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(Bell)

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(Bell)

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(Sister): Dear Thay,

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we have two questions about[br]understanding our ancestors

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whom we did not know.

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They are expressed in this one question:

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How can I heal[br]the suffering of my ancestors

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when I don't know[br]how they suffered?

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How can we deal with ancestors[br]in the case of being orphans

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who have grown up without having[br]any contact with their blood family?

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(Thay): I think the two questions[br]are related to each other.

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We do not understand[br]the suffering of our ancestors.

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How can we help

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if we don't physically know

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our father, our mother?

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We do not have any connection with them.

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How can we love them[br]and understand them?

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There are people who[br]still have their father alive,

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their mother alive.

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And yet they cannot connect with them.

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They cannot talk to them,[br]they cannot communicate with them.

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And there are those who have lost[br]their father, their mother,

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they do not know[br]who their father was,

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who their father, their mother is.

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There is no chance to connect[br]because they are no longer there.

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How can we connect with them?

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How can we understand[br]their suffering, their happiness?

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How can we be really rooted[br]in our ancestors?

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Because a person without roots

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cannot be a happy person.

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So the two questions[br]are related to each other.

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With the practice[br]of meditation, looking deeply,

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we can connect[br]with our father, our mother,

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even if he is no longer there,[br]even if he refuses to see us.

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We have a monastic here,[br]in our community,

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whose father is still alive

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bur he refuses to see her.

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He is in a high position in the society.

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But he wants to forget,

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to entirely deny the past.

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She wrote to him:

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'Daddy, I am your child.

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I want to meet you, connect with you.

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To talk to you and sit close to you.'

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He refused.

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There are those of us who are orphans,

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who have not had any chance[br]to see our father,

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who do not know really[br]who is our father, our mother.

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But with this practice we can connect.

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Because looking into your body,[br]your feelings, your suffering,

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you see the body, the sufferings,

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the hopes of your parents.

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Because the fact is that

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you are the continuation[br]of your father, of your mother.

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It is like the plant of corn that[br]is the continuation of the seed of corn.

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Although the plant of corn[br]does not see the kernel of corn,

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she knows that she is the continuation[br]of the kernel of corn.

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The corn kernel.

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She knows that in every cell of the plant

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there is the existence of the corn kernel.

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So with someone who[br]practices mindfulness, meditation,

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she can touch her father, her mother,

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much more deeply than those[br]who still have their parents

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and who cannot talk to them.

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They have the impression that[br]they know who their father is,

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who their mother is,

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but in fact, they don't know anything.

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Connection is impossible[br]even if the father is still alive,

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the mother is still alive.

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The answer is that[br]if you practice looking deeply,

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you can see your father in you,[br]your mother in you.

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You look very much like your father.

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You feel very much like your father.

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We are made of[br]form, feelings, perceptions.

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And your father has transmitted

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quite a lot of his form,[br]feelings, perceptions to you.

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Then you feel connected right away.

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You are the continuation of your father.

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You are your father.

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Many years ago,[br]walking in the streets of London,

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I saw displayed in a bookstore window

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a book with the title:[br]'My mother, myself '.

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I did not buy the book.

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(Laughter)

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Because I had the impression that[br]I knew what was in the book.

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(Laughter)

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We are the continuation of our mother,[br]we are our mother.

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The connection is still there.

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We only need to be aware.

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So you can begin already to talk[br]to your father in you:

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'Daddy, I know you are there.

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I am full of you in my body.

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You have had suffering,

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you have had difficulties[br]transmitted to me.

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Now I have encountered the Dharma[br]we shall practice together

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and transform the negative things in us

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and we shall develop[br]the wonderful things in us

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that you have transmitted to me.

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Maybe in your lifetime

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you have not had the chance to develop[br]the positive, wonderful qualities in you.

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But they are still there[br]already transmitted to me.

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Now, with the Dharma, with the Sangha,

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we shall practice together[br]and make them manifest.

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We will be breathing together,[br]walking together, sitting together

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and get the peace, the healing,[br]the transformation, the joy that we need.'

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So you can talk[br]to your father, your mother,

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even if you have not actually[br]seen your father physically.

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It is like our spiritual ancestors.

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You have not seen Jesus personally.

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You have not met the Buddha personally.

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But you have received their teachings.

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You have put into practice[br]their teachings.

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You have the Dharma body in you.

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So Jesus is alive[br]in every cell of your body.

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Buddha is alive[br]in every cell of your body.

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You can talk to them.

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'Jesus, I know that[br]you are there, in myself.'

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You don't have to go[br]and look for Jesus elsewhere.

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He is your ancestor[br]and you are a continuation.

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You should know how to walk like him,

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to break the bread like him,

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to pour the wine like him, mindfully.

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On the way to Emmaus,

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the three travelers[br]did not recognize Jesus.

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But once they came to the inn,

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and the other person ordered dinner,

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broke the bread and poured the wine,

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by looking at him the recognized[br]that Jesus was not dead,

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he is still alive.

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So if you know[br]how to break the bread mindfully,

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to enjoy the piece of bread[br]in your hand,

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you touch the body of Jesus.

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That is the essential of the Eucharist.

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Jesus is available to you[br]24 hours a day

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if you know how to walk like him,

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to sit like him, to breathe like him,

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to break the bread like him.

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Then, you are with him all the time.

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That is the deepest connection.

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This applies to your blood ancestors,[br]biological ancestors,

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and to your spiritual ancestors also.

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I have never complained

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that I was born a little bit too late,

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2.500 years after the Buddha.

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I have never complained like that.

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(Laughter)

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Because I know that the Buddha[br]is available in the here and the now.

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Your father also.[br]Your mother also.

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That is the insight you get

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when you practice[br]mindfulness and concentration.

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The answer is good enough?

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(Laughter)

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(Bell)

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(Bell)