WEBVTT 00:00:05.565 --> 00:00:10.580 (Bell) 00:00:31.560 --> 00:00:37.492 (Bell) 00:00:53.474 --> 00:00:59.484 (Bell) 00:01:07.841 --> 00:01:12.662 Dear respected Thay, dear brothers and sisters, dear friends, 00:01:13.322 --> 00:01:14.958 good morning. 00:01:15.834 --> 00:01:19.240 Today is Sunday the 28th of October 00:01:19.345 --> 00:01:23.370 and we are in the Dharma Nectar Temple of Plum Village, Lower Hamlet. 00:01:25.291 --> 00:01:29.802 In this retreat we have been looking into the 14 mindfulness trainings 00:01:29.980 --> 00:01:32.433 of the Order of Interbeing. 00:01:34.776 --> 00:01:42.377 The Order of Interbeing was formed by Thay in the mid 1960's 00:01:42.693 --> 00:01:46.316 at the time of the Vietnam War. 00:01:47.192 --> 00:01:49.406 There was a great need 00:01:49.682 --> 00:01:56.536 for some understanding and compassion 00:02:01.023 --> 00:02:06.472 in order to take care of the hatred and violence that was happening in the country. 00:02:09.783 --> 00:02:15.466 The 14 mindfulness trainings have to do with how we live our daily lives, 00:02:16.128 --> 00:02:18.802 how we live in the world. 00:02:19.849 --> 00:02:25.521 How we respond to issues in the world 00:02:31.743 --> 00:02:34.002 by our way of thinking, 00:02:35.419 --> 00:02:38.751 our attitude or our view. 00:02:40.334 --> 00:02:44.583 So these 14 mindfulness trainings help us to see very clearly 00:02:44.768 --> 00:02:48.175 the impact of our thinking, 00:02:48.631 --> 00:02:51.059 of our speaking and actions 00:02:51.155 --> 00:02:56.761 on our environment, and on the world, and on the way we live together. 00:03:02.797 --> 00:03:05.373 These trainings 00:03:08.980 --> 00:03:12.946 they really express a mind of true love 00:03:13.238 --> 00:03:19.376 and the insight that happiness is not an individual matter. 00:03:19.617 --> 00:03:24.341 They are the 14 mindfulness trainings of the Order of Interbeing 00:03:24.574 --> 00:03:26.577 that was founded by Thay 00:03:26.745 --> 00:03:30.340 but they can be practiced by anyone. You don't need to be 00:03:32.031 --> 00:03:34.960 an official member of the Order of Interbeing 00:03:35.065 --> 00:03:38.494 in order to practice the 14 mindfulness trainings. 00:03:38.676 --> 00:03:42.974 In fact, the more people they practice them, the better. 00:03:43.514 --> 00:03:46.295 So, you may like 00:03:49.872 --> 00:03:52.626 to have a look at them by yourself 00:03:52.742 --> 00:03:54.716 and study them 00:03:54.860 --> 00:03:57.572 to see in what way the resonate for you. 00:03:57.671 --> 00:04:01.391 Especially in the light of the state of the world. 00:04:03.160 --> 00:04:06.962 The more I study these 14 mindfulness trainings 00:04:07.924 --> 00:04:13.170 the more my heart rejoices. Because I see a way out, 00:04:13.457 --> 00:04:17.010 I can see a way that can lead to healing and transformation, 00:04:17.208 --> 00:04:20.913 not just of myself but of the whole of humanity. 00:04:21.166 --> 00:04:25.550 And that uplifts my spirit and gives me a lot of joy. 00:04:27.033 --> 00:04:31.234 These 14 mindfulness trainings we are all capable of practicing them, 00:04:31.331 --> 00:04:34.732 of applying them in our daily life. 00:04:41.305 --> 00:04:47.209 To practice these 14 mindfulness trainings it's very good to have a sangha, 00:04:47.795 --> 00:04:51.532 a place of refuge to do it together with others. 00:04:58.391 --> 00:05:02.345 Because with a sangha we can share our joys and our difficulties 00:05:02.887 --> 00:05:04.830 and we can - 00:05:07.546 --> 00:05:09.488 Excuse me. 00:05:11.518 --> 00:05:15.692 Interacting with others will reveal our habit energies. 00:05:16.330 --> 00:05:20.383 And as I said before, especially our habit energies of thinking. 00:05:20.671 --> 00:05:24.145 A thinking is the foundation of everything. 00:05:25.313 --> 00:05:29.867 Whatever we say, whatever we do, we have already thought. 00:05:31.316 --> 00:05:33.986 So becoming aware of our thinking 00:05:34.306 --> 00:05:40.467 and the inclination of our thinking is very important. 00:05:40.968 --> 00:05:44.764 Because that is where the transformation starts. 00:05:50.102 --> 00:05:53.765 It's very good to have a sangha to practice with. 00:05:54.416 --> 00:05:58.175 The sangha is like what we call a "kalyanamitra", 00:05:58.370 --> 00:06:01.391 it means, a spiritual friend. 00:06:01.691 --> 00:06:04.243 And a spiritual friend is somebody 00:06:04.695 --> 00:06:09.241 who knows how to skillfully point things out to us. 00:06:09.443 --> 00:06:14.545 A habit we have of speaking or acting that has it's roots in our thinking. 00:06:15.221 --> 00:06:19.417 They will be able to say it in a way that we can receive it. 00:06:19.810 --> 00:06:26.305 And that will help us to recognize the effect of our actions. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:31.240 So to have a kalyanamitra is very precious. 00:06:31.428 --> 00:06:33.480 On the other hand, 00:06:35.056 --> 00:06:38.786 do we know how to be a kalyanamitra? 00:06:39.617 --> 00:06:42.716 If you like to have a kalyanamitra 00:06:42.890 --> 00:06:46.943 it is very good to first become our own kalyanamitra, 00:06:47.190 --> 00:06:50.922 to develop the qualities of a kalyanamitra in ourselves 00:06:52.059 --> 00:06:56.682 so we can help ourselves and then we can help others also on this path. 00:06:57.451 --> 00:07:01.187 So these 14 mindfulness trainings help us to see very clearly 00:07:01.367 --> 00:07:04.716 the impact of our thinking, speaking and actions 00:07:05.190 --> 00:07:09.152 on our environment, the world and how we live together. 00:07:09.822 --> 00:07:13.363 They are really guidelines for everyday living. 00:07:16.376 --> 00:07:21.381 Most what we call precepts, they are prohibitions. 00:07:23.370 --> 00:07:27.034 And they begin with bodily actions. 00:07:27.590 --> 00:07:31.110 In the 14 mindfulness trainings, we used to call them precepts, 00:07:31.206 --> 00:07:33.571 now we call them trainings, 00:07:33.925 --> 00:07:38.007 like we call the 5 precepts the 5 mindfulness trainings also. 00:07:38.247 --> 00:07:41.996 The 14 mindfulness trainings begin with the mind. 00:07:45.013 --> 00:07:49.048 And the Noble Eightfold Path also begins with the mind. 00:07:49.193 --> 00:07:52.981 And this shows the importance that the Buddha gave to the mind, 00:07:53.073 --> 00:07:55.744 the actions of the mind. 00:07:57.455 --> 00:08:01.351 So the 14 mindfulness trainings, there are 3 categories. 00:08:04.004 --> 00:08:08.472 The first category are the mindfulness trainings 1 to 7 00:08:08.928 --> 00:08:12.486 and they concern primarily the mind. 00:08:13.027 --> 00:08:17.008 The second is the 8th and the 9th mindfulness trainings 00:08:17.088 --> 00:08:19.667 and they concern the speech. 00:08:19.741 --> 00:08:25.518 From 10th to 14th is primarily our bodily actions. 00:08:28.187 --> 00:08:32.214 But our actions of mind, of course, and speech, and body, 00:08:32.638 --> 00:08:35.670 have the mind as their foundation. 00:08:36.204 --> 00:08:39.107 So when we practice these 14 mindfulness trainings, 00:08:39.460 --> 00:08:44.616 we are practicing to transcend our greed, our anger, our hatred 00:08:45.278 --> 00:08:47.540 and our delusions. 00:08:47.805 --> 00:08:51.920 And we cultivate compassion and wisdom. 00:08:56.542 --> 00:09:01.894 They also help us to look into and to understand 00:09:03.728 --> 00:09:07.057 the nature of interbeing of all that is. 00:09:07.232 --> 00:09:11.028 This means that nothing can exist by itself, 00:09:11.288 --> 00:09:15.207 everything is because of many causes and conditions. 00:09:15.446 --> 00:09:19.292 We are because of many causes and conditions. 00:09:19.812 --> 00:09:25.023 We know that without the air, without water, without the earth, 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:30.885 without fire, warmth, the Sun, the Moon, we can't live. 00:09:33.299 --> 00:09:36.870 So we are because of many causes and conditions. 00:09:37.363 --> 00:09:41.748 And we are as we are because of many causes and conditions. 00:09:42.362 --> 00:09:46.383 We are as we are, how we have nourished ourselves, 00:09:46.439 --> 00:09:49.048 our body and our mind. 00:09:51.308 --> 00:09:57.087 When we wake up in the morning, and if our body and mind feels light, 00:09:57.441 --> 00:10:01.835 it is very likely we had a light meal the evening before. 00:10:03.663 --> 00:10:06.464 If we had a party the evening before 00:10:06.590 --> 00:10:13.031 we may wake up not so fresh. Right? 00:10:17.098 --> 00:10:22.239 We may have something that is called a hangover. 00:10:23.261 --> 00:10:25.633 I don't know if anybody here still has those, 00:10:26.047 --> 00:10:28.849 since we are all practicing very well, 00:10:30.107 --> 00:10:33.746 but just to be aware 00:10:34.673 --> 00:10:39.922 of how we nourish ourselves 00:10:40.670 --> 00:10:44.775 with the food and the drink that we take in. 00:10:45.283 --> 00:10:49.994 What is the effect that this has on our body and our mind? 00:10:52.324 --> 00:10:54.335 You are what you eat. 00:10:54.540 --> 00:10:58.485 I would say, we are what we eat, what we drink, what we think. 00:10:59.243 --> 00:11:03.062 What we see, what we hear, what we smell, what we touch. 00:11:04.012 --> 00:11:07.610 Because everything that we take in through our sense doors 00:11:08.409 --> 00:11:13.865 waters seeds in us. It waters seeds in our store consciousness. 00:11:17.608 --> 00:11:23.064 Store consciousness is that function of our consciousness that keeps everything. 00:11:23.773 --> 00:11:26.713 It holds all our potential. 00:11:27.219 --> 00:11:30.130 And our potential is what we call a seed. 00:11:31.003 --> 00:11:34.501 We have the capacity to be happy. 00:11:35.236 --> 00:11:37.835 So we say we have a seed of happiness. 00:11:38.069 --> 00:11:42.134 We have the capacity to be joyful, we have a seed of joy. 00:11:42.613 --> 00:11:47.086 We also have the capacity to be angry. So we have a seed of anger. 00:11:48.958 --> 00:11:52.852 We have a seed of hatred, we have a seed of greed, a seed of discrimination. 00:11:52.974 --> 00:11:57.300 All of us have these potentials. We all have the same. 00:11:57.493 --> 00:12:01.096 But in some of us, some are stronger than others. 00:12:03.471 --> 00:12:09.438 And they are stronger because we may have inherited the strength of a seed 00:12:09.619 --> 00:12:14.625 from our parents, or our grandparents, or ancestors, 00:12:15.732 --> 00:12:18.891 our society, our nation. 00:12:20.592 --> 00:12:29.927 And we have, out of ignorance, allowed certain seeds to be watered in us 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:34.084 that would had been better not to be watered. 00:12:34.398 --> 00:12:41.856 With the practice of mindfulness, we have a say in what seed will be watered 00:12:42.111 --> 00:12:44.901 in our store consciousness. 00:12:46.281 --> 00:12:49.615 That is what we'd like to talk about a little bit today. 00:12:49.842 --> 00:12:54.400 The practice of the mindfulness trainings help us to become aware 00:12:54.624 --> 00:12:58.583 of the seeds that are being watered in our store consciousness. 00:12:58.850 --> 00:13:02.980 So for me they are a sort of empowerment. 00:13:03.738 --> 00:13:05.682 Now I am empowered. 00:13:05.901 --> 00:13:09.632 It doesn't mean that I have received them so I am empowered, no. 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. 00:13:15.008 --> 00:13:17.331 And I'm empowered now. 00:13:17.543 --> 00:13:22.716 Now I have a say in which seeds are going to be watered 00:13:23.218 --> 00:13:26.870 in my store consciousness. 00:13:29.156 --> 00:13:33.437 And the foundation of this here is the practice of mindfulness. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:39.049 Mindfulness means bringing body and mind together. 00:13:40.565 --> 00:13:46.285 Often we will find that our body is here and our mind is there. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:48.521 Whatever the 'there' is. 00:13:48.658 --> 00:13:53.000 Maybe outside or it may be at the other side of the globe. 00:13:53.195 --> 00:13:55.647 Or who knows, on the Moon. 00:13:56.306 --> 00:13:58.249 But very, very far away. 00:14:01.069 --> 00:14:06.046 Could be in the past or in the future. 00:14:07.186 --> 00:14:10.460 Or being carried away by something in the present. 00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:18.188 And mindfulness means to bring our mind there where our body is. 00:14:18.746 --> 00:14:22.208 It means here, whatever that 'here' is. 00:14:23.282 --> 00:14:27.505 To bring the mind home to the body, the home... 00:14:29.493 --> 00:14:35.263 Our body is the first home of our mind. It is 'the' home of our mind. 00:14:36.178 --> 00:14:38.952 So to bring our mind home to the body. 00:14:39.794 --> 00:14:44.367 So maybe with a sound of the bell we shall practice just that. 00:14:45.142 --> 00:14:47.310 As we hear the sound of the bell, 00:14:47.522 --> 00:14:51.324 the sound of the bell is happening in the present moment. 00:14:52.234 --> 00:14:58.294 Like our body is also a happening, our body is not static, it is a happening. 00:14:59.950 --> 00:15:02.749 So the bell, which is a happening, 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:07.281 helps us to bring our mind home to our body, 00:15:07.458 --> 00:15:10.983 to see what is happening in our body. 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 00:15:18.162 --> 00:15:22.277 and maybe scan our body from the top of our head 00:15:22.486 --> 00:15:26.008 all the way down to the tip of our toes. 00:15:26.348 --> 00:15:29.980 And if anywhere in our body we find some tension, 00:15:30.313 --> 00:15:33.383 to acknowledge it, 00:15:33.501 --> 00:15:37.265 to acknowledge its presence and to gently breathe with it for a moment 00:15:37.409 --> 00:15:40.730 before we continue scanning our body. 00:15:40.863 --> 00:15:46.029 To be with it and breathing it may soften the tension 00:15:46.647 --> 00:15:50.866 or whatever it is that you feel in your body. 00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:59.109 (Bell) 00:16:16.137 --> 00:16:19.815 When I did the body scan, 00:16:20.553 --> 00:16:22.945 I was relaxing my body 00:16:23.095 --> 00:16:27.216 and after I had finished the body scan I sort of remained aware of my body 00:16:27.514 --> 00:16:31.261 and at the same time I became aware of what was happening around me. 00:16:31.397 --> 00:16:33.179 And I realized 00:16:34.223 --> 00:16:36.810 it's raining outside. 00:16:37.358 --> 00:16:39.813 It sounded so loud! 00:16:40.768 --> 00:16:42.932 Inside it was very quiet 00:16:43.068 --> 00:16:46.631 inside in the hall and maybe also inside of my mind. 00:16:47.063 --> 00:16:50.512 So the rain sounded loudly. 00:16:51.736 --> 00:16:55.027 When we bring our mind home to our body, 00:16:55.264 --> 00:16:58.895 we became aware of what is happening inside of our body 00:16:59.281 --> 00:17:01.514 and we can take care of it. 00:17:01.704 --> 00:17:05.907 And we also become aware of what is happening around us. 00:17:11.831 --> 00:17:15.215 The mindfulness trainings 00:17:19.536 --> 00:17:22.542 give us an ethical 00:17:25.541 --> 00:17:27.652 way of life. 00:17:27.825 --> 00:17:31.477 Every training () an ethical action. 00:17:32.463 --> 00:17:36.771 And that is an action that benefits everyone. 00:17:37.082 --> 00:17:39.828 It is truly based on non-duality, 00:17:39.957 --> 00:17:43.504 on the fact that happiness is not an individual matter. 00:17:43.644 --> 00:17:46.404 And on compassion. 00:17:51.331 --> 00:17:56.732 The 14 mindfulness trainings, we practice them to change ourselves 00:17:57.046 --> 00:18:00.637 so we can bring about a change in society. 00:18:01.173 --> 00:18:06.488 And that society can go in the direction of understanding and compassion. 00:18:07.322 --> 00:18:13.300 Thay says, 'By living a joyful and a mindful life'. 00:18:14.225 --> 00:18:20.119 So the practice is not only mindful, to live mindfully, 00:18:20.767 --> 00:18:24.155 but also it leads us to live joyfully. 00:18:24.445 --> 00:18:28.773 So living mindfully is not a serious matter. 00:18:32.212 --> 00:18:36.780 When we look at these trainings, we both see 00:18:37.188 --> 00:18:41.722 that the most important aspect of these trainings is 00:18:43.321 --> 00:18:48.757 never to abandon anyone. They are very inclusive. 00:18:50.305 --> 00:18:54.772 They don't leave anyone lying to the side of the road 00:18:55.003 --> 00:18:57.870 who is in need of help. 00:19:04.575 --> 00:19:11.841 So today we would like to look at the 6th and the 7th mindfulness trainings, 00:19:13.140 --> 00:19:17.809 and we would like to look at them in the light of Right Diligence. 00:19:20.937 --> 00:19:25.251 And I will read the 6th mindfulness training 00:19:28.038 --> 00:19:31.790 in case you don't have the text. 00:19:32.214 --> 00:19:34.801 The 6th mindfulness training 00:19:35.522 --> 00:19:39.726 shows us how we can take care of our anger. 00:19:42.594 --> 00:19:47.332 "Aware that anger blocks communication and creates suffering, 00:19:47.734 --> 00:19:53.313 we are committed to taking care of the energy of anger when it arises 00:19:53.985 --> 00:19:57.687 and to recognizing and transforming the seeds of anger 00:19:57.979 --> 00:20:01.118 that lie deep in our consciousness. 00:20:02.578 --> 00:20:08.839 When anger manifests, we are determined not to do or say anything, 00:20:09.446 --> 00:20:13.622 but to practice mindful breathing or mindful walking 00:20:13.857 --> 00:20:19.419 to acknowledge, embrace, and look deeply into our anger. 00:20:20.940 --> 00:20:25.500 We know that the roots of anger are not outside of ourselves 00:20:25.775 --> 00:20:28.956 but can be found in our wrong perceptions 00:20:29.124 --> 00:20:35.144 and lack of understanding of the suffering in ourselves and others. 00:20:37.087 --> 00:20:40.018 By contemplating impermanence, 00:20:40.243 --> 00:20:45.308 we will be able to look with the eyes of compassion at ourselves 00:20:45.570 --> 00:20:49.670 and at those we think are the cause of our anger, 00:20:49.980 --> 00:20:54.789 and to recognize the preciousness of our relationships. 00:20:55.939 --> 00:20:58.737 We will practice Right Diligence 00:20:58.974 --> 00:21:06.005 in order to nourish our capacity of understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness 00:21:06.879 --> 00:21:11.388 gradually transforming our anger, violence, and fear, 00:21:11.616 --> 00:21:15.422 and helping others do the same." 00:21:22.837 --> 00:21:28.064 We are committed to taking care of the energy of anger when it arises. 00:21:32.394 --> 00:21:35.937 This is already a practice by itself. 00:21:39.055 --> 00:21:42.842 We may have got angry in the past 00:21:43.535 --> 00:21:46.935 and somebody tells us: 'You're angry.' 00:21:47.149 --> 00:21:49.838 And we say: 'I am not angry.' 00:21:49.989 --> 00:21:52.314 You know... no! 00:21:52.467 --> 00:21:55.305 I mean, in a way, that is clear 00:21:56.137 --> 00:21:58.606 that we are angry. 00:21:58.806 --> 00:22:01.185 So to recognize it, you know? 00:22:01.386 --> 00:22:05.386 And to take care of it from the moment it arises. 00:22:05.655 --> 00:22:09.251 Sometimes we need somebody else to point out that we are angry. 00:22:11.156 --> 00:22:14.916 In the first instance, we may not recognize it. 00:22:18.451 --> 00:22:23.162 How can we recognize anger before it arises? 00:22:24.382 --> 00:22:29.172 First of all, we have to know that we have a seed of anger. 00:22:31.852 --> 00:22:34.971 It may not manifest very often, 00:22:35.176 --> 00:22:39.257 but when it does maybe very gently, but we do have a seed. 00:22:39.441 --> 00:22:44.812 And when causes and conditions are sufficient, it will arise. 00:22:48.164 --> 00:22:52.573 So we have these seeds in our store consciousness. 00:22:55.166 --> 00:22:57.747 One of our practices is 00:22:58.665 --> 00:23:03.690 to not water the seed of anger in us. 00:23:05.401 --> 00:23:09.486 To avoid watering the seed of anger. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:17.040 Thay says we can ask others to help us. 00:23:18.214 --> 00:23:21.661 If there is something that 00:23:22.676 --> 00:23:26.827 maybe a loved one, a friend, or somebody in the sangha 00:23:27.740 --> 00:23:33.583 does or says that touches, that waters our seed of anger, 00:23:34.427 --> 00:23:36.533 we can ask them: 00:23:36.715 --> 00:23:42.367 'Please, know that when you say something in that way, 00:23:43.167 --> 00:23:48.356 or when you act in that way, it waters my seed of anger. 00:23:48.924 --> 00:23:51.335 Could you please support me 00:23:51.503 --> 00:23:55.542 by not watering my seed of anger? 00:23:56.290 --> 00:23:59.484 I'm happy to hear what you have to tell me, 00:23:59.707 --> 00:24:04.374 but could you find another way of telling me this?' 00:24:06.186 --> 00:24:10.313 And if we ourselves can think of a way that we will able to hear 00:24:10.530 --> 00:24:15.213 what somebody else wants to tell us, we can give them some suggestions. 00:24:16.458 --> 00:24:18.820 Maybe they can start by: 00:24:19.004 --> 00:24:21.483 'It is my perception that' 00:24:21.641 --> 00:24:25.105 instead of 'You do this'. 00:24:25.547 --> 00:24:27.995 It is my perception. 00:24:28.187 --> 00:24:32.211 Maybe we can point out that we have a perception which may be wrong. 00:24:33.434 --> 00:24:37.205 But I would like to share that perception with you anyway. 00:24:37.731 --> 00:24:40.089 And the best way 00:24:41.097 --> 00:24:43.699 to support others 00:24:44.773 --> 00:24:48.747 in interacting with us like that 00:24:49.004 --> 00:24:54.614 is to interact with them the way we would like them to interact with us. 00:24:55.575 --> 00:24:59.181 And again, for me this is an empowerment. 00:25:00.276 --> 00:25:03.511 I can be part of this process. 00:25:03.761 --> 00:25:07.183 I'm not just there as a victim 00:25:09.480 --> 00:25:15.236 of the interactions with others. But I can be part of this. 00:25:28.746 --> 00:25:31.427 So a seed of anger 00:25:32.199 --> 00:25:36.148 may be watered by what we hear, what others tell us. 00:25:39.645 --> 00:25:42.318 We don't always 00:25:43.199 --> 00:25:46.996 can give input how other people tell us something. 00:25:47.204 --> 00:25:50.247 So what to do then? 00:25:52.366 --> 00:25:57.135 Then it's good to take some time 00:25:59.776 --> 00:26:02.125 to reflect. 00:26:03.486 --> 00:26:08.817 And to ask the question, is there any truth in what they say? 00:26:09.247 --> 00:26:13.587 This is what I try to practice. Is there truth in what they say? 00:26:17.611 --> 00:26:21.666 Then sometimes the answer is, I don't see any truth. 00:26:21.847 --> 00:26:25.241 And sometimes the answer is, maybe a little bit. 00:26:25.769 --> 00:26:30.661 So I just take that little bit, I do not need to take everything. 00:26:30.892 --> 00:26:33.391 I take that little bit. 00:26:33.797 --> 00:26:36.289 And I can look and I can see 00:26:38.221 --> 00:26:42.166 what is the root of my action 00:26:43.421 --> 00:26:48.356 that my friend gives some feedback about. 00:26:48.594 --> 00:26:51.121 Where does it come from? 00:26:57.254 --> 00:27:00.993 Maybe before I continue we can have another sound of the bell. 00:27:01.824 --> 00:27:03.769 (Bell) 00:27:05.688 --> 00:27:12.200 (Bell) 00:27:21.229 --> 00:27:24.916 Maybe that way of responding 00:27:25.471 --> 00:27:31.256 was also the way of responding of our mother or our father. 00:27:32.120 --> 00:27:38.489 And we have inherited, we are continuing our mother and our father in that way. 00:27:49.631 --> 00:27:51.570 And as we continue to practice, 00:27:51.872 --> 00:27:57.515 we realize we are not only transforming ourselves, we're also practicing 00:27:59.073 --> 00:28:02.489 transforming our parents. 00:28:04.077 --> 00:28:06.341 We are their continuation, 00:28:06.552 --> 00:28:12.705 whatever we transform, we transform also for our parents and for our ancestors. 00:28:16.520 --> 00:28:20.676 If at the root of our action there was fear, 00:28:22.676 --> 00:28:26.075 maybe our parents had fear. 00:28:26.505 --> 00:28:30.717 Maybe our father, our mother had a strong seed of fear. 00:28:34.030 --> 00:28:38.167 And maybe fear was the root of her action 00:28:39.262 --> 00:28:42.895 that our friend gave some feedback about. 00:28:44.050 --> 00:28:48.763 And fear always has to do with the unknown. 00:28:50.946 --> 00:28:54.128 We don't fear the past, we fear the future. 00:28:56.068 --> 00:29:00.206 We do not know what is going to happen in the future. 00:29:00.723 --> 00:29:03.293 It is unknown. 00:29:05.023 --> 00:29:07.862 And whatever is unknown, we fear. 00:29:09.040 --> 00:29:11.555 Is it going to be 00:29:12.702 --> 00:29:16.082 of benefit to me or not? It is going to 00:29:17.573 --> 00:29:20.254 be good for me or not? 00:29:29.168 --> 00:29:33.646 I find the best way of taking care of fear as it comes up 00:29:34.044 --> 00:29:38.544 is to remain firmly established in the present moment. 00:29:38.875 --> 00:29:42.953 Because in the present moment, I can see what is happening. 00:29:43.293 --> 00:29:46.575 I do not know what will happen in the next moment, 00:29:46.801 --> 00:29:49.447 but when the next moment becomes the present moment, 00:29:49.638 --> 00:29:52.287 I can see what is happening. 00:29:53.744 --> 00:29:56.553 And the image I have is, 00:29:56.808 --> 00:29:59.363 I walk through a tunnel, 00:29:59.628 --> 00:30:02.055 or let's say, yes, let's keep it a tunnel, 00:30:02.192 --> 00:30:05.960 that is what I use to use. I walk through a tunnel, and it's dark. 00:30:06.660 --> 00:30:09.795 And I don't know what is in the tunnel. 00:30:09.993 --> 00:30:12.803 But I can touch 00:30:13.328 --> 00:30:19.037 the wall of the tunnel with my hands, and of course, with my feet. 00:30:19.401 --> 00:30:23.715 So I touch the wall so I get to know what is happening right now, 00:30:23.932 --> 00:30:27.244 what is the present moment like right now. 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. 00:30:31.484 --> 00:30:35.329 And then, very carefully, I put my feet forward, 00:30:36.853 --> 00:30:42.626 and then, my foot touches the ground in front of me. 00:30:42.904 --> 00:30:47.526 I'm already in the present moment then. And I know I can take that step. 00:30:48.807 --> 00:30:51.784 If I put my foot and there is nothing, 00:30:53.808 --> 00:30:56.505 I still don't know, and I won't take the step, 00:30:56.567 --> 00:30:59.255 because the fear is still there. 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. 00:31:04.245 --> 00:31:06.805 You see what I mean. 00:31:06.997 --> 00:31:09.764 So I found out if I have this image, 00:31:09.948 --> 00:31:12.476 if I walk, if I always stay in the present moment 00:31:12.652 --> 00:31:15.059 and don't think: there is light at the end of the tunnel, 00:31:15.238 --> 00:31:17.436 I rush towards the end, 00:31:17.629 --> 00:31:21.296 I may fall in a hole, I may stumble over something 00:31:21.494 --> 00:31:24.229 because I'm not in the present moment. 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. 00:31:30.125 --> 00:31:33.562 But I have the whole tunnel to go through. 00:31:33.805 --> 00:31:36.417 So if I stay in the present moment 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. 00:31:42.386 --> 00:31:44.624 So wait to the next moment to come 00:31:44.821 --> 00:31:47.452 and then in that moment I can see what is happening 00:31:47.634 --> 00:31:51.464 and I can respond in an appropriate way. 00:31:52.119 --> 00:31:54.620 I cannot respond in an appropriate way to the future, 00:31:54.736 --> 00:31:57.307 I don't know exactly what is going to happen. 00:31:57.453 --> 00:32:01.164 I can make plans, yes, we have to make plans, 00:32:01.351 --> 00:32:06.985 but we may need to adjust the plans when that future becomes the present moment. 00:32:19.018 --> 00:32:22.581 So that was the seed of fear. 00:32:22.874 --> 00:32:30.134 Another way when there is fear in me, there is fear present right now, 00:32:31.991 --> 00:32:38.154 we have a practice. Breathing in, I am aware fear is present in me now. 00:32:38.369 --> 00:32:43.218 Breathing out, I take good care of the fear, I embrace it. 00:32:43.536 --> 00:32:46.383 Or I smile to my fear. 00:32:46.552 --> 00:32:51.528 Maybe it's my practice, I'm not yet very good at doing this, 00:32:52.444 --> 00:32:56.777 and I don't necessarily succeed. 00:32:57.578 --> 00:33:00.127 It doesn't calm my fear. 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 00:33:05.567 --> 00:33:10.367 is also manifested in my body in some way or another, 00:33:10.617 --> 00:33:13.111 in some place in my body. 00:33:13.240 --> 00:33:16.046 So I bring my mind home to my body 00:33:16.241 --> 00:33:19.211 and I do a body scan, as we did just now, 00:33:19.426 --> 00:33:23.997 and when I find a strong sensation, 00:33:24.208 --> 00:33:28.392 a physical sensation, I think: 00:33:29.544 --> 00:33:35.212 That is my fear. And I can breathe with this physical sensation. 00:33:35.698 --> 00:33:39.242 I bring my mind to that part of my body 00:33:39.446 --> 00:33:43.527 and I breathe while I just stay with it. 00:33:43.879 --> 00:33:48.856 At times, I feel I go back to a story 00:33:49.141 --> 00:33:52.304 but I'm no longer with the physical sensation. 00:33:52.580 --> 00:33:56.569 So then, I bring my mind back to the physical sensation 00:33:56.821 --> 00:34:01.834 every time I notice I have been carried away by the story. 00:34:03.386 --> 00:34:06.795 And slowly, slowly, by being with it, 00:34:07.007 --> 00:34:10.694 this sensation kind of becomes softer 00:34:10.901 --> 00:34:14.426 and it feels like it melts away. 00:34:15.311 --> 00:34:18.210 Then, miracle, oh miracle, 00:34:19.044 --> 00:34:24.040 the fear is no longer present in my mind as a mental formation. 00:34:26.212 --> 00:34:29.029 And then, a very important point. 00:34:29.580 --> 00:34:34.512 At that point we should not go back to the story and bring it back. 00:34:35.093 --> 00:34:38.246 Because that brings immediately the fear back. 00:34:39.362 --> 00:34:42.176 Leave the story. 00:34:42.778 --> 00:34:44.997 And first, 00:34:45.723 --> 00:34:49.881 we need to calm ourselves, to find stability, 00:34:50.507 --> 00:34:53.030 maybe to practice walking meditation 00:34:53.242 --> 00:34:56.793 to come back to our steps as they touch the earth. 00:34:58.509 --> 00:35:04.106 In, in, in, out, out out. 00:35:05.373 --> 00:35:11.068 So that we walk really very firmly established in the present moment. 00:35:12.745 --> 00:35:19.379 We may water some seeds of joy, of happiness 00:35:20.530 --> 00:35:24.441 as a counterbalance to the fear. 00:35:26.113 --> 00:35:30.731 Then, this may take a few days or maybe weeks, 00:35:31.012 --> 00:35:34.009 when we feel now we have enough 00:35:35.852 --> 00:35:42.411 stability, enough calm, enough peace, enough joy, happiness, 00:35:43.862 --> 00:35:47.142 to look at the fear. 00:35:48.508 --> 00:35:53.543 What is it that I am afraid of? 00:35:53.807 --> 00:35:56.325 The unknown, yes. 00:35:56.451 --> 00:35:59.312 But what is it about this unknown? 00:36:07.698 --> 00:36:10.251 And we may find 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. 00:36:15.917 --> 00:36:20.609 We do not know what we will find there. 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, 00:36:29.391 --> 00:36:32.753 and we will also be able to do something about it. 00:36:38.078 --> 00:36:41.610 If we travel to another country, we may find out 00:36:43.278 --> 00:36:50.125 by asking other people or by reading, what we could expect when we go there. 00:36:51.781 --> 00:36:53.816 And at the same time, 00:36:53.981 --> 00:36:57.816 we continue to strengthen our capacity to dwell in the present moment, 00:36:58.011 --> 00:37:02.852 to be part of the journey as we journey. 00:37:03.056 --> 00:37:07.559 To journey along with the journey at to not to run ahead of the journey 00:37:08.115 --> 00:37:12.279 so that we can respond to every situation we encounter 00:37:12.622 --> 00:37:15.299 from a place of calm and clarity. 00:37:26.539 --> 00:37:29.795 We were speaking also about anger. 00:37:30.020 --> 00:37:34.570 So to see what is the root of our anger. 00:37:35.579 --> 00:37:42.242 But first, the mindfulness training advises us not to do or say anything. 00:37:43.657 --> 00:37:46.236 This is quite a practice. 00:37:46.595 --> 00:37:49.800 Not to do or to say anything. 00:37:50.440 --> 00:37:53.220 But we also get immediately the practice to do. 00:37:53.426 --> 00:37:56.936 We turn to our breathing and mindful walking 00:37:58.493 --> 00:38:01.721 and to acknowledge that we are angry. 00:38:02.269 --> 00:38:04.503 And then to look deeply. 00:38:06.843 --> 00:38:08.703 Often, 00:38:09.531 --> 00:38:14.525 the roots of our anger maybe found in ourselves, 00:38:14.744 --> 00:38:17.741 we may have wrong perceptions. 00:38:19.863 --> 00:38:22.682 Somebody said something, 00:38:24.609 --> 00:38:28.549 and we think they said it on purpose to hurt us. 00:38:28.881 --> 00:38:31.216 They were unskillful. 00:38:32.796 --> 00:38:38.137 They may not have been wanting to hurt us. They may just have been unskillful. 00:38:38.693 --> 00:38:43.322 They may not even have known that what they are going to say would hurt us. 00:38:43.660 --> 00:38:46.789 They said it to somebody else and nothing happened. 00:38:47.020 --> 00:38:51.171 So why would it hurt somebody else? Why would it hurt us? 00:39:03.319 --> 00:39:06.165 We may also not understand 00:39:06.467 --> 00:39:11.637 that somebody else may said or done something out of their own suffering. 00:39:12.999 --> 00:39:16.643 I think we know ourselves very well. When we suffer, 00:39:16.963 --> 00:39:21.852 it is not so obvious and not so easy to practice loving speech. 00:39:28.332 --> 00:39:30.593 It takes some practice 00:39:31.724 --> 00:39:34.901 to practice loving speech at all times. 00:39:36.561 --> 00:39:42.931 Especially when our suffering considers the person we are speaking to. 00:39:44.732 --> 00:39:47.126 Maybe they upset us. 00:39:48.384 --> 00:39:50.567 We suffer, 00:39:51.652 --> 00:39:54.118 and when we speak to them, 00:39:54.267 --> 00:39:56.934 there is no loving kindness. 00:39:57.415 --> 00:40:02.967 This practice of not do or say anything especially when we are angry, 00:40:03.183 --> 00:40:06.187 can be quite challenging, because, how do we do this? 00:40:06.515 --> 00:40:10.150 When we live in a community, and then we get angry with somebody, 00:40:10.507 --> 00:40:13.477 don't we say anything to the person at all? 00:40:14.825 --> 00:40:17.090 At all times? 00:40:18.050 --> 00:40:22.670 That is maybe not the best way of not saying anything. 00:40:23.396 --> 00:40:26.673 So how can we keep on interacting 00:40:26.906 --> 00:40:33.357 but not address the issue that made us angry? 00:40:34.980 --> 00:40:39.467 For me, that is what is meant by 'not to say anything'. 00:40:41.029 --> 00:40:44.125 Otherwise, if we all would, in our community, 00:40:44.359 --> 00:40:48.148 we are angry with somebody, I'm upset so I'm not speaking to that person, 00:40:48.389 --> 00:40:51.320 maybe we would be a very silent community. 00:40:51.490 --> 00:40:53.140 (Laughter) 00:40:53.244 --> 00:40:55.923 We all get angry at times. 00:40:56.098 --> 00:40:59.639 So it's a real practice to keep on communicating 00:41:00.371 --> 00:41:04.420 in a 'civil' way, if you like, mindfully, 00:41:05.013 --> 00:41:09.990 but not address the issue until we have calmed down. 00:41:10.204 --> 00:41:14.002 And maybe looked into ourselves what actually happened for us. 00:41:17.189 --> 00:41:19.664 Here in Plum Village, 00:41:19.901 --> 00:41:24.235 when we are in a meeting or just with a group, sitting together, 00:41:24.384 --> 00:41:27.708 if there is something that has upset us, 00:41:27.903 --> 00:41:33.594 something that somebody said that upsets us or watered our seeds of anger, 00:41:34.240 --> 00:41:41.402 we can join our palms, bow and say, 'Please, excuse me. I just would like 00:41:42.070 --> 00:41:47.103 to absent myself, be absent, I'd like to go and do some walking meditation 00:41:48.151 --> 00:41:50.761 or get a cup pf tea'. 00:41:50.890 --> 00:41:55.386 And we can go out and practice walking meditation and take care of the anger 00:41:55.818 --> 00:41:58.601 that has arisen in us. 00:41:59.747 --> 00:42:06.654 So these practices also are very important in any kind of relationship. 00:42:07.210 --> 00:42:10.041 And maybe it's just a matter in your relationships 00:42:10.199 --> 00:42:13.421 to bring this space within the relationships, 00:42:13.579 --> 00:42:18.820 that when we are angry, we can just withdraw for a moment. 00:42:19.179 --> 00:42:23.415 If we work in an office, if that still happens nowadays, 00:42:23.598 --> 00:42:27.290 most people work from home, I just read somewhere, 00:42:28.291 --> 00:42:31.601 we can just say, 'Excuse me, I just need to...' 00:42:31.754 --> 00:42:37.047 go to the bathroom or something. And we can breathe and take care of our anger. 00:42:37.536 --> 00:42:40.856 And come back again more calm. 00:42:41.569 --> 00:42:45.958 It's not ourselves, we will benefit from that but everybody else also. 00:42:52.534 --> 00:42:57.712 By contemplating impermanence, we will be able to look with the eyes of compassion 00:42:57.909 --> 00:43:00.509 at ourselves and others. 00:43:00.680 --> 00:43:03.884 And recognize the preciousness of our relationships. 00:43:06.749 --> 00:43:11.839 I think it is also good to look at the impermanence 00:43:14.192 --> 00:43:15.923 in general. 00:43:16.224 --> 00:43:18.873 When I look back 00:43:20.461 --> 00:43:22.906 at the previous generation, 00:43:24.180 --> 00:43:27.054 my previous generation, 00:43:27.447 --> 00:43:30.677 they have all already passed away. 00:43:31.155 --> 00:43:34.904 And it struck me that when, for instance, 00:43:35.112 --> 00:43:38.079 my grandfather, my grandmother passed away, 00:43:38.896 --> 00:43:41.329 yes I missed them, 00:43:41.532 --> 00:43:45.512 but I also noticed I had a regret. 00:43:46.408 --> 00:43:51.811 Maybe something I didn't do that I know would have made them happy, 00:43:52.055 --> 00:43:54.824 or maybe something I did 00:43:55.168 --> 00:43:59.147 that I realized did not make them so happy. 00:43:59.562 --> 00:44:03.913 And this actually has happened with every single person 00:44:04.330 --> 00:44:10.575 of the previous generation in my life that passed away. There was always something. 00:44:11.373 --> 00:44:14.818 And it took me a while to find peace with that. 00:44:15.112 --> 00:44:17.530 And I ask myself a question: 00:44:17.712 --> 00:44:22.585 Okay, what would they like me to be? 00:44:24.559 --> 00:44:26.798 And every time I came to the answer, 00:44:27.851 --> 00:44:29.505 'Happy.' 00:44:30.182 --> 00:44:32.686 Happy. 00:44:33.342 --> 00:44:36.570 And then I was able to accept 00:44:37.114 --> 00:44:39.476 what I had done or not done. 00:44:39.661 --> 00:44:41.453 And I thought, 'Okay, 00:44:41.738 --> 00:44:44.955 I have learned something from this.' 00:44:45.096 --> 00:44:48.362 And maybe when I look I see I've learned something from that. 00:44:49.166 --> 00:44:51.288 So it's not 00:44:54.392 --> 00:44:57.191 come to waste at the experience. 00:44:57.270 --> 00:45:01.045 And in the practice we speak of the goodness of suffering. 00:45:01.264 --> 00:45:05.201 Suffering becomes good when we learn something from it. 00:45:05.404 --> 00:45:08.070 When it enriches our life. 00:45:08.855 --> 00:45:14.479 When it helps us to go in the direction of healing and transformation. 00:45:23.576 --> 00:45:27.644 So looking and contemplating impermanence 00:45:27.974 --> 00:45:32.713 helps us to look with the eyes of compassion at ourselves 00:45:32.897 --> 00:45:36.256 and also at others. 00:45:41.374 --> 00:45:43.816 We like to nourish 00:45:45.144 --> 00:45:48.797 our capacity of understanding, love, joy and inclusiveness, 00:45:50.371 --> 00:45:52.482 to transform our anger, 00:45:54.771 --> 00:45:59.494 and help others to do the same with the practice of Right Diligence. 00:46:09.615 --> 00:46:11.725 Let us... 00:46:12.311 --> 00:46:17.192 So Right Diligence means taking care of the seeds we have 00:46:17.464 --> 00:46:21.951 and taking care of the mental formations. 00:46:22.274 --> 00:46:27.103 A mental formation is a seed that manifests in our mind 00:46:27.972 --> 00:46:30.780 as a state of mind, if you like. 00:46:37.310 --> 00:46:41.129 We may find that there are certain mental formations 00:46:41.397 --> 00:46:45.195 that are present more often that others. 00:46:45.563 --> 00:46:49.597 And we call them then 'habit energies'. 00:46:52.301 --> 00:46:57.448 Habit energy of thinking, of speaking, and of acting. 00:47:13.133 --> 00:47:16.607 Let us, with a sound of the bell, take a moment 00:47:16.790 --> 00:47:22.381 to reflect, when we go back to ourselves, at some of our habit energies. 00:47:22.587 --> 00:47:25.165 Maybe we have the habit energy of thinking, 00:47:25.354 --> 00:47:29.151 can also be of speaking or physical action. 00:47:30.006 --> 00:47:32.955 It can be a wholesome habit energy, 00:47:33.078 --> 00:47:35.033 and that's a habit energy 00:47:35.242 --> 00:47:38.554 that leads us in the direction of transformation and healing. 00:47:38.743 --> 00:47:41.963 Or it can be what we would call an impulse, some habit energy, 00:47:42.108 --> 00:47:44.898 that habit energy that leads us in the direction of 00:47:46.714 --> 00:47:49.865 suffering, basically. 00:47:50.020 --> 00:47:52.644 So just let us go back to ourselves, 00:47:52.842 --> 00:47:57.213 and just see which habit energy comes up spontaneously, 00:47:57.564 --> 00:48:00.095 what kind of habit energy. 00:48:00.280 --> 00:48:01.771 (Bell) 00:48:03.275 --> 00:48:09.701 (Bell) 00:48:26.158 --> 00:48:30.552 We may find that the habit energy that came up in us 00:48:30.976 --> 00:48:36.593 is one of our habitual ways of responding to life's situations. 00:48:39.468 --> 00:48:41.859 I would like now 00:48:44.539 --> 00:48:48.098 to draw a diagram 00:48:48.559 --> 00:48:53.881 of the Four Right Diligences. 00:48:56.814 --> 00:48:59.742 That will help us to understand 00:49:00.173 --> 00:49:02.790 how to practice or how to put these 00:49:03.987 --> 00:49:08.406 four practices or four diligences into practice. 00:50:03.546 --> 00:50:07.098 This makes it more interesting as when I just list them. 00:50:07.345 --> 00:50:11.940 Lists, we have already, we have many. 00:50:17.788 --> 00:50:20.876 So this is the seed. 00:50:21.492 --> 00:50:23.644 [Seed] 00:50:23.885 --> 00:50:26.436 And this is also seed. 00:50:26.809 --> 00:50:28.961 [Seed] 00:50:29.251 --> 00:50:33.145 And this is a mental formation, 'mf' for short. 00:50:34.242 --> 00:50:38.216 And this also is mental formations. 00:50:38.424 --> 00:50:40.260 [mf] 00:50:45.734 --> 00:50:48.551 So a seed is a potential 00:50:49.468 --> 00:50:55.693 and a mental formation is when that potential manifests as a state of mind. 00:50:55.894 --> 00:50:58.509 Then we call it a mental formation. 00:51:02.999 --> 00:51:07.599 Speaking of anger, we all have a seed of anger. 00:51:09.943 --> 00:51:12.373 And we would like to avoid 00:51:12.580 --> 00:51:17.396 that seed of anger manifested itself as a mental formation. 00:51:18.348 --> 00:51:24.151 Because that then means that the energy of anger is really present in us. 00:51:24.553 --> 00:51:26.747 It's not pleasant for us 00:51:27.125 --> 00:51:30.633 and very often not pleasant for others as well. 00:51:32.949 --> 00:51:35.231 So how... 00:51:36.419 --> 00:51:39.129 What to do, how to practice 00:51:39.317 --> 00:51:45.681 in order not to turn that seed of anger into a mental formation called anger. 00:51:48.635 --> 00:51:51.662 Then, the Buddha says, 'Easy. 00:51:54.102 --> 00:51:56.658 Do you have a garden at home?' 00:51:56.826 --> 00:51:58.695 That's not what the Buddha said but 00:51:58.899 --> 00:52:02.206 the Buddha could have said that. Do you have a garden at home? 00:52:02.366 --> 00:52:05.549 Have you ever sown seeds in your garden? 00:52:05.735 --> 00:52:12.566 Wanting to have a lot of cosmos flower in your garden? 00:52:12.773 --> 00:52:14.863 Yes. 00:52:15.011 --> 00:52:18.918 So if you have those seeds of cosmos flowers in the garden, 00:52:19.218 --> 00:52:23.640 what do you need to do in order to make it flourish? 00:52:25.161 --> 00:52:27.463 You have to water it. 00:52:27.617 --> 00:52:30.267 If you just put a seed in there and never water your garden, 00:52:30.585 --> 00:52:34.297 unless it rains, very unlikely you get the cosmos flower. 00:52:36.694 --> 00:52:40.024 In the garden, there is also maybe a seed of... 00:52:43.420 --> 00:52:46.388 a weed, many weeds. 00:52:47.182 --> 00:52:50.599 And you don't want all those weeds to come up. 00:52:51.803 --> 00:52:54.772 Well, then don't water them. 00:52:55.877 --> 00:52:58.183 So if we have a, 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, 00:53:07.651 --> 00:53:12.912 we like to sort of keep it for most time in the seed form. 00:53:13.112 --> 00:53:15.750 Okay, we don't mind, don't mind the seeds at all! 00:53:17.413 --> 00:53:20.808 But we have to mind them, you see what I mean. 00:53:21.239 --> 00:53:25.101 We have to take care of them, but we don't mind they being there. 00:53:25.491 --> 00:53:30.959 So, if we don't want our seed of anger 00:53:31.743 --> 00:53:37.409 to flower as a flower in the garden of our mind, 00:53:37.794 --> 00:53:39.972 typical a mental formation, 00:53:40.115 --> 00:53:42.293 we should not water it. 00:53:42.475 --> 00:53:45.752 And just in one word, we say avoid. 00:53:46.487 --> 00:53:50.327 [Avoid] 00:53:50.614 --> 00:53:52.555 Avoid. 00:53:52.754 --> 00:53:56.194 Avoid to water the seed of anger. 00:53:56.447 --> 00:53:58.354 Do not water. 00:54:07.133 --> 00:54:10.687 [Do not water] 00:54:13.611 --> 00:54:16.974 Do not water the seed of anger. 00:54:17.987 --> 00:54:23.787 But if accidentally we water it anyway, or we allow it to be watered by others, 00:54:24.259 --> 00:54:28.584 and the mental formation of anger comes up, 00:54:29.030 --> 00:54:33.700 the flower of anger blooms in our mind, 00:54:34.013 --> 00:54:38.588 then, the most important thing is to 00:54:41.186 --> 00:54:44.073 stop watering that seed. 00:54:44.723 --> 00:54:50.938 If we don't water it, it will wilt, it will dry up, shrink. 00:54:52.629 --> 00:54:55.170 It will go back to the seed form. 00:54:55.404 --> 00:54:57.521 Stop watering. 00:54:58.705 --> 00:55:01.486 Another word is overcome. 00:55:01.876 --> 00:55:04.906 [Overcome] 00:55:06.441 --> 00:55:10.133 Stop watering, in Plum Village parlance. 00:55:10.508 --> 00:55:13.810 [Stop watering] 00:55:17.867 --> 00:55:20.395 Stop watering the seed. 00:55:21.249 --> 00:55:24.091 Nothing can survive without food. 00:55:27.650 --> 00:55:33.685 And our anger will not survive if we stop feeding our anger. 00:55:33.866 --> 00:55:36.716 And we can stop feeding our anger 00:55:36.961 --> 00:55:43.763 by not always going back to what brought up our anger. 00:55:44.831 --> 00:55:47.738 Not to keep going back to that. 00:55:50.823 --> 00:55:52.900 We need to 00:55:54.963 --> 00:55:58.501 stop, or break the contact 00:56:01.637 --> 00:56:03.991 with the source 00:56:04.427 --> 00:56:06.347 that triggered our anger. 00:56:06.537 --> 00:56:10.549 Don't stay in contact with that incident. Don't keep thinking, 00:56:10.862 --> 00:56:14.542 'Why did this person say that? Why did she, or he say that?' 00:56:15.116 --> 00:56:18.963 'What was she trying to do? So mean!' 00:56:19.456 --> 00:56:22.423 We keep on ruminating, ruminating, ruminating 00:56:22.839 --> 00:56:27.983 this thought over and over again, it means we keep on watering the seed of anger. 00:56:29.350 --> 00:56:35.042 I don't know if you've ever tried this, kind of this rumination, ruminification. 00:56:36.821 --> 00:56:39.666 When we turn something over, and over in our mind, 00:56:43.359 --> 00:56:46.248 especially when it's - since we are talking about anger, 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 00:56:52.646 --> 00:56:58.467 our anger has grown enormously. We've been watering it the whole time. 00:56:59.713 --> 00:57:03.860 It is like shooting the second arrow. We were shot by an arrow, 00:57:04.086 --> 00:57:07.015 by somebody who said that, that hurt, 00:57:08.578 --> 00:57:11.696 and then, we keep repeating, and repeating, 00:57:11.883 --> 00:57:15.842 and reliving, and reliving that incident. It's like shooting another arrow, 00:57:16.119 --> 00:57:18.926 and maybe another, and another, and another. 00:57:19.090 --> 00:57:22.700 And the second arrow is not twice as painful, 00:57:22.953 --> 00:57:26.084 it's a hundred times more painful. 00:57:27.624 --> 00:57:32.052 So, stop watering the seed, break the contact. 00:57:32.759 --> 00:57:35.070 Turn away. 00:57:40.108 --> 00:57:53.837 [Break the contact] 00:57:54.946 --> 00:57:58.483 Turn away from the source that brought up your anger. 00:58:04.616 --> 00:58:07.176 As I said before, 00:58:09.539 --> 00:58:13.569 one way of doing that is to bring our mind home to our body, 00:58:14.383 --> 00:58:16.812 becoming aware of our body, 00:58:17.123 --> 00:58:20.683 aware of where anger manifests in our body and breathing with it. 00:58:21.931 --> 00:58:24.595 And then, when it's calmed down, 00:58:27.204 --> 00:58:29.601 we will feel much better. 00:58:29.833 --> 00:58:34.942 We can also practice something that we call 'change the CD'. 00:58:36.323 --> 00:58:38.831 If we catch it in time. 00:58:38.999 --> 00:58:44.897 I have found, if I turn something over in my mind for 5, 10 minutes, 00:58:45.948 --> 00:58:48.578 it's better for me to go back to my body, 00:58:48.775 --> 00:58:51.652 and take care of the mental formation in that way, 00:58:51.834 --> 00:58:54.548 rather than trying to change 00:58:55.549 --> 00:58:57.537 the CD. 00:58:57.691 --> 00:59:01.335 Because I may go to another thought that is uplifting, 00:59:02.429 --> 00:59:04.431 joyful, 00:59:04.588 --> 00:59:09.540 but only for few minutes, and then I'm pulled back again by the emotion. 00:59:10.943 --> 00:59:13.454 So the practice is to become aware, 00:59:13.639 --> 00:59:18.026 what is the best way for us, each individual, each one of us, 00:59:18.247 --> 00:59:21.445 the best way to change the CD? 00:59:21.611 --> 00:59:25.177 Is it to bring up another thought? 00:59:25.426 --> 00:59:28.752 Think of something pleasant? Something beautiful? 00:59:29.003 --> 00:59:32.270 Or is it to come back to the body? 00:59:32.719 --> 00:59:35.602 Or go for a walk, which is also going back to the body. 00:59:35.759 --> 00:59:41.320 Nourishing other things, getting different input through different sense organs. 00:59:50.236 --> 00:59:52.705 Change CD. 00:59:53.143 --> 00:59:56.154 [Change CD] 00:59:59.400 --> 01:00:02.822 Here, a kalyanamitra comes in handy. 01:00:04.100 --> 01:00:07.677 And actually, the whole sangha is a kalyanamitra. 01:00:08.400 --> 01:00:11.571 When we are upset about something and when we're angry, 01:00:11.750 --> 01:00:14.416 there is always something happening in the sangha, 01:00:14.580 --> 01:00:17.160 there is always people who are around, they are doing things, 01:00:17.330 --> 01:00:20.576 we can go and join them. 01:00:20.738 --> 01:00:24.318 Maybe working in the garden. And just by that joyful energy, 01:00:24.465 --> 01:00:27.463 it helps us to change the CD. 01:00:28.627 --> 01:00:32.789 Or a good friend who will say, 'Come on! Let's go for a walk, 01:00:32.953 --> 01:00:35.539 let's have a cup of tea.' 01:00:36.653 --> 01:00:38.991 Change the CD. 01:00:41.715 --> 01:00:44.534 If we have a- 01:00:47.271 --> 01:00:49.182 I think I need that one. 01:00:53.675 --> 01:00:55.732 No, I see. 01:00:56.945 --> 01:01:00.556 I'm sorry. I knew something was not quite right. 01:01:02.554 --> 01:01:05.295 So. That's better. 01:01:06.101 --> 01:01:09.888 If we have a positive seed, 01:01:15.447 --> 01:01:20.251 that we would like to strengthen, we encourage, 01:01:22.122 --> 01:01:24.838 [Encourage] 01:01:25.181 --> 01:01:29.902 that seed to manifest itself by watering that seed. 01:01:32.725 --> 01:01:36.779 [To water] 01:01:43.949 --> 01:01:48.074 And the practice of mindfulness helps us here also to do this. 01:01:50.034 --> 01:01:54.817 We water our seeds of joy by being present in the present moment 01:01:55.166 --> 01:02:00.443 and recognize all the sources of joy that are present in our life. 01:02:00.786 --> 01:02:04.929 You may like to sit down, maybe with some others, 01:02:05.218 --> 01:02:08.619 and make a list of joys. 01:02:08.936 --> 01:02:12.284 What are your sources of joy in your life. 01:02:12.583 --> 01:02:15.496 And it can be something very small. 01:02:16.728 --> 01:02:18.799 A smile, 01:02:18.970 --> 01:02:21.659 of another member of the community. 01:02:21.800 --> 01:02:25.936 I don't know if anyone of you has seen the full moon these days. 01:02:27.471 --> 01:02:31.176 A wonderful source of joy. Beautiful! 01:02:31.784 --> 01:02:38.004 But the full moon can only be a source of joy if we are truly present. 01:02:39.457 --> 01:02:42.278 The full moon maybe there, 01:02:42.473 --> 01:02:47.499 but we need to be there in order to enjoy the full moon. 01:02:48.595 --> 01:02:51.569 I know this from experience. 01:02:53.492 --> 01:02:58.387 The full moon rises at the- to the East of our hamlet. 01:02:59.156 --> 01:03:03.583 And there is a path in this hamlet where you walk. 01:03:05.143 --> 01:03:06.900 Well, the sisters walk. 01:03:07.450 --> 01:03:10.962 And we can see the rising moon. 01:03:11.289 --> 01:03:14.981 And I would often stand there, when it is full moon, 01:03:15.122 --> 01:03:17.728 and watch the full moon arising. 01:03:17.878 --> 01:03:24.159 Especially because it's next to the bell tower and it looks so, so beautiful. 01:03:26.394 --> 01:03:28.698 One evening, 01:03:29.015 --> 01:03:34.877 I was not present, being carried away by some mental formation, 01:03:35.664 --> 01:03:39.989 and I was walking towards our sisters' building, 01:03:40.573 --> 01:03:43.979 walked right past the bell tower, 01:03:44.663 --> 01:03:48.907 and there was a sister standing there, and she said, 'Sister, the full moon! 01:03:49.273 --> 01:03:52.104 The full moon! Look!.' And this is what happened. 01:03:52.228 --> 01:03:54.550 So, let's say the full moon is there. 01:03:54.715 --> 01:03:56.072 Oh, yes! 01:03:56.232 --> 01:03:57.701 (Laughter) 01:03:57.859 --> 01:03:59.773 And we continue to walk! 01:03:59.896 --> 01:04:03.563 And she said, 'Sister, sister, the full moon! Look at the full moon!' 01:04:03.855 --> 01:04:07.545 Because she had seen me standing there many, many times. 01:04:07.738 --> 01:04:10.146 I've told her, 'Come, look at the full moon.' 01:04:10.319 --> 01:04:12.630 And now, I was walking straight on. 01:04:12.792 --> 01:04:16.795 And she had to call me a number of times, that it dawned on me, 01:04:16.948 --> 01:04:19.532 the full moon! 01:04:19.967 --> 01:04:24.256 So, thank you. So I went back and enjoyed the full moon. 01:04:24.371 --> 01:04:27.545 And she really helped me with that to change the CD. 01:04:32.056 --> 01:04:37.198 Here. Because I was not in such a joyful mood, 01:04:37.330 --> 01:04:40.065 and she may have understood. 01:04:40.184 --> 01:04:42.132 She called me back 01:04:42.290 --> 01:04:47.813 and encouraged me to water a positive seed, 01:04:48.150 --> 01:04:51.578 the seed of joy and happiness. 01:04:51.764 --> 01:04:55.979 And she did. Is that truly a spiritual friend. 01:04:56.508 --> 01:05:02.721 So, find ways to water the positive seeds. 01:05:04.406 --> 01:05:09.634 So that they flower and the become a mental formation. 01:05:09.981 --> 01:05:12.929 And once they are a mental formation, 01:05:14.150 --> 01:05:16.330 then, what do we do? 01:05:17.595 --> 01:05:19.652 So we are having - 01:05:20.133 --> 01:05:22.653 We are happy, we are joyful, 01:05:22.901 --> 01:05:25.867 the mental formation of joy has arisen. 01:05:27.633 --> 01:05:32.290 Everything is impermanent, you know? Everything comes, and it goes. 01:05:32.785 --> 01:05:37.834 So joy can come and can be gone in the next second. 01:05:38.069 --> 01:05:39.984 Unless, 01:05:41.495 --> 01:05:44.358 you practice to keep it there. 01:05:45.487 --> 01:05:50.614 Our joy comes and goes, our anger comes and goes. 01:05:52.298 --> 01:05:56.754 And if we want our joy to stay, we have to nourish it. 01:05:58.965 --> 01:06:03.221 It is nourishing our joy that keeps it longer. 01:06:03.470 --> 01:06:06.852 To become aware of the source that has brought about joy 01:06:07.048 --> 01:06:10.457 and stay in contact with that source. 01:06:10.626 --> 01:06:12.827 As long as we stay in contact with the source, 01:06:12.962 --> 01:06:17.188 our joy will increase. As long as I look at the full moon, 01:06:17.805 --> 01:06:21.290 that is watering seeds of joy. 01:06:21.655 --> 01:06:24.182 Instant after instant. 01:06:27.379 --> 01:06:29.369 So, 01:06:29.556 --> 01:06:31.968 we maintain our joy, 01:06:32.221 --> 01:06:34.394 [Maintain] 01:06:35.482 --> 01:06:39.217 and concretely, we continue to water 01:06:40.761 --> 01:06:42.951 by staying in contact. 01:06:43.213 --> 01:06:45.885 [Continue to water] 01:06:46.404 --> 01:06:50.331 Continue to water our mental formation 01:06:51.016 --> 01:06:54.571 by staying in contact with the source. 01:07:13.904 --> 01:07:19.728 This is basically the practice of Right Diligence. 01:07:22.795 --> 01:07:26.838 Unwholesome seeds, avoid watering. 01:07:28.293 --> 01:07:32.897 If accidentally they got watered anyway, stop watering them. 01:07:34.822 --> 01:07:37.932 The wholesome seeds, water them. 01:07:38.557 --> 01:07:41.818 They manifest, continue to water them. 01:07:46.452 --> 01:07:48.500 Simple? 01:07:49.371 --> 01:07:51.720 But it takes some practice. 01:07:52.466 --> 01:07:57.810 This practice is a practice of transformation. 01:08:05.666 --> 01:08:08.000 The unwholesome seeds 01:08:08.159 --> 01:08:13.314 will not have a chance to grow stronger. They may even weaken. 01:08:13.788 --> 01:08:17.869 And the wholesome seeds get the chance to grow stronger. 01:08:19.286 --> 01:08:23.990 So the unwholesome seeds will manifest less often. 01:08:24.234 --> 01:08:28.752 And the wholesome seeds will manifest more often. 01:08:42.018 --> 01:08:46.946 This is a very important practice in the light of taking care of our anger. 01:08:47.956 --> 01:08:50.952 At the same time, it is a very important practice 01:08:51.118 --> 01:08:53.639 in the light of just about everything. 01:08:56.898 --> 01:09:01.195 Nowadays, we hear a lot about depression. 01:09:01.619 --> 01:09:04.748 People say, 'I am in a depression, I'm depressed.' 01:09:05.781 --> 01:09:07.884 Take this 01:09:08.123 --> 01:09:12.036 kind of overview, and ask yourself, 01:09:12.955 --> 01:09:17.469 'What kind of seed have I been watering in myself lately? 01:09:17.720 --> 01:09:23.617 Or what kind of seed have I allowed to be watered in me by others?' 01:09:24.565 --> 01:09:29.524 And that is not just other people, maybe it is the news, 01:09:29.675 --> 01:09:32.796 how often do we listen to the news? 01:09:34.653 --> 01:09:39.214 It's Okay to listen to the news, or watch it, or read it, 01:09:39.384 --> 01:09:41.540 whatever we do nowadays, 01:09:41.687 --> 01:09:46.752 but what seed, what kind of seed does it water in us? 01:09:47.025 --> 01:09:50.767 How much can we take before 01:09:52.193 --> 01:09:56.429 we go towards a depression? For instance. 01:09:57.852 --> 01:10:03.198 And the way out is to stop watering those seeds 01:10:04.120 --> 01:10:11.604 and to start watering wholesome seeds and then to continue to water wholesome seeds. 01:10:14.037 --> 01:10:18.483 With the help of a good friend, with the help of a kalyanamitra, 01:10:19.030 --> 01:10:22.219 maybe with the help of the sangha, we can do it. 01:10:26.281 --> 01:10:29.578 Maybe we can have a sound of the bell, 01:10:30.293 --> 01:10:36.489 before I continue to come to a close of this talk today. 01:10:43.333 --> 01:10:48.934 (Bell) 01:11:02.384 --> 01:11:07.270 Right Diligence is nourished by joy and interest. 01:11:07.543 --> 01:11:12.538 By joy and interest in the practice. And the 7th mindfulness training 01:11:14.951 --> 01:11:19.142 is 'Dwelling happily in the present moment.' 01:11:19.372 --> 01:11:24.803 It gives us very clear practices to do to dwell happily in the present moment 01:11:25.084 --> 01:11:28.338 and to water our seed of joy and happiness. 01:11:33.903 --> 01:11:40.313 The 7th mindfulness training helps us to be aware that life is only available now. 01:11:41.827 --> 01:11:45.384 Yesterday is already passed, tomorrow not yet there. 01:11:45.589 --> 01:11:48.259 Now is the only moment we have. 01:11:51.518 --> 01:11:54.195 We like to 01:11:56.545 --> 01:12:01.055 really train ourselves to live deeply each moment of our live. 01:12:01.302 --> 01:12:07.436 And not to loose ourselves in dispersion or be carried away by regrets 01:12:07.704 --> 01:12:09.665 about the past. 01:12:09.744 --> 01:12:13.066 Or the worries about the future, 01:12:13.577 --> 01:12:17.403 or craving, anger, or jealousy in the present moment. 01:12:19.984 --> 01:12:23.316 And we take mindful breathing as our anchor. 01:12:23.628 --> 01:12:26.498 We always come back to mindful breathing 01:12:26.624 --> 01:12:29.637 to know what is happening in the here and the now, 01:12:30.290 --> 01:12:36.494 so that we can be in touch with the wonderful, refreshing, 01:12:36.669 --> 01:12:41.941 and also the healing elements that are in the here and the now. 01:12:42.136 --> 01:12:45.514 We all know that nature is very healing. 01:12:45.755 --> 01:12:51.205 How often have we walked through nature, our mind was somewhere else, 01:12:51.531 --> 01:12:55.706 and we miss the opportunity to be healed by nature. 01:12:56.411 --> 01:12:59.035 Mother Earth is so beautiful. 01:12:59.236 --> 01:13:01.520 It's so, so beautiful. 01:13:01.994 --> 01:13:09.403 I have a photograph of Mother Earth, our jewel of the cosmos, as we call her, 01:13:10.620 --> 01:13:14.348 and just looking at that picture makes me so happy. 01:13:14.941 --> 01:13:18.851 I know we are doing terrible things to Mother Earth. 01:13:20.338 --> 01:13:22.355 And still, 01:13:27.053 --> 01:13:30.467 she is so loving, and so embracing. 01:13:31.835 --> 01:13:34.329 And looking at this picture, 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? 01:13:40.891 --> 01:13:45.371 Because she is the one that nourishes us, that holds us, 01:13:46.114 --> 01:13:51.188 that also embraces us. And we need to take care of our Mother. 01:14:07.430 --> 01:14:13.965 Many of us, many of our sangha members are engaged in protecting Mother Earth. 01:14:14.711 --> 01:14:17.446 And here in Plum Village also 01:14:19.436 --> 01:14:25.349 we were vegetarians, now, as a community in the whole we are vegan. 01:14:26.798 --> 01:14:31.832 Also because we want to contribute to protecting Mother Earth, 01:14:32.266 --> 01:14:35.378 protecting the species on Earth. 01:14:37.025 --> 01:14:39.363 We do our best 01:14:42.267 --> 01:14:44.700 to use our vehicles 01:14:46.432 --> 01:14:48.656 mindfully. 01:14:49.264 --> 01:14:53.345 That is why also in bigger retreats, we order buses, 01:14:53.594 --> 01:14:55.982 so everybody can come by bus, 01:14:56.198 --> 01:14:58.881 and not the French who have come in individual cars 01:14:59.084 --> 01:15:01.481 come by their cars, but come by bus. 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. 01:15:12.910 --> 01:15:16.094 Thank you to the happy farmers. 01:15:17.151 --> 01:15:20.974 We do things to protect Mother Earth. 01:15:21.264 --> 01:15:25.449 Little by little, we're going more and more, as a big community, 01:15:25.667 --> 01:15:29.573 in the direction of protecting Mother Earth. 01:15:42.153 --> 01:15:46.414 So we will come back to the present moment, 01:15:47.065 --> 01:15:51.078 and water the seeds of joy, peace, love and understanding in ourselves, 01:15:53.783 --> 01:15:58.027 so that our consciousness can transform and heal. 01:16:01.914 --> 01:16:04.669 And also we like to become aware that 01:16:04.811 --> 01:16:10.554 real happiness basically depends on our mental attitude. 01:16:12.166 --> 01:16:15.921 And not necessarily on external conditions. 01:16:19.034 --> 01:16:23.783 When we practice that, we see that we can live happily in the present moment, 01:16:24.384 --> 01:16:28.587 because we see we have already enough conditions to be happy. 01:16:35.798 --> 01:16:45.634 The mental attitude and not external conditions, it can be challenging. 01:16:54.034 --> 01:16:56.231 For instance, 01:16:59.739 --> 01:17:02.241 we may know people 01:17:06.265 --> 01:17:08.085 whom we 01:17:10.801 --> 01:17:14.132 are angry with and find that very difficult 01:17:14.772 --> 01:17:17.815 to overcome that anger. 01:17:18.498 --> 01:17:22.823 We have a practice we just call 'The five ways of putting an end to anger', 01:17:25.641 --> 01:17:28.279 in which there's one sentence that keeps coming back: 01:17:28.638 --> 01:17:33.608 'If you are angry and you are a wise, you will know how to meditate 01:17:33.837 --> 01:17:36.694 to put an end to your anger.' 01:17:36.881 --> 01:17:40.827 And it gives us five ways to look at the person we are angry with. 01:17:42.032 --> 01:17:47.127 'If there is someone whose bodily actions are not kind, but the words are kind, 01:17:47.673 --> 01:17:50.848 then do not pay attention to the bodily actions, 01:17:51.121 --> 01:17:55.288 only pay attention to their words, and that can help you 01:17:55.755 --> 01:17:58.702 to put an end to your anger. 01:17:59.135 --> 01:18:03.039 And when their words are not kind, but their bodily actions are kind, 01:18:03.318 --> 01:18:05.162 if you are wise, 01:18:05.341 --> 01:18:10.436 you do not pay attention to the words, but only pay attention to the bodily action.' 01:18:12.393 --> 01:18:16.119 It is recognizing that there is still a seed of kindness 01:18:16.320 --> 01:18:20.363 that is able to manifest itself in this person. 01:18:20.612 --> 01:18:23.352 And by recognizing that their words are kind, 01:18:23.538 --> 01:18:26.287 or in other case their bodily actions are kind, 01:18:26.731 --> 01:18:30.597 you may be able also to interact with them in a way 01:18:30.984 --> 01:18:35.722 that waters that seed of kindness in them. 01:18:36.694 --> 01:18:40.934 So instead of focusing on the unkind, to focus on the kind. 01:18:44.354 --> 01:18:48.752 Until we will help them bring about the change within themselves. 01:18:49.256 --> 01:18:55.249 So, if the bodily actions are not kind and neither the words are kind, 01:18:55.736 --> 01:18:58.581 then we need to look a little bit deeper. 01:18:58.770 --> 01:19:02.219 And we may notice that there is still somewhere in their heart, 01:19:02.395 --> 01:19:04.687 a little kindness. 01:19:05.016 --> 01:19:09.086 And then, we are advised to pay attention to that little kindness, 01:19:09.366 --> 01:19:12.104 and not to their words or actions. 01:19:12.245 --> 01:19:15.603 And maybe also nourish that little kindness in them. 01:19:26.873 --> 01:19:29.685 Then, you may all be waiting for the next one, 01:19:30.012 --> 01:19:33.437 if the bodily actions are not kind, the words are not kind 01:19:33.637 --> 01:19:40.706 and you cannot find any, any, any ounce of kindness in their hearts, 01:19:40.860 --> 01:19:43.240 then what? Are we then allowed to get angry? 01:19:43.772 --> 01:19:45.507 No, the Buddha says. 01:19:46.025 --> 01:19:48.822 If you meet somebody whose words are not kind, 01:19:49.017 --> 01:19:51.536 whose actions are not kind and who 01:19:51.711 --> 01:19:54.804 you cannot find any kindness in their heart, 01:19:54.995 --> 01:19:59.316 then, please, know that that person is suffering deeply, 01:20:00.082 --> 01:20:02.247 and they need your help. 01:20:02.426 --> 01:20:05.233 Find ways to help them. 01:20:07.406 --> 01:20:10.240 And I've looked into this 01:20:10.876 --> 01:20:13.338 time and time again, whenever I come to this, I think, 01:20:13.725 --> 01:20:15.815 how is that possible? 01:20:15.982 --> 01:20:17.964 And I realize - 01:20:18.238 --> 01:20:23.072 First I thought, Okay, if there is no kindness in their words, 01:20:23.690 --> 01:20:27.017 actions or in their heart, 01:20:27.510 --> 01:20:32.569 I need to find ways to help them, but they've caused another suffering. 01:20:37.235 --> 01:20:41.252 Until I realized, by helping them it doesn't mean 01:20:41.460 --> 01:20:46.192 that I condone what they did, said or thought. 01:20:47.220 --> 01:20:52.571 I didn't condone any of their actions of body, speech or mind. 01:20:52.935 --> 01:20:55.760 I just see that they must be suffering 01:20:55.919 --> 01:20:58.772 in order to cause so much suffering to others. 01:20:59.420 --> 01:21:03.966 And if we can help them, they may stop 01:21:05.774 --> 01:21:08.988 causing suffering with their words or deeds, 01:21:09.202 --> 01:21:13.785 and they may find some goodness in their heart. 01:21:15.597 --> 01:21:20.297 It was very important for me to discover that, to come to that insight. 01:21:21.719 --> 01:21:25.948 Help. So you may have people in your live 01:21:26.328 --> 01:21:28.814 and maybe people in your country, 01:21:29.127 --> 01:21:36.268 you don't see any kindness in actions, speech or maybe in their heart, 01:21:36.796 --> 01:21:39.509 but they need your help. 01:21:39.789 --> 01:21:43.721 Especially if it's someone who is or has a word to say 01:21:44.170 --> 01:21:48.272 about what happens in a country. They may need help. 01:21:49.501 --> 01:21:51.552 And Thay 01:21:52.087 --> 01:21:55.987 is a real great bodhisattva. 01:21:57.380 --> 01:22:01.635 I said before that the essence of the 14 mindfulness trainings, 01:22:01.821 --> 01:22:04.617 which are what we call bodhisattva trainings, 01:22:04.794 --> 01:22:07.481 is never to abandon anyone. 01:22:14.698 --> 01:22:18.270 Even if they cause great suffering. 01:22:21.318 --> 01:22:25.436 I shall never forget the 25th of September in 2001, 01:22:25.733 --> 01:22:31.120 when Thay gave a talk in a church, in New York. 01:22:35.706 --> 01:22:38.316 And Thay was responding 01:22:38.986 --> 01:22:42.266 to the 9/11 event. 01:22:42.787 --> 01:22:47.653 The attack on the... Trade Center? World? 01:22:49.365 --> 01:22:51.677 I was right, yes. 01:22:51.996 --> 01:22:55.258 On the buildings in New York, World Trade Center, I think it was called. 01:22:55.564 --> 01:22:57.655 Correct? Yes. 01:23:01.432 --> 01:23:04.392 First of all, I go back a little bit briefly. 01:23:04.987 --> 01:23:07.515 When we heard the news, 01:23:08.129 --> 01:23:12.307 we were in California, in a center, one of our centers in California, 01:23:12.505 --> 01:23:14.688 in Deer Park. 01:23:14.896 --> 01:23:18.536 So a number of our monastics went to Thay and said, 01:23:18.784 --> 01:23:21.877 'Thay, this has happened. Can we do something? 01:23:22.082 --> 01:23:25.559 Now we have to speak out, we have to do a walking meditation, 01:23:25.701 --> 01:23:28.640 a protest march, or something like that.' 01:23:28.979 --> 01:23:31.192 And Thay said, 'No. 01:23:32.147 --> 01:23:34.446 We are going to the beach.' 01:23:34.634 --> 01:23:37.611 And we went, 'We are going to the beach?' 01:23:38.598 --> 01:23:41.547 'Yes, we are going to the beach. Hire a bus we are going to the beach 01:23:41.704 --> 01:23:43.763 and we are bringing a picnic.' 01:23:43.929 --> 01:23:45.926 So we went to the beach. 01:23:46.088 --> 01:23:49.207 And as we go to the beach, Thay said, 'Go and play', it means, 01:23:49.420 --> 01:23:52.877 go and wait in the water playing soccer, whatever. 01:23:53.553 --> 01:23:58.193 And the attendants spread out a mat for Thay and Thay was lying down. 01:23:59.201 --> 01:24:02.183 And the whole time, as we were playing, 01:24:02.386 --> 01:24:05.606 Thay was just lying there. Very quietly. 01:24:05.856 --> 01:24:08.027 And then, we had lunch, 01:24:09.071 --> 01:24:14.233 and then we went back to the temple where we were staying. 01:24:14.417 --> 01:24:17.485 And then Thay called us together later, and said, 01:24:18.415 --> 01:24:22.586 Thay would give a talk in New York, and Thay would address the issue. 01:24:23.638 --> 01:24:27.825 So this is how Thay came to address the issue in New York. 01:24:28.106 --> 01:24:32.868 And before Thay went up to address the issue, 01:24:33.040 --> 01:24:36.908 we were with Thay, waiting. And Thay said, 01:24:37.794 --> 01:24:42.237 'What Thay is going to say may put Thay's life in danger, 01:24:42.430 --> 01:24:45.335 but Thay has to say it.' 01:24:46.963 --> 01:24:55.161 And in the speech, we started first by reading the invocation of Avalokita, 01:24:55.993 --> 01:25:01.016 evoking the energy of compassion of Avalokita. 01:25:01.318 --> 01:25:05.104 We chanted and then Thay gave the speech. 01:25:05.948 --> 01:25:09.517 And the basic message was, Thay said that 01:25:09.725 --> 01:25:15.600 America has to ask Iraq, what did we do 01:25:16.553 --> 01:25:20.328 for you to do this to us? 01:25:24.232 --> 01:25:27.275 Thay was not abandoning anybody. 01:25:27.552 --> 01:25:30.898 Everything is because of causes and conditions. 01:25:40.803 --> 01:25:45.135 So a bodhisattva never abandons anyone. 01:25:45.909 --> 01:25:50.168 And we do not condone that act. 01:25:51.742 --> 01:25:57.800 We do not, somebody who causes suffering, condone the act. But we try to see 01:25:57.980 --> 01:26:00.302 how we can help them. 01:26:00.463 --> 01:26:04.675 And by saying what Thay said, Thay was to say, 01:26:04.930 --> 01:26:07.448 'Okay, what can we do? 01:26:07.662 --> 01:26:10.175 What are we doing? Tell us.' 01:26:13.575 --> 01:26:16.609 To do this in our daily life 01:26:18.384 --> 01:26:23.319 is a real practice of a bodhisattva. We'll practice our compassion 01:26:23.771 --> 01:26:26.482 for ourselves and for others. 01:26:28.362 --> 01:26:33.545 And we can do it with the help of a kalyanamitra. 01:26:36.917 --> 01:26:41.815 We can do it, while practicing Right Diligence, 01:26:42.075 --> 01:26:47.288 to understand that everything is because of causes and conditions. 01:26:50.901 --> 01:26:52.941 And, 01:26:54.826 --> 01:27:00.293 compassion arises from understanding. If we have no understanding, 01:27:00.642 --> 01:27:03.354 compassion cannot arise. 01:27:03.540 --> 01:27:07.940 We can think we are compassionate, but if there is no understanding, 01:27:08.165 --> 01:27:12.214 we have to question whether that compassion is true compassion. 01:27:12.549 --> 01:27:15.777 Compassion is born from understanding. 01:27:15.940 --> 01:27:18.199 So, we start with ourselves, 01:27:18.363 --> 01:27:21.658 we look at ourselves with the eyes of compassion 01:27:21.826 --> 01:27:27.393 to understand why we think as we think, why we say what we say, 01:27:28.079 --> 01:27:30.636 why we do what we do. 01:27:30.810 --> 01:27:33.283 What seeds have we watered 01:27:33.438 --> 01:27:40.279 through our sense organs, our seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, 01:27:40.525 --> 01:27:43.700 and above all also through our thinking. 01:27:43.839 --> 01:27:47.851 We may see something, but we will think as a response. 01:27:48.049 --> 01:27:52.188 And what is that thinking? What is that watering in us? 01:27:56.111 --> 01:27:58.828 And the foundation is 01:27:59.714 --> 01:28:04.344 to generate the energy of mindfulness throughout the day 01:28:04.988 --> 01:28:08.448 by coming back to our breathing with the sound of the bell, 01:28:08.622 --> 01:28:11.234 bring our mind home to our body 01:28:11.408 --> 01:28:13.877 and by walking meditation. 01:28:14.068 --> 01:28:17.959 Walking mediation is a practice I take refuge in 01:28:18.380 --> 01:28:21.157 to make it, 01:28:22.510 --> 01:28:27.585 to make my steps walking meditation steps throughout the day. 01:28:27.915 --> 01:28:30.372 There are moments I forget. 01:28:30.530 --> 01:28:35.213 And then it may be the sound of a bird, a sister, a brother, a sound, 01:28:35.588 --> 01:28:39.795 that brings me back. And to touch the earth. 01:28:40.499 --> 01:28:44.594 As I said, when I see the picture of Mother Earth, 01:28:45.195 --> 01:28:49.118 I feel happy and I feel also a lot of care. 01:28:49.609 --> 01:28:55.278 So when I walk on Mother Earth, I really walk with gentleness 01:28:55.794 --> 01:28:59.957 and with gratitude for Mother Earth. 01:29:00.993 --> 01:29:05.301 Thay says, walk as if you are caressing Mother Earth. 01:29:05.512 --> 01:29:08.075 And I found if I have that, 01:29:08.210 --> 01:29:13.248 when we caress, it is very gentle, it doesn't go- 01:29:14.137 --> 01:29:17.476 With a bang we arrive on the earth and then we caress, 01:29:17.633 --> 01:29:20.639 on the earth or on a cat, or a beloved one, 01:29:20.994 --> 01:29:30.559 we even land on our beloved one gently, to caress gently. To land gently 01:29:30.794 --> 01:29:34.172 with our foot on the earth. The impact. 01:29:36.375 --> 01:29:39.108 When we hear somebody coming, 01:29:39.278 --> 01:29:43.163 by the sound of the footsteps, we can usually tell what the mood is. 01:29:43.345 --> 01:29:45.545 You know from school, when the teacher came, 01:29:45.690 --> 01:29:48.242 like, 'We'd better sit up straight and concentrate', 01:29:48.447 --> 01:29:51.036 or "'It's Okay.' You know? 01:29:51.174 --> 01:29:54.263 We hear. So the impact, 01:29:54.461 --> 01:29:57.924 to be aware of the impact between our foot and the earth, 01:29:58.092 --> 01:30:00.150 and to make it gentle. 01:30:00.300 --> 01:30:02.470 To walk with gentleness. 01:30:02.664 --> 01:30:04.460 And then, 01:30:04.601 --> 01:30:07.630 I have noticed, whatever the energy was before, 01:30:07.824 --> 01:30:10.974 when I start walking like that, 01:30:11.168 --> 01:30:17.524 there is an energy of care, of gentleness that comes up in me. 01:30:18.224 --> 01:30:20.588 And it feels 01:30:21.430 --> 01:30:23.709 wonderful. 01:30:23.905 --> 01:30:29.310 It is a very good way of practicing the Four Diligences. 01:30:29.995 --> 01:30:32.447 Walking meditation. 01:30:32.620 --> 01:30:40.509 It's a good way to avoid, to overcome, to encourage and to maintain. 01:30:40.900 --> 01:30:44.189 So we do not need to make time in the morning, in the evening, 01:30:44.367 --> 01:30:47.129 to have 20 minutes of sitting. 01:30:47.296 --> 01:30:50.483 In between, we can practice 01:30:51.506 --> 01:30:54.962 mindfulness throughout the days 01:30:55.355 --> 01:30:58.442 by enjoying our steps. 01:30:58.881 --> 01:31:02.327 So, thank you for listening, I will finish, here, 01:31:03.185 --> 01:31:07.938 and we will have walking meditation, 01:31:08.818 --> 01:31:11.783 weather permitting, before too long. 01:31:11.959 --> 01:31:15.208 Thank you. I wish everybody a happy practice. 01:31:23.322 --> 01:31:30.047 (Bell) 01:31:45.569 --> 01:31:51.519 (Bell) 01:32:04.760 --> 01:32:11.606 (Bell) 01:32:26.072 --> 01:32:27.610 (Bell)