WEBVTT

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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.]

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Dear Sangha, this autumn the topic that

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we will be looking into is the

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Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings 
of the Order of Interbeing.

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

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about the origin of,... the founder of
the school to which we belong in the

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Plum Village tradition, called the
Lieu Quan School.

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And so today, we will continue by looking

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at some of the foundations of ethics which

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lie at the basis of the 
Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings,

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in Buddhism and in the Plum Village Tradition.

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

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wrote a poem, or a gatha, which was what

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we call a lineage poem, and each word of

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that poem represents one generation of the

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continuation of Master Lieu Quan,

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his spiritual continuation in the Lieu Quan
School, the Lieu Quan line.

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So the first name is his own name,

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and the second word...
the first word is his own name,

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

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And the third word is the disciples of 
his disciples.

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So we belong to the ninth generation,

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

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If you have received the Five Mindfulness
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
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 
see if you receive the

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Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings
and you have the certificate,

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I think in English you will see 
something like that.

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So, it's like you have a source of water

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on the mountain, and the water goes
everywhere down the mountain,

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and it penetrates into the earth,
in many, many places.

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

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And this word here, "phong", this word
means something like...

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

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So it means something like a custom.

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A custom, or a way, or a tradition.

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And this word here, "từ" is usually
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, 
of loving kindness,

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the tradition of compassion or 
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 
non-Buddhists for a compassionate society.

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So here the idea is compassion of a whole 
society, compassion of a tradition,

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or a custom of compassion.

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Nowadays, people use the word compassion

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quite a lot. And neuroscientists are very

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interested in compassion.

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And those neuroscientists who are familiar
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
can find compassion in your brain.

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Whereabouts compassion comes from,
in your brain.

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And if the human brain has compassion,

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does it mean that animal brain also has
compassion?

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Because people used to say that human beings

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are capable of ethical behavior,

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human beings are capable of compassion,

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and that is where they differ from animals.

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But now we see that the human is really 
just another animal.

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And so the human brain is a continuation
of the animal brain.

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And it's not very different from the
animal brain.

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So that is another thing that we need to 
look into.

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We usually think that as human beings,

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we're something quite exclusive.

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And, is that better?

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We're quite exclusive, and we have 
something special

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that the animals don't have.

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So I remember once, some neuroscientists
were doing an experiment to prove that

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rats had compassion.

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So they taught the rat how to open the cage.

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

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And another rat is in the cage.

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And they saw that the rat who was free,

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he knew how to open the cage,

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and he let the rat out, the other rat out.

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So it was free.

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So the scientist was happy, and he said,

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"Oh, now we know that the animals, they 
also have compassion for each other.

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

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And then another scientist came along and

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said, "How do you know?"

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"Maybe he just wanted a friend to play with,

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so he was letting it out for his own 
selfish motivation."

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So we always can find a way to prove that

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human beings are a little bit special.

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But it's very important, how, how can we,

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how can we found, how can we establish,

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how can we help establish a compassionate
society,

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where the custom, the culture, is a culture
of compassion.

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And if compassion is something that is

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innate in our brain, then we just need to

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find ways in order to be able to help that,

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that seed as we call it in Buddhism,

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to flourish, to grow into a plant in
human beings.

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So if we come back again to neuroscience.

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So scientists use the word empathy.

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I wanted to find out what that word is
in Vietnamese, and I haven't found it.

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All I found was "thấu cảm"(?).

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,But I think it doesn't mean empathy, 
so I won't write it down.

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But empathy is something that animals have
in their ...

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They've found the place in the brain

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where empathy comes from.

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

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You can know that another person 
is suffering.

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And it has an effect on you.

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When you see another person suffering,

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you also feel uncomfortable.

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You don't feel happy.

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So that is what is called empathy.

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And you see another person happy,

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you can also feel happy.

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So, if we have empathy,

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we have the possibility also to have
compassion.

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But empathy itself is not compassion.

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So empathy belongs to some region of
the brain, and then it's linked up with

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compassion, which lights up another region
of the brain.

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So scientists say that empathy can result

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in two different things.

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And one is compassion.

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And the other they call 
empathetic distress.

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So when you have compassion,

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then your feeling is directed to 
the other person.

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And in this case, this is called
self-directed.

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And then, your emotion here,

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where there is compassion, the emotion is
one of loving kindness or happiness

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or both.

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So in this case, the emotion is 
one of stress.

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And that is suffering.

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And these things lead to health.

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And these things lead to ill-health.

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I think this is what we've heard Thầy 
say for a long time.

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That when we have a thought of compassion,

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it immediately brings us health,
and it brings more health to the world.

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And without compassion, we cannot have
real happiness.

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Compassion brings us a lot of happiness.

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And when you feel compassion for 
another person,

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the first one who benefits from that feeling

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of compassion is the person who feels it,

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even before they have done something

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to help the other person,

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they already feel better, because of

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the compassion in their heart.

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So, another thing they say here is
"approach"

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and here is "withdrawal".

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So I think that it is easy for us when

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we are in touch with another person who
is suffering, or an animal who is suffering,

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or any kind of suffering in society,

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to be able to tell,
what is arising in us?

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Is compassion arising? Or is what is 
called empathetic distress arising in us?

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That is, we want to withdraw.

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It's too much for us:
the suffering is too much for us,

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of the other person.

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And this is kind of when we have burn-out.

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People who are working in the 
environmental movement, or

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some other movement to help the world.

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And they feel that they're not making any

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progress, then rather than feel compassion

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when looking at the suffering,

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they feel distress.

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And frustration.

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So now, many psychotherapists will teach

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their patients to practise loving kindness

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meditation, compassion meditation.

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Because they see that happiness is possible
when we can feel compassion.

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And they have done, neuroscientists have
done research,

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and even people who only practise 
loving kindness meditation for 7 days,

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they already see a change in their 
neuro-pathways.

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So just like mindfulness has become
something very widespread

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in society now, without being called a
Buddhist practice,

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a practice that anyone can do whether
they have religion or not,

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loving kindness meditation is also
becoming like that.

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You don't have to be a Buddhist to do it,

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although it began in Buddhism.

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So you know that when you do 
loving kindness meditation,

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the first object of your meditation is
yourself.

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"May I be peaceful, happy and light
in body and spirit."

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You have to really feel that for yourself.

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That is something you really want.

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And when you can have it, you can have
a lot of happiness.

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And if you don't feel it for yourself,

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then it's not easy to feel it for another person.

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And then the next part of the 
loving kindness meditation is

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"May I be safe and free from accident."

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That is something we all want.

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We all want to be able to feel absolutely
safe, where nothing can harm us.

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Whether we can find a place like that
or not is another matter.

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But we have a deep desire to safe and free
from accident.

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So we have to recognize that desire.

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And then we recognize that everyone else
also has that desire.

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And so then we go on to someone who is 
a friend of ours.

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"May he, or may she, be happy, peaceful and
light in body and in spirit."

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"May he or she be safe and free from
accident."

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And that is also quite easy for us to do 
for a friend of ours.

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And then we take as the object someone
who is neutral to us --

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somebody who you don't particularly like

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or somebody you don't have any 
bad feeling about.

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But somebody you meet from time to time.

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And you wish it for them.

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And the interesting thing is that is when

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you wish for a person who is neutral to you,

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"May he or she be happy, peaceful and 
light in body and spirit"

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suddenly that person is no longer neutral.

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That person becomes, through your 
meditation,

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somebody you have friendly feelings to.

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And then we should take, we should take

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someone who causes us difficulties.

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And while we meditate,

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"May he or she be happy, peaceful and 
light"

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we come into contact with the body and
the feelings of that person

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that we are meditating on, and we begin

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to understand them better.

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We understand that just as we have a

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deep need to be safe,

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that person who causes us to suffer, 
has a deep need to be safe also.

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And we will be able through that kind

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of meditation to change our way of thinking

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about the person who makes us suffer.

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And this change, it actually can be noticed

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by neuroscientists who do FMRI on the

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brain of the practionner.

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It is a way of developing happiness.

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It's a way of developing health.

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And when I first came to Buddhism,

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I thought that everything we did,

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every practice we did,

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was to be able to help other people.

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So metta meditation is not for my benefit,

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but for the benefit of other beings.

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And

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then you realize that it is also 
benefitting yourself.

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And now, when metta meditation is becoming

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something widespread, it's really done

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with the idea that it is to help yourself.

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That is what comes first.

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First of all, it will help you, and then,

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as a kind of spinoff,

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it will help other people as well.

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So the motivation is a little bit different.

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But however, once you begin to practise,

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then your motivation also begins to change.

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It's like once you begin to practise
mindfulness, at first you do it

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just for yourself. But then you see that

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practising mindfulness, you're helping 
others as well,

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and your motivation becomes one

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to help others too --- it's what you 
want to do, is to help others.

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In the beginning, you just wanted to help yourself.

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So when I consider these things that are 
happening in our society,

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even though we may be doing it for
ourself in the first place,

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I also consider that we are going in 
the right direction,

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to try and form a compassionate society, 
a compassionate culture.

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[The bell is awoken.]

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[The bell is invited.]

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And people also talk about two kinds of 
compassion.

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But I don't know if it's quite correct 
to do that.

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On the one hand, compassion that 
is emotional and intuitive.

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And on the other hand, compassion that 
is more rational and more explicit.

00:31:16.170 --> 00:31:19.866
That is something that you can talk about
more.

00:31:22.676 --> 00:31:26.937
As human beings, we have both these sides
to us.

00:31:26.937 --> 00:31:28.860
We have both the rational side,

00:31:28.860 --> 00:31:31.965
and we have the emotional side.

00:31:32.989 --> 00:31:36.106
And as far as I understand it, compassion

00:31:36.106 --> 00:31:39.117
should contain both of those elements.

00:31:45.958 --> 00:31:48.808
We often have moral dilemmas.

00:31:48.808 --> 00:31:51.755
We don't quite know what we should do

00:31:51.755 --> 00:31:54.755
in a certain situation.

00:31:57.137 --> 00:32:00.481
And sometimes we use our reasoning.

00:32:01.314 --> 00:32:04.915
And sometimes we use our emotions more

00:32:04.915 --> 00:32:07.247
when we want to decide what to do.

00:32:14.834 --> 00:32:20.323
Not long ago, on a retreat,

00:32:20.323 --> 00:32:26.325
my younger sister asked me

00:32:26.325 --> 00:32:30.856
"Should I go and help this layperson?"

00:32:31.073 --> 00:32:34.215
"Should I go on my own and help this
layperson?

00:32:34.998 --> 00:32:40.950
"Or should I stay in the retreat and be 
present at the Dharma Sharing?"

00:32:42.598 --> 00:32:46.521
So, when I was asked that question,

00:32:46.540 --> 00:32:51.398
of course my training immediately came up:

00:32:51.398 --> 00:32:54.619
you should stay in the Dharma Sharing,

00:32:54.619 --> 00:32:58.798
because in the Dharma Sharing you will
help many people.

00:32:58.984 --> 00:33:03.041
But if you just go on your own and help
one layperson,

00:33:03.041 --> 00:33:05.487
you will only help one person.

00:33:06.585 --> 00:33:11.692
So with my rational mind, it was clear
what we should do.

00:33:13.246 --> 00:33:16.901
But as I followed my breathing,

00:33:16.901 --> 00:33:21.603
and I looked, just stopped all my thinking,

00:33:21.603 --> 00:33:25.055
then I suddenly felt there is something
not right.

00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:30.613
And, eh, I didn't know why.

00:33:30.613 --> 00:33:36.384
But intuitively and emotionally, I felt

00:33:36.384 --> 00:33:39.922
I should let my sister go and help 
that layperson.

00:33:41.835 --> 00:33:45.257
And my sister said, 
" I don't mind either way."

00:33:46.102 --> 00:33:48.634
"If you tell me to stay, 
I'll be happy to stay."

00:33:48.634 --> 00:33:52.057
"If you tell me to go,
I'll be happy to go."

00:33:53.963 --> 00:33:58.933
So, sometimes, we have a moral dilemma

00:33:58.933 --> 00:34:03.291
like that and we, we don't know whether

00:34:03.291 --> 00:34:05.497
to use more of our rational side

00:34:05.497 --> 00:34:07.983
or more of our emotional side.

00:34:09.551 --> 00:34:18.466
But I have a lot trust in the 
Store Consciousness.

00:34:18.910 --> 00:34:25.014
That is the more unconscious side 
of my mind.

00:34:25.890 --> 00:34:29.313
Sometimes, of course, from our 
Store Consciousness,

00:34:29.313 --> 00:34:33.297
we have an intuition which comes from

00:34:33.297 --> 00:34:36.619
habit energy in our Store Consciousness.

00:34:38.034 --> 00:34:40.846
Because we've done it like that for so long,

00:34:41.734 --> 00:34:44.583
we intuitively want to do that out of our 
habit energy.

00:34:45.714 --> 00:34:48.398
But if our mind is clear,

00:34:48.398 --> 00:34:51.025
if we follow our breathing

00:34:51.025 --> 00:34:54.868
and empty our mind of all thinking,

00:34:54.868 --> 00:35:01.033
it's an opportunity for an 
intuitive insight to come up.

00:35:01.793 --> 00:35:08.253
And we can sometimes use that 
in making a moral decision.

00:35:09.589 --> 00:35:15.193
But we have to make sure that we
are very calm, and very clear

00:35:15.193 --> 00:35:17.935
when the insight comes up.

00:35:18.439 --> 00:35:22.294
And then we feel, "yes, I've done my best.


00:35:22.294 --> 00:35:25.517
I've looked into the rational side.

00:35:25.517 --> 00:35:29.092
I've also allowed the emotional side.

00:35:29.092 --> 00:35:36.724
And then, I've asked both sides to be quiet,
and allowed the intuition to come up.

00:35:40.337 --> 00:35:42.511
And that is the wonderful thing about

00:35:42.511 --> 00:35:48.980
Buddhist ethics is that every situation 
is a little bit different.

00:35:49.534 --> 00:35:51.709
We cannot have a blueprint and say

00:35:51.709 --> 00:35:54.509
it's always wrong to do this;

00:35:54.509 --> 00:35:58.016
it's always right to do something else.

00:35:58.016 --> 00:36:01.881
And it's also the difficulty about 
Buddhist ethics.

00:36:02.717 --> 00:36:04.882
Sometimes if you have what is called

00:36:04.882 --> 00:36:07.757
a deontological ethic, which says

00:36:07.757 --> 00:36:11.448
you have to do this or you can't do this

00:36:11.448 --> 00:36:13.354
and you have to do that, it's easy.

00:36:13.354 --> 00:36:15.762
You just say, "Oh, I'll do that."

00:36:15.762 --> 00:36:18.099
But then you feel it's not quite right.

00:36:18.099 --> 00:36:20.363
But in Buddhism, every situation

00:36:20.363 --> 00:36:23.215
we have to use our compassion,

00:36:23.329 --> 00:36:25.470
our deep looking,

00:36:25.470 --> 00:36:29.251
our mindfulness, concentration and insight

00:36:29.251 --> 00:36:33.038
in order to be able to make a decision.

00:36:33.038 --> 00:36:38.795
And of course, to make a decision on 
your own is not the best thing.

00:36:38.991 --> 00:36:42.004
It's far better to do it together,

00:36:42.004 --> 00:36:43.761
as a Sangha.

00:36:43.761 --> 00:36:47.403
When it's a difficult, moral dilemma,

00:36:47.403 --> 00:36:53.596
one pair of eyes, one intuition from 
one Store Consciousness,

00:36:53.596 --> 00:36:57.894
is not nearly as sure and as safe

00:36:57.894 --> 00:37:01.895
as an intuition that comes from many,
many people.

00:37:02.976 --> 00:37:08.618
[The bell is awoken.]

00:37:08.618 --> 00:37:27.201
[The bell is invited.]

00:37:27.734 --> 00:37:33.933
When I received the 14 Mindfulness 
Trainings in 1988,

00:37:33.933 --> 00:37:37.562
they were very different from how 
they are now.

00:37:37.562 --> 00:37:40.197
The spirit was not different at all,

00:37:40.197 --> 00:37:43.053
but the wording was very different.

00:37:43.053 --> 00:37:45.503
So a training would start off with

00:37:45.503 --> 00:37:52.130
"không thể", you cannot, you should not.

00:37:53.732 --> 00:37:57.756
And then more recently,

00:37:57.756 --> 00:38:00.196
the trainings have been revised.

00:38:00.196 --> 00:38:05.352
And each one begins with the word "aware".


00:38:05.352 --> 00:38:09.241
Very often it's "Aware of the suffering..."

00:38:09.241 --> 00:38:16.095
"Aware of the suffering created by 
fanaticism and intolerance,

00:38:16.095 --> 00:38:20.334
I am determined to...

00:38:20.334 --> 00:38:24.654
I don't know .. to let go of my...
I can't remember, never mind.

00:38:24.654 --> 00:38:27.061
And then the second one,

00:38:27.061 --> 00:38:35.545
"Aware of the suffering created by
attachment to views and wrong perceptions,

00:38:36.298 --> 00:38:40.818
I am determined to listen deeply to
other people."

00:38:41.094 --> 00:38:43.862
And the third Mindfulness Training:

00:38:43.862 --> 00:38:54.688
"Aware of the suffering created when I 
cannot, no, by forcing others to accept

00:38:54.688 --> 00:38:59.843
my viewpoint, something like that.

00:39:01.746 --> 00:39:08.196
"Aware of the suffering created when we 
impose our views on others,

00:39:08.196 --> 00:39:19.176
and aware that lack of communication 
always brings suffering...

00:39:19.176 --> 00:39:20.644
And the Ninth Mindfulness Training:

00:39:20.644 --> 00:39:27.433
"Aware that words can create suffering
or happiness...

00:39:27.716 --> 00:39:30.259
And the Eleventh Mindfulness Training:

00:39:30.259 --> 00:39:37.091
"Aware that great violence and injustice have
been done to our environment and society...

00:39:41.355 --> 00:39:46.355
"Aware that much suffering is created 
by war and by conflict...

00:39:48.727 --> 00:39:55.262
"Aware that sex motivated by craving
will create more suffering...

00:39:55.792 --> 00:40:04.472
So, at the basis of ethics is the 
awareness of suffering,

00:40:04.472 --> 00:40:07.739
the first Noble Truth.

00:40:08.486 --> 00:40:10.307
And that is something that we can

00:40:10.307 --> 00:40:14.695
practise rationally with our intellectual
mind

00:40:14.695 --> 00:40:17.734
to look deeply and see the suffering.

00:40:17.931 --> 00:40:21.212
But we have to allow our emotional mind,

00:40:21.212 --> 00:40:25.639
our emotional part, also to feel the
suffering.

00:40:25.639 --> 00:40:29.270
before we really can make the determination

00:40:29.270 --> 00:40:33.400
to do something in order to help

00:40:33.400 --> 00:40:36.784
alleviate the suffering that we have seen.

00:40:39.388 --> 00:40:45.190
And every two weeks, we read the 
Mindfulness Trainings together,

00:40:45.190 --> 00:40:48.471
we recite them or every month.

00:40:48.471 --> 00:40:52.551
And every time you can become more aware

00:40:52.551 --> 00:40:55.359
of suffering and you can become more

00:40:55.359 --> 00:40:58.797
determined to do something to help

00:40:58.797 --> 00:41:01.716
alleviate the suffering.

00:41:09.157 --> 00:41:13.366
So compassion is an important part

00:41:13.366 --> 00:41:17.839
of ethical behavior. And we can develop

00:41:17.839 --> 00:41:22.360
compassion by our way of thinking,

00:41:22.360 --> 00:41:26.401
our way of speaking, in our daily life.

00:41:28.833 --> 00:41:32.751
We should never say that person has no
compassion.

00:41:33.251 --> 00:41:35.111
We should never say of ourself

00:41:35.111 --> 00:41:37.853
"I have no compassion."

00:41:38.645 --> 00:41:41.254
Be sure you do.

00:41:44.128 --> 00:41:49.422
Compassion is a little bit linked to
the maternal instinct.

00:41:49.709 --> 00:41:52.250
It's the same kind of region of the brain:

00:41:52.250 --> 00:41:55.682
maternal love and compassion.

00:41:55.682 --> 00:41:58.461
And if you read the Discourse on Love,

00:41:58.461 --> 00:42:00.341
we see that the Buddha did not need

00:42:00.374 --> 00:42:04.681
to have MRI in order to be able to see that

00:42:04.694 --> 00:42:09.513
just as a mother loves and protects 
her own child,

00:42:09.573 --> 00:42:12.811
at the risk of her own life, so we should

00:42:13.037 --> 00:42:17.668
develop compassion for all living beings.

00:42:24.331 --> 00:42:27.025
So we all have compassion.

00:42:27.025 --> 00:42:30.051
And what we need to do is we need

00:42:30.051 --> 00:42:33.242
to find ways in order for the compassion

00:42:33.242 --> 00:42:36.244
in us to be able to manifest.

00:42:39.087 --> 00:42:42.719
And if we've given ourselves too many

00:42:42.719 --> 00:42:46.596
opportunities to be in touch with too much

00:42:46.596 --> 00:42:49.774
suffering, then we may have fallen into

00:42:49.774 --> 00:42:56.830
what we saw before is called 
"empathetic distress".

00:42:57.794 --> 00:43:00.237
And it doesn't matter if we've fallen

00:43:00.237 --> 00:43:02.301
into that way.

00:43:02.301 --> 00:43:05.439
But it is very important that we are mindful,

00:43:05.439 --> 00:43:09.026
and that we realize that has happened,

00:43:09.026 --> 00:43:12.390
and we do our best to take care of

00:43:12.390 --> 00:43:16.307
the happiness. And look on the other side.

00:43:16.307 --> 00:43:19.309
Look at what is going right, rather than

00:43:19.309 --> 00:43:22.291
what is going wrong.

00:43:22.319 --> 00:43:24.929
So if you are in a situation with another

00:43:24.929 --> 00:43:27.767
person, and you feel that when you listen

00:43:27.767 --> 00:43:31.627
to their suffering that you want to withdraw,

00:43:31.627 --> 00:43:34.731
you feel the stress in yourself,

00:43:34.731 --> 00:43:37.626
then you have the right to withdraw.

00:43:37.626 --> 00:43:40.042
Because you know that you cannot help that

00:43:40.042 --> 00:43:42.640
person. So you have to withdraw,

00:43:42.640 --> 00:43:45.444
in order to take care of yourself.

00:43:45.444 --> 00:43:48.005
To feel compassion for yourself.

00:43:48.005 --> 00:43:51.532
And if possible, to find someone else

00:43:51.532 --> 00:43:54.872
who can help the person who is suffering.

00:44:03.158 --> 00:44:07.846
Sometimes people look at babies, and they

00:44:07.846 --> 00:44:11.207
see the baby is compassionate.

00:44:11.207 --> 00:44:13.199
And another time, the people look and they

00:44:13.199 --> 00:44:20.077
see the baby is greedy and demanding.

00:44:20.077 --> 00:44:21.984
So it depends who is looking at the baby,

00:44:21.984 --> 00:44:24.011
what they see.

00:44:25.901 --> 00:44:29.752
And with two-year old children, they do an

00:44:29.752 --> 00:44:33.698
experiment, and they give one child..

00:44:33.698 --> 00:44:36.887
They have a group of children, and they

00:44:36.887 --> 00:44:39.032
give one child something that the other

00:44:39.032 --> 00:44:41.542
children don't have, something that can

00:44:41.542 --> 00:44:45.095
be shared, and the child, the two-year old,

00:44:45.095 --> 00:44:47.125
will naturally take it around

00:44:47.125 --> 00:44:49.199
and share it with everyone.

00:44:49.199 --> 00:44:51.182
If you have your own grandchildren,

00:44:51.182 --> 00:44:54.654
nieces in my case, your own children,

00:44:54.654 --> 00:44:57.749
grandchildren, nieces and nephews,

00:44:57.749 --> 00:44:59.560
you see that happen very often.

00:44:59.560 --> 00:45:01.163
You give one something, and they

00:45:01.163 --> 00:45:04.595
go around and share it with others.

00:45:04.595 --> 00:45:07.097
So that is the practice of loving kindness,

00:45:07.097 --> 00:45:11.853
which seems to be there, already, in us.

00:45:16.652 --> 00:45:28.468
In 1993, in Chicago, there was a 
World Parliament of Religions,

00:45:28.468 --> 00:45:30.301
a conference.

00:45:31.061 --> 00:45:36.709
And our teacher, Thầy, was invited 
to go there.

00:45:38.616 --> 00:45:42.874
And there were 200 delegates, I think.

00:45:44.367 --> 00:45:47.621
And they stayed in a very fancy hotel.

00:45:50.230 --> 00:45:55.576
And it was the 100th anniversary of the

00:45:55.576 --> 00:45:57.907
World Parliament of Religions.

00:45:58.098 --> 00:46:02.598
In 1893, they had their first session,

00:46:02.598 --> 00:46:05.808
and they have it every 3 or 2 years
or something.

00:46:07.155 --> 00:46:11.135
And in 1893, those represented were

00:46:11.135 --> 00:46:18.819
Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, different 
Christian schools including

00:46:18.819 --> 00:46:22.418
the Eastern and the Russian Orthodox.

00:46:22.418 --> 00:46:25.451
And that was about... Judaism.

00:46:25.451 --> 00:46:27.125
That was about it.

00:46:28.407 --> 00:46:31.312
But in 1993 they decided to ask for

00:46:31.312 --> 00:46:39.480
representatives of the Native American
spiritual paths and Shamanism.

00:46:40.533 --> 00:46:43.443
And some of the delegates were very upset.

00:46:43.678 --> 00:46:46.489
They said, these religions, they don't 
have any proper "ism",

00:46:46.489 --> 00:46:48.520
they don't have any proper name.

00:46:48.520 --> 00:46:52.331
And they left. Yes, they left.

00:46:53.960 --> 00:46:57.286
So, it wasn't an entirely harmonious thing.

00:46:57.968 --> 00:46:59.828
Thầy was there.

00:47:00.828 --> 00:47:03.205
I think the person who kind of brought

00:47:03.205 --> 00:47:06.605
it all together was a Swiss theologian

00:47:06.605 --> 00:47:09.878
called Hans Küng...I think

00:47:09.878 --> 00:47:15.105
Kung, Kung, Kung?Kung?Kung?

00:47:15.320 --> 00:47:18.057
Not meaning to be disrespectful.

00:47:18.468 --> 00:47:22.082
My German pronunciation is not very good.

00:47:27.547 --> 00:47:30.530
A Catholic theologian.

00:47:32.914 --> 00:47:36.403
This year I think he is 90...

00:47:36.403 --> 00:47:39.598
He's about the same age as Thầy is.

00:47:39.598 --> 00:47:42.397
90 something, 92 or something.

00:47:44.910 --> 00:47:48.176
So really, he's dedicated his life to

00:47:48.176 --> 00:47:52.146
reforming, trying to bring about reform 
in the Catholic Church.

00:47:52.390 --> 00:47:54.441
And so's he's not...

00:47:54.441 --> 00:47:59.376
and also into developing a global ethic.

00:48:02.428 --> 00:48:10.003
So he has a lot of, a lot of deep
motivation for a global ethic.

00:48:11.940 --> 00:48:13.553
Thầy also.

00:48:14.498 --> 00:48:17.203
Thầy once said in a Dharma Talk,

00:48:17.203 --> 00:48:22.260
that when practising sitting meditation 
in the Upper Hamlet,

00:48:22.260 --> 00:48:25.767
at the end of the sitting meditation session,

00:48:25.767 --> 00:48:29.175
everybody touches the Earth three times.

00:48:29.175 --> 00:48:31.664
And when Thầy touches the Earth,

00:48:31.664 --> 00:48:33.874
Thầy makes the deep aspiration,

00:48:33.874 --> 00:48:38.846
"May Thầy and the Sangha be able to 
contribute to a global ethic

00:48:40.272 --> 00:48:46.402
so that we can relieve a great deal 
of suffering in the world.

00:48:51.938 --> 00:48:56.116
So as I said in 1993, there were present

00:48:56.116 --> 00:49:00.282
at the Parliament of Religions, a number

00:49:00.282 --> 00:49:04.543
of representatives of the American Indian.

00:49:05.435 --> 00:49:10.456
And they don't have something that is 
called a religion as such,

00:49:10.456 --> 00:49:13.643
but they care very much about the Earth.

00:49:14.250 --> 00:49:21.010
And have a lot of respect and care for
the Earth, for Mother Earth.

00:49:25.611 --> 00:49:28.211
And recently in a book,

00:49:28.211 --> 00:49:31.662
Love Letters to the Earth,

00:49:31.662 --> 00:49:34.844
in the appendix to that book,

00:49:34.844 --> 00:49:38.116
Thầy says we need to find a global 
spirituality.

00:49:39.247 --> 00:49:42.860
And maybe that spirituality will be based

00:49:42.860 --> 00:49:50.103
in our reverence and our awe for 
the natural world, for Mother Earth,

00:49:50.103 --> 00:49:52.874
for the galaxies, for the cosmos.

00:49:52.874 --> 00:49:59.774
Because all human beings feel a deep
kind of awe when they look at

00:49:59.774 --> 00:50:03.004
the cosmos, at the...

00:50:05.352 --> 00:50:07.239
So in order to find something that we

00:50:07.239 --> 00:50:09.721
all have in common,

00:50:13.382 --> 00:50:15.757
and then to agree on how to word it,

00:50:15.757 --> 00:50:17.544
is not easy.

00:50:18.473 --> 00:50:20.722
I think in that Parliament of Religions,

00:50:20.722 --> 00:50:25.033
they all agreed about what the suffering 
is that we're facing.

00:50:26.357 --> 00:50:31.892
But they could not agree on how to word,

00:50:32.701 --> 00:50:34.606
like the Five Mindfulness Trainings

00:50:34.606 --> 00:50:35.992
or something like that,

00:50:35.992 --> 00:50:39.679
to help people relieve that suffering.

00:50:39.679 --> 00:50:43.047
So that is a work that we still have to do.

00:50:44.771 --> 00:50:49.284
And we want, we really want, 
to continue Thầy,

00:50:49.350 --> 00:50:53.490
and continue this effort in

00:50:53.793 --> 00:50:57.019
sometimes letting go of what we hold to

00:50:57.019 --> 00:51:01.907
in order to be able to contribute to a 
global ethic.

00:51:04.417 --> 00:51:07.467
And when we contribute to a global ethic,

00:51:07.467 --> 00:51:12.086
we also need to look into other forms

00:51:12.086 --> 00:51:15.966
of ethics than Buddhist ethics, to try and

00:51:15.966 --> 00:51:20.535
find out what is it that the human mind

00:51:20.535 --> 00:51:23.198
can agree on, which all humans

00:51:23.198 --> 00:51:25.093
can agree on.

00:51:34.253 --> 00:51:44.927
So there, in 1993, most people, nearly everybody

00:51:44.927 --> 00:51:52.037
but not everybody, they agreed on 4 points,
four commitments that they wanted to make.

00:51:55.770 --> 00:52:00.450
And the first commitment was 
to protect life.

00:52:09.499 --> 00:52:16.047
"A commitment to a culture of non-violence
and respect for life."

00:52:17.704 --> 00:52:24.848
So when we look at the 14 Mindfulness
Trainings of the Order of Interbeing

00:52:28.508 --> 00:52:33.002
we see that there are roots to our inability

00:52:33.002 --> 00:52:38.521
to protect life, there are roots to our
violence.

00:52:38.521 --> 00:52:43.632
And those things like fanaticism, dogmatism.

00:52:43.632 --> 00:52:46.325
When we cling to a dogma, when we say that

00:52:46.325 --> 00:52:50.128
we are right and you are wrong,

00:52:50.128 --> 00:52:54.352
that is contribution to violence.

00:52:56.992 --> 00:53:01.180
And so when we commit ourselves to
non-violence,

00:53:01.180 --> 00:53:03.971
on the one hand we commit ourselves

00:53:03.971 --> 00:53:08.121
to looking deeply into the seeds of

00:53:08.121 --> 00:53:11.573
violence we have in ourselves, and how

00:53:11.573 --> 00:53:15.271
not to water the violence we have in
ourselves.

00:53:16.610 --> 00:53:17.998
But at the same time,

00:53:17.998 --> 00:53:21.088
we want to find out, what is it

00:53:21.088 --> 00:53:23.961
that makes people violent.

00:53:24.963 --> 00:53:29.193
And when I stick to my dogma,

00:53:29.193 --> 00:53:32.728
and you stick to your dogma,

00:53:32.728 --> 00:53:36.798
and neither of us can accept the dogma
of the other,

00:53:36.798 --> 00:53:40.496
then that will also lead to violence

00:53:40.496 --> 00:53:43.079
that we commit together.

00:53:45.788 --> 00:53:48.678
And the second commitment they have

00:53:48.678 --> 00:53:52.840
is commitment to a culture of solidarity

00:53:57.371 --> 00:54:02.302
and just economic order.

00:54:03.161 --> 00:54:13.490
So solidarity here means, like "đoàn kết"

00:54:13.490 --> 00:54:16.883
it means that we stand together.

00:54:16.883 --> 00:54:20.446
East stands together with West.

00:54:20.446 --> 00:54:26.934
And if in the West we see that South or
the East is suffering,

00:54:26.934 --> 00:54:30.548
we know that that is also our suffering.

00:54:30.548 --> 00:54:32.852
So we want to help.

00:54:32.852 --> 00:54:36.128
The North wants to help the South,

00:54:36.128 --> 00:54:38.423
wants to stand together with the South.

00:54:38.423 --> 00:54:42.373
That is a culture of solidarity.

00:54:44.258 --> 00:54:52.233
And just economic order, like "?? nền kinh tế".

00:54:53.172 --> 00:54:57.072
"?? nền kinh tế công bằng?"

00:55:00.912 --> 00:55:04.932
So that also means that we want to

00:55:06.518 --> 00:55:10.744
be able to let go of our consumerism.

00:55:10.744 --> 00:55:14.999
We want to be able to let go of our
material comforts

00:55:14.999 --> 00:55:18.796
in order to be able to share our riches

00:55:18.796 --> 00:55:22.123
with the countries that don't have

00:55:22.123 --> 00:55:24.413
the riches we have.

00:55:28.737 --> 00:55:32.131
And the third commitment that they nearly

00:55:32.131 --> 00:55:34.101
came to agree with each other

00:55:34.101 --> 00:55:40.661
is commitment to a culture of tolerance 
and truth.

00:55:43.406 --> 00:55:47.678
The ability to embrace each other.

00:55:48.809 --> 00:55:51.799
Tolerance is "bao dung".

00:55:53.542 --> 00:55:59.644
And to be truthful, to be authentic
with each other.

00:56:01.569 --> 00:56:03.486
And the fourth is a commitment to

00:56:03.486 --> 00:56:11.658
a culture of equal rights and partnership
between men and women.

00:56:13.480 --> 00:56:22.228
Equal rights is "bình quyền" and
partnership here is ?"sự hợp tác".

00:56:23.128 --> 00:56:25.997
Between men and women.

00:56:27.273 --> 00:56:32.308
But in that, in the details of that 
commitment,

00:56:32.308 --> 00:56:45.070
it talks a lot about sexuality and not
exploiting sex,

00:56:45.070 --> 00:56:48.154
not selling sex, that kind of thing.

00:56:57.652 --> 00:57:01.744
So the theologian Hans Küng also

00:57:01.744 --> 00:57:08.481
spent much of his life in talking to

00:57:08.481 --> 00:57:13.117
business men about global ethics.

00:57:14.304 --> 00:57:18.431
[The bell is awoken.]

00:57:18.431 --> 00:57:33.579
[The bell is invited.]

00:57:33.579 --> 00:57:39.748
When we read the second chapter of the
anguttara nikaya,

00:57:39.748 --> 00:57:44.921
the Buddha says, there are two things,

00:57:44.921 --> 00:57:50.681
monks, that protect the world, 
that preserve the world.

00:57:50.681 --> 00:57:53.581
What are those two things?

00:57:53.581 --> 00:57:58.615
They are hiri and ottapa.

01:00:04.952 --> 01:00:08.418
So usually when you look in the Pali 
dictionary,

01:00:08.418 --> 01:00:13.483
this how these two words are translated.

01:00:26.351 --> 01:00:33.191
Maybe moral shame, moral dread, it 
doesn't sound very... um..

01:00:36.069 --> 01:00:39.650
To say that these two things protect 
the world, preserve the world,

01:00:39.650 --> 01:00:43.714
may not sound so positive to you.

01:00:44.760 --> 01:00:53.626
Moral shame: it means that when I do
something I recognize that it

01:00:53.626 --> 01:00:55.597
brings about suffering for myself,

01:00:55.597 --> 01:00:58.944
and I feel ashamed.

01:00:58.944 --> 01:01:01.871
And so I don't do it.

01:01:03.414 --> 01:01:10.039
And, moral dread means I'm very afraid
of doing something wrong.

01:01:10.039 --> 01:01:16.017
I'm afraid to do that.

01:01:16.017 --> 01:01:21.723
I'm afraid to do something that will
make myself suffer and make

01:01:21.723 --> 01:01:24.902
other people suffer.

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

01:01:33.078 --> 01:01:36.626
because we think we will go to hell.

01:01:36.980 --> 01:01:41.063
Or we think that we will be punished.

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

01:01:45.274 --> 01:01:48.251
because you think you might be put 
in prison.

01:01:52.510 --> 01:02:01.434
And sometimes in Buddhist temples, you 
have fresco or paintings of the

01:02:01.434 --> 01:02:05.321
terrible punishments that happen in hell.

01:02:05.517 --> 01:02:10.761
Like being thrown in to a cauldron of oil,
boiling oil or something like that.

01:02:10.761 --> 01:02:13.795
for some wrong deed that you did.

01:02:14.471 --> 01:02:17.840
Well, the idea about that is make you afraid

01:02:17.840 --> 01:02:19.692
so you don't do it.

01:02:22.688 --> 01:02:27.160
But the thing is that in Plum Village,

01:02:27.160 --> 01:02:30.349
we don't really believe in hell,

01:02:30.349 --> 01:02:33.197
like place you go after you die,

01:02:33.197 --> 01:02:37.140
to be punished for what you've done
while you were alive.

01:02:38.276 --> 01:02:42.093
But we believe that hell is more like
a state of mind.

01:02:42.093 --> 01:02:47.202
And you can go there very easily while
you are still alive,

01:02:47.512 --> 01:02:51.354
if you choose to think in a certain way

01:02:51.354 --> 01:02:54.111
or act in a certain way.

01:02:54.953 --> 01:03:02.069
Like when you feel angry, it's a kind of
hell -- you feel very hot.

01:03:08.810 --> 01:03:14.688
But here, it means like a deep aspiration

01:03:14.688 --> 01:03:20.974
"I don't want to suffer and I don't want
to make other suffer."

01:03:20.974 --> 01:03:26.535
So I have a ... I draw back, I draw back 
from doing things

01:03:27.091 --> 01:03:33.211
And when I do something that makes me 
suffer and makes others suffer,

01:03:33.211 --> 01:03:36.064
I recognize that I made a mistake.

01:03:36.064 --> 01:03:38.320
And I feel ashamed.

01:03:38.320 --> 01:03:44.233
And I either come and confess to somebody
else or I confess to myself,

01:03:44.233 --> 01:03:47.502
and the words I use are something like

01:03:47.502 --> 01:03:52.002
I made a mistake; I made you suffer;
I made myself suffer.

01:03:52.002 --> 01:03:55.242
And I'm not going to do that again.

01:03:55.297 --> 01:03:56.587
I am very sorry.

01:03:56.675 --> 01:03:58.627
And then it is finished.

01:03:58.627 --> 01:04:02.855
If it doesn't finish there, and I keep 
reminding myself,

01:04:02.855 --> 01:04:06.648
"I did that terrible thing. 
I can't forget it"

01:04:06.648 --> 01:04:08.348
then it becomes guilt.

01:04:08.348 --> 01:04:10.342
And guilt is a complex, and

01:04:10.342 --> 01:04:14.854
it's not something positive like shame is.

01:04:15.130 --> 01:04:17.860
Shame is positive, because it helps me to

01:04:17.860 --> 01:04:24.486
get over what I've done wrong and helps 
me not to make the same mistake again.

01:04:32.706 --> 01:04:43.123
The philosopher Mencius,

01:04:58.524 --> 01:05:00.014
Mạnh Tử,

01:05:00.747 --> 01:05:09.363
said that human beings are innately good.

01:05:11.049 --> 01:05:13.526
They have innate compassion.

01:05:15.098 --> 01:05:18.151
And he talked about four things,

01:05:18.626 --> 01:05:21.271
which he called four beginnings,

01:05:22.466 --> 01:05:28.224
which lead to living a moral life.

01:06:03.191 --> 01:06:07.529
trắc ẩn tu ô' ???

01:06:11.312 --> 01:06:15.022
This is these two, I think.

01:06:16.804 --> 01:06:21.486
Tu here means to be shy, to feel ashamed.

01:06:22.970 --> 01:06:27.599
So it's like Hiri. This is Mencius.

01:06:28.679 --> 01:06:31.802
And ô' means to hate.

01:06:32.559 --> 01:06:35.760
So you hate, you hate doing wrong.

01:06:36.029 --> 01:06:39.285
It's a little bit like being afraid of 
doing wrong.

01:06:39.940 --> 01:06:42.384
You don't like doing wrong.

01:06:43.819 --> 01:06:45.957
This means compassion.

01:06:45.957 --> 01:06:49.892
These means something you can translate
as compassion.

01:06:49.892 --> 01:06:55.242
And Mencius said that if you are inside,

01:06:55.242 --> 01:06:59.583
and you see a child climb onto the edge

01:06:59.583 --> 01:07:02.946
of a well outside, then you immediately want

01:07:02.946 --> 01:07:06.427
to run out and take the child in your arms

01:07:06.427 --> 01:07:10.231
so the child doesn't fall into the well.

01:07:10.231 --> 01:07:14.119
And if the door is locked, and you can't
get out, you will be very

01:07:14.119 --> 01:07:17.680
you will feel very bad, very frustrated.

01:07:17.680 --> 01:07:19.538
You won't know what to do.

01:07:19.720 --> 01:07:23.530
So that is the natural compassion 
that we have, that we want

01:07:23.530 --> 01:07:28.147
to save the life of others.

01:07:31.213 --> 01:07:35.900
And this means that we are ashamed to 
do something wrong.

01:07:35.900 --> 01:07:41.894
And this means that we don't want,
we don't like to do something wrong.

01:08:13.744 --> 01:08:17.791
từ như ??

01:08:18.214 --> 01:08:20.954
The last one I remember... Easy.

01:08:46.888 --> 01:08:50.376
thị phi ... từ nhượng

01:08:50.376 --> 01:08:55.273
So từ nhượng means that you say good-bye
to something.

01:08:55.273 --> 01:08:58.542
Like in "từ ?", you say good-bye.

01:08:58.542 --> 01:09:04.109
You refrain, you don't do that.

01:09:04.109 --> 01:09:08.811
You see that you can let go and not do it.

01:09:09.429 --> 01:09:13.395
And "nhượng" means to yield.

01:09:14.824 --> 01:09:20.383
You can let go, you don't hold on to...

01:09:21.274 --> 01:09:24.032
If something is necessary is to be done,

01:09:24.032 --> 01:09:25.997
you will do it.

01:09:25.997 --> 01:09:28.562
If it is something you shouldn't do,

01:09:28.562 --> 01:09:32.187
you can say good-bye to it and not do it.

01:09:32.187 --> 01:09:34.812
You can refrain from doing something.

01:09:38.210 --> 01:09:40.753
Like somebody comes to me and they say

01:09:40.753 --> 01:09:45.519
"Oh, you know, I love very much somebody

01:09:45.519 --> 01:09:54.367
who is my workplace. And she has a husband

01:09:54.367 --> 01:09:58.826
and children, I have a wife and children...

01:09:58.826 --> 01:10:01.482
But I know that I just have to give up

01:10:01.482 --> 01:10:05.974
that love for the person, because I have

01:10:05.974 --> 01:10:07.688
to care of my family, I have to take care

01:10:07.688 --> 01:10:09.594
of my wife, and she has to take care

01:10:09.594 --> 01:10:12.923
of her family and husband."

01:10:12.923 --> 01:10:17.247
So that is to give up.

01:10:17.247 --> 01:10:18.798
And then when we see something that needs

01:10:18.798 --> 01:10:20.844
to be done, we do it.

01:10:21.999 --> 01:10:26.150
And this means we have the capacity to

01:10:26.150 --> 01:10:30.898
discriminate between what is right, and
what is wrong.

01:10:32.068 --> 01:10:38.889
But like we said before, we have to..

01:10:38.889 --> 01:10:41.509
In Buddhism, we don't know in advance

01:10:41.509 --> 01:10:44.869
what is right and what is wrong.

01:10:44.869 --> 01:10:51.005
We have to use our mindfulness, 
concentration and insight in every

01:10:51.005 --> 01:10:54.507
situation to know what is right and wrong.

01:10:54.507 --> 01:10:57.665
With the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings,

01:10:57.665 --> 01:11:00.094
the Five Mindfulness Traingings,

01:11:00.094 --> 01:11:04.123
we have basic guidelines to help us go

01:11:04.123 --> 01:11:06.286
in that direction.

01:11:06.286 --> 01:11:10.739
But finally, we have to use mindfulness,

01:11:10.739 --> 01:11:15.285
concentration, insight and the collective
wisdom of the Sangha

01:11:15.285 --> 01:11:20.427
in order to know what is right and wrong
in this situation.

01:11:20.427 --> 01:11:23.307
And that is why when we do our meditation

01:11:23.307 --> 01:11:26.511
in the evening, we say

01:11:26.511 --> 01:11:30.571
there is no more thought of right and wrong.

01:11:30.592 --> 01:11:31.969
Because in your meditation,

01:11:31.969 --> 01:11:33.380
you don't want to be thinking

01:11:33.380 --> 01:11:36.280
oh, should I do this or should I do that?

01:11:37.106 --> 01:11:41.810
In our meditation, we need to be able to

01:11:41.810 --> 01:11:43.465
to come back to our breathing,

01:11:43.465 --> 01:11:46.655
to let go of all our thinking

01:11:46.655 --> 01:11:48.361
and then refresh our mind and

01:11:48.361 --> 01:11:50.629
look deeply.

01:11:52.019 --> 01:11:55.725
Yes. So that is a little bit of

01:11:55.725 --> 01:11:59.721
talking about meta-ethics in Buddhism.

01:12:02.345 --> 01:12:07.672
We have ethics, which is "đạo đức học"

01:12:07.902 --> 01:12:09.445
but we also have meta-ethics

01:12:09.445 --> 01:12:12.586
which is "siêu đạo đức học".

01:12:15.812 --> 01:12:20.509
So what lies at the base of ethics?

01:12:21.542 --> 01:12:28.643
And, it may be the no thought of 
right and wrong.

01:12:30.925 --> 01:12:37.409
What lies at the base of ethics is 
the awareness of suffering,

01:12:37.409 --> 01:12:41.201
the awareness of happiness,

01:12:41.201 --> 01:12:50.099
and also the ability to let go of 
all ideas of right and wrong.

01:12:50.099 --> 01:12:53.986
In order to be able to discover

01:12:53.986 --> 01:12:58.127
what will lead to the greatest happiness

01:12:58.127 --> 01:13:05.164
and the least suffering in this particular
circumstance.

01:13:15.687 --> 01:13:22.567
I think Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill

01:13:22.754 --> 01:13:29.298
in the 19th century, they talk about

01:13:29.298 --> 01:13:35.961
the greatest happiness of the greatest
number

01:13:35.961 --> 01:13:39.389
as being the basis for ethics.

01:13:39.664 --> 01:13:45.201
And in Buddhism we could agree 
also with that.

01:13:45.201 --> 01:13:49.209
We want, that is what we feel

01:13:49.209 --> 01:13:52.620
we want the least amount of suffering.

01:13:54.567 --> 01:13:57.361
But we also know that suffering is

01:13:57.361 --> 01:13:59.735
essential for there to be compassion.

01:14:00.249 --> 01:14:02.476
And compassion is essential for

01:14:02.476 --> 01:14:04.774
there to be happiness.

01:14:05.042 --> 01:14:07.002
But there will always be suffering.

01:14:07.002 --> 01:14:09.868
We don't know to worry that one day,

01:14:09.868 --> 01:14:11.874
there will be no more suffering.

01:14:13.564 --> 01:14:16.133
We just don't want to make more suffering

01:14:16.133 --> 01:14:22.752
than what is already offering itself to us.

01:14:23.552 --> 01:14:28.732
[The bell is awoken.]

01:14:28.732 --> 01:14:41.300
[The bell is invited.]

01:14:41.300 --> 01:14:44.192
And I think that Jeremy Bentham and

01:14:44.192 --> 01:14:46.911
John Stuart Mill, they talked a lot about

01:14:46.911 --> 01:14:49.085
material happiness.

01:14:49.618 --> 01:14:51.287
There's a lot of poverty.

01:14:51.287 --> 01:14:53.492
There still is a lot of poverty.

01:14:53.492 --> 01:14:55.657
And obviously to be able to eradicate

01:14:55.657 --> 01:15:00.280
poverty would bring material happiness,

01:15:00.280 --> 01:15:03.406
which will then lead to spiritual happiness.

01:15:03.406 --> 01:15:05.768
Because when people are so poor,

01:15:05.768 --> 01:15:07.459
they don't have the time, they don't

01:15:07.459 --> 01:15:11.737
have the opportunity to develop their
spiritual life.

01:15:12.541 --> 01:15:14.971
And so that is a basic step.

01:15:15.162 --> 01:15:19.250
But we also see that spiritual happiness

01:15:19.827 --> 01:15:22.080
is very important.

01:15:22.212 --> 01:15:29.841
And when I lived in India, in a place that
was very poor,

01:15:30.394 --> 01:15:32.977
I used to see the children there.

01:15:33.486 --> 01:15:35.053
They had no clothes, really,

01:15:35.053 --> 01:15:37.930
a few ragged clothes sometimes.

01:15:41.151 --> 01:15:44.080
But they were happy.

01:15:44.080 --> 01:15:46.057
They'd play with each other, although

01:15:46.057 --> 01:15:48.051
they didn't have any toys,

01:15:48.051 --> 01:15:50.910
they didn't have proper clothes to wear.

01:15:51.451 --> 01:15:53.326
But they had a kind of happiness that

01:15:53.326 --> 01:15:56.557
sometimes in children who have clothes and

01:15:56.557 --> 01:16:00.349
have many toys, you don't see.

01:16:02.501 --> 01:16:04.385
But that also has something to do with

01:16:04.385 --> 01:16:07.664
our sharing our wealth, so that

01:16:07.664 --> 01:16:11.931
everybody has enough, but not more

01:16:11.931 --> 01:16:13.607
than they need.

01:16:14.030 --> 01:16:18.009
One German economist said it is perfectly

01:16:18.009 --> 01:16:22.380
possible for everyone to have a wage that

01:16:22.380 --> 01:16:28.039
is the same -- everybody earns the same
amount of money.

01:16:38.261 --> 01:16:42.157
So during the three months 
of the Autumn Retreat,

01:16:42.157 --> 01:16:46.716
we have an opportunity for us to be able

01:16:46.716 --> 01:16:53.025
to look into how the Fourteen Mindfulness 
Trainings affect our own life.

01:16:55.805 --> 01:16:59.354
And how we can help, how they can help us

01:16:59.354 --> 01:17:01.749
to develop our compassion.

01:17:03.099 --> 01:17:05.118
And we have plenty of opportunity

01:17:05.118 --> 01:17:09.447
in our sitting meditation to practise

01:17:09.447 --> 01:17:12.471
loving kindness meditation if we want to

01:17:14.278 --> 01:17:19.526
so that we can more easily bring up the

01:17:19.526 --> 01:17:24.233
innate compassion that we all have.

01:17:25.416 --> 01:17:27.454
[The bell is awoken.]

01:17:30.583 --> 01:17:53.107
[The bell is invited.]

01:17:58.696 --> 01:18:19.435
[The bell is invited.]

01:18:25.140 --> 01:18:50.227
[The bell is invited.]

01:18:54.951 --> 01:18:56.544
[The small bell is awoken.]

01:18:56.544 --> 01:19:00.850
[The small bell is invited.]