0:00:02.058,0:00:05.140
(Half-bell)

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(Bell)

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If our true nature is [br]no birth and no death

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it means that we are condemned[br]to live forever,

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life after life.

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So to me the teaching[br]of no birth and no death

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is not a solution, it is a problem.

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(Laughter)

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I don't understand how is it possible

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not to feel desperate and lost[br]with this teaching,

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because this is[br]not only thinking but also feeling.

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It does not help me and[br]it only creates more despair.

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I prefer to die at the end of this life,

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rather than to live again.

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(Sister)[br]Dear Thay, dear Sangha,

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Our friend is saying

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that the teaching about our true nature[br]of no birth, and no death,

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would appear to condemn us[br]to live forever.

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This teaching has, for him,[br]not been a solution,

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but a source of suffering,[br]

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not only intellectual suffering,

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but a real feeling of fear and despair.

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To him it seems much more appealing,

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If he could die and be born again

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if he could die.

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(Laughter)

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Because if we die,[br]life is short and really intense,

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so we can enjoy it as much as possible.

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But if we continue to live,

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sooner or later we will be really bored.

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(Laughter)

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There are two types of people.

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(Laughter)

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Many of us want to live forever,

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they are really afraid of dying.

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And that is why in the history of mankind,

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many people are seeking immortality.

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In Taoism, they try to find all kinds[br]of herbs, medicines and chemicals,

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in order to be immortal.

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Immortality is what they seek,

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and underneath[br]that kind of wish, of desire,

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there is the fear of annihilation,

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the fear of non-being.

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We don't want to pass[br]from the realm of being,

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into the realm of non-being,[br]it is very frightening.

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You have to understand the mentality[br]of those who are seeking immortality,

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who are afraid of dying.

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They are suffering[br]with that kind of view.

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They are seeking for immortality,

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afraid of non-being.

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On the other hand,

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there are those[br]who are tired of life.

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They get bored after 50, 70, [br]or maybe after 30 years.

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They find that life is unbearable.

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They are seeking non-being.

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Some of them think[br]that to commit suicide,

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is a way to end the suffering

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and to pass from the realm[br]of being into non-being.

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That kind of wish[br]is also based on a wrong view,

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that there is something[br]you call non-being,

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non-existence,

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annihilation,

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and you'd like to go there,[br]it is better if you don't suffer anymore,

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it is no longer boring.

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So you aspire to non-being,

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to annihilation,

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and that kind of desire is based[br]on all sorts of wrong views.

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But the right view is

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that birth and death,[br]life and death,[br]

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they always go together.

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You cannot take one out of the other.

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You are looking for death,

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you try to leave life behind.

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That is something impossible.

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Because they always want to be together,[br]like the left and the right.

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You cannot take the left out of the right,

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and the right out of the left,

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That is the law we discover[br]when looking deeply.

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We see that this is a manifestation only.

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The notion of left and right[br]is more in our heads,

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in our thinking,

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than in reality.

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So all the notions like boring, not boring,

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suffering and happiness,[br]being and non-being,

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come more from[br]our mind of discrimination,

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from our mind of mental constructions,[br]other than from reality.

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We behave as if we know[br]what reality is.

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We only have to deal with reality.

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But the reality we think we know,

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is only a construction of our mind.

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Birth and death are also[br]a construction of your mind.

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It is not reality.

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We have learnt in this retreat

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that birth, life and death,[br]birth and death,

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they are notions more than reality.

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Being and non-being[br]is a pair of opposites

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that is there as the foundation[br]of the notions of birth and death.

0:07:37.321,0:07:39.907
Your question reveals

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that you still believe

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in a self, in a soul,

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that remains the same always.

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But in reality there is nothing like that.

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There is nothing[br]that can remain the same[br]

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in two consecutive moments.

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So who is bored?

0:08:05.745,0:08:08.314
Because the you of this moment

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is no longer the same you[br]from the previous moment.

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Because you haven't gone deep enough,

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and touched the true nature of [br]no birth and no death,

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no self and no other,[br]no being and no non-being.

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Those who seek Nirvana,

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they may think[br]that when you touch Nirvana,

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you don't have to be reborn any more,

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that you belong [now] [br]to the realm of non-being.

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That is the most misleading[br]view about Nirvana,

0:09:05.721,0:09:10.127
that Nirvana is an eternal death.

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For some people[br]eternal death is salvation.

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Because then you don't have[br]to be reborn and to suffer.

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That is a wrong view.

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Many people - including some[br]Western scholars of Buddhism -

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they believe that the aim of Buddhism[br]is to get eternal death:

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complete eternal non-being.

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But the Buddha[br]has many times denied that:

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"Our aim is not to reach nothingness,

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to reach annihilation."

0:10:02.621,0:10:04.326
He has said so many times that:

0:10:04.507,0:10:07.371
"I am not teaching annihilation.

0:10:08.034,0:10:11.654
My view is the kind of insight

0:10:11.873,0:10:19.197
that transcends both notions - [br]annihilation and permanence."

0:10:20.907,0:10:23.878
That is a pair of opposites.

0:10:27.502,0:10:32.230
Immortality is one extreme.

0:10:34.038,0:10:39.098
The immortal soul that can never die,

0:10:40.562,0:10:43.492
that is one extreme.

0:10:44.767,0:10:49.657
Annihilation is another extreme.

0:10:50.110,0:10:52.448
So right view is the kind of insight[br]that transcends both notions,

0:10:55.448,0:10:57.356
immortality

0:11:01.173,0:11:04.009
and non-being, annihilation.

0:11:04.999,0:11:10.321
Meditation is for removing[br]these kinds of notions.

0:11:10.539,0:11:14.858
There are many pairs of notions[br]we have to remove.

0:11:15.203,0:11:18.027
And when you are able[br]to remove these notions,

0:11:18.197,0:11:20.087
you have peace.

0:11:20.402,0:11:22.719
You don't worry anymore.

0:11:23.083,0:11:25.209
Especially you don't believe in a self,

0:11:25.452,0:11:30.484
that has to go through Samsara's[br]birth and death.

0:11:32.704,0:11:34.901
There is no birth and death.

0:11:35.093,0:11:38.564
There is no self[br]going through birth and death.

0:11:39.744,0:11:43.123
All of that are only notions.

0:11:45.086,0:11:47.961
When you get that kind of insight,[br]you are light,

0:11:48.504,0:11:50.573
you are no longer afraid.

0:11:51.224,0:11:56.268
You see that everything renews itself,[br]all the time.

0:11:56.531,0:11:59.887
Joy and happiness are possible,

0:12:00.297,0:12:04.237
the transformation[br]of suffering is possible.

0:12:04.838,0:12:09.368
You can help so many people[br]to suffer less.

0:12:10.135,0:12:12.310
Life has a meaning.

0:12:12.839,0:12:16.799
You don't tire yourself out.[br]You don't get bored.

0:12:17.060,0:12:20.741
Because know your life has a meaning,

0:12:21.283,0:12:24.005
your life is useful.

0:12:24.421,0:12:31.600
You can generate[br]the energy of compassion and joy,

0:12:32.180,0:12:36.098
in order to help heal the world.

0:12:37.401,0:12:42.154
There is no need[br]for a permanent self, a soul,

0:12:47.067,0:12:50.250
ot the view of impermanence, [br]the view of immortality,

0:12:50.602,0:12:52.514
or the view of annihilation,

0:12:52.818,0:12:54.746
because you are free[br]of all of these.

0:12:54.989,0:12:57.226
Nirvana is possible,

0:12:57.673,0:13:02.562
the extinction of that kind[br]of suffering and afflictions.

0:13:02.871,0:13:06.631
Like fear, anger and despair.

0:13:07.446,0:13:10.618
The extinction of these afflictions[br]is possible only,

0:13:10.798,0:13:16.775
when you can extinguish notions[br]like birth and death,

0:13:16.945,0:13:19.580
being and non-being,

0:13:21.136,0:13:25.616
So we can define Nirvana[br]in very clear terms:

0:13:26.006,0:13:29.006
the absence of notions,

0:13:30.166,0:13:36.677
and the absence of suffering born[br]on the basis of these notions.

0:13:38.257,0:13:39.697
(Laughter)

0:13:39.867,0:13:41.462
Very good! Good smile!

0:13:41.808,0:13:43.618
(Laughter)

0:13:43.775,0:13:45.721
Very good smile.

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(Half-Bell)

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(Bell)