WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [The Plum Village Online Monastery] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Mindful online broadcasts like this are supported entirely by donations.] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Donate at http:pvom.org] [Thank you for your generosity.] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Good morning dear friends, today is the fifth of September 2015, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we are on the last day of our retreat in Blue Cliff Monastery, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a beautiful hall, all together. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 With the children we already saw the nature of interbeing of all that is. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We looked into the cookie, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we saw all the non-cookie elements that are the cookie. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The cookie is made up of non-cookie elements, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and this is true for all that is. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 During this retreat we have been looking at the 16 exercises of breathing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We already looked into 12, and today we're going to look into the last four. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I'll write them on the board. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I hope somebody took a picture, for the records. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This is us, eating the cookie. In case you didn't know. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The cookie manifested itself as joy, right here on the board. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Contemplating impermanence. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Contemplating throwing away. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Contemplating non-desire. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Contemplating cessation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I'd like to start with 'Throwing away'. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This contemplation has also been called: 'Contemplating letting go', 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I like 'throwing away', which we use also, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because throwing away, for me clearly indicates an insight. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The things you throw away are the things you don't need, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they are of no use to us, that is what we throw away. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Once we have the insight, 'I really don't need this, this is of no use to me', 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's easy to just throw it away. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And we have been talking about multitasking at this retreat. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I find myself sometimes multitasking during my walking; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 my body is walking but my mind is doing something else: I am multitasking. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then I stop; we have a practice of stopping the NST radio station: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the Non Stop Thinking channel. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So when I'm walking and I find myself thinking, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I look for a moment into the thought to see whether it is useful at all, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I can tell you, most of my thoughts are utterly useless. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And once I see this: throw it away. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's fun, you may like to try it, if you find yourself multitasking in that way. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Just throw it away. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It makes us light and it allows us to be present for what is, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to touch the wonders of life, and see more of this earth. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We all have drawers, cabinets, we have a fridge, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and in there we keep things. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 From time to time we clean up. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We open the fridge and we look at everything that's in the fridge: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 'This is outdated, sorry, kept it too long'. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We open our file cabinet, we go through all the drawers, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we go through all the documents, some dating from 1964, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 'Is this still applicable?' 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 OK, shall I archive it for history's sake or shall I throw it away? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We go and we create space for other things to be possible. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We also have a mental filing cabinet, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a mental archive, where we keep a lot of things. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In this cabinet there is this one drawer that is called 'perceptions'. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Another one is called 'Notions'. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Another one, 'views'. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And they are filled with perceptions, with views, with notions. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's good from time to time to stop to look into them, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and to see: are they really useful? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Are they out of date? Have they ever been useful? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Have they served myself? Others? The world? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Have they caused suffering? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And throw them away. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So we're free to look at what is there, right on front of us, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and to see what is needed to respond appropriately to the situation, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 be it ourselves, others, or the world. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So throwing away is a wonderful practice. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We look at something, we ask ourselves, 'Am I sure that I still need this?' 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If not, we throw it away. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And for the just-in-case people among us: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you can always check it again, and then you throw it away. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So throwing away is a daily practice, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and it will contribute greatly to our well being, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the well being of others, and everything that is. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When we speak of throwing away in this context here, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we speak of throwing away our views and our notions that we hold onto, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that have not served us, that have not served anybody, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in fact they have caused a lot of suffering to ourselves and others. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Together, we would like to look a little bit into that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 To do that we're going to look into the Three Doors of Liberation, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 together with the Three Dharma Seals. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 For people taking notes, something to put in you archive, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I'll write it on the board. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I'll try to write big enough for you to read: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - Emptiness; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - Signlessness; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - and Aimlessness. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We combine them with the Three Dharma Seals: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - Emptiness is non-self; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - Signlessness is Impermanence; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - and Aimlessness is Nirvana. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Any teaching that reflects the Three Dharma Seals 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is an authentic teaching of the Buddha. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That is how we can see this. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So these Three Doors of Liberation 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Caughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 -- I'm sorry, I can't turn away from the microphone -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 these Three Doors of Liberation 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 are what we turn to in our daily life for support and also for healing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We have already looked at the non-self nature of the cookie, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we know that the cookie is empty of a separate individual self, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 all the elements that it is made up of, we would classify as non-cookie. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We call this interbeing: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 everything needs everything else in order to manifest. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A few days ago, you practiced the Five Touchings of the Earth? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Looking deeply into yourself? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When we practice the Five Touchings of the Earth 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we look deeply into ourselves, we see our parents, our ancestors, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 spiritual and blood ancestors, we see our land ancestors, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we also see the earth. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We see all our non-self ancestors, all non-self elements. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When we really, really touch our interbeing nature, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when we really touch this insight, when we have this insight of non-self, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we will take good care of ourselves by taking care of our non-self elements, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we will take good care of the non-self elements 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 by taking good care of ourselves. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We know that the earth is hurting right now. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When we look into ourselves, we will see that we are the earth: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the cookie, where did it come from? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We eat the cookie, we become the cookie, we eat the carrot, we become the carrot, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we breathe the air, we are the air. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The earth ís our body, we don't have a body outside of the earth. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This insight, we need to take some time to look into this. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The earth is out body. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We take care of our body in many ways, we go to the hairdresser 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 -- well, we don't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but most people do -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 well in sòme way we take care of our hair, we wash our bodies, we clean it, feed it, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when it hurts, we do something to relieve the pain, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we go and see a doctor, we keep ourselves healthy -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Can we do the same thing with the earth? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It is our body. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This insight will make it very easy, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to live a in way that reflects that the earth is our body. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 How often do we use our car? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Or an airplane? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What do we eat? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Is what we eat healthy for our earth? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Does it make our earth healthy? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What we eat, does it contribute to the health of the earth? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Since the earth is our body. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In Plum Village, the last few years we have been vegan. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Also in that light: the earth is our body. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, you may like to look into the earthbody. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We all need to look into the body of the earth being our body. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We have no body outside of the earthbody. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When we have a difficulty, we can take refuge in all our non-self elements, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 like our ancestors, our blood ancestors, our spiritual ancestors, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they are in us. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When we look at our hand -- let's look at our hand -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 our hand has been transmitted to us by our parents. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They have transmitted their whole being to us. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, looking at our hand, we know it's made of the cells of the body of our parents: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it is our parents' hand. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Our parents' hand is the hand of our ancestors, of our grandparents, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 our great-grandparents, of all our ancestors; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 all our blood ancestors are present in our hand. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Somewhere along that line of ancestors, there are those who are compassionate, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who are loving, who are caring, they are in our hands. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When we look into our hand, we also see our spiritual teachers. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Our spiritual teachers who are transmitting to us 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 their understanding, their love and their compassion. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's in our hand. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's in our mind, it's in our hand. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's right here. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, let us just look at our hand a little bit, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and become aware of the ancestors present in us. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We are the continuation of our ancestors, blood as well as spiritual ancestors. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Now, if there is a moment where there's a storm raging in our mind, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when we are sad or angry or in despair, we can call on our ancestors in our hand, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 their care, their understanding, their compassion. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, we can close our eyes and call on our ancestors in our hand, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and allow our ancestors to put their hand on our head, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 gently, lovingly and caring. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We can feel the energy of understanding and compassion flow into our bodies, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we can hear their breathing, steady and calm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This is also Thay's hand on our head. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 After a few moments, we will calm, the storm has calmed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We could hear them say, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 'Breathe, my dear, it will be okay, it will be okay.' 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 As the storm has calmed, we can see more clearly what is happening, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we know what to do and what not to do. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Let us enjoy the sound of the bell, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and just enjoy that energy we just received from our blood and spiritual ancestors. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Bell rings) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We are much larger than we think we are. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We are our ancestors, we can call on them any time we need support. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Everything is impermanent, nothing remains the same for two consecutive moments. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Impermanence, we can bring to mind when we are in a difficulty, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 like when there is a storm raging in our mind: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that storm is impermanent, as we just saw. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I like to say, 'this too will pass.' 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 'This too will pass.' It's impermanent. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 On the other hand, when we're looking at impermanence, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we become aware of the preciousness of all that is: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the preciousness of life, the preciousness of our beloved ones, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the preciousness of the flower, of everything, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we will enjoy it and treasure it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We do not know, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how long we will be able to enjoy them. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We treasure, and while we treasure their presence we are nourished. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We are nourished by it, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we will do everything we can today to make them happy, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to make the flower happy, the earth, our beloved ones. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 To make ourselves happy, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so that we will not have regrets later. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But is we do have regrets there is a way to heal them, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I will come to that later. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thanks to impermanence, life is possible. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We have a seed, and the seed becomes a flower. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If it weren't for impermanence, the seed would never become a flower. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The flower becomes a seed again, and the seed becomes more flowers. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The seed is a seed, but when I look deeply into the seed, we will see the flower. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When I look deeply into the flower, I see the seed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So the seed is a seed, and the flower is a flower: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they inter-are. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In Zen terms they call this: 'not two'. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Not two. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If you've ever visited Zen temples in China, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they have a gate, and it's kind of a tradition that on the gate 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there is a character, a Chinese character, that means: not two. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It is the heart of the practice, to touch this 'not two'. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Not two. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We already have had guided meditations, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we have looked into ourselves as a five year old child. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Is the five year old child the same as we are now, an adult? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes? No? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Neither the same, nor different. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Not two. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We've looked into our mother, our father, as five year old children, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We've looked into ourselves, are we the same or different? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Not two. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Look at anything, it is not two. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When we really look deeply into impermanence, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we touch the signlessness, the nature of signlessness of all that is, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and when we touch that, we can overcome our grief and our fear. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You may or may not know most of monastics like hiking in the mountains. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I'm one of the monastics that likes to go hiking with other monastics. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 On one of our hiking trips in the Alps a few years ago, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I was lying on my back, having a nap after lunch, and then I woke up. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We were in a valley, high up in the mountains, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so there is a valley and there are just some peaks, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 very sharp high peaks that you need to -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what would you call it, mountain-climb, you need an axe or something 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and ropes and things to get up, we decided not to go that day 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we just enjoyed the valley, high up in the mountain -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I opened my eyes and I was looking at this clear blue sky. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The peaks on one side, a wide open valley, and some more peaks there, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and then, just at the edge of the peak of the mountain, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I saw something whitish, but very vaguely, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and kept looking and it became whiter and whiter and whiter 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and whiter and -- a white cloud manifested. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Out of the blue. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 -- Maybe that's where the expression comes from? -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That white cloud just manifested itself, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and as I was looking at this wonder of this white cloud manifesting itself, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 all of a sudden a thought came, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ooh, what if it gets denser and denser and it will rain and no shelter. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There's another way of looking at this. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If it gets denser and denser, what will become of that cloud? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Rain. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The cloud will continue to manifest itself as rain, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 like we've seen in the cookie. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 As rain, good. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's time for tea anyway, so the rain, the cloud as rain will become my tea, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I will drink my cloud as tea, and then I will probably have to pee -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a while. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Pee my cloud; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in fact I will be returning the cloud to where it originally came from, partly. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Return the cloud to the earth, which will be turning to vapor at a certain point. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The vapor will rise up again into the air, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the atmospheric conditions, weather conditions, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it will come together, and there will be another cloud. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A cloud never dies. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A cloud never dies, and this is the same with everything. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Things manifest, or stop to manifest, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 according to causes and conditions. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The French scientist and chemist Antoine Lavoisier said: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Nothing is created and nothing is lost, everything transforms." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A cloud never dies. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And we know also of the law of conservation of matter and energy, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that we cannot create matter, we cannot create energy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We cannot destroy: matter can become matter, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 matter can become energy, energy energy, energy can manifest as matter, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 matter as matter as energy -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's a journey with no beginning and no end. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, what we tend to call birth or death are moments of continuation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That is the nature of no birth and no death: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 moments of continuation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Just because we do not see something 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the form, in the sign that we're used to, doesn't mean it's not there. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's difficult to see vapor, but the vapor is there, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we will see it in water form, right? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In our breath. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In fact, the cloud, we're breathing in and out clouds. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Are you aware of that? Nice. We don't just drink it, we also breathe our cloud. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I like that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So this is signlessness. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Signlessness is not a theory, it is a practice. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I ordained first in a Japanese tradition in Japan, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a temple tucked away in the mountains on the northern shore of Japan. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Shortly after I ordained, about six weeks, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I received a telephone call from one of my siblings 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 telling me my mother had been taken to hospital. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I had asked her, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "If anything happens to you or mother, please let me know as soon as possible. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Don't ring me to tell me when the cremation will be. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If possible, let me know beforehand. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, I was only there for six weeks 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I went to my master and shared this with him, and he asked me, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Would you like to go home, to be with your mother?" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And I said, "Yes." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And within two days I was back in Europe. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 All our siblings were there, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we were all at our mother's bedside when she passed away, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I realized what a privilege that was for our mother and for us. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She was very peaceful, breathing, no sign of fear. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We asked her whether she would like us to recite her favorite prayers; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 she was Catholic. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She nodded, and we did. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We sang, and she passed away. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Just like that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Outside was a beautiful day, blue sky and snow on the ground. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We stayed there telling her how beautiful it was outside. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So beautiful, so peaceful, so calm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I was only there for a very short time, and then I was back in Japan. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It was not until I was sitting in my room, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I sat down and thought, 'oh, I'm going to write a letter to mom.' 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then I thought, wait a minute, no, she just passed away. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 At that time I was just recently ordained, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I didn't really know much about the teaching of no birth and death. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I didn't know it very well. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I sat down -- well I was sitting down -- but I continued to think, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where is mom now? Where is she? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What happened to her? I know her body -- I know what happened to her body, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it was cremated, ashes were distributed over the ocean as she has wished, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but where -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know, mom is more than her body. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What happened? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I couldn't figure it out. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But I wanted a reply. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I thought, well, what was mom, besides a physical body? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What did I call mom? Not just her body, other things. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And this is how I quite naturally, without knowing -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 just about anything about the teachings of no birth and no death -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What was mom? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Immediately came to my mind: love for nature. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Everything she liked: love for nature, poetry, music, dance. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Her sense of humor. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Her total acceptance of her children, as we were. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We didn't need to be different. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She loved us as we were. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Her capacity to face difficulties, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 even what we saw, being blown away at sometimes by a difficulty, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to fall over, to get back onto her feet, and to continue her perseverance. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Friends were always welcome, there was always a bed in the house. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There was always a bed for us in the house, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 even long after we had built our own life, if you like. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In cases we needed it, it was there. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She was Irish, a Quak woman, spirited. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I looked into 'what was my mother' and saw 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 all her strengths and all her weaknesses. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then I thought, but all that is still there. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Nature is there, and the love for nature is still there, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in me, in my siblings, in others. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Poetry is there, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 dance, music, sense of music is there, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 perseverance is there, it is all still there. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's just not all together in one form as I am used to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 have seen it in that particular manifestation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But all my non-mom elements were all still there. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I had always been close to my mom, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I take after her if you like, we had many things in common, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but when I saw this -- I found my mother inside. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I thought, everything she was, still is. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And it brought me great relief of my grief. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I still missed her presence, physical, if you like, in some way. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But the grief, was not there. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Just gratitude, gratitude, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and joy of having found my mother inside. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And we enjoyed poetry together, music, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was not supposed to dance in that Zen temple, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but I know it was there. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I recognized her strengths in me. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It took me a little bit more time to recognize and say, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Yes, the weaknesses are also in me." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And now we practice together, we nourish together and we transform together. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So it became very clear: my mother is still there. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I am my mother's continuation, my siblings are my mother's continuation, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 my mother continues in many, many ways. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Now I think, how about my continuation, I don't have children, how about that? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I think I need to breathe a little bit. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Let's enjoy the sound of the bell. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Bell rings) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Nothing is ever lost. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A little over ten years ago, a group of us visited Israel. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In Jerusalem we visited the wall. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Very powerful energy in the whole of Israel, everywhere. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It calls for presence. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 As I was standing in front of the wall, I put my hands against the wall. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The stones were warm, and I stood there breathing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then inside of me, came this thought, kind of this voice saying, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 nothing is ever lost, no thought is ever lost. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I thought, all my thoughts, they don't disappear? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There're not lost? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thay tells us that our thoughts wear our signature, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and that our thoughts are our continuation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When I was standing there at the wall, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I thought, nothing ever lost, no thoughts, no words, no action ever lost, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it only transforms. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I wondered about the unskillful thoughts I had, the unwholesome thoughts I've had, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the unskillful words I've spoken, the unskillful actions I've committed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They're not lost? I found it scary. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thay teaches us, if we've had a thought, our continuation, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we're not so happy about that thought, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we can think another thought, to balance it out, to neutralize it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If we've said something, we arere not happy about, say something else, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that you are happy about, that makes you happy, that makes others happy, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that contributes to the well-being. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We have an action we're not happy about, do something you'll be happy about, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for your benefit, the benefit of all, the benefit of the cosmos. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I thought, wow, this is what I call empowerment, this is empowerment. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It was so healing to hear that, so healing, it was just what I needed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This is an empowerment. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The five mindfulness trainings we looked at together, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the fourteen mindfulness trainings we looked at together 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and heard being recited yesterday, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they are a very good guideline for that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 To think, to speak, to act, in order to balance, to neutralize, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to unwholesome thoughts, words and actions 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that are there in the cosmos, either produced by us or by others. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When we think, speak or act wholesomely, we neutralize any unwholesome thought, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 any unwholesome word, any unwholesome action that is there. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Not just our own. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This is hope. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This is the practice we can do, any moment, anywhere. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Maybe, we have another bell. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We can breathe, breathe and come back to ourselves, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 find our stability, our freedom, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we will send out stability and freedom as our continuation into the cosmos. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Bell rings) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Our path is a path -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 into happiness, into well-being, from ill-being to well-being. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If we have many desires -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 all those things that we think we need in order to be happy, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I call them the 'ifs' and the 'whens'. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If this were only different, I would be happy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 One of our sisters shared with me many years ago, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that part of her body was sick, and she felt very sad. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then she decided to look into her body, and look into all the parts of her body. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She then said, "You know what, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I realized, one part of my body is sick, and the other parts are still healthy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then I asked my healthy parts, to send their love and energy to my sick part, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I felt much better." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I thanked her for her sharing. Not the 'if', but what can I do, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how can I respond to the situation? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The 'ifs' and the 'whens': 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When I have this, when I'm wealthy, when I'm famous, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when I will be more powerful, then I will be happy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So if we can throw away the 'whens' and the 'ifs' 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and stop running after all those things, when we come back to the present moment, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we will see we already have enough conditions to be happy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There are enough conditions to be happy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We may see that, thát moment we are waiting for, is actually this moment. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This moment ís the moment we are waiting for. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It is that moment. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We will see that 'this' is 'it'. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 No need to run after anything anymore. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There is nothing lacking, as our brother said. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When we touch non-self and impermanence deeply, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we touch our true nature, which is Nirvana. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 No coming, no going, no birth, no death, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not same, not different, no being, no non-being. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We find Nirvana in impermanence and non-self. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I didn't write it on the board, but you can imagine, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 impermanence and non-self on the top, line underneath: Nirvana. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Simple equation -- to write on the board, I mean -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughing) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and then we have time to practice. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We've been here over one week together, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and this retreat was scheduled to happen in the physical presence of Thay. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Was Thay here, was Thay not here? Is Thay here, is Thay not here? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I see -- means yes? Here? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 OK, yes, here. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 All together, we've made manifest Thay. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thay is: breathing in, breathing out. Enjoying our breathing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thay is: enjoying our steps. Thay is: mindful eating. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thay is: deep listening. Thay is: loving speech. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thay is: compassion. Thay is understanding. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We cannot find Thay outside of that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thay is nothing other than that, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so together we have made manifest Thay. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thay is here, and we can touch Thay. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thay is in us. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We are in each other. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We have shared, whoever we have touched, we are in them. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 By whomever we have been touched, in our education for instance, at school, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they are in us. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So we are in each other. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We are in you, you are in us. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And we can nourish each other in each other. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We can enhance each other in each other. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We can transform each other in each other. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We cannot take each other out of each other. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We inter-are. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You may like to study 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the sixteen exercises of breathing, full awareness of breathing, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the light of the practice of the five mindfulness trainings 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the fourteen mindfulness trainings. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You will see, they inter-are. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It will help you to concretely practice them. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So study the sixteen in the light of the five and the fourteen, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 study the five and the fourteen in the light of the sixteen exercises. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They inter-are. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Dear friends, we know you are there, and we are so happy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Happy continuation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Bell rings) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Bell rings) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Bell rings) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Bell rings) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [The Plum Village Online Monastery] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Mindful online broadcasts like this are supported entirely by donations.] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Donate at http://pvom.org] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Thank you for your generosity.] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [The Plum Village Online Monastery]