(Bell)
For the past few years, I've been obsessed with video games,
playing for 8 hours a day
and I need suggestions to stop this obsession of playing video games.
(Sr. True Dedication): Dear Thay, dear sangha,
a young friend just shared that for the last few years
he has been playing a lot of computer games.
About 8 hours every day he plays computer games
and it has become an obsession.
He would like any help, any ideas
how he can stop this obsession with playing computer games.
The young people may already have a lot of suffering in themselves.
Their parents do not know how to help their children to suffer less,
to transform the suffering in them.
That is why both, parents and children
try to cover up the suffering inside by entertainment:
music, books, films, electronic games and so on.
This is not really enjoyment,
it is just trying to run away from the suffering inside.
As the time passes, the suffering inside continues to grow.
Because the items that we consume
in order to forget about our suffering
can bring more toxins, poisons,
anger, distress, to us.
This is not living.
That is running away from life.
What the West calls the Kingdom of God
in Buddhism is called the Dharma body.
The Buddha has the Buddha body,
but he also has a Dharma body.
When the physical body of the Buddha is no longer there,
his Dharma body continues to give Dharma talks.
When you contemplate a flower
or when you listen to the wind in the willow
with mindfulness and concentration,
you hear the Dharma talk given by the Dharma body of the Buddha.
So the Buddha is always alive giving Dharma talks.
If you contemplate the Moon, the cloud, the blue sky,
the river, the rising tide,
then everything is teaching the Dharma.
The Dharma body is equivalent to the Kingdom of God.
We know that the Kingdom of God is there.
Every flower, every tree belongs to the Kingdom of God.
They speak to you about the Kingdom of God
that is here and now.
So if you know how to go home to the here and the now,
you have the Kingdom of God with you.
It will nourish you, make you happy.
You don't have to run away and take refuge in electronic games.
When you breathe in mindfully, you bring your mind home to your body.
When mind and body are together, you are truly alive.
If you get lost in your computer,
your body and your mind are separated.
You are not truly alive.
You are wasting your live.
You don't profit from your life.
Nature has given us a life.
Every second, every minute is a jewel.
If you can stay in the here and the now,
you can enjoy the Kingdom of God in the here and the now.
That is the best kind of enjoyment.
There is an image in the Gospel.
A peasant, a farmer, discovers a piece of land
with a treasure in it.
He goes home and sells everything in order to buy that small piece of land.
Because it has a treasure in it.
And that treasure can make him happy all his life
and in the next life also.
So if you have the treasure, the Kingdom of God,
you don't need other things,
including money, fame, power, sensual pleasures
and electronic games.
That is why parents should practice
in order to be able to enjoy the Kingdom of God
in the here and the now.
In that way, they can teach their children to do the same.
And they will not run away
and take refuge in electronic games
and got addicted to them anymore.
Because if you continue,
your body will have a lot of problems and your mind also.
That has proved to be exact.
If you spend too much time with your computer,
your electronic games,
you are addicted to new technologies,
then you don't have any time left to enjoy the wonders of life,
the Kingdom of God that is available in the here and the now.
This is not only an answer to a young person,
but to all of us, especially parents and teachers.
Thank you for asking a question.
(Bell)