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(Bell)

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(Bell)

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Dear Thay, dear sangha,[br]with my practice, I have been realizing

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how deep and how strong[br]were the ideologies I built as a child

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to protect myself[br]from the instability of my environment,

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and how important for my inner balance[br]it became, to be first at school,

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and how I unconsciously took the habit[br]of always looking at myself as the first,

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to hide my fear,

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and to give me illusory confidence.

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I know that this coming school year[br]will be academically very challenging.

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So I'd like to have some advice[br]on how to practice

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in order to go through this year,[br]while these ideologies,

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which were the ground I stood on,[br]are falling down.[br]

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(SisterTrue Dedication[br]repeats the question)

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Dear Thay, dear sangha,[br]our friend shared that,

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since she was a young girl,

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she had a lot of ideologies[br]that became part of her,

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including the need[br]to be number one at school.

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Being number one at school

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helped her to overcome her fear,

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and gave her confidence,[br]striving to be number one.

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But since she has been here,

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she sees this ideology, this need,[br]begin to fall apart,

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and it's as though the ground[br]on which she stood

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is falling apart underneath her.

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But she still has a coming school year.

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So she's asking Thay for some guidance,

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how to go forward in this year to come.

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This is the concern of many people.

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In the military, in the business circles,

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people want to be number one,[br]because they believe that

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to be number one[br]is a basic condition for happiness.

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And that is a kind of view.

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It has been transmitted to us,[br]maybe by our ancestors,

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and maybe by collective thinking,

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and because of that we have to strive[br]day and night,

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and tire ourself out,[br]so that view is very costly.

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We have to pay with our whole life.

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And we may not experience joy,[br]happiness, relaxation,

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because we hold that kind of view.

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Maybe we ourselves [br]do not want to have that view,

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but that view has been transmitted to us,

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and our parents are trying[br]to force it on us,

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and also society is encouraging[br]the same kind of view.

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It's based on the wrong view of self.

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Wrong view of self leads to[br]the wrong view to be number one,

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because if there is no self,[br]there will be no number one.

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(LAUGHTER)

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So meditation is an act of looking deeply.[br]

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And when you look deeply,[br]you have a right view.

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Why do I have to be number one?

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Is it a necessary condition for happiness?

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Why do my ancestors, my parents,[br]want me to be number one?

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We can find many answers.

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Maybe our ancestors wanted[br]to be number one,

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but they could not,[br]so they want us to do it for them.

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So we have meditated on that.

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Every time we come up and chant, we say:[br]'Let us breathe as one body,'

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'chant as one body,[br]and listen as one body,'

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'going like a river,'

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'and transcend the illusion[br]of a separate self,'

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'overcoming the superiority complex,[br]the inferiority complex,'

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'and the equality complex.'

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That is to help us to see we have to [br]abandon the wrong view of a self.

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With the wrong view of the self gone,

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the wrong view that number one[br]is the only condition for you to be happy

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will be gone also.

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Sometimes we don't want to be number one,

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but it happens that[br]we have to be number one.

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And very often we want to be number one,[br]but we do not become number one.

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We think that the president[br]of a big country,

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like Barack Obama,[br]is a number one,

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the most powerful person in the country.

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But I think Mr. Obama knows better,[br]that he is not powerful enough.

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He does not have enough power.

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He feels very powerless.

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There are many things he wants to do,[br]but he cannot do it.

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So if he does not have enough power,[br]how can we have enough power?

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And, is the number one happy?

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That is our meditation.

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So what do we want: to be number one,[br]or to be happy?

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So when we are able to transform our view,

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from wrong view to right view,

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not only do we help ourself[br]to be liberated,

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but we liberate our ancestors,

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and we liberate the world[br]from the wrong view

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that if you don't become number one,[br]you cannot be truly happy.

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When you are a student,

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if you study only to become number one,

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you are not a happy student.

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To study can be a very wonderful thing.

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There is a need to learn, to understand.

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We have two basic needs:

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we want to understand the world,[br]we want to understand life,

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and then the second basic desire[br]is to love, and to be loved.

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So the two basic needs are[br]to understand, and to love.

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To be a student,[br]you have a chance to learn.

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You are curious about things.

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And as you study,

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you satisfy your first need: [br]to understand.

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So to study is very fulfilling.

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A good teacher is also someone[br]who studies all the time,

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because he knows that he knows many things[br]but he can know more.

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So both teacher and students[br]get a lot of happiness

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while trying to find out [br]more about reality[br]

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and to understand more.

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So if we study like that,[br]our academic year will be wonderful.

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But if we study just because[br]we want to get a diploma,

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to be number one, we will suffer[br]for the whole academic year.

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So, up to you to decide.

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And if you change your view[br]into a right view,

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you are making a revolution.

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(LAUGHTER)

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Yes!

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And many young people, [br]if they see you happy -

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and to be happy does not mean[br]that you don't study well -

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but you are happier.

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You study better, and even if [br]you don't want to be number one,

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you must be the number one!

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(LAUGHTER)

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You see?

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That is why there are those of us[br]who do not want to be number one,

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but it just happens like that!

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(LAUGHTER)

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That is a by-product only.

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(LAUGHTER)

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The first product is happiness.

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So I think we have to tell[br]our friends in school,

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both teachers and students,

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that our aim is to be happy,[br]and not to be number one.

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Our happiness can be recognized[br]by other people,

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and we can set an example[br]for other students,

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and also for our teachers.

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Good luck!

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(LAUGHTER)

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(HALF BELL)

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(BELL)