1 00:00:05,565 --> 00:00:10,580 (Bell) 2 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:37,492 (Bell) 3 00:00:53,474 --> 00:00:59,484 (Bell) 4 00:01:07,841 --> 00:01:12,662 Dear respected Thay, dear brothers and sisters, dear friends, 5 00:01:13,322 --> 00:01:14,958 good morning. 6 00:01:15,834 --> 00:01:19,240 Today is Sunday the 28th of October 7 00:01:19,345 --> 00:01:23,370 and we are in the Dharma Nectar Temple of Plum Village, Lower Hamlet. 8 00:01:25,291 --> 00:01:29,802 In this retreat we have been looking into the 14 mindfulness trainings 9 00:01:29,980 --> 00:01:32,433 of the Order of Interbeing. 10 00:01:34,776 --> 00:01:42,377 The Order of Interbeing was formed by Thay in the mid 1960's 11 00:01:42,693 --> 00:01:46,316 at the time of the Vietnam War. 12 00:01:47,192 --> 00:01:49,406 There was a great need 13 00:01:49,682 --> 00:01:56,536 for some understanding and compassion 14 00:02:01,023 --> 00:02:06,472 in order to take care of the hatred and violence that was happening in the country. 15 00:02:09,783 --> 00:02:15,466 The 14 mindfulness trainings have to do with how we live our daily lives, 16 00:02:16,128 --> 00:02:18,802 how we live in the world. 17 00:02:19,849 --> 00:02:25,521 How we respond to issues in the world 18 00:02:31,743 --> 00:02:34,002 by our way of thinking, 19 00:02:35,419 --> 00:02:38,751 our attitude or our view. 20 00:02:40,334 --> 00:02:44,583 So these 14 mindfulness trainings help us to see very clearly 21 00:02:44,768 --> 00:02:48,175 the impact of our thinking, 22 00:02:48,631 --> 00:02:51,059 of our speaking and actions 23 00:02:51,155 --> 00:02:56,761 on our environment, and on the world, and on the way we live together. 24 00:03:02,797 --> 00:03:05,373 These trainings 25 00:03:08,980 --> 00:03:12,946 they really express a mind of true love 26 00:03:13,238 --> 00:03:19,376 and the insight that happiness is not an individual matter. 27 00:03:19,617 --> 00:03:24,341 They are the 14 mindfulness trainings of the Order of Interbeing 28 00:03:24,574 --> 00:03:26,577 that was founded by Thay 29 00:03:26,745 --> 00:03:30,340 but they can be practiced by anyone. You don't need to be 30 00:03:32,031 --> 00:03:34,960 an official member of the Order of Interbeing 31 00:03:35,065 --> 00:03:38,494 in order to practice the 14 mindfulness trainings. 32 00:03:38,676 --> 00:03:42,974 In fact, the more people they practice them, the better. 33 00:03:43,514 --> 00:03:46,295 So, you may like 34 00:03:49,872 --> 00:03:52,626 to have a look at them by yourself 35 00:03:52,742 --> 00:03:54,716 and study them 36 00:03:54,860 --> 00:03:57,572 to see in what way the resonate for you. 37 00:03:57,671 --> 00:04:01,391 Especially in the light of the state of the world. 38 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,962 The more I study these 14 mindfulness trainings 39 00:04:07,924 --> 00:04:13,170 the more my heart rejoices. Because I see a way out, 40 00:04:13,457 --> 00:04:17,010 I can see a way that can lead to healing and transformation, 41 00:04:17,208 --> 00:04:20,913 not just of myself but of the whole of humanity. 42 00:04:21,166 --> 00:04:25,550 And that uplifts my spirit and gives me a lot of joy. 43 00:04:27,033 --> 00:04:31,234 These 14 mindfulness trainings we are all capable of practicing them, 44 00:04:31,331 --> 00:04:34,732 of applying them in our daily life. 45 00:04:41,305 --> 00:04:47,209 To practice these 14 mindfulness trainings it's very good to have a sangha, 46 00:04:47,795 --> 00:04:51,532 a place of refuge to do it together with others. 47 00:04:58,391 --> 00:05:02,345 Because with a sangha we can share our joys and our difficulties 48 00:05:02,887 --> 00:05:04,830 and we can - 49 00:05:07,546 --> 00:05:09,488 Excuse me. 50 00:05:11,518 --> 00:05:15,692 Interacting with others will reveal our habit energies. 51 00:05:16,330 --> 00:05:20,383 And as I said before, especially our habit energies of thinking. 52 00:05:20,671 --> 00:05:24,145 A thinking is the foundation of everything. 53 00:05:25,313 --> 00:05:29,867 Whatever we say, whatever we do, we have already thought. 54 00:05:31,316 --> 00:05:33,986 So becoming aware of our thinking 55 00:05:34,306 --> 00:05:40,467 and the inclination of our thinking is very important. 56 00:05:40,968 --> 00:05:44,764 Because that is where the transformation starts. 57 00:05:50,102 --> 00:05:53,765 It's very good to have a sangha to practice with. 58 00:05:54,416 --> 00:05:58,175 The sangha is like what we call a "kalyanamitra", 59 00:05:58,370 --> 00:06:01,391 it means, a spiritual friend. 60 00:06:01,691 --> 00:06:04,243 And a spiritual friend is somebody 61 00:06:04,695 --> 00:06:09,241 who knows how to skillfully point things out to us. 62 00:06:09,443 --> 00:06:14,545 A habit we have of speaking or acting that has it's roots in our thinking. 63 00:06:15,221 --> 00:06:19,417 They will be able to say it in a way that we can receive it. 64 00:06:19,810 --> 00:06:26,305 And that will help us to recognize the effect of our actions. 65 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:31,240 So to have a kalyanamitra is very precious. 66 00:06:31,428 --> 00:06:33,480 On the other hand, 67 00:06:35,056 --> 00:06:38,786 do we know how to be a kalyanamitra? 68 00:06:39,617 --> 00:06:42,716 If you like to have a kalyanamitra 69 00:06:42,890 --> 00:06:46,943 it is very good to first become our own kalyanamitra, 70 00:06:47,190 --> 00:06:50,922 to develop the qualities of a kalyanamitra in ourselves 71 00:06:52,059 --> 00:06:56,682 so we can help ourselves and then we can help others also on this path. 72 00:06:57,451 --> 00:07:01,187 So these 14 mindfulness trainings help us to see very clearly 73 00:07:01,367 --> 00:07:04,716 the impact of our thinking, speaking and actions 74 00:07:05,190 --> 00:07:09,152 on our environment, the world and how we live together. 75 00:07:09,822 --> 00:07:13,363 They are really guidelines for everyday living. 76 00:07:16,376 --> 00:07:21,381 Most what we call precepts, they are prohibitions. 77 00:07:23,370 --> 00:07:27,034 And they begin with bodily actions. 78 00:07:27,590 --> 00:07:31,110 In the 14 mindfulness trainings, we used to call them precepts, 79 00:07:31,206 --> 00:07:33,571 now we call them trainings, 80 00:07:33,925 --> 00:07:38,007 like we call the 5 precepts the 5 mindfulness trainings also. 81 00:07:38,247 --> 00:07:41,996 The 14 mindfulness trainings begin with the mind. 82 00:07:45,013 --> 00:07:49,048 And the Noble Eightfold Path also begins with the mind. 83 00:07:49,193 --> 00:07:52,981 And this shows the importance that the Buddha gave to the mind, 84 00:07:53,073 --> 00:07:55,744 the actions of the mind. 85 00:07:57,455 --> 00:08:01,351 So the 14 mindfulness trainings, there are 3 categories. 86 00:08:04,004 --> 00:08:08,472 The first category are the mindfulness trainings 1 to 7 87 00:08:08,928 --> 00:08:12,486 and they concern primarily the mind. 88 00:08:13,027 --> 00:08:17,008 The second is the 8th and the 9th mindfulness trainings 89 00:08:17,088 --> 00:08:19,667 and they concern the speech. 90 00:08:19,741 --> 00:08:25,518 From 10th to 14th is primarily our bodily actions. 91 00:08:28,187 --> 00:08:32,214 But our actions of mind, of course, and speech, and body, 92 00:08:32,638 --> 00:08:35,670 have the mind as their foundation. 93 00:08:36,204 --> 00:08:39,107 So when we practice these 14 mindfulness trainings, 94 00:08:39,460 --> 00:08:44,616 we are practicing to transcend our greed, our anger, our hatred 95 00:08:45,278 --> 00:08:47,540 and our delusions. 96 00:08:47,805 --> 00:08:51,920 And we cultivate compassion and wisdom. 97 00:08:56,542 --> 00:09:01,894 They also help us to look into and to understand 98 00:09:03,728 --> 00:09:07,057 the nature of interbeing of all that is. 99 00:09:07,232 --> 00:09:11,028 This means that nothing can exist by itself, 100 00:09:11,288 --> 00:09:15,207 everything is because of many causes and conditions. 101 00:09:15,446 --> 00:09:19,292 We are because of many causes and conditions. 102 00:09:19,812 --> 00:09:25,023 We know that without the air, without water, without the earth, 103 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:30,885 without fire, warmth, the Sun, the Moon, we can't live. 104 00:09:33,299 --> 00:09:36,870 So we are because of many causes and conditions. 105 00:09:37,363 --> 00:09:41,748 And we are as we are because of many causes and conditions. 106 00:09:42,362 --> 00:09:46,383 We are as we are, how we have nourished ourselves, 107 00:09:46,439 --> 00:09:49,048 our body and our mind. 108 00:09:51,308 --> 00:09:57,087 When we wake up in the morning, and if our body and mind feels light, 109 00:09:57,441 --> 00:10:01,835 it is very likely we had a light meal the evening before. 110 00:10:03,663 --> 00:10:06,464 If we had a party the evening before 111 00:10:06,590 --> 00:10:13,031 we may wake up not so fresh. Right? 112 00:10:17,098 --> 00:10:22,239 We may have something that is called a hangover. 113 00:10:23,261 --> 00:10:25,633 I don't know if anybody here still has those, 114 00:10:26,047 --> 00:10:28,849 since we are all practicing very well, 115 00:10:30,107 --> 00:10:33,746 but just to be aware 116 00:10:34,673 --> 00:10:39,922 of how we nourish ourselves 117 00:10:40,670 --> 00:10:44,775 with the food and the drink that we take in. 118 00:10:45,283 --> 00:10:49,994 What is the effect that this has on our body and our mind? 119 00:10:52,324 --> 00:10:54,335 You are what you eat. 120 00:10:54,540 --> 00:10:58,485 I would say, we are what we eat, what we drink, what we think. 121 00:10:59,243 --> 00:11:03,062 What we see, what we hear, what we smell, what we touch. 122 00:11:04,012 --> 00:11:07,610 Because everything that we take in through our sense doors 123 00:11:08,409 --> 00:11:13,865 waters seeds in us. It waters seeds in our store consciousness. 124 00:11:17,608 --> 00:11:23,064 Store consciousness is that function of our consciousness that keeps everything. 125 00:11:23,773 --> 00:11:26,713 It holds all our potential. 126 00:11:27,219 --> 00:11:30,130 And our potential is what we call a seed. 127 00:11:31,003 --> 00:11:34,501 We have the capacity to be happy. 128 00:11:35,236 --> 00:11:37,835 So we say we have a seed of happiness. 129 00:11:38,069 --> 00:11:42,134 We have the capacity to be joyful, we have a seed of joy. 130 00:11:42,613 --> 00:11:47,086 We also have the capacity to be angry. So we have a seed of anger. 131 00:11:48,958 --> 00:11:52,852 We have a seed of hatred, we have a seed of greed, a seed of discrimination. 132 00:11:52,974 --> 00:11:57,300 All of us have these potentials. We all have the same. 133 00:11:57,493 --> 00:12:01,096 But in some of us, some are stronger than others. 134 00:12:03,471 --> 00:12:09,438 And they are stronger because we may have inherited the strength of a seed 135 00:12:09,619 --> 00:12:14,625 from our parents, or our grandparents, or ancestors, 136 00:12:15,732 --> 00:12:18,891 our society, our nation. 137 00:12:20,592 --> 00:12:29,927 And we have, out of ignorance, allowed certain seeds to be watered in us 138 00:12:30,460 --> 00:12:34,084 that would had been better not to be watered. 139 00:12:34,398 --> 00:12:41,856 With the practice of mindfulness, we have a say in what seed will be watered 140 00:12:42,111 --> 00:12:44,901 in our store consciousness. 141 00:12:46,281 --> 00:12:49,615 That is what we'd like to talk about a little bit today. 142 00:12:49,842 --> 00:12:54,400 The practice of the mindfulness trainings help us to become aware 143 00:12:54,624 --> 00:12:58,583 of the seeds that are being watered in our store consciousness. 144 00:12:58,850 --> 00:13:02,980 So for me they are a sort of empowerment. 145 00:13:03,738 --> 00:13:05,682 Now I am empowered. 146 00:13:05,901 --> 00:13:09,632 It doesn't mean that I have received them so I am empowered, no. 147 00:13:09,815 --> 00:13:14,795 I have come in contact with them, I've read them, I've become aware of them. 148 00:13:15,008 --> 00:13:17,331 And I'm empowered now. 149 00:13:17,543 --> 00:13:22,716 Now I have a say in which seeds are going to be watered 150 00:13:23,218 --> 00:13:26,870 in my store consciousness. 151 00:13:29,156 --> 00:13:33,437 And the foundation of this here is the practice of mindfulness. 152 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:39,049 Mindfulness means bringing body and mind together. 153 00:13:40,565 --> 00:13:46,285 Often we will find that our body is here and our mind is there. 154 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:48,521 Whatever the 'there' is. 155 00:13:48,658 --> 00:13:53,000 Maybe outside or it may be at the other side of the globe. 156 00:13:53,195 --> 00:13:55,647 Or who knows, on the Moon. 157 00:13:56,306 --> 00:13:58,249 But very, very far away. 158 00:14:01,069 --> 00:14:06,046 Could be in the past or in the future. 159 00:14:07,186 --> 00:14:10,460 Or being carried away by something in the present. 160 00:14:12,759 --> 00:14:18,188 And mindfulness means to bring our mind there where our body is. 161 00:14:18,746 --> 00:14:22,208 It means here, whatever that 'here' is. 162 00:14:23,282 --> 00:14:27,505 To bring the mind home to the body, the home... 163 00:14:29,493 --> 00:14:35,263 Our body is the first home of our mind. It is 'the' home of our mind. 164 00:14:36,178 --> 00:14:38,952 So to bring our mind home to the body. 165 00:14:39,794 --> 00:14:44,367 So maybe with a sound of the bell we shall practice just that. 166 00:14:45,142 --> 00:14:47,310 As we hear the sound of the bell, 167 00:14:47,522 --> 00:14:51,324 the sound of the bell is happening in the present moment. 168 00:14:52,234 --> 00:14:58,294 Like our body is also a happening, our body is not static, it is a happening. 169 00:14:59,950 --> 00:15:02,749 So the bell, which is a happening, 170 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:07,281 helps us to bring our mind home to our body, 171 00:15:07,458 --> 00:15:10,983 to see what is happening in our body. 172 00:15:11,387 --> 00:15:17,657 So let us enjoy the sound of the bell and bring our mind home to our body 173 00:15:18,162 --> 00:15:22,277 and maybe scan our body from the top of our head 174 00:15:22,486 --> 00:15:26,008 all the way down to the tip of our toes. 175 00:15:26,348 --> 00:15:29,980 And if anywhere in our body we find some tension, 176 00:15:30,313 --> 00:15:33,383 to acknowledge it, 177 00:15:33,501 --> 00:15:37,265 to acknowledge its presence and to gently breathe with it for a moment 178 00:15:37,409 --> 00:15:40,730 before we continue scanning our body. 179 00:15:40,863 --> 00:15:46,029 To be with it and breathing it may soften the tension 180 00:15:46,647 --> 00:15:50,866 or whatever it is that you feel in your body. 181 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:59,109 (Bell) 182 00:16:16,137 --> 00:16:19,815 When I did the body scan, 183 00:16:20,553 --> 00:16:22,945 I was relaxing my body 184 00:16:23,095 --> 00:16:27,216 and after I had finished the body scan I sort of remained aware of my body 185 00:16:27,514 --> 00:16:31,261 and at the same time I became aware of what was happening around me. 186 00:16:31,397 --> 00:16:33,179 And I realized 187 00:16:34,223 --> 00:16:36,810 it's raining outside. 188 00:16:37,358 --> 00:16:39,813 It sounded so loud! 189 00:16:40,768 --> 00:16:42,932 Inside it was very quiet 190 00:16:43,068 --> 00:16:46,631 inside in the hall and maybe also inside of my mind. 191 00:16:47,063 --> 00:16:50,512 So the rain sounded loudly. 192 00:16:51,736 --> 00:16:55,027 When we bring our mind home to our body, 193 00:16:55,264 --> 00:16:58,895 we became aware of what is happening inside of our body 194 00:16:59,281 --> 00:17:01,514 and we can take care of it. 195 00:17:01,704 --> 00:17:05,907 And we also become aware of what is happening around us. 196 00:17:11,831 --> 00:17:15,215 The mindfulness trainings 197 00:17:19,536 --> 00:17:22,542 give us an ethical 198 00:17:25,541 --> 00:17:27,652 way of life. 199 00:17:27,825 --> 00:17:31,477 Every training () an ethical action. 200 00:17:32,463 --> 00:17:36,771 And that is an action that benefits everyone. 201 00:17:37,082 --> 00:17:39,828 It is truly based on non-duality, 202 00:17:39,957 --> 00:17:43,504 on the fact that happiness is not an individual matter. 203 00:17:43,644 --> 00:17:46,404 And on compassion. 204 00:17:51,331 --> 00:17:56,732 The 14 mindfulness trainings, we practice them to change ourselves 205 00:17:57,046 --> 00:18:00,637 so we can bring about a change in society. 206 00:18:01,173 --> 00:18:06,488 And that society can go in the direction of understanding and compassion. 207 00:18:07,322 --> 00:18:13,300 Thay says, 'By living a joyful and a mindful life'. 208 00:18:14,225 --> 00:18:20,119 So the practice is not only mindful, to live mindfully, 209 00:18:20,767 --> 00:18:24,155 but also it leads us to live joyfully. 210 00:18:24,445 --> 00:18:28,773 So living mindfully is not a serious matter. 211 00:18:32,212 --> 00:18:36,780 When we look at these trainings, we both see 212 00:18:37,188 --> 00:18:41,722 that the most important aspect of these trainings is 213 00:18:43,321 --> 00:18:48,757 never to abandon anyone. They are very inclusive. 214 00:18:50,305 --> 00:18:54,772 They don't leave anyone lying to the side of the road 215 00:18:55,003 --> 00:18:57,870 who is in need of help. 216 00:19:04,575 --> 00:19:11,841 So today we would like to look at the 6th and the 7th mindfulness trainings, 217 00:19:13,140 --> 00:19:17,809 and we would like to look at them in the light of Right Diligence. 218 00:19:20,937 --> 00:19:25,251 And I will read the 6th mindfulness training 219 00:19:28,038 --> 00:19:31,790 in case you don't have the text. 220 00:19:32,214 --> 00:19:34,801 The 6th mindfulness training 221 00:19:35,522 --> 00:19:39,726 shows us how we can take care of our anger. 222 00:19:42,594 --> 00:19:47,332 "Aware that anger blocks communication and creates suffering, 223 00:19:47,734 --> 00:19:53,313 we are committed to taking care of the energy of anger when it arises 224 00:19:53,985 --> 00:19:57,687 and to recognizing and transforming the seeds of anger 225 00:19:57,979 --> 00:20:01,118 that lie deep in our consciousness. 226 00:20:02,578 --> 00:20:08,839 When anger manifests, we are determined not to do or say anything, 227 00:20:09,446 --> 00:20:13,622 but to practice mindful breathing or mindful walking 228 00:20:13,857 --> 00:20:19,419 to acknowledge, embrace, and look deeply into our anger. 229 00:20:20,940 --> 00:20:25,500 We know that the roots of anger are not outside of ourselves 230 00:20:25,775 --> 00:20:28,956 but can be found in our wrong perceptions 231 00:20:29,124 --> 00:20:35,144 and lack of understanding of the suffering in ourselves and others. 232 00:20:37,087 --> 00:20:40,018 By contemplating impermanence, 233 00:20:40,243 --> 00:20:45,308 we will be able to look with the eyes of compassion at ourselves 234 00:20:45,570 --> 00:20:49,670 and at those we think are the cause of our anger, 235 00:20:49,980 --> 00:20:54,789 and to recognize the preciousness of our relationships. 236 00:20:55,939 --> 00:20:58,737 We will practice Right Diligence 237 00:20:58,974 --> 00:21:06,005 in order to nourish our capacity of understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness 238 00:21:06,879 --> 00:21:11,388 gradually transforming our anger, violence, and fear, 239 00:21:11,616 --> 00:21:15,422 and helping others do the same." 240 00:21:22,837 --> 00:21:28,064 We are committed to taking care of the energy of anger when it arises. 241 00:21:32,394 --> 00:21:35,937 This is already a practice by itself. 242 00:21:39,055 --> 00:21:42,842 We may have got angry in the past 243 00:21:43,535 --> 00:21:46,935 and somebody tells us: 'You're angry.' 244 00:21:47,149 --> 00:21:49,838 And we say: 'I am not angry.' 245 00:21:49,989 --> 00:21:52,314 You know... no! 246 00:21:52,467 --> 00:21:55,305 I mean, in a way, that is clear 247 00:21:56,137 --> 00:21:58,606 that we are angry. 248 00:21:58,806 --> 00:22:01,185 So to recognize it, you know? 249 00:22:01,386 --> 00:22:05,386 And to take care of it from the moment it arises. 250 00:22:05,655 --> 00:22:09,251 Sometimes we need somebody else to point out that we are angry. 251 00:22:11,156 --> 00:22:14,916 In the first instance, we may not recognize it. 252 00:22:18,451 --> 00:22:23,162 How can we recognize anger before it arises? 253 00:22:24,382 --> 00:22:29,172 First of all, we have to know that we have a seed of anger. 254 00:22:31,852 --> 00:22:34,971 It may not manifest very often, 255 00:22:35,176 --> 00:22:39,257 but when it does maybe very gently, but we do have a seed. 256 00:22:39,441 --> 00:22:44,812 And when causes and conditions are sufficient, it will arise. 257 00:22:48,164 --> 00:22:52,573 So we have these seeds in our store consciousness. 258 00:22:55,166 --> 00:22:57,747 One of our practices is 259 00:22:58,665 --> 00:23:03,690 to not water the seed of anger in us. 260 00:23:05,401 --> 00:23:09,486 To avoid watering the seed of anger. 261 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:17,040 Thay says we can ask others to help us. 262 00:23:18,214 --> 00:23:21,661 If there is something that 263 00:23:22,676 --> 00:23:26,827 maybe a loved one, a friend, or somebody in the sangha 264 00:23:27,740 --> 00:23:33,583 does or says that touches, that waters our seed of anger, 265 00:23:34,427 --> 00:23:36,533 we can ask them: 266 00:23:36,715 --> 00:23:42,367 'Please, know that when you say something in that way, 267 00:23:43,167 --> 00:23:48,356 or when you act in that way, it waters my seed of anger. 268 00:23:48,924 --> 00:23:51,335 Could you please support me 269 00:23:51,503 --> 00:23:55,542 by not watering my seed of anger? 270 00:23:56,290 --> 00:23:59,484 I'm happy to hear what you have to tell me, 271 00:23:59,707 --> 00:24:04,374 but could you find another way of telling me this?' 272 00:24:06,186 --> 00:24:10,313 And if we ourselves can think of a way that we will able to hear 273 00:24:10,530 --> 00:24:15,213 what somebody else wants to tell us, we can give them some suggestions. 274 00:24:16,458 --> 00:24:18,820 Maybe they can start by: 275 00:24:19,004 --> 00:24:21,483 'It is my perception that' 276 00:24:21,641 --> 00:24:25,105 instead of 'You do this'. 277 00:24:25,547 --> 00:24:27,995 It is my perception. 278 00:24:28,187 --> 00:24:32,211 Maybe we can point out that we have a perception which may be wrong. 279 00:24:33,434 --> 00:24:37,205 But I would like to share that perception with you anyway. 280 00:24:37,731 --> 00:24:40,089 And the best way 281 00:24:41,097 --> 00:24:43,699 to support others 282 00:24:44,773 --> 00:24:48,747 in interacting with us like that 283 00:24:49,004 --> 00:24:54,614 is to interact with them the way we would like them to interact with us. 284 00:24:55,575 --> 00:24:59,181 And again, for me this is an empowerment. 285 00:25:00,276 --> 00:25:03,511 I can be part of this process. 286 00:25:03,761 --> 00:25:07,183 I'm not just there as a victim 287 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:15,236 of the interactions with others. But I can be part of this. 288 00:25:28,746 --> 00:25:31,427 So a seed of anger 289 00:25:32,199 --> 00:25:36,148 may be watered by what we hear, what others tell us. 290 00:25:39,645 --> 00:25:42,318 We don't always 291 00:25:43,199 --> 00:25:46,996 can give input how other people tell us something. 292 00:25:47,204 --> 00:25:50,247 So what to do then? 293 00:25:52,366 --> 00:25:57,135 Then it's good to take some time 294 00:25:59,776 --> 00:26:02,125 to reflect. 295 00:26:03,486 --> 00:26:08,817 And to ask the question, is there any truth in what they say? 296 00:26:09,247 --> 00:26:13,587 This is what I try to practice. Is there truth in what they say? 297 00:26:17,611 --> 00:26:21,666 Then sometimes the answer is, I don't see any truth. 298 00:26:21,847 --> 00:26:25,241 And sometimes the answer is, maybe a little bit. 299 00:26:25,769 --> 00:26:30,661 So I just take that little bit, I do not need to take everything. 300 00:26:30,892 --> 00:26:33,391 I take that little bit. 301 00:26:33,797 --> 00:26:36,289 And I can look and I can see 302 00:26:38,221 --> 00:26:42,166 what is the root of my action 303 00:26:43,421 --> 00:26:48,356 that my friend gives some feedback about. 304 00:26:48,594 --> 00:26:51,121 Where does it come from? 305 00:26:57,254 --> 00:27:00,993 Maybe before I continue we can have another sound of the bell. 306 00:27:01,824 --> 00:27:03,769 (Bell) 307 00:27:05,688 --> 00:27:12,200 (Bell) 308 00:27:21,229 --> 00:27:24,916 Maybe that way of responding 309 00:27:25,471 --> 00:27:31,256 was also the way of responding of our mother or our father. 310 00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:38,489 And we have inherited, we are continuing our mother and our father in that way. 311 00:27:49,631 --> 00:27:51,570 And as we continue to practice, 312 00:27:51,872 --> 00:27:57,515 we realize we are not only transforming ourselves, we're also practicing 313 00:27:59,073 --> 00:28:02,489 transforming our parents. 314 00:28:04,077 --> 00:28:06,341 We are their continuation, 315 00:28:06,552 --> 00:28:12,705 whatever we transform, we transform also for our parents and for our ancestors. 316 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:20,676 If at the root of our action there was fear, 317 00:28:22,676 --> 00:28:26,075 maybe our parents had fear. 318 00:28:26,505 --> 00:28:30,717 Maybe our father, our mother had a strong seed of fear. 319 00:28:34,030 --> 00:28:38,167 And maybe fear was the root of her action 320 00:28:39,262 --> 00:28:42,895 that our friend gave some feedback about. 321 00:28:44,050 --> 00:28:48,763 And fear always has to do with the unknown. 322 00:28:50,946 --> 00:28:54,128 We don't fear the past, we fear the future. 323 00:28:56,068 --> 00:29:00,206 We do not know what is going to happen in the future. 324 00:29:00,723 --> 00:29:03,293 It is unknown. 325 00:29:05,023 --> 00:29:07,862 And whatever is unknown, we fear. 326 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:11,555 Is it going to be 327 00:29:12,702 --> 00:29:16,082 of benefit to me or not? It is going to 328 00:29:17,573 --> 00:29:20,254 be good for me or not? 329 00:29:29,168 --> 00:29:33,646 I find the best way of taking care of fear as it comes up 330 00:29:34,044 --> 00:29:38,544 is to remain firmly established in the present moment. 331 00:29:38,875 --> 00:29:42,953 Because in the present moment, I can see what is happening. 332 00:29:43,293 --> 00:29:46,575 I do not know what will happen in the next moment, 333 00:29:46,801 --> 00:29:49,447 but when the next moment becomes the present moment, 334 00:29:49,638 --> 00:29:52,287 I can see what is happening. 335 00:29:53,744 --> 00:29:56,553 And the image I have is, 336 00:29:56,808 --> 00:29:59,363 I walk through a tunnel, 337 00:29:59,628 --> 00:30:02,055 or let's say, yes, let's keep it a tunnel, 338 00:30:02,192 --> 00:30:05,960 that is what I use to use. I walk through a tunnel, and it's dark. 339 00:30:06,660 --> 00:30:09,795 And I don't know what is in the tunnel. 340 00:30:09,993 --> 00:30:12,803 But I can touch 341 00:30:13,328 --> 00:30:19,037 the wall of the tunnel with my hands, and of course, with my feet. 342 00:30:19,401 --> 00:30:23,715 So I touch the wall so I get to know what is happening right now, 343 00:30:23,932 --> 00:30:27,244 what is the present moment like right now. 344 00:30:27,418 --> 00:30:31,105 And I'm aware of my feet on the ground, and I know what it is like. 345 00:30:31,484 --> 00:30:35,329 And then, very carefully, I put my feet forward, 346 00:30:36,853 --> 00:30:42,626 and then, my foot touches the ground in front of me. 347 00:30:42,904 --> 00:30:47,526 I'm already in the present moment then. And I know I can take that step. 348 00:30:48,807 --> 00:30:51,784 If I put my foot and there is nothing, 349 00:30:53,808 --> 00:30:56,505 I still don't know, and I won't take the step, 350 00:30:56,567 --> 00:30:59,255 because the fear is still there. 351 00:30:59,477 --> 00:31:03,961 So I take my foot back and I try a little bit to do right or left. 352 00:31:04,245 --> 00:31:06,805 You see what I mean. 353 00:31:06,997 --> 00:31:09,764 So I found out if I have this image, 354 00:31:09,948 --> 00:31:12,476 if I walk, if I always stay in the present moment 355 00:31:12,652 --> 00:31:15,059 and don't think: there is light at the end of the tunnel, 356 00:31:15,238 --> 00:31:17,436 I rush towards the end, 357 00:31:17,629 --> 00:31:21,296 I may fall in a hole, I may stumble over something 358 00:31:21,494 --> 00:31:24,229 because I'm not in the present moment. 359 00:31:24,394 --> 00:31:29,334 I'm trying to run to the future to know what is at the end of the tunnel. 360 00:31:30,125 --> 00:31:33,562 But I have the whole tunnel to go through. 361 00:31:33,805 --> 00:31:36,417 So if I stay in the present moment 362 00:31:36,549 --> 00:31:42,063 and the future comes to us, if you like. We don't have to run to the future. 363 00:31:42,386 --> 00:31:44,624 So wait to the next moment to come 364 00:31:44,821 --> 00:31:47,452 and then in that moment I can see what is happening 365 00:31:47,634 --> 00:31:51,464 and I can respond in an appropriate way. 366 00:31:52,119 --> 00:31:54,620 I cannot respond in an appropriate way to the future, 367 00:31:54,736 --> 00:31:57,307 I don't know exactly what is going to happen. 368 00:31:57,453 --> 00:32:01,164 I can make plans, yes, we have to make plans, 369 00:32:01,351 --> 00:32:06,985 but we may need to adjust the plans when that future becomes the present moment. 370 00:32:19,018 --> 00:32:22,581 So that was the seed of fear. 371 00:32:22,874 --> 00:32:30,134 Another way when there is fear in me, there is fear present right now, 372 00:32:31,991 --> 00:32:38,154 we have a practice. Breathing in, I am aware fear is present in me now. 373 00:32:38,369 --> 00:32:43,218 Breathing out, I take good care of the fear, I embrace it. 374 00:32:43,536 --> 00:32:46,383 Or I smile to my fear. 375 00:32:46,552 --> 00:32:51,528 Maybe it's my practice, I'm not yet very good at doing this, 376 00:32:52,444 --> 00:32:56,777 and I don't necessarily succeed. 377 00:32:57,578 --> 00:33:00,127 It doesn't calm my fear. 378 00:33:00,363 --> 00:33:05,346 So then, I bring my mind home to my body, because I know what is in my mind 379 00:33:05,567 --> 00:33:10,367 is also manifested in my body in some way or another, 380 00:33:10,617 --> 00:33:13,111 in some place in my body. 381 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,046 So I bring my mind home to my body 382 00:33:16,241 --> 00:33:19,211 and I do a body scan, as we did just now, 383 00:33:19,426 --> 00:33:23,997 and when I find a strong sensation, 384 00:33:24,208 --> 00:33:28,392 a physical sensation, I think: 385 00:33:29,544 --> 00:33:35,212 That is my fear. And I can breathe with this physical sensation. 386 00:33:35,698 --> 00:33:39,242 I bring my mind to that part of my body 387 00:33:39,446 --> 00:33:43,527 and I breathe while I just stay with it. 388 00:33:43,879 --> 00:33:48,856 At times, I feel I go back to a story 389 00:33:49,141 --> 00:33:52,304 but I'm no longer with the physical sensation. 390 00:33:52,580 --> 00:33:56,569 So then, I bring my mind back to the physical sensation 391 00:33:56,821 --> 00:34:01,834 every time I notice I have been carried away by the story. 392 00:34:03,386 --> 00:34:06,795 And slowly, slowly, by being with it, 393 00:34:07,007 --> 00:34:10,694 this sensation kind of becomes softer 394 00:34:10,901 --> 00:34:14,426 and it feels like it melts away. 395 00:34:15,311 --> 00:34:18,210 Then, miracle, oh miracle, 396 00:34:19,044 --> 00:34:24,040 the fear is no longer present in my mind as a mental formation. 397 00:34:26,212 --> 00:34:29,029 And then, a very important point. 398 00:34:29,580 --> 00:34:34,512 At that point we should not go back to the story and bring it back. 399 00:34:35,093 --> 00:34:38,246 Because that brings immediately the fear back. 400 00:34:39,362 --> 00:34:42,176 Leave the story. 401 00:34:42,778 --> 00:34:44,997 And first, 402 00:34:45,723 --> 00:34:49,881 we need to calm ourselves, to find stability, 403 00:34:50,507 --> 00:34:53,030 maybe to practice walking meditation 404 00:34:53,242 --> 00:34:56,793 to come back to our steps as they touch the earth. 405 00:34:58,509 --> 00:35:04,106 In, in, in, out, out out. 406 00:35:05,373 --> 00:35:11,068 So that we walk really very firmly established in the present moment. 407 00:35:12,745 --> 00:35:19,379 We may water some seeds of joy, of happiness 408 00:35:20,530 --> 00:35:24,441 as a counterbalance to the fear. 409 00:35:26,113 --> 00:35:30,731 Then, this may take a few days or maybe weeks, 410 00:35:31,012 --> 00:35:34,009 when we feel now we have enough 411 00:35:35,852 --> 00:35:42,411 stability, enough calm, enough peace, enough joy, happiness, 412 00:35:43,862 --> 00:35:47,142 to look at the fear. 413 00:35:48,508 --> 00:35:53,543 What is it that I am afraid of? 414 00:35:53,807 --> 00:35:56,325 The unknown, yes. 415 00:35:56,451 --> 00:35:59,312 But what is it about this unknown? 416 00:36:07,698 --> 00:36:10,251 And we may find 417 00:36:10,473 --> 00:36:14,541 that we are going to go on a long journey, to a country we don't know. 418 00:36:15,917 --> 00:36:20,609 We do not know what we will find there. 419 00:36:22,513 --> 00:36:29,146 And once we know what we are afraid of, it is much easier to be with that fear, 420 00:36:29,391 --> 00:36:32,753 and we will also be able to do something about it. 421 00:36:38,078 --> 00:36:41,610 If we travel to another country, we may find out 422 00:36:43,278 --> 00:36:50,125 by asking other people or by reading, what we could expect when we go there. 423 00:36:51,781 --> 00:36:53,816 And at the same time, 424 00:36:53,981 --> 00:36:57,816 we continue to strengthen our capacity to dwell in the present moment, 425 00:36:58,011 --> 00:37:02,852 to be part of the journey as we journey. 426 00:37:03,056 --> 00:37:07,559 To journey along with the journey at to not to run ahead of the journey 427 00:37:08,115 --> 00:37:12,279 so that we can respond to every situation we encounter 428 00:37:12,622 --> 00:37:15,299 from a place of calm and clarity. 429 00:37:26,539 --> 00:37:29,795 We were speaking also about anger. 430 00:37:30,020 --> 00:37:34,570 So to see what is the root of our anger. 431 00:37:35,579 --> 00:37:42,242 But first, the mindfulness training advises us not to do or say anything. 432 00:37:43,657 --> 00:37:46,236 This is quite a practice. 433 00:37:46,595 --> 00:37:49,800 Not to do or to say anything. 434 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:53,220 But we also get immediately the practice to do. 435 00:37:53,426 --> 00:37:56,936 We turn to our breathing and mindful walking 436 00:37:58,493 --> 00:38:01,721 and to acknowledge that we are angry. 437 00:38:02,269 --> 00:38:04,503 And then to look deeply. 438 00:38:06,843 --> 00:38:08,703 Often, 439 00:38:09,531 --> 00:38:14,525 the roots of our anger maybe found in ourselves, 440 00:38:14,744 --> 00:38:17,741 we may have wrong perceptions. 441 00:38:19,863 --> 00:38:22,682 Somebody said something, 442 00:38:24,609 --> 00:38:28,549 and we think they said it on purpose to hurt us. 443 00:38:28,881 --> 00:38:31,216 They were unskillful. 444 00:38:32,796 --> 00:38:38,137 They may not have been wanting to hurt us. They may just have been unskillful. 445 00:38:38,693 --> 00:38:43,322 They may not even have known that what they are going to say would hurt us. 446 00:38:43,660 --> 00:38:46,789 They said it to somebody else and nothing happened. 447 00:38:47,020 --> 00:38:51,171 So why would it hurt somebody else? Why would it hurt us? 448 00:39:03,319 --> 00:39:06,165 We may also not understand 449 00:39:06,467 --> 00:39:11,637 that somebody else may said or done something out of their own suffering. 450 00:39:12,999 --> 00:39:16,643 I think we know ourselves very well. When we suffer, 451 00:39:16,963 --> 00:39:21,852 it is not so obvious and not so easy to practice loving speech. 452 00:39:28,332 --> 00:39:30,593 It takes some practice 453 00:39:31,724 --> 00:39:34,901 to practice loving speech at all times. 454 00:39:36,561 --> 00:39:42,931 Especially when our suffering considers the person we are speaking to. 455 00:39:44,732 --> 00:39:47,126 Maybe they upset us. 456 00:39:48,384 --> 00:39:50,567 We suffer, 457 00:39:51,652 --> 00:39:54,118 and when we speak to them, 458 00:39:54,267 --> 00:39:56,934 there is no loving kindness. 459 00:39:57,415 --> 00:40:02,967 This practice of not do or say anything especially when we are angry, 460 00:40:03,183 --> 00:40:06,187 can be quite challenging, because, how do we do this? 461 00:40:06,515 --> 00:40:10,150 When we live in a community, and then we get angry with somebody, 462 00:40:10,507 --> 00:40:13,477 don't we say anything to the person at all? 463 00:40:14,825 --> 00:40:17,090 At all times? 464 00:40:18,050 --> 00:40:22,670 That is maybe not the best way of not saying anything. 465 00:40:23,396 --> 00:40:26,673 So how can we keep on interacting 466 00:40:26,906 --> 00:40:33,357 but not address the issue that made us angry? 467 00:40:34,980 --> 00:40:39,467 For me, that is what is meant by 'not to say anything'. 468 00:40:41,029 --> 00:40:44,125 Otherwise, if we all would, in our community, 469 00:40:44,359 --> 00:40:48,148 we are angry with somebody, I'm upset so I'm not speaking to that person, 470 00:40:48,389 --> 00:40:51,320 maybe we would be a very silent community. 471 00:40:51,490 --> 00:40:53,140 (Laughter) 472 00:40:53,244 --> 00:40:55,923 We all get angry at times. 473 00:40:56,098 --> 00:40:59,639 So it's a real practice to keep on communicating 474 00:41:00,371 --> 00:41:04,420 in a 'civil' way, if you like, mindfully, 475 00:41:05,013 --> 00:41:09,990 but not address the issue until we have calmed down. 476 00:41:10,204 --> 00:41:14,002 And maybe looked into ourselves what actually happened for us. 477 00:41:17,189 --> 00:41:19,664 Here in Plum Village, 478 00:41:19,901 --> 00:41:24,235 when we are in a meeting or just with a group, sitting together, 479 00:41:24,384 --> 00:41:27,708 if there is something that has upset us, 480 00:41:27,903 --> 00:41:33,594 something that somebody said that upsets us or watered our seeds of anger, 481 00:41:34,240 --> 00:41:41,402 we can join our palms, bow and say, 'Please, excuse me. I just would like 482 00:41:42,070 --> 00:41:47,103 to absent myself, be absent, I'd like to go and do some walking meditation 483 00:41:48,151 --> 00:41:50,761 or get a cup pf tea'. 484 00:41:50,890 --> 00:41:55,386 And we can go out and practice walking meditation and take care of the anger 485 00:41:55,818 --> 00:41:58,601 that has arisen in us. 486 00:41:59,747 --> 00:42:06,654 So these practices also are very important in any kind of relationship. 487 00:42:07,210 --> 00:42:10,041 And maybe it's just a matter in your relationships 488 00:42:10,199 --> 00:42:13,421 to bring this space within the relationships, 489 00:42:13,579 --> 00:42:18,820 that when we are angry, we can just withdraw for a moment. 490 00:42:19,179 --> 00:42:23,415 If we work in an office, if that still happens nowadays, 491 00:42:23,598 --> 00:42:27,290 most people work from home, I just read somewhere, 492 00:42:28,291 --> 00:42:31,601 we can just say, 'Excuse me, I just need to...' 493 00:42:31,754 --> 00:42:37,047 go to the bathroom or something. And we can breathe and take care of our anger. 494 00:42:37,536 --> 00:42:40,856 And come back again more calm. 495 00:42:41,569 --> 00:42:45,958 It's not ourselves, we will benefit from that but everybody else also. 496 00:42:52,534 --> 00:42:57,712 By contemplating impermanence, we will be able to look with the eyes of compassion 497 00:42:57,909 --> 00:43:00,509 at ourselves and others. 498 00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:03,884 And recognize the preciousness of our relationships. 499 00:43:06,749 --> 00:43:11,839 I think it is also good to look at the impermanence 500 00:43:14,192 --> 00:43:15,923 in general. 501 00:43:16,224 --> 00:43:18,873 When I look back 502 00:43:20,461 --> 00:43:22,906 at the previous generation, 503 00:43:24,180 --> 00:43:27,054 my previous generation, 504 00:43:27,447 --> 00:43:30,677 they have all already passed away. 505 00:43:31,155 --> 00:43:34,904 And it struck me that when, for instance, 506 00:43:35,112 --> 00:43:38,079 my grandfather, my grandmother passed away, 507 00:43:38,896 --> 00:43:41,329 yes I missed them, 508 00:43:41,532 --> 00:43:45,512 but I also noticed I had a regret. 509 00:43:46,408 --> 00:43:51,811 Maybe something I didn't do that I know would have made them happy, 510 00:43:52,055 --> 00:43:54,824 or maybe something I did 511 00:43:55,168 --> 00:43:59,147 that I realized did not make them so happy. 512 00:43:59,562 --> 00:44:03,913 And this actually has happened with every single person 513 00:44:04,330 --> 00:44:10,575 of the previous generation in my life that passed away. There was always something. 514 00:44:11,373 --> 00:44:14,818 And it took me a while to find peace with that. 515 00:44:15,112 --> 00:44:17,530 And I ask myself a question: 516 00:44:17,712 --> 00:44:22,585 Okay, what would they like me to be? 517 00:44:24,559 --> 00:44:26,798 And every time I came to the answer, 518 00:44:27,851 --> 00:44:29,505 'Happy.' 519 00:44:30,182 --> 00:44:32,686 Happy. 520 00:44:33,342 --> 00:44:36,570 And then I was able to accept 521 00:44:37,114 --> 00:44:39,476 what I had done or not done. 522 00:44:39,661 --> 00:44:41,453 And I thought, 'Okay, 523 00:44:41,738 --> 00:44:44,955 I have learned something from this.' 524 00:44:45,096 --> 00:44:48,362 And maybe when I look I see I've learned something from that. 525 00:44:49,166 --> 00:44:51,288 So it's not 526 00:44:54,392 --> 00:44:57,191 come to waste at the experience. 527 00:44:57,270 --> 00:45:01,045 And in the practice we speak of the goodness of suffering. 528 00:45:01,264 --> 00:45:05,201 Suffering becomes good when we learn something from it. 529 00:45:05,404 --> 00:45:08,070 When it enriches our life. 530 00:45:08,855 --> 00:45:14,479 When it helps us to go in the direction of healing and transformation. 531 00:45:23,576 --> 00:45:27,644 So looking and contemplating impermanence 532 00:45:27,974 --> 00:45:32,713 helps us to look with the eyes of compassion at ourselves 533 00:45:32,897 --> 00:45:36,256 and also at others. 534 00:45:41,374 --> 00:45:43,816 We like to nourish 535 00:45:45,144 --> 00:45:48,797 our capacity of understanding, love, joy and inclusiveness, 536 00:45:50,371 --> 00:45:52,482 to transform our anger, 537 00:45:54,771 --> 00:45:59,494 and help others to do the same with the practice of Right Diligence. 538 00:46:09,615 --> 00:46:11,725 Let us... 539 00:46:12,311 --> 00:46:17,192 So Right Diligence means taking care of the seeds we have 540 00:46:17,464 --> 00:46:21,951 and taking care of the mental formations. 541 00:46:22,274 --> 00:46:27,103 A mental formation is a seed that manifests in our mind 542 00:46:27,972 --> 00:46:30,780 as a state of mind, if you like. 543 00:46:37,310 --> 00:46:41,129 We may find that there are certain mental formations 544 00:46:41,397 --> 00:46:45,195 that are present more often that others. 545 00:46:45,563 --> 00:46:49,597 And we call them then 'habit energies'. 546 00:46:52,301 --> 00:46:57,448 Habit energy of thinking, of speaking, and of acting. 547 00:47:13,133 --> 00:47:16,607 Let us, with a sound of the bell, take a moment 548 00:47:16,790 --> 00:47:22,381 to reflect, when we go back to ourselves, at some of our habit energies. 549 00:47:22,587 --> 00:47:25,165 Maybe we have the habit energy of thinking, 550 00:47:25,354 --> 00:47:29,151 can also be of speaking or physical action. 551 00:47:30,006 --> 00:47:32,955 It can be a wholesome habit energy, 552 00:47:33,078 --> 00:47:35,033 and that's a habit energy 553 00:47:35,242 --> 00:47:38,554 that leads us in the direction of transformation and healing. 554 00:47:38,743 --> 00:47:41,963 Or it can be what we would call an impulse, some habit energy, 555 00:47:42,108 --> 00:47:44,898 that habit energy that leads us in the direction of 556 00:47:46,714 --> 00:47:49,865 suffering, basically. 557 00:47:50,020 --> 00:47:52,644 So just let us go back to ourselves, 558 00:47:52,842 --> 00:47:57,213 and just see which habit energy comes up spontaneously, 559 00:47:57,564 --> 00:48:00,095 what kind of habit energy. 560 00:48:00,280 --> 00:48:01,771 (Bell) 561 00:48:03,275 --> 00:48:09,701 (Bell) 562 00:48:26,158 --> 00:48:30,552 We may find that the habit energy that came up in us 563 00:48:30,976 --> 00:48:36,593 is one of our habitual ways of responding to life's situations. 564 00:48:39,468 --> 00:48:41,859 I would like now 565 00:48:44,539 --> 00:48:48,098 to draw a diagram 566 00:48:48,559 --> 00:48:53,881 of the Four Right Diligences. 567 00:48:56,814 --> 00:48:59,742 That will help us to understand 568 00:49:00,173 --> 00:49:02,790 how to practice or how to put these 569 00:49:03,987 --> 00:49:08,406 four practices or four diligences into practice. 570 00:50:03,546 --> 00:50:07,098 This makes it more interesting as when I just list them. 571 00:50:07,345 --> 00:50:11,940 Lists, we have already, we have many. 572 00:50:17,788 --> 00:50:20,876 So this is the seed. 573 00:50:21,492 --> 00:50:23,644 [Seed] 574 00:50:23,885 --> 00:50:26,436 And this is also seed. 575 00:50:26,809 --> 00:50:28,961 [Seed] 576 00:50:29,251 --> 00:50:33,145 And this is a mental formation, 'mf' for short. 577 00:50:34,242 --> 00:50:38,216 And this also is mental formations. 578 00:50:38,424 --> 00:50:40,260 [mf] 579 00:50:45,734 --> 00:50:48,551 So a seed is a potential 580 00:50:49,468 --> 00:50:55,693 and a mental formation is when that potential manifests as a state of mind. 581 00:50:55,894 --> 00:50:58,509 Then we call it a mental formation. 582 00:51:02,999 --> 00:51:07,599 Speaking of anger, we all have a seed of anger. 583 00:51:09,943 --> 00:51:12,373 And we would like to avoid 584 00:51:12,580 --> 00:51:17,396 that seed of anger manifested itself as a mental formation. 585 00:51:18,348 --> 00:51:24,151 Because that then means that the energy of anger is really present in us. 586 00:51:24,553 --> 00:51:26,747 It's not pleasant for us 587 00:51:27,125 --> 00:51:30,633 and very often not pleasant for others as well. 588 00:51:32,949 --> 00:51:35,231 So how... 589 00:51:36,419 --> 00:51:39,129 What to do, how to practice 590 00:51:39,317 --> 00:51:45,681 in order not to turn that seed of anger into a mental formation called anger. 591 00:51:48,635 --> 00:51:51,662 Then, the Buddha says, 'Easy. 592 00:51:54,102 --> 00:51:56,658 Do you have a garden at home?' 593 00:51:56,826 --> 00:51:58,695 That's not what the Buddha said but 594 00:51:58,899 --> 00:52:02,206 the Buddha could have said that. Do you have a garden at home? 595 00:52:02,366 --> 00:52:05,549 Have you ever sown seeds in your garden? 596 00:52:05,735 --> 00:52:12,566 Wanting to have a lot of cosmos flower in your garden? 597 00:52:12,773 --> 00:52:14,863 Yes. 598 00:52:15,011 --> 00:52:18,918 So if you have those seeds of cosmos flowers in the garden, 599 00:52:19,218 --> 00:52:23,640 what do you need to do in order to make it flourish? 600 00:52:25,161 --> 00:52:27,463 You have to water it. 601 00:52:27,617 --> 00:52:30,267 If you just put a seed in there and never water your garden, 602 00:52:30,585 --> 00:52:34,297 unless it rains, very unlikely you get the cosmos flower. 603 00:52:36,694 --> 00:52:40,024 In the garden, there is also maybe a seed of... 604 00:52:43,420 --> 00:52:46,388 a weed, many weeds. 605 00:52:47,182 --> 00:52:50,599 And you don't want all those weeds to come up. 606 00:52:51,803 --> 00:52:54,772 Well, then don't water them. 607 00:52:55,877 --> 00:52:58,183 So if we have a, 608 00:52:59,909 --> 00:53:06,528 here, let's say, we have a seed of anger in our garden, the garden of our mind, 609 00:53:07,651 --> 00:53:12,912 we like to sort of keep it for most time in the seed form. 610 00:53:13,112 --> 00:53:15,750 Okay, we don't mind, don't mind the seeds at all! 611 00:53:17,413 --> 00:53:20,808 But we have to mind them, you see what I mean. 612 00:53:21,239 --> 00:53:25,101 We have to take care of them, but we don't mind they being there. 613 00:53:25,491 --> 00:53:30,959 So, if we don't want our seed of anger 614 00:53:31,743 --> 00:53:37,409 to flower as a flower in the garden of our mind, 615 00:53:37,794 --> 00:53:39,972 typical a mental formation, 616 00:53:40,115 --> 00:53:42,293 we should not water it. 617 00:53:42,475 --> 00:53:45,752 And just in one word, we say avoid. 618 00:53:46,487 --> 00:53:50,327 [Avoid] 619 00:53:50,614 --> 00:53:52,555 Avoid. 620 00:53:52,754 --> 00:53:56,194 Avoid to water the seed of anger. 621 00:53:56,447 --> 00:53:58,354 Do not water. 622 00:54:07,133 --> 00:54:10,687 [Do not water] 623 00:54:13,611 --> 00:54:16,974 Do not water the seed of anger. 624 00:54:17,987 --> 00:54:23,787 But if accidentally we water it anyway, or we allow it to be watered by others, 625 00:54:24,259 --> 00:54:28,584 and the mental formation of anger comes up, 626 00:54:29,030 --> 00:54:33,700 the flower of anger blooms in our mind, 627 00:54:34,013 --> 00:54:38,588 then, the most important thing is to 628 00:54:41,186 --> 00:54:44,073 stop watering that seed. 629 00:54:44,723 --> 00:54:50,938 If we don't water it, it will wilt, it will dry up, shrink. 630 00:54:52,629 --> 00:54:55,170 It will go back to the seed form. 631 00:54:55,404 --> 00:54:57,521 Stop watering. 632 00:54:58,705 --> 00:55:01,486 Another word is overcome. 633 00:55:01,876 --> 00:55:04,906 [Overcome] 634 00:55:06,441 --> 00:55:10,133 Stop watering, in Plum Village parlance. 635 00:55:10,508 --> 00:55:13,810 [Stop watering] 636 00:55:17,867 --> 00:55:20,395 Stop watering the seed. 637 00:55:21,249 --> 00:55:24,091 Nothing can survive without food. 638 00:55:27,650 --> 00:55:33,685 And our anger will not survive if we stop feeding our anger. 639 00:55:33,866 --> 00:55:36,716 And we can stop feeding our anger 640 00:55:36,961 --> 00:55:43,763 by not always going back to what brought up our anger. 641 00:55:44,831 --> 00:55:47,738 Not to keep going back to that. 642 00:55:50,823 --> 00:55:52,900 We need to 643 00:55:54,963 --> 00:55:58,501 stop, or break the contact 644 00:56:01,637 --> 00:56:03,991 with the source 645 00:56:04,427 --> 00:56:06,347 that triggered our anger. 646 00:56:06,537 --> 00:56:10,549 Don't stay in contact with that incident. Don't keep thinking, 647 00:56:10,862 --> 00:56:14,542 'Why did this person say that? Why did she, or he say that?' 648 00:56:15,116 --> 00:56:18,963 'What was she trying to do? So mean!' 649 00:56:19,456 --> 00:56:22,423 We keep on ruminating, ruminating, ruminating 650 00:56:22,839 --> 00:56:27,983 this thought over and over again, it means we keep on watering the seed of anger. 651 00:56:29,350 --> 00:56:35,042 I don't know if you've ever tried this, kind of this rumination, ruminification. 652 00:56:36,821 --> 00:56:39,666 When we turn something over, and over in our mind, 653 00:56:43,359 --> 00:56:46,248 especially when it's - since we are talking about anger, 654 00:56:46,432 --> 00:56:52,234 considering anger, maybe after 5, or 10, or 15, or 20 or half an hour of doing that 655 00:56:52,646 --> 00:56:58,467 our anger has grown enormously. We've been watering it the whole time. 656 00:56:59,713 --> 00:57:03,860 It is like shooting the second arrow. We were shot by an arrow, 657 00:57:04,086 --> 00:57:07,015 by somebody who said that, that hurt, 658 00:57:08,578 --> 00:57:11,696 and then, we keep repeating, and repeating, 659 00:57:11,883 --> 00:57:15,842 and reliving, and reliving that incident. It's like shooting another arrow, 660 00:57:16,119 --> 00:57:18,926 and maybe another, and another, and another. 661 00:57:19,090 --> 00:57:22,700 And the second arrow is not twice as painful, 662 00:57:22,953 --> 00:57:26,084 it's a hundred times more painful. 663 00:57:27,624 --> 00:57:32,052 So, stop watering the seed, break the contact. 664 00:57:32,759 --> 00:57:35,070 Turn away. 665 00:57:40,108 --> 00:57:53,837 [Break the contact] 666 00:57:54,946 --> 00:57:58,483 Turn away from the source that brought up your anger. 667 00:58:04,616 --> 00:58:07,176 As I said before, 668 00:58:09,539 --> 00:58:13,569 one way of doing that is to bring our mind home to our body, 669 00:58:14,383 --> 00:58:16,812 becoming aware of our body, 670 00:58:17,123 --> 00:58:20,683 aware of where anger manifests in our body and breathing with it. 671 00:58:21,931 --> 00:58:24,595 And then, when it's calmed down, 672 00:58:27,204 --> 00:58:29,601 we will feel much better. 673 00:58:29,833 --> 00:58:34,942 We can also practice something that we call 'change the CD'. 674 00:58:36,323 --> 00:58:38,831 If we catch it in time. 675 00:58:38,999 --> 00:58:44,897 I have found, if I turn something over in my mind for 5, 10 minutes, 676 00:58:45,948 --> 00:58:48,578 it's better for me to go back to my body, 677 00:58:48,775 --> 00:58:51,652 and take care of the mental formation in that way, 678 00:58:51,834 --> 00:58:54,548 rather than trying to change 679 00:58:55,549 --> 00:58:57,537 the CD. 680 00:58:57,691 --> 00:59:01,335 Because I may go to another thought that is uplifting, 681 00:59:02,429 --> 00:59:04,431 joyful, 682 00:59:04,588 --> 00:59:09,540 but only for few minutes, and then I'm pulled back again by the emotion. 683 00:59:10,943 --> 00:59:13,454 So the practice is to become aware, 684 00:59:13,639 --> 00:59:18,026 what is the best way for us, each individual, each one of us, 685 00:59:18,247 --> 00:59:21,445 the best way to change the CD? 686 00:59:21,611 --> 00:59:25,177 Is it to bring up another thought? 687 00:59:25,426 --> 00:59:28,752 Think of something pleasant? Something beautiful? 688 00:59:29,003 --> 00:59:32,270 Or is it to come back to the body? 689 00:59:32,719 --> 00:59:35,602 Or go for a walk, which is also going back to the body. 690 00:59:35,759 --> 00:59:41,320 Nourishing other things, getting different input through different sense organs. 691 00:59:50,236 --> 00:59:52,705 Change CD. 692 00:59:53,143 --> 00:59:56,154 [Change CD] 693 00:59:59,400 --> 01:00:02,822 Here, a kalyanamitra comes in handy. 694 01:00:04,100 --> 01:00:07,677 And actually, the whole sangha is a kalyanamitra. 695 01:00:08,400 --> 01:00:11,571 When we are upset about something and when we're angry, 696 01:00:11,750 --> 01:00:14,416 there is always something happening in the sangha, 697 01:00:14,580 --> 01:00:17,160 there is always people who are around, they are doing things, 698 01:00:17,330 --> 01:00:20,576 we can go and join them. 699 01:00:20,738 --> 01:00:24,318 Maybe working in the garden. And just by that joyful energy, 700 01:00:24,465 --> 01:00:27,463 it helps us to change the CD. 701 01:00:28,627 --> 01:00:32,789 Or a good friend who will say, 'Come on! Let's go for a walk, 702 01:00:32,953 --> 01:00:35,539 let's have a cup of tea.' 703 01:00:36,653 --> 01:00:38,991 Change the CD. 704 01:00:41,715 --> 01:00:44,534 If we have a- 705 01:00:47,271 --> 01:00:49,182 I think I need that one. 706 01:00:53,675 --> 01:00:55,732 No, I see. 707 01:00:56,945 --> 01:01:00,556 I'm sorry. I knew something was not quite right. 708 01:01:02,554 --> 01:01:05,295 So. That's better. 709 01:01:06,101 --> 01:01:09,888 If we have a positive seed, 710 01:01:15,447 --> 01:01:20,251 that we would like to strengthen, we encourage, 711 01:01:22,122 --> 01:01:24,838 [Encourage] 712 01:01:25,181 --> 01:01:29,902 that seed to manifest itself by watering that seed. 713 01:01:32,725 --> 01:01:36,779 [To water] 714 01:01:43,949 --> 01:01:48,074 And the practice of mindfulness helps us here also to do this. 715 01:01:50,034 --> 01:01:54,817 We water our seeds of joy by being present in the present moment 716 01:01:55,166 --> 01:02:00,443 and recognize all the sources of joy that are present in our life. 717 01:02:00,786 --> 01:02:04,929 You may like to sit down, maybe with some others, 718 01:02:05,218 --> 01:02:08,619 and make a list of joys. 719 01:02:08,936 --> 01:02:12,284 What are your sources of joy in your life. 720 01:02:12,583 --> 01:02:15,496 And it can be something very small. 721 01:02:16,728 --> 01:02:18,799 A smile, 722 01:02:18,970 --> 01:02:21,659 of another member of the community. 723 01:02:21,800 --> 01:02:25,936 I don't know if anyone of you has seen the full moon these days. 724 01:02:27,471 --> 01:02:31,176 A wonderful source of joy. Beautiful! 725 01:02:31,784 --> 01:02:38,004 But the full moon can only be a source of joy if we are truly present. 726 01:02:39,457 --> 01:02:42,278 The full moon maybe there, 727 01:02:42,473 --> 01:02:47,499 but we need to be there in order to enjoy the full moon. 728 01:02:48,595 --> 01:02:51,569 I know this from experience. 729 01:02:53,492 --> 01:02:58,387 The full moon rises at the- to the East of our hamlet. 730 01:02:59,156 --> 01:03:03,583 And there is a path in this hamlet where you walk. 731 01:03:05,143 --> 01:03:06,900 Well, the sisters walk. 732 01:03:07,450 --> 01:03:10,962 And we can see the rising moon. 733 01:03:11,289 --> 01:03:14,981 And I would often stand there, when it is full moon, 734 01:03:15,122 --> 01:03:17,728 and watch the full moon arising. 735 01:03:17,878 --> 01:03:24,159 Especially because it's next to the bell tower and it looks so, so beautiful. 736 01:03:26,394 --> 01:03:28,698 One evening, 737 01:03:29,015 --> 01:03:34,877 I was not present, being carried away by some mental formation, 738 01:03:35,664 --> 01:03:39,989 and I was walking towards our sisters' building, 739 01:03:40,573 --> 01:03:43,979 walked right past the bell tower, 740 01:03:44,663 --> 01:03:48,907 and there was a sister standing there, and she said, 'Sister, the full moon! 741 01:03:49,273 --> 01:03:52,104 The full moon! Look!.' And this is what happened. 742 01:03:52,228 --> 01:03:54,550 So, let's say the full moon is there. 743 01:03:54,715 --> 01:03:56,072 Oh, yes! 744 01:03:56,232 --> 01:03:57,701 (Laughter) 745 01:03:57,859 --> 01:03:59,773 And we continue to walk! 746 01:03:59,896 --> 01:04:03,563 And she said, 'Sister, sister, the full moon! Look at the full moon!' 747 01:04:03,855 --> 01:04:07,545 Because she had seen me standing there many, many times. 748 01:04:07,738 --> 01:04:10,146 I've told her, 'Come, look at the full moon.' 749 01:04:10,319 --> 01:04:12,630 And now, I was walking straight on. 750 01:04:12,792 --> 01:04:16,795 And she had to call me a number of times, that it dawned on me, 751 01:04:16,948 --> 01:04:19,532 the full moon! 752 01:04:19,967 --> 01:04:24,256 So, thank you. So I went back and enjoyed the full moon. 753 01:04:24,371 --> 01:04:27,545 And she really helped me with that to change the CD. 754 01:04:32,056 --> 01:04:37,198 Here. Because I was not in such a joyful mood, 755 01:04:37,330 --> 01:04:40,065 and she may have understood. 756 01:04:40,184 --> 01:04:42,132 She called me back 757 01:04:42,290 --> 01:04:47,813 and encouraged me to water a positive seed, 758 01:04:48,150 --> 01:04:51,578 the seed of joy and happiness. 759 01:04:51,764 --> 01:04:55,979 And she did. Is that truly a spiritual friend. 760 01:04:56,508 --> 01:05:02,721 So, find ways to water the positive seeds. 761 01:05:04,406 --> 01:05:09,634 So that they flower and the become a mental formation. 762 01:05:09,981 --> 01:05:12,929 And once they are a mental formation, 763 01:05:14,150 --> 01:05:16,330 then, what do we do? 764 01:05:17,595 --> 01:05:19,652 So we are having - 765 01:05:20,133 --> 01:05:22,653 We are happy, we are joyful, 766 01:05:22,901 --> 01:05:25,867 the mental formation of joy has arisen. 767 01:05:27,633 --> 01:05:32,290 Everything is impermanent, you know? Everything comes, and it goes. 768 01:05:32,785 --> 01:05:37,834 So joy can come and can be gone in the next second. 769 01:05:38,069 --> 01:05:39,984 Unless, 770 01:05:41,495 --> 01:05:44,358 you practice to keep it there. 771 01:05:45,487 --> 01:05:50,614 Our joy comes and goes, our anger comes and goes. 772 01:05:52,298 --> 01:05:56,754 And if we want our joy to stay, we have to nourish it. 773 01:05:58,965 --> 01:06:03,221 It is nourishing our joy that keeps it longer. 774 01:06:03,470 --> 01:06:06,852 To become aware of the source that has brought about joy 775 01:06:07,048 --> 01:06:10,457 and stay in contact with that source. 776 01:06:10,626 --> 01:06:12,827 As long as we stay in contact with the source, 777 01:06:12,962 --> 01:06:17,188 our joy will increase. As long as I look at the full moon, 778 01:06:17,805 --> 01:06:21,290 that is watering seeds of joy. 779 01:06:21,655 --> 01:06:24,182 Instant after instant. 780 01:06:27,379 --> 01:06:29,369 So, 781 01:06:29,556 --> 01:06:31,968 we maintain our joy, 782 01:06:32,221 --> 01:06:34,394 [Maintain] 783 01:06:35,482 --> 01:06:39,217 and concretely, we continue to water 784 01:06:40,761 --> 01:06:42,951 by staying in contact. 785 01:06:43,213 --> 01:06:45,885 [Continue to water] 786 01:06:46,404 --> 01:06:50,331 Continue to water our mental formation 787 01:06:51,016 --> 01:06:54,571 by staying in contact with the source. 788 01:07:13,904 --> 01:07:19,728 This is basically the practice of Right Diligence. 789 01:07:22,795 --> 01:07:26,838 Unwholesome seeds, avoid watering. 790 01:07:28,293 --> 01:07:32,897 If accidentally they got watered anyway, stop watering them. 791 01:07:34,822 --> 01:07:37,932 The wholesome seeds, water them. 792 01:07:38,557 --> 01:07:41,818 They manifest, continue to water them. 793 01:07:46,452 --> 01:07:48,500 Simple? 794 01:07:49,371 --> 01:07:51,720 But it takes some practice. 795 01:07:52,466 --> 01:07:57,810 This practice is a practice of transformation. 796 01:08:05,666 --> 01:08:08,000 The unwholesome seeds 797 01:08:08,159 --> 01:08:13,314 will not have a chance to grow stronger. They may even weaken. 798 01:08:13,788 --> 01:08:17,869 And the wholesome seeds get the chance to grow stronger. 799 01:08:19,286 --> 01:08:23,990 So the unwholesome seeds will manifest less often. 800 01:08:24,234 --> 01:08:28,752 And the wholesome seeds will manifest more often. 801 01:08:42,018 --> 01:08:46,946 This is a very important practice in the light of taking care of our anger. 802 01:08:47,956 --> 01:08:50,952 At the same time, it is a very important practice 803 01:08:51,118 --> 01:08:53,639 in the light of just about everything. 804 01:08:56,898 --> 01:09:01,195 Nowadays, we hear a lot about depression. 805 01:09:01,619 --> 01:09:04,748 People say, 'I am in a depression, I'm depressed.' 806 01:09:05,781 --> 01:09:07,884 Take this 807 01:09:08,123 --> 01:09:12,036 kind of overview, and ask yourself, 808 01:09:12,955 --> 01:09:17,469 'What kind of seed have I been watering in myself lately? 809 01:09:17,720 --> 01:09:23,617 Or what kind of seed have I allowed to be watered in me by others?' 810 01:09:24,565 --> 01:09:29,524 And that is not just other people, maybe it is the news, 811 01:09:29,675 --> 01:09:32,796 how often do we listen to the news? 812 01:09:34,653 --> 01:09:39,214 It's Okay to listen to the news, or watch it, or read it, 813 01:09:39,384 --> 01:09:41,540 whatever we do nowadays, 814 01:09:41,687 --> 01:09:46,752 but what seed, what kind of seed does it water in us? 815 01:09:47,025 --> 01:09:50,767 How much can we take before 816 01:09:52,193 --> 01:09:56,429 we go towards a depression? For instance. 817 01:09:57,852 --> 01:10:03,198 And the way out is to stop watering those seeds 818 01:10:04,120 --> 01:10:11,604 and to start watering wholesome seeds and then to continue to water wholesome seeds. 819 01:10:14,037 --> 01:10:18,483 With the help of a good friend, with the help of a kalyanamitra, 820 01:10:19,030 --> 01:10:22,219 maybe with the help of the sangha, we can do it. 821 01:10:26,281 --> 01:10:29,578 Maybe we can have a sound of the bell, 822 01:10:30,293 --> 01:10:36,489 before I continue to come to a close of this talk today. 823 01:10:43,333 --> 01:10:48,934 (Bell) 824 01:11:02,384 --> 01:11:07,270 Right Diligence is nourished by joy and interest. 825 01:11:07,543 --> 01:11:12,538 By joy and interest in the practice. And the 7th mindfulness training 826 01:11:14,951 --> 01:11:19,142 is 'Dwelling happily in the present moment.' 827 01:11:19,372 --> 01:11:24,803 It gives us very clear practices to do to dwell happily in the present moment 828 01:11:25,084 --> 01:11:28,338 and to water our seed of joy and happiness. 829 01:11:33,903 --> 01:11:40,313 The 7th mindfulness training helps us to be aware that life is only available now. 830 01:11:41,827 --> 01:11:45,384 Yesterday is already passed, tomorrow not yet there. 831 01:11:45,589 --> 01:11:48,259 Now is the only moment we have. 832 01:11:51,518 --> 01:11:54,195 We like to 833 01:11:56,545 --> 01:12:01,055 really train ourselves to live deeply each moment of our live. 834 01:12:01,302 --> 01:12:07,436 And not to loose ourselves in dispersion or be carried away by regrets 835 01:12:07,704 --> 01:12:09,665 about the past. 836 01:12:09,744 --> 01:12:13,066 Or the worries about the future, 837 01:12:13,577 --> 01:12:17,403 or craving, anger, or jealousy in the present moment. 838 01:12:19,984 --> 01:12:23,316 And we take mindful breathing as our anchor. 839 01:12:23,628 --> 01:12:26,498 We always come back to mindful breathing 840 01:12:26,624 --> 01:12:29,637 to know what is happening in the here and the now, 841 01:12:30,290 --> 01:12:36,494 so that we can be in touch with the wonderful, refreshing, 842 01:12:36,669 --> 01:12:41,941 and also the healing elements that are in the here and the now. 843 01:12:42,136 --> 01:12:45,514 We all know that nature is very healing. 844 01:12:45,755 --> 01:12:51,205 How often have we walked through nature, our mind was somewhere else, 845 01:12:51,531 --> 01:12:55,706 and we miss the opportunity to be healed by nature. 846 01:12:56,411 --> 01:12:59,035 Mother Earth is so beautiful. 847 01:12:59,236 --> 01:13:01,520 It's so, so beautiful. 848 01:13:01,994 --> 01:13:09,403 I have a photograph of Mother Earth, our jewel of the cosmos, as we call her, 849 01:13:10,620 --> 01:13:14,348 and just looking at that picture makes me so happy. 850 01:13:14,941 --> 01:13:18,851 I know we are doing terrible things to Mother Earth. 851 01:13:20,338 --> 01:13:22,355 And still, 852 01:13:27,053 --> 01:13:30,467 she is so loving, and so embracing. 853 01:13:31,835 --> 01:13:34,329 And looking at this picture, 854 01:13:34,744 --> 01:13:40,419 makes me reflect, how can we live our life so as to take care of Mother Earth? 855 01:13:40,891 --> 01:13:45,371 Because she is the one that nourishes us, that holds us, 856 01:13:46,114 --> 01:13:51,188 that also embraces us. And we need to take care of our Mother. 857 01:14:07,430 --> 01:14:13,965 Many of us, many of our sangha members are engaged in protecting Mother Earth. 858 01:14:14,711 --> 01:14:17,446 And here in Plum Village also 859 01:14:19,436 --> 01:14:25,349 we were vegetarians, now, as a community in the whole we are vegan. 860 01:14:26,798 --> 01:14:31,832 Also because we want to contribute to protecting Mother Earth, 861 01:14:32,266 --> 01:14:35,378 protecting the species on Earth. 862 01:14:37,025 --> 01:14:39,363 We do our best 863 01:14:42,267 --> 01:14:44,700 to use our vehicles 864 01:14:46,432 --> 01:14:48,656 mindfully. 865 01:14:49,264 --> 01:14:53,345 That is why also in bigger retreats, we order buses, 866 01:14:53,594 --> 01:14:55,982 so everybody can come by bus, 867 01:14:56,198 --> 01:14:58,881 and not the French who have come in individual cars 868 01:14:59,084 --> 01:15:01,481 come by their cars, but come by bus. 869 01:15:04,928 --> 01:15:12,245 We have Happy Farms in all three hamlets, and we are very happy to have Happy Farms. 870 01:15:12,910 --> 01:15:16,094 Thank you to the happy farmers. 871 01:15:17,151 --> 01:15:20,974 We do things to protect Mother Earth. 872 01:15:21,264 --> 01:15:25,449 Little by little, we're going more and more, as a big community, 873 01:15:25,667 --> 01:15:29,573 in the direction of protecting Mother Earth. 874 01:15:42,153 --> 01:15:46,414 So we will come back to the present moment, 875 01:15:47,065 --> 01:15:51,078 and water the seeds of joy, peace, love and understanding in ourselves, 876 01:15:53,783 --> 01:15:58,027 so that our consciousness can transform and heal. 877 01:16:01,914 --> 01:16:04,669 And also we like to become aware that 878 01:16:04,811 --> 01:16:10,554 real happiness basically depends on our mental attitude. 879 01:16:12,166 --> 01:16:15,921 And not necessarily on external conditions. 880 01:16:19,034 --> 01:16:23,783 When we practice that, we see that we can live happily in the present moment, 881 01:16:24,384 --> 01:16:28,587 because we see we have already enough conditions to be happy. 882 01:16:35,798 --> 01:16:45,634 The mental attitude and not external conditions, it can be challenging. 883 01:16:54,034 --> 01:16:56,231 For instance, 884 01:16:59,739 --> 01:17:02,241 we may know people 885 01:17:06,265 --> 01:17:08,085 whom we 886 01:17:10,801 --> 01:17:14,132 are angry with and find that very difficult 887 01:17:14,772 --> 01:17:17,815 to overcome that anger. 888 01:17:18,498 --> 01:17:22,823 We have a practice we just call 'The five ways of putting an end to anger', 889 01:17:25,641 --> 01:17:28,279 in which there's one sentence that keeps coming back: 890 01:17:28,638 --> 01:17:33,608 'If you are angry and you are a wise, you will know how to meditate 891 01:17:33,837 --> 01:17:36,694 to put an end to your anger.' 892 01:17:36,881 --> 01:17:40,827 And it gives us five ways to look at the person we are angry with. 893 01:17:42,032 --> 01:17:47,127 'If there is someone whose bodily actions are not kind, but the words are kind, 894 01:17:47,673 --> 01:17:50,848 then do not pay attention to the bodily actions, 895 01:17:51,121 --> 01:17:55,288 only pay attention to their words, and that can help you 896 01:17:55,755 --> 01:17:58,702 to put an end to your anger. 897 01:17:59,135 --> 01:18:03,039 And when their words are not kind, but their bodily actions are kind, 898 01:18:03,318 --> 01:18:05,162 if you are wise, 899 01:18:05,341 --> 01:18:10,436 you do not pay attention to the words, but only pay attention to the bodily action.' 900 01:18:12,393 --> 01:18:16,119 It is recognizing that there is still a seed of kindness 901 01:18:16,320 --> 01:18:20,363 that is able to manifest itself in this person. 902 01:18:20,612 --> 01:18:23,352 And by recognizing that their words are kind, 903 01:18:23,538 --> 01:18:26,287 or in other case their bodily actions are kind, 904 01:18:26,731 --> 01:18:30,597 you may be able also to interact with them in a way 905 01:18:30,984 --> 01:18:35,722 that waters that seed of kindness in them. 906 01:18:36,694 --> 01:18:40,934 So instead of focusing on the unkind, to focus on the kind. 907 01:18:44,354 --> 01:18:48,752 Until we will help them bring about the change within themselves. 908 01:18:49,256 --> 01:18:55,249 So, if the bodily actions are not kind and neither the words are kind, 909 01:18:55,736 --> 01:18:58,581 then we need to look a little bit deeper. 910 01:18:58,770 --> 01:19:02,219 And we may notice that there is still somewhere in their heart, 911 01:19:02,395 --> 01:19:04,687 a little kindness. 912 01:19:05,016 --> 01:19:09,086 And then, we are advised to pay attention to that little kindness, 913 01:19:09,366 --> 01:19:12,104 and not to their words or actions. 914 01:19:12,245 --> 01:19:15,603 And maybe also nourish that little kindness in them. 915 01:19:26,873 --> 01:19:29,685 Then, you may all be waiting for the next one, 916 01:19:30,012 --> 01:19:33,437 if the bodily actions are not kind, the words are not kind 917 01:19:33,637 --> 01:19:40,706 and you cannot find any, any, any ounce of kindness in their hearts, 918 01:19:40,860 --> 01:19:43,240 then what? Are we then allowed to get angry? 919 01:19:43,772 --> 01:19:45,507 No, the Buddha says. 920 01:19:46,025 --> 01:19:48,822 If you meet somebody whose words are not kind, 921 01:19:49,017 --> 01:19:51,536 whose actions are not kind and who 922 01:19:51,711 --> 01:19:54,804 you cannot find any kindness in their heart, 923 01:19:54,995 --> 01:19:59,316 then, please, know that that person is suffering deeply, 924 01:20:00,082 --> 01:20:02,247 and they need your help. 925 01:20:02,426 --> 01:20:05,233 Find ways to help them. 926 01:20:07,406 --> 01:20:10,240 And I've looked into this 927 01:20:10,876 --> 01:20:13,338 time and time again, whenever I come to this, I think, 928 01:20:13,725 --> 01:20:15,815 how is that possible? 929 01:20:15,982 --> 01:20:17,964 And I realize - 930 01:20:18,238 --> 01:20:23,072 First I thought, Okay, if there is no kindness in their words, 931 01:20:23,690 --> 01:20:27,017 actions or in their heart, 932 01:20:27,510 --> 01:20:32,569 I need to find ways to help them, but they've caused another suffering. 933 01:20:37,235 --> 01:20:41,252 Until I realized, by helping them it doesn't mean 934 01:20:41,460 --> 01:20:46,192 that I condone what they did, said or thought. 935 01:20:47,220 --> 01:20:52,571 I didn't condone any of their actions of body, speech or mind. 936 01:20:52,935 --> 01:20:55,760 I just see that they must be suffering 937 01:20:55,919 --> 01:20:58,772 in order to cause so much suffering to others. 938 01:20:59,420 --> 01:21:03,966 And if we can help them, they may stop 939 01:21:05,774 --> 01:21:08,988 causing suffering with their words or deeds, 940 01:21:09,202 --> 01:21:13,785 and they may find some goodness in their heart. 941 01:21:15,597 --> 01:21:20,297 It was very important for me to discover that, to come to that insight. 942 01:21:21,719 --> 01:21:25,948 Help. So you may have people in your live 943 01:21:26,328 --> 01:21:28,814 and maybe people in your country, 944 01:21:29,127 --> 01:21:36,268 you don't see any kindness in actions, speech or maybe in their heart, 945 01:21:36,796 --> 01:21:39,509 but they need your help. 946 01:21:39,789 --> 01:21:43,721 Especially if it's someone who is or has a word to say 947 01:21:44,170 --> 01:21:48,272 about what happens in a country. They may need help. 948 01:21:49,501 --> 01:21:51,552 And Thay 949 01:21:52,087 --> 01:21:55,987 is a real great bodhisattva. 950 01:21:57,380 --> 01:22:01,635 I said before that the essence of the 14 mindfulness trainings, 951 01:22:01,821 --> 01:22:04,617 which are what we call bodhisattva trainings, 952 01:22:04,794 --> 01:22:07,481 is never to abandon anyone. 953 01:22:14,698 --> 01:22:18,270 Even if they cause great suffering. 954 01:22:21,318 --> 01:22:25,436 I shall never forget the 25th of September in 2001, 955 01:22:25,733 --> 01:22:31,120 when Thay gave a talk in a church, in New York. 956 01:22:35,706 --> 01:22:38,316 And Thay was responding 957 01:22:38,986 --> 01:22:42,266 to the 9/11 event. 958 01:22:42,787 --> 01:22:47,653 The attack on the... Trade Center? World? 959 01:22:49,365 --> 01:22:51,677 I was right, yes. 960 01:22:51,996 --> 01:22:55,258 On the buildings in New York, World Trade Center, I think it was called. 961 01:22:55,564 --> 01:22:57,655 Correct? Yes. 962 01:23:01,432 --> 01:23:04,392 First of all, I go back a little bit briefly. 963 01:23:04,987 --> 01:23:07,515 When we heard the news, 964 01:23:08,129 --> 01:23:12,307 we were in California, in a center, one of our centers in California, 965 01:23:12,505 --> 01:23:14,688 in Deer Park. 966 01:23:14,896 --> 01:23:18,536 So a number of our monastics went to Thay and said, 967 01:23:18,784 --> 01:23:21,877 'Thay, this has happened. Can we do something? 968 01:23:22,082 --> 01:23:25,559 Now we have to speak out, we have to do a walking meditation, 969 01:23:25,701 --> 01:23:28,640 a protest march, or something like that.' 970 01:23:28,979 --> 01:23:31,192 And Thay said, 'No. 971 01:23:32,147 --> 01:23:34,446 We are going to the beach.' 972 01:23:34,634 --> 01:23:37,611 And we went, 'We are going to the beach?' 973 01:23:38,598 --> 01:23:41,547 'Yes, we are going to the beach. Hire a bus we are going to the beach 974 01:23:41,704 --> 01:23:43,763 and we are bringing a picnic.' 975 01:23:43,929 --> 01:23:45,926 So we went to the beach. 976 01:23:46,088 --> 01:23:49,207 And as we go to the beach, Thay said, 'Go and play', it means, 977 01:23:49,420 --> 01:23:52,877 go and wait in the water playing soccer, whatever. 978 01:23:53,553 --> 01:23:58,193 And the attendants spread out a mat for Thay and Thay was lying down. 979 01:23:59,201 --> 01:24:02,183 And the whole time, as we were playing, 980 01:24:02,386 --> 01:24:05,606 Thay was just lying there. Very quietly. 981 01:24:05,856 --> 01:24:08,027 And then, we had lunch, 982 01:24:09,071 --> 01:24:14,233 and then we went back to the temple where we were staying. 983 01:24:14,417 --> 01:24:17,485 And then Thay called us together later, and said, 984 01:24:18,415 --> 01:24:22,586 Thay would give a talk in New York, and Thay would address the issue. 985 01:24:23,638 --> 01:24:27,825 So this is how Thay came to address the issue in New York. 986 01:24:28,106 --> 01:24:32,868 And before Thay went up to address the issue, 987 01:24:33,040 --> 01:24:36,908 we were with Thay, waiting. And Thay said, 988 01:24:37,794 --> 01:24:42,237 'What Thay is going to say may put Thay's life in danger, 989 01:24:42,430 --> 01:24:45,335 but Thay has to say it.' 990 01:24:46,963 --> 01:24:55,161 And in the speech, we started first by reading the invocation of Avalokita, 991 01:24:55,993 --> 01:25:01,016 evoking the energy of compassion of Avalokita. 992 01:25:01,318 --> 01:25:05,104 We chanted and then Thay gave the speech. 993 01:25:05,948 --> 01:25:09,517 And the basic message was, Thay said that 994 01:25:09,725 --> 01:25:15,600 America has to ask Iraq, what did we do 995 01:25:16,553 --> 01:25:20,328 for you to do this to us? 996 01:25:24,232 --> 01:25:27,275 Thay was not abandoning anybody. 997 01:25:27,552 --> 01:25:30,898 Everything is because of causes and conditions. 998 01:25:40,803 --> 01:25:45,135 So a bodhisattva never abandons anyone. 999 01:25:45,909 --> 01:25:50,168 And we do not condone that act. 1000 01:25:51,742 --> 01:25:57,800 We do not, somebody who causes suffering, condone the act. But we try to see 1001 01:25:57,980 --> 01:26:00,302 how we can help them. 1002 01:26:00,463 --> 01:26:04,675 And by saying what Thay said, Thay was to say, 1003 01:26:04,930 --> 01:26:07,448 'Okay, what can we do? 1004 01:26:07,662 --> 01:26:10,175 What are we doing? Tell us.' 1005 01:26:13,575 --> 01:26:16,609 To do this in our daily life 1006 01:26:18,384 --> 01:26:23,319 is a real practice of a bodhisattva. We'll practice our compassion 1007 01:26:23,771 --> 01:26:26,482 for ourselves and for others. 1008 01:26:28,362 --> 01:26:33,545 And we can do it with the help of a kalyanamitra. 1009 01:26:36,917 --> 01:26:41,815 We can do it, while practicing Right Diligence, 1010 01:26:42,075 --> 01:26:47,288 to understand that everything is because of causes and conditions. 1011 01:26:50,901 --> 01:26:52,941 And, 1012 01:26:54,826 --> 01:27:00,293 compassion arises from understanding. If we have no understanding, 1013 01:27:00,642 --> 01:27:03,354 compassion cannot arise. 1014 01:27:03,540 --> 01:27:07,940 We can think we are compassionate, but if there is no understanding, 1015 01:27:08,165 --> 01:27:12,214 we have to question whether that compassion is true compassion. 1016 01:27:12,549 --> 01:27:15,777 Compassion is born from understanding. 1017 01:27:15,940 --> 01:27:18,199 So, we start with ourselves, 1018 01:27:18,363 --> 01:27:21,658 we look at ourselves with the eyes of compassion 1019 01:27:21,826 --> 01:27:27,393 to understand why we think as we think, why we say what we say, 1020 01:27:28,079 --> 01:27:30,636 why we do what we do. 1021 01:27:30,810 --> 01:27:33,283 What seeds have we watered 1022 01:27:33,438 --> 01:27:40,279 through our sense organs, our seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, 1023 01:27:40,525 --> 01:27:43,700 and above all also through our thinking. 1024 01:27:43,839 --> 01:27:47,851 We may see something, but we will think as a response. 1025 01:27:48,049 --> 01:27:52,188 And what is that thinking? What is that watering in us? 1026 01:27:56,111 --> 01:27:58,828 And the foundation is 1027 01:27:59,714 --> 01:28:04,344 to generate the energy of mindfulness throughout the day 1028 01:28:04,988 --> 01:28:08,448 by coming back to our breathing with the sound of the bell, 1029 01:28:08,622 --> 01:28:11,234 bring our mind home to our body 1030 01:28:11,408 --> 01:28:13,877 and by walking meditation. 1031 01:28:14,068 --> 01:28:17,959 Walking mediation is a practice I take refuge in 1032 01:28:18,380 --> 01:28:21,157 to make it, 1033 01:28:22,510 --> 01:28:27,585 to make my steps walking meditation steps throughout the day. 1034 01:28:27,915 --> 01:28:30,372 There are moments I forget. 1035 01:28:30,530 --> 01:28:35,213 And then it may be the sound of a bird, a sister, a brother, a sound, 1036 01:28:35,588 --> 01:28:39,795 that brings me back. And to touch the earth. 1037 01:28:40,499 --> 01:28:44,594 As I said, when I see the picture of Mother Earth, 1038 01:28:45,195 --> 01:28:49,118 I feel happy and I feel also a lot of care. 1039 01:28:49,609 --> 01:28:55,278 So when I walk on Mother Earth, I really walk with gentleness 1040 01:28:55,794 --> 01:28:59,957 and with gratitude for Mother Earth. 1041 01:29:00,993 --> 01:29:05,301 Thay says, walk as if you are caressing Mother Earth. 1042 01:29:05,512 --> 01:29:08,075 And I found if I have that, 1043 01:29:08,210 --> 01:29:13,248 when we caress, it is very gentle, it doesn't go- 1044 01:29:14,137 --> 01:29:17,476 With a bang we arrive on the earth and then we caress, 1045 01:29:17,633 --> 01:29:20,639 on the earth or on a cat, or a beloved one, 1046 01:29:20,994 --> 01:29:30,559 we even land on our beloved one gently, to caress gently. To land gently 1047 01:29:30,794 --> 01:29:34,172 with our foot on the earth. The impact. 1048 01:29:36,375 --> 01:29:39,108 When we hear somebody coming, 1049 01:29:39,278 --> 01:29:43,163 by the sound of the footsteps, we can usually tell what the mood is. 1050 01:29:43,345 --> 01:29:45,545 You know from school, when the teacher came, 1051 01:29:45,690 --> 01:29:48,242 like, 'We'd better sit up straight and concentrate', 1052 01:29:48,447 --> 01:29:51,036 or "'It's Okay.' You know? 1053 01:29:51,174 --> 01:29:54,263 We hear. So the impact, 1054 01:29:54,461 --> 01:29:57,924 to be aware of the impact between our foot and the earth, 1055 01:29:58,092 --> 01:30:00,150 and to make it gentle. 1056 01:30:00,300 --> 01:30:02,470 To walk with gentleness. 1057 01:30:02,664 --> 01:30:04,460 And then, 1058 01:30:04,601 --> 01:30:07,630 I have noticed, whatever the energy was before, 1059 01:30:07,824 --> 01:30:10,974 when I start walking like that, 1060 01:30:11,168 --> 01:30:17,524 there is an energy of care, of gentleness that comes up in me. 1061 01:30:18,224 --> 01:30:20,588 And it feels 1062 01:30:21,430 --> 01:30:23,709 wonderful. 1063 01:30:23,905 --> 01:30:29,310 It is a very good way of practicing the Four Diligences. 1064 01:30:29,995 --> 01:30:32,447 Walking meditation. 1065 01:30:32,620 --> 01:30:40,509 It's a good way to avoid, to overcome, to encourage and to maintain. 1066 01:30:40,900 --> 01:30:44,189 So we do not need to make time in the morning, in the evening, 1067 01:30:44,367 --> 01:30:47,129 to have 20 minutes of sitting. 1068 01:30:47,296 --> 01:30:50,483 In between, we can practice 1069 01:30:51,506 --> 01:30:54,962 mindfulness throughout the days 1070 01:30:55,355 --> 01:30:58,442 by enjoying our steps. 1071 01:30:58,881 --> 01:31:02,327 So, thank you for listening, I will finish, here, 1072 01:31:03,185 --> 01:31:07,938 and we will have walking meditation, 1073 01:31:08,818 --> 01:31:11,783 weather permitting, before too long. 1074 01:31:11,959 --> 01:31:15,208 Thank you. I wish everybody a happy practice. 1075 01:31:23,322 --> 01:31:30,047 (Bell) 1076 01:31:45,569 --> 01:31:51,519 (Bell) 1077 01:32:04,760 --> 01:32:11,606 (Bell) 1078 01:32:26,072 --> 01:32:27,610 (Bell)