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(Half bell)

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(Bell)

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Dear Thay, dear Sangha...

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my question deals with
the first mindfulness practice.

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In the face of extreme violence
such as genocide

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is it ever acceptable to respond
to violence with action...

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including even violent action?

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I practice national security

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And I think of Churchill or Chamberlain

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with Hitler for instance.

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Or more modern examples 
of Rwanda...

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or Sudan,

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where maybe compassionate listening
with Hitler

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as was done by Chamberlain

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may not have been enough.

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And I struggle with this.

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Dear Thay, our friend is asking
about situations of extreme violence

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And she's giving an example
in the middle of the 20th century

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when Hitler was causing
a great deal of suffering.

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And there was one official in England

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who tried to practice
compassionate listening with Hitler

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and it was seen as not successful.

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And actually allowed Hitler
to continue to hurt more people.

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And she's asking whether
in certain situations

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is it appropriate to use violence
to stop violence?

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Non-violent action is not a technique.

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It is a way, not a technique.

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And the foundation of non-violent action
is understanding and compassion.

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When you have understanding and compassion
in your heart

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everything you do will be non-violent.

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Suppose someone is killing,
someone is breaking the law

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and you arrest him and put him in jail.

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Arresting him
and putting him in jail...

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is that violent or non-violent?

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It depends...

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on the situation.

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If you arrest that person,
if you lock him up

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and yet you do it
because of understanding and compassion,

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then that is non-violent action.

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And even if you don't do anything,

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but you allow...

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you allow the people
to kill and to destroy,

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Although you don't do anything,
that is also violence.

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Violence can be action or non-action.

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So the outer appearance might be violent,


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but if you do it with a mind
of understanding and compassion

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it is not truly violence.

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Suppose a horse suffers very much
and is about to die, but cannot die.

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And you give her a death blow
so that she can die,

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it looks like violence,
but it comes from your compassion.

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You don't want the horse 
to continue to suffer for too long.

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So that image tells you

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that whether the action is 
violent or non-violent,

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it depends on your heart.

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If you have the willingness
to reduce suffering,

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if you understand why a person
has done such a thing violently,

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so then even if you lock him up and
deprive him of a few days' food

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that is still non-violent.

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Because depriving someone
for a few days of food

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in order to help him to know

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that having something to eat
is something very great,

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to give him that kind of insight.

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That does not come 
from your willingness to punish,

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but to help him to learn and appreciate.

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That is non-violence.

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So we should not wait 
until the situation presents itself

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to decide whether we should react
with violence or non-violence.

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We have to begin right now.

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And when the situation presents itself,

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we will be able to act with compassion...

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that means with non-violence.

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And non-violent action should...

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it should be...

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conceived as a long-term action.

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When you teach your child,

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when you tell your child how to act,

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you are engaging in non-violent action.

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You don't wait until 
the child becomes cruel

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and begins to destroy or to kill
before you teach them.

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You have to use preventative measures.

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So in the realm of education,

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in the realm of agriculture,

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in the realm of art,

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you can introduce...

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non-violent thinking
and non-violent action

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and teach people to remove discrimination.

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That is the basic action of non-violence,

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because violence comes
from discrimination, from separation,

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from hate, from fear, from anger.

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So helping people to transform
these things

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before they are translated into action.

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That is true non-violent action.

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It should begin right now

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and we should not wait 
for something to happen

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in order to think whether we should act
violently or non-violently.

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And I think non-violence can never be...

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completely absolute.

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We can say that we should be
as non-violent as we can.

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When we think of the military,

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we think that the things 
that the military do are only violent.

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But to conduct an army,

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to protect a town,

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to stop an invasion by a foreign army,

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there are many ways to do it.

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And there are more violent ways,

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and there are less violent ways.

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You can always choose.

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Maybe it is not possible
to do it 100% non-violent,

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but 80% non-violent is better
than 10% non-violent!

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See? So don't ask for an absolute.

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That is the way we practice
the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

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You cannot be perfect in the practice.

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Do not worry 
that you will not be perfect.

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In observing 
the Fourteen or the Five precepts,

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what is important
is that you are determined to go that way.

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You do your best,
that is what we need.

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It's like in the forest -
you get lost in the forest at night,

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and you don't know how to get out.

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And you have to look at the Northern Star
in order to find your way.

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And if you go north,

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that does not mean you want to arrive
at the Northern Star.

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You don't need to arrive,
you only need to go north.

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(Laughter)

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So the Five Trainings are like that.

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You should go in the direction
of understanding and compassion.

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You don't have to be perfect.

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If you know that you are doing your best,
that is good enough for the Sangha,

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good enough for the Buddha.

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So non-violence is the same.

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We have to do our best.

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Thank you.

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(Half bell)

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(Bell)