WEBVTT

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in the year 2020

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we are in the New Hamlet of Plum Village

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Right Now in the New Hamlet we have about

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I think a congregation of about 65 people 
here

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But I'm aware that at this very moment

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I am also there

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in the lower Hamlet, in the Upper Hamlet

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and elsewhere, where 
friends are joining us

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for the sharing this morning.

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Mindfulness, Cconcentration and Insight

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are the essence of Plum Village practises.

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And we know that we are reminded every day

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to cultivate the energy of 
Mindfulness, concentration and Insight

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And our that our whole day 
in the monastery

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from the very first moment that we wake up

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to the last moment 
when we are in bed falling asleep,

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our practise is, all our practise is

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are in cultivating these energies 
inside ourself.

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And so

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its appropriate right, 
to mention that over and over again

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even though you may have heard this

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a thousand times or even more

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But it is always a really good reminder

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to cultivate mindfulness, concentration 
and insight

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and especially for many of our friends

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who are joining us today, for the talk

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many of you may not be

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very familiar with this

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these practices with mindfulness, 
concentration and insight

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I wanted just to

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mention very briefly what they are
so that we

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we know that

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meditation practice, 
the essence of meditation practice

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is to cultivate these energies in us

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mindfulness

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is the awareness of

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what's going on inside our bodies

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and our feelings, our mind and our soul

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in the surroundings, 
what's happening in the surroundings

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and mindfulness is like a light

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that when we are able to

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come back to our breath, 
when we are able to make mindful steps

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we light up this light in our heart

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in our mind so that we can see

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clearly we can see

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what it is that is unfolding in the
present moment

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in the domain of our body

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our feelings, our perceptions

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our mental formations 
and our consciousness

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and when we are present

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and aware of what is happening

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we're truly there

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we're present we're focussed

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we're not running away anymore in our head

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we're there to see

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and that's called concentration

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we're concentrated in what it is that 
we are looking at

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of what it is that we are aware

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and its that energies

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of being present and concentrated

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that we begin to see deeply

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see deeply into

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the causes and conditions,

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the roots of 
why things are the way they are,

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of why we are the way we are

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and that's called insight, understanding

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and its the understanding, it's the insight

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that helps us

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to transform the situation

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that helps us to be free

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from whatever it is

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that we are still clinging onto

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or whatever it is

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that we are not yet free

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and so these three energies are very 
important

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they are the energies of the buddha

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inside ourselves, the baby
buddha inside ourselves

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these energies once they are activated, 
generated, its like

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the baby buddha in us 
is coming alive

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and the stronger these
energies are

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and the bigger

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that the baby buddha is
inside us

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and its such a simple practice, 
such simple practices

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that we do every day 
to generate these energies

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breathing, being aware of our breath

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being aware of our body
being aware of our steps

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being aware of what's happening

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in our heart, in our mind
simple practices

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but once we are able to be aware

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once the energy of mindfulness,
concentration and insight are there

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it takes us to a different dimension
of experience of these things

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simple isn't it

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and do-able also

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accessible, do-able practices.

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But my question is 
for myself and for you is

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Why is it that we are 
still struggling so much?

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Why is it that these practices 
are simple,

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And yet in our daily life most
of the time we are not mindful ?

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Right?

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Who among us here 
is mindful most of the day?

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Can you raise your hand.

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I don't see any hands!

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I wonder if the lower 
hamlet has any hands up

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But, anyways, what is it

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why is it, that is my question

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that I ask every single day

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and why is it

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that I know these energies are 
so important

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and I know these energies are 
innate in me,

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and all I need to do is just 
tap into these energies

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with all these practices and voila, 
I'm enlightened !

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And yet its not as simple 
to do as it sounds

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and its not because

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you know I don't have the environment
to do it

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its not because my sisters are not

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supporting me to practice

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there is something about me
about my mind

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thats really preventing me

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from really dwelling 
deeply in the present moment

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and from really embracing wholeheartedly

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these practices that I know
are so beneficial for me

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and that my aspiration as a
monastic is to

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really cultivate these energies in me

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so that I can be free so that 
I can help other people to be free

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and to be happy

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and so why is it? so that's a question
that I always ask myself.

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So today we are going to explore why

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and also in the context of

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what we have been talking about
during this retreat

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and also what is happening in the world
right now with discrimination

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and the question also came up

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where is the discrimination coming 
from

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is discrimination only happening to

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a certain number of people

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is it only

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in people with particular skin color?

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what is it? where is it coming
from?

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we learned that

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and Thay repeated over and over again

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and the Buddha also said

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that everything is 
a manifestation of our mind,

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even our physical body 
is a manifestation of our mind

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even our physical illness 
is a manifestation of our mind

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the environment 
is a manifestation of our mind

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and so, the study of the mind

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the understanding of the
mind, its so crucial

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in the practice

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because without the understanding 
of how the mind works

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from mind

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we will struggle 
and we will continue to struggle

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and we will always be in the dark

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not knowing why we are the way we are

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so I'll start with what
Sister [Dang/Lang] Nghiem,

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who is here with us now in
in the New Hamlet shared last Sunday

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on the

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consciousness already

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so I'm going to mention again

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to refresh our memory

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A lot of us here at Plum Village
already know this

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but a lot of our friends 
may not be very familiar with it

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so bear with me Sisters

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So we love to use this image,
a circle

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as our consciousness

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and we learned last week

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that there's many different levels 
of consciousness

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different layers of consciousness

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we have learned that 
there is store consciousness

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which is the depth of our consciousness,

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the base of our consciousness,

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the foundation of our consciousness,

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where

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all kinds of seeds

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are preserved and kept

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all kinds of imaginable seeds

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from the most negative

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to the most positive, a whole
spectrum of seeds

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in here, thats what we've learned 
over and over again

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and we know on the

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on the upper level of consciousness 
are the sense consciousnesses

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there's one thing I want to mention 
about store consciousness,

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before I go into sense consciousness

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its that store consciousness

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its also impermanent and non-self

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in the sense that there is always input

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and output, that nothing
is static in here

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that store consciousness is 
made of my own consciousness

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the individual consciousness

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but its also made of 
collective consciousness, so

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both

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its thanks to impermanence and 
non-self that

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thats why you know

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its individual but

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at the same time its collective
and we know that its

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its - there's no separate self

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in store consciousness

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and then on the upper level of 
consciousness are the five senses

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the eye consciousness, the ear 
consciousness, the nose consciousness

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the tongue consciousness 
and the body consciousness

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these are like windows

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windows

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for us

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to come in touch with the
outside world

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with store to come in touch
with the outside world

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and they do look like windows
don't they

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little windows

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these are were the inputs come in 
and also outputs as well

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and the sixth consciousness

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is mind consciousness

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but today what I wanted to talk about

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the manas

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our friend

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manas, I've always wanted
to talk about manas

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and I've never had a chance
to do it

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that's because its not 
the topic for the discussion

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we drew up this diagram

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so that we understand the
different levels of consciousness

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but we don't say too much

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I've never said
a lot on manas

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but today this is my topic:

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Is manas, the tendencies of manas

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and how is that affecting

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you know, discrimination and all that.

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So Manas,

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it's a function of consciousness.

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Before I go into manas
let me just talk

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a little about the six consciousnesses

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because Manas plays with the
six consciousnesses.

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are what we call the evolving 
consciousness

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evolving because it comes out from
store consciousness

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it evolves from store
consciousness

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Manas is, is one of those evolving
consciousness.

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It also comes out of
store consciousness.

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It comes from the seed of delusion
and craziness in the store consciousness.

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It comes up,

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and then Manas comes back down
to store consciousness

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kind of like clinging on to part
of the store consciousness

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and claims that part

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of store consciousness
as its lover,

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Its self.

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[Bell]

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Manas grasps onto store consciousness,
a part of the store consciousness

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and considers it its beloved

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and identifies it as its self.

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As the self.

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And,

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and so manas is where the belief

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or the idea of a 
separate self stems from.

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It is . . .

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It is also the defense mechanism

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or the survival instinct inside us.

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Manas is the preservation of self.

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And there are four characteristics
of Manas.

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The first one is called
"nashi" in Vietnamese.

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"Nashi" means

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it's an ignorance

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about self.

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It is the . .

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the ignorance, the delusion

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that claims that there is
a separate self

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or separate identity.

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"Nakeen" which is

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the wrong view of self.

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It's a . . .

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It's a view, it's a perception.

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It's an idea of a separate self

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that discriminates self

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from things that are non-self.

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In other words,

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self, my five skandhas,

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body,

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feelings, perceptions, mental
formations, and consciousness

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as my self.

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And everything else,
is not self.

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And "nyamang," nyamang is
a complex of the self.

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It is the pride of the self.

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The arrogance

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of the self

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which is also the cause of
looking down on everything

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that is non-self.

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And "na-eye" is the love
of the self.

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It's the attachment to the self.

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Or the clinging to the idea of
a separate entity

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a separate identity,

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separate existence.

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So we know that these four

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these four characteristics

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are the basis

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of this inherent belief,
an idea in a separate self.

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And it is also the cause of
a lot of our suffering.

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A feeling of separation,

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loneliness,

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alienation.

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I know a lot of us are,

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especially during this covid time.

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There are a lot of people
out there who are,

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who are
feeling really lonely,

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really alienated,

00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:12.289
and separated from everything

00:23:12.828 --> 00:23:14.048
and everyone.

00:23:16.656 --> 00:23:18.946
It is also the basis of

00:23:19.245 --> 00:23:21.595
all the killing that's happening.

00:23:22.862 --> 00:23:25.897
And believe it or not, also
the climate change

00:23:25.975 --> 00:23:28.675
is coming up from this.

00:23:28.721 --> 00:23:32.721
Because there's this idea that
this is me, I protect myself

00:23:32.735 --> 00:23:36.735
and I get, you know, 
whatever it is

00:23:38.145 --> 00:23:40.875
for my benefit;
for the benefit of the self

00:23:40.909 --> 00:23:44.909
disregard of what's
happening with the others.

00:23:45.009 --> 00:23:47.679
With the environment,
with the Earth.

00:23:50.757 --> 00:23:53.447
And we consume in ways that

00:23:53.713 --> 00:23:56.651
are not really in line

00:23:57.285 --> 00:23:58.941
with respect

00:24:01.178 --> 00:24:04.911
to Mother Earth,
and care for Mother Earth

00:24:06.198 --> 00:24:09.512
because we just want to
satisfy our needs.

00:24:09.886 --> 00:24:13.886
And our needs are 
really bottomless.

00:24:14.833 --> 00:24:16.483
Needs,

00:24:17.388 --> 00:24:18.888
comfort.

00:24:19.825 --> 00:24:22.928
A lot of material things.

00:24:23.088 --> 00:24:26.658
I don't know, what do . . . what do
people really need out there, anyways?

00:24:28.371 --> 00:24:31.047
A lot of money, maybe?

00:24:31.918 --> 00:24:34.118
A lot of consumption?

00:24:38.004 --> 00:24:42.004
Yeah, there are so many people
who have so, so much

00:24:44.238 --> 00:24:47.128
and there are people who don't
have anything.

00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:50.110
And if they could just give
a little bit of what they have

00:24:51.027 --> 00:24:54.317
maybe the poor people
or the people who are

00:24:54.510 --> 00:24:58.131
in disadvantaged situations could be

00:24:58.739 --> 00:25:01.593
could be a great relief for them.

00:25:01.890 --> 00:25:05.788
But that's not always the case.
Manas is . . . it's there.

00:25:06.484 --> 00:25:10.484
Manas is there and says
"This is me and I have to protect myself

00:25:10.763 --> 00:25:15.543
and I need to get for myself.
The more the better.

00:25:16.074 --> 00:25:20.074
And who cares about other people?
That's them."

00:25:20.983 --> 00:25:25.903
But we know with the climate situation
that's not. The reality is that

00:25:26.858 --> 00:25:28.978
what affects

00:25:29.025 --> 00:25:31.665
the other is also affecting me.

00:25:31.865 --> 00:25:35.865
And we see that very clearly
with the climate change, right?

00:25:36.697 --> 00:25:40.427
That what is happening on the
other side of the planet

00:25:40.525 --> 00:25:42.295
is affecting us.

00:25:42.335 --> 00:25:47.725
And what's affecting us here,
what we are, our behavior here

00:25:47.775 --> 00:25:51.450
is affecting people on the
other side of the planet.

00:25:51.543 --> 00:25:55.543
There's this interconnectedness that

00:25:56.527 --> 00:26:00.543
often we really

00:26:02.360 --> 00:26:03.910
don't recognize.

00:26:11.188 --> 00:26:13.148
And so . . .

00:26:13.937 --> 00:26:16.021
So, Manas,

00:26:17.652 --> 00:26:20.060
its function

00:26:22.152 --> 00:26:23.152
is . . .

00:26:25.663 --> 00:26:29.074
to appropriate a self, right?

00:26:29.218 --> 00:26:32.566
And so it avoids

00:26:32.602 --> 00:26:34.132
all kinds of suffering.

00:26:34.242 --> 00:26:37.902
It avoids suffering.
It runs away from suffering.

00:26:37.987 --> 00:26:40.717
It doesn't want to face suffering.

00:26:40.812 --> 00:26:43.560
That sounds familiar, doesn't it?

00:26:44.825 --> 00:26:48.825
For a lot of us, it is hard
to face our suffering.

00:26:49.842 --> 00:26:52.617
It is really overwhelming

00:26:52.651 --> 00:26:54.171
to look at our suffering.

00:26:54.257 --> 00:26:57.701
Sometimes it's not even
possible for us

00:26:58.291 --> 00:27:01.691
to go back to ourselves
and look at our suffering.

00:27:04.888 --> 00:27:08.888
Because Manas does not want
to admit there is suffering.

00:27:09.120 --> 00:27:12.370
Manas will find all possible ways

00:27:12.472 --> 00:27:14.642
to run away from suffering.

00:27:15.845 --> 00:27:20.535
And Manas ignores
the goodness of suffering.

00:27:20.623 --> 00:27:25.532
We know that in the
Four Noble Truths

00:27:25.922 --> 00:27:29.077
the first of those truths
is suffering.

00:27:30.986 --> 00:27:33.852
And why is it that

00:27:34.072 --> 00:27:37.162
suffering is a noble truth?

00:27:39.981 --> 00:27:42.479
It can only be noble truth

00:27:43.638 --> 00:27:46.356
when we recognize

00:27:47.052 --> 00:27:48.542
that there is suffering.

00:27:48.616 --> 00:27:54.878
We admit that we do have suffering
and we are staying with that suffering.

00:27:54.992 --> 00:27:57.285
We are recognizing it.

00:28:00.948 --> 00:28:03.094
We're facing it.

00:28:03.192 --> 00:28:06.396
So that we can understand

00:28:07.860 --> 00:28:09.830
the causes and conditions

00:28:10.150 --> 00:28:12.798
that brought about the suffering.

00:28:14.549 --> 00:28:19.009
Suffering has been made
at some point in our life.

00:28:20.265 --> 00:28:22.425
And so . . .

00:28:24.016 --> 00:28:27.566
when we are able
to stay with our suffering

00:28:29.545 --> 00:28:33.315
when we are able
to practice, embracing,

00:28:33.424 --> 00:28:36.824
being mindful of the suffering,
then we can begin to see

00:28:36.867 --> 00:28:38.627
the causes and conditions.

00:28:38.907 --> 00:28:42.017
And that's the second Noble Truth.

00:28:42.117 --> 00:28:45.707
And it's only when we are able
to see the causes and conditions

00:28:45.783 --> 00:28:47.625
of our suffering

00:28:49.355 --> 00:28:51.291
that we can,

00:28:53.327 --> 00:28:57.302
that we can do something
to transform our suffering.

00:28:57.442 --> 00:29:00.515
And that's the fourth Noble Truth.

00:29:01.640 --> 00:29:08.240
And these practices of the
Noble Eightfold Path

00:29:08.430 --> 00:29:10.994
which is the fourth . . .

00:29:14.174 --> 00:29:16.752
which is the fourth Noble Truth

00:29:17.565 --> 00:29:20.565
are practices that help us
to experience

00:29:22.548 --> 00:29:24.738
great happiness

00:29:26.361 --> 00:29:28.281
and freedom.

00:29:28.376 --> 00:29:30.706
So it's the suffering

00:29:30.819 --> 00:29:32.789
that helps us to experience

00:29:34.077 --> 00:29:37.322
happiness and freedom.

00:29:37.623 --> 00:29:40.289
Manas does not see that.

00:29:40.695 --> 00:29:45.845
Manas simply does not want
to face suffering and does not see

00:29:45.918 --> 00:29:48.556
that there is goodness in suffering.

00:29:49.918 --> 00:29:53.368
And because it doesn't see
the goodness of suffering

00:29:54.024 --> 00:29:55.944
it also ignores

00:29:58.572 --> 00:30:02.572
the interbeing
between suffering and happiness.

00:30:02.915 --> 00:30:05.006
It doesn't see that

00:30:06.806 --> 00:30:11.446
the lotuses need mud to grow

00:30:12.104 --> 00:30:15.694
and that without the mud

00:30:15.953 --> 00:30:19.013
there wouldn't be any lotuses.

00:30:27.890 --> 00:30:31.890
And Manas, another function
of Manas is that

00:30:33.044 --> 00:30:35.451
it seeks pleasures

00:30:36.545 --> 00:30:38.665
regardless of the danger

00:30:38.797 --> 00:30:41.167
or negative consequences.

00:30:41.337 --> 00:30:45.337
Short-lived pleasures,

00:30:45.429 --> 00:30:48.449
pleasures

00:30:48.537 --> 00:30:52.927
that would bring along with it
a lot of pain and a lot of suffering.

00:30:56.212 --> 00:31:01.192
Manas doesn't care about the
consequences that will come later on.

00:31:01.902 --> 00:31:05.612
Manas only wants to
experience pleasure.

00:31:09.112 --> 00:31:15.142
And it ignores the danger
of these pleasures.

00:31:17.194 --> 00:31:21.544
It ignores the danger of
the pleasure-seeking.

00:31:24.989 --> 00:31:28.989
And it also ignores
the law of moderation.

00:31:30.938 --> 00:31:35.358
One of the things, when we,
I notice is that

00:31:36.430 --> 00:31:39.410
In New Hamlet we cook
really good food

00:31:41.492 --> 00:31:42.832
and sometimes

00:31:42.985 --> 00:31:45.325
because the food is good

00:31:45.598 --> 00:31:48.353
sometimes we take more
than what we need!

00:31:50.580 --> 00:31:52.550
And afterward we'll complain,

00:31:52.672 --> 00:31:59.940
"Ah, I'm too full" or "I don't feel very
comfortable because I ate too, too much."

00:32:00.703 --> 00:32:04.703
Well, that's Manas playing with us.

00:32:06.086 --> 00:32:10.386
That Manas doesn't know that
"You know, you just need to eat enough."

00:32:12.750 --> 00:32:14.370
That you don't need to

00:32:14.482 --> 00:32:19.152
eat too, too much.
Manas doesn't know the law of moderation.

00:32:19.372 --> 00:32:24.622
When something that Manas
perceives as being pleasant

00:32:25.593 --> 00:32:28.783
good for it, it will hoard.

00:32:31.267 --> 00:32:35.057
And too much of something
can make you sick, right?

00:32:35.142 --> 00:32:37.502
Even the good thing.

00:32:42.518 --> 00:32:46.518
Last week Sister (Nhat Ngiem?)
talked about the original fear.

00:32:47.101 --> 00:32:49.856
Well, that's the work of Manas.

00:32:50.014 --> 00:32:58.214
Manas is afraid of dying,
hunger, loneliness and abandoning.

00:32:59.036 --> 00:33:01.639
These are the original fears.

00:33:04.607 --> 00:33:07.285
In other words, it's

00:33:07.419 --> 00:33:09.099
original desire.

00:33:09.572 --> 00:33:13.712
It's deepest desire is to survive.

00:33:14.134 --> 00:33:16.824
That's the original desire.

00:33:16.993 --> 00:33:20.522
And so it would avoid, it's afraid

00:33:20.964 --> 00:33:23.924
of these things: dying,

00:33:24.093 --> 00:33:27.693
hunger, abandoning.

00:33:32.747 --> 00:33:38.347
And it doesn't see
the danger of these fears

00:33:38.742 --> 00:33:42.742
because these fears can
be really overwhelming.

00:33:43.186 --> 00:33:46.816
And these fears can lead
to destructive behavior.

00:33:50.924 --> 00:33:54.664
And it can prevent us 
from recognizing

00:33:54.705 --> 00:33:57.866
and enjoying the happiness

00:33:57.917 --> 00:34:00.857
in the present moment.

00:34:03.864 --> 00:34:06.674
It prevents us from enjoying

00:34:09.741 --> 00:34:13.351
whatever it is that we have
in the present moment.

00:34:23.344 --> 00:34:27.454
And so it doesn't recognize

00:34:27.561 --> 00:34:31.031
and it doesn't enjoy the happiness
in the present moment

00:34:31.211 --> 00:34:34.643
because it is always seeking
for happiness

00:34:34.732 --> 00:34:40.142
but it seeks for happiness elsewhere

00:34:40.786 --> 00:34:44.786
not from here, like in the practice.

00:34:47.470 --> 00:34:50.480
And it doesn't see that

00:34:51.853 --> 00:34:55.853
the conditions of happiness
are right here and right now.

00:34:56.452 --> 00:35:02.532
All we need to do is to go back
and be mindful of what we have

00:35:04.281 --> 00:35:09.121
and we see that we have more than
enough conditions to be happy

00:35:10.017 --> 00:35:12.674
here and now.

00:35:15.928 --> 00:35:20.218
We talked about, you know,
the feelings

00:35:21.890 --> 00:35:24.081
and we kind of

00:35:25.526 --> 00:35:27.846
mentioned this a little bit.

00:35:27.940 --> 00:35:30.320
There are three kinds of feelings, right?

00:35:30.460 --> 00:35:34.940
Pleasant feelings, unpleasant feelings,
and the neutral feelings.

00:35:35.157 --> 00:35:38.887
So we know that Manas would seek out
the pleasant feeling no matter what

00:35:38.949 --> 00:35:39.789
right?

00:35:39.889 --> 00:35:42.939
And it would avoid the
unpleasant feeling, right?

00:35:43.444 --> 00:35:47.134
But it doesn't recognize
these neutral feelings

00:35:47.344 --> 00:35:50.944
that are abundant
in our daily life.

00:35:52.887 --> 00:35:57.557
And that with mindfulness
we recognize that these feelings

00:35:57.644 --> 00:36:00.984
that we consider neutral,
like a, kind of like a

00:36:01.334 --> 00:36:07.204
blah kind of feeling, like
kind of blunt, kind of feelings that

00:36:07.831 --> 00:36:13.263
neither excites us nor

00:36:16.773 --> 00:36:19.038
creates suffering for us.

00:36:20.497 --> 00:36:24.497
These neutral feelings,
if we are aware of them

00:36:25.942 --> 00:36:29.648
if we recognize them,
we realize that they are really

00:36:30.226 --> 00:36:31.886
conditions for happiness.

00:36:32.096 --> 00:36:35.316
And one example that
Thay always talked about was toothache.

00:36:37.228 --> 00:36:41.228
That right now a lot of us
do not have a toothache

00:36:41.381 --> 00:36:45.381
and we don't recognize the 
happiness of not having a toothache.

00:36:46.108 --> 00:36:51.168
It is only when we have a
toothache that we realize

00:36:51.265 --> 00:36:54.065
that not having a toothache,
that neutral feeling

00:36:54.180 --> 00:36:57.470
that we are experiencing
right now of not having a toothache

00:36:57.607 --> 00:37:00.368
is an element of happiness.

00:37:02.230 --> 00:37:06.230
So we know that where it's
coming from, this kind of attitude

00:37:06.601 --> 00:37:08.874
it's coming from Manas.

00:37:19.923 --> 00:37:21.204
So next time

00:37:21.774 --> 00:37:23.484
next time when we

00:37:24.706 --> 00:37:26.355
notice that

00:37:27.203 --> 00:37:31.443
we're not appreciating anymore
the conditions we have here now

00:37:33.450 --> 00:37:35.630
and not appreciating them

00:37:35.762 --> 00:37:39.572
and taking them for granted,
we know that it is Manas

00:37:39.729 --> 00:37:45.390
really working to take us away

00:37:47.392 --> 00:37:49.352
from appreciating deeply

00:37:51.021 --> 00:37:53.921
these neutral experiences

00:37:56.151 --> 00:38:00.151
that are really
conditions for happiness.

00:38:09.526 --> 00:38:20.316
(Bell)

00:38:37.585 --> 00:38:40.575
Manas doesn't see the environment

00:38:42.709 --> 00:38:44.329
as itself.

00:38:44.392 --> 00:38:50.082
It sees the environment as
different from itself.

00:38:53.677 --> 00:38:55.888
and it discriminates.

00:38:56.372 --> 00:38:59.302
"This is self, and this is not self."

00:39:01.184 --> 00:39:04.405
And so it has a tendency to discriminate,

00:39:06.055 --> 00:39:10.055
to reject what is not self.

00:39:15.146 --> 00:39:18.146
And so we know that
the root of discrimination

00:39:18.858 --> 00:39:20.458
is really

00:39:21.469 --> 00:39:24.119
in Manas, in every one of us.

00:39:24.596 --> 00:39:29.086
Right? It's in . . . it's a
big part of our consciousness.

00:39:29.902 --> 00:39:32.141
This discriminative mind.

00:39:32.982 --> 00:39:38.202
The mind that discriminates,
"this is me, and this is mine,

00:39:38.587 --> 00:39:41.217
and this is not me and not mine."

00:39:41.743 --> 00:39:44.203
And that the only
thing that I care for,

00:39:44.857 --> 00:39:47.286
that I protect, that I guard,

00:39:48.667 --> 00:39:51.046
with my whole being is this:

00:39:51.565 --> 00:39:53.756
my five skandhas.

00:39:54.744 --> 00:40:01.054
And everything else is there
to serve these five skandhas of mine.

00:40:06.808 --> 00:40:11.578
And so, in the
context of discrimination

00:40:11.757 --> 00:40:14.601
we see that everybody
has this seed.

00:40:15.604 --> 00:40:18.534
Everybody has the tendency
to discriminate.

00:40:18.657 --> 00:40:21.447
Not just people with
a particular skin color.

00:40:29.983 --> 00:40:32.943
And often the victims
of discrimination

00:40:35.696 --> 00:40:40.606
are also perpetrators
of discrimination

00:40:41.923 --> 00:40:43.436
as well.

00:40:47.008 --> 00:40:50.068
And that for us to be able to

00:40:52.257 --> 00:40:55.627
really transform the discrimination in us

00:40:57.586 --> 00:41:00.835
we really need to confront Manas.

00:41:05.309 --> 00:41:09.009
And Manas is not something
easy to confront, by the way.

00:41:09.081 --> 00:41:13.081
Because store
consciousness and Manas

00:41:14.572 --> 00:41:18.572
are functioning in ways

00:41:22.003 --> 00:41:25.035
that's not known to our conscious mind.

00:41:30.249 --> 00:41:33.610
In other words, we don't really
have access

00:41:34.217 --> 00:41:36.247
to how they function.

00:41:36.345 --> 00:41:39.815
We can only see different manifestations

00:41:41.084 --> 00:41:45.084
in our consciousness now
and then if we are aware of it.

00:41:45.194 --> 00:41:48.494
But actually, Manas is working

00:41:49.144 --> 00:41:50.894
twenty-four hours a day

00:41:50.936 --> 00:41:54.505
and it's affecting
everything about us.

00:41:55.025 --> 00:42:00.004
From the way we see our self,
from the way we see other people

00:42:00.116 --> 00:42:03.267
from the way we
relate to other people

00:42:03.633 --> 00:42:05.483
to the environment,

00:42:05.551 --> 00:42:07.541
to everything.

00:42:10.564 --> 00:42:13.084
And so, how do we practice?

00:42:15.814 --> 00:42:18.764
How do we practice
to shed light on Manas?

00:42:18.836 --> 00:42:21.426
How do we practice
to recognize manas?

00:42:22.159 --> 00:42:25.159
How do we practice
to be free from manas?

00:42:46.234 --> 00:42:50.594
And we know that store
consciousness is impermanent,

00:42:51.455 --> 00:42:54.095
and without a
separate self, right?

00:42:55.591 --> 00:42:59.140
Manas, the good news
is that manas also is impermanent

00:42:59.230 --> 00:43:02.290
and without a separate self.

00:43:06.743 --> 00:43:10.743
Manas is the deluded mind in us.
Right?

00:43:13.619 --> 00:43:16.619
And it is manas that limits us,

00:43:17.541 --> 00:43:21.321
the limitations of our consciousness.

00:43:23.361 --> 00:43:26.166
As I'm doing this I think of a horse.

00:43:26.956 --> 00:43:30.956
And you know they put like two boards
on the side of the head of the horse

00:43:31.141 --> 00:43:33.601
so that the horse
only sees the front

00:43:33.885 --> 00:43:36.275
and that he can go
straight to the front

00:43:36.505 --> 00:43:39.555
but he doesn't go sideways,
doesn't get distracted.

00:43:41.002 --> 00:43:43.340
Manas is like that.

00:43:45.411 --> 00:43:48.013
It limits us

00:43:49.561 --> 00:43:53.561
from expanding ourselves.

00:43:54.349 --> 00:43:56.130
We are unlimited.

00:43:56.550 --> 00:44:01.230
We have all these unlimited
potentials inside ourselves.

00:44:02.372 --> 00:44:05.622
We are much more than we think we are.

00:44:06.994 --> 00:44:09.324
We contain the whole universe.

00:44:10.191 --> 00:44:12.211
We are a miracle

00:44:13.810 --> 00:44:14.860
of life.

00:44:15.146 --> 00:44:19.676
We are a miracle of life. We are
a part of these wonders of the universe.

00:44:23.555 --> 00:44:24.625
And yet . . .

00:44:25.575 --> 00:44:28.245
we only see ourselves this much.

00:44:29.118 --> 00:44:32.101
This is how much we see ourselves.

00:44:32.809 --> 00:44:34.759
Through our suffering

00:44:37.366 --> 00:44:42.046
through these dramas
that are happening every day.

00:44:44.334 --> 00:44:48.334
Through the power
struggles that we are having.

00:45:02.265 --> 00:45:04.515
And so because manas,

00:45:07.528 --> 00:45:09.810
it's impermanent,

00:45:11.592 --> 00:45:14.662
which means that
it can be transformed.

00:45:15.124 --> 00:45:17.361
Which means that
we can really

00:45:18.392 --> 00:45:20.646
go beyond these limitations

00:45:22.018 --> 00:45:27.258
to experience ourself
as a true miracle of life.

00:45:31.272 --> 00:45:33.499
So where do we begin?

00:45:34.297 --> 00:45:38.297
We begin with mindfulness,
concentration, and insight. Right?

00:45:43.162 --> 00:45:44.782
That's the key . . .

00:45:46.112 --> 00:45:49.312
in helping to, in
transforming Manas.

00:45:51.020 --> 00:45:54.190
It's really mindfulness,
concentration and insight.

00:45:58.812 --> 00:46:00.312
The practice is

00:46:04.900 --> 00:46:07.042
In other words we are using

00:46:07.123 --> 00:46:11.723
So the mind consciousness,
(referring to) six consciousnesses,

00:46:12.106 --> 00:46:14.846
the mind consciousness

00:46:16.574 --> 00:46:17.614
is . . . .

00:46:23.747 --> 00:46:29.027
The mind consciousness
relies on manas to manifest.

00:46:31.236 --> 00:46:35.236
So the basis of mind
consciousness, is manas.

00:46:36.877 --> 00:46:38.726
But at the same time

00:46:38.844 --> 00:46:40.985
mind consciousness

00:46:41.242 --> 00:46:43.092
can do the work

00:46:44.301 --> 00:46:49.031
of cultivating mindfulness,
concentration and insight.

00:46:50.957 --> 00:46:52.417
In other words,

00:46:52.524 --> 00:46:54.264
the mind consciousness

00:46:54.861 --> 00:46:58.113
that can bring the light into manas

00:46:59.248 --> 00:47:01.849
and shed the light on manas.

00:47:08.090 --> 00:47:13.364
And so when we train manas,
I mean mind consciousness

00:47:14.011 --> 00:47:18.011
through the practices of
mindfulness, concentration and insight.

00:47:21.582 --> 00:47:22.872
We are really

00:47:24.215 --> 00:47:26.175
we are really bringing the light in

00:47:27.635 --> 00:47:29.865
and we are really creating

00:47:31.779 --> 00:47:33.742
neuropathways.

00:47:35.032 --> 00:47:38.242
We are educating manas

00:47:40.480 --> 00:47:41.590
to see

00:47:43.546 --> 00:47:46.342
interbeing,
the nature of interbeing,

00:47:46.862 --> 00:47:49.712
to see the nature
of interconnectedness,

00:47:51.526 --> 00:47:53.016
to see

00:47:53.709 --> 00:47:56.459
interdependence arising.

00:47:59.002 --> 00:48:01.222
Because we know
that manas does not

00:48:01.723 --> 00:48:04.319
see interconnectedness, interbeing.

00:48:04.760 --> 00:48:08.880
Manas only sees discrimination
between self and not-self.

00:48:09.852 --> 00:48:13.852
And we're bringing this
insight down to manas.

00:48:18.252 --> 00:48:21.279
And we have all our
practices in our daily life

00:48:21.610 --> 00:48:26.639
it's really about bringing the 
light of these insights

00:48:26.889 --> 00:48:28.119
into manas.

00:48:35.989 --> 00:48:39.989
So, when we talk about
mindfulness, concentration and insight

00:48:41.365 --> 00:48:44.115
the real practice is for us to stop

00:48:45.793 --> 00:48:48.353
so that we can look deeply, right?

00:48:48.549 --> 00:48:51.029
In order to have this insight.

00:48:51.858 --> 00:48:55.518
The insight of interconnectedness,
the insight of interbeing.

00:48:55.744 --> 00:48:57.474
The insight of non-self.

00:48:57.871 --> 00:49:01.871
And that these insights
we kind of download

00:49:02.724 --> 00:49:05.271
download them to manas

00:49:06.842 --> 00:49:08.482
so that

00:49:09.043 --> 00:49:10.453
manas

00:49:11.347 --> 00:49:14.697
can be educated, and can be transformed.

00:49:15.650 --> 00:49:18.510
So, all our practices are really

00:49:19.487 --> 00:49:21.517
to educate manas.

00:49:23.534 --> 00:49:26.677
But there are some
practices that I found really

00:49:26.930 --> 00:49:28.460
really helpful.

00:49:32.194 --> 00:49:35.504
One of those practices
that I really enjoy

00:49:36.088 --> 00:49:38.398
is the practice of the gathas.

00:49:38.517 --> 00:49:42.367
We think that gathas are
only used for novices, right?

00:49:42.877 --> 00:49:44.967
But actually they're really

00:49:45.146 --> 00:49:49.146
they're really powerful tools

00:49:49.257 --> 00:49:52.397
to help us to look deeply.

00:49:53.242 --> 00:49:55.714
They're not just helping
us to be present

00:49:56.068 --> 00:49:58.767
in everything that we do.

00:49:59.354 --> 00:50:02.774
But also they help us
to look deeply as well.

00:50:09.090 --> 00:50:12.040
How many of us here practice the gathas?

00:50:15.175 --> 00:50:18.735
You think the older sisters don't
really practice the gathas anymore?

00:50:19.280 --> 00:50:21.709
You think you're beyond that, right?

00:50:23.654 --> 00:50:24.874
Well . . .

00:50:28.254 --> 00:50:30.854
I found them really useful

00:50:32.445 --> 00:50:34.375
to help me to look deeply.

00:50:35.809 --> 00:50:39.809
And the other, and I will read
some of the gathas later on

00:50:39.967 --> 00:50:44.217
that are so useful in helping
us to see the interconnectedness,

00:50:45.747 --> 00:50:47.678
the interbeing nature.

00:50:49.037 --> 00:50:52.276
The other practices are
the guided meditations.

00:50:53.424 --> 00:50:55.514
The guided meditation exercises

00:50:56.561 --> 00:50:59.541
that we've been doing
during this Rains Retreat

00:50:59.657 --> 00:51:02.562
are very deep guided
meditation exercises

00:51:02.966 --> 00:51:04.516
that help us to see

00:51:05.276 --> 00:51:06.586
our true nature.

00:51:07.542 --> 00:51:10.382
The nature of no birth and no death.

00:51:11.484 --> 00:51:16.574
And that every time we have a
chance to go for sitting meditation

00:51:18.839 --> 00:51:22.089
we have a chance to use these
guided meditations

00:51:25.504 --> 00:51:27.964
to cultivate the insight

00:51:29.204 --> 00:51:31.234
of interconnectedness

00:51:32.341 --> 00:51:34.256
of interbeing.

00:51:42.839 --> 00:51:45.326
And they help us to reflect.

00:51:48.974 --> 00:51:52.714
But a practice that
I really enjoy doing

00:51:53.977 --> 00:51:55.797
is the practice of eating.

00:51:55.925 --> 00:51:58.185
Because that's the most

00:51:58.583 --> 00:51:59.793
concrete

00:52:02.093 --> 00:52:04.363
practice that helped me to see

00:52:07.150 --> 00:52:11.150
the interconnectedness,
the interbeing nature.

00:52:13.975 --> 00:52:14.985
The food

00:52:15.665 --> 00:52:17.299
that I consider

00:52:18.155 --> 00:52:22.804
part of the environment that
manas considers not itself.

00:52:26.735 --> 00:52:29.975
You know, as you eat this food
with mindfulness

00:52:31.085 --> 00:52:34.256
you realize that this food
that you're chewing

00:52:37.399 --> 00:52:41.399
it's becoming a part of you.
You cannot live without food, right?

00:52:43.370 --> 00:52:45.887
We need this food for survival.

00:52:47.873 --> 00:52:50.490
So in a sense, this food

00:52:52.067 --> 00:52:56.067
once it gets into our body
it's part of us, right?

00:52:57.633 --> 00:53:00.460
But think about it.
Where's the food coming from?

00:53:01.972 --> 00:53:06.232
Ok, a few things - the sunshine,
the rain, the earth, the air

00:53:09.301 --> 00:53:11.071
farmers that bring them

00:53:11.339 --> 00:53:13.261
my sisters who cook them.

00:53:13.418 --> 00:53:16.618
These elements that are
non-food elements

00:53:17.131 --> 00:53:18.747
are really also

00:53:20.759 --> 00:53:24.202
a part of me because
without these elements

00:53:24.543 --> 00:53:27.575
I wouldn't be able to survive.

00:53:27.729 --> 00:53:30.309
I wouldn't be able to have food to eat.

00:53:30.899 --> 00:53:36.947
So in a sense these elements
are also me. A part of me.

00:53:40.633 --> 00:53:44.173
They are indispensible for my survival.

00:53:46.558 --> 00:53:48.478
Manas doesn't see that, right?

00:53:48.546 --> 00:53:51.466
We know that manas doesn't see that.

00:53:52.216 --> 00:53:54.676
But with mindfulness practices

00:53:55.377 --> 00:53:59.707
we're seeing that insight.

00:54:01.286 --> 00:54:03.717
We're seeing that true reality.

00:54:04.843 --> 00:54:07.883
And so the practice of eating meditation

00:54:08.303 --> 00:54:10.568
It's a really powerful practice

00:54:10.703 --> 00:54:17.309
for us to help experience
the insight of non-self.

00:54:18.433 --> 00:54:21.193
Of interconnectedness,
of interbeing.

00:54:21.769 --> 00:54:25.612
And when we are able to eat
in that way, with this insight

00:54:28.086 --> 00:54:30.886
we bring in the light into manas.

00:54:31.589 --> 00:54:34.135
So that manas can see

00:54:37.363 --> 00:54:40.970
that the environment is also a part of us.

00:54:43.479 --> 00:54:46.113
That we are the environment

00:54:46.272 --> 00:54:48.692
and the environment is us.

00:54:53.589 --> 00:54:55.389
And so . . .

00:54:55.469 --> 00:54:56.799
sometimes

00:54:58.873 --> 00:55:03.313
when we eat here in the New Hamlet
we like to eat together

00:55:03.451 --> 00:55:05.051
in groups.

00:55:05.277 --> 00:55:08.597
And then we chit chat
from the beginning to the end.

00:55:09.598 --> 00:55:11.798
And we miss that opportunity

00:55:13.375 --> 00:55:16.141
to experience this insight.

00:55:17.204 --> 00:55:20.884
And even if we're having
twenty minutes of silent meal

00:55:21.361 --> 00:55:24.651
a lot of time we're having this
conversation in our head.

00:55:26.003 --> 00:55:27.753
That we missed out

00:55:30.242 --> 00:55:33.632
the experience, also
the practice of really seeing

00:55:34.459 --> 00:55:37.079
the interconnectedness between
ourself and the food,

00:55:37.183 --> 00:55:40.463
between ourself and the environment.

00:55:49.389 --> 00:55:52.399
And there are so many
beautiful gathas for eating

00:55:52.787 --> 00:55:55.951
and one of the gathas that
I like to read here is

00:55:56.112 --> 00:55:58.931
Eating in the Historical Dimension.

00:56:00.187 --> 00:56:03.347
I am in the life of my ancestors.

00:56:03.517 --> 00:56:08.007
So I'm feeding myself but at the
same time I'm feeding my ancestors

00:56:08.421 --> 00:56:11.111
because my ancestors are
not outside of me.

00:56:11.342 --> 00:56:14.412
My ancestors are in
every cell of my body.

00:56:14.857 --> 00:56:18.524
That insight, manas does not see.

00:56:19.939 --> 00:56:25.244
And with this gatha, this practice
we're training manas to see that.

00:56:28.846 --> 00:56:34.076
An open and upward path
for the descendants.

00:56:35.210 --> 00:56:37.788
So my children are also

00:56:39.932 --> 00:56:41.242
a part of me.

00:56:42.199 --> 00:56:45.250
We are monastics. We don't
have blood children.

00:56:45.339 --> 00:56:48.149
But maybe my spiritual children.

00:56:48.364 --> 00:56:52.684
Well, I wouldn't say children, but
I would say, people who are

00:56:52.853 --> 00:56:55.469
affected by my presence
and my practice.

00:56:55.673 --> 00:56:58.483
Whether directly or indirectly, right?

00:56:58.677 --> 00:57:00.657
Because we know that

00:57:02.589 --> 00:57:05.079
energies are something

00:57:06.353 --> 00:57:08.983
that travel through space and time,

00:57:09.153 --> 00:57:12.362
that it's not just confined to my body.

00:57:15.649 --> 00:57:17.699
And that my awakening

00:57:21.657 --> 00:57:25.447
can contribute to the
collective awakening of humanity.

00:57:25.703 --> 00:57:27.433
We learned that.

00:57:27.700 --> 00:57:29.070
And so . . .

00:57:30.653 --> 00:57:35.253
my practice, my peace
may be affecting other people

00:57:35.453 --> 00:57:36.783
in that way.

00:57:41.274 --> 00:57:42.834
So in a sense,

00:57:45.638 --> 00:57:49.348
they are affected by my practice,

00:57:49.552 --> 00:57:52.362
they are affected by our practice,
and they are

00:57:52.635 --> 00:57:54.005
continuation of us.

00:57:55.419 --> 00:57:58.119
Just like we are a continuation of Thay

00:57:58.207 --> 00:58:00.977
and we are continuation of
the ancestral teachers

00:58:01.667 --> 00:58:03.624
and of the Buddha.

00:58:09.419 --> 00:58:10.859
And then another

00:58:11.119 --> 00:58:12.809
another opportunity

00:58:15.380 --> 00:58:17.910
for us to practice

00:58:20.688 --> 00:58:23.695
not just once, but many times

00:58:27.211 --> 00:58:28.841
It's going to the toilet.

00:58:29.872 --> 00:58:33.082
It's urinating, defecating.

00:58:34.700 --> 00:58:37.220
It's a really peaceful time.

00:58:37.365 --> 00:58:39.555
You're not distracted by anyone.

00:58:41.554 --> 00:58:44.964
And it's a wonderful
opportunity to really see

00:58:47.996 --> 00:58:49.556
the input and output

00:58:51.551 --> 00:58:53.161
directly.

00:58:54.864 --> 00:58:58.014
To see whatever it is
you have taken up

00:58:58.583 --> 00:59:00.483
in your meal, you've taken in

00:59:01.468 --> 00:59:04.948
it's now becoming a part of the earth.

00:59:11.210 --> 00:59:13.960
And a gatha that I really enjoy

00:59:14.539 --> 00:59:17.859
Urinating in the Ultimate Dimension

00:59:19.044 --> 00:59:21.764
A wonderful exchange takes place.

00:59:24.941 --> 00:59:28.064
The cosmos and I inter-are.

00:59:28.494 --> 00:59:31.360
There's no increase or decrease.

00:59:34.320 --> 00:59:37.830
In Vietnamese, the cosmos and I inter-are

00:59:39.923 --> 00:59:44.123
(Speaking Vietnamese) I like that better
than "the cosmos".

00:59:47.155 --> 00:59:53.255
It's a reminder (Vietnamese) means "I"
(Vietnamese word) "you - person."

00:59:53.487 --> 00:59:58.585
"You" it could be the cosmos, could be
the flowers, it could be my sister.

00:59:59.602 --> 01:00:01.322
You and I inter-are.

01:00:01.539 --> 01:00:04.709
And that's like a constant,
that's a really

01:00:06.744 --> 01:00:11.963
a constant reminder every time
I'm sitting, you know

01:00:12.234 --> 01:00:13.664
on the toilet.

01:00:16.325 --> 01:00:19.002
That I am connected with my sisters.

01:00:19.200 --> 01:00:22.147
I am connected with the food that I eat.

01:00:23.447 --> 01:00:27.147
And this is another experience for us

01:00:28.817 --> 01:00:31.445
to taste the insight

01:00:32.257 --> 01:00:35.537
of interbeing and interconnectedness.

01:00:38.430 --> 01:00:42.350
And then there's taking a shower ourself.

01:00:45.051 --> 01:00:47.864
Unborn and indestructible,

01:00:48.745 --> 01:00:51.165
beyond time and space.

01:00:52.041 --> 01:00:55.101
Transmitter and inheritor are one.

01:00:55.410 --> 01:00:58.059
This body of mine

01:01:00.399 --> 01:01:02.179
and that of my parents

01:01:04.140 --> 01:01:07.570
are connected, are deeply connected

01:01:10.525 --> 01:01:13.500
in the wonderful nature of reality.

01:01:14.802 --> 01:01:17.072
So these gathas,

01:01:17.438 --> 01:01:19.748
these gathas were written by Thay.

01:01:20.783 --> 01:01:23.423
And they help enormously,

01:01:24.660 --> 01:01:27.140
they help me enormously in

01:01:29.025 --> 01:01:31.965
reflecting, in my reflections,

01:01:32.303 --> 01:01:34.453
in my practice of looking deeply.

01:01:35.240 --> 01:01:38.950
And I also encourage my
mentees to write gathas

01:01:39.054 --> 01:01:41.694
so that we can practice.

01:01:42.423 --> 01:01:43.423
Gathas . . .

01:01:44.152 --> 01:01:47.272
things that we have
not had a gathas.

01:01:47.802 --> 01:01:51.216
And we create them
so that we can practice them.

01:01:59.557 --> 01:02:01.657
And the breathing

01:02:03.557 --> 01:02:06.327
The breathing, we think,
well, for us

01:02:06.473 --> 01:02:09.373
when we are able to
come back to our breathing

01:02:11.807 --> 01:02:16.917
it helps to cut off all, dispersed
thoughts and thinking, right?

01:02:16.990 --> 01:02:19.940
So that we can be really
present here and now.

01:02:22.448 --> 01:02:27.028
But also the breathing, it's not
just serving us in that way.

01:02:27.311 --> 01:02:28.991
But when you

01:02:29.829 --> 01:02:31.359
breathe

01:02:34.304 --> 01:02:36.744
and you're really there

01:02:37.134 --> 01:02:39.024
what do you see?

01:02:40.370 --> 01:02:42.720
We're taking in this air,

01:02:42.951 --> 01:02:48.071
this air that we think, that
manas thinks is the environment.

01:02:49.169 --> 01:02:50.849
That it's not itself.

01:02:52.387 --> 01:02:54.887
We're taking it in. We are

01:02:55.652 --> 01:02:58.192
indispensible without this air.

01:02:58.430 --> 01:03:02.220
We cannot survive without this air.
This air is becoming a part of mine.

01:03:02.551 --> 01:03:04.835
And the air that I'm breathing now

01:03:05.007 --> 01:03:08.447
may be the air that you just breathed out.

01:03:11.588 --> 01:03:13.518
And just that fact

01:03:13.888 --> 01:03:16.939
it's that simple reflection and practice

01:03:18.797 --> 01:03:21.607
of conscious breathing can help us

01:03:23.278 --> 01:03:24.788
experience

01:03:26.841 --> 01:03:30.481
the interconnectedness,
the interbeing nature

01:03:30.763 --> 01:03:34.763
of ourselves, with 
everything there is.

01:03:37.465 --> 01:03:41.465
And we think they're so simple
practices but they're so powerful.

01:03:42.810 --> 01:03:45.030
They're so powerful

01:03:45.921 --> 01:03:50.281
in shedding of the light,
bringing in the light

01:03:51.184 --> 01:03:53.114
into our mind.

01:03:54.856 --> 01:03:57.826
In order to set us free.

01:03:59.655 --> 01:04:02.725
Free from the grasping of manas

01:04:02.876 --> 01:04:05.766
and the manipulation of manas.

01:04:10.330 --> 01:04:11.430
And so . . .

01:04:12.858 --> 01:04:15.710
And, so in a sense, manas

01:04:17.856 --> 01:04:20.966
it's like the mud of consciousness, right?

01:04:24.546 --> 01:04:27.496
And the insights are like lotuses.

01:04:27.897 --> 01:04:32.097
This insight that we practice to
cultivate they're like lotuses.

01:04:36.892 --> 01:04:39.792
And the practice is not
about throwing away the mud.

01:04:39.882 --> 01:04:42.132
We don't want to throw away manas.

01:04:43.712 --> 01:04:48.022
We don't want to erase manas
from our consciousness.

01:04:50.731 --> 01:04:53.041
Because when we are

01:04:53.141 --> 01:04:56.821
when we train manas,
when we practice mindfulness

01:04:56.929 --> 01:05:02.149
and we download these insights
of interbeing, interconnectedness

01:05:02.293 --> 01:05:05.033
of non-self into manas

01:05:05.638 --> 01:05:08.078
manas transforms.

01:05:10.509 --> 01:05:13.484
When manas transforms
it becomes a wisdom.

01:05:13.812 --> 01:05:17.139
It's called the wisdom
of non-discrimination.

01:05:17.323 --> 01:05:20.543
(Speaking Vietnamese)

01:05:23.304 --> 01:05:26.411
It's a wisdom that
frees us from all views.

01:05:26.501 --> 01:05:30.121
Views of me, and not me.

01:05:34.069 --> 01:05:35.109
Views . . .

01:05:36.526 --> 01:05:38.046
that discrimate

01:05:40.001 --> 01:05:42.798
us and them.

01:05:45.568 --> 01:05:48.708
And also it frees us
from all attachments,

01:05:49.010 --> 01:05:52.740
all attachments to
views of a separate self.

01:05:53.071 --> 01:05:56.611
When we can really see
that my sisters

01:05:57.782 --> 01:05:59.392
are really me.

01:05:59.543 --> 01:06:01.833
My sisters are part of me.

01:06:02.117 --> 01:06:05.477
This air that I'm breathing
is part of me.

01:06:06.727 --> 01:06:09.427
That I'm actually swimming

01:06:10.847 --> 01:06:13.167
every moment of my life

01:06:14.387 --> 01:06:16.009
in this

01:06:17.237 --> 01:06:19.837
a part of me that's outside of me.

01:06:23.067 --> 01:06:25.289
When we have this insight,

01:06:25.393 --> 01:06:29.259
the wisdom of non-discrimination,
we see wonders and miracles

01:06:29.456 --> 01:06:31.056
unfolding

01:06:32.212 --> 01:06:34.682
in every moment of our life.

01:06:34.856 --> 01:06:40.456
The beauties and the goodness that's
unfolding in every moment of our life.

01:06:42.622 --> 01:06:47.612
Recently I've . . . every morning
when I go into sitting meditation

01:06:47.833 --> 01:06:52.693
and I look around at my sisters,
the Sangha, and I thought

01:06:54.539 --> 01:06:57.559
"Wow, how beautiful."

01:06:59.147 --> 01:07:01.582
How wonderful it is

01:07:03.251 --> 01:07:06.991
that we had voluntarily

01:07:08.463 --> 01:07:11.133
woke up pretty early in the morning

01:07:11.724 --> 01:07:13.754
came into the hall

01:07:14.158 --> 01:07:16.868
and just sat down together
not doing anything.

01:07:17.425 --> 01:07:19.245
Sat down and breathed.

01:07:19.383 --> 01:07:21.013
Sounds beautiful?

01:07:22.106 --> 01:07:25.666
And yet, a lot of time we don't
really recognize that.

01:07:27.234 --> 01:07:29.364
That alone is

01:07:29.810 --> 01:07:32.723
it's already something really beautiful.

01:07:44.711 --> 01:07:52.121
(Bell)

01:08:08.098 --> 01:08:11.163
and I'm coming in and I sat down

01:08:11.315 --> 01:08:14.285
and I'm breathing in the air that
my sisters breathed out.

01:08:14.442 --> 01:08:17.162
I'm also breathing their smells.

01:08:18.445 --> 01:08:20.908
(Laughs)

01:08:23.334 --> 01:08:25.404
They're becoming a part of me.

01:08:25.529 --> 01:08:29.039
Your consciousness is
affecting my consciousness.

01:08:29.782 --> 01:08:32.782
You're nourishing me
with your practice.

01:08:32.976 --> 01:08:35.826
You're feeding me
with your practice.

01:08:35.934 --> 01:08:39.624
And I don't know how your practice is,
but the fact that you're coming in

01:08:39.730 --> 01:08:41.690
and sitting there

01:08:41.819 --> 01:08:43.889
you are nourishing me.

01:08:44.932 --> 01:08:47.991
And yesterday one of the sisters said

01:08:48.229 --> 01:08:51.589
"I don't know what it is with
the New Hamlet sisters

01:08:52.098 --> 01:08:55.378
but every morning, everyone
is there, in the hall!"

01:08:57.763 --> 01:09:00.783
Which is really good news, right?

01:09:00.995 --> 01:09:03.635
That everyone is in the hall.

01:09:04.833 --> 01:09:09.933
We really enjoy the practices
and we really enjoy being together.

01:09:10.584 --> 01:09:13.784
And that's the signature
of the New Hamlet.

01:09:16.411 --> 01:09:18.971
Right sisters?

01:09:20.449 --> 01:09:22.279
(Laughs)

01:09:27.172 --> 01:09:30.822
And so the mud becomes lotus.

01:09:39.345 --> 01:09:42.045
When there is the wisdom
of non-discrimination

01:09:42.157 --> 01:09:45.244
we see the lotuses in the mud immediately

01:09:45.435 --> 01:09:49.435
and then the mud is no longer
"the mud."

01:09:49.896 --> 01:09:52.696
But at the same time
we see the mud

01:09:53.850 --> 01:09:55.780
as lotuses.

01:10:00.435 --> 01:10:02.807
When manas is free

01:10:04.550 --> 01:10:06.950
from these wrong

01:10:09.481 --> 01:10:11.361
perceptions and

01:10:11.677 --> 01:10:14.257
wrong beliefs in a separate self

01:10:17.655 --> 01:10:20.295
it sees non-discrimination.

01:10:21.385 --> 01:10:24.975
It is the wisdom of non-discrimination.

01:10:25.064 --> 01:10:26.884
And at the same time

01:10:27.658 --> 01:10:30.228
store consciousness is also free.

01:10:30.561 --> 01:10:33.771
Free from the grasping of manas.

01:10:36.701 --> 01:10:39.351
And store consciousness becomes wisdom.

01:10:39.563 --> 01:10:42.903
It's called the Wisdom of
the Great Mirror.

01:10:44.394 --> 01:10:46.734
(Speaking Vietnamese)

01:10:47.589 --> 01:10:51.179
It's a wisdom of utmost clarity
and purity

01:10:54.248 --> 01:10:57.208
where there is no obstruction whatsoever.

01:11:00.612 --> 01:11:04.612
And so it's like a mirror
that reflects everything as they are

01:11:05.790 --> 01:11:07.750
in store consciousness.

01:11:12.128 --> 01:11:15.028
It is . . . suchness

01:11:16.762 --> 01:11:18.912
and the true nature.

01:11:22.733 --> 01:11:24.903
Our true nature.

01:11:26.014 --> 01:11:28.510
Our true nature of reality.

01:11:31.073 --> 01:11:34.223
And also mind consciousness
which is

01:11:36.018 --> 01:11:38.278
stemming from manas

01:11:38.368 --> 01:11:40.982
is also transformed and becomes

01:11:42.257 --> 01:11:46.287
a wisdom called (Vietnamese)

01:11:50.347 --> 01:11:53.017
It's the capacity to see deeply into

01:11:53.482 --> 01:11:56.852
hearts and minds of ourselves
and of all beings.

01:11:57.158 --> 01:11:59.808
It's like having psychic power,
isn't it?

01:12:00.002 --> 01:12:04.002
To see what's going on in the
hearts and minds of everybody.

01:12:12.074 --> 01:12:16.074
To see, we look into the hearts
and minds of others

01:12:17.205 --> 01:12:19.915
not to discriminate, not to judge

01:12:20.071 --> 01:12:23.521
but to see ways, in order to help.

01:12:25.701 --> 01:12:27.942
To see appropriate ways

01:12:30.058 --> 01:12:32.488
to help relieve the suffering

01:12:33.076 --> 01:12:36.370
and also to see clearly, practices

01:12:37.716 --> 01:12:41.396
and teachings that can be
appropriate to that particular person

01:12:41.584 --> 01:12:44.094
to that particular heart and mind.

01:12:45.830 --> 01:12:48.680
That's psychic power, isn't it?

01:12:53.179 --> 01:12:54.933
And the five senses

01:12:55.088 --> 01:12:58.310
the five sense consciousnesses
are also transformed.

01:12:58.517 --> 01:13:02.257
They become . . . (Vietnamese)

01:13:03.011 --> 01:13:05.421
It's a wisdom that allows us

01:13:06.749 --> 01:13:08.849
to realize miracles

01:13:10.810 --> 01:13:12.910
in the work of serving.

01:13:17.143 --> 01:13:20.141
So, these wisdoms

01:13:21.638 --> 01:13:25.118
are like miracles.
Like psychic power.

01:13:26.968 --> 01:13:29.288
And it's not far-fetched.

01:13:30.918 --> 01:13:33.348
It is within our mind.

01:13:33.567 --> 01:13:36.807
It's already there.
It's being covered

01:13:39.596 --> 01:13:40.876
by

01:13:43.478 --> 01:13:46.868
the deluded mind,
our deluded mind, by manas.

01:13:50.899 --> 01:13:54.899
When we practice mindfulness,
concentration, and insight

01:13:54.983 --> 01:13:56.981
in our daily life

01:13:59.366 --> 01:14:00.566
we actually

01:14:02.147 --> 01:14:04.312
are transforming manas.

01:14:08.360 --> 01:14:10.850
And also transforming the root

01:14:10.918 --> 01:14:13.398
of the tendency to discriminate

01:14:14.557 --> 01:14:17.997
in us, so that we can become the light,

01:14:18.081 --> 01:14:21.706
the bodhisattavas to guide people

01:14:24.156 --> 01:14:26.616
towards great freedom,

01:14:27.748 --> 01:14:29.648
great happiness,

01:14:29.731 --> 01:14:31.801
towards awakening.

01:14:33.332 --> 01:14:36.032
And it's not just the individual awakening

01:14:36.111 --> 01:14:38.381
but it's the collective awakening.

01:14:38.618 --> 01:14:42.868
And we learned that the individual
is made of the collective.

01:14:43.068 --> 01:14:45.518
When there is awakening
in the individual

01:14:45.737 --> 01:14:48.787
there's also awakening in the collective.

01:14:49.426 --> 01:14:52.616
And so each one of us
takes up the practice so that

01:14:55.552 --> 01:15:00.302
we can . . . we can wake up.
We can be awakened.

01:15:01.112 --> 01:15:04.824
And it is our awakening that we contribute

01:15:04.966 --> 01:15:08.356
to the collective awakening of humanity.

01:15:11.074 --> 01:15:13.794
So it's a really beautiful endeavor

01:15:13.867 --> 01:15:16.047
that every one of us

01:15:16.136 --> 01:15:18.836
is embarking on

01:15:20.172 --> 01:15:21.962
and taking up

01:15:22.837 --> 01:15:26.297
as our lives and purposes.

01:15:32.047 --> 01:15:33.647
The endeavor

01:15:34.007 --> 01:15:35.857
to experience

01:15:36.698 --> 01:15:39.676
interconnectedness,
to experience

01:15:40.427 --> 01:15:44.047
the beauty, the goodness, the truth

01:15:45.519 --> 01:15:47.555
in us and around us.

01:15:50.409 --> 01:15:54.409
Not just for our own benefit
and our own awakening

01:15:54.565 --> 01:15:57.605
but also for the collective

01:15:57.735 --> 01:16:00.019
awakening of humanity.

01:16:00.133 --> 01:16:03.262
So thank you so much for being part of

01:16:03.353 --> 01:16:05.823
this journey with us all.

01:16:10.262 --> 01:16:14.872
And happy continuation on
this path, on this journey.

01:16:24.942 --> 01:16:26.392
So let us . . .

01:16:29.211 --> 01:16:32.652
listen to the three sounds of the bell.

01:16:38.284 --> 01:16:41.067
Listen while we are

01:16:44.051 --> 01:16:48.057
aware of our breathing
and of our body.

01:16:50.747 --> 01:16:52.657
Listen in order

01:16:53.419 --> 01:16:56.584
to quiet down our mind

01:16:58.077 --> 01:17:00.452
to see the oneness

01:17:01.048 --> 01:17:05.128
between ourselves and
the air and the sun

01:17:05.335 --> 01:17:06.945
and the earth

01:17:08.990 --> 01:17:11.080
and my community

01:17:13.663 --> 01:17:14.853
and I.

01:17:27.955 --> 01:17:32.055
(Inviting the Bell)

01:17:34.867 --> 01:17:43.697
(Bell)

01:18:06.462 --> 01:18:16.432
(Bell)

01:18:33.420 --> 01:18:44.700
(Bell)

01:19:43.509 --> 01:19:46.409
(Light bell)

01:19:49.270 --> 01:19:51.910
(Light bell)