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[Plum Village, France, May 2014]

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[Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh[br]answers questions]

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(Bell)

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[How can your teachings help societies[br]with unemployment and political crisis?]

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Dear Thay, dear sangha,

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It is a question that I think reflects

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the interest of many Spaniards[br]at this moment.

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As you know, we have[br]an unemployment rate close to 25%,

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and a huge political crisis.

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So, I would like to know how the teachings

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can help us, not only individually,

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but as a society.

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There are those of us[br]who have lost our job,

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who have not much money to spend.

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They manage to live happily, also.

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We know that[br]there are those who have a job,

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there are those who have enough money,

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but they still suffer.

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So, our happiness does not[br]depend entirely on having a job,

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or having enough money,

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or even a political stability[br]in the country.

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Because in any circumstance,

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the practice of mindfulness[br]can help us to suffer less.

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And, we are able, also, to create[br]moments of joy and happiness,

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if we know how to.

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Because there are[br]many conditions of happiness.

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And job, money,

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political stability[br]are only a few of them.

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Practicing mindfulness, we can protect[br]ourselves from despair, from anger,

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from frustration.

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First of all, we recognize[br]that we are still luckier

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than many other people in the world.

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There are many people in many countries

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who spend less than one dollar a day.

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They live in extreme poverty.

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But, they still have[br]moments of joy together.

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And we have to observe[br]if the family is still together,

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if they can still talk to each other,

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and discuss with each other

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how to improve the situation,

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and then they don't suffer as much as[br]those who have more money.

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So, mindfulness, as you have learned[br]here in Plum Village,

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helps us to recognize that[br]there are so many conditions of happiness

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available in the here and the now.

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Having a body, with no serious disease,

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is already happiness.

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And mindfulness helps us[br]to be aware of that,

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that is a condition of happiness.

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Many people are rich,[br]but do not have a body like that.

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So, recognizing[br]these conditions of happiness

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can help us not to suffer too much,

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and brings joy and happiness to us.

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If you manage to live mindfully

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and retain your calm, your peace,

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your joy, you help the country[br]to restart again.

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And, if you lose your hope,

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if you lose your joy,

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if you are caught by your anger,[br]your fear, your frustration,

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you make the situation[br]worse in your country,

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and your country will not have a chance

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to recover, to get a new start.

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So, we have to sit down and find out

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what kind of practice that can help us

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keep the hope, keep compassion,

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keep the joy of living,

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so that we can[br]improve the situation day by day.

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[connect,[br]be inspired, be nourished]

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(Bell)