(Half bell)
(Bell)
(FRENCH) I would like to say
that certain people were not ok to play a game called 'Werewolves'.
There are adults who say that it is a bad game.
You should not play it here, because you play with death.
You cannot do that.
And other people say it is very good, because it's a game and you play together.
So the question is: Is it good or not?
What teaching can you give on this argument?
(ENGLISH) Dear Thay,
our friend is saying that there is a certain game.
Some of the young people like to play it.
It is called 'Loups-Garous', 'Werewolves.'
Some of the adults said that they should not play this game,
because it has something to do with death.
And other people say that it can be a good game to play.
So how can they resolve this question?
And what kind of teaching can be helpful to make them understand about this?
Do you want to say more about the game?
(Mumbling)
It is just a simple game.
You have to choose at the end of a round whom you want to kill.
There are some special characters like witches.
And there is a vote and that vote decides who is a werewolf.
So you have to keep the people and hopefully kill the werewolf.
So that is why some people who have children say
they have to kill, to choose whom they want to kill.
And you have to defend yourself saying:
"I am not the werewolf. Please don't kill me!"
And all the children together have to say:
"I think this one is the werewolf. We should kill him."
But maybe he is innocent.
And the object of this game is that
the werewolves win when they kill all the normal people.
Or the normal people win when they kill all the werewolves.
Sister Hai Nghiem, can you help answer that question for Thay?
(Crowd laughs)
Maybe Thay Phap Luu also.
Do you kill or pretend to kill?
Do you really want to kill?
Microphone for sister Hai Nghiem.
Dear Thay, dear Sangha
I have played this game in the past (laughs).
So I feel I know the spirit of the game a little bit.
What is inspiring for me when I play this game for children or young people...
is that you play roles.
Either we are an innocent villager, or we are a werewolf,
or we are a witch or we are a little girl.
Obviously in these roles there is the good and the evil.
The innocent people, they represent the good.
They want to save their lives.
The werewolves in this game represent the evil.
They want to make victims.
There are also some roles in this game where people actually save other people's lives
or you can...
or you can act in such a way that will kill more people at the same time.
Of course you pretend this, you don't have to actually make victims.
It is just a way of speaking.
But some people get animated by the game.
In this game there has to be a lot of talking
to convince the others that you are not a werewolf
and you should not be killed.
Sometimes you are a werewolf and people want to kill you.
Then you lie, because you say: "No no, I am not a werewolf."
So...
I think that sometimes you sort of play with fire in this game:
You lie or...
or you try to kill someone that is innocent.
I think that something we can learn from a game like this is that...
that we can have roles together when we are in a community,
but it does not have to...
it does not have to become...so violent.
Maybe the children could think of a game which is similar to 'Werewolves',
where you have to discuss together and you also have roles,
but maybe you won't have to kill people.
Maybe instead of killing...
we can make projects or...
we can gain some wisdom together
or save the...weaker, the needy.
I hope that Thay will contribute something more.
(Crowd laughs)
I think the children can sit down and discuss about this
and come to a conclusion.
If a...
If a game is not approved by a number of people,
then we can change the way of playing so that everyone can accept it.
You know, I came from a country where killing took place every day, every night
and many people died.
One side was the communist.
And one side was the anticommunist.
And they kill each other every day, every night,
because they think of the other side as evil.
And the suffering went on for many, many years.
That is a game, a horrible game.
So our thinking about good and evil is very important.
Do not...
Do not try to say: "This is evil!
And if something is evil we have to kill it."
Do not think like that.
Suppose someone is sick.
He has a kind of virus or bacteria that makes him very sick.
And we want to...
We want to help him or her.
We have to kill the disease, the sickness in him or in her and not kill her, right?
You have to kill the virus, the bacteria and not the person, right?
So when someone is violent because someone is injust,
when someone is a criminal,
we should not try to kill him or her, but we try to kill the violence,
the anger in him or in her.
Do not kill.
That is why during the war in Vietnam Thay wrote a song.
And he asked the young people to sing it on the street.
"Our enemies are not men.
If we kill men, with whom shall we live?"
It became a folk song.
That is why our principle is no killing.
We do not kill any people, any person, even if he is a terrorist or a criminal.
We want to kill the wrong perception,
and...
and the ignorance, the hate, the fear, the violence in him or in her.
We don't want to kill him or her.
That is why you have to create a kind of game
where we don't kill the person but we kill the evil in that person.
That evil is violence, anger and hate.
But you have to be very skillful to kill the violence, the hate in a person.
And with the practice of mindful talking, mindful listening
you can help a person remove anger and violence in him or in her.
You cannot do that with guns.
That is the first thing we have to learn: never kill a man, a woman.
Only kill the evil in him or in her.
But you do not need weapons in order to kill.
You need the practice of compassion of listening.
That is the first part of the answer. The second part of the answer is deeper.
Because you know that nothing is born and nothing dies
that is why you cannot even kill anger.
You transform anger into something else.
You cannot kill a cloud, you can help a cloud to become rain.
So there is a way to transform anger and violence
into something else that is more pleasant,
like compassion, understanding and reconciliation.
And that you can do with the practice of meditation.
That is what we learn here.
We do not even kill...
We do not even want to kill anger or hate
because we know that nothing dies.
But we know we can transform anger and hate into something positive
like understanding and love.
And in Plum Village we learn how to transform anger into compassion.
We learn how to transform violence into gentleness.
And the children can learn.
And when they go back to school, this September,
they know how to deal with
the children who are violent and have a lot of anger in them.
We don't want to punish them or hit them.
But we want to help them to be less violent, less angry.
And you can learn that in Plum Village.
And you can help your fellow students in the class.
Ask your mentors here in Plum Village how to do that.
And create a kind of game that can help us to learn.
This person, this guy, is supposed to be evil.
And people say that we have to kill him.
Can we kill a person?
No!
We have to help him or her not to be violent, not to be angry.
But how?
So we can create many kinds of games.
There are plenty of games, beautiful games.
Why don't we spend our time playing in such a way that we can learn more.
Thank you!
(Half bell)
(Bell)