0:00:07.222,0:00:08.530
(Bell)

0:00:11.798,0:00:17.601
(Bell)

0:00:40.393,0:00:46.734
(Bell)

0:01:05.017,0:01:11.408
(Bell)

0:01:23.299,0:01:27.590
Dear respected Thay,[br]dear noble community,

0:01:30.932,0:01:37.955
it's such a happiness to walk into a room[br]so full of love.

0:01:43.598,0:01:47.746
My brother and I we just arrived[br]a few minutes ago, and came in.

0:01:48.227,0:01:54.370
And to feel the sangha sitting in peace -

0:01:57.214,0:01:59.755
(fr.) La traduction, ça marche?

0:01:59.912,0:02:01.716
Pas encore.

0:02:01.862,0:02:06.272
Can we turn the volume[br]up on the French?

0:02:11.545,0:02:16.022
So walking into this room and feel[br]the energy of peace, of calm,

0:02:17.479,0:02:20.728
of deep aspiration to practice

0:02:21.604,0:02:25.399
is like walking into a kind of Pure Land.

0:02:33.298,0:02:35.109
(fr.) Ça va?

0:02:40.752,0:02:44.804
Là-bas ça va, mais, là-bas? Ça ne va pas.

0:02:54.176,0:02:57.351
We can just enjoy our breathing.

0:03:02.851,0:03:07.392
The beautiful thing about a smile[br]is it doesn't require a translation.

0:03:07.895,0:03:12.256
So maybe if you like you can look around[br]the room and smile to one another.

0:03:14.172,0:03:17.072
Just to appreciate the presence of

0:03:18.352,0:03:20.785
so many people who

0:03:23.615,0:03:26.553
come for the bodhisattva path.

0:03:29.600,0:03:33.694
Today's talk is about[br]the path of the bodhisattvas.

0:03:38.929,0:03:43.416
How the Buddha taught of how

0:03:48.000,0:03:51.843
he takes good care of the bodhisattvas.

0:03:52.189,0:03:57.023
And by looking at each other[br]and smiling to other bodhisattvas,

0:03:57.251,0:04:00.578
we take good care of each other.

0:04:01.084,0:04:05.596
Bring up that seed of caretaking.

0:04:10.806,0:04:13.985
And then our heart opens and we,

0:04:15.894,0:04:19.723
we water the seed of joy[br]in the other person.

0:04:21.879,0:04:25.110
(fr.) Ça va? Okay, voilà.

0:04:26.172,0:04:29.636
So dear respected Thay,[br]dear brothers and sisters,

0:04:29.824,0:04:32.267
today is the 6th of December

0:04:32.417,0:04:35.497
in the year 2018,

0:04:36.177,0:04:38.465
and we are gathered in

0:04:39.897,0:04:44.135
Loving Kindness temple,[br]in New Hamlet,

0:04:46.298,0:04:51.885
for the last lay day Dharma talk[br]of the Winter Retreat.

0:04:53.036,0:04:55.286
(fr.) N'est-ce pas?

0:05:05.442,0:05:11.554
There is a very wonderful book called[br]The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion.

0:05:12.749,0:05:14.779
And it's

0:05:16.744,0:05:23.207
Thay's teaching on the Vajracchedikā[br]Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra,

0:05:23.524,0:05:26.363
or sometimes called The Diamond Sutra.

0:05:26.503,0:05:29.617
The diamond that cuts through illusion.

0:05:29.856,0:05:34.647
And I was preparing for this talk[br]reading through this book,

0:05:34.834,0:05:38.417
and I remembered that it was one,

0:05:38.568,0:05:42.315
I think the first book of Thay's[br]that I read all the way through.

0:05:42.478,0:05:45.387
Somebody had given it to me[br]when I was a lay friend

0:05:45.769,0:05:49.466
practicing in a Vipassana center.

0:05:50.163,0:05:53.648
And it was like receiving[br]a stroke of lighting.

0:05:54.869,0:05:56.960
I, and -

0:06:00.760,0:06:03.148
The sangha asks us

0:06:04.217,0:06:07.844
to look into this sutra today

0:06:08.814,0:06:14.854
as the last lay Dharma talk.[br]Lay day Dharma talk.

0:06:16.247,0:06:22.500
So I practice getting in touch with[br]the teaching in the Diamond Sutra.

0:06:24.534,0:06:30.464
But somehow I've forgotten that I -[br]How important finding this book was to me,

0:06:30.660,0:06:35.170
and my study of Thay's teaching.

0:06:38.732,0:06:41.736
And so, actually[br]I re-read it this morning.

0:06:41.960,0:06:44.038
(Laughter)

0:06:45.452,0:06:48.427
Sometimes it's like that.[br]Because Thay is such a

0:06:49.141,0:06:51.523
profound teacher,

0:06:51.724,0:06:56.093
that sometimes I like to look[br]in other places first.

0:06:56.730,0:07:00.320
Because I know when I read[br]Thay's teaching, Thay's -

0:07:03.980,0:07:06.178
One thunderbolt after another.

0:07:07.002,0:07:12.534
And it is difficult to find areas that[br]Thay doesn't go into,

0:07:12.699,0:07:17.061
that Thay doesn't reveal deeply.

0:07:23.512,0:07:28.021
So we are invited this morning[br]to look into this teaching.

0:07:28.224,0:07:31.159
How many of you have ever read[br]The Diamond Sutra?

0:07:32.449,0:07:35.267
Wow! Okay, not bad!

0:07:43.049,0:07:46.104
So I want to start to share[br]a little bit about

0:07:47.221,0:07:49.819
the relationship of this teaching with

0:07:50.006,0:07:53.424
some other teachings[br]we already had in this retreat.

0:07:53.603,0:07:56.176
So we've learned about mindful breathing,

0:07:56.339,0:07:59.816
we've going into[br]the 14 mindfulness trainings.

0:08:01.024,0:08:04.036
So we know the Sutra on Mindful Breathing,

0:08:04.196,0:08:07.433
the Sutra on the Four[br]Establishments of Mindfulness

0:08:07.617,0:08:10.981
are very old teachings of the Buddha.

0:08:11.161,0:08:15.225
Like the teachings that the Buddha[br]gave later in his life.

0:08:15.488,0:08:19.146
At that time the sangha[br]had grown quite large,

0:08:20.002,0:08:23.023
and it was not so easy[br]as just going

0:08:24.263,0:08:28.320
to the Buddha website and[br]registering for a retreat

0:08:28.664,0:08:32.106
to go study personally with the Buddha.

0:08:33.107,0:08:35.137
It's not so easy.

0:08:35.320,0:08:39.361
People only learned about the Buddha[br]through word of mouth.

0:08:44.881,0:08:49.311
When the Buddha first came to[br]a big city, to Rajgir,

0:08:52.225,0:08:56.078
which at that time was the capital

0:08:58.454,0:09:01.533
of that region of Magadha,

0:09:03.989,0:09:07.521
they spread the word

0:09:08.402,0:09:12.051
to all the women, and the parents,

0:09:12.690,0:09:17.101
'Please, take care! Hide your men!

0:09:17.665,0:09:20.844
Because the Buddha is coming,[br]and wherever he goes,

0:09:20.975,0:09:23.629
many of the men become monks!'

0:09:23.744,0:09:25.285
(Laughter)

0:09:25.417,0:09:27.432
'Be careful!'

0:09:28.572,0:09:33.226
So the teaching of the Buddha[br]in this day and age sometimes we forget

0:09:33.399,0:09:37.421
was very dependent on physically[br]meeting the Buddha.

0:09:38.245,0:09:41.330
He didn't have a -

0:09:43.034,0:09:47.024
an iPhone, or a GPS transmitter,

0:09:47.468,0:09:50.591
so it is not easy to find[br]where the Buddha is.

0:09:51.287,0:09:53.656
You had to ask.

0:09:58.733,0:10:01.829
So the early community,[br]as it began to grow,

0:10:01.998,0:10:07.655
was surrounded by monks that[br]had studied personally with the Buddha.

0:10:07.846,0:10:11.012
They had spent time living with him,[br]walking with him,

0:10:11.202,0:10:13.998
going on alms round with him.

0:10:15.021,0:10:19.020
And so a lot of what they learned[br]was just by watching him.

0:10:19.227,0:10:23.674
Watching how he talked,[br]watching how he walked.

0:10:27.082,0:10:29.872
Listening directly to his teaching.

0:10:38.152,0:10:40.990
We are listening to a direct teaching now.

0:10:41.139,0:10:42.577
(Laughter)

0:10:42.732,0:10:45.008
From the Buddha himself.

0:10:53.119,0:10:55.955
So often times,[br]when we talk about the Dharma,

0:10:56.110,0:10:58.466
we think about some book.

0:10:59.790,0:11:02.103
And when we study the Dharma,

0:11:02.301,0:11:05.670
we need to go buy that book[br]and we need to read that book.

0:11:05.965,0:11:10.320
But that would be completely foreign[br]to the sangha of the Buddha.

0:11:12.251,0:11:16.493
None of what the Buddha was teaching[br]was being written down as far as we know

0:11:16.635,0:11:21.056
at that time. In fact,[br]writing was considered a kind of

0:11:22.373,0:11:28.017
lower form of transmitting[br]or communicating.

0:11:30.997,0:11:33.396
When something was -

0:11:33.944,0:11:36.633
When something was sacred,

0:11:37.012,0:11:40.423
then it would come directly[br]from the mouth of a teacher.

0:11:40.577,0:11:43.324
So the teaching came orally.

0:11:47.978,0:11:51.233
Nowadays we are like -[br]We've turned it upside down.

0:11:51.355,0:11:54.352
If something is written down,[br]we take it as an authority,

0:11:54.535,0:12:00.303
but if it is said from spoken word we tend[br]to question whether it's true or not.

0:12:01.054,0:12:03.581
So we suffer a lot.

0:12:04.144,0:12:07.405
And so, hopefully, in looking into[br]The Diamond Sutra

0:12:07.585,0:12:10.526
we will be able to pierce through[br]that veil of,

0:12:11.809,0:12:14.576
that veil of delusion.

0:12:22.464,0:12:26.017
Our practice is always to come back[br]to the here and now,

0:12:26.189,0:12:30.712
to experience life as it is[br]in the present moment.

0:12:31.882,0:12:35.678
That is a - Is there is something[br]that we can call truth,

0:12:36.932,0:12:41.284
in the Plum Village tradition[br]in the Buddhist teaching it is that.

0:12:41.481,0:12:45.072
It's that truth is found in life.[br]Not in books,

0:12:45.285,0:12:49.963
not even in the words of people,[br]what people tell us.

0:12:50.491,0:12:54.572
Even if that person is a very[br]prominent spiritual teacher.

0:12:56.169,0:12:59.296
Thay always reminds us[br]that we need to take the teaching

0:12:59.479,0:13:03.578
and apply it in our daily life.[br]That is where we find truth.

0:13:06.009,0:13:08.797
So we walk the talk.

0:13:12.059,0:13:14.857
But we know that

0:13:15.017,0:13:18.928
studying the teachings[br]can benefit our practice.

0:13:19.165,0:13:22.141
It can help us to break through

0:13:22.358,0:13:26.511
a view that we are holding on to tightly.

0:13:27.139,0:13:31.137
We can become aware of the ways in which[br]our vision is limited.

0:13:32.595,0:13:35.225
Like the blinders on a horse.

0:13:35.359,0:13:39.208
We only see the way forward

0:13:40.743,0:13:44.011
so that we only continue to walk forward.

0:13:44.858,0:13:48.433
And much (inaudible) education[br]in the modern world

0:13:48.626,0:13:56.845
is really how to get well-fitting blinders[br]so that we do the things

0:13:57.112,0:14:01.190
that are expected of us.

0:14:04.108,0:14:09.617
That we get a job, that we make money,[br]that we have a family, that we

0:14:11.013,0:14:13.849
so we can have a car, and a house,

0:14:14.022,0:14:17.278
and then we can go home[br]and enjoy Christmas together.

0:14:18.046,0:14:20.643
And then we can yell at each other.

0:14:20.808,0:14:22.211
(Laughter)

0:14:22.373,0:14:24.444
And complain, and, yeah.

0:14:24.581,0:14:28.621
Because of all the problems we have[br]making sure we have a house, and a car,

0:14:28.769,0:14:32.201
and a family, and a job, and money,[br]and all those things.

0:14:33.167,0:14:37.239
So our current education system[br]is designed like that,

0:14:38.607,0:14:43.644
to try to increase our capacity[br]to obtain those things.

0:14:45.625,0:14:48.325
Those objects of desire.

0:14:54.465,0:14:57.346
So when the Buddha walked into Rajgir,

0:14:59.097,0:15:01.624
he cut through all of that

0:15:02.455,0:15:10.846
by his mindful step, his mindful gaze,[br]his mindful speech.

0:15:12.961,0:15:16.324
And many young men[br]who were very well-educated,

0:15:16.604,0:15:21.987
many of them who studied to become[br]the spiritual leaders of their community,

0:15:23.301,0:15:25.737
prominent priests

0:15:26.750,0:15:30.769
who would take care of the spiritual needs[br]of their community,

0:15:31.989,0:15:35.686
just by seeing the Buddha[br]walking mindfully,

0:15:36.983,0:15:39.521
looking mindfully,

0:15:40.149,0:15:43.892
eating mindfully,[br]speaking mindfully,

0:15:44.157,0:15:48.559
they cut through the veil[br]of their delusion, those blinders they had

0:15:48.725,0:15:55.106
that were keeping them[br]on the path that was accepted in society

0:15:55.558,0:15:58.157
for them to walk on.

0:15:59.956,0:16:06.447
And so that is why they warned people,[br]'Please hide your son, hide your husband!'

0:16:08.840,0:16:13.161
People were afraid of what can happen[br]when people remove those blinders,

0:16:13.340,0:16:16.931
when suddenly their view becomes[br]very wide and open,

0:16:17.104,0:16:22.062
and they go beyond just the limited idea[br]of who they are,

0:16:22.287,0:16:24.671
and what they are here for.

0:16:26.303,0:16:29.172
So this teaching of The Diamond Sutra

0:16:31.976,0:16:34.751
is part of the fruit of a tradition[br]that developed

0:16:35.832,0:16:39.922
when the Buddha was[br]no longer physically there

0:16:41.497,0:16:46.809
in the form of which we think of him[br]as a human being walking on the Earth.

0:16:53.936,0:16:57.153
And for many centuries the monks,

0:16:57.340,0:17:02.888
in order to get in touch with[br]the Dharma body of the Buddha,

0:17:03.953,0:17:06.940
without his physical presence,

0:17:07.248,0:17:13.511
had begun orally reciting

0:17:15.011,0:17:19.765
the teachings that the Buddha gave[br]in many different situations.

0:17:20.864,0:17:24.607
Chanting them regularly,[br]and then

0:17:26.086,0:17:30.250
teaching the young monks that came in[br]also to chant them.

0:17:30.422,0:17:36.904
And so the teachings were passed on[br]through this practice of oral recitation.

0:17:38.455,0:17:41.988
Also the precepts, we call the Vinaya,

0:17:42.279,0:17:45.480
it means the way of life[br]of the monastic community,

0:17:45.648,0:17:48.086
was regularly chanted

0:17:48.275,0:17:50.684
and recited in that way.

0:17:56.220,0:17:58.406
And at some point,

0:17:59.293,0:18:02.192
people started to write them down

0:18:02.350,0:18:04.581
on palm leaves.

0:18:05.816,0:18:08.509
Can of like a cheat sheet.

0:18:10.768,0:18:14.094
But sometimes they forgot some passage

0:18:15.226,0:18:18.684
or maybe a monk would go[br]to a very remote area,

0:18:18.951,0:18:21.610
and he wanted to make sure that

0:18:22.117,0:18:23.997
he would not be a -

0:18:25.590,0:18:30.407
In the midst of a large community, where[br]there would be elders he could consult

0:18:30.585,0:18:33.853
when he forgot one passage of the sutra.

0:18:34.279,0:18:38.079
Maybe there was one text[br]like the Dharmapada

0:18:38.261,0:18:43.243
which had very precise sayings[br]and he wanted to remember them exactly.

0:18:43.428,0:18:47.845
So he started to write them down[br]on palm leaves

0:18:48.103,0:18:51.897
so that he could bring them with him[br]in his robe.

0:18:52.494,0:18:59.365
And whenever he forgot a line, he could[br]take them out to remember that line.

0:18:59.875,0:19:02.378
So a kind of cheat sheet.

0:19:06.816,0:19:11.014
A new technology,[br]very controversial.

0:19:12.697,0:19:14.972
Like the Internet.

0:19:17.400,0:19:19.250
And,

0:19:20.352,0:19:24.089
and this new form[br]of transmitting the Dharma

0:19:25.857,0:19:30.307
brought in new issues in the community.[br]Just like the Internet

0:19:31.459,0:19:33.826
has brought in new

0:19:35.408,0:19:38.891
wonderful things[br]and also sometimes difficult things

0:19:39.106,0:19:41.756
into our monastic community.

0:19:43.528,0:19:46.621
So in the same way, writing also

0:19:47.275,0:19:49.682
did the same thing.

0:19:50.842,0:19:54.244
So we have to a little bit[br]expand our view

0:19:55.702,0:19:59.411
to see ourselves in a time[br]when we don't have books everywhere,

0:19:59.601,0:20:02.666
we don't have the telephone,[br]or we don't have Internet.

0:20:02.832,0:20:05.942
And we deeply want to practice the Dharma.

0:20:06.092,0:20:09.864
We take refuge in the Buddha,[br]in the Dharma, in the Sangha.

0:20:10.893,0:20:14.647
So we know the sangha is all around us.

0:20:15.803,0:20:20.316
At that time, the sangha was clearly[br]the monastic community.

0:20:27.206,0:20:29.694
And the Dharma with how we

0:20:31.973,0:20:35.186
see the Buddha in ourselves.

0:20:35.584,0:20:38.431
Through studying the Dharma,[br]we learn how to

0:20:38.605,0:20:42.802
reveal the nature of awakening[br]already within us.

0:20:46.562,0:20:51.982
So keeping in touch with the Dharma[br]is very important.

0:20:52.718,0:20:56.069
And so how do we do that when the sangha

0:20:56.404,0:20:59.693
is going a little bit everywhere[br]all over India?

0:21:03.458,0:21:07.163
So we can write it down[br]so we can remember.

0:21:07.597,0:21:10.566
So the words themselves took on

0:21:11.230,0:21:13.917
a kind of sacred meaning.

0:21:14.125,0:21:17.420
First the oral word[br]and then the written word.

0:21:17.691,0:21:20.767
Can we listen to[br]the sound of the bell?

0:21:21.540,0:21:23.982
We come back to our body.

0:21:24.204,0:21:25.543
(Bell)

0:21:27.714,0:21:34.131
(Bell)

0:21:46.584,0:21:50.181
If we are a Christian,[br]it is not difficult for us

0:21:50.393,0:21:55.310
to understand how the word[br]becomes sacred.

0:21:56.759,0:22:00.777
If you read the Gospel of John,[br]I think it says,

0:22:01.528,0:22:05.733
'In the beginning,[br]there was the Word -

0:22:06.138,0:22:08.945
The Word is God[br]and God is the Word.'

0:22:09.319,0:22:11.354
Logos.

0:22:11.522,0:22:14.336
The Greek word is logos.

0:22:14.903,0:22:18.155
Was God, and God is Logos.

0:22:19.393,0:22:21.969
If we are Muslim,

0:22:24.551,0:22:29.942
and we know that to recite the Koran[br]in Arabic has a special importance.

0:22:31.714,0:22:36.336
A translation is only an approximation[br]of the direct word of the God

0:22:36.551,0:22:39.060
as it was told to Muhammad.

0:22:39.403,0:22:41.323
In Arabic.

0:22:42.934,0:22:47.171
Also we know in the Jewish tradition[br]there is a similar attitude.

0:22:47.318,0:22:51.410
Ultimately the name of God[br]we cannot pronounce.

0:22:53.903,0:22:56.985
It is only an approximation.

0:22:57.776,0:23:03.014
Recently I was asked by the community[br]to go to Abu Dhabi.

0:23:04.782,0:23:08.741
And we went in the mosque there,[br]and they had

0:23:11.007,0:23:13.517
100 names of God.

0:23:15.267,0:23:20.880
So there are many names,[br]like The Firm One, The Infinite One,

0:23:22.239,0:23:26.080
written in Arabic[br]in beautiful thorough patterns

0:23:26.200,0:23:31.106
all in the wall, in the main prayer room[br]in the mosque in Abu Dhabi.

0:23:32.199,0:23:34.396
But a the very top,

0:23:34.587,0:23:38.364
there is a very beautiful floral pattern

0:23:38.505,0:23:41.654
around empty tiles.

0:23:43.001,0:23:46.482
And the 100th name of God[br]cannot be pronounced.

0:23:47.372,0:23:50.852
It is empty of form.

0:23:55.571,0:23:59.470
And at that time, in India,[br]when the Buddha was teaching,

0:23:59.768,0:24:04.616
there was also this sense that[br]the word had a sacred quality.

0:24:09.031,0:24:13.517
There were two young Brahmin men[br]who came to the Buddha,

0:24:13.655,0:24:16.279
and were very concerned about

0:24:17.406,0:24:20.512
the future of the Buddha's teaching.

0:24:21.131,0:24:27.420
And they knew that in the Vedic tradition,[br]they were trained to orally recite

0:24:28.240,0:24:32.216
the words of the Rigveda[br]and other sacred texts,

0:24:33.810,0:24:36.772
to commit them to memory,

0:24:36.932,0:24:40.181
in order to approach

0:24:42.285,0:24:44.627
God, to approach

0:24:47.595,0:24:49.988
liberation.

0:24:54.355,0:24:56.106
And,

0:24:59.204,0:25:02.293
and because of their love[br]of the Buddhist teaching,

0:25:02.456,0:25:05.697
they were monastic disciples[br]of the Buddha,

0:25:06.300,0:25:08.764
they said, 'We need to do that!

0:25:08.955,0:25:12.882
Please Buddha, let us put your teachings[br]into verse!'

0:25:13.823,0:25:19.552
Into the formal language[br]that we now call Sanskrit,

0:25:20.863,0:25:24.888
so that future generations[br]would benefit

0:25:25.198,0:25:27.808
and be able to remember it.

0:25:27.975,0:25:30.163
And the Buddha said, 'No!

0:25:32.241,0:25:35.485
You have misunderstood my teaching.'

0:25:36.551,0:25:39.013
I'm paraphrasing a little bit.

0:25:39.147,0:25:41.190
(Laughter)

0:25:41.819,0:25:47.186
He told them, 'My teachings should be[br]taught in the common language,

0:25:49.247,0:25:52.713
in the vernacular,[br]the language of the people.

0:25:52.898,0:25:56.091
The daily language that people use.'

0:25:56.894,0:25:59.863
So he refused them,

0:26:03.775,0:26:06.659
to give in to their fear

0:26:07.404,0:26:09.978
of the teachings disappearing.

0:26:11.272,0:26:15.524
It means that the Buddhist tradition[br]continues through the realized practice

0:26:16.325,0:26:19.467
of living human beings.

0:26:20.828,0:26:25.025
Not through a word, or a text.

0:26:26.544,0:26:30.521
That is how the Buddha is offering us.

0:26:32.794,0:26:38.865
In our laziness sometimes to practice,[br]we want to put up some text

0:26:39.073,0:26:41.409
as being the ultimate.

0:26:41.557,0:26:45.065
And if we want to discover God,[br]we only have to look in there.

0:26:45.274,0:26:48.766
We only have to read that text[br]and then we will find God,

0:26:48.879,0:26:52.250
we will find Awakening,[br]we will find Liberation.

0:26:52.764,0:26:56.577
And the Buddha said, no,[br]he didn't allow us to be that lazy.

0:27:01.934,0:27:05.298
So the Diamond Sutra

0:27:05.954,0:27:11.211
is arising after the teachings[br]of the Buddha had began to be written down

0:27:11.372,0:27:14.823
for already a few hundred years.

0:27:16.014,0:27:22.578
And so, very quickly the monastic[br]community started to depend on

0:27:22.828,0:27:28.222
these written teachings[br]to get in contact with the Dharma,

0:27:28.660,0:27:32.929
rather than looking to[br]their brothers around them.

0:27:33.450,0:27:37.038
Rather than taking refuge maybe[br]in the elder brothers,

0:27:37.162,0:27:40.227
and their capacity to recite,

0:27:40.585,0:27:43.461
teach and put into practice the Dharma.

0:27:43.601,0:27:48.077
And instead they started to look for it[br]in the words on a page.

0:27:48.833,0:27:53.008
That was where the true Dharma lived!

0:27:53.171,0:27:57.523
Not in my elder brother,[br]or my elder sister.

0:27:59.270,0:28:03.800
They don't say it so explicitly, they just[br]spend all their time studying the text.

0:28:03.972,0:28:06.773
And they don't spend very much time

0:28:07.195,0:28:11.751
taking refuge in the brothers and sisters[br]in the Dharma.

0:28:15.192,0:28:18.737
And so, as a result of that phenomena,

0:28:19.918,0:28:24.299
and also the experience of reading[br]the Buddhist teachings,

0:28:24.514,0:28:27.496
written down on these palm leaves

0:28:27.683,0:28:31.020
which soon became[br]sacred objects in their own right,

0:28:31.736,0:28:34.418
then many monks,

0:28:34.967,0:28:37.416
and perhaps nuns,

0:28:38.428,0:28:40.483
began to

0:28:42.194,0:28:47.020
try to find a way to help[br]the young monastics

0:28:47.205,0:28:51.904
to become free from that attachment[br]to the written word,

0:28:52.556,0:28:58.213
to become free from the attachment to[br]the form of the teaching.

0:29:03.241,0:29:09.598
And so, a whole form of literature we call[br]prajñāpāramitā arose.

0:29:11.432,0:29:19.282
These are teachings that were written down[br]and they spoke about how to

0:29:22.711,0:29:26.534
awaken to the highest understanding.

0:29:27.520,0:29:30.270
The understanding of the Buddha

0:29:30.418,0:29:33.185
which cannot be found in words,

0:29:34.998,0:29:38.430
but can only be lived and touched directly

0:29:38.614,0:29:42.025
in our life, in our practice.

0:29:42.497,0:29:46.354
And it is in that spirit that Thay founded[br]Plum Village,

0:29:46.886,0:29:49.636
to create a community of practice,

0:29:49.784,0:29:53.502
to create a community[br]where there is the living Dharma,

0:29:54.592,0:29:57.257
not just the Dharma[br]that can be found in books.

0:29:57.418,0:30:00.958
Thay said, if you want to[br]get a degree

0:30:01.710,0:30:05.537
in an Institute of High Buddhist Studies,[br]then you can go to many universities

0:30:05.711,0:30:07.861
and do that.

0:30:10.745,0:30:14.108
But if you want to realize[br]the living Dharma,

0:30:14.633,0:30:17.922
then you need a community of practice.

0:30:18.980,0:30:23.103
That is what the Buddha built,[br]he built a beautiful sangha,

0:30:23.369,0:30:25.984
walking into Rajgir.

0:30:32.879,0:30:35.567
There is a beautiful scene, where

0:30:35.706,0:30:38.194
the Buddha walks into Rajgir,

0:30:38.376,0:30:43.889
and he is with Uruvela Kasyapa,

0:30:44.795,0:30:48.068
who was a very famous spiritual teacher.

0:30:48.286,0:30:51.055
He and his brothers they led a number of

0:30:51.886,0:30:57.756
kind of dreadlocked spiritual ascetics[br]in that region.

0:30:59.033,0:31:02.518
And they worshiped this fire.

0:31:02.667,0:31:05.638
So we can take a word as a sacred,

0:31:05.800,0:31:09.567
we can also take fire,[br]or some object in nature

0:31:09.798,0:31:12.949
and worship it as sacred, as the ultimate.

0:31:13.202,0:31:16.247
So they were part of a kind of[br]fire worshiping cult.

0:31:18.423,0:31:21.130
And the Buddha came in and he -

0:31:22.152,0:31:25.501
And because Uruvela Kasyapa had[br]a community of many people,

0:31:25.667,0:31:27.826
many disciples,

0:31:28.156,0:31:30.472
he was a little bit proud.

0:31:31.895,0:31:35.275
And so it took[br]many teachings from the Buddha

0:31:35.463,0:31:38.185
before he realized[br]that the Buddha actually

0:31:38.394,0:31:42.441
had awaken to a deeper understanding.

0:31:44.484,0:31:49.635
I'm not going into it now, but[br]you can read it in the Vinaya.

0:31:51.144,0:31:53.937
Eventually, after many

0:31:55.253,0:32:01.052
times of seeing the Buddha[br]prove his deep understanding,

0:32:01.659,0:32:04.934
Kasyapa eventually accepted him[br]as his teacher.

0:32:05.803,0:32:07.662
It's kind of like

0:32:07.833,0:32:11.097
a monk suddenly[br]showing up here in Plum Village,

0:32:11.297,0:32:15.294
and then, over the course of many weeks,

0:32:16.281,0:32:20.754
the eldest brothers and sisters[br]and the community suddenly accept,

0:32:20.863,0:32:23.073
'You are now our teacher.'

0:32:23.281,0:32:25.798
You can imagine such a thing.

0:32:26.847,0:32:31.116
Sometimes in Plum Village in the past[br]we had people come in a little bit

0:32:33.046,0:32:35.712
unstable mentally, and they believed

0:32:35.869,0:32:39.004
they would be the new teacher[br]of the community.

0:32:39.164,0:32:43.870
But, unlike the Buddha, they didn't have[br]that deep understanding, and so -

0:32:45.794,0:32:49.275
But sometimes that happened[br]in a spiritual community.

0:32:50.134,0:32:53.628
So Uruvela Kasyapa was not quite sure.[br]'The Buddha really

0:32:54.290,0:32:56.464
has a deep understanding?

0:32:56.658,0:33:01.175
My eye kept seeing my understanding[br]is still deeper, still higher.'

0:33:01.513,0:33:08.093
But eventually, he could not - He saw[br]a few wonderful actions of the Buddha

0:33:08.483,0:33:14.030
that he could not deny any longer[br]the understanding of the Buddha,

0:33:14.352,0:33:18.078
and he accepted the Buddha as his teacher.[br]And then, immediately after that,

0:33:18.350,0:33:21.796
all of his students,[br]who probably already had realized

0:33:21.922,0:33:26.700
the Buddha's deep understanding,[br]they became disciples as well right away.

0:33:26.875,0:33:30.419
And then his two brothers as well[br]and their communities.

0:33:30.553,0:33:33.445
So very quickly the sangha[br]became quite large,

0:33:33.566,0:33:35.577
and all these kind of

0:33:35.841,0:33:40.368
grungy looking dreadlocked ascetics,[br]they shaved off their dreads,

0:33:41.102,0:33:43.350
and became,

0:33:44.956,0:33:49.290
they got a robe and a bowl[br]and they started following the Buddha.

0:33:49.701,0:33:54.003
And so there was a very interesting scene,[br]where the Buddha walks into Rajgir,

0:33:54.108,0:33:57.995
and the people are quite confused,[br]because they never heard of the Buddha.

0:33:58.116,0:34:02.482
But everyone knows about Uruvela Kasyapa,[br]he is a very famous spiritual teacher,

0:34:02.614,0:34:08.085
he is all over YouTube, and, you know,[br]many people are buying his books,

0:34:08.970,0:34:13.698
and you can see all over the airports,[br]and anyway, you know what I mean.

0:34:14.280,0:34:15.735
(Laughter)

0:34:15.878,0:34:18.976
And so, when the Buddha came in,[br]people are quite confused,

0:34:19.116,0:34:22.376
because they saw Uruvela Kasyapa[br]and the Buddha, and they said,

0:34:22.491,0:34:25.106
'Is the Buddha the student[br]of Uruvela Kasyapa?

0:34:25.204,0:34:28.177
Or is Uruvela Kasyapa[br]the student of the Buddha?'

0:34:28.280,0:34:30.917
They did not know.

0:34:31.077,0:34:32.998
And then,

0:34:33.456,0:34:39.096
at that moment, Kasyapa begins to fan[br]the Buddha.

0:34:39.684,0:34:42.954
And it is at that moment that the people[br]know that, 'Ah!

0:34:43.079,0:34:46.680
Uruvela Kasyapa has now become[br]the student of the Buddha.'

0:34:47.339,0:34:53.585
And through that gesture, he recognizes[br]he is now studying with the Buddha.

0:34:56.154,0:35:01.451
There are all kinds of beautiful teachings[br]like this in the Buddhist teachings.

0:35:02.645,0:35:05.570
Maybe we can listen[br]to another sound of the bell.

0:35:05.730,0:35:07.030
(Bell)

0:35:10.932,0:35:16.966
(Bell)

0:35:28.930,0:35:33.340
So looking around us,[br]as a monk,

0:35:34.212,0:35:37.224
a few hundred years before the Common Era,

0:35:37.523,0:35:41.585
maybe in the northwest of India,

0:35:42.680,0:35:48.709
and seeing how our monastic brothers[br]and sisters are now

0:35:49.799,0:35:55.122
spending much of their time reading[br]the sutras in written form rather than,

0:35:56.367,0:36:00.904
in addition to reciting them but how this[br]reading is now taking on a new importance,

0:36:02.184,0:36:04.195
and seeing how -

0:36:06.276,0:36:09.675
Yes, because when we live together[br]as monastics,

0:36:11.686,0:36:15.165
we come to understand each other[br]pretty deeply.

0:36:15.953,0:36:20.882
We are not very blinded by[br]the insights of our brothers and sisters.

0:36:22.855,0:36:25.732
I think Thay Pháp Dung[br]gave the talk last week.

0:36:25.875,0:36:28.610
He told me he came up with a new line,

0:36:28.767,0:36:31.969
'It's hard to live with people[br]who understand us.'

0:36:32.144,0:36:34.352
(Laughter)

0:36:35.463,0:36:39.738
It is very easy to come for a week,[br]or two weeks, or even a few months,

0:36:39.913,0:36:43.006
but then when people[br]start to understand us, oh!

0:36:43.907,0:36:47.536
It becomes a little bit difficult.[br]Because they always seem to be looking at

0:36:47.536,0:36:50.172
those things that we don't want[br]to look at in ourselves!

0:36:50.172,0:36:51.562
(Laughter)

0:36:53.214,0:36:57.229
So I think something like that[br]happened as well in those monasteries.

0:36:57.408,0:36:59.987
And the monks looked around,[br]and they said,

0:37:00.217,0:37:03.188
'Mmm, wow! He knows a lot[br]about the Dharma!'

0:37:03.780,0:37:07.607
He can teach the Abhidharma,[br]the highest form of the Dharma,

0:37:08.028,0:37:15.905
where everything becomes atomic particles[br]of the teachings of the Buddha,

0:37:21.137,0:37:24.687
'But he still slurps a lot[br]when he eats his food,

0:37:25.832,0:37:27.557
and he

0:37:29.390,0:37:31.592
smells really bad,

0:37:33.306,0:37:35.825
walks unmindfully.'

0:37:38.194,0:37:43.418
So this attachment to knowledge[br]became a virtue in itself.

0:37:44.542,0:37:47.202
And even though the Buddha[br]taught very clearly

0:37:47.356,0:37:50.965
that knowledge, along with afflictions,[br]are the main obstacles,

0:37:51.244,0:37:53.748
the main hindrances to awakening,

0:37:53.947,0:37:58.673
but the community became[br]a little bit attached to its knowledge.

0:38:00.245,0:38:04.353
And the monasteries become a kind of[br]ivory towers

0:38:05.133,0:38:09.054
guarding the sacred[br]teachings of the Dharma,

0:38:10.635,0:38:15.434
no longer very concerned with[br]the life of the common people.

0:38:16.153,0:38:22.162
So that the teaching that the Buddha gave[br]about not putting my teaching in verse

0:38:22.316,0:38:25.334
but teaching in the language[br]of the common people,

0:38:26.191,0:38:30.388
although the monks would be very able[br]to recite that teaching,

0:38:30.558,0:38:34.877
but that is not how they were living[br]so much some of them.

0:38:36.769,0:38:42.079
And so, as a monk living in that time,[br]and trying to renew Buddhism,

0:38:42.269,0:38:44.378
what do you do?

0:38:44.693,0:38:47.341
How do you deal with the situation?

0:38:47.496,0:38:51.574
How can you use this written form,[br]this new written form

0:38:52.614,0:38:55.443
as an skillful way

0:38:55.699,0:38:59.917
to help people to[br]get beyond the attachment

0:39:00.129,0:39:02.980
to the words that the Buddha taught?

0:39:03.248,0:39:06.864
How can you help[br]to cut through the delusion

0:39:07.418,0:39:12.139
that the words themselves are the Dharma?

0:39:12.732,0:39:17.271
That the words themselves[br]are the teaching that the Buddha offered?

0:39:18.229,0:39:25.088
So out of that deep wish, deep hope[br]to renew Buddhism

0:39:27.225,0:39:33.173
came these new texts called[br]the prajñāpāramitā texts.

0:39:35.153,0:39:36.962
How can we

0:39:37.867,0:39:41.389
get the insight that brings us[br]to the other shore?

0:39:43.027,0:39:47.127
We don't just sit down[br]in the same shore with that insight.

0:39:47.473,0:39:51.958
It has to bring us to the other shore,[br]it means we have to walk the talk.

0:39:52.121,0:39:55.208
We cannot just hold on to our knowledge

0:39:56.185,0:40:02.617
in a way of getting offerings,[br]of getting status, getting respect.

0:40:08.754,0:40:13.404
And so these teachings of prajñāpāramitā[br]they became quite lengthy.

0:40:15.105,0:40:19.523
And there were many texts we don't know[br]exactly where they were written.

0:40:20.149,0:40:23.101
We don't have that much information.

0:40:23.233,0:40:27.920
We didn't have somebody making a video[br]of the Dharma talks

0:40:28.365,0:40:33.679
on the early prajñāpāramitā with the date[br]written on the board.

0:40:34.293,0:40:37.596
So it's very difficult for us[br]to know exactly when,

0:40:37.777,0:40:43.983
we have to use different means[br]to try to place the exact location

0:40:44.540,0:40:47.404
where these texts where composed.

0:40:49.276,0:40:53.632
But the internal evidences from the text[br]suggest what I'm sharing is that

0:40:53.771,0:40:59.378
there was a response to the increasing[br]scholastic nature of monastic life.

0:40:59.638,0:41:03.911
So how can we recreate[br]through the form of a text

0:41:04.290,0:41:08.604
the experience of[br]being near the Buddha?

0:41:09.595,0:41:11.931
How can we recreate

0:41:13.069,0:41:19.864
in the written form, the kind of awakening[br]that is experienced

0:41:20.583,0:41:24.673
by someone directly witnessing[br]how the Buddha walked,

0:41:24.833,0:41:29.770
how the Buddha talked, how the Buddha ate,[br]and how the Buddha taught?

0:41:30.369,0:41:37.392
That is the aspiration of these monastics[br]who composed these prajñāpāramitā texts.

0:41:37.662,0:41:42.735
And they knew full well that[br]the danger also came with that.

0:41:43.306,0:41:47.927
Which is that people would start to[br]take these new texts and make them

0:41:49.100,0:41:51.698
holy and sacred.

0:41:56.547,0:41:59.545
So somehow we have to build into it,

0:42:01.909,0:42:04.367
the teaching that allows us to see

0:42:04.520,0:42:07.827
that the words themselves[br]are only representations,

0:42:07.941,0:42:11.959
they are not the deep teaching.

0:42:15.679,0:42:20.117
Okay, so we are going to start[br]to look into this a little bit.

0:42:20.631,0:42:26.913
And I'm just going to really what is[br]the most essential part of the teaching.

0:42:27.886,0:42:32.386
And I hope you have a chance[br]to read the rest for yourself.

0:42:33.135,0:42:36.309
"This is what I heard one time

0:42:36.432,0:42:40.574
when the Buddha was staying[br]in the monastery in Anathapindika’s park

0:42:40.752,0:42:47.392
in the Jeta Grove near Shravasti with[br]a community of 1,250 bhikshus,

0:42:48.021,0:42:50.557
fully ordained monks.

0:42:54.094,0:42:57.601
That day, when it was time[br]to make the round for alms,

0:42:58.073,0:43:00.924
the Buddha put on his sanghati robe

0:43:01.612,0:43:08.110
and, holding his bowl, went into the city[br]of Shravasti to seek almsfood,

0:43:09.703,0:43:12.306
going from house to house.

0:43:12.914,0:43:15.298
When the almsround was completed,

0:43:15.454,0:43:18.448
he returned to the monastery[br]to eat the midday meal.

0:43:18.807,0:43:23.276
Then he put away his sanghati robe[br]and his bowl, washed his feet,

0:43:23.627,0:43:26.921
arranged his cushion, and sat down."

0:43:30.764,0:43:35.328
So the teaching of the sutra[br]is happening in Shravasti,

0:43:35.957,0:43:39.577
a place where the Buddha[br]spent many of his rain's retreats,

0:43:40.108,0:43:43.540
not far from modern-day Nepal.

0:43:47.466,0:43:51.927
And there was a monastery[br]that had been founded there.

0:43:56.401,0:43:59.079
We may have heard of Anathapindika,

0:43:59.230,0:44:02.369
in our Chanting Book we have[br]a wonderful discourse on

0:44:02.521,0:44:07.948
The Teachings to Be Given to the Sick,[br]which Shariputra offers to Anathapindika

0:44:08.070,0:44:12.748
when he is passing away. He was[br]a very loved lay disciple of the Buddha

0:44:13.186,0:44:16.975
who lives a very simple life

0:44:17.103,0:44:19.575
and he was called Anathapindika,

0:44:19.707,0:44:23.699
it wasn't the name[br]that he was given at birth,

0:44:25.003,0:44:31.206
but it's a name that means[br]'the one who gives to the poor'.

0:44:31.656,0:44:33.777
Anatha are those who -

0:44:34.012,0:44:36.988
An-atha, it means[br]'those who don't have wealth',

0:44:37.093,0:44:41.269
and pindika is 'food', a kind of like[br]almsfood.

0:44:41.752,0:44:45.095
So he was known as the one[br]who was always offering food

0:44:45.253,0:44:49.405
for people who were poor,[br]who didn't have food to eat.

0:44:50.894,0:44:54.970
The legend is that he payed for[br]the Jeta Grove by laying

0:44:55.222,0:45:01.842
coins of gold on every part of the park.

0:45:03.358,0:45:06.597
Because the prince Jeta,[br]he loved so much that forest

0:45:06.752,0:45:09.322
and he didn't want to sell it.[br]And he said,

0:45:09.437,0:45:14.624
'I will only sell it if you can lay[br]coins of gold across the entire park.'

0:45:15.048,0:45:18.513
So that's a legend,[br]I don't know if that really happened,

0:45:18.681,0:45:23.014
but that's just to show how much[br]Anathapindika loved the Buddha.

0:45:23.372,0:45:27.859
He was willing to give up everything[br]he had in order to provide a place

0:45:28.072,0:45:31.892
for the Buddha to teach,[br]for the monks and nuns to live.

0:45:35.813,0:45:40.315
So the Buddha passed many rain's retreats[br]in Shravasti.

0:45:46.492,0:45:50.925
And we have the Buddha going on almsround.[br]Sometimes we forget that the Buddha went

0:45:51.018,0:45:54.706
just like the other monks and nuns,[br]to go on service on food.

0:45:54.849,0:45:58.137
Or to receive food from the lay friends.

0:45:58.640,0:46:03.230
It could be very easy for the Buddha,[br]he had many disciples, 1,250 monks,

0:46:03.374,0:46:08.066
'Please go, can you go[br]get my food for me today?

0:46:08.737,0:46:13.019
I'm a little bit lazy.[br]I have to give many Dharma talks,

0:46:13.131,0:46:16.002
would you mind to bring my food for me?'

0:46:16.704,0:46:19.664
We wonder why do we always have[br]that information.

0:46:19.823,0:46:23.055
But it is to show the humility,[br]and also the freedom.

0:46:23.195,0:46:27.971
Because by offering - Sometimes when we[br]become a teacher in a spiritual community

0:46:28.091,0:46:31.419
we can become a slave of our disciples.

0:46:32.097,0:46:37.988
They want to wash our clothes for us,[br]they want to cook wonderful food for us,

0:46:38.881,0:46:41.840
and then we think, 'Oh! it's so lovely[br]in the monastery.

0:46:41.972,0:46:43.955
I don't want to go out anymore!'

0:46:44.059,0:46:46.946
It is like the Pure Land,[br]my personal Pure Land.

0:46:47.392,0:46:50.650
But the Buddha saw that[br]if he wanted to maintain his freedom,

0:46:50.758,0:46:53.363
he could continue to go on almsround,

0:46:53.500,0:46:56.315
and then receive food[br]from even the poorest person,

0:46:56.421,0:46:58.957
even the people who[br]never heard of the Buddha.

0:46:59.059,0:47:03.611
He would just come like any other beggar[br]to their door and receive almsfood.

0:47:08.888,0:47:12.979
And then, "At that time,[br]the Venerable Subhuti stood up,

0:47:13.136,0:47:16.787
bared his right shoulder,[br]put his knee on the ground,

0:47:17.050,0:47:21.540
and, folding his palms respectfully,[br]said to the Buddha,

0:47:22.787,0:47:27.869
'World-Honored One,[br]it is rare to find someone like you.

0:47:28.613,0:47:34.036
You always support and show[br]special confidence in the Bodhisattvas."

0:47:44.094,0:47:47.623
So to bare your right shoulder[br]is a sign of respect.

0:47:48.484,0:47:54.293
So we know the monks they had robes[br]they put over their shoulders.

0:47:57.322,0:48:00.117
But nowadays, when we see Theravadan monks

0:48:00.226,0:48:02.944
we often see that[br]their right shoulder is bare.

0:48:03.070,0:48:07.199
And that is a part of the tradition,[br]it's respectful to show the right shoulder

0:48:07.309,0:48:09.315
in that culture.

0:48:09.497,0:48:12.395
When Buddhism came to China,

0:48:12.883,0:48:17.559
the Chinese were scandalized[br]by somebody showing their shoulder.

0:48:18.088,0:48:23.623
In Chinese culture, that's very[br]inappropriate.

0:48:24.859,0:48:30.653
So in that way Buddhism always adapted[br]to the culture in which it took root.

0:48:31.092,0:48:35.581
And that is why we have robes that -[br]You don't see my shoulder.

0:48:36.847,0:48:41.371
So I'm wearing a robe[br]that is Chinese style robe.

0:48:41.559,0:48:45.896
We cover the shoulder.[br]That is considered more respectful.

0:48:49.442,0:48:52.624
He puts his knee on the ground.

0:48:53.688,0:48:57.084
So we don't know that at that time

0:48:57.281,0:49:01.771
the monks practiced touching the Earth[br]in the way that we do today.

0:49:02.711,0:49:06.358
But they put their knee on the ground

0:49:06.601,0:49:09.624
in order to show their respect[br]for someone.

0:49:12.533,0:49:17.202
And they fold their palms.[br]() it means like this, join the palms,

0:49:17.362,0:49:19.643
respectfully.

0:49:25.903,0:49:29.532
“World-Honored One,[br]it is rare to find someone like you.

0:49:29.699,0:49:33.733
You always support and show[br]special confidence in the Bodhisattvas."

0:49:35.606,0:49:42.214
So this ideal of a Bodhisattva[br]was part of what

0:49:45.145,0:49:48.762
inspired the young monastics at that time

0:49:49.488,0:49:52.889
to go deeper in their practice.

0:49:54.146,0:49:57.633
A bodhisattva is a kind of awakened being.

0:49:58.418,0:50:01.367
It could be translated as

0:50:01.589,0:50:04.870
someone who is bent on awakening.

0:50:05.278,0:50:07.197
They are

0:50:09.557,0:50:11.354
leaning towards awakening.

0:50:17.982,0:50:22.396
In Pali, we have many references[br]to the bodhisatta,

0:50:22.879,0:50:26.482
which is the Buddha before his awakening.

0:50:26.781,0:50:31.086
And 'satta' can be translated as[br]'being', but it can also be translated as

0:50:31.232,0:50:33.931
kind of like 'attachment'.

0:50:34.137,0:50:38.886
Like you are drawn towards awakening.

0:50:41.323,0:50:46.130
But in Sanskrit it was translated as[br]'sattva', which is very clearly 'being'.

0:50:46.583,0:50:53.876
So it lost that ambiguity.[br]Bodhisattva, awakened being.

0:50:59.057,0:51:03.754
So this ideal of a bodhisattva[br]was a kind of revolution

0:51:03.981,0:51:06.560
within the Buddhist community.

0:51:06.775,0:51:09.752
Because up into that point,

0:51:10.757,0:51:15.155
it was very clear, one became a bhikshu[br]or a bhikshuni

0:51:15.363,0:51:19.230
in order to attain arhatship,[br]it means, perfection.

0:51:19.841,0:51:23.194
And it is very clear that[br]to become an arhat

0:51:23.334,0:51:26.954
one had to become[br]a bhikshu or a bhikshuni.

0:51:27.301,0:51:30.558
So the monastics had a kind of

0:51:31.920,0:51:34.263
monopoly on awakening.

0:51:34.647,0:51:36.270
(Laughter)

0:51:37.575,0:51:41.741
And the Bodhisattvayana, which is[br]usually how we find it,

0:51:41.972,0:51:47.695
it means, the vehicle or the path[br]of a bodhisattva,

0:51:48.410,0:51:52.291
suddenly burst through that monopoly

0:51:53.241,0:51:59.912
and allowed both monastics and lay people[br]to be on the bodhisattva path.

0:52:00.903,0:52:05.203
So this is a path that can be taken[br]not only by monastics,

0:52:05.395,0:52:08.297
but also by lay practitioners.

0:52:08.638,0:52:11.149
The Bodhisattvayana.

0:52:13.022,0:52:18.400
Usually we talk about Mahayana,[br]you probably heard the term Mahayana,

0:52:18.898,0:52:21.272
the great vehicle,

0:52:21.393,0:52:24.852
but more often in that time[br]what later became called the Mahayana

0:52:24.979,0:52:27.587
was called the Bodhisattvayana,[br]it means,

0:52:27.734,0:52:31.927
the path, the vehicle, of awakened beings.

0:52:34.944,0:52:37.955
And the prajñāpāramitā texts are

0:52:38.326,0:52:41.598
teaching us the way of the bodhisattva.

0:52:42.066,0:52:44.950
What is the way to wake up

0:52:45.189,0:52:48.537
to walk the talk, to the lived awakening.

0:52:51.755,0:52:54.839
So Subhuti is pointing out to the Buddha,

0:52:55.044,0:52:59.060
"You always support and show[br]special confidence in the Bodhisattvas."

0:53:04.110,0:53:07.978
That means, when there is somebody[br]who has that deep aspiration,

0:53:08.377,0:53:10.380
we feel very

0:53:10.587,0:53:14.051
inspired also to help them on their path.

0:53:14.223,0:53:17.875
When we see somebody who does kind things[br]to another person,

0:53:17.977,0:53:21.312
we don't care whether they are Catholic,[br]whether they are Muslim,

0:53:21.429,0:53:24.979
whether they are Jewish, whether[br]they are monastic or they are lay,

0:53:25.131,0:53:28.193
we just want to help that person,[br]we want to support them,

0:53:28.365,0:53:31.391
we feel inspired[br]to help them in their path.

0:53:31.575,0:53:34.991
When we are generous,[br]when our generosity is not

0:53:36.333,0:53:40.962
transactional, it is based on[br]just giving only just to give,

0:53:42.088,0:53:47.471
we want to help someone[br]to continue to do that.

0:53:48.627,0:53:51.224
We are coming into the Christmas season,

0:53:51.366,0:53:55.132
and sometimes we feel like,[br]'Well, I have to give a present to my mum,

0:53:55.520,0:53:58.264
to my niece, to my nephew, to my -

0:53:58.432,0:54:01.241
That brother, if I don't give[br]a present to that brother,

0:54:01.444,0:54:03.580
then he is going to get mad at me.'

0:54:03.677,0:54:06.443
So our generosity is based on a form.

0:54:07.036,0:54:10.655
What is expected from us socially.

0:54:11.404,0:54:14.948
Maybe we give a lot[br]to our son or our daughter,

0:54:18.676,0:54:20.710
but that is also,

0:54:20.888,0:54:25.206
that is was is expected from us. If we are[br]a mother or a father it is expected

0:54:25.874,0:54:29.913
that we give to our son or daughter.[br]But can we give to somebody

0:54:30.557,0:54:34.179
who is very,[br]is living in poverty on the street?

0:54:35.176,0:54:39.025
Can we open our heart to somebody[br]who has killed somebody?

0:54:39.242,0:54:41.288
Somebody who has stolen?

0:54:41.450,0:54:44.412
Maybe somebody who is causing great harm.

0:54:44.561,0:54:49.176
Do we have enough generosity in our heart[br]to offer our time, our presence,

0:54:49.387,0:54:51.102
to that person?

0:54:52.166,0:54:56.870
That is the path of the bodhisattva.[br]We don't rely only on form.

0:54:57.950,0:55:01.510
If people yell at us and slander us,[br]they say,

0:55:01.711,0:55:05.019
'Why do you help that person,[br]why do you give to that person?

0:55:05.156,0:55:09.858
Look at what they are doing![br]They are the living incarnation of evil!'

0:55:11.182,0:55:14.278
We don't care, because[br]that is part of our path,

0:55:14.543,0:55:18.565
we are not dependent on the form[br]in our way of giving.

0:55:18.885,0:55:22.278
And so, when you see someone like that,

0:55:23.602,0:55:27.117
you feel inspired, and[br]the Buddha felt inspired

0:55:27.307,0:55:32.089
to give them special attention,[br]special confidence.

0:55:38.079,0:55:42.676
“World-Honored One, if sons and daughters[br]of good families

0:55:42.800,0:55:47.797
want to give rise to the highest,[br]most fulfilled, awakened mind,

0:55:48.462,0:55:54.668
what should they rely on and what[br]should they do to master their thinking?”

0:55:56.835,0:56:00.278
If sons and daughters of good families

0:56:00.550,0:56:06.131
want to give rise to the highest,[br]most fulfilled, awakened mind,

0:56:07.211,0:56:13.192
what should they rely on and what[br]should they do to master their thinking?

0:56:13.736,0:56:16.970
This is what everybody wants to know!

0:56:18.788,0:56:22.420
This is what we all want to know[br]when we come to Plum Village!

0:56:24.473,0:56:27.572
Just tell me, can I buy it[br]in the bookstore?

0:56:27.739,0:56:29.563
(Laughter)

0:56:34.259,0:56:39.171
It is some special ring I can wear,[br]or maybe some special incense I can burn

0:56:40.599,0:56:43.884
that is going to give me the highest,[br]most fulfilled awakening?

0:56:44.043,0:56:46.495
Just tell me, please, and I'll buy it!

0:56:47.397,0:56:50.700
Even if it is sold on Amazon!

0:56:51.111,0:56:52.562
(Laughter)

0:56:53.822,0:56:56.849
Everybody is coming because[br]they want this awakening,

0:56:56.999,0:57:01.194
they want to be happy, in every moment[br]of their life their want to be free!

0:57:01.428,0:57:04.297
So what can we do

0:57:06.048,0:57:09.478
to give rise to this highest,[br]most fulfilled, awakened mind?

0:57:09.611,0:57:14.004
Where should we rely on? What should[br]they do to master their thinking?

0:57:14.926,0:57:18.775
So everybody is waiting with bated breath[br]to find out

0:57:19.405,0:57:21.463
what it is.

0:57:22.821,0:57:28.479
The Buddha replied, "Well said, Subhuti.[br]What you have said is absolutely correct.

0:57:29.248,0:57:34.377
The Tathagata always supports and shows[br]special confidence in the Bodhisattvas.

0:57:37.109,0:57:40.248
Please, listen with all of your attention,

0:57:40.446,0:57:43.423
and the Tathagata will respond[br]to your question."

0:57:49.557,0:57:52.400
Thank you for listening[br]with all your attention.

0:57:53.525,0:57:57.050
"'If daughters and sons[br]of good families want to give rise

0:57:57.221,0:58:02.201
to the highest, most fulfilled, awakened[br]mind, they should rely on the following

0:58:02.569,0:58:05.587
and master their thinking[br]in the following way.'

0:58:07.494,0:58:11.836
The Venerable Subhuti said, 'Lord,[br]we are so happy to hear your teachings.'

0:58:14.466,0:58:19.662
The Buddha said to Subhuti,[br]'This is how the Bodhisattva Mahasattvas

0:58:19.880,0:58:22.217
master their thinking:

0:58:23.669,0:58:27.494
‘However many species[br]of living beings there are

0:58:28.527,0:58:36.645
– whether born from eggs, from the womb,[br]from moisture, or spontaneously;

0:58:37.549,0:58:41.386
whether they have form[br]or do not have form;

0:58:42.837,0:58:47.349
whether they have perceptions[br]or do not have perceptions;

0:58:48.561,0:58:50.941
or whether it cannot be said of them

0:58:51.115,0:58:54.838
that they have perceptions[br]or that they do not have perceptions,

0:58:56.199,0:59:01.216
we must lead all these beings[br]to the ultimate nirvana

0:59:02.032,0:59:04.724
so that they can be liberated.

0:59:06.665,0:59:13.075
And yet, when this innumerable,[br]immeasurable, infinite number of beings

0:59:13.463,0:59:19.866
has become liberated, we do not,[br]in truth, think

0:59:20.128,0:59:23.257
that a single being[br]has been liberated.

0:59:25.461,0:59:27.701
Why is this so?

0:59:28.206,0:59:32.755
If, Subhuti, a bodhisattva[br]holds on to the idea

0:59:33.134,0:59:40.618
that a self, a person, a living being,[br]or a life span exists,

0:59:41.180,0:59:45.463
that person is not[br]an authentic bodhisattva.'"

0:59:49.916,0:59:52.514
Maybe we can listen[br]to a sound of the bell.

0:59:53.223,0:59:54.434
(Bell)

0:59:57.441,1:00:03.815
(Bell)

1:00:20.742,1:00:27.118
So in the Sanskrit, it says,

1:00:28.444,1:00:32.993
Whatever beings -yeah? - sattvaha,[br]it says living beings,

1:00:35.463,1:00:43.446
that are born from an egg, from a womb,[br]from moisture, or spontaneously,

1:00:44.362,1:00:47.858
whether they have form[br]or they have no form;

1:00:48.528,1:00:52.078
whether they have perceptions[br]or they don't have perceptions;

1:00:52.658,1:00:56.758
whether they neither have perceptions[br]nor non-perceptions;

1:01:02.616,1:01:10.470
all these I would lead to nirvana[br]without remainder, ultimate nirvana.

1:01:11.989,1:01:16.441
And even when these immeasurable,[br]innumerable beings

1:01:16.992,1:01:19.678
are thus liberated,

1:01:20.868,1:01:24.250
not any single living being,

1:01:25.291,1:01:28.138
we do not think that[br]any single living being

1:01:28.778,1:01:32.092
has been liberated.[br]Why is that?

1:01:34.680,1:01:39.811
Subhuti, it is not said of a bodhisattva

1:01:41.120,1:01:46.516
that he has the perception of a being.[br]Why is that?

1:01:48.165,1:01:52.932
A bodhisattva, we cannot call someone[br]a bodhisattva

1:01:53.720,1:01:59.101
who has the perception of a self,[br]the perception of a being,

1:01:59.527,1:02:05.091
the perception of a life, a life span,[br]and the perception of a person.

1:02:08.096,1:02:10.657
So these four areas.

1:02:11.342,1:02:14.934
[ātman]

1:02:16.811,1:02:18.884
A self.

1:02:19.152,1:02:21.089
[self]

1:02:24.937,1:02:28.982
[sattva]

1:02:31.648,1:02:33.577
A being.

1:02:34.008,1:02:36.018
[being]

1:02:36.503,1:02:38.617
A living being.

1:02:39.071,1:02:42.038
[(living being)]

1:02:49.890,1:02:52.005
[jīva]

1:02:52.628,1:02:54.982
A life.

1:02:56.243,1:02:58.012
[life]

1:02:58.248,1:03:00.102
Or a life span.

1:03:01.447,1:03:03.928
[life span]

1:03:06.718,1:03:09.024
And the pudgala.

1:03:09.386,1:03:13.213
[pudgala]

1:03:13.453,1:03:15.885
Which is just a person.

1:03:16.281,1:03:19.073
[person]

1:03:23.129,1:03:25.320
So the text is saying that

1:03:25.485,1:03:32.127
as long as we, in our thinking,[br]give rise to the idea of a self,

1:03:33.092,1:03:36.385
of a living being, of a life span,[br]or a person,

1:03:37.876,1:03:41.881
then we cannot be called a true,[br]we cannot be called a bodhisattva.

1:03:42.663,1:03:47.511
We cannot be called someone who is on[br]the bodhisattva path.

1:03:56.012,1:03:58.507
It seems like a contradiction, right?

1:03:58.657,1:04:06.613
So we are, we need to give rise to[br]the aspiration to lead all living beings.

1:04:06.918,1:04:09.316
And the Buddha is quite specific.

1:04:09.527,1:04:13.217
You know, those born from the eggs[br]those born from the womb,

1:04:13.931,1:04:19.295
so all the reptiles,[br]and the fish, and the amphibians,

1:04:20.756,1:04:24.092
born from eggs, then all those[br]born from a womb,

1:04:24.537,1:04:27.637
then those born from moisture.

1:04:27.767,1:04:33.744
Sometimes the insects, they have[br]such a small eggs

1:04:33.921,1:04:36.169
that they don't call them eggs.

1:04:36.294,1:04:41.365
They seem to be born spontaneously[br]from moisture, but even bacteria, mold,

1:04:42.271,1:04:44.360
living things.

1:04:46.390,1:04:50.595
So you can imagine that, as a bodhisattva[br]we have to lead mold to nirvana.

1:04:50.768,1:04:52.469
(Laughter)

1:04:57.162,1:05:00.911
And even though we have to lead mold[br]to nirvana,

1:05:01.432,1:05:02.947
(Laughter)

1:05:03.103,1:05:07.188
we cannot think that any mold[br]has been lead to nirvana.

1:05:07.644,1:05:11.899
So I'm bringing this[br]to its natural extension.

1:05:12.709,1:05:15.974
We cannot only think of

1:05:16.717,1:05:19.132
even just living beings.

1:05:19.619,1:05:22.753
How about the very stones[br]beneath our feet?

1:05:26.626,1:05:29.070
It has a kind of life,

1:05:29.209,1:05:31.549
if we look deeply.

1:05:33.807,1:05:39.732
We also use to dividing up the world[br]between the inanimate and the animate,

1:05:40.480,1:05:43.460
the non-living and the living.

1:05:43.931,1:05:47.311
And the Buddha is just pointing that out.

1:05:49.020,1:05:53.906
So first of all, we have to learn[br]how to understand

1:05:54.974,1:06:00.082
when we define ourselves and others[br]in terms of a self.

1:06:02.240,1:06:08.281
So in what way do we say, this is me,[br]this is mine, this is myself?

1:06:10.122,1:06:12.900
We think, I can extend my hand,

1:06:13.082,1:06:15.265
so that must be me.

1:06:15.451,1:06:18.801
But I cannot extend the brother's hand.

1:06:19.572,1:06:22.229
So that must be not me.

1:06:23.384,1:06:26.616
So we rely on this[br]very simplistic understanding

1:06:26.748,1:06:29.300
of what is me and what is not me.

1:06:29.962,1:06:32.592
But if I look more deeply,[br]I see that when

1:06:33.111,1:06:35.847
I practice and I live[br]together with my brother,

1:06:35.966,1:06:39.857
then he knows the right time[br]to invite the bell

1:06:41.428,1:06:43.408
in the Dharma talk.

1:06:43.571,1:06:46.683
And so somehow, even though he is not me,

1:06:46.849,1:06:51.995
and yet there is some capacity to be able[br]to invite the bell at the appropriate time.

1:06:53.465,1:06:56.190
There is a kind of understanding.

1:06:56.344,1:06:58.353
And so, when we see that,

1:06:58.524,1:07:02.330
we see that actually this body,[br]the limit of this body

1:07:02.443,1:07:05.726
is not the limit of who we are.

1:07:08.346,1:07:10.451
There is not only the,

1:07:10.747,1:07:14.575
this body which we can move[br]and animate which is

1:07:17.047,1:07:19.020
ourselves.

1:07:19.798,1:07:23.277
But we are made up[br]of many non-self elements.

1:07:25.188,1:07:29.631
When we look into the orchid,[br]we can see that

1:07:31.394,1:07:34.829
the orchid is on the platform.

1:07:35.339,1:07:38.473
We do not say that[br]the orchid is up in the sky.

1:07:40.743,1:07:46.233
We do not say that the orchid is in[br]the earth that is surrounding New Hamlet.

1:07:47.520,1:07:51.347
But if we look deeply, we can see that[br]the sun is in the orchid.

1:07:51.933,1:07:57.986
Without the sun, there would be no[br]photosynthesis

1:07:59.475,1:08:02.158
for the plant to generate

1:08:02.608,1:08:07.918
the branch that comes up[br]to offer these flowers to us.

1:08:09.367,1:08:11.824
If there is no earth,

1:08:12.094,1:08:17.620
then there is no nutriments to provide[br]the minerals that the plant needs to grow.

1:08:19.773,1:08:23.806
And we know that there is also the farmer,[br]the one who grew the orchid,

1:08:23.969,1:08:28.601
the one who transported it here.[br]All these elements, we can say,

1:08:28.755,1:08:32.466
non-orchid elements[br]are present in the orchid.

1:08:33.094,1:08:37.903
And we are also made of no-self elements.[br]We are made up of our friends,

1:08:38.198,1:08:45.251
of our parents, of countless generations[br]of ancestors. They are all in us.

1:08:46.229,1:08:52.353
And when we see that, then we become free[br]from this idea of a self, of an atman.

1:08:53.991,1:09:00.204
So that way of dividing up the world,[br]that dualistic way of seeing things,

1:09:00.355,1:09:02.731
then suddenly falls away.

1:09:02.906,1:09:08.408
And we see that this body is not me,[br]it is not mine, it is not myself.

1:09:08.560,1:09:11.158
I'm not limited by this body.

1:09:11.572,1:09:14.779
And we see that we are also present[br]in all things, and

1:09:14.886,1:09:17.705
all things are also present in us.

1:09:18.073,1:09:21.187
So the mold is not separate from me.

1:09:22.756,1:09:27.341
The stones are not separate from me.[br]The deer are not separate.

1:09:27.729,1:09:30.793
But we actually inter-are.

1:09:31.388,1:09:34.730
So this is a deep teaching of the Buddha[br]on interbeing.

1:09:37.059,1:09:40.022
And when we look at the world in that way,

1:09:40.206,1:09:43.684
we become free from our ideas[br]about ourselves,

1:09:44.977,1:09:49.506
we practice what Thay called[br]the deep ecology.

1:09:50.603,1:09:54.849
He said, the Diamond Sutra is[br]the earliest teaching on deep ecology,

1:09:56.663,1:09:59.962
because we see that we are not separate[br]from Mother Earth.

1:10:01.464,1:10:03.922
That all of our efforts

1:10:04.125,1:10:07.848
to raise up human beings,

1:10:09.614,1:10:12.405
to make them comfortable,

1:10:12.973,1:10:15.611
so they always have enough food to eat,

1:10:15.921,1:10:18.912
so the always have enough places to live,

1:10:19.737,1:10:22.920
so they are warm enough,[br]so they get to go on a vacation

1:10:23.045,1:10:25.067
once a year,

1:10:26.775,1:10:30.372
that that all has come[br]at a price.

1:10:31.865,1:10:36.188
And that price is our attachment[br]to our idea about ourselves.

1:10:36.687,1:10:42.805
Ourselves as a person, who is[br]separated from other living beings,

1:10:43.672,1:10:47.262
like animals, the plants, the minerals.

1:10:47.586,1:10:52.398
So we exploit the Earth, we think of[br]the Earth as something separate from us

1:10:52.955,1:10:56.384
that we can dig in,[br]that we can extract oil from,

1:10:57.855,1:11:00.610
and we don't think about[br]all the consequences

1:11:00.753,1:11:03.768
that that has on ourselves,[br]on our well-being,

1:11:03.941,1:11:06.632
because we don't see it as ourselves.

1:11:06.738,1:11:10.393
We see ourselves as something separate[br]from the Earth.

1:11:12.311,1:11:16.033
We treat animals with great cruelty,

1:11:16.500,1:11:19.406
raising them in horrible conditions

1:11:21.048,1:11:23.107
to be slaughtered

1:11:23.274,1:11:25.777
to serve our appetite.

1:11:26.081,1:11:28.722
Because we think that they are not us.

1:11:28.861,1:11:32.753
Of course, we say we would never do that[br]for human beings.

1:11:34.122,1:11:37.494
I remember when I was a young practitioner[br]and I read

1:11:39.701,1:11:41.948
a saying from Mahatma Gandhi,

1:11:42.214,1:11:47.302
which was, 'If you want to understand[br]the nature of a civilization

1:11:47.851,1:11:50.747
look at how it treats its animals'.

1:11:52.418,1:11:55.646
If you want to understand[br]the nature of a civilization

1:11:56.182,1:11:59.579
look at how it treats its animals.

1:12:01.723,1:12:06.405
Does it hide its animals away[br]when they are going to be slaughtered,

1:12:06.581,1:12:09.753
or mistreated, or killed?

1:12:12.762,1:12:17.583
So when we look deeply, there are[br]structures that had been created

1:12:17.934,1:12:20.098
in the human mind,

1:12:20.161,1:12:24.685
which have split us off from[br]that which is also ourselves.

1:12:25.322,1:12:28.761
That have removed us from Mother Earth.

1:12:29.031,1:12:31.618
And the Buddha is trying[br]to point those out.

1:12:31.771,1:12:34.407
What is the source[br]of those wrong perceptions?

1:12:34.545,1:12:40.180
What are those ideas which separate us[br]from our connection to the Earth?

1:12:43.277,1:12:44.580
(Bell)

1:12:48.710,1:12:55.097
(Bell)

1:13:05.282,1:13:09.813
"We must lead all these beings[br]to the ultimate nirvana

1:13:10.044,1:13:12.763
so that they can be liberated."

1:13:13.232,1:13:16.189
This is a very radical statement.

1:13:17.498,1:13:19.695
The early Buddhist community

1:13:20.808,1:13:23.560
was mainly concerned with its,

1:13:23.788,1:13:27.124
with its own attainment of nirvana.

1:13:28.794,1:13:30.762
You became a monk or a nun

1:13:30.905,1:13:34.057
because you wanted to become[br]an arhat, a perfected one.

1:13:34.164,1:13:38.605
You wanted to attain the nirvana[br]that the Buddha taught.

1:13:42.753,1:13:46.568
And that led to attachment[br]to these kind of ideas,

1:13:46.740,1:13:52.350
the idea about a self, even though[br]the teaching of non-self was there,

1:13:53.353,1:13:57.608
but ¡wow!, the monks[br]tend to have a very big self.

1:13:58.166,1:14:00.638
A very big non-self.

1:14:03.586,1:14:07.213
And they can have a very[br]strong idea that

1:14:10.007,1:14:13.126
they are sattvas, they are living beings,

1:14:13.530,1:14:16.824
but the stones, the minerals,

1:14:17.492,1:14:21.528
those things that are not living,[br]those things we don't need to care about.

1:14:21.878,1:14:25.300
What we need to take care of[br]is only the living beings.

1:14:26.344,1:14:29.810
Or they have an idea,[br]'I'm an important person.

1:14:33.607,1:14:37.532
These animals, these plants,[br]they are not

1:14:39.316,1:14:41.651
they are not so important.

1:14:41.794,1:14:45.350
What is important is[br]my own attainment of nirvana.'

1:14:46.428,1:14:48.901
So when we look deeply into this statement

1:14:49.069,1:14:53.696
we see we break through[br]these very limited concepts of nirvana.

1:14:54.495,1:14:56.393
And we see that

1:14:57.016,1:15:01.315
awakening is something[br]that can be experienced by all.

1:15:03.314,1:15:05.190
That is possible for -

1:15:05.370,1:15:09.515
When we no longer see the separation[br]between me and not me,

1:15:11.838,1:15:16.197
we see that the wood that I'm sitting on[br]is not separate from me,

1:15:16.572,1:15:19.766
when I see that the stones[br]are not separate from me,

1:15:19.943,1:15:24.682
they become part of my path to awakening.

1:15:25.486,1:15:27.505
They are not separate.

1:15:27.690,1:15:29.158
And so,

1:15:29.551,1:15:33.249
taking care of the stones[br]is taking care of myself.

1:15:33.686,1:15:37.439
Taking care of the trees[br]is taking care of myself.

1:15:37.807,1:15:41.657
Taking care of the cows, the sheep,

1:15:42.453,1:15:45.779
taking care of, even of the mosquitoes,

1:15:46.977,1:15:49.784
is taking care of myself.

1:15:51.330,1:15:55.056
The brothers we become very expert[br]at capturing mosquitoes

1:15:55.161,1:15:58.493
and putting them back outside[br]so they can be free.

1:16:01.273,1:16:06.614
And the Buddha, one of the reasons he had[br]us wear a robe and not walk around naked

1:16:06.729,1:16:09.362
was to protect us from mosquitoes.

1:16:10.376,1:16:12.708
Also, you know, is a little bit -

1:16:12.850,1:16:15.341
Even in the Buddha's time,[br]to walk around naked

1:16:15.446,1:16:17.163
was a little bit extreme.

1:16:17.301,1:16:18.559
(Laughter)

1:16:19.275,1:16:23.309
So we don't have to kill the mosquitoes,[br]but we can be protected,

1:16:23.501,1:16:28.298
we take care of ourselves but in a way[br]that is not harming other living beings,

1:16:28.540,1:16:31.398
or even the stones themselves.

1:16:31.576,1:16:35.881
We know that if we've ever thrown[br]something at a stone, or you throw a stone

1:16:36.830,1:16:40.585
at another stone or something hard,[br]and then you look at it.

1:16:40.982,1:16:43.006
What do you see?

1:16:44.469,1:16:49.706
A kind of like white, powdery bit[br]at the impact.

1:16:50.558,1:16:53.087
That is a kind of suffering.

1:16:55.018,1:16:59.182
We tend to think of suffering only[br]in terms of the human nervous system.

1:16:59.386,1:17:01.587
That is a very limited view.

1:17:01.747,1:17:05.067
But now we start to extend that[br]to include

1:17:05.536,1:17:07.969
the suffering of animals.

1:17:08.137,1:17:11.519
Even as short as the past few fifty years,

1:17:12.934,1:17:17.892
people have believed, many scientists[br]believed that animals did not suffer pain

1:17:18.655,1:17:21.984
in a way that can be compared[br]to human beings.

1:17:23.784,1:17:28.607
That is a way of justifying[br]doing studies on animals.

1:17:29.450,1:17:32.836
You can treat them however you want[br]as long as they don't suffer

1:17:32.985,1:17:35.510
in the way that human beings suffer.

1:17:35.803,1:17:40.266
So we have to be careful when our mind[br]is caught in these perceptions

1:17:40.919,1:17:44.503
we can use it to justify hurting.

1:17:45.444,1:17:48.616
We can use it to justify[br]creating suffering.

1:17:50.207,1:17:55.311
And it doesn't take much deep looking[br]to then go and extend that understanding

1:17:55.454,1:17:58.383
to the stones, to the minerals.

1:17:58.866,1:18:02.490
Then, when we look in -[br]We hear about climate change,

1:18:02.658,1:18:07.080
or we experience this pretty warm[br]December right now,

1:18:08.229,1:18:11.197
then we know that maybe[br]we haven't been taking good care

1:18:11.371,1:18:14.444
of our mineral brothers and sisters.

1:18:16.876,1:18:19.296
Maybe in our greed to

1:18:20.428,1:18:23.703
have electricity, to have power,

1:18:25.357,1:18:27.245
to produce,

1:18:28.191,1:18:31.549
we extract minerals from the Earth,

1:18:32.024,1:18:36.270
and then release the remains[br]into the atmosphere.

1:18:37.650,1:18:41.508
So this is all connected.[br]This is coming from human desire.

1:18:42.156,1:18:44.816
So in early teachings, we have

1:18:45.006,1:18:46.827
the teachings on

1:18:47.769,1:18:50.800
too much craving leads to suffering.

1:18:51.519,1:18:55.929
And so here, in the Diamond Sutra[br]we're going into what is it that we crave?

1:18:56.440,1:18:59.890
What is it that leads us to have a kind of[br]wrong perceptions

1:19:00.091,1:19:03.181
that bring about the suffering?

1:19:03.430,1:19:06.963
And so the insight of the Diamond Sutra[br]is that these four -

1:19:07.182,1:19:10.957
That when we look deeply into[br]our perceptions, we can find these four

1:19:11.065,1:19:13.679
somewhere there at the bottom.

1:19:14.992,1:19:17.673
Our ideas about ourselves.

1:19:18.885,1:19:22.277
Our ideas about living beings[br]separated from

1:19:23.387,1:19:25.940
non living beings.

1:19:27.595,1:19:32.653
One of our long term lay practitioners,[br]in Upper Hamlet,

1:19:32.897,1:19:37.736
he has dedicated his life[br]to building sanghas that

1:19:38.522,1:19:42.344
live near fracking operations[br]in the United Kingdom,

1:19:44.014,1:19:48.394
so that they can put their bodies there[br]in a non-violent way

1:19:49.427,1:19:53.197
to shine light on what we are doing[br]to Mother Earth

1:19:53.333,1:19:56.102
when we get caught[br]in this kind of perception.

1:19:56.955,1:20:00.985
The Earth, that is not a living being.

1:20:01.833,1:20:07.451
So if we inject chemicals into the earth[br]in order to produce more oil, produce more

1:20:09.808,1:20:14.214
other products that we have[br]a lot of craving for, that is no problem.

1:20:14.553,1:20:18.006
And then we don't look at the suffering,[br]we don't look at the water

1:20:18.128,1:20:21.020
that comes out of the tap[br]that you can light on fire.

1:20:24.408,1:20:27.468
So sometimes, when we are[br]on the bodhisattva path

1:20:27.647,1:20:29.636
we need to put our own body

1:20:30.420,1:20:34.494
in the way, in order to help people[br]to look deeply into -

1:20:36.005,1:20:39.852
Encourage others[br]to practice looking deeply.

1:20:40.946,1:20:44.234
Sometimes, that is why some of us[br]become monks and nuns.

1:20:44.731,1:20:48.706
We want to deal with our own suffering,[br]but we also have an aspiration,

1:20:48.830,1:20:53.320
we know sometimes we need to be,[br]go a little bit outside of the norm

1:20:53.647,1:20:58.445
in order to help each other to look[br]deeply into what is really going on.

1:21:02.858,1:21:06.780
We are attached to[br]the idea of a life span, jīva.

1:21:10.132,1:21:15.446
We have the kind of thinking, 'Ah! Now it[br]is this time in my life for me to do this.

1:21:16.342,1:21:19.167
And when I get old, I will be like that.

1:21:19.965,1:21:24.104
When I get old, I will travel.[br]I will have a bucket list

1:21:24.269,1:21:27.995
and I will go to all those countries[br]and do all those things.'

1:21:31.450,1:21:33.684
Thay often told the story

1:21:34.012,1:21:36.169
of Frederic, a business man,

1:21:36.647,1:21:39.186
whose wife came to Plum Village.

1:21:44.582,1:21:46.519
He told his son,

1:21:47.978,1:21:53.049
'Son, what do you want for Christmas?'

1:21:55.708,1:21:59.862
And the son was not sure what he[br]really wanted for Christmas.

1:22:00.035,1:22:02.600
He had to think about it.[br]And when he thought,

1:22:02.723,1:22:06.302
he shared with his father,[br]'Daddy, I want to be with you.

1:22:08.031,1:22:10.497
I want to be with you.'

1:22:10.918,1:22:14.893
Because Frederic was head[br]of a large company, and he was so busy!

1:22:18.165,1:22:21.024
He could buy his son[br]anything that he wants.

1:22:22.598,1:22:26.860
Anything that he imagines. But all his son[br]wanted was just to spend more time

1:22:27.372,1:22:29.198
with his father.

1:22:31.319,1:22:33.725
And even when his wife

1:22:36.166,1:22:37.972
was sick,

1:22:39.506,1:22:44.733
then he could not- I'm sorry, not his wife[br]it was his son, his son got sick,

1:22:45.739,1:22:47.530
and he could not

1:22:48.311,1:22:52.720
he could not be there, he could not leave[br]work to go to the hospital to be there

1:22:53.492,1:22:59.114
with him. He had to ask his wife[br]to represent him, to be present for him.

1:23:00.197,1:23:05.908
And he told his wife, 'Very soon I will be[br]able to transmit all my responsibilities

1:23:06.425,1:23:10.406
in the company to someone else.[br]So just in few years,

1:23:11.212,1:23:15.921
we will have so much free time![br]Just bear with me for this moment.'

1:23:17.202,1:23:19.892
And then, very soon after[br]he told his wife that,

1:23:20.030,1:23:22.646
he was killed in a car accident.

1:23:26.493,1:23:31.289
And so all his hopes, his dreams[br]to spend more time with his son,

1:23:31.540,1:23:34.187
to spend more time with his family,

1:23:35.004,1:23:38.133
they never had a chance to be realized.

1:23:40.407,1:23:43.702
And we all live that reality.

1:23:44.297,1:23:48.951
We live our life, we think, 'Oh! After I'm[br]in Plum Village, I will go there,

1:23:49.141,1:23:53.558
I will do that'. But we don't know[br]what will happen even in the next moment.

1:23:56.243,1:24:01.149
And so, when we learn to live happily,[br]to dwell happily in the present moment,

1:24:01.316,1:24:05.107
without basing our thinking[br]on these perceptions,

1:24:06.246,1:24:08.670
we no longer have fear.

1:24:11.822,1:24:13.609
We no longer

1:24:14.276,1:24:17.974
place our hopes and our dreams[br]in some future time

1:24:18.687,1:24:21.301
when we will do this,[br]or we will do that.

1:24:21.453,1:24:24.305
'I promise you! Just next year[br]I will do that!

1:24:24.455,1:24:27.019
We will have enough time to do it.'

1:24:27.173,1:24:30.706
We learn to come back to ourselves,[br]come back to the present moment,

1:24:30.861,1:24:34.408
and to really enjoy all the wonders[br]of life that are here and now,

1:24:34.511,1:24:36.946
fully present for us.

1:24:37.783,1:24:40.045
Within us and around us.

1:24:41.375,1:24:46.986
So, mastering our thinking is learning how[br]to dwell happily in the present moment.

1:24:48.057,1:24:52.434
Remembering all the good conditions[br]for happiness that are already here.

1:24:54.037,1:24:57.367
That is how a bodhisattva[br]masters her thinking.

1:24:58.871,1:25:01.555
And even though we have that teaching,

1:25:01.754,1:25:04.040
oftentimes we forget.

1:25:04.290,1:25:06.689
And we still hope, and we plan,

1:25:06.871,1:25:09.482
and it is not that planning is bad,

1:25:10.843,1:25:14.066
but we do it in a joyful way[br]in the present moment.

1:25:14.236,1:25:17.144
And we are happy to let go of our plan.

1:25:17.544,1:25:19.662
We are happy to let go of it,

1:25:19.853,1:25:23.358
because we know that our happiness[br]doesn't depend on that.

1:25:24.414,1:25:29.110
Our happiness doesn't depend on going[br]to see that person for Christmas,

1:25:30.064,1:25:33.138
or being with our family for Christmas.

1:25:34.077,1:25:38.275
Or doing that thing, or getting that job,[br]or getting that promotion.

1:25:39.347,1:25:43.557
But it is realized right here[br]and right now with our mindful breathing,

1:25:44.544,1:25:49.428
with our mindful step,[br]with the community of practice around us.

1:25:50.682,1:25:52.985
And we don't have to

1:25:54.473,1:25:57.368
become some important person

1:25:59.236,1:26:02.523
who is respected, who is respectable.

1:26:05.524,1:26:09.950
Sometimes our greatest teacher can be[br]a homeless person in the street.

1:26:11.975,1:26:15.025
They can give us a wisdom that we need.

1:26:15.163,1:26:18.289
And that was the insight that the Buddha[br]was trying to

1:26:18.533,1:26:23.041
give to people by living humbly himself,[br]by begging for his food,

1:26:24.217,1:26:28.075
putting himself as the lowest[br]in society.

1:26:29.839,1:26:33.830
Not riding around in fancy,[br]on fancy elephants.

1:26:35.843,1:26:38.359
Some of his disciples,[br]when they became monks,

1:26:38.568,1:26:42.452
they thought, 'Well, I'm a monk. But I can[br]continue to ride around on an elephant

1:26:42.452,1:26:44.082
like I did before.'

1:26:44.190,1:26:48.190
That is why we have the precept about[br]not riding in luxurious vehicles.

1:26:48.428,1:26:49.781
(Laughter)

1:26:49.900,1:26:53.640
Most of us don't think about[br]riding an elephant as a luxurious vehicle,

1:26:54.268,1:26:58.031
but at that time, it was[br]a sign of royalty.

1:26:59.677,1:27:02.821
So how can we learn to recognize these,

1:27:02.980,1:27:05.808
when our thinking is based[br]on these perceptions?

1:27:05.960,1:27:08.935
When we look for approval from others,

1:27:09.049,1:27:13.256
how much of it is based[br]on an idea of a self? Of a person?

1:27:15.283,1:27:18.561
We want to be appreciated,[br]we want to be recognized.

1:27:20.931,1:27:25.665
We treat human beings well but we don't[br]treat Mother Earth in a respectful way.

1:27:28.387,1:27:31.745
In Thay's commentary, we can read

1:27:31.924,1:27:37.253
that he loved to get out of the city[br]and to go into the countryside.

1:27:38.731,1:27:43.584
And Thay said, because in the city,[br]you have to, when you go to pee

1:27:44.610,1:27:49.058
you have to go into[br]very smelly bathrooms, very

1:27:51.009,1:27:53.999
dirty, very unpleasant.

1:27:54.370,1:27:58.271
But in the countryside, you can go[br]and you can pee anywhere you want.

1:28:00.276,1:28:03.963
But then, after a while,[br]when Thay started to look deeply,

1:28:04.478,1:28:08.367
he felt very ashamed when he would go[br]and pee behind a tree.

1:28:08.525,1:28:12.221
Because the tree was[br]such a beautiful, sacred thing,

1:28:12.409,1:28:14.329
how could you pee on it?

1:28:14.436,1:28:15.793
(Laughter)

1:28:16.457,1:28:18.989
But then he - So he tried to go[br]somewhere else,

1:28:19.124,1:28:22.313
but there would always be a bush or a tree[br]somewhere, everywhere,

1:28:22.625,1:28:26.272
and then he realized, what would he do?[br]He has to pee somewhere!

1:28:28.040,1:28:32.576
And then, one day he had the insight[br]which is that peeing is also sacred.

1:28:33.183,1:28:34.686
(Laughter)

1:28:35.992,1:28:38.762
That he was caught in the idea[br]that peeing

1:28:40.196,1:28:42.618
is something profane.

1:28:43.100,1:28:46.581
That by peeing on it[br]he is disrespecting Mother Earth.

1:28:46.969,1:28:51.949
But we know when we pee we are returning[br]our nutrients back to the earth.

1:28:55.255,1:28:58.216
So we can see that the tree is sacred,

1:28:58.400,1:29:01.529
and when we pee next to it[br]it is also a sacred act.

1:29:01.968,1:29:06.666
That is the insight we get from freeing[br]ourselves from this kind of perception.

1:29:09.175,1:29:14.369
We see we are not damaging the tree,[br]we are not causing suffering to the tree.

1:29:14.566,1:29:17.956
So we pee in such a way, that[br]we can bring happiness and joy

1:29:18.342,1:29:20.735
to us and to the tree.

1:29:22.383,1:29:26.673
We have to learn to recognize suffering.[br]That is why it is the first noble truth.

1:29:26.801,1:29:29.248
And that suffering[br]is not only in ourselves,

1:29:29.381,1:29:32.090
we need to recognize[br]the suffering of fracking.

1:29:33.189,1:29:36.733
The suffering of not taking care of

1:29:37.987,1:29:39.768
the animals.

1:29:42.648,1:29:47.030
That is why in Plum Village[br]we eat vegetarian, it's very easy for us,

1:29:47.219,1:29:51.823
because we know, we know how animals[br]are treated when they are used for meat,

1:29:52.432,1:29:54.997
or to produce dairy products.

1:29:55.239,1:29:59.254
Now with the Internet, if you don't know,[br]you can find out very quickly.

1:29:59.685,1:30:01.609
It is not difficult.

1:30:03.175,1:30:05.717
And so when we get in touch[br]with that suffering,

1:30:05.852,1:30:09.159
and we really practice deeply[br]the teaching of the Diamond Sutra,

1:30:09.330,1:30:12.203
we want to lead all beings to nirvana.

1:30:14.363,1:30:18.765
Then we become free from the idea[br]that that cow, that that chicken

1:30:19.474,1:30:21.756
is separate from me.

1:30:21.861,1:30:23.958
That the tree is separate from me,

1:30:24.132,1:30:26.970
that the oil deep in the earth[br]is separate from me.

1:30:27.107,1:30:30.654
That we are all part of one organism,[br]Mother Earth.

1:30:31.251,1:30:35.994
And Mother Earth is also part of[br]a beautiful family of brothers and sisters

1:30:36.558,1:30:39.285
going around our Sun.

1:30:40.190,1:30:45.936
And that the Sun is also part of[br]a beautiful Cosmos, the Milky Way,

1:30:46.403,1:30:52.155
universe, galaxy,[br]and that beyond that,

1:30:52.333,1:30:57.037
the whole universe of many hundreds[br]of millions of galaxies.

1:30:59.012,1:31:02.990
And when we look in that way,[br]we see that we are not alone.

1:31:05.403,1:31:07.413
So that teaching

1:31:07.590,1:31:10.672
that we see that no one single being[br]has been saved

1:31:10.843,1:31:13.906
is another way of saying we are not alone.

1:31:14.836,1:31:18.346
We break through[br]the barrier of loneliness.

1:31:19.003,1:31:24.791
And we see that this body,[br]these feelings, these perceptions,

1:31:25.004,1:31:27.824
these mental formations,[br]and this consciousness

1:31:27.980,1:31:30.890
are not me. They are not mine.

1:31:31.655,1:31:34.423
They are not a separate self.

1:31:37.487,1:31:40.864
We become free from all those concepts.

1:31:42.254,1:31:45.268
And then we can begin the true work

1:31:46.019,1:31:47.988
of liberation

1:31:49.041,1:31:53.420
knowing that not any single being[br]has been liberated.

1:31:54.377,1:31:57.157
That is how we master our thinking.

1:31:57.447,1:31:59.760
That is how we set our mind.

1:32:03.850,1:32:05.089
(Bell)

1:32:09.493,1:32:15.635
(Bell)

1:32:26.371,1:32:27.778
So,

1:32:28.473,1:32:30.822
so we didn't get very far today

1:32:31.829,1:32:34.721
in the sutra, but I think that

1:32:36.261,1:32:39.041
we get to touch the essence.

1:32:39.441,1:32:41.782
We cannot be caught in words.

1:32:43.452,1:32:47.208
Many times in the Diamond Sutra[br]we will hear something like,

1:32:48.403,1:32:53.504
'When the Tathagata speaks of signs,[br]there are no signs being talked about.

1:32:55.519,1:33:01.357
Subhuti, what is called Buddhadharma[br]is everything that is not Buddhadharma."

1:33:06.456,1:33:10.358
When the Buddha talks about the highest,[br]most fulfilled awakened mind,

1:33:10.489,1:33:14.978
there is nothing that can be called[br]the highest, most fulfilled awakened mind.

1:33:15.405,1:33:19.334
That is why it is called the highest,[br]most fulfilled awakened mind.

1:33:19.505,1:33:23.647
That is the refrain that we see often[br]in the Diamond Sutra.

1:33:24.367,1:33:27.692
And it seems like, 'What sense[br]do we make of that?'

1:33:30.287,1:33:34.574
And that is also to help us[br]break through this barrier

1:33:35.200,1:33:37.125
of perception.

1:33:37.836,1:33:40.540
Of getting caught in a perception.

1:33:42.021,1:33:45.227
Thay talked about one Zen master

1:33:45.548,1:33:49.398
that when he -[br]Because everyone keeps saying,

1:33:49.573,1:33:52.307
Buddha, Buddha, so much,[br]Buddha this and Buddha that

1:33:52.310,1:33:55.634
that he got so sick and he said,[br]'I have to go to the stream outside

1:33:55.647,1:33:58.264
and wash my mouth out,[br]it's like saying a filthy word.

1:33:58.384,1:34:00.770
If you say the Buddha one more time.'

1:34:00.916,1:34:03.946
And he is trying to point out[br]that tendency we have

1:34:04.112,1:34:08.405
to idolize, whether it is the word,[br]whether it's a person,

1:34:08.602,1:34:11.084
whether it's a concept.

1:34:12.828,1:34:17.235
And so when we talk about the highest,[br]most fulfilled awakened mind,

1:34:17.813,1:34:21.337
we can start repeating it and[br]it loses all of its meaning.

1:34:24.738,1:34:27.464
And so when the Buddha says,

1:34:27.607,1:34:31.658
'What I call the highest,[br]most fulfilled awakened mind,

1:34:31.820,1:34:35.296
that is not the highest,[br]most fulfilled awakened mind.'

1:34:35.457,1:34:39.973
It means that it is not the word,[br]highest, most fulfilled awakened mind,

1:34:40.087,1:34:42.392
it is not that phrase.

1:34:42.633,1:34:45.956
It is much more than that.[br]It can only be realized.

1:34:49.290,1:34:53.643
That is why I just call it[br]highest, most fulfilled awakened mind.

1:34:53.776,1:34:58.092
But you need to realize it yourself.[br]You need to touch it by breaking through

1:34:58.842,1:35:03.343
and freeing yourself from these[br]wrong perceptions.

1:35:04.261,1:35:07.984
So I invite you to continue your study[br]of the Diamond Sutra.

1:35:09.104,1:35:15.934
And as you go out, and be back[br]to your family, back to your friends,

1:35:18.420,1:35:24.230
you can really have a chance to sit[br]and look deeply at them in that way.

1:35:24.776,1:35:27.770
You think, 'That is my mother,[br]that is my father.

1:35:27.948,1:35:31.427
That is my son, that is my daughter,[br]that is my husband.'

1:35:31.613,1:35:37.357
And because your ideas of husband, and[br]father, and mother, and son and daughter

1:35:37.523,1:35:40.717
have become a view,

1:35:41.801,1:35:43.819
a perception,

1:35:44.018,1:35:47.005
maybe you don't really see them[br]as they are,

1:35:47.105,1:35:50.814
as this wondrous manifestation

1:35:51.967,1:35:57.846
of beauty, of understanding,[br]as well as of suffering,

1:35:58.941,1:36:01.664
of pain, of ignorance.

1:36:08.454,1:36:10.813
But with the help of this teaching,

1:36:10.921,1:36:14.132
you can sit and look at them,[br]and really look at them.

1:36:15.261,1:36:18.530
Look them in the eye.[br]You don't have to say anything.

1:36:18.675,1:36:20.792
You can smile.

1:36:21.808,1:36:24.660
That is a smile of a bodhisattva.

1:36:26.456,1:36:30.170
So I wish you well[br]on your path of practice,

1:36:30.605,1:36:35.426
and thank you for being together[br]on the bodhisattva path.

1:36:39.999,1:36:41.177
(Bell)

1:36:45.217,1:36:51.527
(Bell)

1:37:06.031,1:37:12.126
(Bell)

1:37:28.261,1:37:34.446
(Bell)

1:37:55.829,1:37:58.687
(Small bell)