0:00:00.000,0:00:08.284
Good morning, dear Sangha,
0:00:10.311,0:00:11.765
most respected Thay.
0:00:12.728,0:00:17.461
Dear Sangha, [br]today is the 22nd of September
0:00:18.058,0:00:21.838
in the year 2019, and we are in the[br]
0:00:21.967,0:00:25.574
Assembly of Stars Meditation Hall,[br]in the Lower Hamlet,
0:00:26.232,0:00:28.111
on our day of mindfulness.
0:00:28.798,0:00:33.020
And we shall begin by listening [br]to three sounds of the bell.
0:00:33.415,0:00:35.808
You can enjoy the sound of the rain,
0:00:36.360,0:00:40.503
and the feeling of your breath [br]in your body.
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[The bell is awoken.]
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[The bell is invited.]
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[The bell is invited.]
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[The bell is invited.]
0:02:25.825,0:02:28.337
Dear Sangha, about 30 years ago,
0:02:28.979,0:02:32.952
we were having a picnic with Thay [br]in the Upper Hamlet.
0:02:33.973,0:02:37.672
And we were sitting where [br]there used to be a forest,
0:02:37.682,0:02:44.454
but now there is the monk's residence.
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Well, not exactly a forest.
0:02:48.626,0:02:51.676
Green grass with some trees.
0:02:53.032,0:02:54.911
And it was a beautiful day.
0:02:55.169,0:02:58.909
And we put our hammocks between the trees
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after we had the picnic.
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And we lay down to have a siesta.
0:03:06.547,0:03:10.418
And then it started to rain very hard.
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So we had to go back [br]to the nearest building for shelter.
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And the nearest building was [br]the stone house, which had a veranda.
0:03:25.032,0:03:26.863
And we sat on the veranda.
0:03:27.594,0:03:31.517
And Thay said, "Chan Duc, [br]write a song about the rain."
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I don't know,
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The rain is falling[br]oo, so softly,
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washing every leaf of every tree,
0:04:06.844,0:04:11.825
washing every care.
0:04:12.751,0:04:21.736
Namo 'valokiteshvaraya,
0:04:22.911,0:04:32.341
Namo 'valokiteshvaraya.
0:04:33.954,0:04:46.624
The rain is falling, oo so-o strongly,
0:04:47.644,0:04:57.093
reaching every root of every tree.
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Reaching every root of affliction.
0:05:07.018,0:05:15.769
Namo 'valokiteshvaraya,
0:05:17.083,0:05:26.173
Namo 'valokiteshvaraya.
0:05:28.164,0:05:40.484
The rain is falling o-o so-o loudly,
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playing the music of joy [br]for 10,000's of beings.
0:05:54.022,0:06:02.752
Namo 'valokiteshvaraya,
0:06:03.554,0:06:12.154
Namo 'valokiteshvaraya.
0:06:13.966,0:06:15.585
So, dear Sangha,
0:06:15.585,0:06:23.715
in this song we can see[br]that the climate outside of us
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and the emotions and [br]mental formations inside of us
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are not two separate things.
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When we see the rain wash [br]the leaf of the tree,
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we also feel that [br]our worry is washed away.
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Because we are children of the Earth.
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We are the Earth.
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So whatever happens to the Earth,
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it also happens to us.
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And that is an insight that we've had[br]for a very long time.
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We didn't have to wait for climate change[br]to have that insight.
0:07:08.362,0:07:11.452
But before climate change took place,
0:07:11.881,0:07:15.881
people had forgotten that [br]they were the Earth.
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And therefore they didn't [br]take care of the Earth.
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And at the same time,[br]they didn't take care of themselves.
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But now we have that opportunity,
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to see that we are the Earth.
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And that means that every time [br]we take care of ourself,
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we take care of the Earth.
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And every time we take care of the Earth,
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we take care of ourself.
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And when I say "ourself", I really mean
0:07:50.951,0:07:52.591
"ourselves".
0:08:00.892,0:08:03.562
I really mean "ourselves",
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because we are not separate [br]from each other.
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If I take care of myself, [br]I'm taking care of you,
0:08:16.037,0:08:18.117
my fellow human being.
0:08:18.635,0:08:20.618
And I'm taking care of you,
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animal species,
0:08:25.118,0:08:31.777
the plant species, [br]and the mineral species.
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We are very lucky in a way [br]to be living in this time.
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Because it's a time of urgency.
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And it's a time [br]that forces us to look deeply
0:08:52.649,0:08:55.349
at our relationship with the Earth,
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and our relationship with each other.
0:08:59.475,0:09:03.675
And if we did not have the threat [br]that we might not be here very long,
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we might be lazy to make that effort.
0:09:10.017,0:09:14.487
That is one human characteristic,[br]is a little bit lazy.
0:09:15.577,0:09:20.007
And the Buddha said that we are fortunate[br]to be born human beings,
0:09:20.143,0:09:23.117
because if we are born a god,
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then maybe everything is going our way,
0:09:26.412,0:09:30.669
and we feel very happy, [br]and everything is OK,
0:09:32.042,0:09:36.322
and so we don't really get [br]down to the practice.
0:09:36.559,0:09:38.359
But when we're a human being,
0:09:39.210,0:09:40.946
there is quite a bit of ...
0:09:41.444,0:09:42.966
things are not OK,
0:09:43.454,0:09:45.504
and quite a bit of suffering,
0:09:45.883,0:09:51.793
and so that is an impulse [br]for us to practice.
0:09:57.141,0:10:01.481
So today we have to talk [br]about the Bodhicitta.
0:10:03.046,0:10:09.821
Bodhicitta is sometimes translated [br]as the Mind of Love.
0:10:11.259,0:10:17.859
Sometimes translated [br]as the Mind of Awakening.
0:10:21.256,0:10:26.878
And we have the same word "bodhi" [br]in the word Bodhisattva.
0:10:29.659,0:10:32.256
And "citta" means our mind,
0:10:32.256,0:10:36.413
and "bodhi" means awakening.
0:10:37.500,0:10:40.734
It's the same root as the word for Buddha.
0:10:41.214,0:10:45.854
If you are Russian, then you know [br]that the word for "wake up"
0:10:46.139,0:10:50.036
is also from the same root, "Budta".
0:10:54.276,0:10:56.797
So we need to wake up.
0:10:57.937,0:11:01.176
Homo sapiens needs to wake up.
0:11:02.170,0:11:04.330
And become homo...
0:11:05.667,0:11:09.087
I can't remember the Latin word [br]for being awake.
0:11:09.347,0:11:14.517
Vigila, vigilatus or something, vigilatus?
0:11:15.447,0:11:19.447
We need to become "man awake"
0:11:19.493,0:11:22.223
rather than homo sapiens,
0:11:22.958,0:11:25.816
a name we gave to ourselves.
0:11:26.041,0:11:30.041
I don't know whether we gave it [br]to ourselves very correctly.
0:11:30.467,0:11:32.687
"Sapiens" means "wise",
0:11:32.687,0:11:36.214
but I don't know if we're always so wise.
0:11:38.300,0:11:40.540
But enough of this kind of wisdom,
0:11:40.540,0:11:44.840
we need to go forward [br]and become awake.
0:11:46.016,0:11:50.466
And we are lucky, because [br]we have the teachings of mindfulness.
0:11:51.424,0:11:55.424
And mindfulness is what keeps us awake,
0:11:55.937,0:11:57.697
makes us awake.
0:12:06.427,0:12:14.252
A bodhisattva means "a being [br]who is waking up,"
0:12:15.530,0:12:21.610
or "a being who is helping [br]other beings to wake up."
0:12:22.888,0:12:26.888
And now as a species [br]we have an opportunity
0:12:26.888,0:12:29.398
to practice waking up.
0:12:30.734,0:12:33.194
And every generation,
0:12:33.194,0:12:40.827
every era of the human species [br]has been here, on planet Earth,
0:12:41.774,0:12:48.444
there have been things [br]that we've needed to wake up to.
0:12:50.304,0:12:53.203
And now the thing [br]that we need to wake up to
0:12:54.281,0:12:56.991
is that we've done a lot of damage,
0:12:57.811,0:13:02.211
we're still doing a lot of damage [br]as a human species.
0:13:03.644,0:13:09.304
Geologists call our age the Anthropocene,
0:13:11.240,0:13:14.070
the age that is made by,
0:13:14.070,0:13:18.070
the geology is made by the humans.
0:13:18.493,0:13:24.013
It's not made by natural processes[br]in the Earth anymore.
0:13:25.467,0:13:30.237
If you take a look at the Earth,[br]you will find many chicken bones in it.
0:13:31.427,0:13:37.377
And those chicken bones, they come from[br]human beings eating too many chickens.
0:13:38.347,0:13:41.727
So as human beings,
0:13:41.727,0:13:48.081
we are making Mother Earth [br]what she is becoming.
0:13:49.362,0:13:52.952
And we are children of Mother Earth.
0:13:53.639,0:13:55.779
So we want to wake up.
0:13:56.163,0:14:00.403
And we want to wake up to the fact[br]that we inter-are.
0:14:01.171,0:14:06.591
We are interconnected [br]with everything on the Earth.
0:14:07.720,0:14:10.680
And what better opportunity
0:14:11.259,0:14:13.916
than when you are eating a meal.
0:14:14.798,0:14:17.192
Eating in mindfulness,
0:14:17.843,0:14:21.498
relating to the food that you are eating.
0:14:24.177,0:14:27.802
When I was young, when I was a teenager,
0:14:30.730,0:14:32.660
in my early twenties,
0:14:33.268,0:14:37.488
I suffered from something called [br]anorexia nervosa.
0:14:38.938,0:14:41.258
This meant that I didn't eat.
0:14:41.737,0:14:43.923
I didn't want to eat anything.
0:14:45.961,0:14:50.701
And it's very damaging for my body.
0:14:51.349,0:14:54.872
And it's also damaging for my mind.
0:14:57.531,0:15:04.871
And it planted seeds in my body [br]and my mind which harm myself.
0:15:05.705,0:15:08.185
And so I realize that at that time,
0:15:08.185,0:15:12.465
I was also harming my Mother Earth.
0:15:13.102,0:15:18.562
I was also harming [br]my genetic mother and father,
0:15:19.047,0:15:22.090
who had to worry a lot about me.
0:15:24.280,0:15:28.620
But at the time, I was not aware [br]of what I was doing.
0:15:29.752,0:15:34.162
I did not have the bodhicitta, [br]the mind that was awake.
0:15:34.771,0:15:39.661
I was not the waking up Bodhisattva.
0:15:40.429,0:15:44.501
It took me some time to realize [br]what I was doing.
0:15:45.972,0:15:53.962
And eating in mindfulness [br]is what can restore,
0:15:54.817,0:15:59.647
what restores my right relationship [br]with what I am eating.
0:16:02.138,0:16:07.897
So I am very grateful [br]for the practice of mindful eating.
0:16:09.147,0:16:12.057
And when I put something in my mouth.
0:16:12.559,0:16:15.970
I put a spoon of millet in my mouth.
0:16:16.769,0:16:21.019
I feel closely connected [br]to the whole universe.
0:16:21.601,0:16:27.421
I feel connected to the sun, to the stars,
0:16:28.797,0:16:31.437
and to the Earth under my feet,
0:16:31.915,0:16:34.645
and the atmosphere around me,
0:16:34.706,0:16:38.217
which contains the clouds and the rain.
0:16:38.561,0:16:43.731
And I feel all these things [br]are coming together to nourish me.
0:16:44.506,0:16:47.910
And my heart is filled with gratitude.
0:16:49.264,0:16:52.514
And I know that as a child of the Earth,
0:16:53.253,0:16:58.283
I am being nourished by the Earth.
0:17:00.174,0:17:02.877
And as I eat in mindfulness,
0:17:03.403,0:17:08.473
I am also aware [br]of where the food comes from.
0:17:09.889,0:17:13.472
And if the food that I am eating
0:17:14.595,0:17:22.255
is contributing [br]to global carbon footprint.
0:17:23.315,0:17:29.775
So I have to be aware of where, [br]how far away the food has come from.
0:17:30.279,0:17:34.969
what kind of transport the food used[br]to come to me.
0:17:37.767,0:17:41.204
And I still see that when I eat,
0:17:41.658,0:17:46.278
there is some carbon footprint [br]in what I eat.
0:17:47.312,0:17:51.542
But that does not take away [br]my joy of eating,
0:17:51.922,0:17:58.354
because although I want to minimize [br]the carbon footprint of what I eat,
0:17:59.366,0:18:08.426
at the same I know that the most important[br]thing is my relationship to Mother Earth,
0:18:10.847,0:18:12.817
to the atmosphere.
0:18:13.226,0:18:16.432
And when I feel that deep gratitude in me,
0:18:17.161,0:18:21.169
and that deep aspiration [br]to take care of the Earth,
0:18:21.536,0:18:23.677
as I take care of myself.
0:18:24.066,0:18:28.626
I know that I am doing the very best[br]that I can.
0:18:32.091,0:18:35.669
So we said that bodhicitta means,
0:18:36.462,0:18:40.642
literally it means the mind of awakening.
0:18:41.717,0:18:49.181
But Thay has translated this into English[br]as the mind of love.
0:18:50.370,0:18:55.750
As if awakening and love [br]are not two separate things.
0:18:57.076,0:19:05.198
And we know also that understanding [br]and love are not two separate things.
0:19:06.399,0:19:09.164
So when I sit and I eat a meal,
0:19:10.359,0:19:16.157
I am also aware of my brothers, my sisters
0:19:16.347,0:19:21.927
who are eating with me, [br]because they also are the Earth.
0:19:22.777,0:19:25.697
They also are children of the Earth.
0:19:26.477,0:19:30.727
And if I cannot understand them [br]and love them,
0:19:31.155,0:19:36.869
then I cannot understand [br]and love the Earth either.
0:19:37.978,0:19:42.198
So a meal time is not just being [br]grateful for the food,
0:19:44.073,0:19:49.883
feeling love for Mother Earth and [br]the universe that has produced the food,
0:19:50.820,0:19:56.140
but it's also feeling grateful to our[br]brothers and sisters who are with us,
0:19:56.875,0:20:01.801
and feeling love for our brothers[br]and sisters who are with us.
0:20:07.096,0:20:11.326
During the day, I keep alive
0:20:12.566,0:20:14.387
with my mindfulness
0:20:15.054,0:20:17.838
and with the use of the gathas,
0:20:18.654,0:20:23.064
my awareness of Mother Earth.
0:20:24.709,0:20:28.929
When I wash my hands, I wash my hands
0:20:29.456,0:20:35.743
that all may have hands blessed[br]to save this planet Earth.
0:20:36.803,0:20:39.530
And I know that when I wash my hands,
0:20:39.951,0:20:42.555
I want to be 100% there,
0:20:43.400,0:20:45.900
because I am in touch with the water,
0:20:46.728,0:20:51.338
and the water is such a precious gift
0:20:51.989,0:20:54.329
of the Earth and the sky.
0:20:56.576,0:21:02.800
And we know that sources of clean water
0:21:03.440,0:21:06.447
in the Earth are drying up.
0:21:07.161,0:21:09.932
The aquifers are drying up.
0:21:10.415,0:21:16.115
Those great underground rivers that [br]used to be there, are no longer there.
0:21:17.648,0:21:23.026
And so clean water is a precious, [br]precious gift.
0:21:23.811,0:21:27.281
And so I want to do my best [br]not to waste it.
0:21:28.431,0:21:31.321
Even though it's very difficult sometimes
0:21:31.321,0:21:35.768
to adjust the tap so that too much water[br]doesn't come out,
0:21:36.196,0:21:41.319
it is a joy for me to be able to adjust it
0:21:41.319,0:21:47.013
so that just the right amount of water [br]that I need comes out.
0:21:47.818,0:21:50.703
And I can catch that water in a bowl.
0:21:51.621,0:21:55.206
I don't have to let it keep flowing.
0:21:55.206,0:21:59.426
And then I can take the water [br]from the bowl and wash my face.
0:22:00.831,0:22:04.081
So these things are not an effort.
0:22:04.081,0:22:07.282
It doesn't take an effort to do that.
0:22:07.768,0:22:10.773
I do not have to force myself to do this.
0:22:11.537,0:22:15.907
Because I am the Earth,
0:22:16.515,0:22:18.316
and the Earth is me.
0:22:18.703,0:22:20.693
And when I take care of the Earth,
0:22:20.693,0:22:22.807
I take care of the water,
0:22:23.418,0:22:27.212
I am taking care of me.
0:22:30.985,0:22:35.285
And there are so many things [br]that we do during the day
0:22:35.772,0:22:39.473
which can keep us in our relationship,
0:22:39.768,0:22:42.608
our right relationship with the Earth
0:22:43.210,0:22:45.626
And of course, the most important one
0:22:46.378,0:22:49.169
is walking on the Earth,
0:22:50.058,0:22:55.605
On Friday,
0:22:57.089,0:22:59.851
some of us had an opportunity
0:23:00.869,0:23:06.875
to walk on the Earth, for maybe two hours.
0:23:08.715,0:23:13.015
And we really had to concentrate,[br]or at least, I did.
0:23:14.166,0:23:17.446
Because there was a lot of noise [br]going on around,
0:23:18.032,0:23:21.605
and if I wasn't careful,[br]I would lose my concentration.
0:23:22.592,0:23:25.742
So I had to use the gatha,[br]I used the gatha
0:23:27.026,0:23:30.448
"I am home, I have arrived,
0:23:30.914,0:23:33.649
in the here, in the now.
0:23:34.376,0:23:37.788
I am solid, I am free.
0:23:38.589,0:23:44.394
In the ultimate, the realm of [br]no birth and no death, I dwell."
0:23:45.516,0:23:50.106
And practice that solidly.
0:23:51.035,0:23:55.265
And the next morning when I woke up,[br]I was still practicing it.
0:23:55.823,0:24:03.400
Because two hours is quite a long time [br]to practise one gatha.
0:24:05.206,0:24:10.109
But this gatha is very important for us,
0:24:10.109,0:24:12.956
who are taking care of the earth.
0:24:14.198,0:24:16.696
First of all we see the earth as our home.
0:24:19.188,0:24:27.609
Secondly, we see that we have arrived [br]where we are.
0:24:29.270,0:24:31.608
This is a teaching of Plum Village,
0:24:32.671,0:24:35.733
the three times inter-are.
0:24:36.927,0:24:41.196
The past, the present and the future.
0:24:42.098,0:24:45.076
They're not three separate realities.
0:24:46.557,0:24:49.123
Some schools of Buddhism say,
0:24:49.637,0:24:55.266
the past, the present and the future [br]exist as separate realities.
0:24:55.957,0:24:59.114
Some say there's only the present moment.
0:25:00.168,0:25:06.783
Thay, in Plum Village, has taught us[br]that the three times inter-are.
0:25:07.479,0:25:10.811
So when I have arrived [br]in the present moment,
0:25:11.899,0:25:15.637
it doesn't mean to say [br]that the past is not there,
0:25:16.433,0:25:19.078
or the future is not there.
0:25:20.351,0:25:24.437
The best way I can take care of the future
0:25:25.461,0:25:29.395
is to take care of the present moment.
0:25:30.251,0:25:37.341
The present moment is what it is[br]because of the past moment.
0:25:39.920,0:25:43.986
So I have arrived is important.
0:25:44.659,0:25:48.670
It's important to keep myself[br]in the present moment,
0:25:49.294,0:25:52.028
in order to take care of the future.
0:25:53.281,0:25:56.591
That doesn't mean to say [br]that I close my eyes,
0:25:57.437,0:26:02.192
that I'm not awake to [br]what could happen in the future
0:26:03.441,0:26:06.859
The reason I know [br]what could happen in the future
0:26:07.429,0:26:10.692
is because I know what's happening [br]in the present.
0:26:12.449,0:26:19.354
Of course we care very much [br]about keeping to 1.5 degrees
0:26:23.605,0:26:26.261
and we know the ways we can do this,
0:26:26.525,0:26:28.456
we are aware of all that.
0:26:30.394,0:26:34.471
But we have to practise[br]to keep ourselves solid,
0:26:35.503,0:26:38.603
to keep ourselves free[br]in the present moment.
0:26:39.205,0:26:41.036
Otherwise we will burn out
0:26:41.548,0:26:45.024
and we'll not be able [br]to do the things we want to do
0:26:45.550,0:26:47.544
in order to get everyone to help,
0:26:48.285,0:26:49.506
to help the earth.
0:26:52.282,0:26:54.637
So when you become a monk or a nun,
0:26:55.434,0:27:00.148
it is said you become a monk or a nun[br]because of the Bodhicitta,
0:27:00.825,0:27:03.031
because of the mind of awakening,
0:27:03.492,0:27:05.882
because of the mind of love
0:27:06.389,0:27:09.830
which is there, for all of us,[br]in the store consciousness.
0:27:10.758,0:27:15.508
When you shave your head, the first time [br]and every time after,
0:27:16.253,0:27:17.653
you say a poem.
0:27:20.078,0:27:21.187
[speaking vietnamese]
0:27:23.543,0:27:26.852
Shedding my hair completely,
0:27:27.641,0:27:30.506
I make the great vow today
0:27:32.674,0:27:39.570
that all people [br]will transform their afflictions
0:27:41.218,0:27:48.898
and all species will go [br]to the other shore.
0:27:54.799,0:28:00.379
[speaks vietnamese]
0:28:00.877,0:28:02.357
for the world, yes.
0:28:02.500,0:28:06.646
And we can take the world [br]and all its species to the other shore.
0:28:07.857,0:28:11.857
That is a very strong vow.
0:28:13.368,0:28:17.698
When you vow deeply like that [br]on the day when you shave your head
0:28:18.450,0:28:25.280
you're realizing that you are [br]not separate from all species.
0:28:25.829,0:28:29.442
You're not separate from all human beings
0:28:30.644,0:28:37.949
and your suffering and their suffering[br]are not two separate things.
0:28:39.000,0:28:40.919
And so you come into the monastery
0:28:41.380,0:28:47.015
in order to be able to first of all [br]transform your own afflictions
0:28:47.568,0:28:51.427
and then you see that transforming [br]your own afflictions
0:28:52.222,0:28:54.403
is helping other people to do it.
0:28:54.976,0:28:56.633
You don't have to make an effort
0:28:57.302,0:29:00.553
to help other people [br]to transform their afflictions.
0:29:01.211,0:29:05.779
When you transform, they only [br]quite naturally will do that.
0:29:07.334,0:29:09.102
And that is the Bodhicitta.
0:29:09.679,0:29:12.554
The other gatha that you will read,
0:29:13.369,0:29:16.768
when you receive your robe:
0:29:19.654,0:29:23.972
How beautiful is the robe[br]of a monk or a nun,
0:29:24.856,0:29:27.435
it's a field of all good seeds.
0:29:28.120,0:29:31.199
I bow my head to receive it today,
0:29:32.231,0:29:37.549
and I vow to wear it life after life.
0:29:39.969,0:29:41.471
I used to think that.
0:29:44.200,0:29:49.787
Now I'm 70. [br]I don't think I'll live much longer.
0:29:50.674,0:29:55.653
So maybe I will avoid [br]all the climate change
0:29:58.859,0:30:03.379
But then I saw that is wrong feeling.[br]It is wrong view.
0:30:04.392,0:30:12.139
It is the view of nihilation[br]that I will cease to exist.
0:30:12.491,0:30:15.229
I won't have to go through climate change.
0:30:15.597,0:30:20.743
Yesterday I saw a poster, on Friday,[br]that said
0:30:22.340,0:30:29.292
You will die from old age,[br]but we will die from climate change.
0:30:30.454,0:30:32.369
That is written by a young person.
0:30:34.281,0:30:36.331
I used to think like that too.
0:30:37.202,0:30:39.338
But I don't think like that anymore.
0:30:40.207,0:30:42.009
I know that I will continue.
0:30:42.444,0:30:44.177
I know that I will be there.
0:30:45.581,0:30:51.520
In maybe a slightly different form[br]to go through climate change.
0:30:52.758,0:30:58.537
So I vow to wear my robe life after life.
0:30:59.044,0:31:00.737
Not just for this lifetime,
0:31:01.319,0:31:05.646
because I know that my practise [br]as a solid practitioner
0:31:06.181,0:31:09.749
will be needed in future lifetimes also.
0:31:11.077,0:31:15.478
So these two gathas, in a way,[br]they represent the Bodhicitta.
0:31:17.447,0:31:21.719
I remember when I was young,[br]I was a lay person,
0:31:23.504,0:31:30.656
I wanted to go and do something[br]to help the world.
0:31:32.126,0:31:33.916
And that is Bodhicitta.
0:31:35.102,0:31:37.332
We don't think about our own comfort.
0:31:38.831,0:31:41.993
We think about doing something[br]to really help.
0:31:42.766,0:31:45.878
I wanted there to be peace in the world.
0:31:46.211,0:31:49.410
I didn't want there to be [br]nuclear armaments
0:31:50.678,0:31:54.121
and that morning I got up.
0:31:55.726,0:32:00.086
I told myself I'm not going [br]to sleep in the house anymore.
0:32:00.719,0:32:02.793
I'm going to sleep outside.
0:32:04.644,0:32:08.853
So that night I slept outside,[br]and it was freezing.
0:32:09.715,0:32:11.783
The temperature was below zero.
0:32:12.289,0:32:16.133
But I slept in my sleeping bag,[br]it wasn't too bad.
0:32:16.273,0:32:19.051
And then in my sleeping bag [br]it was about freezing.
0:32:20.048,0:32:24.216
With my sleeping bag [br]and a pair of rubber boots,
0:32:25.555,0:32:27.758
I said, "I'm going to Greenham Common."
0:32:28.263,0:32:29.732
And then I felt so free,
0:32:30.132,0:32:33.649
I felt like a bird [br]that was let outside of its cage.
0:32:35.490,0:32:38.952
Then I walked and I walked, [br]until my feet couldn't walk anymore.
0:32:41.421,0:32:43.957
I felt that wonderful sense of freedom.
0:32:45.575,0:32:47.903
You have the whole world before you.
0:32:48.338,0:32:53.306
and you have your aspiration [br]to do something for the world,
0:32:54.053,0:32:57.353
because the world is not you.
0:32:58.416,0:32:59.609
The world is you.
0:33:02.539,0:33:05.576
You do something for the world,[br]you do it for yourself.
0:33:14.205,0:33:20.968
♪ Breathe and you know [br]that you are alive, ♪
0:33:21.801,0:33:29.068
♪ breathe and you know [br]that what is helping you ♪
0:33:30.093,0:33:37.148
♪ Breathe and you know [br]that you are the world ♪
0:33:37.998,0:33:45.300
♪ breathe and you know [br]that the flower is breathing too. ♪
0:33:46.386,0:33:53.947
♪ Breathe for yourself [br]and you breathe for the world ♪
0:33:54.963,0:34:02.474
♪ breathe in compassion [br]and breathe out joy. ♪
0:34:03.026,0:34:04.532
So that is...
0:34:07.108,0:34:12.318
One of the wrong views in Buddhism is, [br]I am the world and the world is me.
0:34:13.945,0:34:17.030
That wrong view is a little bit [br]in that song.
0:34:18.260,0:34:21.129
But when I say that I am the world,
0:34:21.870,0:34:24.419
I mean I inter-am with the world.
0:34:27.295,0:34:30.096
The world is not a separate self-entity.
0:34:30.707,0:34:33.798
I am not a separate self-entity.
0:34:39.207,0:34:42.035
Becoming a nun is a little bit like that,
0:34:43.364,0:34:48.919
is having a deep aspiration[br]to do something,
0:34:49.645,0:34:51.395
to do something for the world.
0:34:52.614,0:34:56.784
You just get up and you go[br]and you do that.
0:34:58.671,0:35:01.618
You don't worry too much [br]about your comfort.
0:35:08.609,0:35:12.645
Awareness of impermanence
0:35:13.635,0:35:20.827
is also an important contribution[br]to our Bodhicitta.
0:35:23.250,0:35:27.929
We all know that there are two kinds [br]of impermanence.
0:35:29.234,0:35:33.837
There's the kind of impermanence[br]that is happening at every second,
0:35:33.837,0:35:35.415
every instant.
0:35:36.203,0:35:41.155
You are not the same person[br]as when you came into this hall.
0:35:42.258,0:35:44.771
Cells have died in your body
0:35:45.408,0:35:48.002
and new cells have been born.
0:35:48.801,0:35:51.388
The feelings you had when you came in
0:35:52.104,0:35:54.854
are different from the feelings [br]you have now.
0:35:55.477,0:35:59.718
And your perceptions are different,[br]your mental formations are different.
0:36:00.023,0:36:02.321
Your consciousness is different.
0:36:02.891,0:36:09.679
So it's that instant impermanence, [br]happening at every instant is one kind,
0:36:10.815,0:36:17.869
and then there's the impermanence when [br]some major change happens in your life.
0:36:20.068,0:36:23.908
You are no longer a child, [br]you are a teenager.
0:36:23.908,0:36:26.812
You're no longer middle-aged, you're old.
0:36:29.307,0:36:33.061
Your death certificate is signed.
0:36:33.932,0:36:38.691
Those kind of things we call [br]'the cyclical impermanence'.
0:36:40.414,0:36:43.247
Maybe 65 million years ago,
0:36:44.631,0:36:46.640
when, we don't quite know why,
0:36:46.808,0:36:51.164
but maybe a meteorite [br]hit our dear mother earth,
0:36:52.091,0:36:57.555
then three quarters of the species [br]on earth went extinct,
0:36:58.067,0:37:01.071
and that was a cyclical impermanence.
0:37:02.410,0:37:07.539
And now we're also facing [br]a cyclical impermanence.
0:37:08.894,0:37:14.865
The end of the human species [br]may be the end of life on earth,
0:37:14.965,0:37:18.981
at least temporarily [br]the end of life on earth,
0:37:19.608,0:37:24.815
until earth recovers enough [br]to be able for life to come about again.
0:37:25.329,0:37:28.839
Because the sun will be there [br]for billions of years more
0:37:29.461,0:37:31.299
to support life on earth.
0:37:32.306,0:37:34.947
So even if we destroy everything now,
0:37:37.484,0:37:40.271
maybe a rebirth in the future.
0:37:42.598,0:37:44.867
So this cyclical impermanence,
0:37:45.091,0:37:48.692
this awareness of impermanence [br]is so important.
0:37:49.568,0:37:52.542
We have this gatha [br]which we use when we're angry.
0:37:57.424,0:38:01.055
Being angry I know I'm angry
0:38:01.775,0:38:04.818
in the historical dimension.
0:38:05.717,0:38:07.680
I close my eyes.
0:38:08.537,0:38:11.280
It's very important to close your eyes.
0:38:11.591,0:38:14.713
Don't look at the person [br]who's making you angry,
0:38:15.025,0:38:17.909
it'll only water the seed of anger in you.
0:38:18.797,0:38:22.306
I close my eyes and look deeply.
0:38:23.670,0:38:27.798
300 years from now, where will you be?
0:38:28.440,0:38:29.894
And where shall I be?
0:38:30.898,0:38:34.488
Then we remind ourselves [br]that I am impermanent,
0:38:34.889,0:38:37.304
I'm not going to be here much longer.
0:38:37.687,0:38:41.747
You're impermanent. [br]You're not going to be here much longer.
0:38:41.959,0:38:44.371
If we can remind ourselves of that,
0:38:44.820,0:38:49.490
all we want to do is take the other person[br]in our arms and say,
0:38:50.201,0:38:53.084
we're so grateful that you're still there.
0:38:54.651,0:39:02.391
When I was staying in Israel,[br]in Palestine, one time,
0:39:03.520,0:39:06.769
the people there that I was [br]staying with, told me:
0:39:07.058,0:39:10.344
"every day when my partner goes to work,
0:39:10.972,0:39:17.170
I don't know if I'll see him [br]or her in the evening.
0:39:17.637,0:39:23.670
And so, we relish each moment [br]of having breakfast together.
0:39:26.188,0:39:33.418
We hug each other before going to work,[br]we know that it may be the last time.
0:39:34.169,0:39:36.360
So it's a very deep hug.
0:39:37.690,0:39:42.980
When you hug somebody deeply,[br]and you breathe in and you breathe out,
0:39:43.545,0:39:45.252
you just follow your breathing,
0:39:46.435,0:39:52.664
and then you'll recognize how wonderful[br]this person is warm, this person is alive,
0:39:53.468,0:39:57.793
and you also recognize, [br]it won't always be like that.
0:39:58.668,0:40:03.251
I won't always be warm and alive,[br]nor will the other.
0:40:03.565,0:40:08.040
And when you recognize that, [br]you see how important this moment is.
0:40:08.359,0:40:13.059
This moment is [br]the most important momentof our life.
0:40:13.949,0:40:18.277
And you enjoy it deeply, [br]and you enjoy it fully.
0:40:18.926,0:40:25.553
and you may do as Blake did [br]and see eternity in an hour,
0:40:25.869,0:40:31.999
well not in an hour, [br]eternity in a second, in a minute.
0:40:34.314,0:40:39.276
So it's the same when I contemplate[br]on the impermanence of Mother Earth.
0:40:41.435,0:40:47.129
It makes me want to enjoy [br]every moment on mother Earth.
0:40:48.015,0:40:51.491
I want to enjoy [br]all the beauties of nature,
0:40:52.374,0:40:57.125
everything that's wonderful on the earth,[br]I want to enjoy it deeply,
0:40:57.859,0:41:01.063
because I don't know [br]how long it will be there for.
0:41:02.287,0:41:05.338
So in a way, I'm grateful [br]for that not-knowing.
0:41:06.827,0:41:11.874
I think the dinosaurs didn't know that[br]a meteorite was going to hit the planet
0:41:12.803,0:41:15.094
and they were going to become extinct.
0:41:15.603,0:41:19.522
So they didn't have the chance [br]to enjoy every moment.
0:41:20.936,0:41:23.432
We do have a bit of time,
0:41:24.817,0:41:28.221
we're in a bit of a different situation[br]from the dinosaurs,
0:41:29.093,0:41:31.602
which means we can enjoy every moment.
0:41:32.478,0:41:35.558
And enjoying our relationship [br]with the earth,
0:41:35.827,0:41:38.260
enjoying what's beautiful on the earth.
0:41:38.652,0:41:41.658
We don't have to make an effort [br]to conserve it.
0:41:43.068,0:41:45.400
We just do it out of love.
0:41:46.559,0:41:50.728
In Thay's book Love letters to the earth
0:41:51.233,0:41:55.233
Thay tells us he's in love with the earth.
0:41:55.871,0:41:59.029
Every time before Thay [br]goes outside for a walk,
0:41:59.255,0:42:02.814
Thay tells himself, "Oh, [br]I'm going to meet my loved one.
0:42:03.355,0:42:06.812
I'm going to see all these beautiful [br]and wonderful things."
0:42:08.134,0:42:12.225
And Thay said that [br]if we can have a relationship
0:42:13.618,0:42:15.901
of falling in love with the earth,
0:42:16.798,0:42:21.773
that's the best thing we can do [br]to take care of the earth.
0:42:24.816,0:42:26.971
If we don't have that relationship,
0:42:28.050,0:42:32.195
it's possible that we'll not be able [br]to take care of the earth.
0:42:33.778,0:42:38.921
Some of us really become burned out[br]trying to take care of the earth.
0:42:39.863,0:42:44.639
Some of us put a lot of pressure[br]on ourselves to do things,
0:42:45.294,0:42:47.323
to keep taking care of the earth.
0:42:48.546,0:42:50.951
But we forgot about ourselves,
0:42:50.951,0:42:53.921
we forgot to take care of ourselves.
0:42:55.537,0:42:58.765
We forgot we are a child of the earth.
0:43:02.052,0:43:09.811
So, just to be able to do nothing[br]is also a way of taking care of the earth.
0:43:10.792,0:43:14.933
To sit peacefully on the earth,[br]restore your self,
0:43:15.421,0:43:17.096
to rest and do nothing.
0:43:19.205,0:43:23.277
You may say you're not doing anything[br]to take care of the earth, but you are.
0:43:24.172,0:43:29.571
With every breath that restores you,[br]you are helping the earth.
0:43:36.168,0:43:37.728
[The bell is awoken.]
0:43:39.275,0:43:44.667
[The bell is invited.]
0:44:50.490,0:44:54.771
This morning, when we were practising[br]the guided meditation
0:44:54.771,0:44:57.937
before the Dharma talk,
0:44:58.652,0:45:03.192
when we got to the tongue[br]I thought we were going to be aware
0:45:03.192,0:45:07.473
of the taste of the rain on our tongue.
0:45:10.319,0:45:13.050
So I was practising that [br]in advance of it.
0:45:46.273,0:45:48.491
So when we talk about Bodhicitta,
0:45:50.626,0:45:53.351
we could talk about 'my' Bodhicitta,
0:45:55.750,0:46:00.508
but I think it might be not right [br]to talk about 'my' Bodhicitta.
0:46:02.418,0:46:07.027
Because Bodhicitta is [br]a seed in consciousness.
0:46:08.444,0:46:11.404
It's a seed [br]in the collective consciousness,
0:46:12.677,0:46:16.040
not just in my consciousness.
0:46:17.978,0:46:22.384
And it's been handed down [br]from my ancestors,
0:46:27.206,0:46:28.618
my mother, my father,
0:46:30.307,0:46:34.447
even though they may not have known it, [br]they also have the Bodhicitta.
0:46:39.145,0:46:46.365
So when you practise the meditation[br]on your mother and your father,
0:46:47.610,0:46:49.517
as five year old children,
0:46:51.810,0:46:56.320
you don't just see only that your mother[br]and father suffered
0:46:57.186,0:46:58.835
as five year old children,
0:46:59.413,0:47:01.840
although it's very important to see that,
0:47:02.459,0:47:06.479
so that you can give rise [br]to compassion for your mother and father,
0:47:07.464,0:47:14.244
but you also see that your parents, [br]as five year old children,
0:47:14.673,0:47:16.337
have the Bodhicitta,
0:47:16.662,0:47:18.367
have the mind of love,
0:47:19.937,0:47:24.785
and therefore they have [br]the capacity to transform their suffering,
0:47:25.472,0:47:28.544
and they've handed that capacity [br]on to you.
0:47:31.173,0:47:32.664
You look at the children,
0:47:33.747,0:47:41.225
you can see that intuitively they know [br]how to offer love to others.
0:47:42.546,0:47:44.516
Sometimes, in Christianity,
0:47:44.516,0:47:51.694
you say that you have to be a child [br]in order to enter the Kingdom of God.
0:47:53.345,0:48:00.310
Every day we want to walk on the earth [br]as if we're walking in the kingdom of God,
0:48:00.668,0:48:04.175
as if we're walking in the Pure Land.
0:48:05.067,0:48:09.207
I used to think the Earth [br]was not a perfect place.
0:48:10.179,0:48:14.179
There would be somewhere better,[br]there must be somewhere better.
0:48:15.296,0:48:17.703
Somewhere you can go to [br]when you die.
0:48:18.782,0:48:21.082
But then I recognized that...
0:48:24.102,0:48:27.092
everything I need is here on earth,
0:48:27.763,0:48:31.763
and when I die, [br]I just want to go back to the earth.
0:48:34.910,0:48:39.106
And if I'm not able to go back [br]to the earth when I'm alive,
0:48:39.656,0:48:43.656
it will be very difficult [br]to go back to the earth when I die.
0:48:45.327,0:48:49.327
So every day I want to practise [br]going back to the earth
0:48:49.548,0:48:55.880
and seeing the earth as paradise,[br]seeing the earth as the kingdom of God.
0:48:58.893,0:49:05.779
Because it's said that the pure land[br]is not something outside of you.
0:49:06.684,0:49:10.684
The pure land arises in our mind.
0:49:22.087,0:49:30.537
I feel very grateful to people [br]who take the risk of being arrested
0:49:32.503,0:49:39.483
by demonstrating, [br]by doing non-violent resistance.
0:49:41.426,0:49:44.046
I see that their Bodhicitta is strong.
0:49:47.363,0:49:50.409
But I also feel concern.
0:49:53.470,0:49:58.700
I think Mahatma Gandhi knew very well [br]how to take care of himself
0:50:00.355,0:50:03.464
and he could keep the mind of love alive.
0:50:04.702,0:50:06.605
If we have love in our heart,
0:50:07.505,0:50:09.610
if we have compassion in our heart,
0:50:10.401,0:50:12.839
it's what protects us most of all.
0:50:14.185,0:50:20.633
So even when we're being arrested,[br]we can feel compassion and love,
0:50:21.436,0:50:22.827
and that's important,
0:50:23.808,0:50:32.457
because if there's someone [br]who puts himself at risk of being arrested
0:50:33.402,0:50:39.508
because they want to do [br]something good for the world,
0:50:43.073,0:50:45.062
but they don't feel love in their heart,
0:50:46.548,0:50:47.974
they don't feel compassion,
0:50:51.841,0:50:52.751
then...
0:50:56.016,0:51:02.269
.. they're not doing the thing [br]that would be most helpful for the world.
0:52:46.744,0:52:53.698
One time, the Buddha taught [br]a very famous discourse.
0:52:54.100,0:52:58.163
It's called Kesaputtiya sutra,
0:52:58.900,0:53:02.616
and some people call it the Kalama sutra
0:53:57.553,0:54:02.679
The Buddha taught this sutra [br]to young people.
0:54:04.126,0:54:09.907
They were very confused [br]because Kesaputtiya is a town
0:54:10.999,0:54:17.089
that many, many religious teachers [br]liked to go to.
0:54:17.990,0:54:20.860
So the Kalama, young people,
0:54:20.860,0:54:25.732
had the chance to listen [br]to so many Dharma talks.
0:54:26.895,0:54:30.516
Maybe they had as many Dharma talks [br]as we do here.
0:54:31.291,0:54:37.261
But one thing about here is that mostly [br]we Dharma teachers agree with each other.
0:54:38.665,0:54:43.055
If every week we say the opposite [br]of what the person had said before,
0:54:43.533,0:54:48.313
then you would be in the same kind [br]of confusion as the Kalamas were.
0:54:50.506,0:54:53.906
So some people would come [br]and they would say,
0:54:55.498,0:55:00.068
"Whether you do a good thing [br]or a bad thing, that doesn't matter.
0:55:01.340,0:55:08.320
Because there's no such thing [br]as karmic retribution."
0:55:30.615,0:55:32.695
There's no karmic retribution.
0:55:32.695,0:55:36.559
Karmic retribution means [br]that you do something good,
0:55:36.914,0:55:41.214
you will have merits and [br]you will enjoy some kind of merit.
0:55:43.137,0:55:47.647
You do something bad and [br]you have demerit and you will suffer.
0:55:48.647,0:55:51.672
So that's what's meant [br]by Karmic retribution.
0:55:53.337,0:55:56.224
Then other teachers would come along [br]and they'd say,
0:55:56.226,0:55:59.914
if you do something bad, [br]then when you'll die, you'll go to hell.
0:56:00.367,0:56:04.877
If you do something good, when you'll die,[br]you'll be reborn as a god or a human.
0:56:06.774,0:56:13.574
So the Kalama were very confused [br]and said: "Oh, the Buddha is coming!
0:56:14.132,0:56:20.892
The Buddha is enlightened. [br]The Buddha can remove our confusion."
0:56:25.926,0:56:29.070
So when the Buddha came, they asked:
0:56:29.611,0:56:35.481
"So many teachers come and they all [br]tell us they're teaching the truth,
0:56:36.002,0:56:39.912
but their truths,[br]they contradict each other.
0:56:40.371,0:56:43.848
So we're very confused. Can you help?"
0:56:44.170,0:56:45.290
And the Buddha said:
0:56:46.622,0:56:52.941
"You're right to be confused, [br]it's very confusing. I understand that.
0:56:55.795,0:57:03.105
But before you believe something, [br]you have to experience it for yourself.
0:57:04.130,0:57:08.680
If you do something and you feel well,
0:57:08.680,0:57:11.896
and you see that others [br]around you feel well,
0:57:12.535,0:57:16.765
then you may know that that is beneficial.
0:57:17.260,0:57:20.730
If you do something and you [br]don't feel good, and others don't,
0:57:21.072,0:57:23.032
you know that that's not beneficial.
0:57:24.560,0:57:27.710
But that's not quite enough.
0:57:28.444,0:57:34.013
Because like I said, when I was young,[br]I had anorexia nervosa.
0:57:35.264,0:57:39.844
It's not good for me, [br]it's not good for other people.
0:57:40.602,0:57:42.829
But at that time, I wasn't aware.
0:57:45.202,0:57:50.552
So I needed some good, kind [br]spiritual friend to come along
0:57:50.552,0:57:55.283
and try to help me see the root of this,
0:57:55.283,0:57:58.830
and try and help me to transform it.
0:57:59.947,0:58:02.611
So in the sutra the Buddha also says,
0:58:04.213,0:58:09.023
"Is this something that [br]the wise ones would approve of?
0:58:09.443,0:58:12.000
Your good spiritual friends [br]would approve of?
0:58:12.327,0:58:16.345
That's also a question [br]you have to ask yourself.
0:58:24.955,0:58:30.758
And then the Buddha tells us,
0:58:31.523,0:58:34.043
tells the Kalamas,
0:58:36.923,0:58:42.563
You can develop the mind of love,[br]the Bodhicitta.
0:58:43.690,0:58:47.519
If your heart has no enmity in it,
0:58:49.785,0:58:54.005
you can be sure...
0:58:59.436,0:59:06.476
... that you have peace and joy [br]in the present moment.
0:59:21.058,0:59:27.068
WHEN THERE IS THE MIND OF LOVE
0:59:43.337,0:59:50.777
THERE IS HAPPINESS HERE AND NOW
1:00:03.561,1:00:09.851
and if there's such a thing as merit,
1:00:10.542,1:00:16.542
then there will be happiness [br]from that deed in the future.
1:00:17.378,1:00:23.625
The Buddha didn't want to say [br]that you will be happy in the future.
1:00:24.291,1:00:28.190
You will have merit and [br]that will make you happy in the future,
1:00:29.106,1:00:31.476
because if the Buddha taught like that,
1:00:32.391,1:00:34.923
it would mean there was a separate self,
1:00:35.812,1:00:39.510
there's a separate me [br]who's doing good now,
1:00:39.785,1:00:45.228
and that same separate me [br]will have happiness in the future.
1:00:45.741,1:00:47.959
And that's not the teaching of the Buddha.
1:00:48.347,1:00:53.310
It is the teaching of eternalism,[br]the opposite of annihilation.
1:00:57.560,1:01:03.796
So we know that when there's the mind [br]of love, there's happiness here and now.
1:01:04.760,1:01:09.278
If we understand [br]and have seen for ourselves
1:01:10.176,1:01:15.934
that the future inter-is with the present,
1:01:16.079,1:01:20.638
then we can say that basing [br]on this mind of love now,
1:01:21.278,1:01:23.995
there's mind of love in the future.
1:01:24.338,1:01:26.848
You don't have to say 'my' mind of love,
1:01:28.829,1:01:31.150
or bring 'me' happiness in the future.
1:01:38.268,1:01:42.899
So when we are allowing ourselves [br]to be arrested,
1:01:44.343,1:01:51.683
we are living outside, [br]like at Greenham, no tent,
1:01:57.235,1:02:01.720
is mind of love there, [br]or are we always fighting?
1:02:02.548,1:02:05.775
Are we always thinking about the enemy?
1:02:07.108,1:02:14.645
And seeing ourselves as separate from [br]the guards who are guarding the missiles,
1:02:16.373,1:02:17.830
as our enemy?
1:02:21.029,1:02:22.870
One time I was [br]in a local sangha somewhere,
1:02:22.974,1:02:24.547
I went to lead a retreat,
1:02:25.766,1:02:28.962
I said, "I was in Greenham Common,
1:02:29.472,1:02:32.488
in 1981 or something,"
1:02:35.374,1:02:37.958
and he said, "I was there too!"
1:02:38.586,1:02:40.618
but he said, "I was on the other side.
1:02:41.807,1:02:44.993
I was one of the soldiers [br]on the other side."
1:02:49.379,1:02:52.428
Then we both found ourselves[br]in the same sangha.
1:03:01.218,1:03:05.700
So we need to keep this mind of love alive
1:03:06.767,1:03:14.058
and if we feel that our mind of love[br]is no longer alive enough,
1:03:15.397,1:03:17.617
it's only understandable.
1:03:17.926,1:03:22.417
Sometimes a situation is so hard,
1:03:23.450,1:03:26.528
that it's difficult [br]to keep the mind of love alive
1:03:27.096,1:03:29.933
So there's nothing wrong with that,[br]it's natural.
1:03:30.623,1:03:33.379
But the important thing is to recognize,
1:03:34.221,1:03:37.959
'mind of love is not there[br]and I need to withdraw.
1:03:38.587,1:03:40.639
I need to do something different,'
1:03:41.756,1:03:45.756
rather than just resisting all the time,
1:03:46.794,1:03:48.442
non-violent resistance,
1:03:49.011,1:03:54.263
I have to do something like planting trees[br]which will nourish me more,
1:03:55.760,1:03:57.952
and help the mind of love to come back.
1:03:59.730,1:04:02.690
So sometimes I see, [br]this is a little bit a danger
1:04:02.905,1:04:10.734
forof people who, for decades, [br]are in some kind of resistance.
1:04:14.182,1:04:19.193
I'm very grateful to them, [br]but we have to remember the mind of love.
1:04:24.705,1:04:29.315
So that is the first reassurance.
1:04:30.315,1:04:35.900
We know that when there's the mind of love[br]there's peace and happiness here and now.
1:04:39.022,1:04:40.922
That peace and happiness is...
1:04:42.104,1:04:45.673
If we see that the three times interare,
1:04:46.216,1:04:49.869
we can see that it's also in the future.
1:04:50.588,1:04:52.758
So the second is,
1:05:09.913,1:05:16.373
WHEN THE THREE TIMES INTERARE,
1:05:22.694,1:05:32.184
THERE'S HAPPINESS IN THE FUTURE
1:05:56.156,1:05:58.783
[The third one:]
1:06:03.311,1:06:08.994
WHEN THERE IS ENMITY,
1:06:13.174,1:06:19.578
THERE IS SUFFERING HERE AND NOW
1:06:35.204,1:06:36.710
[The fourth one:]
1:06:43.448,1:06:49.926
SINCE THE THREE TIMES INTERARE,
1:06:57.163,1:07:05.485
THERE'S SUFFERING IN THE FUTURE
1:07:16.127,1:07:17.716
But the Buddha said,
1:07:18.542,1:07:22.730
"You don't have to believe [br]that the three times interare.
1:07:23.432,1:07:25.984
It's something [br]that you have to experience,
1:07:25.984,1:07:28.158
not something you believe.
1:07:28.634,1:07:32.120
So if you don't experience that, [br]and you say,
1:07:33.967,1:07:35.812
you can forget about the future,
1:07:37.821,1:07:42.497
all the same, you can know that [br]these are the most important things,
1:07:42.907,1:07:44.934
the number one and the number three.
1:07:49.759,1:07:55.252
But don't think that [br]suffering is something bad.
1:07:59.310,1:08:02.409
Don't think that we need [br]to get rid of suffering.
1:08:03.964,1:08:05.905
We talk about the Bodhicitta,
1:08:07.339,1:08:12.867
and in the Buddhist teachings of the Mahayana
1:08:13.744,1:08:23.049
it says clearly that the afflictions, [br]the klesha, the suffering IS the Bodhi.
1:08:24.749,1:08:25.798
The klesha,
1:08:44.947,1:08:48.165
the awakening IS the affliction.
1:08:48.596,1:08:49.818
IS the suffering.
1:08:52.883,1:08:56.125
So it means that the enmity that you feel,
1:08:57.626,1:09:09.027
it can be the ground for the Bodhi,[br]for the awakening,
1:09:10.033,1:09:13.943
because in Buddhism we don't want [br]to make two camps.
1:09:15.413,1:09:21.229
We don't want to make a camp [br]of the good and a camp of the evil.
1:09:22.791,1:09:24.751
Thay used to say that.
1:09:26.145,1:09:27.941
In the past, Thay said:
1:09:30.798,1:09:33.003
"Do not make man your enemy.
1:09:35.605,1:09:41.368
Your enemy is greed, hatred,[br]confusion,
1:09:42.374,1:09:45.785
but one day Thay said [br]he didn't want to say that anymore.
1:09:48.384,1:09:53.320
Greed, hatred and confusion [br]are no longer your enemy.
1:09:55.546,1:10:01.964
They are the mud [br]out of which the lotus can bloom.
1:10:13.788,1:10:16.259
But we have enough mud already,
1:10:17.730,1:10:19.914
so we don't want to make any more.
1:10:21.715,1:10:29.517
We have enough suffering [br]for us to give rise to awakening,
1:10:30.062,1:10:32.862
we don't need to make any more.
1:10:35.460,1:10:42.269
So we want to try and avoid [br]making more suffering, if we can.
1:10:43.588,1:10:46.611
We just want to use the suffering[br]that's already there,
1:10:47.101,1:10:50.725
in order to help us to wake up,[br]to be awake.
1:11:15.140,1:11:18.005
I don't know if you can think of a name
1:11:21.163,1:11:24.268
for the species that we want to become.
1:11:27.318,1:11:30.453
Thay suggested [br]that we talk about Homo Conscious,
1:11:34.749,1:11:36.230
the aware man.
1:11:38.629,1:11:43.081
If we can talk about interbeing,[br]the interbeing man,
1:11:43.365,1:11:44.857
I think it will be nice.
1:11:49.293,1:11:53.901
In Budhism we have [br]the Vajracchedikā sutra,
1:11:55.622,1:11:58.434
the diamond that cuts through illusion.
1:12:02.628,1:12:06.794
In that sutra it talks about [br]four kinds of wrong perception
1:12:09.117,1:12:13.629
which are very linked to the awakening [br]that we need to have now,
1:12:14.965,1:12:19.141
and the first wrong perception is [br]that I am a separate self.
1:12:22.042,1:12:23.849
The second wrong perception is,
1:12:24.046,1:12:31.771
the human species is separate [br]from the other species.
1:12:33.311,1:12:36.771
The third wrong perception is [br]that the living species,
1:12:37.045,1:12:39.161
those of us who can move around,
1:12:40.409,1:12:43.717
are separate from the non-living species.
1:12:46.235,1:12:52.642
The animals are different from the plants[br]and the minerals, are separate.
1:12:53.520,1:12:59.271
And the last wrong perception is [br]that we have a life-span.
1:12:59.650,1:13:01.508
Our life is limited,
1:13:02.775,1:13:05.845
we have a birthday and a deathday,
1:13:06.144,1:13:10.374
and we only live between our birthday[br]and our deathday.
1:13:11.089,1:13:13.803
You only need to go into the forest
1:13:14.240,1:13:16.951
and look at the leaves under your feet
1:13:17.436,1:13:19.924
and you'll know there's no such thing as
1:13:20.933,1:13:25.113
'birth separate from death'.
1:13:25.611,1:13:30.191
Everything is in a wonderful [br]cycle of transformation.
1:13:31.889,1:13:35.498
The leaf doesn't go anywhere [br]when it falls from the tree.
1:13:35.772,1:13:37.659
It goes back to the earth,
1:13:38.039,1:13:42.529
it becomes the nourishment [br]for the young leaf that's born on the tree.
1:13:42.942,1:13:45.828
And actually while the leaf [br]was on the tree,
1:13:46.452,1:13:52.032
it was already nourishing the tree.
1:13:52.784,1:13:56.196
So the leaf was going into the tree[br]while it was alive,
1:13:56.704,1:14:00.479
and when that leaf is on the ground,[br]it also goes into the tree.
1:14:01.457,1:14:04.447
So the leaf has no beginning and no end.
1:14:04.812,1:14:07.733
If we can see ourselves as leaves,
1:14:09.486,1:14:12.860
nourishing the earth [br]while we are alive on the earth,
1:14:13.515,1:14:19.625
and going back to the earth [br]when we have our death certificate,
1:14:20.560,1:14:23.348
in order to nourish new life on the earth,
1:14:23.890,1:14:25.972
then we have no more fear.
1:14:30.180,1:14:32.717
As someone who has no more fear,
1:14:35.232,1:14:39.442
we are really able to be useful[br]and beneficial to the world.
1:14:44.394,1:14:51.806
So, part of the Bodhicitta [br]is that deep desire that we all have
1:14:53.331,1:14:57.325
to realize the truth of no birth [br]and no death
1:14:58.119,1:15:00.412
that can take us beyond fear.
1:15:01.400,1:15:04.467
That is not just something [br]for a monk or a nun to do,
1:15:05.316,1:15:08.043
that's something that all of us, [br]the fourfold sangha,
1:15:11.400,1:15:14.527
need to have the time to do.
1:15:15.208,1:15:17.893
Because as a monk or a nun we can be busy.
1:15:19.521,1:15:21.224
We can have many projects,
1:15:22.544,1:15:24.828
things we want to do to help the world,
1:15:24.828,1:15:27.182
they may sound very good but we're busy,
1:15:27.741,1:15:32.929
we don't have the time to come back [br]to ourselves and stop, and look deeply.
1:15:33.626,1:15:37.439
A lay-person is the same, [br]you can be very busy going to work,
1:15:38.748,1:15:44.564
bringing up your family, you don't have [br]the time to stop and look deeply
1:15:44.871,1:15:48.444
into the matter of no birth and no death.
1:15:52.208,1:15:55.840
But a monk or a nun,[br]a lay-man or a lay-woman,
1:15:57.748,1:16:00.649
we can give ourselves, [br]we can organize our life,
1:16:01.257,1:16:04.928
so that we have time [br]to look deeply into impermanence,
1:16:06.629,1:16:12.748
To look deeply into impermanence [br]doesn't mean to be caught in impermanence,
1:16:13.491,1:16:17.570
because impermanence can become [br]a view that you are caught in.
1:16:20.397,1:16:22.939
Then you think that impermanence [br]is something bad.
1:16:24.509,1:16:28.416
But in fact, impermanence doesn't [br]mean there isn't a continuation.
1:16:29.888,1:16:33.091
Things change their form [br]into a different form,
1:16:33.904,1:16:36.060
and there's always continuation.
1:16:36.982,1:16:40.712
The rain we listen to now [br]is the continuation of the cloud.
1:16:58.185,1:17:04.565
In Buddhism, in China,
1:17:04.565,1:17:07.175
they used to say [br]there's two kinds of awakening.
1:17:08.418,1:17:13.803
There's the sudden enlightenment,[br]and there's the gradual enlightenment.
1:17:17.703,1:17:21.356
I don't understand [br]the Plum Village teachings in that way.
1:17:23.789,1:17:27.696
We can have little enlightenments [br]every day that come to us
1:17:28.375,1:17:33.411
when we practise mindful walking [br]and mindful breathing.
1:17:35.347,1:17:38.234
We can become enlightened [br]a little bit every day.
1:17:39.570,1:17:42.162
We don't have to wait [br]for a sudden enlightenment,
1:17:43.907,1:17:50.106
and we don't have to think that at the end[br]of a long, gradual enlightenment
1:17:50.106,1:17:51.939
we'll become enlightened.
1:17:53.114,1:17:57.673
Because the Bodhi, the enlightenment,[br]is present in each of us,
1:17:58.610,1:18:04.489
with our own practise [br]of dwelling in the present moment
1:18:06.299,1:18:09.481
mindfulness of walking, [br]mindfulness of breathing,
1:18:10.116,1:18:15.421
that enlightenment is always inside[br]and can always come up.
1:18:16.531,1:18:20.400
With mindfulness and concentration [br]that can always be inside.
1:18:23.129,1:18:26.575
So we shouldn't miss [br]the opportunity of guided meditation,
1:18:30.173,1:18:31.825
walking meditation,
1:18:36.656,1:18:39.909
That is our aspiration,
1:18:40.673,1:18:47.257
always to remain fresh, [br]not to grow tired of the practise,
1:18:47.930,1:18:50.019
not to find the practise boring.
1:18:52.738,1:18:57.657
That feeling of boredom, of being tired [br]of the practise, come from our own mind.
1:18:59.537,1:19:01.929
We need to open our mind a little bit more
1:19:02.959,1:19:06.174
in order to be able [br]to give ourselves the opportunity
1:19:06.174,1:19:10.693
to use the Dharma door [br]such as being given to us,
1:19:11.431,1:19:13.371
in order to help us have insight,
1:19:13.922,1:19:17.922
that insight will bring us encouragement,
1:19:18.517,1:19:21.807
and help us to continue [br]a long time on the path.
1:19:23.689,1:19:26.780
Of course we can always [br]renew our practise.
1:19:29.062,1:19:32.455
we can always have new ideas [br]about how to practise
1:19:36.415,1:19:39.172
We need to be creative in our practise.
1:19:39.898,1:19:41.499
If you use a knife,
1:19:42.854,1:19:46.854
cutting carrots every day,[br]it will get blunt after a while.
1:19:47.497,1:19:49.388
Then you need to sharpen it again.
1:19:49.979,1:19:52.237
If you just keep using the blunt knife
1:19:53.143,1:19:55.877
that's like just keeping the outer form,
1:19:56.450,1:19:58.884
but you don't have the content anymore.
1:19:59.817,1:20:02.251
As long as the practise has the content
1:20:02.946,1:20:04.526
and it's not the outer form,
1:20:04.798,1:20:09.005
it will always nourish you[br]and nourish others as well.
1:20:19.663,1:20:21.943
So dear friends, thank you for listening.
1:20:22.729,1:20:24.956
We now hear three sounds of the bell.
1:20:32.320,1:20:33.864
[the bell is awoken]
1:20:36.649,1:20:41.763
[the bell is invited]
1:21:07.945,1:21:13.776
[the bell is invited]
1:21:37.724,1:21:45.563
[the bell is invited]