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Hello everybody

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Thank you so much for being here on what I
hope is a very lazy day or as lazy as possible

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day for us.

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We're very happy to be able to share with
you as a community a little bit chat - show style

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for what we hope will be a relaxed and enjoyable
session really touching the spirit of community

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and many of our collective memories with our
teacher.

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We are aware that many of us have arrived
in plum village at all sorts of different

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times and today we will be hearing from some
of us who arrived in the early 1980s, in the

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1990s.
And we also want to look forward to some of

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the life spirit of the sangha currently active
and looking forward maybe to the next decade

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or two as a beloved community.
So we hope that by hearing voices from different

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sangha members we will really see the river
that Sister Dinh Nghiem was talking about

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in her Dharma talk yesterday and we will also
get a sense of the spirit of community.

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I think Plum Village has always been made
of whoever is here and i think Thay's teachings

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have also been made from whoever is here.
Thay didn't create his teachings in a vacuum

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but in relationship with his community and
Thay's teachings have also evolved over time

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and Plum Village has evolved the atmosphere
has evolved. So today we will try to hear

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a little bit what some of those earlier chapters
of plum village might have been like and to

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see that evolution.

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And I brought with me a very very big bag
of Thay's books and this is not even a quarter

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of them. But I hope from time to time to show
you a book so you can start to see a bit how

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Thay's teachings evolved over time and how
his insights and experiences in community

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and largely here in Plum Village shaped his
teachings and what he was writing about at

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the time.

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We have a wonderful truck. We have a chance
to contemplate the compost that becomes the flowers

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In Sister Dinh Nghiem's talk she mentioned
the teachings of master Tang Hoi and she was

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saying that when Thay was in Paris he had
a chance to do research in the library there

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to discover the first zen teacher who came
from Vietnam and brought zen buddhism to China

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so I just wanted to give one advertisement
for this book if you are interested in the

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roots of our tradition, it's really wonderful
to understand how deep our roots go. Book

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number one. I think I'm going to need a big
pile.

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The title is Master Tang Hoi - first zen teacher
in Vietnam and China.

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And for those of you who haven't read about
Thay's years of activism and engagement in

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the 1960s when Sister Dinh was sharing about
how much Thay did in such a short period of

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time a lot of that is recorded in Thay's journals
Fragrant Palm Leaves. For many of us I think

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it's our favorite book by Thay, very personal
so you can discover more in this book, including

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some very powerful experiences and moments
of awakening

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when Thay was in the U.S. in the early 1960s.

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Okay final one. Sister Dinh Nghiem also mentioned: "Zen Keys", "Zen Keys".

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And in French, "Cles pour le Zen".

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Which was actually the first book published
by Thay here in the west.

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And it was published first in French and then
in English and it's very interesting because

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Thay was trying to express how his kind of
zen, the zen from our tradition in Vietnam

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was different from other flavors of Zen from
Japan or other countries. So this is a very

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early attempt of Thay to describe the practices
he was seeking to develop and offer in here in the West.

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So, that's it for the books for now.

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I would like to invite our bell master Sister TrueSound, Sister Khuong Am, to invite three sounds of the bell

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and then we will welcome our first guests to the sofa who arrived here in 1983.

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[Bell]

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[Bell]

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[Bell]

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We'd like to invite Jean-Pierre and Co Linh Tue
to come up and sit on the wonderful rustic sofa.

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Before we start to hear some different stories

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maybe Jean-Pierre and Co Linh Tue, would you
like to lead us in one of the first songs

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that you remember singing here in the sangha
when you arrived?

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Dear sister. During that era, there were only poems because for a while, it was a haven for refugees.

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Thay taught in Vietnamese to the refugees. So there were only childhood poems.

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So actually, at that time there weren't any Plum Village songs yet. He taught in Vietnamese to the children.

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okay

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So we will listen to a song.

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We will sing together? But I don't know full songs ... just the start [singing in Vietnamese] ... I don't remember anymore

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[Singing in Vietnamese]

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[Singing in Vietnamese]

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[Singing in Vietnamese] ... That's enough

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Very nice very nice. So in Plum Village since
the very beginning there was music and at

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first songs from Vietnam would be
sung around Plum Village because actually

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at the beginning Plum Village was really a
community in exile not only Thay in exile

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but also sister Chan Khong other monastics
who had fled Vietnam and also other refugees

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so many people who found themselves exiled
and ended up here in France started visiting

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Thay at the center outside Paris and then
when that as Sister Dinh Nghiem explained yesterday

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when that center became too small then they
found the land here in the southwest of France

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where the land was much more affordable.

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And in the summers Thay was offering not just
a place of spiritual refuge but also a place

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of cultural refuge where the children could
learn Vietnamese and how to write, speak and

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sing in Vietnamese. Where everyone could enjoy Vietnamese food and really have a sense of home away from home.

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So maybe we can enjoy one sound of the bell and we try to

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settle so we can continue. We're sorry that
the announcement wasn't made. Our apologies

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[Bell]

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So, dear Jean-Pierre, perhaps we will start with you.

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Can you say a little about how you landed in this part

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in the Southwest of France into a community in exile?

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It wasn't really that common.

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And what did you find when you arrived?

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That went very well.

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I knew about Plum Village thanks to the Vietnamese community.

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With young people my age, students in Lyon.

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Perhaps 5, 6 years before I arrived here

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I found myself taking part in cultural festivals

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with only "boat people". There you go.

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It wasn't a big deal. I was the only one with a car. So it was very practical for transporting things,

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clothes, people ...

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in the welcoming centers.

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And one day a friend said to me:

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"Jean-Pierre, would you like to meet a Vietnamese Zen master?"

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I said, "Yes, great! I am very interested!"

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And I had the idea that I would find a relatively old man,

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with a white beard, and hair like what you find in Chinese films.

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I came here from Cantal, which is about 180km from here.

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And I found Loubes Bernac and Meyrac.

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The roads were tiny, even smaller than now.

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When I arrived, I first found a couple who lived in that first house there.

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So I met the man.

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He said to me, "But no. Plum Village is actually just there."

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But it wasn't Plum Village yet. It wasn't called that yet.

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He told me, "It's there. The Vietnamese people. They're somewhere at the back there."

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I came upon the building which is now the small meditation hall.

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I saw a Vietnamese lady who came out to meet me.

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When I said, "I am Jean-Pierre". She said, "Oh, you are Jean-Pierre, who welcomes the boat people!"

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I was very surprised, because I just arrived like that.

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No phone call, just an address, not telling anyone.

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I didn't know it, but the person who greeted me was Sister Chan Khong

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She wasn't a nun yet, but it was already her name as a member of the Order of Inter-being

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So that's how it all started.

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In the evening, I arrived in the afternoon, in the evening she said to me "Jean-Pierre, for the practice, you observe the others and imitate them."

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It was very simple. And everything was in Vietnamese

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There were no earphones, or microphone, or even someone to translate directly in my ear.

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Yes, I got used to that being in the Vietnamese community for 5, 6 years. No one translates.

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I tried to understand by observing the movements. But no one translated for me.

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But that suited me well, because I could sit somewhere, stay quietly.

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Someone would offer me a drink, something to eat. Everything went very well.

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Thank you Jean-Pierre. Wonderful. And Co Linh Tue, how was it for you when you arrived here?

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The same year, but perhaps a different approach?

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I met Jean-Pierre the same year. I was a student in a preparatory course to become a nurse.

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I boarded in a small room with a pastor.

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Between school and my room,

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there was a small pagoda,

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or more of an apartment. The venerable Nhu Tuan was there with Sister Trung Chinh.

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I went there every day to have dinner, because the pastor didn't want me to cook in the room.

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And to recite a sutra with them.

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One day Ven. Nhu Tuan said to me, "Do you want to come first in your class?"

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I said, "Of course!" "Then come with me", and she brought me here.

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I was amazed! I was born in Saigon, a cosmopolitan. I didn't know about the country side.

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Then I left Saigon when I was 14 and went to Lausanne, which is also quite a large city.

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So it was the first time I discover the country side. I loved it!

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I discovered the fields, sunflowers, the crowing of roosters...

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And rice soup with peas. I haven't eaten that before!

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And especially Thay. When I passed him, it was as if an electric current passed through me.

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He wasn't dressed as he did after receiving monastic students. He was just in jeans and a traditional short robe.

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Just to check we have this in translation - what was Thay wearing?

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When I passed him, he was coming from the Grange and I was near the bamboos.

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There were just a few bamboos. Lots of mud. There weren't trees and flowers then like now.

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Thay walked slowly, with jeans and his boots, and just a short robe - what monastics wear on the inside.

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I saw and I thought - oh, it's him, it's him.

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Then I came back 2, 3 times a year. It became my spiritual family. I came to see Thay, for the community, and for being in the country side.

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Pretty soon you started to live here, from which year?

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Afterwards, I came to live here with Thay for 3 years.

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From 1986 to 1989.

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Then one more time from 1996 to 1999.

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Then the last time in 2013 Thay asked me to become a monastic.

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He insisted, "Oh I am getting old. You have to taste the monastic life."

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Well. I obeyed.

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A good student. Thank you

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During that era, there was a lot of simplicity and not much money.

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The buildings were very simple and apparently there wasn't even heating. Is that true?

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For me, I don't know. I only came in Summer. No, there was no heating. Just the wood oven in the kitchen, that was it.

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Winter was freezing.

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There weren't even rooms.

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The rooms were just, well, down there there's a building.

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It's an ancient building for drying tobacco.

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Just a few separation walls, four bricks and a plank for a bed.

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There were no windows or necessarily doors. That was all.

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To imagine the Village at the start, you look at all that's here now, and you take out everything.

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You take out everything.

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And you keep only the places with stones.

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You can still see the stones and you keep only those places.And whatever is inside, you also take them all out.

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So my question is - what continued to draw you here if it was so simple and so humble here?

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The food.

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For me, it's more about "here".

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It's very simple for me - what brought me back here was the Vietnamese community

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Actually the meditation would not have brought me back here.

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The morning after I arrived, Thay came to see me.

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There were a few moments. Thay came to see me. We weren't not introduced to each other yet. He came up behind me,

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He put his hand on my back and pushed me towards the children.

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And he said to me, "Jean Pierre, learn to sing the songs in Vietnamese with the children."

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Like Linh Tue said, "I obeyed".

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The last day I was here, he asked me to sit down with him in front of the plum trees. The trees were already there by the road.

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He asked me, "What do you think about my village?"

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I said, "I think the people here need it.

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And you will have many people."

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So what made me come back was that.

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As Linh Tue said, Thay did not look like a monk.

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He wore trousers like everyone else, with boots, and a traditional Vietnamese (monastic) short robe.

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That was it. I did not encounter a monk. I encountered a man with a great deal of humanity.

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I don't know how to say it better.

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I felt it a very deeply. And of course he is Vietnamese, and that meant a lot to me.

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There you go. That was a motor for me - the Vietnamese community.

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That was my motor. As for meditation, it was a lot more difficult.

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The first week, my back ached.

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Just five minutes and I felt it was already an hour.

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So it wasn't great at all.

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I observed, yes I observed. But I told myself - impossible, I cannot do that!

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So it wasn't something that would have made me come back.

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Thank you. The pull of the Vietnamese community, the richness, the friendship, the gentleness, the creativity...

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Co Linh Tue, can you tell us a little what a typical day looked like back then? Was the schedule like how it is now?

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Not at all.

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Thay did not want to lose the Vietnamese culture.

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There were just Thay, and Sister Chan Khong who was still a lay person.

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We called her "Aunty Number 9".

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Thay and Aunty #9 did everything.

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The two of them did 200 turns an hour. Thay taught us how to meditate. He was there for the morning sitting.

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He held the stick of a meditation observer and gave us a smack if we fell sleepy. Like in the Japanese tradition.

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Let's wait and make sure the translator understood that bit.

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The Zen stick, for sitting meditation.

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Then we had breakfast. I'm afraid to say, it wasn't an abundant breakfast like we have now.

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We had broken dried bread that Sister Chan Khong asked for at L'Eclerc (supermarket). Out of date.

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It wasn't because Thay was poor. But they always, always thought of others.

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They sent money to help the writers,

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the elite of Vietnam, because for him the writers were the treasures of Vietnamese culture.

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Every month we prepared small packets to send to Vietnam.

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There was medicine inside so the families could sell them.

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To raise the children.

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Because in general the head of family was imprisoned by the Communist.

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So Thay wanted to help, anonymously. They didn't know who was behind it all.

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Actually I was still young and so hungry. One day I said, "Thay, I am too hungry."

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Because there wasn't enough to eat, right?

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We lived very very modestly.

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There was just one toilet in 1983. Only one shower that went with it. To take a shower one had to get up at 4 in the morning.

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But we were very happy to be by Thay's side.

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We were filled with happiness, with serenity, with peace. His presence captivated us. His personality.

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So that comes back to what you asked before - what was the motivation, the motor that brought us back here.

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Thank you. As Linh Tue had shared, Thay and Sr. Chan Khong said it wasn't possible to save everyone in Vietnam.

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They chose to focus their energy on the cultural personnels like the writers, philosophers, artists, the intellectuals...

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Thanks to these small medical packets; because it wasn't possible to directly send money;

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but the medicine was "hidden money" because they could sell it for money and buy food for their family.

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That sustained the people who were truly the treasure of Vietnamese culture.

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It was a part of all the activities of the so called social engagement for Vietnam of that time, the small packets of medicine.

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Yes the exile of boat people was very present at the time. There were many deaths on the South China Sea.

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Thay and Sister Chan Khong rented boats to save those people.

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They couldn't continue that work and had to come to France. They purchased Thenac in 1982.

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They continued their work in the spirit of saving the Vietnamese culture.

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The days unfolded a little like now. In joy, in gaity.

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Thay wanted us to practice in joy, not in suffering.

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Even if there was a great deal of suffering in our depth,

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because with the arrival of the Communists, many families including mine were broken.

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A lot of loss. Thay and Sister Chan Khong, "Aunty #9", did everything.

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Thay guided the walking meditation, tea meditation, Dharma sharing...

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Sister Chan Khong did everything

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the transport, cooking, shopping

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and even took care of the sick.

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When I caught a cold, I said, "Aunty #9, I think I'm sick." She said, "Oh, I will do the spooning massage for you."

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She took out the oil and a spoon and did spooning massage for me.

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She did everything! Spoon massage.

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Her and Thay did everything. It was only in 1988 that Sr. Chan Khong, then Sr. Chan Duc and Sr. Chan Vi. It was also a surprise for us.

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Three of us stayed back. Thay brought them to India. Before leaving they were lay and on returning they were in robes!

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Only from that moment on that Thay started to wear the long robe and receive monastic disciples.

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We have Shantum here and we will hear from him about the 1988 trip, when Thay started to have monastic disciples.

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It's such a shame because we don't have 5 hours to be together.

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And we will see a few glimpses into several periods of Plum Village history.

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To prepare the appetite ... I don't know how to say it in French ...

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To have a sense of appetite, for how we can have more conversations.

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Just to close this chapter

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Jean-Pierre, what was it that brought the greatest happiness to Thay? What was his greatest dream at that time, at the start?

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Hard to say.

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If I look back...

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If I look at Thay and I see him clearly,

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I see that his dream was only for peace to exist.

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Deeply

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And that peace could exist in each of us.

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That's very clear.

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That's what he has transmitted to us.

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Linh Tue had said that the days passed in joy.

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In songs.

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Even though the songs of bygone days are not the same as today, but that's nothing.

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Me, I am French. The French went to Vietnam and for sure didn't do only great things. But Thay received me as a child.

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He told me, "Sit down with the children."

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Today, I understand that it wasn't to learn to sing, but to learn peace.

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That's what I learned.

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Thank you so much. Thank you Jean-Pierre and Co Linh Tue. Can we offer flowers for our elder brother and sister in the community.

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Thank you so much.

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And I would like to invite Françoise and Shantum to come up to our "hot seat" or our "cool seat"

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for the next chapter, a little bit later in the 1980s.

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And maybe we can enjoy a sound of the bell

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[Bell]

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Thank you for being here. Maybe I will start with Françoise.

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In English if I may. So you came a few years on.

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What brought you here to Plum Village

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and what did you find when you got here?

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Ok. I'd moved in 79 to the Netherlands

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And I worked for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation

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And the general secretary at that time was Jim Forrest.

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From Jim I learnt about Thay because Jim was the one who had spent a lot of time with Thay

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in the 60s when Thay did all those tours in the United States to talk about the war in Vietnam

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the "American war" as it was known then,

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and the need for peace, saying - Vietnamese people did not want the war to continue, they want peace.

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It's not a question of Communism or Capitalism. They want peace.

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Jim, he passed away 10 days before Thay, that's interesting,

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he wrote a little book called "Eyes of Compassion", about all this period, which is very nice.

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I remember he came here in 82 actually, Jim,

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when he came back he said, or maybe in 83,

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he said, "I've just been to Plum Village where Thay is living. I think you should go. You might enjoy it."

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In 84 we had a council meeting, which is an international meeting.

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It was in the community of the Arc, which is not very far from here.

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We decided we needed a car to bring material. And I said, oh maybe we can make a little detour by Plum Village and... check what it is

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and so we did for three days.

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I was sold, basically.

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Jim had already given me a version of the 14 Mindfulness Trainings, the "Precept" at that time.

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Which began with "Do not" in all of them

302
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But, you know, having been brought up Catholic, it was not special or specific or ...

303
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spend time because the buddha used to go up
there to watch the sun yeah it's mentioned

304
00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:06,830
that the buddha loved the sunset there also
mahakashapa the first zen master was transmitted

305
00:39:06,830 --> 00:39:14,190
the awakening by the flower sermon but for
thai he just even the last time he came he

306
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just spent the whole day in a hammock spending
the enjoying himself so i think vulture peak

307
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has become a symbol of our our community in
fact after his illness i think when we had

308
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our first gathering it is called the bulger
peak gathering so when the transmission took

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place for me it was just i was just organizing
but i think that moment of seeing the uh the

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hair being shaved of chiang kong of and you
know uh stan annabelle and than men and then

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a few people taking the five of 14 trainings
on interest it was very moving because for

312
00:39:50,230 --> 00:39:55,890
me it was like i could it was a very moving
ceremony for everyone it was tears and it

313
00:39:55,890 --> 00:40:02,490
was but it was for me also it's just like
that memory is very very strong so each time

314
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the monastics and others come and when thai
came again and again every time everyone got

315
00:40:08,069 --> 00:40:11,780
reshaved and mrs gina being reordained in
a way on the belcher peak and it's become

316
00:40:11,780 --> 00:40:18,339
a tradition of plum village and when we talk
about plum village you know 40 years of plum

317
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village i don't see plum village only here
for me this is my spiritual home but i see

318
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plum village on balcha peak and you know in
the bay area and you know it's it's another

319
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dimension of plum village and so yeah i think

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to start the the monastic tradition for thai
was very important but i think for us as lay

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00:40:42,970 --> 00:40:48,650
people he gave so much he really i think put
a lot of energy into us as lay people hoping

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that we would come up to whatever whatever
that was and in the beginning you know there

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was very strong uh sort of energy of lay people
but as the monastics started after this first

324
00:41:11,550 --> 00:41:18,520
monastic ordination and then more then slowly
slowly that tradition became stronger and

325
00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:23,089
that was what thai word thai was a monastic
he knew that the best and he was experimenting

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00:41:23,089 --> 00:41:32,390
in the west with a lay thing which is culturally
very different for him anyway so we we used

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to come and go you know so i think i think
that moment of the monastic order starting

328
00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:45,890
on plum on vulture peak is very important
for our history because when i see this 300

329
00:41:45,890 --> 00:41:56,210
years from now i see that's i i for me it's
clear it's a fourfold sangha that's the charter

330
00:41:56,210 --> 00:42:03,540
of the tipian that's the revolution of thai
is the fourfold sangha i mean the buddha said

331
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it too but it's not just high but it's very
much so i think he's always encouraged us

332
00:42:14,359 --> 00:42:15,569
in that way

333
00:42:15,569 --> 00:42:22,130
yeah i'm sorry i don't know whether that's
one answer but it's not the yeah it's just

334
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when you watch the sunset you know you're
watching the sunset like the buddha watched

335
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:34,690
and thai watched and you sit there for me
it's always in the footsteps of thai it's

336
00:42:34,690 --> 00:42:39,829
i call it for such a buddha but i can see
thai everywhere when i go on pilgrimage you

337
00:42:39,829 --> 00:42:49,610
know where he sat and i work out where buddha
would have sat but i know where thai's at

338
00:42:49,610 --> 00:42:54,390
and where thai's you know had his which rock
he sat under and how you know it's so he's

339
00:42:54,390 --> 00:43:00,890
imprinted in india and he's a child in india
you should see some photographs actually i

340
00:43:00,890 --> 00:43:08,680
brought a photograph of him in india it's
in your dining room that one which is with

341
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:17,940
the mic with a broken mic i think he's like
he was like a little child like meeting his

342
00:43:17,940 --> 00:43:26,790
teacher and his eyes would light up in each
place he was like so i think here he was a

343
00:43:26,790 --> 00:43:31,030
bit of a sage you know after a while everyone
saw him but there was even when he came last

344
00:43:31,030 --> 00:43:36,849
time he was like a young boy meeting his own
teacher yeah thank you shantim and i would

345
00:43:36,849 --> 00:43:42,274
always say he was so proud of the book old
pathway clouds because he felt he was able

346
00:43:42,274 --> 00:43:46,540
to give give back the buddha his humanity
and so um through thai studies through his

347
00:43:46,540 --> 00:43:52,000
time researching in the libraries and through
tai's own practice and being in community

348
00:43:52,000 --> 00:44:02,210
it became so important for him that the buddha
is not a god but is really a human being and

349
00:44:02,210 --> 00:44:09,010
i think what all our speakers have shared
so far is thai's own humanity and tai's own

350
00:44:09,010 --> 00:44:14,790
humility and joy that really came through
thank you dear francoise and shantum we have

351
00:44:14,790 --> 00:44:22,329
i have to be a little bit vigilant with the
time so these are just taster uh words uh

352
00:44:22,329 --> 00:44:29,500
thank you for sharing your hearts and your
experience with us so we would like to offer

353
00:44:29,500 --> 00:44:34,480
you our flowers of gratitude and the conversations
can continue as the retreat continues thank

354
00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:35,520
you so much

355
00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:43,190
thank you thank you [Music] so from this period
of tai we have books like the sun my heart

356
00:44:43,190 --> 00:44:47,780
which is a very deep book and also the favorite
of many of the monastics if you haven't read

357
00:44:47,780 --> 00:44:49,950
this one this is a wonderful book

358
00:44:49,950 --> 00:44:57,250
and then we have uh being peace and really
the theme of peace in thai's writings so we

359
00:44:57,250 --> 00:45:05,809
would like to invite our next uh ones to come
up first of all we will start with sister

360
00:45:05,809 --> 00:45:12,910
gina and steffy and then we would like to
invite sister benim and bettina to join you

361
00:45:12,910 --> 00:45:14,839
so dears a ghost in muay

362
00:45:14,839 --> 00:45:23,309
so around the time that uh uh sister gina
was coming and steffy was coming in the very

363
00:45:23,309 --> 00:45:29,550
early 1990s as we as we were here tai was
really beginning to teach about the sutra

364
00:45:29,550 --> 00:45:32,760
on the full awareness of breathing so his
first commentary on this is called breathe

365
00:45:32,760 --> 00:45:40,710
you are alive and it went on towards the end
of the 1990s tai then offered a 21-day retreat

366
00:45:40,710 --> 00:45:45,910
on the 16 exercises of mindful breathing in
vermont in the us and that book is called

367
00:45:45,910 --> 00:45:53,800
the path of emancipation so you get a sense
of the sorry oh sorry this was in florida

368
00:45:53,800 --> 00:46:02,960
so uh you get it in key west so you get a
sense of the uh the ripening of ty's teachings

369
00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:09,730
about breathing but maybe we would like to
hear a little bit how sister gina appeared

370
00:46:09,730 --> 00:46:15,300
in plum village how did this happen and sister
gina was already a monastic at this time in

371
00:46:15,300 --> 00:46:19,960
the japanese soto tradition so dearsoco how
how did you get here

372
00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:25,839
part of the way on foot not by choice though

373
00:46:25,839 --> 00:46:40,010
um so i want yeah and which year was it yeah
thank you 19 the first 21 day retreat in june

374
00:46:40,010 --> 00:46:41,010
uh

375
00:46:41,010 --> 00:46:47,020
1990 1990 yeah so yes um so i was already
ordained in the japanese tradition and after

376
00:46:47,020 --> 00:46:58,270
three years in a japanese temple sotto school
in japan and i had a great need to study the

377
00:46:58,270 --> 00:47:04,470
dharma more because my japanese was not enough
not good enough to follow all the teachings

378
00:47:04,470 --> 00:47:11,460
that were given of course in japanese so i
came to the west and somewhere in one of i

379
00:47:11,460 --> 00:47:18,150
visited certain centers and in one of the
centers i found a magazine called the mindfulness

380
00:47:18,150 --> 00:47:19,520
bell number one

381
00:47:19,520 --> 00:47:28,200
yes and i opened it read it and i thought
that's where i want to go and in it it was

382
00:47:28,200 --> 00:47:38,309
the announcements in a three-week retreat
what was it what is psychology i think buddhist

383
00:47:38,309 --> 00:47:59,480
psychology in this place called plum village
merak france so i registered and um i knew

384
00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:12,809
emme so i looked up and somehow i figured
out i can't remember how that it was near

385
00:48:12,809 --> 00:48:21,200
eme which is not very far from here so that
okay i'll just go to email and then i'll go

386
00:48:21,200 --> 00:48:30,309
to this place called mirak so i fly in bordeaux
take a train you know end up in mma and then

387
00:48:30,309 --> 00:48:35,620
um realized there was no way there was no
transportation direction mirak so i looked

388
00:48:35,620 --> 00:48:44,539
in the telephone book and i looked for plumbers
from finnish property in oakland village so

389
00:48:44,539 --> 00:48:54,720
and then i looked at every entry and i then
i found um buddhist initiation something something

390
00:48:54,720 --> 00:49:00,480
something so the unified buddhist church or
something in french and i thought well i'll

391
00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:07,200
try that one there can't be many buddhist
centers it it may just be that one so i called

392
00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:10,579
and um a friendly lady lady's voice let's
put it that way answer the phone answered

393
00:49:10,579 --> 00:49:20,589
and i said well you know i'm on my way to
plum village and i am in emme and how do i

394
00:49:20,589 --> 00:49:35,550
get to where you are and she said well you're
not supposed to be there we only go to century

395
00:49:35,550 --> 00:49:40,099
i don't know where central is so she said
sorry we have no car available so i said don't

396
00:49:40,099 --> 00:49:49,320
worry i'll walk and then she said well as
soon as a car comes back we sent you away

397
00:49:49,320 --> 00:49:56,730
i said oh compassion [Laughter] and it was
a very hot day i had a backpack not too big

398
00:49:56,730 --> 00:50:04,820
and i was started to walk and sometimes i
get migraine when i haven't had enough to

399
00:50:04,820 --> 00:50:11,290
drink and it's very hot and i developed a
migraine as i walked and every time i put

400
00:50:11,290 --> 00:50:21,160
my foot down it went in my head so i walked
very carefully i mean you know the way i put

401
00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:31,980
my foot on the earth and i walked in and then
a certain point i came to a tree and i thought

402
00:50:31,980 --> 00:50:40,290
i have to sit down it was very hot and i sat
down and then a little beaten up uh cream

403
00:50:40,290 --> 00:50:47,510
renoka french car arrived and uh somebody
opened windows and said you must be centered

404
00:50:47,510 --> 00:51:00,180
sister gina i thought oh saved [Laughter]
so they turned around and then drove me to

405
00:51:00,180 --> 00:51:13,480
the lower hamlet here i was welcomed by an
western sister and then we walked to um two

406
00:51:13,480 --> 00:51:20,119
roomers going to stay or something and she
said i have to follow my breathing when i'm

407
00:51:20,119 --> 00:51:25,859
walking and i thought does she have a migraine
too [Laughter] it was just the annabelle who

408
00:51:25,859 --> 00:51:28,160
welcomed me so

409
00:51:28,160 --> 00:51:36,330
a very very diligent um [Music] and very kind
sister as i got to know her i mean i i am

410
00:51:36,330 --> 00:51:47,070
how did i say this i perceived her as a very
kind and and diligent sister and i thought

411
00:51:47,070 --> 00:51:49,480
oh she's going to be a role model for me um
yes so that was my arrival here and then towards

412
00:51:49,480 --> 00:51:57,730
the end of the 21-day retreat could you share
a little bit about that retreat was it can

413
00:51:57,730 --> 00:52:04,599
you rem what was thai teaching was and how
did tai seem when you met him because this

414
00:52:04,599 --> 00:52:11,730
would have been the first time you met him
in person yes um so i was very impressed i

415
00:52:11,730 --> 00:52:15,619
wondered whether this teacher was touching
the earth at all it seemed to be floating

416
00:52:15,619 --> 00:52:17,829
just above the earth and and

417
00:52:17,829 --> 00:52:20,480
what really struck me was that tyra's speaking
[Music]

418
00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:24,460
using a very simple language for a very deep
teaching

419
00:52:24,460 --> 00:52:32,520
and i realized i understand the words and
i need to be careful not to think because

420
00:52:32,520 --> 00:52:36,180
i understand the words i have realized it
and that there is a life of practice and looking

421
00:52:36,180 --> 00:52:44,020
deeply and things behind those words so that
was my my my um first impression and a lot

422
00:52:44,020 --> 00:52:49,846
of gratefulness you know for a teacher like
thai able to to teach in that way and this

423
00:52:49,846 --> 00:52:54,730
would have been one of thai's first retreats
in english as well yes of course that i wasn't

424
00:52:54,730 --> 00:52:59,940
aware of [Laughter] here in plum village yes
uh it was the first uh retreat in english

425
00:52:59,940 --> 00:53:55,690
and the first 21 day retreat um and many many
people who've been here before many from different

426
00:53:55,690 --> 00:54:04,760
traditions also the japanese sotho tradition
rinzai many many different traditions came

427
00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:08,859
together here to study with thai that also
made me look ah because i only knew the subtle

428
00:54:08,859 --> 00:54:15,099
tradition and only the japanese from japanese
so i thought well this teacher offers something

429
00:54:15,099 --> 00:54:22,440
obviously that many people are looking for
and i don't mean to say all than to step over

430
00:54:22,440 --> 00:54:29,420
to to to the privileged tradition but to deepen
or understand their own tradition they were

431
00:54:29,420 --> 00:54:38,600
in better yeah and so what struck you about
the atmosphere that you found here then in

432
00:54:38,600 --> 00:54:45,470
1990 what what was i mean obviously we've
heard the buildings were very very simple

433
00:54:45,470 --> 00:54:53,430
does not look like a japanese zen temple and
what else struck you about that atmosphere

434
00:54:53,430 --> 00:54:57,230
here and what was different but also still
zen yes

435
00:54:57,230 --> 00:55:01,720
it was the most diverse group i'd encounter
on retweets

436
00:55:01,720 --> 00:55:09,240
and the atmosphere was one of i would not
have called it at that time but sister and

437
00:55:09,240 --> 00:55:14,940
brotherhood a family you know yeah although
from very different uh traditions uh different

438
00:55:14,940 --> 00:55:20,460
nationalities that never been to a retreat
with so many different nationalities although

439
00:55:20,460 --> 00:55:26,220
the americans were i think very well represented
shantam was there i thought oh india is here

440
00:55:26,220 --> 00:55:30,750
too is that oh india is here too yes i was
very very impressed by um the diversity because

441
00:55:30,750 --> 00:55:38,039
i had not seen that before anywhere else yeah
and so you left after the 21 day retreat no

442
00:55:38,039 --> 00:55:45,319
in fact i never left [Laughter] um i i had
lived my life um moving from country to country

443
00:55:45,319 --> 00:55:52,490
i lived in 11 countries out of my own choice
not because of jobs and things like that so

444
00:55:52,490 --> 00:56:01,460
towards the end of the 30 the three-week retreat
uh one of the um sisters who lived there approached

445
00:56:01,460 --> 00:56:05,660
me and said it i said we should invite you
to stay indefinitely i thought that's that

446
00:56:05,660 --> 00:56:07,280
word is not in my dictionary

447
00:56:07,280 --> 00:56:12,180
but we'll see so that was in 1990 i'm getting
me close to indefinitely

448
00:56:12,180 --> 00:56:15,700
i'm still here quite close i'm still here
and that is because um

449
00:56:15,700 --> 00:56:21,790
it is always new in some way or another or
maybe i have learned through thai's teaching

450
00:56:21,790 --> 00:56:28,181
to look at all that is always new is never
the same it's the impermanence maybe and the

451
00:56:28,181 --> 00:56:34,869
non-self i think those that teaching really
um yeah spoke to me and speaks to me and is

452
00:56:34,869 --> 00:56:40,580
really expressed in the sangha that continues
to evolve depending who is here and how the

453
00:56:40,580 --> 00:56:44,150
atmosphere is changed by the people that are
here and so i think at the beginning of your

454
00:56:44,150 --> 00:56:46,950
era there were then the summer retreats that
were more international with international

455
00:56:46,950 --> 00:56:53,369
guests coming to the upper hamlet yes right
and the vietnamese guests were in the lower

456
00:56:53,369 --> 00:57:03,300
hamlet here really and so i think that was
one of the few times when nuns were living

457
00:57:03,300 --> 00:57:04,520
in the upper hammond and then so hosting a
very international diverse community uh up

458
00:57:04,520 --> 00:57:08,329
in the upper hamlet so then the two rivers
we start to get the sense of different rivers

459
00:57:08,329 --> 00:57:11,220
coming into the community and that international
river may be growing every summer

460
00:57:11,220 --> 00:57:12,220
yes

461
00:57:12,220 --> 00:57:15,020
and it has grown a lot that river and also

462
00:57:15,020 --> 00:57:21,480
when when you all arrived i think i said and
i saw all of you i thought ty is so happy

463
00:57:21,480 --> 00:57:26,500
because um i don't think there's one person
who can continue thai but as a sangha we can

464
00:57:26,500 --> 00:57:32,710
continue thai and and i also see the sangha
is the most precious gift that thai has offered

465
00:57:32,710 --> 00:57:39,619
us yeah i'm very grateful so thai is very
happy as always very happy to see all of you

466
00:57:39,619 --> 00:57:40,619
here

467
00:57:40,619 --> 00:57:46,809
thank you dears ago so we have steffi here
sitting next to you and steffy you arrived

468
00:57:46,809 --> 00:57:53,789
at a similar time and would you like to share
what kind of community you found in which

469
00:57:53,789 --> 00:57:55,109
year you came

470
00:57:55,109 --> 00:58:01,060
yes it's i just can relate to the to the sangha
because margaret and i we arrived in the first

471
00:58:01,060 --> 00:58:12,030
time in september 93 and we just came here
for one week and it was in september and tai

472
00:58:12,030 --> 00:58:17,740
was on a long tour in america so thai was
not even here and what we encountered was

473
00:58:17,740 --> 00:58:29,500
a beautiful sangha and even sister gina was
not here because he was in america um and

474
00:58:29,500 --> 00:58:33,320
i remember the the moment we arrived um helga
from germany she was sitting in front of the

475
00:58:33,320 --> 00:58:38,260
person building where she was living together
with her husband carl and she was very friendly

476
00:58:38,260 --> 00:58:45,850
and she received us very openly and and it
was a small sangha and i remember as well

477
00:58:45,850 --> 00:58:52,120
when we we did uh we got an introduction for
walking meditation by sister ellini she now

478
00:58:52,120 --> 00:59:00,319
lives in new hamlet and we were with the three
of us just sister ellie margaret and i and

479
00:59:00,319 --> 00:59:05,650
she was teaching us how to do walking meditation
and we walked through the forest and then

480
00:59:05,650 --> 00:59:08,859
in the middle of the forest we stopped there
and we sang the song being an island unto

481
00:59:08,859 --> 00:59:12,740
myself and then i fall in love um completely
with plum village after the first dharma sharing

482
00:59:12,740 --> 00:59:21,390
i think what really really touched my heart
was that we bow to each other that was really

483
00:59:21,390 --> 00:59:26,220
a completely new experience to sit in a group
and that someone really was deeply listening

484
00:59:26,220 --> 00:59:42,920
to me and margaret and i by the time we lived
in a community in holland and we had a quite

485
00:59:42,920 --> 00:59:50,450
a challenging community life there and not
so well listening to each other and we came

486
00:59:50,450 --> 00:59:58,670
to plum village be because we read an article
in a dutch newspaper and the title was the

487
00:59:58,670 --> 01:00:03,510
village of peace in france and we thought
oh that sounds good we really need peace so

488
01:00:03,510 --> 01:00:12,780
and then after this one week we decided this
is a good place we want to stay here longer

489
01:00:12,780 --> 01:00:19,940
we want to be a permanent resident of plum
village and so we organized our lives and

490
01:00:19,940 --> 01:00:24,380
we came back in the following year march 94
and we stayed on then for two years being

491
01:00:24,380 --> 01:00:33,030
part of the of the resident community of plum
village and so at this time thai the community

492
01:00:33,030 --> 01:00:41,740
was very small just maybe a couple of dozen
guests and a couple of dozen monastics and

493
01:00:41,740 --> 01:00:49,869
i think you were sharing earlier that everyone
could fit in the small red candle hall for

494
01:00:49,869 --> 01:00:56,340
dharma talks or for meditations and so on
and would you like to share a little bit how

495
01:00:56,340 --> 01:01:01,380
tai was teaching you at that time and something
i would love to hear about what happened one

496
01:01:01,380 --> 01:01:05,470
day when you went to the upper hamlet for
a day of mindfulness and something unexpected

497
01:01:05,470 --> 01:01:09,640
unfolded oh yes something very unexpected
unfolded it was at the end of the winter retreat

498
01:01:09,640 --> 01:01:16,670
and i think it was a winter retreat 90 at
the end of 1994-95

499
01:01:16,670 --> 01:01:22,580
and entirette asked us during the winter retreat
very often please write letters i would like

500
01:01:22,580 --> 01:01:29,450
to know how the practice is going i need your
feedback i need your feedback from my talks

501
01:01:29,450 --> 01:01:35,760
and he asked us several times and then quite
at the end of the winter retreat we came up

502
01:01:35,760 --> 01:01:47,590
to the upper hamlet and the torque would take
in the small transformation hole so not in

503
01:01:47,590 --> 01:01:54,960
the big hole so you can imagine that big was
the winter retreat so we all fit it in in

504
01:01:54,960 --> 01:01:59,750
the transformation hall and then we entered
the hall and it was a completely different

505
01:01:59,750 --> 01:02:09,500
setup all no cushions only tables with shares
like in a school and i no it was it was an

506
01:02:09,500 --> 01:02:10,820
upper hand at margaret

507
01:02:10,820 --> 01:02:13,550
you would like to come sit next to me

508
01:02:13,550 --> 01:02:18,690
okay it was an upper hamlet and he was already
in the room and on each table there was a

509
01:02:18,690 --> 01:02:26,400
stack of paper with a plum village mark on
it very official you know and i was looking

510
01:02:26,400 --> 01:02:27,579
very seriously and he said so examination
today

511
01:02:27,579 --> 01:02:32,099
and and then we all sat at the table it's
a little bit um said okay there's a final

512
01:02:32,099 --> 01:02:35,559
examination after the winter retreat you have
to sit down and then you write this examination

513
01:02:35,559 --> 01:02:39,010
take out your pencil it was really like a
very very serious teacher and then we sat

514
01:02:39,010 --> 01:02:46,220
down and he wrote 10 questions on the white
board the first was how is your sitting meditation

515
01:02:46,220 --> 01:02:52,410
how is your walking meditation how is your
eating meditation how do you practice with

516
01:02:52,410 --> 01:02:58,320
strong emotions have you practiced uh beginning
a new are you in harmony with the sangha so

517
01:02:58,320 --> 01:03:01,960
ten questions and we said oh you really could
feel a very dense uh energy and then all in

518
01:03:01,960 --> 01:03:05,640
a sudden he turned around and with this really
big smile he smiled at us and he said so uh

519
01:03:05,640 --> 01:03:08,820
you haven't wrote me a letter i have not received
enough letters so this is now my way i need

520
01:03:08,820 --> 01:03:13,520
some feedback because my teachings depend
very much on what you are sharing with me

521
01:03:13,520 --> 01:03:22,710
and so let's enjoy writing this letter to
me and then he smiled and all in a sudden

522
01:03:22,710 --> 01:03:30,599
this energy of of being very serious with
just one smile and one sentence he dissolved

523
01:03:30,599 --> 01:03:36,619
it and yeah you just could see that ty had
a lot of fun uh by himself to have uh put

524
01:03:36,619 --> 01:03:43,250
us first in this place and then giving us
this relaxation and and you did all have to

525
01:03:43,250 --> 01:03:50,829
do then sit there and actually do it yes we
did it all and then and it took two hours

526
01:03:50,829 --> 01:03:57,349
or even three hours to answer all these questions
and then and then in the next dumber talks

527
01:03:57,349 --> 01:04:01,869
he kind of gave us a feedback on what we had
written and i know one friend she had written

528
01:04:01,869 --> 01:04:07,589
on the question how was your eating meditation
she wrote my eating meditation is good and

529
01:04:07,589 --> 01:04:12,500
then i said in the summer talk okay listen
this is not enough you can write that that

530
01:04:12,500 --> 01:04:17,070
the food is good and delicious but only writing
my eating meditation is good that's not enough

531
01:04:17,070 --> 01:04:23,529
reflection [Laughter] so this is so wonderful
because we really get the sense of a teacher

532
01:04:23,529 --> 01:04:29,319
really wanting to develop the practices and
the way to train his students and so you're

533
01:04:29,319 --> 01:04:36,369
part of the kind of laboratory of teachings
and practices as tai was developing all of

534
01:04:36,369 --> 01:04:42,020
the dharma doors that he was in the 1990s
the particular way of walking meditation here

535
01:04:42,020 --> 01:04:48,869
in plum village the particular way of offering
guided meditation which is one of the things

536
01:04:48,869 --> 01:04:55,630
that tai has really offered the west and didn't
exist in the west before thai started to create

537
01:04:55,630 --> 01:04:59,130
these ways to combine key phrases with the
breathing and of course a relaxed way of eating

538
01:04:59,130 --> 01:05:05,569
meditation that's not as rigid as in many
buddhist traditions and so on so and i think

539
01:05:05,569 --> 01:05:09,890
tai was at this point also very excited in
all the communication practices around deep

540
01:05:09,890 --> 01:05:16,069
listening loving speech beginning anew and
also the peace treaty so i would like to invite

541
01:05:16,069 --> 01:05:21,230
bettina and sister binyum also if sister binyum
you're still here wonderful to come up we

542
01:05:21,230 --> 01:05:26,950
can have maybe could someone help bring one
more chair would be wonderful can we squeeze

543
01:05:26,950 --> 01:05:35,340
three in the sofa can we be cozy in the sofa
bettina do you think you can fit in very intimate

544
01:05:35,340 --> 01:05:37,260
sisterhood you can manage okay wonderful

545
01:05:37,260 --> 01:05:44,130
you get the sense of the sisterhood spirit
from the 1990s in lower hamlet

546
01:05:44,130 --> 01:05:52,069
so uh sister binyam would you like to share
a bit about your arrival here to lower hamlet

547
01:05:52,069 --> 01:05:56,039
and what community did you find in which year

548
01:05:56,039 --> 01:06:03,480
well i first arrived in 1993 as a lee person
in upper hamlet in summer retreat and was

549
01:06:03,480 --> 01:06:10,040
very very beautiful experience i fell in love
with i fell in love with blood village right

550
01:06:10,040 --> 01:06:16,260
away i had met tai already in germany on a
retreat that spring and i fell in love with

551
01:06:16,260 --> 01:06:23,230
it there already but then with the community
here again yeah i just already when i met

552
01:06:23,230 --> 01:06:29,240
tai just from i don't know five day retreat
i think it was i felt i want to be a nun and

553
01:06:29,240 --> 01:06:34,890
i can't be what isn't done you don't even
know what a nun is you don't you can't say

554
01:06:34,890 --> 01:06:42,430
that but it was in me and i came here now
wow the free the freedom the peace peace as

555
01:06:42,430 --> 01:06:53,390
freedom not freedom doing crazy things but
the peace here and also sought away from civilization

556
01:06:53,390 --> 01:06:58,819
in a good way sort of not the stress and you
have to like this and you have to do this

557
01:06:58,819 --> 01:07:03,200
but to live from the inside was very very
very important to me

558
01:07:03,200 --> 01:07:12,230
i didn't become a nun right away because i
didn't trust myself with this inner voice

559
01:07:12,230 --> 01:07:20,520
for a while but i came back regularly to plum
village and to thai at that time came to germany

560
01:07:20,520 --> 01:07:24,529
every year so i came to retreat with thai
and this deepened my practice my life for

561
01:07:24,529 --> 01:07:29,290
thai for plum village i had my own little
sangha at home and at some point i knew yes

562
01:07:29,290 --> 01:07:50,720
i really want and i can trust that i want
to be a nun and was in mulhat too with my

563
01:07:50,720 --> 01:07:54,460
mother who was old and sick i decided to stay
with her and let go of that dream for the

564
01:07:54,460 --> 01:08:00,880
moment but it really developed or became stronger
that i really trusted it well while i was

565
01:08:00,880 --> 01:08:07,650
with my mother four was a wish between but
then it was yes that's what i want to after

566
01:08:07,650 --> 01:08:14,200
my mother died i came to plum village in december
96 and there we had just bought or blameless

567
01:08:14,200 --> 01:08:21,120
had just bought the new hamlet i've been used
to the upper hamlet and the west hamlet and

568
01:08:21,120 --> 01:08:27,640
i almost stayed in the west hamill but everything
was in the upper hamlet under linden tree

569
01:08:27,640 --> 01:08:37,270
and then i was in the new helmet that year
was the first year of the new hamlet and no

570
01:08:37,270 --> 01:08:44,460
lay friends were allowed that time because
the nuns should first nuns before when the

571
01:08:44,460 --> 01:08:49,600
lower hamlet should sort of find their their
uh fight together again in this new place

572
01:08:49,600 --> 01:09:03,220
and well there were lots of things to do also
i have one one not just the winter between

573
01:09:03,220 --> 01:09:15,140
sort of one year nearly a few months they're
in the new hamlet just being on their own

574
01:09:15,140 --> 01:09:16,350
to to

575
01:09:16,350 --> 01:09:23,470
to become the new hamlet sangha and that was
very good for me i could really be with the

576
01:09:23,470 --> 01:09:33,600
nuns right away otherwise i would have been
with the lay friends and some where the nuns

577
01:09:33,600 --> 01:09:41,310
but so i could be there from the beginning

578
01:09:41,310 --> 01:09:49,980
so the the dawn of having of some plum village
expansion um because i think there was um

579
01:09:49,980 --> 01:09:55,429
plum village was a little bit illegal at the
beginning i think the paperwork in france

580
01:09:55,429 --> 01:10:02,860
was quite complicated and i think in the summer
retreat of 2005-6 suddenly um i think lower

581
01:10:02,860 --> 01:10:13,700
hamlet was shut down and that is the origin
to why new hamlet was bought because they

582
01:10:13,700 --> 01:10:20,920
had hundreds of people we heard those numbers
from sister dinium hundreds of people coming

583
01:10:20,920 --> 01:10:30,600
for the summer retreat and it was illegal
to have it here and there was an old i think

584
01:10:30,600 --> 01:10:39,571
it was some kind of children's home that was
up for sale and they managed to find a donor

585
01:10:39,571 --> 01:10:45,760
to buy new hamlet so they could still have
a summer retreat so it was a last minute purchase

586
01:10:45,760 --> 01:10:48,929
and that's the origin and then they took that
opportunity of having different environments

587
01:10:48,929 --> 01:10:55,580
to then create a monastic environment there
in the new hamlet and sistibenium as a aspirant

588
01:10:55,580 --> 01:11:02,940
to be was able to join that atmosphere and
then here in the lower hamlet it became a

589
01:11:02,940 --> 01:11:10,390
lay community for a couple of years and so
bettina i wonder if you would like to share

590
01:11:10,390 --> 01:11:14,890
a little bit about the effect of that here
in the lower hamlet um so when the new hamlet

591
01:11:14,890 --> 01:11:21,290
was bought and all the sisters of laura hamlet
has been invited to move to new hamlet the

592
01:11:21,290 --> 01:11:25,600
lower hamlet was a place where we could live
together as a lay community for up to i think

593
01:11:25,600 --> 01:11:31,409
nearly two years 98 and there have been a
german dharma teacher couple karl enter garidel

594
01:11:31,409 --> 01:11:36,550
who now was the indesign sangha in germany
in design center and the vietnamese dharma

595
01:11:36,550 --> 01:11:45,080
teacher couple an huang tintri now fabloo
and sister queen yem and also juan and and

596
01:11:45,080 --> 01:11:50,480
duke have been there and we yes the daughter
and some other friends and so we've we were

597
01:11:50,480 --> 01:11:55,710
suddenly yeah in this situation to run the
hamlet and it was a wonderful time because

598
01:11:55,710 --> 01:12:00,960
we felt a lot of trust from the community
from thai to really make that possible and

599
01:12:00,960 --> 01:12:08,410
it was really wonderful to do and yeah on
all levels worked together as a sangha and

600
01:12:08,410 --> 01:12:14,280
we had guests it was a normal life like in
all the other hamlets with the two days of

601
01:12:14,280 --> 01:12:21,080
mindfulness and in the beginning very exciting
the first mindfulness day the first christmas

602
01:12:21,080 --> 01:12:27,580
festival and all that and it was a day of
a lot of a time of lot of learning and coming

603
01:12:27,580 --> 01:12:33,570
together and yeah giving a lot of empowerment
and also beautifully in this time being together

604
01:12:33,570 --> 01:12:39,190
with a monastic community on these days and
chai was often coming on lazy days around

605
01:12:39,190 --> 01:12:46,320
resting a little bit in his room and walking
around and asking us when he met us are you

606
01:12:46,320 --> 01:12:47,320
lazy enough

607
01:12:47,320 --> 01:12:56,680
and we felt really good taken care by him
by this question and showing up and yeah also

608
01:12:56,680 --> 01:13:05,560
like you said the community was so small in
this time and we had not access to thai as

609
01:13:05,560 --> 01:13:12,770
not monastics but he was somehow he was very
present and available and walking around and

610
01:13:12,770 --> 01:13:19,810
a little here there and a little how it's
going there and

611
01:13:19,810 --> 01:13:30,740
yeah he even visited us on the chat visiting
room thing it was climbing up persimmon up

612
01:13:30,740 --> 01:13:34,870
there and so it was a wonderful wonderful
time this period and what would you feel with

613
01:13:34,870 --> 01:13:39,870
the kind of em the place the teaching that
tai was highlighting most at this time what

614
01:13:39,870 --> 01:13:47,620
was he speaking about in the talks what was
he guiding you all on i guess it's very very

615
01:13:47,620 --> 01:13:53,480
very personal of course what i choose to say
now i think in this year there have been a

616
01:13:53,480 --> 01:14:02,100
lot of this basic practices like the sutra
anapanasati and a lot of living in harmony

617
01:14:02,100 --> 01:14:05,940
together and we were not asked to have a test
but we got sometimes homeworks i remember

618
01:14:05,940 --> 01:14:12,890
in this years like writing about what did
you do when you had a crisis did you really

619
01:14:12,890 --> 01:14:20,800
take refuge into the buddha in you and the
sangha or did you start to judge and do all

620
01:14:20,800 --> 01:14:35,590
these things so this kind and um for me it's
it's the most i think through all these years

621
01:14:35,590 --> 01:14:49,280
of this big treasure of ty's teachings to
embody always inviting us to embody what he

622
01:14:49,280 --> 01:14:56,520
was talking about like to really then practice
beginning you or to really breathe when you

623
01:14:56,520 --> 01:15:00,750
are excited and so um yeah i feel very basic
living in the moment living the teachings

624
01:15:00,750 --> 01:15:02,940
and also i've had a lot of

625
01:15:02,940 --> 01:15:13,530
relaxation you know this are you lazy enough
it's for me also a sentence of this time of

626
01:15:13,530 --> 01:15:24,800
uh really we had a lot to do of course with
the hamlet but the main thing was how is the

627
01:15:24,800 --> 01:15:32,590
energy you are doing things always coming
back to what is your energy and how is your

628
01:15:32,590 --> 01:15:39,300
being and then to move out and do your activities
i thought somehow it was very fundamental

629
01:15:39,300 --> 01:15:40,510
very basic very grounding

630
01:15:40,510 --> 01:15:49,620
a good a good memory to have the art of being
peace and also while in action and sister

631
01:15:49,620 --> 01:15:54,940
binyum do you have similar memories of this
time what struck you most about this special

632
01:15:54,940 --> 01:15:56,410
period in the 1990s

633
01:15:56,410 --> 01:16:08,360
well after one year i came to the lower hamlet
sister gina had been come the abbas and

634
01:16:08,360 --> 01:16:17,100
it was no longer hamlet then was it two years
from all i know it was 98 probably and then

635
01:16:17,100 --> 01:16:23,880
they were only 12 there i think they started
with eight and then four of us came down came

636
01:16:23,880 --> 01:16:31,280
from new hamlet here and we were 12 and summer
retreat people came it was full here and 12

637
01:16:31,280 --> 01:16:38,290
of us had to do several things not just pot
washing but this and then that but i loved

638
01:16:38,290 --> 01:16:49,800
it very much it was very beautiful for me
when you asked bettina what was the teaching

639
01:16:49,800 --> 01:17:07,190
there all of a sudden it popped up to me i
mean thai i can't say i remember that when

640
01:17:07,190 --> 01:17:15,320
i came as a aspirant the first two winters
tai was teaching the sutras that i know he

641
01:17:15,320 --> 01:17:23,989
just took the chanting book and and taught
sutra after sutra and i remember that sometimes

642
01:17:23,989 --> 01:17:31,310
some in the middle of the suit were teaching
he's talked about sister so-and-so doing this

643
01:17:31,310 --> 01:17:41,830
and that he always his teaching was very personal
he never just taught a sutra but he explained

644
01:17:41,830 --> 01:17:53,110
then with the problem of a system it was very
very applied sutra that unknown ties uh never

645
01:17:53,110 --> 01:18:02,690
we should never just study the sutras uh any
texts if they don't apply to our life if we

646
01:18:02,690 --> 01:18:07,940
don't practice it there's no sense in knowing
them and when you asked patina came up in

647
01:18:07,940 --> 01:18:09,139
me that at that time tai was sort of for a
while

648
01:18:09,139 --> 01:18:13,969
advancing the idea that every not just every
country but every big city should have a mindfulness

649
01:18:13,969 --> 01:18:16,920
practice center without monastics just lay
people and that's when

650
01:18:16,920 --> 01:18:22,040
karl schmidt brought asked karen helga to
leave plum village to come and he bought intersign

651
01:18:22,040 --> 01:18:27,310
center in germany and they are to this day
the the dharma teachers of intersign that

652
01:18:27,310 --> 01:18:32,360
was they left here i think two thousand i'm
not totally sure 90 i ordained in february

653
01:18:32,360 --> 01:18:47,290
98 i think they might have left 99 and i think
worldwide it's the only one that at least

654
01:18:47,290 --> 01:18:58,830
that stayed longer but that was a big thing
for thai at that time so tai is sort of developing

655
01:18:58,830 --> 01:19:03,870
the practices here in the community context
and setting of plan village and then really

656
01:19:03,870 --> 01:19:10,350
inviting everyone to experiment back in their
home towns and cities and i think the 1990s

657
01:19:10,350 --> 01:19:17,050
was also a period when a lot of sanghas started
all over europe and all over the u.s so it

658
01:19:17,050 --> 01:19:21,750
was around this time that tai was teaching
the heart of the buddha's teachings so from

659
01:19:21,750 --> 01:19:26,480
his research the elements that he felt were
the most important for all his students to

660
01:19:26,480 --> 01:19:32,440
understand and this remains on amazon one
of the best-selling buddhist books in in the

661
01:19:32,440 --> 01:19:35,710
english language

662
01:19:35,710 --> 01:19:38,920
and it was around this time we have the book
uh touching peace the art of mindful living

663
01:19:38,920 --> 01:19:45,460
in community the book of the poems the gatters
that you see posted around in the bathrooms

664
01:19:45,460 --> 01:19:51,690
and the bedrooms these are translated from
the tradition and then really applied here

665
01:19:51,690 --> 01:20:02,190
in plum village this book is called present
moment wonderful moment and there's a new

666
01:20:02,190 --> 01:20:10,719
edition of that out now and thai's kind of
number one uh book next to the miracle of

667
01:20:10,719 --> 01:20:15,440
mindfulness peace is every step also came
out at this time so there was really with

668
01:20:15,440 --> 01:20:19,170
the presence of the community around tai he's
really exploring what would a community of

669
01:20:19,170 --> 01:20:21,960
peace look like and what would practices of
peace look like

670
01:20:21,960 --> 01:20:27,910
so i think we're halfway through the books
we wish we would have more time i have two

671
01:20:27,910 --> 01:20:36,420
more sofas of people i would love just to
to bring up here and i hope we can get through

672
01:20:36,420 --> 01:20:43,450
everyone by dinner so thank you so much to
our sisters lay and monastic from the 1990s

673
01:20:43,450 --> 01:20:48,719
thank you so much and i would like thank you
yes flowers and gratitude for you all being

674
01:20:48,719 --> 01:20:59,630
here thank you so i would like to invite lisa
renika and jesse to come up so we will fast

675
01:20:59,630 --> 01:21:06,520
forward a little bit uh through the 2000s
[Music] and we will look at some of the ways

676
01:21:06,520 --> 01:21:13,659
that thai's engagement and socially engaged
buddhism applied buddhism has expressed itself

677
01:21:13,659 --> 01:21:20,930
we will be cozy on the sofa this is an intimate
sisterhood sofa

678
01:21:20,930 --> 01:21:32,321
maybe we can listen to a sound of the bell
to refresh our hearts and our breathing and

679
01:21:32,321 --> 01:21:34,739
arrive into this precious moment

680
01:21:34,739 --> 01:21:35,739
[Music]

681
01:21:35,739 --> 01:21:41,860
so before this panel started i said it will
be a challenge with the time you'll have at

682
01:21:41,860 --> 01:21:47,620
least three minutes maybe four or five but
i think we're down to three so

683
01:21:47,620 --> 01:21:54,540
um lisa you are from jerusalem and you first
encountered tai i'd i'm not sure whether it

684
01:21:54,540 --> 01:22:01,190
was when he came to israel um but if you would
like to share a bit about his um powerful

685
01:22:01,190 --> 01:22:04,580
trip to israel in i believe 1997 and the impact
that had

686
01:22:04,580 --> 01:22:12,080
thank you dear tai dear sangha it was remarkable
1997 he must have touched thousands of people

687
01:22:12,080 --> 01:22:17,610
in throughout israel we had a five-day retreat
silent retreat that was really incredible

688
01:22:17,610 --> 01:22:21,330
to have a thousand silent jews for five days

689
01:22:21,330 --> 01:22:30,580
and as a result of his visit oh my goodness
dozens of sanghas sprang out sprung up all

690
01:22:30,580 --> 01:22:36,350
over all over israel and practice very dedicated
practices started all over the country that

691
01:22:36,350 --> 01:22:44,500
was 1997 and at the time i was a war correspondent
for the boston globe working in jerusalem

692
01:22:44,500 --> 01:22:50,150
and i had covered many suicide bombings and
months before they arrived one of the suicide

693
01:22:50,150 --> 01:22:55,429
bombings ended up with me feeling incredible
love for this suicide bomber and i didn't

694
01:22:55,429 --> 01:23:02,890
understand why and when i met tai and sister
chen kong sister chen kang explained to me

695
01:23:02,890 --> 01:23:09,851
that my heart had discovered its buddha nature
so that was a revolution in my life and from

696
01:23:09,851 --> 01:23:16,740
then on i [Music] i left journalism and i
became a peace activist and i helped to found

697
01:23:16,740 --> 01:23:22,010
a peace academy in a palestinian school in
in east jerusalem which was a really remarkable

698
01:23:22,010 --> 01:23:29,020
experience and and time [Music] and then sister
luke neem and brother fab lai and a few other

699
01:23:29,020 --> 01:23:37,830
monastics came to do a day of mindfulness
with us in the school and then i saw what

700
01:23:37,830 --> 01:23:41,100
teaching really was and i saw how the kids
who normally turned the classroom upside down

701
01:23:41,100 --> 01:23:46,870
or turned upside down themselves in a really
good way and i realized that's what i want

702
01:23:46,870 --> 01:23:52,830
to do i want to i want to work with mindfulness
with with they worked with all ages it was

703
01:23:52,830 --> 01:24:00,989
it was a drastic change from the way the school
normally was and so i brought a team of palestinian

704
01:24:00,989 --> 01:24:07,850
of my students here to a wake up retreat a
couple of years ago before before the pandemic

705
01:24:07,850 --> 01:24:17,990
hit and that was that was it that was so remarkable
the first thing is palestinians are very much

706
01:24:17,990 --> 01:24:22,551
i think like the vietnamese they only want
their own cooking so they took over the kitchen

707
01:24:22,551 --> 01:24:27,600
and they cooked for 500 young people from
around the globe and they were received with

708
01:24:27,600 --> 01:24:32,040
such warmth um the monastics were so lovely
they they set up our dinner underneath the

709
01:24:32,040 --> 01:24:36,340
trees the thai planted on upper hamlet and
they had the musicians playing classical music

710
01:24:36,340 --> 01:24:40,170
and we ate maklouba it's called upside down
we ate it in silence listening to this music

711
01:24:40,170 --> 01:24:45,750
and it was it was this massive prayer for
palestine and for everybody and then at the

712
01:24:45,750 --> 01:24:50,420
end of the wake up retreat our palestinian
youngsters uh were gonna dance their their

713
01:24:50,420 --> 01:24:56,190
debka their their national dance but none
of them could dance you know so they stood

714
01:24:56,190 --> 01:24:59,560
there and they heard the music and they had
the rhythm in them but they couldn't they

715
01:24:59,560 --> 01:25:03,830
couldn't quite get the steps out and so 500
young people from around the globe rushed

716
01:25:03,830 --> 01:25:11,560
the stage and jumped up and down shouting
free free palestine free we you know we we

717
01:25:11,560 --> 01:25:20,760
can't change the world but we can change the
world but we can dance for you thank you lisa

718
01:25:20,760 --> 01:25:29,080
for this beautiful testimony and tai um as
some of you may know in 2003 hosted an incredible

719
01:25:29,080 --> 01:25:30,800
encounter with people from both palestine
and from israel practicing deeply together

720
01:25:30,800 --> 01:25:36,360
for two weeks first separately and then after
about a week or ten days of practice creating

721
01:25:36,360 --> 01:25:45,480
moments for the groups um to be able to speak
to one another of their own suffering and

722
01:25:45,480 --> 01:25:53,540
i think a lot of the sort of interventions
that tai has made at the international level

723
01:25:53,540 --> 01:25:58,090
around how dialogue is possible between warring
parties comes from tai's work of compassion

724
01:25:58,090 --> 01:26:00,900
with the israelis and palestinians and lisa's
continuing to work to bring more palestinians

725
01:26:00,900 --> 01:26:04,580
here every year and also coming this summer
so this is one way in which thai's peace work

726
01:26:04,580 --> 01:26:11,700
uh is continuing and we're very happy to support
you in that lisa thank you so much thank you

727
01:26:11,700 --> 01:26:18,880
so dear renika you would like to start about
your share your journey um which i guess both

728
01:26:18,880 --> 01:26:22,570
your personal journey and then how your own
practice has expressed itself in engaged uh

729
01:26:22,570 --> 01:26:26,730
action within the sangha and beyond thank
you um the thai de beloved community um [Music]

730
01:26:26,730 --> 01:26:32,960
so this is a journey really that um started
with both of us so it's really a journey of

731
01:26:32,960 --> 01:26:37,330
um both of our beginning of what i'm going
to say and it started at plum village 2004

732
01:26:37,330 --> 01:26:42,500
and actually i remember the conflict resolution
that happened and 2004 was like an exploration

733
01:26:42,500 --> 01:26:49,130
to oh meditation yes i've heard of meditation
it's it's part of my culture but i'm not quite

734
01:26:49,130 --> 01:26:55,650
sure what that means because it was kind of
lost because i was i grew up in england and

735
01:26:55,650 --> 01:27:02,600
there was not a lot of meditation going on
there and the things that i did understand

736
01:27:02,600 --> 01:27:07,080
was um was kind of a bit mystic so i didn't
really understand any of it so then i went

737
01:27:07,080 --> 01:27:14,130
in search for what meditation was and it's
what brought me to plum village and um on

738
01:27:14,130 --> 01:27:18,860
that year i also um recognized that there
wasn't many teachers that were not like from

739
01:27:18,860 --> 01:27:28,219
the east in the west and so that was kind
of my personal journey really to kind of explore

740
01:27:28,219 --> 01:27:33,989
that side of practice and take that home really
did speak to me in many ways um and so did

741
01:27:33,989 --> 01:27:38,440
a lot of the monastics and one of the monastics
i'd like to mention is sister jewell kyra

742
01:27:38,440 --> 01:27:41,989
jewel she's now deroged and she's doing a
lot of the practice and teachings out in the

743
01:27:41,989 --> 01:27:47,780
uh us and she was kind of like a mentor to
me in a way that she really uh

744
01:27:47,780 --> 01:27:53,330
she kind of she had an eye on on on people
like me let's put it this way and she asked

745
01:27:53,330 --> 01:27:58,300
she invited me to kind of speak about my practice
and my trainings one of the five mindfulness

746
01:27:58,300 --> 01:28:03,230
trainings in the uk and it's not something
i do it's this is really not me i do not do

747
01:28:03,230 --> 01:28:10,080
big presentations i'm pretty shy but it was
it was an opportunity to recognize that this

748
01:28:10,080 --> 01:28:16,140
wasn't just me speaking it was for my ancestors
and for the future generations like me who

749
01:28:16,140 --> 01:28:17,320
don't have access to this practice

750
01:28:17,320 --> 01:28:22,330
so that was my vision back in 2004 three and
four and um there was many barriers really

751
01:28:22,330 --> 01:28:29,590
i mean i'm going to go and talk about the
heart of london sanger is that okay okay well

752
01:28:29,590 --> 01:28:35,239
i'll just quickly say that um natasha was
part of asanga at in london heart of london

753
01:28:35,239 --> 01:28:40,290
at heart of london sanger known as natasha
then and we're very excited that she was going

754
01:28:40,290 --> 01:28:47,369
to become a monastic and we've we bid her
farewell and here she is and um part of that

755
01:28:47,369 --> 01:28:54,150
entering the sangha in london was not diverse
believe it or not even though london is a

756
01:28:54,150 --> 01:28:58,739
very diverse city it wasn't very diverse at
all and it didn't feel like um a home it wasn't

757
01:28:58,739 --> 01:29:07,390
a home for me and one of the dharma seals
as we've heard is i am home i have arrived

758
01:29:07,390 --> 01:29:17,040
and so i really wanted to create that in the
sangha so it took um quite a lot of efforts

759
01:29:17,040 --> 01:29:23,510
and a lot of stops and starts and i i found
a friend that was able to do that with me

760
01:29:23,510 --> 01:29:28,500
so i'm going to pass it on to jesse if we've
run it out of time

761
01:29:28,500 --> 01:29:37,520
thank you yeah um we met at that retreat in
2004 here and actually at that retreat was

762
01:29:37,520 --> 01:29:47,310
one of the retreats where palestinians and
israelis are invited to come and practice

763
01:29:47,310 --> 01:29:56,790
together and i remember i knew nothing about
plum village and i saw that happening and

764
01:29:56,790 --> 01:30:03,730
i thought ah okay this is what i want i want
something that's engaged with the world that

765
01:30:03,730 --> 01:30:12,770
can give me a path and yes we met here and
um i think that um something that happened

766
01:30:12,770 --> 01:30:18,239
for me is that i had enough for various causes
and conditions i had just enough awareness

767
01:30:18,239 --> 01:30:23,850
to realize what it what a challenge it would
be um to be in the sangha um as such a minority

768
01:30:23,850 --> 01:30:31,590
in that environment and um and me and renika
just clicked and we became very good friends

769
01:30:31,590 --> 01:30:37,960
and um she has built the colours of compassion
sanger in in the uk and in the in the heart

770
01:30:37,960 --> 01:30:42,330
of london to really make a home and it's been
a long journey where we we had many times

771
01:30:42,330 --> 01:30:46,460
of coming together not just us but us and
others slowly slowly slowing in organically

772
01:30:46,460 --> 01:30:52,239
to build friendships and and to um build both
awareness um with the with the white people

773
01:30:52,239 --> 01:31:01,530
in the sangha and just to slowly build that
and i know we haven't got time to tell the

774
01:31:01,530 --> 01:31:12,060
whole story so i'm not going to go into detail
but i think that um i really want to honor

775
01:31:12,060 --> 01:31:21,180
you because you've done something that i haven't
seen anywhere else i don't know if it's happening

776
01:31:21,180 --> 01:31:28,750
anywhere else but so far i haven't seen in
this tradition in europe which is to build

777
01:31:28,750 --> 01:31:35,370
that home where people can um just come and
find their solidity to be part of this sangha

778
01:31:35,370 --> 01:31:36,720
in europe yeah

779
01:31:36,720 --> 01:31:41,860
veronica would you like to share a little
bit about the joy of creating the colours

780
01:31:41,860 --> 01:31:42,860
of compassion sangha

781
01:31:42,860 --> 01:31:46,960
joy and colours of compassion are synonymous
because um we practice in the um spirit of

782
01:31:46,960 --> 01:31:53,400
honoring our ancestors and if you have together
we are one you'll book you'll see that um

783
01:31:53,400 --> 01:31:58,489
in that book there's many stories of people
um who are not white sharing their stories

784
01:31:58,489 --> 01:32:08,000
of um healing from the hurts of of the oppression
of the racial oppressions and um you know

785
01:32:08,000 --> 01:32:11,560
this is 52 of the population we're talking
about so it's it's it was really honorable

786
01:32:11,560 --> 01:32:18,030
to know that things that we could have voices
we could have that voice and also practice

787
01:32:18,030 --> 01:32:22,810
in the spirit of honoring and respecting our
own root tradition alongside this tradition

788
01:32:22,810 --> 01:32:28,340
and it had many meanings and it's very eclectic
it's not just one homogenous group so we have

789
01:32:28,340 --> 01:32:33,310
very many cultures and richness and times
of celebrating our own practices alongside

790
01:32:33,310 --> 01:32:38,900
thai's practices so it's been very joyful
to have the retreats that we did have in the

791
01:32:38,900 --> 01:32:47,070
uk led by um kyra jewell and we had three
of those it was filled out and i do believe

792
01:32:47,070 --> 01:32:56,580
that when the first um bipod poc retreat happened
um there was that was filled out to about

793
01:32:56,580 --> 01:33:05,440
500 people um in the u.s and it was all um
approved i guess by tai he he really supported

794
01:33:05,440 --> 01:33:11,210
this practice he supported these um retreats
he saw the um the amount of um healing that

795
01:33:11,210 --> 01:33:21,199
was taking place yeah thank you so much renika
jesse and lisa so we hope that uh this very

796
01:33:21,199 --> 01:33:29,670
brief testimony um can also inspire many of
us in our local sanghas to really see how

797
01:33:29,670 --> 01:33:35,530
we can support and empower the non-white members
in our sangers to have safe spaces uh to really

798
01:33:35,530 --> 01:33:44,280
ask how we can be of support how we can trust
and interest so that those spaces can take

799
01:33:44,280 --> 01:33:52,040
place and we hope here in plum village to
be able to create more such spaces for people

800
01:33:52,040 --> 01:33:58,750
of color so that we really have the representation
the diversity that is reflective of the world

801
01:33:58,750 --> 01:34:05,660
and so all of us can also and especially those
of us who have been socialized as white or

802
01:34:05,660 --> 01:34:10,409
present as white that we have a chance also
to look deeply and to really practice non-discrimination

803
01:34:10,409 --> 01:34:15,060
compassion and generosity from a real place
of deep understanding [Music] of racial inequity

804
01:34:15,060 --> 01:34:19,650
in the world and that's part of our path as
thai students and for me when we speak about

805
01:34:19,650 --> 01:34:22,239
this as a community i feel we're really honoring
the legacy of thai's friendship with dr martin

806
01:34:22,239 --> 01:34:27,280
luther king so if we see ourselves as thai
student this is also part of our work to do

807
01:34:27,280 --> 01:34:31,360
and to support so thank you so much to our
wonderful sofa here present and uh we heard

808
01:34:31,360 --> 01:34:40,410
the we heard the dinner bell but if uh if
you would like to return to your seats i would

809
01:34:40,410 --> 01:34:46,920
just like to introduce to you uli annika and
dorote if you're still here dojote

810
01:34:46,920 --> 01:34:52,469
yes please just come up briefly and i would
just like to to introduce you we wanted to

811
01:34:52,469 --> 01:34:59,060
show also the future of plum village and many
of the directions where thai's work is going

812
01:34:59,060 --> 01:35:03,619
so we have anika representing the international
wake up community dojote representing our

813
01:35:03,619 --> 01:35:11,139
happy farms which are organic vegetable farms
that thai insisted we should start developing

814
01:35:11,139 --> 01:35:17,670
here in plum village and uli from germany
representing our earth holder community uh

815
01:35:17,670 --> 01:35:23,980
and tai's teachings to bring uh love and peace
and healing to the earth so i wonder if i

816
01:35:23,980 --> 01:35:28,830
can give you each one minute with the microphone
and then we promise we'll go and serve our

817
01:35:28,830 --> 01:35:30,410
dinner so annika a few lines

818
01:35:30,410 --> 01:35:39,680
um dear tadia sanger one minute well maybe
what i can say is that

819
01:35:39,680 --> 01:35:44,280
i'm probably not representing wake up i can
only i'm happy to coordinate for wake up and

820
01:35:44,280 --> 01:35:49,260
to see that it's growing and flourishing that
the pandemic has given rise to even more

821
01:35:49,260 --> 01:36:02,230
the river growing or becoming even stronger
and wake up sanghas all over the world opening

822
01:36:02,230 --> 01:36:08,170
their doors to just everyone instead of just
functioning locally

823
01:36:08,170 --> 01:36:15,611
i've seen lian in many online meetings who
is now he's sitting here as an aspirant and

824
01:36:15,611 --> 01:36:22,690
is so engaged also with extinction rebellion
and i think showing very beautifully the the

825
01:36:22,690 --> 01:36:27,600
spirit of wake up of young people who are
happy to find belonging in a uh and empowerment

826
01:36:27,600 --> 01:36:32,989
through mindfulness through the practice um
yeah who find a home in the practice as well

827
01:36:32,989 --> 01:36:39,960
as like-minded people who want to work and
engage for a better world and i'm deeply grateful

828
01:36:39,960 --> 01:36:47,520
to tai and the sangha for having given rise
to that and it's an honor to support this

829
01:36:47,520 --> 01:36:57,150
movement and i'm sad to grow out of it soon
[Laughter] [Music] yes thank you thank you

830
01:36:57,150 --> 01:37:06,210
annika so ty started the wake up movement
in 2008 in a summer retreat i wonder was anyone

831
01:37:06,210 --> 01:37:13,340
here in that summer retreat in that moment
so you may remember this funny moment when

832
01:37:13,340 --> 01:37:19,710
tai insisted that some of us stand up and
announce the creation of young buddhists and

833
01:37:19,710 --> 01:37:28,080
non-buddhists for a healthy and compassionate
society and i had to say this so many times

834
01:37:28,080 --> 01:37:32,179
and then i had to read out this announcement
and say the ybhcs which doesn't have the same

835
01:37:32,179 --> 01:37:38,750
ring to it as the ymca so so then we came
up with the phrase the wake up movement and

836
01:37:38,750 --> 01:37:48,119
tai was inspired to do this as we heard from
sister dinimum yesterday because tai had been

837
01:37:48,119 --> 01:37:54,630
working with young people since the beginning
of his career as a monk and he knew that young

838
01:37:54,630 --> 01:38:00,780
people can practice meditation young people
can practice mindfulness and that the aspiration

839
01:38:00,780 --> 01:38:07,230
of young people to be of service in the world
when supported by a mindfulness practice can

840
01:38:07,230 --> 01:38:13,121
really help young people serve as a community
as a collective and he did that in vietnam

841
01:38:13,121 --> 01:38:16,120
with the school of youth for social service
and was experimenting with the wake up movement

842
01:38:16,120 --> 01:38:20,770
here in the west to see how young people can
practice together to be seeds of change in

843
01:38:20,770 --> 01:38:24,100
the world so thank you anikaf and we have
also jazz in the upper hamlet who on a volunteer

844
01:38:24,100 --> 01:38:28,580
basis have been supporting this incredible
network of young people and we're so grateful

845
01:38:28,580 --> 01:38:33,910
to you annika for that and for doherty so
a couple of years after starting the wake

846
01:38:33,910 --> 01:38:39,460
up movement tai wanted to see how we can have
more young people in plum village and with

847
01:38:39,460 --> 01:38:45,880
the brothers he had the idea to create vegetable
farms so that we can really come and have

848
01:38:45,880 --> 01:38:55,180
time healing with the earth our hands in the
soil nurturing the seeds in the land so dojote

849
01:38:55,180 --> 01:39:01,260
one minute about the happy farms thank you
sister um dear hall um i don't know really

850
01:39:01,260 --> 01:39:13,330
how to start um of course plum village doesn't
wait the happy farm to manifest to grow food

851
01:39:13,330 --> 01:39:26,310
and to garden but i think we are also helping
with the happy farm the monastic community

852
01:39:26,310 --> 01:39:36,350
who doesn't have the time as a gardener to
spend so much time in the garden so that's

853
01:39:36,350 --> 01:39:43,600
also one of the aspects of the happy farm
who started in her parliament in 2012 and

854
01:39:43,600 --> 01:39:51,219
i did my first retreat in 2013 and i fall
in love with the practice and with the project

855
01:39:51,219 --> 01:39:57,849
of the happy farm i think at that time i see
my first eggplant plant aubergine plant and

856
01:39:57,849 --> 01:40:06,360
i was so amazed and so amazed about yeah what
what they share about this project is not

857
01:40:06,360 --> 01:40:15,099
obviously only about growing food but it's
also um yeah the linked with all the the metaphor

858
01:40:15,099 --> 01:40:22,760
that we can find in thai stitching uh with
the seeds you know is um yeah growing um nourishing

859
01:40:22,760 --> 01:40:31,300
ourselves and all yeah all the metaphors about
nature that we can find uh on his teaching

860
01:40:31,300 --> 01:40:40,560
we try to um to be with those teaching in
the garden i often uh tell myself that the

861
01:40:40,560 --> 01:40:45,360
the happy happy farm is my meditation hall
because sometimes i miss uh some of the other

862
01:40:45,360 --> 01:40:51,989
activity with the sangha because yeah may
and june are really um busy at the garden

863
01:40:51,989 --> 01:41:00,179
and i i really enjoy just knowing that the
song i also is practicing and i'm i'm practicing

864
01:41:00,179 --> 01:41:05,460
um in the happy farm yeah it's also a place
for transmitting and to inspired of um yeah

865
01:41:05,460 --> 01:41:12,340
from where come the food and maybe we can
all start growing our own food in any scale

866
01:41:12,340 --> 01:41:19,659
and yeah that's for me so uh important and
inspiring thank you thank you and what i i

867
01:41:19,659 --> 01:41:24,500
find fascinating is how tai was still experimenting
with what a healthy community looks like and

868
01:41:24,500 --> 01:41:29,410
a healthy community grows its own vegetables
in mindfulness and a healthy community is

869
01:41:29,410 --> 01:41:38,230
a place where young people can come and touch
peace and touch meaning and i feel also that

870
01:41:38,230 --> 01:41:49,180
with the wake up movement and the happy farm
thai was also seeing what he can offer the

871
01:41:49,180 --> 01:41:56,160
young generation who will face so many challenges
ahead in the coming decades what are the skills

872
01:41:56,160 --> 01:42:04,710
the the physical skills but also the inner
resilience and learnings that the young generations

873
01:42:04,710 --> 01:42:11,980
will need to survive the challenges ahead
so i feel it's a great gift that we're experimenting

874
01:42:11,980 --> 01:42:21,830
with in the wake up movement and with our
happy farms so thank you both and uli this

875
01:42:21,830 --> 01:42:30,380
is connected also to thai's teachings on the
earth and thai gave so many teachings on the

876
01:42:30,380 --> 01:42:41,900
earth i have we'll just show some of the books
that we may recognize the first one was called

877
01:42:41,900 --> 01:42:51,960
the world we have where tai really started
raising the alarm bell he described the climate

878
01:42:51,960 --> 01:43:00,310
crisis as a bell of mindfulness in this book
and then tai went further and said we need

879
01:43:00,310 --> 01:43:11,000
to fall in love with the earth and some of
us may remember these teachings in 2011 2012

880
01:43:11,000 --> 01:43:20,220
and they became the book love letters to the
earth and then more recently and the teachings

881
01:43:20,220 --> 01:43:29,490
that i gave to young people have become this
book zen and the art of saving the planet

882
01:43:29,490 --> 01:43:39,010
where we also have all of thai's teachings
on engaged action and ecology and thai's vision

883
01:43:39,010 --> 01:43:45,280
for how the young generation can protect our
world so ali what would you like to share

884
01:43:45,280 --> 01:43:46,980
about the earth holder community

885
01:43:46,980 --> 01:43:51,989
first i want to share that i'm reading this
book you mentioned the last and it's not only

886
01:43:51,989 --> 01:43:58,100
from tai it's also from sister to dedication
she writes many interesting parts in this

887
01:43:58,100 --> 01:43:59,400
book it's very inspiring

888
01:43:59,400 --> 01:44:07,170
one motivation to leave my beloved teacher
in the japanese center edition was that i

889
01:44:07,170 --> 01:44:13,720
could not uh combine this experience so like
this like this like this i could not combine

890
01:44:13,720 --> 01:44:19,489
this meditation practice with my political
activism i could not share it with my family

891
01:44:19,489 --> 01:44:25,500
and i could not share it with my students
in the university and i was a political activist

892
01:44:25,500 --> 01:44:31,080
since i started with my studies but i was
motivated by hate by fear and [Music]

893
01:44:31,080 --> 01:44:32,080
also filled with despair

894
01:44:32,080 --> 01:44:40,300
and to encounter ties teachings about activism
in a different kind it inspired me a lot being

895
01:44:40,300 --> 01:45:08,440
active out of love being active and at the
same time caring for yourself being active

896
01:45:08,440 --> 01:45:11,650
and not opposing someone not uh

897
01:45:11,650 --> 01:45:23,350
say you are guilty and i'm right no we are
in the same boat and the ones who make the

898
01:45:23,350 --> 01:45:36,270
coal mines in australia i'm fighting they
are in me and this is uh the poem

899
01:45:36,270 --> 01:45:52,330
of thai call me by my true names is the poem
for every activist you have no opponent the

900
01:45:52,330 --> 01:46:41,540
opponent is in your heart and this is a very
very deep teaching and i'm so grateful to

901
01:46:41,540 --> 01:46:49,520
have this teacher and to have a community
that shares this concern for mother earth

902
01:46:49,520 --> 01:47:06,000
thank you thank you uli so if you haven't
yet heard about

903
01:47:06,000 --> 01:47:31,580
the earth holder sangha or the gardian de
la terre here in france they have

904
01:47:31,580 --> 01:47:56,119
a wonderful website full of resources and
we're just starting in the last couple of

905
01:47:56,119 --> 01:48:07,650
years to develop earth holder groups here
on in europe and there are many already in

906
01:48:07,650 --> 01:48:35,840
america and they do a lot of online activities
which are wonderful to join discussions presentations

907
01:48:35,840 --> 01:48:57,909
and study study groups and it's a wonderful
way to express our love for the earth as tai

908
01:48:57,909 --> 01:49:03,100
has encouraged us to do

909
01:49:03,100 --> 01:49:18,369
so voila we arrive somewhere through some
kind of arc we've had a beautiful uh journey

910
01:49:18,369 --> 01:49:23,320
and we arrive to activism engagement and love
for the earth thank you for being up here

911
01:49:23,320 --> 01:49:29,710
our final cushion sofa group you can return
to your seats thank you so much and thank

912
01:49:29,710 --> 01:50:20,590
you everyone for your patience and generous
listening we've had a journey along the river

913
01:50:20,590 --> 01:50:33,460
of

914
01:50:33,460 --> 01:51:33,980
the sangha and 
i hope you have felt the spirit of community

915
01:51:33,980 --> 01:52:23,889
that shines through the people that really
make the sangha and of course there are so

916
01:52:23,889 --> 01:53:12,270
many ways to still tell the story of plum
village maybe as many people as have experienced

917
01:53:12,270 --> 01:53:31,040
plum village that's how many stories there
are so we're just presenting a brief glimpse

918
01:53:31,040 --> 01:53:54,750
of flavor of the arc of growth and especially
as told by those who've practiced here in

919
01:53:54,750 --> 01:54:21,650
the lower hamlet so we will enjoy listening
to three sounds of

920
01:54:21,650 --> 01:54:49,420
the bell to close our session thank you so
much we can enjoy feeling feeling connected

921
01:54:49,420 --> 01:56:34,179
to one another and feeling enriched by everything
we've heard

922
01:56:34,179 --> 01:56:56,360
as 
we enjoy these sounds of the bell

923
01:56:56,360 --> 01:56:56,860
you