0:00:06.628,0:00:12.333
[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.]

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Dear Sangha, this autumn the topic that

0:01:41.955,0:01:45.560
we will be looking into is the

0:01:45.560,0:01:50.854
Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings [br]of the Order of Interbeing.

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And last week we heard a Dharma Talk[br]from Sister Doan Nghiem

0:01:56.058,0:02:06.923
about the origin of,... the founder of[br]the school to which we belong in the

0:02:06.923,0:02:12.680
Plum Village tradition, called the[br]Lieu Quan School.

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And so today, we will continue by looking

0:02:18.069,0:02:25.005
at some of the foundations of ethics which

0:02:25.005,0:02:30.212
lie at the basis of the [br]Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings,

0:02:30.212,0:02:34.504
in Buddhism and in the Plum Village Tradition.

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So if you were here last week, [br]you can remember that Master Lieu Quan

0:02:41.890,0:02:46.202
wrote a poem, or a gatha, which was what

0:02:46.202,0:02:49.876
we call a lineage poem, and each word of

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that poem represents one generation of the

0:02:56.588,0:02:59.869
continuation of Master Lieu Quan,

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his spiritual continuation in the Lieu Quan[br]School, the Lieu Quan line.

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So the first name is his own name,

0:03:10.895,0:03:15.418
and the second word...[br]the first word is his own name,

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and the second one is the name he gave [br]his own disciples in his lifetime.

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And the third word is the disciples of [br]his disciples.

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So we belong to the ninth generation,

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so we are, ...[br]we have the name "tâm", meaning heart.

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If you have received the Five Mindfulness[br]Trainings,

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you'll have the name "heart" in it.

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So that is the ninth word of the poem.

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And now I would like to look at that line.

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The poem has four words to a line.

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So we now look at that line of the poem.

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And today I have an opportunity to[br]practice walking meditation.

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So the source of mind penetrates everywhere.

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From the roots of virtue springs compassion.

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Something like that.

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That is Thầy's translation that you will [br]see if you receive the

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Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings[br]and you have the certificate,

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I think in English you will see [br]something like that.

0:07:18.649,0:07:25.436
So, it's like you have a source of water

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on the mountain, and the water goes[br]everywhere down the mountain,

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and it penetrates into the earth,[br]in many, many places.

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And, here, it really says [br]"the roots of virtue".

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And this word here, "phong", this word[br]means something like...

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You have it in Vietamese or Chinese in[br]"phong tục ?", "phong ?".

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So it means something like a custom.

0:08:09.524,0:08:14.719
A custom, or a way, or a tradition.

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And this word here, "từ" is usually[br]translated as loving kindness,

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but Thầy translates as compassion,

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because the word stands for "từ bi",

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which means loving kindness and compassion.

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So, from the roots of virtue, we have

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the custom of compassion, [br]of loving kindness,

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the tradition of compassion or [br]loving kindness.

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And sometimes we have a movement,

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like the movement, the Wake-up movement

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is called the young Buddhists and [br]non-Buddhists for a compassionate society.

0:09:11.575,0:09:23.768
So here the idea is compassion of a whole [br]society, compassion of a tradition,

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or a custom of compassion.

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Nowadays, people use the word compassion

0:09:32.962,0:09:37.604
quite a lot. And neuroscientists are very

0:09:37.604,0:09:42.254
interested in compassion.

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And those neuroscientists who are familiar[br]with Tibetan Buddhism and have

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talked to the Dalai Lama,

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they also are very interested in where you[br]can find compassion in your brain.

0:10:01.853,0:10:07.338
Whereabouts compassion comes from,[br]in your brain.

0:10:07.486,0:10:11.445
And if the human brain has compassion,

0:10:11.445,0:10:16.462
does it mean that animal brain also has[br]compassion?

0:10:16.462,0:10:22.828
Because people used to say that human beings

0:10:22.828,0:10:26.768
are capable of ethical behavior,

0:10:26.768,0:10:30.421
human beings are capable of compassion,

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and that is where they differ from animals.

0:10:33.988,0:10:40.579
But now we see that the human is really [br]just another animal.

0:10:40.579,0:10:50.780
And so the human brain is a continuation[br]of the animal brain.

0:10:50.780,0:10:55.178
And it's not very different from the[br]animal brain.

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So that is another thing that we need to [br]look into.

0:11:00.242,0:11:02.731
We usually think that as human beings,

0:11:02.731,0:11:08.119
we're something quite exclusive.

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And, is that better?

0:11:13.895,0:11:17.542
We're quite exclusive, and we have [br]something special

0:11:17.542,0:11:21.793
that the animals don't have.

0:11:21.793,0:11:30.834
So I remember once, some neuroscientists[br]were doing an experiment to prove that

0:11:30.834,0:11:34.004
rats had compassion.

0:11:34.004,0:11:39.262
So they taught the rat how to open the cage.

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And they had one rat that's free, [br]not in a cage.

0:11:43.421,0:11:47.602
And another rat is in the cage.

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And they saw that the rat who was free,

0:11:51.098,0:11:52.787
he knew how to open the cage,

0:11:52.787,0:11:58.040
and he let the rat out, the other rat out.

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So it was free.

0:11:59.580,0:12:01.726
So the scientist was happy, and he said,

0:12:01.726,0:12:07.532
"Oh, now we know that the animals, they [br]also have compassion for each other.

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The rat didn't want the other rat to [br]suffer in the cage, so he let him out."

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And then another scientist came along and

0:12:15.479,0:12:17.797
said, "How do you know?"

0:12:17.797,0:12:20.595
"Maybe he just wanted a friend to play with,

0:12:20.595,0:12:24.711
so he was letting it out for his own [br]selfish motivation."

0:12:26.181,0:12:28.592
So we always can find a way to prove that

0:12:28.592,0:12:32.963
human beings are a little bit special.

0:12:35.944,0:12:41.509
But it's very important, how, how can we,

0:12:41.509,0:12:44.150
how can we found, how can we establish,

0:12:44.150,0:12:49.904
how can we help establish a compassionate[br]society,

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where the custom, the culture, is a culture[br]of compassion.

0:12:58.314,0:13:01.561
And if compassion is something that is

0:13:01.561,0:13:06.032
innate in our brain, then we just need to

0:13:06.032,0:13:10.328
find ways in order to be able to help that,

0:13:10.328,0:13:13.884
that seed as we call it in Buddhism,

0:13:13.884,0:13:22.023
to flourish, to grow into a plant in[br]human beings.

0:13:27.202,0:13:30.977
So if we come back again to neuroscience.

0:14:37.635,0:14:41.578
So scientists use the word empathy.

0:14:56.020,0:15:01.940
I wanted to find out what that word is[br]in Vietnamese, and I haven't found it.

0:15:01.940,0:15:08.334
All I found was "thấu cảm"(?).

0:15:08.334,0:15:13.868
,But I think it doesn't mean empathy, [br]so I won't write it down.

0:15:14.190,0:15:24.100
But empathy is something that animals have[br]in their ...

0:15:24.100,0:15:26.077
They've found the place in the brain

0:15:26.077,0:15:28.076
where empathy comes from.

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And empathy means that you can feel the[br]suffering of another person.

0:15:35.957,0:15:40.074
You can know that another person [br]is suffering.

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And it has an effect on you.

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When you see another person suffering,

0:15:47.280,0:15:50.751
you also feel uncomfortable.

0:15:50.751,0:15:52.920
You don't feel happy.

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So that is what is called empathy.

0:15:55.763,0:15:59.438
And you see another person happy,

0:15:59.438,0:16:02.181
you can also feel happy.

0:16:02.181,0:16:08.632
So, if we have empathy,

0:16:09.229,0:16:15.259
we have the possibility also to have[br]compassion.

0:16:15.259,0:16:20.593
But empathy itself is not compassion.

0:16:20.593,0:16:26.411
So empathy belongs to some region of[br]the brain, and then it's linked up with

0:16:26.411,0:16:31.052
compassion, which lights up another region[br]of the brain.

0:16:35.698,0:16:41.034
So scientists say that empathy can result

0:16:41.034,0:16:44.813
in two different things.

0:16:45.240,0:16:50.329
And one is compassion.

0:17:02.069,0:17:06.783
And the other they call [br]empathetic distress.

0:17:34.256,0:17:37.249
So when you have compassion,

0:17:37.249,0:17:42.573
then your feeling is directed to [br]the other person.

0:18:02.594,0:18:08.892
And in this case, this is called[br]self-directed.

0:18:20.691,0:18:28.215
And then, your emotion here,

0:18:28.215,0:18:36.735
where there is compassion, the emotion is[br]one of loving kindness or happiness

0:18:39.065,0:18:40.568
or both.

0:19:04.168,0:19:09.144
So in this case, the emotion is [br]one of stress.

0:19:11.550,0:19:14.264
And that is suffering.

0:19:24.018,0:19:28.566
And these things lead to health.

0:19:36.052,0:19:39.450
And these things lead to ill-health.

0:19:53.735,0:20:00.905
I think this is what we've heard Thầy [br]say for a long time.

0:20:00.905,0:20:07.719
That when we have a thought of compassion,

0:20:07.719,0:20:17.079
it immediately brings us health,[br]and it brings more health to the world.

0:20:17.079,0:20:23.376
And without compassion, we cannot have[br]real happiness.

0:20:23.787,0:20:27.233
Compassion brings us a lot of happiness.

0:20:27.932,0:20:32.365
And when you feel compassion for [br]another person,

0:20:32.365,0:20:36.555
the first one who benefits from that feeling

0:20:36.555,0:20:40.266
of compassion is the person who feels it,

0:20:40.266,0:20:42.572
even before they have done something

0:20:42.572,0:20:44.096
to help the other person,

0:20:44.096,0:20:46.575
they already feel better, because of

0:20:46.575,0:20:50.030
the compassion in their heart.

0:20:59.706,0:21:05.097
So, another thing they say here is[br]"approach"

0:21:13.512,0:21:15.839
and here is "withdrawal".

0:21:31.037,0:21:34.874
So I think that it is easy for us when

0:21:34.874,0:21:42.162
we are in touch with another person who[br]is suffering, or an animal who is suffering,

0:21:42.162,0:21:46.196
or any kind of suffering in society,

0:21:46.196,0:21:53.070
to be able to tell,[br]what is arising in us?

0:21:53.070,0:22:00.732
Is compassion arising? Or is what is [br]called empathetic distress arising in us?

0:22:07.542,0:22:10.461
That is, we want to withdraw.

0:22:10.461,0:22:17.223
It's too much for us:[br]the suffering is too much for us,

0:22:17.223,0:22:19.849
of the other person.

0:22:20.534,0:22:24.230
And this is kind of when we have burn-out.

0:22:24.230,0:22:29.800
People who are working in the [br]environmental movement, or

0:22:30.618,0:22:35.998
some other movement to help the world.

0:22:36.160,0:22:38.249
And they feel that they're not making any

0:22:38.249,0:22:43.842
progress, then rather than feel compassion

0:22:43.842,0:22:47.436
when looking at the suffering,

0:22:47.436,0:22:49.558
they feel distress.

0:22:49.997,0:22:52.093
And frustration.

0:22:56.929,0:23:02.555
So now, many psychotherapists will teach

0:23:02.555,0:23:09.900
their patients to practise loving kindness

0:23:09.900,0:23:14.065
meditation, compassion meditation.

0:23:14.065,0:23:22.452
Because they see that happiness is possible[br]when we can feel compassion.

0:23:22.452,0:23:27.159
And they have done, neuroscientists have[br]done research,

0:23:27.159,0:23:34.825
and even people who only practise [br]loving kindness meditation for 7 days,

0:23:34.825,0:23:40.276
they already see a change in their [br]neuro-pathways.

0:23:41.679,0:23:52.009
So just like mindfulness has become[br]something very widespread

0:23:52.034,0:23:58.214
in society now, without being called a[br]Buddhist practice,

0:23:58.251,0:24:02.801
a practice that anyone can do whether[br]they have religion or not,

0:24:03.437,0:24:08.198
loving kindness meditation is also[br]becoming like that.

0:24:08.198,0:24:10.788
You don't have to be a Buddhist to do it,

0:24:10.931,0:24:15.204
although it began in Buddhism.

0:24:16.793,0:24:20.479
So you know that when you do [br]loving kindness meditation,

0:24:20.479,0:24:26.643
the first object of your meditation is[br]yourself.

0:24:27.112,0:24:37.612
"May I be peaceful, happy and light[br]in body and spirit."

0:24:37.612,0:24:40.910
You have to really feel that for yourself.

0:24:40.910,0:24:43.851
That is something you really want.

0:24:43.851,0:24:50.260
And when you can have it, you can have[br]a lot of happiness.

0:24:50.260,0:24:53.855
And if you don't feel it for yourself,

0:24:53.855,0:24:59.132
then it's not easy to feel it for another person.

0:24:59.777,0:25:05.831
And then the next part of the [br]loving kindness meditation is

0:25:05.831,0:25:11.931
"May I be safe and free from accident."

0:25:12.115,0:25:14.042
That is something we all want.

0:25:14.042,0:25:20.837
We all want to be able to feel absolutely[br]safe, where nothing can harm us.

0:25:20.837,0:25:25.870
Whether we can find a place like that[br]or not is another matter.

0:25:25.903,0:25:30.153
But we have a deep desire to safe and free[br]from accident.

0:25:32.782,0:25:35.943
So we have to recognize that desire.

0:25:37.072,0:25:42.217
And then we recognize that everyone else[br]also has that desire.

0:25:42.437,0:25:47.391
And so then we go on to someone who is [br]a friend of ours.

0:25:47.391,0:25:57.415
"May he, or may she, be happy, peaceful and[br]light in body and in spirit."

0:25:57.415,0:26:02.735
"May he or she be safe and free from[br]accident."

0:26:02.735,0:26:08.043
And that is also quite easy for us to do [br]for a friend of ours.

0:26:08.567,0:26:17.646
And then we take as the object someone[br]who is neutral to us --

0:26:17.646,0:26:21.130
somebody who you don't particularly like

0:26:21.179,0:26:25.659
or somebody you don't have any [br]bad feeling about.

0:26:26.635,0:26:30.455
But somebody you meet from time to time.

0:26:30.574,0:26:32.849
And you wish it for them.

0:26:32.849,0:26:35.544
And the interesting thing is that is when

0:26:35.544,0:26:39.474
you wish for a person who is neutral to you,

0:26:39.474,0:26:45.972
"May he or she be happy, peaceful and [br]light in body and spirit"

0:26:45.972,0:26:49.791
suddenly that person is no longer neutral.

0:26:49.791,0:26:52.842
That person becomes, through your [br]meditation,

0:26:52.842,0:26:57.621
somebody you have friendly feelings to.

0:26:57.621,0:27:00.553
And then we should take, we should take

0:27:00.553,0:27:04.174
someone who causes us difficulties.

0:27:05.658,0:27:07.265
And while we meditate,

0:27:07.265,0:27:12.861
"May he or she be happy, peaceful and [br]light"

0:27:12.861,0:27:19.596
we come into contact with the body and[br]the feelings of that person

0:27:19.596,0:27:23.177
that we are meditating on, and we begin

0:27:23.177,0:27:26.003
to understand them better.

0:27:26.003,0:27:28.127
We understand that just as we have a

0:27:28.127,0:27:31.508
deep need to be safe,

0:27:31.906,0:27:37.916
that person who causes us to suffer, [br]has a deep need to be safe also.

0:27:38.362,0:27:41.099
And we will be able through that kind

0:27:41.099,0:27:44.423
of meditation to change our way of thinking

0:27:44.423,0:27:47.740
about the person who makes us suffer.

0:27:47.997,0:27:51.641
And this change, it actually can be noticed

0:27:51.641,0:27:58.072
by neuroscientists who do FMRI on the

0:27:58.072,0:28:01.839
brain of the practionner.

0:28:02.672,0:28:07.748
It is a way of developing happiness.

0:28:07.748,0:28:11.011
It's a way of developing health.

0:28:19.760,0:28:23.380
And when I first came to Buddhism,

0:28:23.380,0:28:26.068
I thought that everything we did,

0:28:26.068,0:28:28.003
every practice we did,

0:28:28.003,0:28:31.258
was to be able to help other people.

0:28:32.172,0:28:36.996
So metta meditation is not for my benefit,

0:28:36.996,0:28:40.251
but for the benefit of other beings.

0:28:41.605,0:28:43.074
And

0:28:46.403,0:28:50.989
then you realize that it is also [br]benefitting yourself.

0:28:52.339,0:28:56.869
And now, when metta meditation is becoming

0:28:56.907,0:29:00.936
something widespread, it's really done

0:29:00.936,0:29:04.143
with the idea that it is to help yourself.

0:29:04.143,0:29:06.409
That is what comes first.

0:29:06.409,0:29:09.279
First of all, it will help you, and then,

0:29:09.279,0:29:11.049
as a kind of spinoff,

0:29:11.049,0:29:13.587
it will help other people as well.

0:29:15.280,0:29:19.960
So the motivation is a little bit different.

0:29:19.960,0:29:25.261
But however, once you begin to practise,

0:29:25.261,0:29:31.028
then your motivation also begins to change.

0:29:32.220,0:29:36.884
It's like once you begin to practise[br]mindfulness, at first you do it

0:29:36.884,0:29:40.843
just for yourself. But then you see that

0:29:40.843,0:29:44.576
practising mindfulness, you're helping [br]others as well,

0:29:44.576,0:29:47.531
and your motivation becomes one

0:29:47.531,0:29:51.199
to help others too --- it's what you [br]want to do, is to help others.

0:29:51.199,0:29:55.344
In the beginning, you just wanted to help yourself.

0:29:58.215,0:30:04.728
So when I consider these things that are [br]happening in our society,

0:30:04.728,0:30:09.284
even though we may be doing it for[br]ourself in the first place,

0:30:09.284,0:30:14.111
I also consider that we are going in [br]the right direction,

0:30:15.221,0:30:22.588
to try and form a compassionate society, [br]a compassionate culture.

0:30:22.919,0:30:27.401
[The bell is awoken.]

0:30:28.731,0:30:43.144
[The bell is invited.]

0:30:43.144,0:30:48.767
And people also talk about two kinds of [br]compassion.

0:30:51.465,0:30:54.488
But I don't know if it's quite correct [br]to do that.

0:30:54.488,0:31:03.336
On the one hand, compassion that [br]is emotional and intuitive.

0:31:06.636,0:31:16.170
And on the other hand, compassion that [br]is more rational and more explicit.

0:31:16.170,0:31:19.866
That is something that you can talk about[br]more.

0:31:22.676,0:31:26.937
As human beings, we have both these sides[br]to us.

0:31:26.937,0:31:28.860
We have both the rational side,

0:31:28.860,0:31:31.965
and we have the emotional side.

0:31:32.989,0:31:36.106
And as far as I understand it, compassion

0:31:36.106,0:31:39.117
should contain both of those elements.

0:31:45.958,0:31:48.808
We often have moral dilemmas.

0:31:48.808,0:31:51.755
We don't quite know what we should do

0:31:51.755,0:31:54.755
in a certain situation.

0:31:57.137,0:32:00.481
And sometimes we use our reasoning.

0:32:01.314,0:32:04.915
And sometimes we use our emotions more

0:32:04.915,0:32:07.247
when we want to decide what to do.

0:32:14.834,0:32:20.323
Not long ago, on a retreat,

0:32:20.323,0:32:26.325
my younger sister asked me

0:32:26.325,0:32:30.856
"Should I go and help this layperson?"

0:32:31.073,0:32:34.215
"Should I go on my own and help this[br]layperson?

0:32:34.998,0:32:40.950
"Or should I stay in the retreat and be [br]present at the Dharma Sharing?"

0:32:42.598,0:32:46.521
So, when I was asked that question,

0:32:46.540,0:32:51.398
of course my training immediately came up:

0:32:51.398,0:32:54.619
you should stay in the Dharma Sharing,

0:32:54.619,0:32:58.798
because in the Dharma Sharing you will[br]help many people.

0:32:58.984,0:33:03.041
But if you just go on your own and help[br]one layperson,

0:33:03.041,0:33:05.487
you will only help one person.

0:33:06.585,0:33:11.692
So with my rational mind, it was clear[br]what we should do.

0:33:13.246,0:33:16.901
But as I followed my breathing,

0:33:16.901,0:33:21.603
and I looked, just stopped all my thinking,

0:33:21.603,0:33:25.055
then I suddenly felt there is something[br]not right.

0:33:27.519,0:33:30.613
And, eh, I didn't know why.

0:33:30.613,0:33:36.384
But intuitively and emotionally, I felt

0:33:36.384,0:33:39.922
I should let my sister go and help [br]that layperson.

0:33:41.835,0:33:45.257
And my sister said, [br]" I don't mind either way."

0:33:46.102,0:33:48.634
"If you tell me to stay, [br]I'll be happy to stay."

0:33:48.634,0:33:52.057
"If you tell me to go,[br]I'll be happy to go."

0:33:53.963,0:33:58.933
So, sometimes, we have a moral dilemma

0:33:58.933,0:34:03.291
like that and we, we don't know whether

0:34:03.291,0:34:05.497
to use more of our rational side

0:34:05.497,0:34:07.983
or more of our emotional side.

0:34:09.551,0:34:18.466
But I have a lot trust in the [br]Store Consciousness.

0:34:18.910,0:34:25.014
That is the more unconscious side [br]of my mind.

0:34:25.890,0:34:29.313
Sometimes, of course, from our [br]Store Consciousness,

0:34:29.313,0:34:33.297
we have an intuition which comes from

0:34:33.297,0:34:36.619
habit energy in our Store Consciousness.

0:34:38.034,0:34:40.846
Because we've done it like that for so long,

0:34:41.734,0:34:44.583
we intuitively want to do that out of our [br]habit energy.

0:34:45.714,0:34:48.398
But if our mind is clear,

0:34:48.398,0:34:51.025
if we follow our breathing

0:34:51.025,0:34:54.868
and empty our mind of all thinking,

0:34:54.868,0:35:01.033
it's an opportunity for an [br]intuitive insight to come up.

0:35:01.793,0:35:08.253
And we can sometimes use that [br]in making a moral decision.

0:35:09.589,0:35:15.193
But we have to make sure that we[br]are very calm, and very clear

0:35:15.193,0:35:17.935
when the insight comes up.

0:35:18.439,0:35:22.294
And then we feel, "yes, I've done my best.[br]

0:35:22.294,0:35:25.517
I've looked into the rational side.

0:35:25.517,0:35:29.092
I've also allowed the emotional side.

0:35:29.092,0:35:36.724
And then, I've asked both sides to be quiet,[br]and allowed the intuition to come up.

0:35:40.337,0:35:42.511
And that is the wonderful thing about

0:35:42.511,0:35:48.980
Buddhist ethics is that every situation [br]is a little bit different.

0:35:49.534,0:35:51.709
We cannot have a blueprint and say

0:35:51.709,0:35:54.509
it's always wrong to do this;

0:35:54.509,0:35:58.016
it's always right to do something else.

0:35:58.016,0:36:01.881
And it's also the difficulty about [br]Buddhist ethics.

0:36:02.717,0:36:04.882
Sometimes if you have what is called

0:36:04.882,0:36:07.757
a deontological ethic, which says

0:36:07.757,0:36:11.448
you have to do this or you can't do this

0:36:11.448,0:36:13.354
and you have to do that, it's easy.

0:36:13.354,0:36:15.762
You just say, "Oh, I'll do that."

0:36:15.762,0:36:18.099
But then you feel it's not quite right.

0:36:18.099,0:36:20.363
But in Buddhism, every situation

0:36:20.363,0:36:23.215
we have to use our compassion,

0:36:23.329,0:36:25.470
our deep looking,

0:36:25.470,0:36:29.251
our mindfulness, concentration and insight

0:36:29.251,0:36:33.038
in order to be able to make a decision.

0:36:33.038,0:36:38.795
And of course, to make a decision on [br]your own is not the best thing.

0:36:38.991,0:36:42.004
It's far better to do it together,

0:36:42.004,0:36:43.761
as a Sangha.

0:36:43.761,0:36:47.403
When it's a difficult, moral dilemma,

0:36:47.403,0:36:53.596
one pair of eyes, one intuition from [br]one Store Consciousness,

0:36:53.596,0:36:57.894
is not nearly as sure and as safe

0:36:57.894,0:37:01.895
as an intuition that comes from many,[br]many people.

0:37:02.976,0:37:08.618
[The bell is awoken.]

0:37:08.618,0:37:27.201
[The bell is invited.]

0:37:27.734,0:37:33.933
When I received the 14 Mindfulness [br]Trainings in 1988,

0:37:33.933,0:37:37.562
they were very different from how [br]they are now.

0:37:37.562,0:37:40.197
The spirit was not different at all,

0:37:40.197,0:37:43.053
but the wording was very different.

0:37:43.053,0:37:45.503
So a training would start off with

0:37:45.503,0:37:52.130
"không thể", you cannot, you should not.

0:37:53.732,0:37:57.756
And then more recently,

0:37:57.756,0:38:00.196
the trainings have been revised.

0:38:00.196,0:38:05.352
And each one begins with the word "aware".[br]

0:38:05.352,0:38:09.241
Very often it's "Aware of the suffering..."

0:38:09.241,0:38:16.095
"Aware of the suffering created by [br]fanaticism and intolerance,

0:38:16.095,0:38:20.334
I am determined to...

0:38:20.334,0:38:24.654
I don't know .. to let go of my...[br]I can't remember, never mind.

0:38:24.654,0:38:27.061
And then the second one,

0:38:27.061,0:38:35.545
"Aware of the suffering created by[br]attachment to views and wrong perceptions,

0:38:36.298,0:38:40.818
I am determined to listen deeply to[br]other people."

0:38:41.094,0:38:43.862
And the third Mindfulness Training:

0:38:43.862,0:38:54.688
"Aware of the suffering created when I [br]cannot, no, by forcing others to accept

0:38:54.688,0:38:59.843
my viewpoint, something like that.

0:39:01.746,0:39:08.196
"Aware of the suffering created when we [br]impose our views on others,

0:39:08.196,0:39:19.176
and aware that lack of communication [br]always brings suffering...

0:39:19.176,0:39:20.644
And the Ninth Mindfulness Training:

0:39:20.644,0:39:27.433
"Aware that words can create suffering[br]or happiness...

0:39:27.716,0:39:30.259
And the Eleventh Mindfulness Training:

0:39:30.259,0:39:37.091
"Aware that great violence and injustice have[br]been done to our environment and society...

0:39:41.355,0:39:46.355
"Aware that much suffering is created [br]by war and by conflict...

0:39:48.727,0:39:55.262
"Aware that sex motivated by craving[br]will create more suffering...

0:39:55.792,0:40:04.472
So, at the basis of ethics is the [br]awareness of suffering,

0:40:04.472,0:40:07.739
the first Noble Truth.

0:40:08.486,0:40:10.307
And that is something that we can

0:40:10.307,0:40:14.695
practise rationally with our intellectual[br]mind

0:40:14.695,0:40:17.734
to look deeply and see the suffering.

0:40:17.931,0:40:21.212
But we have to allow our emotional mind,

0:40:21.212,0:40:25.639
our emotional part, also to feel the[br]suffering.

0:40:25.639,0:40:29.270
before we really can make the determination

0:40:29.270,0:40:33.400
to do something in order to help

0:40:33.400,0:40:36.784
alleviate the suffering that we have seen.

0:40:39.388,0:40:45.190
And every two weeks, we read the [br]Mindfulness Trainings together,

0:40:45.190,0:40:48.471
we recite them or every month.

0:40:48.471,0:40:52.551
And every time you can become more aware

0:40:52.551,0:40:55.359
of suffering and you can become more

0:40:55.359,0:40:58.797
determined to do something to help

0:40:58.797,0:41:01.716
alleviate the suffering.

0:41:09.157,0:41:13.366
So compassion is an important part

0:41:13.366,0:41:17.839
of ethical behavior. And we can develop

0:41:17.839,0:41:22.360
compassion by our way of thinking,

0:41:22.360,0:41:26.401
our way of speaking, in our daily life.

0:41:28.833,0:41:32.751
We should never say that person has no[br]compassion.

0:41:33.251,0:41:35.111
We should never say of ourself

0:41:35.111,0:41:37.853
"I have no compassion."

0:41:38.645,0:41:41.254
Be sure you do.

0:41:44.128,0:41:49.422
Compassion is a little bit linked to[br]the maternal instinct.

0:41:49.709,0:41:52.250
It's the same kind of region of the brain:

0:41:52.250,0:41:55.682
maternal love and compassion.

0:41:55.682,0:41:58.461
And if you read the Discourse on Love,

0:41:58.461,0:42:00.341
we see that the Buddha did not need

0:42:00.374,0:42:04.681
to have MRI in order to be able to see that

0:42:04.694,0:42:09.513
just as a mother loves and protects [br]her own child,

0:42:09.573,0:42:12.811
at the risk of her own life, so we should

0:42:13.037,0:42:17.668
develop compassion for all living beings.

0:42:24.331,0:42:27.025
So we all have compassion.

0:42:27.025,0:42:30.051
And what we need to do is we need

0:42:30.051,0:42:33.242
to find ways in order for the compassion

0:42:33.242,0:42:36.244
in us to be able to manifest.

0:42:39.087,0:42:42.719
And if we've given ourselves too many

0:42:42.719,0:42:46.596
opportunities to be in touch with too much

0:42:46.596,0:42:49.774
suffering, then we may have fallen into

0:42:49.774,0:42:56.830
what we saw before is called [br]"empathetic distress".

0:42:57.794,0:43:00.237
And it doesn't matter if we've fallen

0:43:00.237,0:43:02.301
into that way.

0:43:02.301,0:43:05.439
But it is very important that we are mindful,

0:43:05.439,0:43:09.026
and that we realize that has happened,

0:43:09.026,0:43:12.390
and we do our best to take care of

0:43:12.390,0:43:16.307
the happiness. And look on the other side.

0:43:16.307,0:43:19.309
Look at what is going right, rather than

0:43:19.309,0:43:22.291
what is going wrong.

0:43:22.319,0:43:24.929
So if you are in a situation with another

0:43:24.929,0:43:27.767
person, and you feel that when you listen

0:43:27.767,0:43:31.627
to their suffering that you want to withdraw,

0:43:31.627,0:43:34.731
you feel the stress in yourself,

0:43:34.731,0:43:37.626
then you have the right to withdraw.

0:43:37.626,0:43:40.042
Because you know that you cannot help that

0:43:40.042,0:43:42.640
person. So you have to withdraw,

0:43:42.640,0:43:45.444
in order to take care of yourself.

0:43:45.444,0:43:48.005
To feel compassion for yourself.

0:43:48.005,0:43:51.532
And if possible, to find someone else

0:43:51.532,0:43:54.872
who can help the person who is suffering.

0:44:03.158,0:44:07.846
Sometimes people look at babies, and they

0:44:07.846,0:44:11.207
see the baby is compassionate.

0:44:11.207,0:44:13.199
And another time, the people look and they

0:44:13.199,0:44:20.077
see the baby is greedy and demanding.

0:44:20.077,0:44:21.984
So it depends who is looking at the baby,

0:44:21.984,0:44:24.011
what they see.

0:44:25.901,0:44:29.752
And with two-year old children, they do an

0:44:29.752,0:44:33.698
experiment, and they give one child..

0:44:33.698,0:44:36.887
They have a group of children, and they

0:44:36.887,0:44:39.032
give one child something that the other

0:44:39.032,0:44:41.542
children don't have, something that can

0:44:41.542,0:44:45.095
be shared, and the child, the two-year old,

0:44:45.095,0:44:47.125
will naturally take it around

0:44:47.125,0:44:49.199
and share it with everyone.

0:44:49.199,0:44:51.182
If you have your own grandchildren,

0:44:51.182,0:44:54.654
nieces in my case, your own children,

0:44:54.654,0:44:57.749
grandchildren, nieces and nephews,

0:44:57.749,0:44:59.560
you see that happen very often.

0:44:59.560,0:45:01.163
You give one something, and they

0:45:01.163,0:45:04.595
go around and share it with others.

0:45:04.595,0:45:07.097
So that is the practice of loving kindness,

0:45:07.097,0:45:11.853
which seems to be there, already, in us.

0:45:16.652,0:45:28.468
In 1993, in Chicago, there was a [br]World Parliament of Religions,

0:45:28.468,0:45:30.301
a conference.

0:45:31.061,0:45:36.709
And our teacher, Thầy, was invited [br]to go there.

0:45:38.616,0:45:42.874
And there were 200 delegates, I think.

0:45:44.367,0:45:47.621
And they stayed in a very fancy hotel.

0:45:50.230,0:45:55.576
And it was the 100th anniversary of the

0:45:55.576,0:45:57.907
World Parliament of Religions.

0:45:58.098,0:46:02.598
In 1893, they had their first session,

0:46:02.598,0:46:05.808
and they have it every 3 or 2 years[br]or something.

0:46:07.155,0:46:11.135
And in 1893, those represented were

0:46:11.135,0:46:18.819
Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, different [br]Christian schools including

0:46:18.819,0:46:22.418
the Eastern and the Russian Orthodox.

0:46:22.418,0:46:25.451
And that was about... Judaism.

0:46:25.451,0:46:27.125
That was about it.

0:46:28.407,0:46:31.312
But in 1993 they decided to ask for

0:46:31.312,0:46:39.480
representatives of the Native American[br]spiritual paths and Shamanism.

0:46:40.533,0:46:43.443
And some of the delegates were very upset.

0:46:43.678,0:46:46.489
They said, these religions, they don't [br]have any proper "ism",

0:46:46.489,0:46:48.520
they don't have any proper name.

0:46:48.520,0:46:52.331
And they left. Yes, they left.

0:46:53.960,0:46:57.286
So, it wasn't an entirely harmonious thing.

0:46:57.968,0:46:59.828
Thầy was there.

0:47:00.828,0:47:03.205
I think the person who kind of brought

0:47:03.205,0:47:06.605
it all together was a Swiss theologian

0:47:06.605,0:47:09.878
called Hans Küng...I think

0:47:09.878,0:47:15.105
Kung, Kung, Kung?Kung?Kung?

0:47:15.320,0:47:18.057
Not meaning to be disrespectful.

0:47:18.468,0:47:22.082
My German pronunciation is not very good.

0:47:27.547,0:47:30.530
A Catholic theologian.

0:47:32.914,0:47:36.403
This year I think he is 90...

0:47:36.403,0:47:39.598
He's about the same age as Thầy is.

0:47:39.598,0:47:42.397
90 something, 92 or something.

0:47:44.910,0:47:48.176
So really, he's dedicated his life to

0:47:48.176,0:47:52.146
reforming, trying to bring about reform [br]in the Catholic Church.

0:47:52.390,0:47:54.441
And so's he's not...

0:47:54.441,0:47:59.376
and also into developing a global ethic.

0:48:02.428,0:48:10.003
So he has a lot of, a lot of deep[br]motivation for a global ethic.

0:48:11.940,0:48:13.553
Thầy also.

0:48:14.498,0:48:17.203
Thầy once said in a Dharma Talk,

0:48:17.203,0:48:22.260
that when practising sitting meditation [br]in the Upper Hamlet,

0:48:22.260,0:48:25.767
at the end of the sitting meditation session,

0:48:25.767,0:48:29.175
everybody touches the Earth three times.

0:48:29.175,0:48:31.664
And when Thầy touches the Earth,

0:48:31.664,0:48:33.874
Thầy makes the deep aspiration,

0:48:33.874,0:48:38.846
"May Thầy and the Sangha be able to [br]contribute to a global ethic

0:48:40.272,0:48:46.402
so that we can relieve a great deal [br]of suffering in the world.

0:48:51.938,0:48:56.116
So as I said in 1993, there were present

0:48:56.116,0:49:00.282
at the Parliament of Religions, a number

0:49:00.282,0:49:04.543
of representatives of the American Indian.

0:49:05.435,0:49:10.456
And they don't have something that is [br]called a religion as such,

0:49:10.456,0:49:13.643
but they care very much about the Earth.

0:49:14.250,0:49:21.010
And have a lot of respect and care for[br]the Earth, for Mother Earth.

0:49:25.611,0:49:28.211
And recently in a book,

0:49:28.211,0:49:31.662
Love Letters to the Earth,

0:49:31.662,0:49:34.844
in the appendix to that book,

0:49:34.844,0:49:38.116
Thầy says we need to find a global [br]spirituality.

0:49:39.247,0:49:42.860
And maybe that spirituality will be based

0:49:42.860,0:49:50.103
in our reverence and our awe for [br]the natural world, for Mother Earth,

0:49:50.103,0:49:52.874
for the galaxies, for the cosmos.

0:49:52.874,0:49:59.774
Because all human beings feel a deep[br]kind of awe when they look at

0:49:59.774,0:50:03.004
the cosmos, at the...

0:50:05.352,0:50:07.239
So in order to find something that we

0:50:07.239,0:50:09.721
all have in common,

0:50:13.382,0:50:15.757
and then to agree on how to word it,

0:50:15.757,0:50:17.544
is not easy.

0:50:18.473,0:50:20.722
I think in that Parliament of Religions,

0:50:20.722,0:50:25.033
they all agreed about what the suffering [br]is that we're facing.

0:50:26.357,0:50:31.892
But they could not agree on how to word,

0:50:32.701,0:50:34.606
like the Five Mindfulness Trainings

0:50:34.606,0:50:35.992
or something like that,

0:50:35.992,0:50:39.679
to help people relieve that suffering.

0:50:39.679,0:50:43.047
So that is a work that we still have to do.

0:50:44.771,0:50:49.284
And we want, we really want, [br]to continue Thầy,

0:50:49.350,0:50:53.490
and continue this effort in

0:50:53.793,0:50:57.019
sometimes letting go of what we hold to

0:50:57.019,0:51:01.907
in order to be able to contribute to a [br]global ethic.

0:51:04.417,0:51:07.467
And when we contribute to a global ethic,

0:51:07.467,0:51:12.086
we also need to look into other forms

0:51:12.086,0:51:15.966
of ethics than Buddhist ethics, to try and

0:51:15.966,0:51:20.535
find out what is it that the human mind

0:51:20.535,0:51:23.198
can agree on, which all humans

0:51:23.198,0:51:25.093
can agree on.

0:51:34.253,0:51:44.927
So there, in 1993, most people, nearly everybody

0:51:44.927,0:51:52.037
but not everybody, they agreed on 4 points,[br]four commitments that they wanted to make.

0:51:55.770,0:52:00.450
And the first commitment was [br]to protect life.

0:52:09.499,0:52:16.047
"A commitment to a culture of non-violence[br]and respect for life."

0:52:17.704,0:52:24.848
So when we look at the 14 Mindfulness[br]Trainings of the Order of Interbeing

0:52:28.508,0:52:33.002
we see that there are roots to our inability

0:52:33.002,0:52:38.521
to protect life, there are roots to our[br]violence.

0:52:38.521,0:52:43.632
And those things like fanaticism, dogmatism.

0:52:43.632,0:52:46.325
When we cling to a dogma, when we say that

0:52:46.325,0:52:50.128
we are right and you are wrong,

0:52:50.128,0:52:54.352
that is contribution to violence.

0:52:56.992,0:53:01.180
And so when we commit ourselves to[br]non-violence,

0:53:01.180,0:53:03.971
on the one hand we commit ourselves

0:53:03.971,0:53:08.121
to looking deeply into the seeds of

0:53:08.121,0:53:11.573
violence we have in ourselves, and how

0:53:11.573,0:53:15.271
not to water the violence we have in[br]ourselves.

0:53:16.610,0:53:17.998
But at the same time,

0:53:17.998,0:53:21.088
we want to find out, what is it

0:53:21.088,0:53:23.961
that makes people violent.

0:53:24.963,0:53:29.193
And when I stick to my dogma,

0:53:29.193,0:53:32.728
and you stick to your dogma,

0:53:32.728,0:53:36.798
and neither of us can accept the dogma[br]of the other,

0:53:36.798,0:53:40.496
then that will also lead to violence

0:53:40.496,0:53:43.079
that we commit together.

0:53:45.788,0:53:48.678
And the second commitment they have

0:53:48.678,0:53:52.840
is commitment to a culture of solidarity

0:53:57.371,0:54:02.302
and just economic order.

0:54:03.161,0:54:13.490
So solidarity here means, like "đoàn kết"

0:54:13.490,0:54:16.883
it means that we stand together.

0:54:16.883,0:54:20.446
East stands together with West.

0:54:20.446,0:54:26.934
And if in the West we see that South or[br]the East is suffering,

0:54:26.934,0:54:30.548
we know that that is also our suffering.

0:54:30.548,0:54:32.852
So we want to help.

0:54:32.852,0:54:36.128
The North wants to help the South,

0:54:36.128,0:54:38.423
wants to stand together with the South.

0:54:38.423,0:54:42.373
That is a culture of solidarity.

0:54:44.258,0:54:52.233
And just economic order, like "?? nền kinh tế".

0:54:53.172,0:54:57.072
"?? nền kinh tế công bằng?"

0:55:00.912,0:55:04.932
So that also means that we want to

0:55:06.518,0:55:10.744
be able to let go of our consumerism.

0:55:10.744,0:55:14.999
We want to be able to let go of our[br]material comforts

0:55:14.999,0:55:18.796
in order to be able to share our riches

0:55:18.796,0:55:22.123
with the countries that don't have

0:55:22.123,0:55:24.413
the riches we have.

0:55:28.737,0:55:32.131
And the third commitment that they nearly

0:55:32.131,0:55:34.101
came to agree with each other

0:55:34.101,0:55:40.661
is commitment to a culture of tolerance [br]and truth.

0:55:43.406,0:55:47.678
The ability to embrace each other.

0:55:48.809,0:55:51.799
Tolerance is "bao dung".

0:55:53.542,0:55:59.644
And to be truthful, to be authentic[br]with each other.

0:56:01.569,0:56:03.486
And the fourth is a commitment to

0:56:03.486,0:56:11.658
a culture of equal rights and partnership[br]between men and women.

0:56:13.480,0:56:22.228
Equal rights is "bình quyền" and[br]partnership here is ?"sự hợp tác".

0:56:23.128,0:56:25.997
Between men and women.

0:56:27.273,0:56:32.308
But in that, in the details of that [br]commitment,

0:56:32.308,0:56:45.070
it talks a lot about sexuality and not[br]exploiting sex,

0:56:45.070,0:56:48.154
not selling sex, that kind of thing.

0:56:57.652,0:57:01.744
So the theologian Hans Küng also

0:57:01.744,0:57:08.481
spent much of his life in talking to

0:57:08.481,0:57:13.117
business men about global ethics.

0:57:14.304,0:57:18.431
[The bell is awoken.]

0:57:18.431,0:57:33.579
[The bell is invited.]

0:57:33.579,0:57:39.748
When we read the second chapter of the[br]anguttara nikaya,

0:57:39.748,0:57:44.921
the Buddha says, there are two things,

0:57:44.921,0:57:50.681
monks, that protect the world, [br]that preserve the world.

0:57:50.681,0:57:53.581
What are those two things?

0:57:53.581,0:57:58.615
They are hiri and ottapa.

1:00:04.952,1:00:08.418
So usually when you look in the Pali [br]dictionary,

1:00:08.418,1:00:13.483
this how these two words are translated.

1:00:26.351,1:00:33.191
Maybe moral shame, moral dread, it [br]doesn't sound very... um..

1:00:36.069,1:00:39.650
To say that these two things protect [br]the world, preserve the world,

1:00:39.650,1:00:43.714
may not sound so positive to you.

1:00:44.760,1:00:53.626
Moral shame: it means that when I do[br]something I recognize that it

1:00:53.626,1:00:55.597
brings about suffering for myself,

1:00:55.597,1:00:58.944
and I feel ashamed.

1:00:58.944,1:01:01.871
And so I don't do it.

1:01:03.414,1:01:10.039
And, moral dread means I'm very afraid[br]of doing something wrong.

1:01:10.039,1:01:16.017
I'm afraid to do that.

1:01:16.017,1:01:21.723
I'm afraid to do something that will[br]make myself suffer and make

1:01:21.723,1:01:24.902
other people suffer.

1:01:26.826,1:01:33.078
And sometimes, we're afraid to do things

1:01:33.078,1:01:36.626
because we think we will go to hell.

1:01:36.980,1:01:41.063
Or we think that we will be punished.

1:01:42.016,1:01:45.274
So, maybe you'd be afraid to rob a bank

1:01:45.274,1:01:48.251
because you think you might be put [br]in prison.

1:01:52.510,1:02:01.434
And sometimes in Buddhist temples, you [br]have fresco or paintings of the

1:02:01.434,1:02:05.321
terrible punishments that happen in hell.

1:02:05.517,1:02:10.761
Like being thrown in to a cauldron of oil,[br]boiling oil or something like that.

1:02:10.761,1:02:13.795
for some wrong deed that you did.

1:02:14.471,1:02:17.840
Well, the idea about that is make you afraid

1:02:17.840,1:02:19.692
so you don't do it.

1:02:22.688,1:02:27.160
But the thing is that in Plum Village,

1:02:27.160,1:02:30.349
we don't really believe in hell,

1:02:30.349,1:02:33.197
like place you go after you die,

1:02:33.197,1:02:37.140
to be punished for what you've done[br]while you were alive.

1:02:38.276,1:02:42.093
But we believe that hell is more like[br]a state of mind.

1:02:42.093,1:02:47.202
And you can go there very easily while[br]you are still alive,

1:02:47.512,1:02:51.354
if you choose to think in a certain way

1:02:51.354,1:02:54.111
or act in a certain way.

1:02:54.953,1:03:02.069
Like when you feel angry, it's a kind of[br]hell -- you feel very hot.

1:03:08.810,1:03:14.688
But here, it means like a deep aspiration

1:03:14.688,1:03:20.974
"I don't want to suffer and I don't want[br]to make other suffer."

1:03:20.974,1:03:26.535
So I have a ... I draw back, I draw back [br]from doing things

1:03:27.091,1:03:33.211
And when I do something that makes me [br]suffer and makes others suffer,

1:03:33.211,1:03:36.064
I recognize that I made a mistake.

1:03:36.064,1:03:38.320
And I feel ashamed.

1:03:38.320,1:03:44.233
And I either come and confess to somebody[br]else or I confess to myself,

1:03:44.233,1:03:47.502
and the words I use are something like

1:03:47.502,1:03:52.002
I made a mistake; I made you suffer;[br]I made myself suffer.

1:03:52.002,1:03:55.242
And I'm not going to do that again.

1:03:55.297,1:03:56.587
I am very sorry.

1:03:56.675,1:03:58.627
And then it is finished.

1:03:58.627,1:04:02.855
If it doesn't finish there, and I keep [br]reminding myself,

1:04:02.855,1:04:06.648
"I did that terrible thing. [br]I can't forget it"

1:04:06.648,1:04:08.348
then it becomes guilt.

1:04:08.348,1:04:10.342
And guilt is a complex, and

1:04:10.342,1:04:14.854
it's not something positive like shame is.

1:04:15.130,1:04:17.860
Shame is positive, because it helps me to

1:04:17.860,1:04:24.486
get over what I've done wrong and helps [br]me not to make the same mistake again.

1:04:32.706,1:04:43.123
The philosopher Mencius,

1:04:58.524,1:05:00.014
Mạnh Tử,

1:05:00.747,1:05:09.363
said that human beings are innately good.

1:05:11.049,1:05:13.526
They have innate compassion.

1:05:15.098,1:05:18.151
And he talked about four things,

1:05:18.626,1:05:21.271
which he called four beginnings,

1:05:22.466,1:05:28.224
which lead to living a moral life.

1:06:03.191,1:06:07.529
trắc ẩn tu ô' ???

1:06:11.312,1:06:15.022
This is these two, I think.

1:06:16.804,1:06:21.486
Tu here means to be shy, to feel ashamed.

1:06:22.970,1:06:27.599
So it's like Hiri. This is Mencius.

1:06:28.679,1:06:31.802
And ô' means to hate.

1:06:32.559,1:06:35.760
So you hate, you hate doing wrong.

1:06:36.029,1:06:39.285
It's a little bit like being afraid of [br]doing wrong.

1:06:39.940,1:06:42.384
You don't like doing wrong.

1:06:43.819,1:06:45.957
This means compassion.

1:06:45.957,1:06:49.892
These means something you can translate[br]as compassion.

1:06:49.892,1:06:55.242
And Mencius said that if you are inside,

1:06:55.242,1:06:59.583
and you see a child climb onto the edge

1:06:59.583,1:07:02.946
of a well outside, then you immediately want

1:07:02.946,1:07:06.427
to run out and take the child in your arms

1:07:06.427,1:07:10.231
so the child doesn't fall into the well.

1:07:10.231,1:07:14.119
And if the door is locked, and you can't[br]get out, you will be very

1:07:14.119,1:07:17.680
you will feel very bad, very frustrated.

1:07:17.680,1:07:19.538
You won't know what to do.

1:07:19.720,1:07:23.530
So that is the natural compassion [br]that we have, that we want

1:07:23.530,1:07:28.147
to save the life of others.

1:07:31.213,1:07:35.900
And this means that we are ashamed to [br]do something wrong.

1:07:35.900,1:07:41.894
And this means that we don't want,[br]we don't like to do something wrong.

1:08:13.744,1:08:17.791
từ như ??

1:08:18.214,1:08:20.954
The last one I remember... Easy.

1:08:46.888,1:08:50.376
thị phi ... từ nhượng

1:08:50.376,1:08:55.273
So từ nhượng means that you say good-bye[br]to something.

1:08:55.273,1:08:58.542
Like in "từ ?", you say good-bye.

1:08:58.542,1:09:04.109
You refrain, you don't do that.

1:09:04.109,1:09:08.811
You see that you can let go and not do it.

1:09:09.429,1:09:13.395
And "nhượng" means to yield.

1:09:14.824,1:09:20.383
You can let go, you don't hold on to...

1:09:21.274,1:09:24.032
If something is necessary is to be done,

1:09:24.032,1:09:25.997
you will do it.

1:09:25.997,1:09:28.562
If it is something you shouldn't do,

1:09:28.562,1:09:32.187
you can say good-bye to it and not do it.

1:09:32.187,1:09:34.812
You can refrain from doing something.

1:09:38.210,1:09:40.753
Like somebody comes to me and they say

1:09:40.753,1:09:45.519
"Oh, you know, I love very much somebody

1:09:45.519,1:09:54.367
who is my workplace. And she has a husband

1:09:54.367,1:09:58.826
and children, I have a wife and children...

1:09:58.826,1:10:01.482
But I know that I just have to give up

1:10:01.482,1:10:05.974
that love for the person, because I have

1:10:05.974,1:10:07.688
to care of my family, I have to take care

1:10:07.688,1:10:09.594
of my wife, and she has to take care

1:10:09.594,1:10:12.923
of her family and husband."

1:10:12.923,1:10:17.247
So that is to give up.

1:10:17.247,1:10:18.798
And then when we see something that needs

1:10:18.798,1:10:20.844
to be done, we do it.

1:10:21.999,1:10:26.150
And this means we have the capacity to

1:10:26.150,1:10:30.898
discriminate between what is right, and[br]what is wrong.

1:10:32.068,1:10:38.889
But like we said before, we have to..

1:10:38.889,1:10:41.509
In Buddhism, we don't know in advance

1:10:41.509,1:10:44.869
what is right and what is wrong.

1:10:44.869,1:10:51.005
We have to use our mindfulness, [br]concentration and insight in every

1:10:51.005,1:10:54.507
situation to know what is right and wrong.

1:10:54.507,1:10:57.665
With the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings,

1:10:57.665,1:11:00.094
the Five Mindfulness Traingings,

1:11:00.094,1:11:04.123
we have basic guidelines to help us go

1:11:04.123,1:11:06.286
in that direction.

1:11:06.286,1:11:10.739
But finally, we have to use mindfulness,

1:11:10.739,1:11:15.285
concentration, insight and the collective[br]wisdom of the Sangha

1:11:15.285,1:11:20.427
in order to know what is right and wrong[br]in this situation.

1:11:20.427,1:11:23.307
And that is why when we do our meditation

1:11:23.307,1:11:26.511
in the evening, we say

1:11:26.511,1:11:30.571
there is no more thought of right and wrong.

1:11:30.592,1:11:31.969
Because in your meditation,

1:11:31.969,1:11:33.380
you don't want to be thinking

1:11:33.380,1:11:36.280
oh, should I do this or should I do that?

1:11:37.106,1:11:41.810
In our meditation, we need to be able to

1:11:41.810,1:11:43.465
to come back to our breathing,

1:11:43.465,1:11:46.655
to let go of all our thinking

1:11:46.655,1:11:48.361
and then refresh our mind and

1:11:48.361,1:11:50.629
look deeply.

1:11:52.019,1:11:55.725
Yes. So that is a little bit of

1:11:55.725,1:11:59.721
talking about meta-ethics in Buddhism.

1:12:02.345,1:12:07.672
We have ethics, which is "đạo đức học"

1:12:07.902,1:12:09.445
but we also have meta-ethics

1:12:09.445,1:12:12.586
which is "siêu đạo đức học".

1:12:15.812,1:12:20.509
So what lies at the base of ethics?

1:12:21.542,1:12:28.643
And, it may be the no thought of [br]right and wrong.

1:12:30.925,1:12:37.409
What lies at the base of ethics is [br]the awareness of suffering,

1:12:37.409,1:12:41.201
the awareness of happiness,

1:12:41.201,1:12:50.099
and also the ability to let go of [br]all ideas of right and wrong.

1:12:50.099,1:12:53.986
In order to be able to discover

1:12:53.986,1:12:58.127
what will lead to the greatest happiness

1:12:58.127,1:13:05.164
and the least suffering in this particular[br]circumstance.

1:13:15.687,1:13:22.567
I think Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill

1:13:22.754,1:13:29.298
in the 19th century, they talk about

1:13:29.298,1:13:35.961
the greatest happiness of the greatest[br]number

1:13:35.961,1:13:39.389
as being the basis for ethics.

1:13:39.664,1:13:45.201
And in Buddhism we could agree [br]also with that.

1:13:45.201,1:13:49.209
We want, that is what we feel

1:13:49.209,1:13:52.620
we want the least amount of suffering.

1:13:54.567,1:13:57.361
But we also know that suffering is

1:13:57.361,1:13:59.735
essential for there to be compassion.

1:14:00.249,1:14:02.476
And compassion is essential for

1:14:02.476,1:14:04.774
there to be happiness.

1:14:05.042,1:14:07.002
But there will always be suffering.

1:14:07.002,1:14:09.868
We don't know to worry that one day,

1:14:09.868,1:14:11.874
there will be no more suffering.

1:14:13.564,1:14:16.133
We just don't want to make more suffering

1:14:16.133,1:14:22.752
than what is already offering itself to us.

1:14:23.552,1:14:28.732
[The bell is awoken.]

1:14:28.732,1:14:41.300
[The bell is invited.]

1:14:41.300,1:14:44.192
And I think that Jeremy Bentham and

1:14:44.192,1:14:46.911
John Stuart Mill, they talked a lot about

1:14:46.911,1:14:49.085
material happiness.

1:14:49.618,1:14:51.287
There's a lot of poverty.

1:14:51.287,1:14:53.492
There still is a lot of poverty.

1:14:53.492,1:14:55.657
And obviously to be able to eradicate

1:14:55.657,1:15:00.280
poverty would bring material happiness,

1:15:00.280,1:15:03.406
which will then lead to spiritual happiness.

1:15:03.406,1:15:05.768
Because when people are so poor,

1:15:05.768,1:15:07.459
they don't have the time, they don't

1:15:07.459,1:15:11.737
have the opportunity to develop their[br]spiritual life.

1:15:12.541,1:15:14.971
And so that is a basic step.

1:15:15.162,1:15:19.250
But we also see that spiritual happiness

1:15:19.827,1:15:22.080
is very important.

1:15:22.212,1:15:29.841
And when I lived in India, in a place that[br]was very poor,

1:15:30.394,1:15:32.977
I used to see the children there.

1:15:33.486,1:15:35.053
They had no clothes, really,

1:15:35.053,1:15:37.930
a few ragged clothes sometimes.

1:15:41.151,1:15:44.080
But they were happy.

1:15:44.080,1:15:46.057
They'd play with each other, although

1:15:46.057,1:15:48.051
they didn't have any toys,

1:15:48.051,1:15:50.910
they didn't have proper clothes to wear.

1:15:51.451,1:15:53.326
But they had a kind of happiness that

1:15:53.326,1:15:56.557
sometimes in children who have clothes and

1:15:56.557,1:16:00.349
have many toys, you don't see.

1:16:02.501,1:16:04.385
But that also has something to do with

1:16:04.385,1:16:07.664
our sharing our wealth, so that

1:16:07.664,1:16:11.931
everybody has enough, but not more

1:16:11.931,1:16:13.607
than they need.

1:16:14.030,1:16:18.009
One German economist said it is perfectly

1:16:18.009,1:16:22.380
possible for everyone to have a wage that

1:16:22.380,1:16:28.039
is the same -- everybody earns the same[br]amount of money.

1:16:38.261,1:16:42.157
So during the three months [br]of the Autumn Retreat,

1:16:42.157,1:16:46.716
we have an opportunity for us to be able

1:16:46.716,1:16:53.025
to look into how the Fourteen Mindfulness [br]Trainings affect our own life.

1:16:55.805,1:16:59.354
And how we can help, how they can help us

1:16:59.354,1:17:01.749
to develop our compassion.

1:17:03.099,1:17:05.118
And we have plenty of opportunity

1:17:05.118,1:17:09.447
in our sitting meditation to practise

1:17:09.447,1:17:12.471
loving kindness meditation if we want to

1:17:14.278,1:17:19.526
so that we can more easily bring up the

1:17:19.526,1:17:24.233
innate compassion that we all have.

1:17:25.416,1:17:27.454
[The bell is awoken.]

1:17:30.583,1:17:53.107
[The bell is invited.]

1:17:58.696,1:18:19.435
[The bell is invited.]

1:18:25.140,1:18:50.227
[The bell is invited.]

1:18:54.951,1:18:56.544
[The small bell is awoken.]

1:18:56.544,1:19:00.850
[The small bell is invited.]