07,938 --> 00:30:10,354
more understanding.

402
00:30:11,005 --> 00:30:13,401
So with each breath,

403
00:30:14,865 --> 00:30:17,281
our mindfulness energy

404
00:30:17,620 --> 00:30:20,310
is generated, right?

405
00:30:20,801 --> 00:30:23,025
This is all we do!

406
00:30:23,456 --> 00:30:28,044
And the more we become consistent,
the more strength it has.

407
00:30:28,388 --> 00:30:30,691
Even though it is still very subtle,

408
00:30:30,978 --> 00:30:34,818
this little silk thread
can really hold you.

409
00:30:35,096 --> 00:30:38,502
And some of you maybe
have already experienced it.

410
00:30:39,020 --> 00:30:44,234
You may have this wrong idea about
something and it makes you very angry.

411
00:30:46,787 --> 00:30:48,824
Just one breath,

412
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:51,706
wow!

413
00:30:52,332 --> 00:30:56,907
Second breath, you are like,
oh! I'm so glad I didn't open my mouth!

414
00:30:58,454 --> 00:31:00,722
You already felt that?

415
00:31:01,053 --> 00:31:04,271
By the second breath
you are already feeling gratitude.

416
00:31:05,156 --> 00:31:08,480
'Oh! I'm so glad
I didn't react to that one!'

417
00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:10,492
(Laughter)

418
00:31:10,699 --> 00:31:13,166
That is the tiger, you see?

419
00:31:13,290 --> 00:31:16,531
The tiger now turns around and smiles.

420
00:31:17,285 --> 00:31:20,808
Ah! You know? Wow! I got out of that one!

421
00:31:21,167 --> 00:31:25,761
Those of you who have been angry,
like I have been in the past,

422
00:31:25,935 --> 00:31:28,388
I can destroy many things.

423
00:31:28,542 --> 00:31:34,279
All the kitchen cupboards, all the doors,
the table, all the knives.

424
00:31:36,267 --> 00:31:40,312
So you know what that tiger can do, right?

425
00:31:41,215 --> 00:31:44,796
But to master the tiger, wow!

426
00:31:45,091 --> 00:31:46,941
Now, that

427
00:31:47,685 --> 00:31:50,849
is the greatest gift.

428
00:31:51,997 --> 00:31:56,637
You know, you to be the CEO,
and have a good company,

429
00:31:57,019 --> 00:32:01,544
and you got 500 employees,
that's great!

430
00:32:02,423 --> 00:32:04,962
But it's incomparable

431
00:32:05,977 --> 00:32:10,589
to the CEO of your anger, eh?

432
00:32:10,821 --> 00:32:13,400
That is a great happiness.

433
00:32:13,565 --> 00:32:16,325
When I was first able to do that,

434
00:32:17,352 --> 00:32:22,365
I knew this is something very,
very precious.

435
00:32:22,778 --> 00:32:26,687
And I dedicate my life
to finding out more.

436
00:32:27,301 --> 00:32:32,080
So this is what the power of
the breathing, the exercise.

437
00:32:32,428 --> 00:32:36,996
The Buddha didn't just give
a whole teaching on the breath.

438
00:32:37,229 --> 00:32:43,281
Because, it's what he does
and what he sees can help.

439
00:32:44,156 --> 00:32:51,108
So don't underestimate the conscious
breathing exercise training, Okay?

440
00:32:51,980 --> 00:32:55,607
This is how you train to look at
the body within the body.

441
00:32:55,704 --> 00:33:01,756
You sit, find the time, sit down.
And be with your body.

442
00:33:03,524 --> 00:33:07,773
Most of the time in our society
we are not taught that.

443
00:33:08,207 --> 00:33:10,838
Our body sometimes is in the way.

444
00:33:10,989 --> 00:33:14,041
It gets hungry? Why it has to get hungry!

445
00:33:14,395 --> 00:33:17,805
You just fill it up and then
continue to work.

446
00:33:18,125 --> 00:33:19,984
So we've never,

447
00:33:20,119 --> 00:33:22,508
in the society we don't really

448
00:33:22,629 --> 00:33:28,436
value the miracle of having a body,
that your parents gave birth to you.

449
00:33:29,745 --> 00:33:34,672
So there is a whole miracle, a cosmos
in our body that we can actually

450
00:33:35,643 --> 00:33:37,698
come back to.

451
00:33:37,848 --> 00:33:40,734
I remember the first total relaxation,

452
00:33:40,881 --> 00:33:44,430
Sister Chan Khong, in a retreat
in Santa Barbara, I laid down,

453
00:33:44,569 --> 00:33:48,957
she asked to put our hand on our heart.
My first time!

454
00:33:49,285 --> 00:33:53,755
Valuing my heart. Do you believe that?
29 years old.

455
00:33:54,238 --> 00:33:57,611
And the first time going,
'Oh! Thank you, heart'

456
00:33:57,936 --> 00:34:00,263
I never forget it.

457
00:34:00,459 --> 00:34:04,699
I was a very emotional moment
of actually, 'Gosh!

458
00:34:04,945 --> 00:34:09,211
I know what have I done to my body!'

459
00:34:09,831 --> 00:34:15,009
So with mindfulness we come to cherish,
and to value, and to protect

460
00:34:15,845 --> 00:34:19,110
our body and its energy.

461
00:34:19,353 --> 00:34:25,536
So we waste a lot of energy, and
we hold in a lot of stress and anxiety

462
00:34:25,991 --> 00:34:28,362
in our body.

463
00:34:28,534 --> 00:34:32,469
So we learn to release, to relax.
That is fundamental.

464
00:34:32,668 --> 00:34:34,949
First gross step.

465
00:34:35,593 --> 00:34:39,456
But it is nothing less than
taking care of the mind as well.

466
00:34:39,605 --> 00:34:42,685
Because, you see it, it is the same.

467
00:34:44,551 --> 00:34:47,224
When you feel sad,

468
00:34:48,053 --> 00:34:51,847
your body feels heavy, and your breath

469
00:34:52,575 --> 00:34:54,530
tight,

470
00:34:54,711 --> 00:34:59,213
find some place in the forest,
find a quite place.

471
00:35:00,010 --> 00:35:03,078
And be with that.

472
00:35:06,820 --> 00:35:11,542
So, learning to feel your body
in the heavy state,

473
00:35:11,786 --> 00:35:14,333
and not to go look for

474
00:35:16,093 --> 00:35:20,102
you know, a friend to listen to me.
Those are needed too,

475
00:35:20,690 --> 00:35:25,041
but learn to be with your sadness.

476
00:35:25,670 --> 00:35:28,516
Take care of your sadness.

477
00:35:29,856 --> 00:35:33,258
There is a bamboo forest out here,
a grove here.

478
00:35:35,065 --> 00:35:38,586
You can sit in the middle of the bamboos.

479
00:35:40,303 --> 00:35:44,504
It is very tight, you let it wrap you.

480
00:35:45,223 --> 00:35:50,759
And the bamboo grove here it is like
it has mother energy.

481
00:35:51,388 --> 00:35:55,387
Find a place down there, in the oak grove.

482
00:35:58,521 --> 00:36:03,814
Be with whatever that is discomfort.

483
00:36:04,127 --> 00:36:07,889
This is coming back to oneself.

484
00:36:08,214 --> 00:36:11,373
We don't go looking for, 'Oh! -'

485
00:36:11,871 --> 00:36:14,718
Not all the time.

486
00:36:14,993 --> 00:36:17,884
Sometimes we do need a friend.

487
00:36:18,190 --> 00:36:21,520
But we need to become our best friend.

488
00:36:22,865 --> 00:36:25,487
So that is the feelings, eh?

489
00:36:25,915 --> 00:36:28,190
The body, the feelings.

490
00:36:28,801 --> 00:36:33,767
And feelings is both
in the 4 foundations as in the 5 skandhas,

491
00:36:34,713 --> 00:36:38,631
feeling is separated out.
It is also the mind.

492
00:36:39,009 --> 00:36:42,341
It is also consciousness,
but the Buddha takes it out.

493
00:36:42,515 --> 00:36:46,917
And I always wondered why
he takes perception and feeling out,

494
00:36:47,625 --> 00:36:49,879
and makes 5.

495
00:36:51,793 --> 00:36:55,692
Because you look at the way we work
as human beings,

496
00:36:55,830 --> 00:36:59,369
feelings is huge, right?

497
00:36:59,535 --> 00:37:04,342
Everything is emotional, everything is
either you like, you don't like,

498
00:37:04,504 --> 00:37:07,173
it's pleasant, not pleasant.

499
00:37:07,356 --> 00:37:11,076
At lunch today, you see your feelings.

500
00:37:11,745 --> 00:37:13,556
You know,

501
00:37:14,876 --> 00:37:20,768
you feel you are not making contact
with people, or you know,

502
00:37:21,931 --> 00:37:24,241
another feeling comes up.

503
00:37:24,365 --> 00:37:27,388
Then somebody comes and says Hi! to you,
and you, 'Oh!'

504
00:37:27,785 --> 00:37:31,904
And then another feeling comes up.
So we are feeling animals,

505
00:37:32,077 --> 00:37:34,474
we are emotional animals, right?

506
00:37:34,628 --> 00:37:37,176
If you don't know how that works -

507
00:37:38,338 --> 00:37:41,127
It is like the weather, you know?

508
00:37:41,310 --> 00:37:45,929
The people, actually, some of my brothers,
they follow the weather a lot!

509
00:37:46,078 --> 00:37:49,226
They say, 'Oh! Tomorrow
is going to be a great day!'

510
00:37:49,311 --> 00:37:53,289
Or, 'The next day is going to be sunny,
it's going to be rain, it's going -'

511
00:37:53,403 --> 00:37:56,054
But you really never know, you know?

512
00:37:56,224 --> 00:38:00,265
When the day comes, it is like half rain,
and then it is half sunny.

513
00:38:00,826 --> 00:38:03,387
But there is so much energy!

514
00:38:03,597 --> 00:38:07,716
It is like, whatever! Okay! It's going
to rain, Okay, it's going to rain!

515
00:38:07,820 --> 00:38:09,533
(Laughter)

516
00:38:09,709 --> 00:38:12,987
Your feelings, sorry to say,
it's kind of like that.

517
00:38:13,145 --> 00:38:18,308
So don't get attached to it. You are
feeling, Oh! Everybody is going so well!

518
00:38:19,043 --> 00:38:22,157
But then, tomorrow, ummm.

519
00:38:22,616 --> 00:38:24,219
Right?

520
00:38:24,998 --> 00:38:26,696
(Laughter)

521
00:38:26,867 --> 00:38:31,293
I don't mean - If you are going through
a bad time right now, please, you know -

522
00:38:31,893 --> 00:38:33,991
It's cool.

523
00:38:34,578 --> 00:38:38,273
But it is not the only place
we need to be, eh?

524
00:38:38,441 --> 00:38:42,814
Just don't always base yourself
on the thermometer of your feelings.

525
00:38:42,936 --> 00:38:46,487
That is terrible!
There is more things going on!

526
00:38:47,178 --> 00:38:49,769
So feeling is just one, Okay?

527
00:38:49,914 --> 00:38:51,998
The food is not good, but like,

528
00:38:53,104 --> 00:38:57,684
it's wonderful to be hanging out here,
and the sun is coming out.

529
00:38:57,969 --> 00:39:01,032
So there are other things
going on besides.

530
00:39:02,225 --> 00:39:04,270
So feelings -

531
00:39:05,461 --> 00:39:09,220
But know how they work,
know how they work.

532
00:39:13,004 --> 00:39:15,591
Sometimes I read the newspaper,

533
00:39:16,541 --> 00:39:22,401
and I look at what kind of emotions,
I look for emotions in the newspaper.

534
00:39:23,410 --> 00:39:26,826
I don't read it for the news,
because it's all fake anyway.

535
00:39:27,079 --> 00:39:28,660
(Laughter)

536
00:39:28,798 --> 00:39:32,883
No, no fake. But like, you know,
perspective, opinions.

537
00:39:34,007 --> 00:39:37,770
So I don't get caught at their facts
or what really happened,

538
00:39:37,891 --> 00:39:41,850
because next week you have another article
that says something else, right?

539
00:39:41,993 --> 00:39:46,143
So something you look at the newspaper,
as looking for feelings!

540
00:39:46,337 --> 00:39:49,840
That one is greed,
and that one is anger,

541
00:39:49,959 --> 00:39:52,470
that one is jealousy, that one is -

542
00:39:52,747 --> 00:39:56,710
It is a very good exercise.
You see the human drama.

543
00:39:59,164 --> 00:40:01,289
And that helps you,

544
00:40:01,536 --> 00:40:03,510
it helps me

545
00:40:03,879 --> 00:40:06,067
become a little bit,

546
00:40:07,332 --> 00:40:10,857
I don't want to say a little bit more
even, I don't want to say detached,

547
00:40:10,993 --> 00:40:15,530
but like just careful.
Not to let it be overwhelming.

548
00:40:15,868 --> 00:40:18,628
I'm having a good day?
I'm having a good day.

549
00:40:18,771 --> 00:40:22,261
I'm not, 'I'm having a good day!'
I'm having a good day.

550
00:40:22,898 --> 00:40:26,793
It's a great day.
It is a good day.

551
00:40:27,499 --> 00:40:30,800
It's a nice day to be alive.

552
00:40:31,393 --> 00:40:33,763
So I had to train that.

553
00:40:33,896 --> 00:40:37,042
I came from a culture where
everything is superlative.

554
00:40:37,172 --> 00:40:40,336
'Wow! It's so nice to see you!!!'

555
00:40:40,573 --> 00:40:42,287
You know?

556
00:40:42,510 --> 00:40:44,006
(Laughter)

557
00:40:44,157 --> 00:40:46,759
Sorry, I'm making fun of myself.

558
00:40:46,928 --> 00:40:54,646
Everything is super, you know,
is superb! Everything is grand!

559
00:40:54,955 --> 00:41:00,773
Nothing can just be like,
'Yes! It's a beautiful day. It is.'

560
00:41:02,599 --> 00:41:05,036
It truly is.

561
00:41:06,332 --> 00:41:10,889
So these feelings, you explore and find

562
00:41:12,116 --> 00:41:16,395
that place where the feeling
doesn't move you.

563
00:41:16,587 --> 00:41:20,024
That is taking refuge in oneself.

564
00:41:20,580 --> 00:41:23,594
You know how to take care
of your feelings.

565
00:41:23,725 --> 00:41:26,961
If I ask you, 'Do you know how to
take care of our emotions?'

566
00:41:27,079 --> 00:41:29,012
You have to say, 'Yes.'

567
00:41:29,197 --> 00:41:33,975
If you are a practitioner,
you cannot be beat up by your feelings.

568
00:41:34,156 --> 00:41:37,182
You have to know. It is not to say,
don't have feelings.

569
00:41:37,302 --> 00:41:41,890
Yes, be sad, be angry, be irritated,
be judgmental, be whatever.

570
00:41:42,730 --> 00:41:45,824
There is many, many.

571
00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:50,587
And you know how to take care of it.

572
00:41:50,863 --> 00:41:56,694
Wow! That is the island of self.
Taking care of oneself.

573
00:41:58,829 --> 00:42:02,684
So the body in the body,
the feeling in the feeling.

574
00:42:03,048 --> 00:42:06,351
So don't deny yourself,

575
00:42:06,949 --> 00:42:12,124
just don't deny yourself
from feeling the unpleasant feeling.

576
00:42:13,720 --> 00:42:17,898
Eat something that you don't normally
would like to eat.

577
00:42:23,099 --> 00:42:24,564
Right?

578
00:42:24,704 --> 00:42:28,626
Why is it you just go after feelings
that make you feel pleasant and you like,

579
00:42:28,787 --> 00:42:31,745
and why you just choose
things that you like?

580
00:42:31,867 --> 00:42:35,359
Why don't choose something that
you wouldn't normally like,

581
00:42:36,855 --> 00:42:39,817
and feel how that feels?

582
00:42:40,116 --> 00:42:43,676
Anyway, I'm sharing with you my kind of
weird way of training, eh?

583
00:42:43,766 --> 00:42:46,804
Only do this if it works with you, Okay?

584
00:42:46,943 --> 00:42:50,457
I am a very, how we call it,
I'm a very tricky person.

585
00:42:50,628 --> 00:42:53,144
So I have to trick myself.

586
00:42:53,314 --> 00:42:56,051
So if you are that kind of person,

587
00:42:56,198 --> 00:42:58,566
then this probably makes sense.

588
00:43:00,617 --> 00:43:06,399
So you know, I do this so I become
more resilient. I have choices.

589
00:43:06,634 --> 00:43:10,729
It means that. When you only choose
things that make you feel good,

590
00:43:10,863 --> 00:43:13,407
you don't have so much choices.

591
00:43:13,552 --> 00:43:16,701
Because sometime
they are not going to be there.

592
00:43:16,908 --> 00:43:19,679
And we are going to have nothing!

593
00:43:20,584 --> 00:43:22,433
So,

594
00:43:23,168 --> 00:43:28,723
explore pleasant feelings,
unpleasant feelings, neutral feelings.

595
00:43:30,303 --> 00:43:34,825
Neutral feelings, Thay has an interesting
thing about neutral feelings.

596
00:43:38,458 --> 00:43:42,606
We can look at something neutral,
like brushing our teeth.

597
00:43:43,999 --> 00:43:47,288
What is so pleasant about
brushing our teeth?

598
00:43:47,517 --> 00:43:51,909
I remember first coming across
Thay teaching us about this.

599
00:43:52,931 --> 00:43:56,899
And it was really hard to -
I had to really do it!

600
00:43:57,169 --> 00:43:59,821
I mean, you never think
brushing your teeth

601
00:44:00,004 --> 00:44:02,308
is something that you can enjoy, right?

602
00:44:02,586 --> 00:44:05,501
Who ever had that?

603
00:44:07,106 --> 00:44:09,233
Some of you, I'm sure.

604
00:44:09,349 --> 00:44:13,350
But most people, brushing your teeth
is hygiene, you know? You just -

605
00:44:14,496 --> 00:44:17,674
Or even going to urinate.

606
00:44:18,633 --> 00:44:22,647
Strange, eh? I never thought of it
as something to enjoy,

607
00:44:23,164 --> 00:44:26,521
until Thay told me one time,
he walked into the forest,

608
00:44:26,787 --> 00:44:28,925
toilet has this tendency to get away.

609
00:44:29,645 --> 00:44:38,070
And Thay looked into the maples outside
the Omega practice center, in the US.

610
00:44:38,946 --> 00:44:41,999
And Thay enjoyed urinating.

611
00:44:42,174 --> 00:44:45,599
And I remember the first time
I heard that from Thay at a retreat,

612
00:44:45,757 --> 00:44:48,112
and I, 'Wow!'

613
00:44:50,578 --> 00:44:52,891
You see? It used to be neutral for me.

614
00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:56,572
It was like, you know, Who ever thinks
about enjoying peeing?

615
00:44:58,678 --> 00:45:01,253
But you see the difference?

616
00:45:02,023 --> 00:45:08,490
We think, 'Oh! Only when we eat or we
drink our favorite drink it is pleasant.'

617
00:45:08,915 --> 00:45:14,918
But actually, the releasing we think
is unpleasant. 'Oh, we have to go pee!

618
00:45:15,180 --> 00:45:17,940
Oh, we have to go defecate! Or we -'

619
00:45:18,067 --> 00:45:23,815
It's just something - But it's amazing
what Thay is revealing to us.

620
00:45:24,381 --> 00:45:28,476
For me, it was mind-boggling,
it was like, wow!

621
00:45:28,649 --> 00:45:31,013
And I remember the first trying.

622
00:45:32,574 --> 00:45:36,622
It was quite amazing, you know?
The birds -

623
00:45:39,041 --> 00:45:44,482
It's not something you have to get rid of
and do it quickly, and you have to hide.

624
00:45:47,985 --> 00:45:53,157
So this is taking something neutral,
what you think is neutral,

625
00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:58,585
and turning it a little bit. You see?

626
00:45:59,544 --> 00:46:04,224
So whatever you think - I used to think
folding clothes is neutral.

627
00:46:04,642 --> 00:46:06,552
I get it done.

628
00:46:06,716 --> 00:46:11,168
So I began to apply it to all aspects
of my life where I can of like -

629
00:46:11,448 --> 00:46:15,557
you know, it's just gray. You just do it,
you fold your clothes.

630
00:46:16,661 --> 00:46:18,933
But then I remember,

631
00:46:19,301 --> 00:46:23,609
'OK, I'm going to
enjoy folding my clothes.'

632
00:46:24,415 --> 00:46:28,089
Because we don't have irons,
I don't use an iron.

633
00:46:29,622 --> 00:46:36,047
So I make it - If you fold it correctly,
and you pack in, and you stack it tight,

634
00:46:36,507 --> 00:46:38,142
it irons itself.

635
00:46:38,314 --> 00:46:39,971
(Laughter)

636
00:46:40,136 --> 00:46:41,738
I know, it is -

637
00:46:42,041 --> 00:46:44,862
It's not good for the electricity,
you know?

638
00:46:45,002 --> 00:46:47,709
The company, the electricity company.

639
00:46:48,057 --> 00:46:53,237
But you - Now, when I do my clothing,
I fold my clothing,

640
00:46:54,564 --> 00:46:59,806
at least 30 minutes, maybe.
I don't count, but it takes a while.

641
00:47:01,029 --> 00:47:05,428
Because I get everything lined up,
the seams, and - It's a little bit -

642
00:47:06,941 --> 00:47:11,436
What is it? Obsessive? OCD, or something?

643
00:47:11,707 --> 00:47:13,212
(Laughter)

644
00:47:13,409 --> 00:47:15,888
Something like that.
It's borderline, kind of.

645
00:47:16,008 --> 00:47:18,454
But I'm smiling
and I'm really enjoying it.

646
00:47:18,627 --> 00:47:21,990
And my brother, my room-mate,
he knows not to bother me.

647
00:47:22,157 --> 00:47:25,718
So it is also the time for meditation.
You breathe -

648
00:47:27,376 --> 00:47:32,316
And I've found ways to fold it
where I can get it pretty, pretty

649
00:47:34,745 --> 00:47:36,775
smooth.

650
00:47:36,936 --> 00:47:39,189
So that is a kind of another one, eh?

651
00:47:39,323 --> 00:47:42,737
Folding clothes. It used to be neutral,
it's not neutral anymore.

652
00:47:42,904 --> 00:47:46,765
It's actually - But it's not like,
'Oh! It's the time to fold clothes!'

653
00:47:47,282 --> 00:47:49,001
(Laughter)

654
00:47:49,135 --> 00:47:53,801
It's more like, 'Ah! I have clothes!'
So I use that time to be grateful.

655
00:47:54,642 --> 00:47:59,652
You know, I have a rip in my pants,
and I see, 'Oh!'. And I try to value it,

656
00:47:59,830 --> 00:48:02,963
and keep using it as long as I can.

657
00:48:03,188 --> 00:48:06,283
So it's a gratitude too to my clothes.
It's not just -

658
00:48:07,814 --> 00:48:15,489
Anyway. You see, I have a few more like,
cutting my nails. I share this with you.

659
00:48:15,698 --> 00:48:19,957
It used to be neutral. Cutting your nails.
And your toenail.

660
00:48:20,221 --> 00:48:23,720
Now, when it's time to cut my nails -

661
00:48:25,312 --> 00:48:26,557
Enjoy it!

662
00:48:27,202 --> 00:48:29,667
Specially your last toe.

663
00:48:29,750 --> 00:48:31,657
(Laughter)

664
00:48:33,346 --> 00:48:37,211
We really underestimate our last toe.
'You are good for nothing!

665
00:48:37,374 --> 00:48:39,879
What are you doing down there?'

666
00:48:40,036 --> 00:48:41,745
(Laughter)

667
00:48:41,946 --> 00:48:44,319
There is little excuse for a toe, right?

668
00:48:44,429 --> 00:48:47,288
Did you ever look at the nail
of your small toe?

669
00:48:47,499 --> 00:48:49,550
Ah! It's so cute!

670
00:48:49,731 --> 00:48:51,609
(Laughter)

671
00:48:51,811 --> 00:48:54,522
Anyway, it's really enjoyable.

672
00:48:54,698 --> 00:48:57,204
Because I had my toe infected.

673
00:48:58,030 --> 00:49:01,575
And you know when you have
infection on your toe.

674
00:49:02,965 --> 00:49:08,977
So when I cut my toe, I am very careful
and I appreciate and I am so grateful,

675
00:49:09,657 --> 00:49:12,014
to every toe.

676
00:49:12,342 --> 00:49:17,502
So it sounds funny, but for me,
it is these little things, right?

677
00:49:17,825 --> 00:49:22,300
Of how you take care of yourself.
Don't underestimate those little things.

678
00:49:22,468 --> 00:49:24,977
Something that you love to do,

679
00:49:25,750 --> 00:49:29,552
don't deprive yourself of it.

680
00:49:29,817 --> 00:49:32,682
Right now, when I am in big trouble,
when I start to,

681
00:49:32,787 --> 00:49:35,897
'I don't have time for it right now.'
Do you know that one?

682
00:49:36,035 --> 00:49:39,397
'OK. Maybe not this week. No, no no.'

683
00:49:40,108 --> 00:49:43,803
It's kind of like I don't deserve it,
or I don't have time for it,

684
00:49:43,918 --> 00:49:46,200
or this is more important.

685
00:49:46,364 --> 00:49:49,260
So be careful with that.
You do it this week,

686
00:49:49,381 --> 00:49:52,646
you do it more next week,
and so on.

687
00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:57,588
This is a way of
slowly not taking care of yourself.

688
00:49:59,067 --> 00:50:01,663
So these are feelings.

689
00:50:03,686 --> 00:50:07,822
And we move into the area of mind.

690
00:50:08,464 --> 00:50:12,737
Mental formations and objects of mind.

691
00:50:13,434 --> 00:50:17,767
So it is the way we think,
the way we perceive,

692
00:50:18,848 --> 00:50:22,405
and what we have ideas about the world.

693
00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:24,632
So remember this, Okay?

694
00:50:24,797 --> 00:50:29,328
So, the mind is also mental formations,
the mind is what happens,

695
00:50:29,563 --> 00:50:32,624
the ideas, the thinking,
everything in your mind.

696
00:50:34,050 --> 00:50:39,344
And the way you perceive the world,
the dharmas, how you see things.

697
00:50:40,449 --> 00:50:43,823
And this is the fun stuff.

698
00:50:45,124 --> 00:50:50,224
You have a lot of ideas about yourself.
You have a lot of ideas about the world,

699
00:50:50,478 --> 00:50:53,977
about the people, and your place in it.

700
00:50:54,143 --> 00:51:00,099
Those are ideas, notions. And you need
to know that those are notions.

701
00:51:01,126 --> 00:51:05,086
They are not truth, they are not real,
they are not -

702
00:51:08,415 --> 00:51:10,876
You made them up.
Sorry.

703
00:51:12,530 --> 00:51:17,446
That's the part for me that was like,
wow! I did make it up!

704
00:51:17,887 --> 00:51:24,858
And if you are on the path, this is
a very cool thing to watch,

705
00:51:25,171 --> 00:51:29,222
how your mind works,
and how the world works.

706
00:51:30,900 --> 00:51:33,764
And this is how we are
in the world, right?

707
00:51:34,229 --> 00:51:38,722
So a person who knows and becomes aware
of how her mind works,

708
00:51:39,709 --> 00:51:43,118
is a little closer to being free.

709
00:51:45,029 --> 00:51:49,138
So here the objective is to be free.

710
00:51:51,040 --> 00:51:54,226
So this is, you have to ask yourself,

711
00:51:55,215 --> 00:51:59,710
what are some notions, some ideas
that keep us tied.

712
00:52:03,367 --> 00:52:08,259
So in the five skandhas, we have feelings,
and we have perceptions, right?

713
00:52:08,840 --> 00:52:12,056
And then mental formations,
and then consciousness.

714
00:52:12,211 --> 00:52:15,779
The area of perceptions that
Thay the Buddha also takes out.

715
00:52:16,834 --> 00:52:20,856
It is also part of mental formations,
or of mind, right?

716
00:52:21,048 --> 00:52:25,340
So why did the Buddha
take out perceptions?

717
00:52:26,109 --> 00:52:31,053
That was always a question of mine
that helped me begin to see more,

718
00:52:32,652 --> 00:52:34,877
and understand more.

719
00:52:35,103 --> 00:52:38,573
When we talk about perceptions,
we usually think

720
00:52:39,819 --> 00:52:42,260
that there is something out there.

721
00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:46,027
But in the Buddhist teachings,
and what he found,

722
00:52:46,166 --> 00:52:52,676
is that actually the one who is perceiving
and what is out there come together.

723
00:52:53,483 --> 00:52:56,625
They cannot be separated.

724
00:52:59,275 --> 00:53:04,866
This for me was a good exercise,
a good way of contemplating

725
00:53:05,667 --> 00:53:11,200
how we perceive things
and we think it's real, it's out there.

726
00:53:11,689 --> 00:53:13,968
But it is actually -

727
00:53:15,590 --> 00:53:20,828
The famous example is
someone sees a snake, right?

728
00:53:21,757 --> 00:53:24,148
And runs away.

729
00:53:24,305 --> 00:53:28,188
And then, when there is light
or a flashlight, he comes back, and looks,

730
00:53:28,325 --> 00:53:30,655
and he sees it is not a snake.

731
00:53:30,775 --> 00:53:34,030
It is just a stick on the ground.

732
00:53:34,741 --> 00:53:40,788
So there is a lot of that happening, but
there is a strong tendency in us as humans

733
00:53:40,982 --> 00:53:44,554
to think that's really how reality is.

734
00:53:48,514 --> 00:53:54,933
And one way of observing this is
sometime you feel sad,

735
00:53:56,398 --> 00:53:59,819
and the way you will look at the world
is a little bit different,

736
00:53:59,928 --> 00:54:03,244
the way you look at the day,
Plum Village is still Plum Village,

737
00:54:03,398 --> 00:54:05,868
bit if you are handling some kind of

738
00:54:06,656 --> 00:54:10,302
strong feeling, a resentment,
or sadness, or anger,

739
00:54:10,671 --> 00:54:14,622
how you experience Plum Village
is very different from someone else.

740
00:54:15,782 --> 00:54:21,393
So it is the same environment,
but everyone in this room

741
00:54:22,249 --> 00:54:25,069
is perceiving it differently.

742
00:54:27,243 --> 00:54:31,250
This is a good thing to be aware of.

743
00:54:33,005 --> 00:54:38,335
Because the calligraphy that Thay wrote,
'Are you sure?'

744
00:54:38,539 --> 00:54:42,302
that is what it is referring to,
referring to your perceptions.

745
00:54:43,158 --> 00:54:45,481
Don't be too sure

746
00:54:45,689 --> 00:54:48,762
that that is all that is happening.

747
00:54:50,107 --> 00:54:53,903
This is something that helped me
in my practice to observe,

748
00:54:55,014 --> 00:54:59,789
and to begin to see,
it depends on my attitude,

749
00:55:00,095 --> 00:55:02,602
my way of perceiving.

750
00:55:08,840 --> 00:55:10,972
And when we,

751
00:55:14,545 --> 00:55:18,107
when we are very sure about something,
it's usually,

752
00:55:18,872 --> 00:55:21,706
there is a lot of suffering
involved with that.

753
00:55:21,879 --> 00:55:24,089
Did you notice that?

754
00:55:24,262 --> 00:55:26,360
Sometimes it's very easy,

755
00:55:26,474 --> 00:55:29,979
you notice when two people
are having difficulties with each other.

756
00:55:30,078 --> 00:55:35,476
If you share room with 4 or 5 people,
sometimes there is two people,

757
00:55:35,672 --> 00:55:38,312
in that room maybe there is ten people,


758
00:55:38,474 --> 00:55:42,241
there is two people having
a lot of difficulties with each other.

759
00:55:45,314 --> 00:55:48,816
And it is related to
how they are perceiving something.

760
00:55:49,010 --> 00:55:52,624
But you are the lucky one,
you are the tenth person in the room,

761
00:55:52,713 --> 00:55:56,405
and you are like, 'Wow! That is
an interesting way of looking at it.'

762
00:55:56,552 --> 00:55:58,753
And then you go to the other person,

763
00:55:58,868 --> 00:56:01,883
and it is like, 'Oh! Yeah?
I can see your point too.'

764
00:56:02,049 --> 00:56:05,352
And then you are the other point,
the tenth perspective,

765
00:56:05,482 --> 00:56:08,327
and you are not suffering.
You are not angry,

766
00:56:08,516 --> 00:56:12,466
and you are not angry at them.
But why are they angry at each other?

767
00:56:12,627 --> 00:56:14,844
Have that ever happened?

768
00:56:14,967 --> 00:56:17,914
In families is kind of like that.
If you have siblings,

769
00:56:18,170 --> 00:56:23,176
it's very interesting. One of the ways
that I began to see more of this,

770
00:56:23,302 --> 00:56:25,968
is when I'm not involved in it.
It's like, 'Gosh!

771
00:56:26,123 --> 00:56:28,861
Why they just drop that idea,
and drop that idea,

772
00:56:28,990 --> 00:56:31,229
and everything will be Okay.

773
00:56:31,380 --> 00:56:33,274
No. No.

774
00:56:33,545 --> 00:56:37,131
You see? Are you sure?
'I am sure. This is what happened.'

775
00:56:37,302 --> 00:56:40,735
I say, 'Okay.'
'No, I'm sure this is what happened.'

776
00:56:41,643 --> 00:56:44,207
And you begin to, wow!

777
00:56:44,858 --> 00:56:50,244
This is the gist of it.
And you can see it happening

778
00:56:51,218 --> 00:56:53,813
when you are not involved.

779
00:56:54,026 --> 00:56:56,558
And the more you see that,

780
00:56:56,714 --> 00:57:00,638
the more you are very unsure
when you are sure.

781
00:57:02,011 --> 00:57:05,091
So when you are really sure,
you better be careful,

782
00:57:05,275 --> 00:57:09,508
because there is probably going to be
some suffering involved.

783
00:57:10,625 --> 00:57:13,342
So this is in the area of ideas, right?

784
00:57:13,407 --> 00:57:15,538
You may have a lot of notions,
and usually,

785
00:57:15,659 --> 00:57:19,008
'There's a way of doing this,
how come are you not doing it like this?'

786
00:57:19,052 --> 00:57:21,575
I like it to be done like this.

787
00:57:22,005 --> 00:57:27,470
Usually it doesn't go outside of that.
Humans are so habitual animals.

788
00:57:27,925 --> 00:57:31,272
So anything outside of your usual,

789
00:57:31,774 --> 00:57:33,570
and you suffer.

790
00:57:35,347 --> 00:57:39,873
The perceptions also are created
by the way we were raised,

791
00:57:40,087 --> 00:57:42,229
another aspect, Okay?

792
00:57:42,693 --> 00:57:45,836
So the more we begin
to understand ourselves,

793
00:57:46,100 --> 00:57:49,156
our parents, our society,

794
00:57:49,794 --> 00:57:54,852
then we can begin to recognize
that this is how we perceive things

795
00:57:55,045 --> 00:57:57,987
and it is only one way of perceiving it.

796
00:57:58,193 --> 00:58:01,176
It doesn't mean you go around
don't perceiving,

797
00:58:01,346 --> 00:58:05,670
like, 'Um, I'd better not look at that.
Not judgment there.' No, go ahead,

798
00:58:05,837 --> 00:58:08,056
but be aware

799
00:58:08,205 --> 00:58:11,691
that this is not the only way
of looking at it.

800
00:58:11,867 --> 00:58:15,753
Like, you know, the food.
You like this kind of food, it's good!

801
00:58:15,932 --> 00:58:19,275
Enjoy it, you know?
Don't say, 'Oh! I don't have an opinion.

802
00:58:19,410 --> 00:58:21,708
Um, it's Okay.'

803
00:58:21,853 --> 00:58:25,483
It means, do it but not be caught by it,

804
00:58:25,615 --> 00:58:28,973
by, 'That is the only way
of perceiving it.'

805
00:58:30,649 --> 00:58:34,365
So I see sometimes people
misunderstand this,

806
00:58:34,511 --> 00:58:37,465
and they are very afraid of perceiving.

807
00:58:37,846 --> 00:58:40,386
They are very protective, you know?

808
00:58:40,580 --> 00:58:42,356
But it's Okay.

809
00:58:42,468 --> 00:58:47,597
But the world of perceptions, the world
of perceiving is also wonderful.

810
00:58:48,616 --> 00:58:51,584
So we also have to train how to look.

811
00:58:52,113 --> 00:58:54,855
How to have the right view.

812
00:58:55,287 --> 00:58:58,662
So when you perceive something,
and you want to hold on to it,

813
00:58:58,783 --> 00:59:01,523
but it is impermanent, then you suffer.

814
00:59:01,764 --> 00:59:04,948
So this is the area of mind, eh?

815
00:59:05,123 --> 00:59:10,308
That is in the exercises,
the sixteen exercises,

816
00:59:10,795 --> 00:59:13,902
the Buddha also recommends us
to look at it.

817
00:59:14,089 --> 00:59:18,203
To look at things, to perceive things,
as impermanent.

818
00:59:22,361 --> 00:59:27,415
The hardest part is seeing your loved ones
and seeing your friends as impermanent.

819
00:59:27,664 --> 00:59:30,105
That is the toughest one.

820
00:59:30,232 --> 00:59:35,560
Thay one time shared that his practice
is to wake up for the new day

821
00:59:35,766 --> 00:59:39,804
and look at his students
as if it is the first time.

822
00:59:42,482 --> 00:59:45,143
And he shared that it is difficult.

823
00:59:45,302 --> 00:59:47,529
But it is a practice.

824
00:59:47,701 --> 00:59:51,889
You know, maybe in five years
I will believe that,

825
00:59:52,717 --> 00:59:59,215
but like moment to moment,
yesterday, I look at you and,

826
01:00:00,301 --> 01:00:03,170
mmm, yes you are different, but -

827
01:00:03,359 --> 01:00:05,661
And so on.

828
01:00:05,821 --> 01:00:08,316
Ourselves as well.

829
01:00:08,445 --> 01:00:11,500
We might have been something yesterday,

830
01:00:11,662 --> 01:00:15,726
then we don't allow ourselves
to be impermanent today.

831
01:00:17,699 --> 01:00:20,303
That is the hard one.

832
01:00:20,859 --> 01:00:23,922
Because, we all know, I'm like this.

833
01:00:24,372 --> 01:00:27,050
I'm only like this.

834
01:00:28,524 --> 01:00:33,508
I come from this culture.
I'm like that.

835
01:00:34,144 --> 01:00:41,087
I am PhD, OCD, ADD, I, what?
all those -

836
01:00:41,309 --> 01:00:44,574
It is about the D's around,
disorders, right?

837
01:00:44,999 --> 01:00:48,660
You know, you go to a therapist
and they tell a certain thing.

838
01:00:48,817 --> 01:00:51,820
You're A, you're type A,
you're type B, you're -

839
01:00:51,952 --> 01:00:54,494
There is so many categories!

840
01:00:54,668 --> 01:00:59,080
You are Scorpio, you're Cancer,
or something.

841
01:01:00,718 --> 01:01:05,445
So these things, if we are not careful,
we box ourselves.

842
01:01:07,330 --> 01:01:12,125
So maybe we have some of that,
but that is not all of us.

843
01:01:12,668 --> 01:01:16,594
We are a continuation of our parents,

844
01:01:16,889 --> 01:01:24,139
but we are also a living, organic,
growing, evolving being, right?

845
01:01:25,194 --> 01:01:32,144
That for me is what impermanence helps me
to see that we are part of a process.

846
01:01:33,095 --> 01:01:35,526
Human beings are not just -

847
01:01:35,712 --> 01:01:37,454
You know, like

848
01:01:38,622 --> 01:01:41,180
a figure that you move.

849
01:01:43,136 --> 01:01:47,638
And reflecting on ourselves
when we were 18 years old is very helpful.

850
01:01:48,650 --> 01:01:52,842
Reflect on oneself when we were
35 years old.

851
01:01:53,373 --> 01:01:57,262
And some of us can reflect on
when we were 50 years old.

852
01:01:58,621 --> 01:02:01,496
When we were 5 years old.

853
01:02:01,906 --> 01:02:08,209
So this meditation builds in us
a way of looking at the world.

854
01:02:09,977 --> 01:02:13,180
This is a way of taking refuge in oneself.

855
01:02:13,434 --> 01:02:19,027
You train yourself so that you have
a way of looking at the world.

856
01:02:20,244 --> 01:02:22,719
You see, that is the refuge.

857
01:02:22,890 --> 01:02:26,646
The refuge is not this body,
or this world, or this teacher.

858
01:02:27,041 --> 01:02:32,006
That is what it means when you
take refuge in the island of the Dharma.

859
01:02:33,034 --> 01:02:36,593
Some people say that Dharma here
is the truth, the law,

860
01:02:36,803 --> 01:02:39,962
but here it is the practice.

861
01:02:40,520 --> 01:02:45,374
Or more specifically here
is a way of looking.

862
01:02:46,073 --> 01:02:51,828
The Dharma is also a practice of
looking at things in a certain way.

863
01:02:52,539 --> 01:02:54,765
You see, the refuge?

864
01:02:55,176 --> 01:02:59,294
That is strange as a refuge,
you think like an island is a refuge,

865
01:02:59,492 --> 01:03:04,513
or a person is a refuge, or -
Like a figure, you know.

866
01:03:04,643 --> 01:03:07,602
The president is a refuge,
sometimes, yeah.

867
01:03:07,748 --> 01:03:09,666
(Laughter)

868
01:03:10,767 --> 01:03:13,040
Oh! I get in trouble.

869
01:03:14,116 --> 01:03:16,540
Your parents is a refuge.

870
01:03:17,228 --> 01:03:19,544
We have these ideas, right?

871
01:03:19,672 --> 01:03:22,363
But they are changing, impermanent,
and so on.

872
01:03:22,492 --> 01:03:24,736
They are not very so reliable.

873
01:03:25,766 --> 01:03:28,197
What is reliable?

874
01:03:31,734 --> 01:03:33,865
That is a good question.

875
01:03:34,017 --> 01:03:38,078
If you are here, you should be asking
that question, what can I rely on?

876
01:03:38,217 --> 01:03:42,039
Thay? The monks and nuns?
My Dharma friends?

877
01:03:43,255 --> 01:03:45,481
Plum Village?

878
01:03:45,626 --> 01:03:47,912
It will be here forever.

879
01:03:48,138 --> 01:03:50,362
The sun will shine.

880
01:03:50,521 --> 01:03:52,898
You have these notions, you know?

881
01:03:53,043 --> 01:03:56,898
But what is it when they say,
'Rely on the Dharma'?

882
01:03:58,110 --> 01:04:00,076
What is it?

883
01:04:00,230 --> 01:04:03,130
It is a way of looking at the world.

884
01:04:03,276 --> 01:04:06,574
It is a way of viewing the world,
the Right View.

885
01:04:06,750 --> 01:04:09,979
This is what you are training
to take refuge in.

886
01:04:10,144 --> 01:04:13,277
That way, whatever situation
you're put into,

887
01:04:13,743 --> 01:04:16,097
the way you look at it,

888
01:04:16,267 --> 01:04:18,800
you will suffer or not suffer.

889
01:04:18,952 --> 01:04:22,646
You will be at peace,
or you will be disturb.

890
01:04:23,004 --> 01:04:26,136
That is what it means
to have craving and anxiety

891
01:04:27,536 --> 01:04:30,059
alleviated.

892
01:04:30,237 --> 01:04:32,677
There are things we crave for,

893
01:04:32,960 --> 01:04:35,430
and we want to hang on to,

894
01:04:35,619 --> 01:04:39,693
that disturb us. Because
we don't know how to look at it.

895
01:04:42,408 --> 01:04:44,959
So Right View is

896
01:04:46,367 --> 01:04:50,648
an ongoing process.
Our views can always improve.

897
01:04:52,264 --> 01:04:54,500
And the best,

898
01:04:54,754 --> 01:04:57,487
like the person,
the tenth person in the room,

899
01:04:57,641 --> 01:05:01,491
you don't have a point of view.
That is amazing!

900
01:05:02,259 --> 01:05:04,324
You don't have a view.

901
01:05:04,657 --> 01:05:07,260
That is the greatest view.

902
01:05:07,430 --> 01:05:10,462
And you know that.
And with the example I gave you,

903
01:05:10,578 --> 01:05:13,703
the ten roommates,
two, three or more arguing,

904
01:05:13,878 --> 01:05:16,145
and you are the tenth roommate,

905
01:05:16,285 --> 01:05:19,623
and you are like, 'I don't have
a point of view. Sorry guys!'

906
01:05:21,078 --> 01:05:22,820
Who is the -

907
01:05:22,977 --> 01:05:26,343
Of course you are suffering,
because your roommates are suffering.

908
01:05:26,533 --> 01:05:29,183
But you see what having no view is?

909
01:05:29,472 --> 01:05:32,044
That is just a gross example.

910
01:05:32,707 --> 01:05:36,394
But in politics, you are left,
you are right.

911
01:05:39,111 --> 01:05:41,380
Both sides have a point.

912
01:05:41,796 --> 01:05:46,424
So you try - Anyway, I don't want to
get into views here, get in trouble.

913
01:05:48,900 --> 01:05:50,813
So, we will -

914
01:05:52,866 --> 01:05:55,923
So the area of mind.
Know how the mind works.

915
01:05:57,324 --> 01:06:00,431
There are ways to study
I won't go through here,

916
01:06:00,684 --> 01:06:04,412
but Thay has taught in detail
about the mind.

917
01:06:04,736 --> 01:06:08,391
You can look at it in the book
Understanding Our Mind,

918
01:06:08,560 --> 01:06:11,577
or The Teaching on Manifestation Only.

919
01:06:11,751 --> 01:06:14,945
So there is a whole teaching
on Buddhist psychology

920
01:06:15,178 --> 01:06:17,213
that you can go through.

921
01:06:17,377 --> 01:06:21,628
Thay has spent a lot of his years
clarifying for us

922
01:06:23,591 --> 01:06:27,801
the teaching on how our mind works.
And we need to know how our mind works

923
01:06:28,273 --> 01:06:30,942
if we are wanting

924
01:06:31,876 --> 01:06:35,891
to alleviate and to be helpful.

925
01:06:38,209 --> 01:06:40,959
Because this is what we use to -

926
01:06:41,673 --> 01:06:43,907
If we look at a certain -

927
01:06:44,927 --> 01:06:49,387
It is the instrument which we are working
with when we work in the world, right?

928
01:06:49,542 --> 01:06:51,882
When we work with other people.

929
01:06:51,981 --> 01:06:55,961
So you need to know how your mind works,
and the mind outside the mind.

930
01:06:56,103 --> 01:06:58,592
So the second phrase is the,

931
01:06:59,715 --> 01:07:03,646
"To look at the elements
outside the body, and in -"

932
01:07:04,411 --> 01:07:09,559
"To meditate on the elements outside the
the body in the elements outside the body"

933
01:07:11,157 --> 01:07:15,944
That is your world,
and how the society works.

934
01:07:16,781 --> 01:07:19,477
You need to know how that works.

935
01:07:21,378 --> 01:07:25,899
And the more you know,
the more you have a choice

936
01:07:26,824 --> 01:07:29,099
not to participate.

937
01:07:30,441 --> 01:07:32,665
So this is something -

938
01:07:33,072 --> 01:07:35,773
A very clear example of -

939
01:07:39,675 --> 01:07:43,268
Recently they had a Thanks Giving,

940
01:07:43,961 --> 01:07:48,963
after Thanks Giving
a Black Friday shopping, yeah?

941
01:07:50,050 --> 01:07:54,298
I heard a few thing about it.
It's hilarious.

942
01:07:56,360 --> 01:08:00,643
So that is how society works, you know?
They want you to buy things, right?

943
01:08:00,877 --> 01:08:04,875
And there is - this month? December?

944
01:08:07,711 --> 01:08:13,103
It's going to be very hard to resist,
spending, uh!

945
01:08:13,515 --> 01:08:17,148
I recently shared with my brother,
'If I receive a gift

946
01:08:17,336 --> 01:08:21,312
that is handmade
from the recycle department,

947
01:08:21,962 --> 01:08:26,722
I open it, and it's wrapped in like,
you know, recycled wrapping paper,

948
01:08:27,562 --> 01:08:33,467
and it's made by hand
from bottles and cups, and glued together,

949
01:08:33,800 --> 01:08:38,146
and I pull it and it moves.
I appreciate it,

950
01:08:38,782 --> 01:08:43,016
but there is a part of me that says, 'Man!
Why didn't you buy me something?'

951
01:08:43,302 --> 01:08:45,344
(Laughter)

952
01:08:47,600 --> 01:08:51,212
Yeah, something that is like, you know,
it has a tag, and is wrapped,

953
01:08:51,324 --> 01:08:53,264
and it 's like, you know,

954
01:08:53,423 --> 01:08:55,904
it's like produced! Mass-produced.

955
01:08:56,080 --> 01:08:58,075
Plastic wrapping.

956
01:08:58,245 --> 01:09:01,833
The tendency that we have,
the way we view things, you know?

957
01:09:01,948 --> 01:09:05,826
This is really ingrained in me,
from childhood all the way up

958
01:09:06,137 --> 01:09:09,816
growing up in America, you know?
You get a present, it is not bought,

959
01:09:10,079 --> 01:09:12,007
it is like, 'Ah, that is cheap!'

960
01:09:12,234 --> 01:09:14,033
(Laughter)

961
01:09:14,178 --> 01:09:18,838
But look at the state of the world now.
It changes the way you look.

962
01:09:20,014 --> 01:09:23,277
To appreciate something
that is found in the trash,

963
01:09:23,416 --> 01:09:27,755
glued together and made out of love.
So you have

964
01:09:29,656 --> 01:09:31,980
to move, pull it around, and -

965
01:09:32,531 --> 01:09:37,167
Wow! He spent time on this!
It just took a lot of time!

966
01:09:38,126 --> 01:09:42,599
It is easy to go buy something on Amazon,
and order it.

967
01:09:43,372 --> 01:09:47,831
All the packaging involved with it,
it comes to your door, and then so on.

968
01:09:48,678 --> 01:09:51,784
That is so convenient! Gosh!

969
01:09:52,182 --> 01:09:55,181
Anyway, I'm just sharing with you
how to look at things.

970
01:09:55,326 --> 01:09:57,804
It is a little bit brainwashing,
you know.

971
01:09:58,348 --> 01:10:02,299
But it is my liberation,
and it is my happiness.

972
01:10:04,350 --> 01:10:08,368
And it is a North Star.
We cannot be perfect on it.

973
01:10:09,947 --> 01:10:13,646
So don't be judgmental of others
who do buy things.

974
01:10:13,793 --> 01:10:18,164
But I share with you is a clear example
of how long it took me to resist

975
01:10:18,481 --> 01:10:22,219
and to change my way of looking
and valuing things

976
01:10:22,575 --> 01:10:25,656
that are in the recycled area,
or lost-and-found,

977
01:10:26,453 --> 01:10:31,664
or it is a leftover from my brothers,
or I go to a storage and find a sweater.

978
01:10:32,946 --> 01:10:38,402
I had to resist getting something new.
It's a tough practice.

979
01:10:39,854 --> 01:10:43,834
But it is a - Anyway, something
if you've been here around,

980
01:10:44,288 --> 01:10:49,967
the urge to buy something is so easy.
Get online, click! And it comes in a box

981
01:10:50,638 --> 01:10:52,911
in front of the office.

982
01:10:55,089 --> 01:11:01,299
So that is a kind of changing a view
of how we relate to the world.

983
01:11:05,047 --> 01:11:08,779
And it is very important.
I share that kind of humorously,

984
01:11:08,958 --> 01:11:11,554
but it is huge

985
01:11:12,264 --> 01:11:15,883
in terms of how it is
affecting other countries

986
01:11:16,152 --> 01:11:18,466
that make these products,

987
01:11:18,626 --> 01:11:24,065
as well as the plastics, and the wrapping,
and things going back to the environment.

988
01:11:24,280 --> 01:11:27,294
So nothing is, you know,

989
01:11:30,627 --> 01:11:32,606
how we call it -

990
01:11:32,778 --> 01:11:35,407
There is a cost to it.

991
01:11:36,294 --> 01:11:40,220
And so I think that is something
in our generation, in our time now,

992
01:11:40,373 --> 01:11:43,338
we need to really, really look again.

993
01:11:44,174 --> 01:11:46,693
And so we have been taking refuge in that,

994
01:11:46,928 --> 01:11:48,817
the consumers -

995
01:11:49,779 --> 01:11:54,545
That was in the last hundred years,
it has been our main refuge, right?

996
01:11:55,512 --> 01:11:59,679
To buy, and to gain,
and to accumulate material things.

997
01:12:00,680 --> 01:12:03,269
I think it is time now to find

998
01:12:03,513 --> 01:12:05,551
a different way.

999
01:12:10,260 --> 01:12:14,711
We kind of look down at societies,
or even certain drives now,

1000
01:12:14,977 --> 01:12:18,347
like they are kind of backwards,
they don't have electricity,

1001
01:12:18,502 --> 01:12:23,215
they don't know - We thought that
they don't know how to () the land.

1002
01:12:25,082 --> 01:12:28,529
But actually
they are very humble about it.

1003
01:12:28,712 --> 01:12:31,557
So we are finding new ways.
It's beautiful!

1004
01:12:31,720 --> 01:12:35,807
We are slowly changing our viewpoints
about past societies,

1005
01:12:35,964 --> 01:12:38,792
we thought they were backwards,
buy actually

1006
01:12:38,885 --> 01:12:43,691
they produce less harm to the environment
than, you know?

1007
01:12:44,982 --> 01:12:47,555
So it's another way of looking.

1008
01:12:47,727 --> 01:12:50,191
So this is a training.

1009
01:12:52,764 --> 01:12:56,642
That relates to cravings, anxieties.

1010
01:12:57,033 --> 01:13:01,755
Anxiety about the future,
the way we look at the future.

1011
01:13:03,530 --> 01:13:05,645
And there is something also

1012
01:13:06,619 --> 01:13:09,210
I found liberating here is,

1013
01:13:09,699 --> 01:13:13,113
the future is not something there
that is going to come.

1014
01:13:14,242 --> 01:13:17,492
The future is what I make of it right now.

1015
01:13:18,000 --> 01:13:20,922
That is very liberating.

1016
01:13:22,030 --> 01:13:25,024
So other causes,
and other aspirations stuff

1017
01:13:25,268 --> 01:13:27,265
we think we are going to go somewhere

1018
01:13:27,384 --> 01:13:30,439
or that it is something
that is going to come to us.

1019
01:13:30,575 --> 01:13:33,526
But what I learned from Thay
and the Buddhist teachings

1020
01:13:33,708 --> 01:13:37,870
is, 'I will make the future.'
What I do and choose to do today,

1021
01:13:38,015 --> 01:13:40,377
and how I look at it.

1022
01:13:40,568 --> 01:13:43,611
So your mind will affect the future.

1023
01:13:43,774 --> 01:13:47,426
Because you don't let it,
you don't let it get in.

1024
01:13:47,847 --> 01:13:51,827
You don't let the way they describe
the world and the future

1025
01:13:52,372 --> 01:13:56,395
be your only reality.
Do you understand?

1026
01:13:58,400 --> 01:14:04,326
It is all a stuff made-up anyway.
Let's make up a different story.

1027
01:14:05,186 --> 01:14:08,306
It is very liberating.
This is what we need.

1028
01:14:09,192 --> 01:14:14,152
So our anxiety comes because we believe
what they are telling us.

1029
01:14:18,230 --> 01:14:24,566
So we need to recorrect and choose
a course for ourselves.

1030
01:14:25,072 --> 01:14:27,233
And that includes

1031
01:14:27,892 --> 01:14:34,064
our having less impact on the environment,
on our society, on other people,

1032
01:14:35,271 --> 01:14:38,549
other animals and plants
and so on.

1033
01:14:39,092 --> 01:14:41,706
We have to look and see what,

1034
01:14:42,184 --> 01:14:45,964
how we are impacting and reduce that.

1035
01:14:51,460 --> 01:14:53,899
So I just end here.

1036
01:14:55,116 --> 01:14:57,544
I'll talk about

1037
01:14:58,593 --> 01:15:03,089
a beautiful image
that Thay shared with me

1038
01:15:06,429 --> 01:15:09,122
as part of his teaching.

1039
01:15:09,285 --> 01:15:11,422
He talked about a hut.

1040
01:15:11,629 --> 01:15:13,881
After the wind, the storm,

1041
01:15:14,550 --> 01:15:17,304
a window blew open,

1042
01:15:18,761 --> 01:15:20,969
and the storm went in,

1043
01:15:21,137 --> 01:15:24,277
and disturbs all the papers
and everything is a mess.

1044
01:15:26,454 --> 01:15:31,137
The person will come back to the hut,
and slowly close the window,

1045
01:15:32,369 --> 01:15:34,376
close the door.

1046
01:15:34,558 --> 01:15:37,234
It is still windy and everything outside.

1047
01:15:37,369 --> 01:15:40,153
And once he has closed
the window and the doors,

1048
01:15:40,297 --> 01:15:42,586
the papers start to settle.

1049
01:15:43,088 --> 01:15:46,321
And this person begins to light a fire,

1050
01:15:47,658 --> 01:15:50,595
in the fireplace in the hut.

1051
01:15:50,844 --> 01:15:53,662
And outside it is still stormy.

1052
01:15:53,839 --> 01:15:57,121
Slowly the fire warms the hut,

1053
01:15:58,177 --> 01:16:01,681
and this person begins to
pick up the papers,

1054
01:16:02,198 --> 01:16:04,502
put up the table again,

1055
01:16:04,665 --> 01:16:06,909
put the chair back,

1056
01:16:07,139 --> 01:16:09,182
stack the paper,

1057
01:16:09,342 --> 01:16:12,363
wipe the water that got through.

1058
01:16:12,505 --> 01:16:14,930
It's a beautiful image, eh?

1059
01:16:15,055 --> 01:16:17,989
This never left me, and still,

1060
01:16:18,120 --> 01:16:20,869
I can still conjure it up.

1061
01:16:21,139 --> 01:16:24,022
And it is an exercise, a visual exercise

1062
01:16:24,153 --> 01:16:27,666
that I go through
when I have a difficult moment,

1063
01:16:27,990 --> 01:16:31,254
or I'm feeling kind of bluesy,

1064
01:16:31,374 --> 01:16:34,156
feeling a little bit irritated,

1065
01:16:34,351 --> 01:16:36,917
feeling a little bit lonely.

1066
01:16:37,435 --> 01:16:40,559
How come no brothers are visiting me?

1067
01:16:41,346 --> 01:16:45,160
Or why do I feel like I should go
visit somebody, you know

1068
01:16:45,461 --> 01:16:48,537
It's just one of those days.

1069
01:16:49,567 --> 01:16:51,682
And I go back,

1070
01:16:51,846 --> 01:16:56,118
and I sit and watch the sun
go down over there.

1071
01:16:57,914 --> 01:17:00,773
And I do this exercise.

1072
01:17:01,091 --> 01:17:05,859
It is a visual exercise, and I offer it
to you for those who have not heard it.

1073
01:17:06,383 --> 01:17:09,917
And it is something you do visually,
I'm a visual person.

1074
01:17:11,128 --> 01:17:14,237
And when I'm lying down
or I'm sitting on a chair,

1075
01:17:15,406 --> 01:17:19,216
and I see the hut,
the rain, the wind.

1076
01:17:20,143 --> 01:17:23,906
And I see myself going in the hut.

1077
01:17:24,250 --> 01:17:27,981
And I do exactly as
Thay had shared with me.

1078
01:17:29,516 --> 01:17:33,221
Thay didn't share it as an exercise.
He told the story about a monk,

1079
01:17:33,471 --> 01:17:35,622
I think it might be him.

1080
01:17:36,229 --> 01:17:40,422
But I turned it into an exercise.
And it has helped me a lot

1081
01:17:40,681 --> 01:17:44,110
in getting out of strong emotions.

1082
01:17:44,862 --> 01:17:47,934
Or kind of depress emotions.

1083
01:17:48,117 --> 01:17:50,068
Or any kind of

1084
01:17:50,591 --> 01:17:54,122
you know, something you don't
even know what it is, you know?

1085
01:17:54,249 --> 01:17:56,074
It just feels -

1086
01:17:56,168 --> 01:17:59,092
But it makes you restless. Whatever.

1087
01:17:59,326 --> 01:18:03,814
Or you feel disconnected to your blood
family in America, or something.

1088
01:18:04,162 --> 01:18:06,483
It is just unpleasant.

1089
01:18:06,670 --> 01:18:09,912
So I go through the whole exercise.
I go in,

1090
01:18:10,707 --> 01:18:14,267
and I make myself look mindful
while I'm doing all that.

1091
01:18:14,557 --> 01:18:16,013
(Laughter)

1092
01:18:16,131 --> 01:18:18,133
I'm probably rushing.

1093
01:18:18,244 --> 01:18:21,289
But I'm very mindful in my mind, you know?

1094
01:18:21,452 --> 01:18:23,774
I close the door gently,

1095
01:18:24,066 --> 01:18:25,857
I'm not running,

1096
01:18:26,083 --> 01:18:30,075
around trying to get everything tidy,
but I'm doing it very slowly.

1097
01:18:31,454 --> 01:18:36,923
It's very pleasant, if you ever
get a chance to do it.

1098
01:18:37,094 --> 01:18:42,494
Kind of something that you can always,
you can always turn on and do.

1099
01:18:43,600 --> 01:18:46,355
So this is the island of self.

1100
01:18:46,514 --> 01:18:50,746
You make a place inside yourself
where you can rely on.

1101
01:18:52,989 --> 01:18:55,647
And this is very important.

1102
01:18:55,849 --> 01:18:58,810
Because there are many,
many other journeys

1103
01:18:58,962 --> 01:19:00,780
that you cross, right?

1104
01:19:00,951 --> 01:19:04,147
Life is impermanent,
and we will learn more.

1105
01:19:04,331 --> 01:19:06,816
Wherever state you are in now,

1106
01:19:06,976 --> 01:19:11,533
is not permanent. You will have
challenges, you will have new things.

1107
01:19:11,708 --> 01:19:13,532
It's beautiful!

1108
01:19:14,187 --> 01:19:17,266
And some of that might be testing.

1109
01:19:17,541 --> 01:19:20,514
But your are Okay,
now you have a practice.

1110
01:19:20,959 --> 01:19:23,035
And you have to train,

1111
01:19:23,205 --> 01:19:25,496
and to build this hut.

1112
01:19:26,181 --> 01:19:28,400
There is a poem here

1113
01:19:28,593 --> 01:19:33,446
written by a poet (), a beautiful poem.

1114
01:19:33,635 --> 01:19:36,415
And one of my brothers made it into music.

1115
01:19:36,567 --> 01:19:38,766
It is in Vietnamese, yeah?

1116
01:19:39,533 --> 01:19:41,376
But is says,

1117
01:19:41,507 --> 01:19:43,859
(Vietnamese)

1118
01:19:44,274 --> 01:19:49,250
It is like, 'Please, make yourself
some clouds and some sunshine.

1119
01:19:50,603 --> 01:19:53,307
January, make it!

1120
01:19:53,577 --> 01:19:58,081
And don't just borrow
from the Earth and the Heavens.

1121
01:20:00,679 --> 01:20:03,197
Because one day,

1122
01:20:05,207 --> 01:20:10,020
when the Moon is blocked,
and it is far away,

1123
01:20:12,122 --> 01:20:15,133
that in front of you

1124
01:20:16,275 --> 01:20:20,792
the light of the Moon is still shining.'

1125
01:20:21,268 --> 01:20:25,716
It's beautiful. And it reflects
the Buddhist teaching

1126
01:20:26,588 --> 01:20:29,976
that we need to learn
how to create the sunshine,

1127
01:20:31,415 --> 01:20:34,990
and the white clouds,
and the moonlight

1128
01:20:35,503 --> 01:20:37,623
in ourselves.

1129
01:20:37,793 --> 01:20:42,397
So anytime, when you do
walking meditation, when you walk outside,

1130
01:20:42,991 --> 01:20:47,859
when you eat, you can create this island

1131
01:20:48,783 --> 01:20:54,708
that has the flowers, the water,
the clear lake, the mountain solid.

1132
01:20:55,324 --> 01:20:58,904
These elements are not out there.

1133
01:21:01,320 --> 01:21:05,467
This is a way of practicing
so that we become

1134
01:21:07,278 --> 01:21:12,128
a more solid practitioner for ourselves,
we become our refuge

1135
01:21:12,648 --> 01:21:16,041
as well as we can provide
refuge for others.

1136
01:21:17,433 --> 01:21:21,542
Unfortunately, the world needs more

1137
01:21:24,142 --> 01:21:28,110
how we call it, solid refuge.

1138
01:21:29,749 --> 01:21:34,367
And don't make them attach to you though.
You got to teach them also

1139
01:21:35,168 --> 01:21:37,758
to make their own island.

1140
01:21:38,430 --> 01:21:43,541
That is the task. So don't get them,
'Always come to me! Call me anytime!'

1141
01:21:44,737 --> 01:21:47,704
Because you will be burnout
as well, you know?

1142
01:21:48,325 --> 01:21:53,124
So our task, as we learn this,
is to transmit it,

1143
01:21:53,682 --> 01:21:56,793
to share to other people how to do it.

1144
01:21:56,951 --> 01:22:00,119
The breathing, the body,
the feelings, you see?

1145
01:22:00,433 --> 01:22:04,949
It's not complicated. You don't need
to read anymore self-help books.

1146
01:22:05,137 --> 01:22:08,001
It's in those steps.

1147
01:22:09,282 --> 01:22:12,202
But you need to do it, that's all.

1148
01:22:12,572 --> 01:22:15,155
You need to train to -

1149
01:22:15,784 --> 01:22:19,727
And when something unpleasant happens,
it is an opportunity.

1150
01:22:20,684 --> 01:22:23,836
That is one thing
you always need to remember.

1151
01:22:23,966 --> 01:22:28,127
I was lucky, my mother
grew me up like that,

1152
01:22:28,303 --> 01:22:31,068
always to see challenges as opportunities.

1153
01:22:31,208 --> 01:22:35,552
She had to escape Vietnam because of
the war, so it's kind of easy, you know?

1154
01:22:35,709 --> 01:22:37,660
To do that.

1155
01:22:37,781 --> 01:22:41,025
To see everything.
You are out in the Pacific Ocean,

1156
01:22:41,181 --> 01:22:44,930
on a boat with 200 people.
Keep going!

1157
01:22:46,124 --> 01:22:47,864
Don't give up!

1158
01:22:48,099 --> 01:22:51,879
I also have that contemplation.
I am a refugee,

1159
01:22:53,734 --> 01:22:56,581
and the only place now
I can take refuge,

1160
01:22:56,767 --> 01:22:59,860
not in America, not in France,
not in any country,

1161
01:22:59,975 --> 01:23:02,699
not in any president or CEO.

1162
01:23:04,692 --> 01:23:07,624
So remember, we are all refugees.

1163
01:23:09,789 --> 01:23:13,996
And the island is within here.
That would be

1164
01:23:15,795 --> 01:23:19,984
a very strong gift, a great gift

1165
01:23:20,268 --> 01:23:23,653
that we will have for the holidays
that are coming up.

1166
01:23:24,163 --> 01:23:27,489
Holidays is a very trying time
for a lot of people,

1167
01:23:27,629 --> 01:23:30,609
because they don't have a place of refuge.

1168
01:23:31,515 --> 01:23:34,400
And the marketing, and the companies,
and the -

1169
01:23:35,565 --> 01:23:37,908
Amazon, they know this.

1170
01:23:38,659 --> 01:23:43,002
They know you are unstable,
most unstable in December.

1171
01:23:44,945 --> 01:23:47,445
Marketing, simple!

1172
01:23:48,646 --> 01:23:52,065
The music makes you feel good,
and you -

1173
01:23:54,503 --> 01:24:00,096
So please be a refuge for the loved ones.
And they need a different kind of present.

1174
01:24:01,706 --> 01:24:04,288
And this is what you can offer
to you loved ones.

1175
01:24:04,478 --> 01:24:10,389
'Mum, dad, I have something so precious
I want to give you. It's my presence.

1176
01:24:11,621 --> 01:24:15,953
I cannot wrap it up.
But I want to let you know

1177
01:24:16,664 --> 01:24:19,155
before it's too late.'

1178
01:24:19,624 --> 01:24:23,139
That is what you can give them.
Just a phone call!

1179
01:24:24,009 --> 01:24:26,953
And it will change everything.

1180
01:24:27,229 --> 01:24:30,082
Your siblings, your brothers and sisters,

1181
01:24:30,380 --> 01:24:34,348
apologize, 'Sorry.
I was not there for you.

1182
01:24:36,319 --> 01:24:39,223
But I don't want to hold this resentment.'

1183
01:24:40,858 --> 01:24:45,262
So this coming month, December,

1184
01:24:46,478 --> 01:24:49,623
please, give yourself a present,

1185
01:24:50,146 --> 01:24:53,220
and allow yourself to be a refuge

1186
01:24:53,525 --> 01:24:56,121
for those who might need it.

1187
01:24:56,310 --> 01:25:00,556
This is a gift that
we can offer to the world.

1188
01:25:02,852 --> 01:25:05,365
Thank you for being here,

1189
01:25:05,732 --> 01:25:08,853
and for, you know, not giving -

1190
01:25:09,677 --> 01:25:12,691
Going, staying on the boat, eh?

1191
01:25:13,581 --> 01:25:16,306
Another talk I think you all know you here

1192
01:25:16,549 --> 01:25:19,194
is the island,
I think Thay developed that,

1193
01:25:19,342 --> 01:25:21,464
the island of the sangha, right?

1194
01:25:21,620 --> 01:25:24,906
the island of the Dharma, and then
the island of Sangha.

1195
01:25:25,001 --> 01:25:27,321
And Thay has spent his whole life,

1196
01:25:27,502 --> 01:25:31,102
and this is here. So you don't need
to have a teaching on that.

1197
01:25:31,269 --> 01:25:34,800
So today, you can
take refuge in the sangha.

1198
01:25:35,616 --> 01:25:40,294
Just be with your friends here. 
Everyone here we have the same aspiration.

1199
01:25:40,820 --> 01:25:43,561
We want to help better the world,

1200
01:25:43,726 --> 01:25:47,865
we want to bring more peace,
less anger and hate,

1201
01:25:48,180 --> 01:25:50,899
less prejudice, less -

1202
01:25:52,545 --> 01:25:56,657
So please, take refuge in your sangha,
in your friends here.

1203
01:25:57,341 --> 01:25:59,540
It's also beautiful.

1204
01:25:59,716 --> 01:26:02,040
But don't get attached.

1205
01:26:02,225 --> 01:26:03,809
Yeah?

1206
01:26:04,014 --> 01:26:07,860
We are all flowing together.
Thank you.

1207
01:26:10,037 --> 01:26:11,575
(Bell)

1208
01:26:16,342 --> 01:26:22,326
(Bell)

1209
01:26:34,370 --> 01:26:40,471
(Bell)

1210
01:26:53,827 --> 01:26:59,977
(Bell)

1211
01:27:33,912 --> 01:27:35,916
(Small bell)