WEBVTT

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(Bell)

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Dear Thay, dear Sangha,

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how can I trust myself?

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Trust is something that we cultivate,

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that we should cultivate.

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And it is based on our experience.

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To trust is to believe,
to rely on something.

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And we have to rely only on evidence,

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on something that is evident.

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Suppose you talk about trusting
the practice, trusting the Dharma.

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Do we trust the Dharma?

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Can we count on our practice?

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Sometimes you have doubt...
about your practice,

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about what you learn from the Dharma

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But that doubt does not mean that...

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It is not exactly something negative.

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Because some doubt can
help you to get deeper

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and to get a more
profound understanding

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So doubt can be helpful.

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Doubt can be a positive thing.

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So if there is a doubt we have to
breathe and recognize it as it is.

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Do not right away consider it 
to be something negative.

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In the Zen tradition we say: 'The greater
the doubt, the greater the enlightenment.'

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That is the first thing we have to do.

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And then we have to learn
how to recognise the evidence

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and to...establish our trust.

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Like the practice of mindful breathing,

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someone tries to convince you
that mindful breathing is good,

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that it can help you a lot.

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But you don't have to
believe him right away.

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You have to put it into practice
to see whether it truly can help you.

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That is what the Buddha said.

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Don't believe right away in something

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even if it has been 
said by a famous teacher,

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even if it is written in 
the holy scripture.

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That's what the Buddha said.

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When you hear something beautiful
you have to learn to put it into practice.

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And if it works for you


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and if you see that it works
for another person,

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you can trust,
you can believe in it.

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And that is the statement of the Buddha
in a sutra called 'Kalama Sutra'.

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The Buddha was talking to a group of 
young people of the Kalama Clan.

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They asked him what to believe,

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because many teachers had visited them.

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And all of them said their teachings 
and practice were the best.

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So the Buddha said:

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"Don't believe right away in anything
even if it is said by a great teacher

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or even if it is recorded
in the holy scripture."

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You have to base it
on evidence, like a scientist.

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So if you practice mindful breathing

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and you persevere in the practice,

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you will learn from it

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You will find out that
the practice of mindful breathing

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can help increase your health,

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can...

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can help you to recognize
the conditions of happiness you have,

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can help you handle
a painful emotion, a painful feeling.

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In the beginning, you may not
be able to do it right away.

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But you really have to try to practice it

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and you find out that...the practice works.

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And you have trust in the practice.

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And when you have trusted the practice, 
you trust yourself,

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because it is you who
has done the practice.

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And you say: "I am capable of doing that."

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When you see a person who suffers
practice the fourth mindfulness training.

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Say something, do something
to help him or her suffer less.

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And you try to do it several times.

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And one day you see that it works.

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So you believe in the practice of the 
4th mindfulness training.

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And you believe in yourself.

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You can do it!

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You have the capacity to 
make one person suffer less.

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You have the capacity to 
make yourself suffer less.

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And trust is built in that way:
experiencing, practicing.

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And we know that in principle

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our ancestors have handed down 
to us many good things, many good seeds.

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It is for us to discover these good things
and allow them... to manifest.

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The seeds of understanding,
the seeds of joy,

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the seeds of forgiveness,
the seeds of compassion

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are all in us.

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We hear the Buddha say we have 
these good things in us,

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but we have to practice in order 
to really recognise them as existing.

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And sometimes they
have manifested in the past.

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And if you practice well they will
continue to manifest better in the future.

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And that is the way
to cultivate trust.

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(Bell)