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(bell)

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(bell)

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How do I stay in the present moment
when it feels unbearable?

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Because in Plum Village we always say that

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"Let us not get caught in
the past and the future"

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"Let us go back to the
present moment"

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And this is a question about "How can
I stay in the present moment

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when the present moment
feels unbearable?"

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That's a good question.

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(Laughter)

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Anyone who knows the
practice of mindfulness

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knows that you have to
go home to the present moment.

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When you go home to the present
moment, you can find...

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two kinds of situations:

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The first kind of
situation is

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there are so many conditions
of happiness available

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in the here and the now

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When you breathe in and bring
your mind home to your body

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you establish in the
present moment.

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And you notice there are so many
refreshing and healing elements

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available in the present moment.

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There are also many conditions of
happiness available in the present moment.

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And with that awareness,

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to generate the feeling of joy
and happiness is very easy.

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That you can do in order
to nourish yourself.

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To nourish yourself with
joy and happiness.

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So, that is the first thing you encounter
when you go back to the present moment.

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The second situation is that when you go
back to the present moment

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you might encounter a
feeling of pain,

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a feeling of a
painful emotion,

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that is in you.

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In fact a painful feeling,
a painful emotion,

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manifests from time to time.

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But when it begins to manifest,
you don't like to be there.

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So you try to run away,

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pretending that it's not there.

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So no one is there in order to take care of
the painful feeling or the painful emotion.

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So, going back to the present moment
here, is no longer to recognize

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the elements of joy and happiness,

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but to have a chance to take care
of the pain in ourselves.

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And to transform it.

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So, even if the present moment
is unbearable,

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to go back to that moment
is the only chance for us

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to do something in order
to calm it down

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and to transform it.

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Most of the people
don't do that

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because they're afraid that
when they come home to themselves,

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and touch their pain inside,

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they will be overwhelmed
by the suffering

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and that is why their practice
is to run away,

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imagine something about the
future to forget

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go back to the past
to forget

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but the past and the future,
they are like images.

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Not reality.

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Only the present
moment is real.

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Many people try to cover
up the pain inside

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not only by going back to the past
or running to the future,

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to imagine that there will
be some hope,

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some end of suffering
in the future

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but that cannot last long

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And most people try to cover
up the suffering inside

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by the practice of consumption.

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We read magazines and
watch television

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we try and find something to eat

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we listen to the music, we pick
up the phone to talk,

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everything we do, we do because
we hope by doing these things,

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we don't have to confront the
suffering in us.

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And we allow that pain to
continue to grow in us.

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So the practice of mindfulness helps us
to go home to the present moment.

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Even if the moment is not pleasant,

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but it is in that very moment,

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that we can understand the suffering,

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and that we can find a way
in order to calm it down.

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And to transform it.

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So, next time when you find the present
moment not pleasant,

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don't think that running away
from it is the best way.

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No, it may be a chance.

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So, stay in that moment. Look deeply
into the nature of your suffering.

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If you know how to practice
mindful breathing,

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or mindful walking,

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you're generating the energy
of mindfulness

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and then that energy of
mindfulness generated by the practice

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helps you to be strong enough

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to recognize and counter
the pain and embrace it tenderly.

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And embracing your pain
tenderly

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in a few minutes,
you can calm it down

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And...

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if there are practitioners practicing
with you

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and then you can profit from
their energy of mindfulness

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and compassion.

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Getting in touch with the
suffering,

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brings about understanding
of suffering.

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And...

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the energy of compassion -
understanding and compassion -

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has the power to heal.

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To heal you and to heal the people
who happen to be around you at that time.

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And if there is a group of
people practicing,

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together, embracing the suffering
with tenderness,

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they will experience that collective
energy of compassion that will heal them.

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And when they suffer less, they are
in the situation to help other people

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to do the same.

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There is a Bodhisattva whose name
is Kṣitigarbha [?]

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the vow of Kṣitigarbha [?] is to
go to the places where

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there's a lot of suffering

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in order to have a chance
to serve, to help.

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And there are many doctors, nurses, social
workers, they are doing the same

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they volunteer to go to painful spots
of Mother Earth

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in order to help the people

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so Bodhisattvas Kṣitigarbha -
they are real, they are not just images.

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Very young people are serving as
Bodhisattvas Kṣitigarbha.

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They are not afraid
of suffering.

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Because they know that
they can bring relief

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And Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha has a
strong power or source of energy

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that is the aspiration

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the third kind of nutriment,
volition

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You know you are there - alive

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And you want to do
something with your life

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You want your life
to be useful, meaningful.

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So, you make a strong vow to
go to help people who suffer.

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So, you are not afraid of going
to the situations of suffering.

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And these Bodhisattvas should
be supported by us.

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You want to support them so they do not
lose their aspiration after a few years of service.

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We have to send them our energy
of encouragement

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They need nourishment
and healing

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So, after six months of working in a very
difficult situation, they go home

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and they have us
taking care of them,

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time to heal, so they will go out again
the second time and the third time

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Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha needs help also.

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So, we're there to help young
Kṣitigarbhas to continue their work

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in the world.

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So, if you have compassion,

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you don't mind being in a
difficult, suffering situation.

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And if you have enough
compassion

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then you are protected. You will not be
overwhelmed by the collective energy

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of suffering emitted by the
people around.

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And Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha knows that
they, that he needs a Sangha

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in order to continue
for a long time.

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So, the practice should not
only be individual

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the practice should be
collective also.

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So, let us try to convince people in
our family to join the practice.

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And the best way to do it is to become
more and more pleasant, every day.

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More smiling, more sweet...
sweeter

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and they'll believe that the practice
will work for them also.

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So, when your family, your community,
enjoy more harmony,

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health, brotherhood, sisterhood,

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and then your aspiration can be more
easily realized.

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Without a Sangha, without a group
of people

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our dream cannot come true.

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So, not only we try as a person,

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but we know that operating as 
a group of people, as a Sangha,

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it is always much better.

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(bell)