WEBVTT 00:00:05.521 --> 00:00:07.621 Dear friends, 00:00:07.621 --> 00:00:14.121 please enjoy your breathing one more time as we listen to the sound of the bell 00:00:15.057 --> 00:00:22.217 With the inbreath, just feel refreshed, breathing in fresh oxygen 00:00:23.462 --> 00:00:26.904 breathing out, letting go 00:00:35.928 --> 00:00:39.830 [three sounds of the bell] 00:01:41.731 --> 00:01:49.099 With all respect to our beloved teacher Thay and to our other brothers 00:01:49.099 --> 00:01:54.438 and sisters who are with us, and with the sangha and our friends here 00:01:55.797 --> 00:01:57.874 This is a happy moment 00:01:57.953 --> 00:02:05.087 we are surrounded by all my brothers and sisters here 00:02:05.583 --> 00:02:11.262 my sister Dieu Nghiem next to me and the sangha is gathered 00:02:11.549 --> 00:02:14.947 and on behalf of our teacher, who is in San Francisco 00:02:17.157 --> 00:02:19.895 we thank you for coming to support the sangha 00:02:20.333 --> 00:02:22.537 and being here with us this evening 00:02:25.526 --> 00:02:31.867 Our teacher's deepest wish has always been to build a community 00:02:31.948 --> 00:02:34.447 a beloved community 00:02:34.455 --> 00:02:38.883 as he shared his conversation with Martin Luther King 00:02:39.797 --> 00:02:47.227 that's our teacher's deepest wish, is to form a family, a spiritual family 00:02:47.694 --> 00:02:52.437 and so, tonight, sitting here among my brothers and sisters, 00:02:52.768 --> 00:02:58.800 I think this is one of the few times where we manifest like this 00:02:59.129 --> 00:03:04.529 to, in a way, continue our teacher as he is not physically here 00:03:07.446 --> 00:03:10.850 So we thank you for coming together 00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:18.560 This is something our teacher always gets nourished by, and so do we 00:03:27.706 --> 00:03:32.334 Tonight we, my sister Dieu Nghiem, she's my oldest sister 00:03:32.900 --> 00:03:41.763 she's asked me to share first so I will, I tried to get her to share for us 00:03:42.328 --> 00:03:44.169 this is the first time we're doing this, 00:03:47.028 --> 00:03:49.564 She was supposed to represent the Dharma 00:03:50.031 --> 00:03:53.031 and I was supposed to represent the humor, I guess 00:03:55.031 --> 00:03:57.734 just to let you know that that's, I guess, the intention 00:04:02.006 --> 00:04:07.535 tonight, just being together already, I think we know how powerful it is 00:04:08.069 --> 00:04:10.908 when people gather with the same intention 00:04:12.234 --> 00:04:15.494 To learn, to open up, to really touch something deeper 00:04:15.494 --> 00:04:18.638 than what we normally do outside 00:04:20.427 --> 00:04:22.996 I think that's the truth that I'm feeling 00:04:25.168 --> 00:04:29.356 This e vening, the talk we're supposed to share, 00:04:29.356 --> 00:04:39.539 the theme, “Stop waiting and start living” is quite American 00:04:44.869 --> 00:04:47.706 When I found out that's what it was, 00:04:48.059 --> 00:04:53.957 I was quite “wow, this is like a subtitle somewhere” but it is 00:04:55.458 --> 00:04:59.152 and I reflected on the theme of waiting 00:05:00.628 --> 00:05:07.466 this morning we had a walk in the park over here 00:05:08.625 --> 00:05:14.271 and we sat in front of, I think, George Washington, the statue, 00:05:17.161 --> 00:05:25.732 and there were people protesting, voicing support for the Syrian people, refugees 00:05:27.267 --> 00:05:30.829 We sat there, I don't know how long but it was very peaceful, 00:05:30.829 --> 00:05:39.102 to be sitting there and supporting that effort and acknowledging and being there 00:05:39.102 --> 00:05:43.622 and contributing our peace, and then sharing lunch 00:05:45.661 --> 00:05:48.531 I had the chance to touch deeply 00:05:48.531 --> 00:05:52.633 and be reminded that I was a refugee myself, our family, 00:05:57.827 --> 00:06:08.033 In 1979, our family escaped Vietnam on a boat with maybe 200, 300 people, 00:06:09.891 --> 00:06:12.662 and I was maybe six, seven years old 00:06:15.007 --> 00:06:18.058 I touched that, sitting there in the park, 00:06:18.745 --> 00:06:22.339 'cause we heard some of the voice and some of the speech 00:06:25.342 --> 00:06:29.342 we also know that this country is built on that, 00:06:29.661 --> 00:06:33.671 refugee, we all come from somewhere, 00:06:34.008 --> 00:06:38.963 but not from this land, this continent, most of us at least 00:06:41.184 --> 00:06:46.377 so I feel grateful to be here and 00:06:47.291 --> 00:06:52.908 reflected on our time where we were in the refugee camp, my family, 00:06:53.428 --> 00:06:58.393 and we were waiting for some country to sponsor us 00:06:59.797 --> 00:07:03.882 I find out later, as a kid I was just playing around in the refugee camp, 00:07:03.947 --> 00:07:05.920 throwing rocks and things, 00:07:07.130 --> 00:07:14.273 we were on an island off of Hong Kong, and, reflecting, 00:07:15.296 --> 00:07:21.269 there was this huge warehouse, maybe the size of this auditorium 00:07:21.692 --> 00:07:27.396 and we were all, each family had little spots, mats on the floor 00:07:27.886 --> 00:07:37.455 and that was our waiting spot until someone, some country or some place 00:07:37.848 --> 00:07:39.608 sponsor us 00:07:41.130 --> 00:07:46.853 and we were sponsored by a Christian family in Oregon 00:07:47.455 --> 00:07:49.546 for us to come over 00:07:49.561 --> 00:07:53.950 and I think this is, there was a lot of movement back then 00:07:53.950 --> 00:07:58.094 between the Buddhist community and the Christian community, to help 00:07:59.274 --> 00:08:06.625 so many churches rose to the occasion to gather and sponsor one family 00:08:07.127 --> 00:08:13.067 and I remember another family that sponsored us, the church actually, 00:08:13.334 --> 00:08:17.680 is not just one family but I remember it was many families from that church 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.759 and they each contributed something, 00:08:20.961 --> 00:08:25.903 they bought a hous e for our family, it was a two story house 00:08:26.673 --> 00:08:30.247 they bought it and they filled it up with furniture and food and everything 00:08:30.247 --> 00:08:37.800 and I remember opening the cabinet full of food and canned food and all kinds of food 00:08:37.929 --> 00:08:42.094 and I couldn't believe how much food was in that house 00:08:43.099 --> 00:08:45.966 as well as toys, there was a room full of toys 00:08:46.701 --> 00:08:50.021 I think they collected from other church members 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:53.396 and I remember opening the door and seeing toys 00:08:53.629 --> 00:08:58.492 and didn't know how to play some of them I remember, 'cause it was so new 00:08:59.831 --> 00:09:06.899 and the top floor was maybe 4 or 6 rooms, there was many rooms and they wanted, 00:09:07.190 --> 00:09:13.130 my mom and dad, there was four of us, so they gave us each a room 00:09:15.123 --> 00:09:18.484 I had a room, my sister had a room, my brother had a room 00:09:18.484 --> 00:09:20.966 even though they were little, they each had a room 00:09:21.322 --> 00:09:25.423 but we ended up staying in one room my parents' room 00:09:25.903 --> 00:09:29.027 in fact, I think my two brothers, and I think I did too 00:09:29.027 --> 00:09:31.467 we slept on this huge bed 00:09:31.849 --> 00:09:36.281 you know, that's what we were used to at the refugee camp 00:09:36.325 --> 00:09:39.233 So that's, you know, sitting there in the park today, 00:09:39.233 --> 00:09:46.683 these memories of, of you know, of having a place to come back to 00:09:48.416 --> 00:09:50.192 and feeling grateful, 00:09:50.722 --> 00:09:54.312 my mom kept in touch with our, they call them sponsors 00:09:56.137 --> 00:09:59.896 I never actually learned their names, because around the house 00:10:00.131 --> 00:10:03.702 they were just mentioned as sponsors 00:10:06.763 --> 00:10:12.453 and this is a beautiful image of people coming together 00:10:13.101 --> 00:10:15.429 to help those in need 00:10:15.897 --> 00:10:19.103 and this is what I remember around the house growing up 00:10:19.899 --> 00:10:23.138 my mom once in a while would take a trip up to Oregon 00:10:24.726 --> 00:10:29.392 and meet with our sponsor and many other families 00:10:30.462 --> 00:10:31.207 this is, 00:10:34.293 --> 00:10:38.170 so the theme of waiting came up, 00:10:38.592 --> 00:10:43.366 of waiting for a place to come, to take refuge in 00:10:44.781 --> 00:10:48.668 this is an important theme for me 00:10:50.687 --> 00:10:54.126 'cause it's been a theme for my whole family, my parents 00:10:54.830 --> 00:11:00.363 as well as my grandparents, they had to escape China after the revolution 00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:09.430 and then my parents escaping (to) America and then I guess my turn is, I kind of, 00:11:10.061 --> 00:11:13.423 my turn is to escape America I guess 00:11:14.134 --> 00:11:20.367 in terms of actually growing up in Los Angeles, in the city, 00:11:20.728 --> 00:11:25.428 confronting a lot of suffering as well as a young person 00:11:26.301 --> 00:11:29.226 in a way, becoming a monk, now I see, 00:11:29.691 --> 00:11:39.159 another way of looking at it is taking refuge or how shall I, a full-time refugee 00:11:43.162 --> 00:11:51.487 I'm a full-time refugee now and I'm always taking refuge 00:11:53.122 --> 00:11:58.429 and this is a wonderful way to remind myself, as I was sitting there in the park 00:11:58.752 --> 00:12:04.933 What am I taking refuge in? What am I waiting for? 00:12:04.933 --> 00:12:07.603 Am I waiting for another sponsor, another country? 00:12:09.731 --> 00:12:15.208 And as I follow my breath, I realize that what my teacher has taught me is 00:12:16.118 --> 00:12:19.377 I take refuge in my breath 00:12:20.187 --> 00:12:23.362 and taking refuge in the island within myself 00:12:24.656 --> 00:12:26.617 and the breath that saved me 00:12:26.617 --> 00:12:32.867 once, when I learned from my teacher what the power of the breath is 00:12:33.767 --> 00:12:36.808 when you simply take an inbreath, 00:12:37.498 --> 00:12:41.669 conscious inbreath, we become aware of the inbreath coming in 00:12:44.809 --> 00:12:48.167 when we breathe out, we let go 00:12:48.527 --> 00:12:51.757 we let that outbreath penetrate 00:12:51.947 --> 00:12:54.984 let it come from every cell of your body 00:12:55.654 --> 00:12:58.154 feel the lightness as you breathe out 00:12:58.814 --> 00:13:02.926 and I remember training like that, sitting still 00:13:04.206 --> 00:13:09.426 in the forest in France in our monastery or in the bamboo grove 00:13:10.466 --> 00:13:14.108 and I remember taking refuge in my breath 00:13:16.088 --> 00:13:19.088 as I feel the breath into my body 00:13:20.658 --> 00:13:24.880 every time we take a conscious breath and we bring our mind to the breath 00:13:26.170 --> 00:13:31.600 is a break from all of the thinking, all the worries, 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:33.905 all the anxiety that we have, 00:13:34.333 --> 00:13:40.865 that we're used to, we're so used to be thinking and using our mind 00:13:40.972 --> 00:13:43.579 and being constantly occupied 00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:51.899 is always talking, a lot of stimulation in our minds 00:13:51.899 --> 00:13:56.979 and we don't know what it feels like to actually just let it go 00:13:58.070 --> 00:13:59.329 and just come back to the breath 00:14:00.761 --> 00:14:02.367 When we come back to the breath 00:14:03.366 --> 00:14:08.659 our minds come back to our body return to our body 00:14:09.532 --> 00:14:14.725 sometimes we are present, with our body but our mind is somewhere else 00:14:14.998 --> 00:14:18.128 and you can see that phenomenon happening more and more 00:14:19.263 --> 00:14:24.454 My brother and I, we walked the street from Greenwich, 00:14:26.012 --> 00:14:31.502 and sometime we come up and I see all these shops, cafés, places 00:14:31.900 --> 00:14:36.797 and place where people come to eat or drink and I like to peek in there 00:14:38.933 --> 00:14:43.928 and I've been finding that there is a couple sitting there at the table 00:14:44.762 --> 00:14:47.197 and it looks nice but they're both you know, not present 00:14:48.835 --> 00:14:51.025 I mean, they're present to their gadget 00:14:51.455 --> 00:14:55.361 I think you're starting to see that phenomenon 00:14:56.532 --> 00:15:00.860 and so, this is our situation 00:15:03.705 --> 00:15:10.401 This is the state that the coach of our society is moving towards 00:15:10.982 --> 00:15:14.147 This is something we need to look at, 00:15:15.398 --> 00:15:21.958 there are wars and conflicts between groups and nations 00:15:23.464 --> 00:15:29.507 But we also need to look at where we're at in the place we live, in our family 00:15:30.395 --> 00:15:36.204 we have to look deeply and see: Are we present? Are we present to ourselves? 00:15:36.379 --> 00:15:39.493 Are we present to our loved ones?” 00:15:40.397 --> 00:15:44.570 This is something I'm realizing more and more 00:15:45.771 --> 00:15:53.597 so when we come back to the breath, it's a wonderful place for refuge 00:15:54.761 --> 00:15:57.752 when we have a strong emotion 00:15:57.752 --> 00:16:02.992 when we have something that's coming up for us, difficult 00:16:03.555 --> 00:16:06.835 we always have the breath to return to 00:16:07.404 --> 00:16:09.424 take an inbreath 00:16:11.344 --> 00:16:12.784 take an outbreath 00:16:12.844 --> 00:16:16.394 take a break from that emotion, take a break from that thought 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:19.360 (sound of the gong) 00:16:19.363 --> 00:16:20.733 in 00:16:23.595 --> 00:16:24.799 out 00:16:25.266 --> 00:16:27.572 (sound of the gong) 00:16:51.433 --> 00:16:55.539 In the monastery, when we hear the sound of the bell, 00:16:56.958 --> 00:17:00.566 we train to come back to our breath 00:17:01.602 --> 00:17:04.540 I tell you now, and it sounds easy, 00:17:06.006 --> 00:17:09.997 maybe you do it for a few minutes here 00:17:10.819 --> 00:17:14.035 but I'm pretty sure, after this event, you go outside, 00:17:14.663 --> 00:17:22.464 and you go back to your habits and tendencies to start thinking again 00:17:23.797 --> 00:17:27.887 so the stopping, to come back to the present moment 00:17:28.291 --> 00:17:32.297 to be in touch with our body as it moves, as it sits, requires training 00:17:33.431 --> 00:17:39.938 So in the monastery, I remember in our dining hall, we have a clock that chimes 00:17:40.969 --> 00:17:45.943 I remember first being in Plum Village, our monastery in France, 00:17:46.893 --> 00:17:50.719 that it was difficult every time that the clock chimed, 00:17:51.103 --> 00:17:54.626 and I'm in the middle of a conversation, like after lunch or something, 00:17:55.031 --> 00:18:00.228 it was really annoying and I always wonder, I always question 00:18:00.565 --> 00:18:04.829 how did our teacher come up with this? 00:18:05.199 --> 00:18:10.496 It's really a good hoop but it was pretty radical 00:18:11.426 --> 00:18:13.802 because, you know, the chime is right there in the dining hall 00:18:14.968 --> 00:18:17.332 and it was every fifteen minutes 00:18:17.774 --> 00:18:21.762 And I remember trying to figure out how to make it so it's a little longer 00:18:22.832 --> 00:18:27.490 but I think, the brothers, I asked permission and they didn't allow that 00:18:28.263 --> 00:18:33.621 It was like an old one, it didn't have options back then 00:18:33.932 --> 00:18:36.366 but it was all fifteen minutes 00:18:37.129 --> 00:18:41.741 but I remember, you're in the middle of a conversation and it chimes, 00:18:42.696 --> 00:18:46.735 and at first you're like “OK, you have to do it” you know, 00:18:47.702 --> 00:18:50.402 so you don't really enjoy it 00:18:51.264 --> 00:19:01.032 and this is just from habit of not yet used to a kind of clear thoughtless mind 00:19:02.197 --> 00:19:07.270 you're used to always engage and be in conversation 00:19:07.601 --> 00:19:10.131 or always thinking of something, you know, it's.. 00:19:10.932 --> 00:19:15.693 it requires training and I remember I struggled with that in the beginning 00:19:16.696 --> 00:19:21.043 so it's pretty typical for us to have difficulty 00:19:21.758 --> 00:19:26.329 but throughout the training, as the years pass, 00:19:27.063 --> 00:19:32.405 I begin to see more the value of coming back to the breath 00:19:33.427 --> 00:19:36.099 especially in meetings or, we have gatherings 00:19:36.495 --> 00:19:39.297 and a strong emotion will come up 00:19:40.130 --> 00:19:43.902 and slowly I began to see the benefits of taking a break 00:19:44.671 --> 00:19:49.466 the delaying of continual thought, having a pause 00:19:51.133 --> 00:19:58.732 I began to see the benefit of that so this is one of the refuges that I found 00:19:59.502 --> 00:20:04.754 that slowly become more and more deeper for me, 00:20:05.524 --> 00:20:08.066 finding different ways that it helps me 00:20:08.865 --> 00:20:11.975 So just take a break, train yourself 00:20:13.094 --> 00:20:17.100 I sometimes share with the young adults during Wake Up school 00:20:18.825 --> 00:20:27.027 that a restful mind, a clear mind, a thoughtless mind, 00:20:27.824 --> 00:20:30.896 it sounds weird, thoughtless, you don't want to be thoughtless 00:20:31.929 --> 00:20:35.367 but more and more I think we will gonna want to, 00:20:37.742 --> 00:20:40.993 to use terms like that, because we're so always thinking 00:20:41.465 --> 00:20:45.319 that we don't know what it feels like and I tell the young people, 00:20:46.851 --> 00:20:50.641 “do you know what it feels like when you have a bad breath?” 00:20:50.641 --> 00:20:58.051 You know? After a six hour, ten hours plane ride you get off and you're like oh, 00:20:59.538 --> 00:21:02.331 You know? You don't want to talk to anybody, right? 00:21:02.998 --> 00:21:07.808 And we were not born to brush our teeth, you learn that, 00:21:08.572 --> 00:21:10.998 and you learn what it feels like, to kind of ... 00:21:14.270 --> 00:21:18.288 it's something you learn, you don't want to be near or talk to someone like that 00:21:18.766 --> 00:21:24.938 so our mind is like that, our mind is restless, is angry, it is full of tension 00:21:26.004 --> 00:21:28.631 and we think that's the norm 00:21:29.263 --> 00:21:32.433 So, I say this, because it's a little graphic and visual 00:21:34.614 --> 00:21:39.955 'cause it tells you, we're so used to this being full of, you know, stuff 00:21:41.563 --> 00:21:47.101 but the equivalent is restless, angry, full of emotion 00:21:47.660 --> 00:21:50.563 you don't want to be, what happens 00:21:51.765 --> 00:21:56.226 I use it as an example, because young people find it very easy to understand 00:21:57.026 --> 00:22:01.433 so, training our mind to feel when it's fresh, like a fresh breath 00:22:03.533 --> 00:22:07.095 it requires some training, it needs some effort 00:22:07.964 --> 00:22:11.902 so sitting down, finding time, once a day and so on, 00:22:12.259 --> 00:22:16.693 to really find that refuge of a fresh mind 00:22:17.164 --> 00:22:19.101 you know the word 'brainwash'? 00:22:20.690 --> 00:22:22.638 I like to reuse that word, you know 00:22:23.036 --> 00:22:26.229 people hate to be brainwashed, it's like kind of like cultish and all that, 00:22:26.724 --> 00:22:29.359 but actually, it's a nice term 00:22:31.624 --> 00:22:33.557 think about it, brainwash 00:22:33.803 --> 00:22:38.936 it means like your brain is full of stuff, it needs a washing 00:22:43.861 --> 00:22:48.002 You grew up in your family, I think you know what I mean 00:22:50.397 --> 00:22:53.900 (laughter) - sorry 00:22:55.802 --> 00:22:58.639 she's going to save me after 00:23:00.725 --> 00:23:03.367 (whispering) sister, can I use your clock? 00:23:04.235 --> 00:23:06.071 Sure, but it's a little bit fast 00:23:08.361 --> 00:23:10.733 (normal voice) This is a training, to be up here, 00:23:11.159 --> 00:23:15.238 for us to share with you, and it's also a training for us 00:23:19.364 --> 00:23:22.459 so, the topic of waiting, 00:23:22.825 --> 00:23:32.372 I grew up in, educated in California as an architect 00:23:32.528 --> 00:23:38.704 and studied, and wanted to be good and, you know, make a name for myself and so on 00:23:42.124 --> 00:23:47.706 to have a house and two garages, you know, the American dream 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:55.574 my mother and my father sacrificed a lot 00:23:56.671 --> 00:24:00.396 for the children, my two brothers and my sister, 00:24:01.544 --> 00:24:06.672 they escaped with nothing they had to leave everything 00:24:07.367 --> 00:24:12.296 I remember giving away my toys and I said why am I giving away my toys? 00:24:13.529 --> 00:24:17.302 And I remember my dad giving away his Honda 00:24:19.662 --> 00:24:22.966 and slowly, our furniture, we had to 00:24:23.333 --> 00:24:26.260 but we had to do it secretively so the neighborhoods don't know 00:24:26.590 --> 00:24:30.262 we're going to escape one night on a boat 00:24:30.698 --> 00:24:33.853 and we left everything to come here 00:24:35.193 --> 00:24:40.166 I remember there was a lot of push from my mom especially, 00:24:40.463 --> 00:24:45.594 to be successful and to make, you know, 00:24:47.390 --> 00:24:50.869 and that's a dream for all mothers and fathers 00:24:52.058 --> 00:25:00.186 and I see as I grew up I saw there was a lot of promotion and a lot of effort 00:25:00.456 --> 00:25:06.626 to reach the diploma to become this and that, 00:25:07.423 --> 00:25:10.973 you know, all the awards and so on, 00:25:10.973 --> 00:25:14.713 these stickers you get, I forget what they're called, certificates 00:25:16.896 --> 00:25:21.537 you get trained to be like always be somebody 00:25:22.787 --> 00:25:26.030 and then you become an architect, you work in, and you look 00:25:27.197 --> 00:25:31.627 you see whose office is closer to whose and who's got the better project 00:25:35.007 --> 00:25:41.002 that's the system I grew up in and I was stuck in that 00:25:42.421 --> 00:25:47.560 and also, growing up, I had difficulties with my father 00:25:49.601 --> 00:25:52.892 he struggled a lot coming over here, losing everything 00:25:54.352 --> 00:25:58.754 so for me, I had a lot of anger issues with my father 00:26:00.826 --> 00:26:06.034 I think this is something that the practise helped me with 00:26:07.469 --> 00:26:11.329 to learn to come back and look at ourselves 00:26:12.230 --> 00:26:16.101 and to really confront the suffering that I was having as a young man 00:26:17.172 --> 00:26:20.797 and it helped me become a little happier, 00:26:21.198 --> 00:26:24.457 once the practise helped me look at my father 00:26:25.100 --> 00:26:29.464 and look at my relationship with him to begin to understand him more 00:26:30.398 --> 00:26:32.554 and to begin to understand my own suffering 00:26:34.437 --> 00:26:39.581 and this is what was the benefit of sitting, 00:26:41.937 --> 00:26:44.764 of silencing the mind a little 00:26:45.598 --> 00:26:49.660 calming and having time to look deeply at my emotions, 00:26:50.439 --> 00:26:54.398 where I'm at, and the goals I'm setting for myself 00:26:55.600 --> 00:27:00.596 this helped me to understand more of what true happiness was 00:27:01.996 --> 00:27:06.426 once I was able to touch a little bit of the root of my suffering 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:13.000 I was also able to touch, so the things that I'm passing by 00:27:13.935 --> 00:27:17.176 because of some future promise, 00:27:17.736 --> 00:27:21.630 to become this, to become that, always wanting more 00:27:22.162 --> 00:27:28.093 and I think it's a kind of suffering always thinking that you're lacking 00:27:29.366 --> 00:27:34.072 and this is something that's kind of underneath our culture a little bit 00:27:35.103 --> 00:27:38.967 and with the practise, I think it can help all of us to really, 00:27:40.368 --> 00:27:43.673 to recognize, “wow, I'm still alive” 00:27:46.369 --> 00:27:48.392 there's my eyes, 00:27:49.176 --> 00:27:53.176 my body is in good condition, I'm healthy enough 00:27:56.068 --> 00:27:57.792 my tooth-ache 00:27:58.920 --> 00:28:03.838 my teacher shared with us about the tooth-ache, it's very.. 00:28:04.965 --> 00:28:08.658 sorry, back to hygiene, but you know, 00:28:09.973 --> 00:28:13.394 this moment is a Non-Toothache moment 00:28:15.726 --> 00:28:21.366 it's kind of silly, 'what does that mean?' but all you need to do is just reflect and 00:28:22.700 --> 00:28:28.565 remember that tooth in the back, 00:28:30.361 --> 00:28:35.024 remember when it was aching and the gum was inflamed? 00:28:36.741 --> 00:28:38.864 Just touching that, 00:28:39.332 --> 00:28:42.333 even though it's not a great suffering, it was suffering 00:28:43.292 --> 00:28:46.153 and it reminds us like, oh, how wonderful! 00:28:47.871 --> 00:28:50.231 I don't have a tooth-ache now 00:28:52.695 --> 00:28:57.493 And this is a practise, just like stopping, to recognize the breath, 00:28:59.191 --> 00:29:04.062 recognizing a thoughtless, a mind that's clear 00:29:05.566 --> 00:29:09.871 it's a training to actually be present to this moment 00:29:09.871 --> 00:29:11.401 to this present moment 00:29:11.401 --> 00:29:14.971 and to recognize that wow, the conditions are so many 00:29:15.951 --> 00:29:20.451 I remember our teacher gave us homework, to write down all the wonderful conditions 00:29:22.228 --> 00:29:27.137 the happy moments in your life now, and it's a wonderful exercise 00:29:29.364 --> 00:29:32.702 and your loved one, your brothers, your sisters 00:29:33.772 --> 00:29:39.203 this is also something, we're there with our loved ones, but we're not present 00:29:42.783 --> 00:29:46.553 my brother made us some tea before coming here 00:29:46.553 --> 00:29:50.073 we were hanging out at somebody's place 00:29:50.791 --> 00:29:57.567 and he brought his tea-set and he made one of my brothers, three of us, tea 00:29:58.901 --> 00:30:03.994 and I recognized like 'wow'! we haven't had tea for a while 00:30:05.700 --> 00:30:08.973 and we sat there and drank tea together 00:30:09.872 --> 00:30:15.002 so, to recognize that, my younger brother is so sweet 00:30:15.703 --> 00:30:19.596 he brought his tea material and we'd just woken up from a nap 00:30:20.634 --> 00:30:23.536 and the first thing he does is make us tea 00:30:25.188 --> 00:30:30.263 I was reading a book or something and I closed it and we looked at each other 00:30:30.263 --> 00:30:34.263 and we're drinking tea, I mean, that sounds like really, 00:30:34.730 --> 00:30:38.374 what does that have to do with my happiness, my career? 00:30:39.796 --> 00:30:46.266 but that moment actually is the building block for the rest of ... 00:30:47.811 --> 00:30:50.051 that's your living 00:30:50.725 --> 00:30:55.093 so sometimes we put a lot of goals and a lot of things that we want 00:30:55.375 --> 00:30:57.290 but actually when we get there, we want more 00:30:59.054 --> 00:31:02.932 I give you an example, you have a tea cup, you drink your tea 00:31:03.261 --> 00:31:05.302 and you want to do the next thing, and when you get to the next thing 00:31:05.732 --> 00:31:09.236 you want to do, and so on, and this is the way we've been trained 00:31:10.096 --> 00:31:13.670 and this is where we're at as a coach and we need to look 00:31:15.434 --> 00:31:20.200 so when I say, I will become refugee 00:31:21.181 --> 00:31:27.051 I mean, in my lifetime we'll see that we will need, we will all become refugees 00:31:27.441 --> 00:31:31.422 and it's a kind of different thing, it's not about one nation and another 00:31:32.028 --> 00:31:36.832 but we will all need a place where we can escape a little bit of all that 00:31:37.534 --> 00:31:44.166 online, and wifi, and you know, all this stuff, it's everywhere now 00:31:45.803 --> 00:31:52.933 and we have no time to be with ourselves and to be present for our body 00:31:53.537 --> 00:31:59.496 be present with the moment to enjoy life as it is in the now 00:32:00.167 --> 00:32:05.273 to be present with our loved one and to be present with nature 00:32:06.362 --> 00:32:10.504 this is where we're heading at 00:32:10.599 --> 00:32:12.802 besides the climate change and all this 00:32:13.937 --> 00:32:16.296 there's something happening to our culture 00:32:17.633 --> 00:32:22.193 we're traveling around the world, we see escalating faster and faster 00:32:24.403 --> 00:32:29.308 and so, I hope you continue to train, 00:32:29.308 --> 00:32:32.888 to find a refuge within 00:32:33.871 --> 00:32:39.599 a refugee-camp within we all will need that 00:32:40.370 --> 00:32:43.540 and when you have a strong emotion or when you need a break 00:32:44.194 --> 00:32:47.732 you feel out of touch with what you need to do 00:32:48.401 --> 00:32:53.228 come back, everything you need, everything you have is there 00:32:54.199 --> 00:32:58.302 it's only from that place that we can help change 00:32:58.305 --> 00:33:03.976 where we're at as a society as a human on this planet 00:33:05.991 --> 00:33:10.296 we keep struggling, fighting that, but we don't have this refuge, 00:33:10.561 --> 00:33:13.237 then it will be difficult 00:33:13.933 --> 00:33:19.264 my sister, Dieu Nghiem will continue on this theme for us 00:33:20.298 --> 00:33:23.236 please take a breath, 00:33:23.891 --> 00:33:27.731 come back to that refugee-camp inside 00:33:28.454 --> 00:33:32.014 we all need a refugee-camp once in a while 00:33:36.995 --> 00:33:40.735 (sounds of the gong) 00:34:29.896 --> 00:34:32.916 There are times where I wonder 00:34:34.976 --> 00:34:39.861 why can I not go back to my refugee-camp 00:34:40.130 --> 00:34:44.738 or this place me that I like to call home 00:34:45.507 --> 00:34:47.830 why can I not go back home? 00:34:48.531 --> 00:34:52.358 What is preventing me from going back home to myself 00:34:57.199 --> 00:35:02.506 when my mind and body are in the same place, I feel at home 00:35:04.130 --> 00:35:08.495 I've been fortunate enough to always have had a roof over my head 00:35:08.763 --> 00:35:12.769 to have a home, but I've not always been home 00:35:13.104 --> 00:35:14.772 I'm not always home 00:35:15.401 --> 00:35:18.263 I was reminded of this as I walked to come here 00:35:19.199 --> 00:35:23.308 and I see so many posters saying “bring him home” the Martian 00:35:23.928 --> 00:35:30.604 and I thought, when they bring him home, will he be really and truly home? 00:35:30.871 --> 00:35:33.608 Will he find his true home? 00:35:35.398 --> 00:35:37.042 So I've reflected on that 00:35:38.668 --> 00:35:42.395 my true home as my brother said, brother Phap Dung, brother Embrace, 00:35:46.265 --> 00:35:48.736 really truly home with ourselves 00:35:51.072 --> 00:35:55.635 many years ago, there was a lady from Austria that came to Plum Village 00:35:57.736 --> 00:36:01.596 and at the end of her stay, at the end of the retreat 00:36:02.330 --> 00:36:07.196 we asked some friends to give some input, how it had been for them 00:36:08.536 --> 00:36:12.399 and this lady said she came to Plum Village because 00:36:12.933 --> 00:36:18.396 she had read somewhere Thomas Morton's words that said 00:36:20.467 --> 00:36:25.406 you can see Thich Nhat Hanh is a monk by the way he closes a door 00:36:26.297 --> 00:36:29.836 so she had come to watch us closing doors 00:36:33.006 --> 00:36:36.333 we didn't know maybe just as well 00:36:38.737 --> 00:36:42.695 however, she must have been impressed, because 00:36:43.085 --> 00:36:46.233 she was scheduled to stay one week and she stayed two 00:36:48.840 --> 00:36:55.236 so, closing a door, for me that became like a practise 00:36:55.590 --> 00:36:58.360 how do I close doors? 00:36:58.760 --> 00:37:02.366 I think we all have doors somewhere that we can close 00:37:02.733 --> 00:37:06.774 either where this is a swing door so, open if you act 00:37:06.774 --> 00:37:10.864 but closing a door or opening a door by taking the knob, 00:37:11.784 --> 00:37:13.474 turning it, or the handle, 00:37:13.698 --> 00:37:16.704 and pushing it down and pushing open the door 00:37:18.207 --> 00:37:22.267 so it's very interesting to observe how do we open a door? 00:37:22.737 --> 00:37:26.639 And how do we close a door? It's just a door 00:37:28.164 --> 00:37:32.392 but it is a wonderful way to bring us back to our home 00:37:34.127 --> 00:37:36.196 to put our hand on the knob 00:37:36.698 --> 00:37:40.903 to feel the knob in our hand, already brings our mind back to our body 00:37:41.605 --> 00:37:45.865 so I turn the knob or I push the handle down 00:37:46.733 --> 00:37:50.638 and I'm aware of how much force I use to open the door 00:37:51.594 --> 00:37:53.463 and to close the door 00:37:54.399 --> 00:37:58.227 so if you don't have time to sit, and breathe 00:37:59.239 --> 00:38:02.133 maybe, since you're going through the door anyway, 00:38:03.498 --> 00:38:06.904 you can make that your practise of going home 00:38:08.729 --> 00:38:11.032 but coming home also is something else, 00:38:11.866 --> 00:38:17.531 like coming home to that place where it's quiet 00:38:18.896 --> 00:38:22.857 I've noticed, here in New York it's quite noisy, outside 00:38:24.727 --> 00:38:27.932 and as I was walking, I came here on foot 00:38:29.967 --> 00:38:33.893 I thought, yes, it's very noisy, but let me see 00:38:37.229 --> 00:38:41.492 if I just let the noise be, then, is it then quiet? 00:38:46.731 --> 00:38:49.200 And I realized, I'm thinking 00:38:51.327 --> 00:38:54.997 and sometimes I find, even if there's no noise around me, 00:38:55.463 --> 00:38:58.225 it's quite noisy inside 00:38:58.822 --> 00:39:02.563 maybe the most noise is inside, the outer noise not so much 00:39:04.599 --> 00:39:10.596 and when I listen to this noise, I see most is just unuseful thinking 00:39:11.099 --> 00:39:12.965 not helpful at all 00:39:15.963 --> 00:39:18.895 and then I think, ok, can I close a door? 00:39:19.664 --> 00:39:22.001 Why am I thinking so much? 00:39:22.360 --> 00:39:27.762 I've just come out of a meeting and I carry things out of the meeting with me 00:39:28.061 --> 00:39:32.932 I've already closed the door, right? Physically, but in my head, no 00:39:34.085 --> 00:39:36.728 why did she say this in that way? 00:39:36.909 --> 00:39:38.832 Why didn't she flow along, etcetera 00:39:41.068 --> 00:39:44.440 the meeting was closed, but not everywhere 00:39:47.165 --> 00:39:49.535 I continued the meeting in my head 00:39:50.727 --> 00:39:54.767 so, close the door, the meeting is over close the door 00:39:57.102 --> 00:40:02.131 and then, as I closed the door, it's the same as opening a door 00:40:02.965 --> 00:40:08.073 it means: new possibilities, new challenges 00:40:08.436 --> 00:40:12.332 and can I be there for the possibilities or for the challenges 00:40:18.926 --> 00:40:22.991 maybe we can close the door for a moment with the sound of a bell? 00:40:23.534 --> 00:40:25.459 Just close the door 00:40:26.340 --> 00:40:28.631 and enjoy an in- and an outbreath 00:40:29.095 --> 00:40:31.734 and just let the world be for one moment 00:40:36.763 --> 00:40:42.192 (sound of the gong) 00:41:05.690 --> 00:41:08.935 closing the door as we hear a sound of the bell 00:41:09.122 --> 00:41:11.495 or as we stop for a traffic light 00:41:11.495 --> 00:41:14.088 closing the door when we leave the office 00:41:18.060 --> 00:41:21.499 one retreatant came, she would like to have a consultation 00:41:22.365 --> 00:41:25.373 and she said, my problem is, 00:41:26.647 --> 00:41:33.483 I feel I'm married to my husband's business 00:41:35.617 --> 00:41:38.760 she said, when he comes home, he brings the whole business with him 00:41:41.035 --> 00:41:42.850 and of course, when we come home, 00:41:42.872 --> 00:41:45.498 there may be something that happened in the office, we want to share, 00:41:45.798 --> 00:41:50.560 but it was not just that, like something shared, and 'this is how I feel about it', 00:41:50.855 --> 00:41:55.233 it was all about the problems and about the things, business, business, business 00:41:55.599 --> 00:41:58.192 she said, I think I'm married to a business 00:42:00.039 --> 00:42:04.698 so when we closed the door of the office and we go home 00:42:04.932 --> 00:42:11.865 and then we open the door of our apartment or house, 00:42:16.103 --> 00:42:19.329 and we close the door behind us and truly close the door, 00:42:19.831 --> 00:42:22.469 then we can be truly present for our loved ones 00:42:23.438 --> 00:42:26.161 for our children, our partner we can be there 00:42:28.061 --> 00:42:31.802 we can share with them from our heart and we can listen with our heart 00:42:32.797 --> 00:42:35.240 and we can enrich each other's lives 00:42:39.334 --> 00:42:47.433 I am of Irish and Dutch decent, of an Irish mother and ad Dutch father 00:42:51.294 --> 00:42:53.732 and it took me a while when I started to 00:42:54.901 --> 00:42:56.769 we lived in Ireland and then in the Netherlands 00:42:57.392 --> 00:42:59.997 it took me a while to find out where I belonged 00:43:01.596 --> 00:43:04.633 I was kind of a little bit up-rooted am I Dutch? Am I Irish? 00:43:05.466 --> 00:43:08.538 Inside the house, it's Irish, outside the house it's Dutch 00:43:09.962 --> 00:43:12.199 where are my roots? 00:43:13.973 --> 00:43:17.433 And, if we want to live, we need to have roots 00:43:17.860 --> 00:43:19.563 trees have roots 00:43:21.066 --> 00:43:25.297 if you cut the tree from its root, it won't continue to live 00:43:25.763 --> 00:43:29.668 rivers have a source if we cut the river from the source, 00:43:30.539 --> 00:43:32.597 the river will stop living 00:43:33.997 --> 00:43:36.303 so if we want to start living 00:43:36.836 --> 00:43:40.963 we also need to nourish our roots, our ancestors 00:43:43.467 --> 00:43:47.340 so I would say, stop waiting and start living 00:43:47.906 --> 00:43:54.124 also in a way of, start celebrating life celebrating our ancestors 00:43:55.026 --> 00:44:00.232 our blood ancestors our adopted ancestors 00:44:01.130 --> 00:44:04.740 our spiritual ancestors our land ancestors 00:44:07.528 --> 00:44:12.306 to bring them, to reconnect with them to be nourished by them 00:44:12.604 --> 00:44:15.664 we cannot take our ancestors out of us 00:44:16.565 --> 00:44:21.737 our youngest ancestors, our parents they are our ancestors 00:44:22.039 --> 00:44:24.464 we cannot say, I have nothing to do with you 00:44:24.897 --> 00:44:27.666 no, we have all and everything to do with them 00:44:28.163 --> 00:44:34.836 we are their continuation all our ancestors are within us 00:44:37.799 --> 00:44:43.671 connecting with them inside of ourselves 00:44:44.562 --> 00:44:48.034 to recognize all their strength they have transmitted to us 00:44:48.432 --> 00:44:50.460 and also all the weaknesses 00:44:50.737 --> 00:44:55.566 and to nourish their strength and to take care of their pain and suffering 00:44:55.720 --> 00:44:58.793 of the wounded child that was in them as well 00:44:59.057 --> 00:45:01.229 and that is now also in us 00:45:01.493 --> 00:45:04.001 it's not just our child, our wounded child 00:45:04.334 --> 00:45:08.091 when we say 'our', we mean all our ancestors 00:45:11.532 --> 00:45:14.868 so, to connect with our ancestors 00:45:15.867 --> 00:45:18.940 in Plum Village we have Ancestors Festival 00:45:21.399 --> 00:45:23.398 where we honor our ancestors 00:45:24.235 --> 00:45:27.606 and where we express gratitude to our ancestors 00:45:30.335 --> 00:45:34.858 recognizing that we are their continuation they are our roots 00:45:41.904 --> 00:45:49.367 we all may like to look into our ancestors and find ways to celebrate our ancestors 00:45:49.517 --> 00:45:51.326 to celebrate our roots 00:45:51.538 --> 00:45:55.932 in order to find stability in order to find freedom 00:45:57.168 --> 00:46:00.004 in order to be able to be truly there and truly alive 00:46:00.973 --> 00:46:02.997 for ourselves and for our loved ones 00:46:06.232 --> 00:46:11.764 I know that in New York, you celebrate St Patrick's Day much much bigger 00:46:12.031 --> 00:46:15.089 than in Ireland I've ever seen 00:46:16.567 --> 00:46:19.723 I think there are many Irish people, here also 00:46:20.300 --> 00:46:22.262 maybe also refugees 00:46:23.164 --> 00:46:29.873 but staying connected to their roots in this way, our roots are tradition 00:46:33.098 --> 00:46:35.569 a tradition can be renewed, refreshed 00:46:36.125 --> 00:46:39.698 but a tradition is also our refuge and our root 00:46:45.491 --> 00:46:46.707 so, celebrate 00:46:46.967 --> 00:46:49.464 in Plum Village, we celebrate also the Earth 00:46:50.533 --> 00:46:54.024 we celebrate Spring, the Daffodil Festival 00:46:54.760 --> 00:46:58.765 we celebrate Plum Blossom Festival 00:46:59.165 --> 00:47:02.757 we have Full Moon Festival the Solstice 00:47:04.995 --> 00:47:09.678 they're roots we share all of us, and we can celebrate together NOTE Paragraph 00:47:23.367 --> 00:47:26.562 let's celebrate a moment together 00:47:29.065 --> 00:47:32.037 by just getting in touch with our roots 00:47:32.467 --> 00:47:40.502 you can just close your eyes and see our roots as the Earth, 00:47:40.937 --> 00:47:44.930 we're part of the Earth and everything that's in and on it 00:47:45.204 --> 00:47:50.057 although we don't have roots like a tree, we are rooted in the Earth 00:47:50.923 --> 00:47:53.607 we have come from the Earth 00:47:53.926 --> 00:47:58.235 the Earth is also our roots with all and everything that's on the Earth 00:48:01.163 --> 00:48:03.130 so, just for a moment, 00:48:03.931 --> 00:48:07.569 connect with our roots of the Earth with our land ancestors 00:48:08.535 --> 00:48:12.443 our spiritual ancestors our adopted ancestors 00:48:13.166 --> 00:48:15.323 and our blood ancestors 00:48:21.828 --> 00:48:27.242 (sound of the bell) 00:49:08.765 --> 00:49:12.557 we, the monastics, we're rooted in the Plum Village tradition 00:49:17.698 --> 00:49:22.303 we celebrate every breath we celebrate every step 00:49:23.673 --> 00:49:25.998 whenever we walk, where we walk 00:49:26.698 --> 00:49:30.257 we walk on the Earth with love and with compassion 00:49:30.991 --> 00:49:36.033 we walk as if we're kissing the Earth with our feet, even here in New York 00:49:37.456 --> 00:49:40.469 as I was walking, I was kissing the Earth with my feet, 00:49:41.662 --> 00:49:43.699 saying “dear Earth, we love you 00:49:43.940 --> 00:49:48.125 I know we have covered you with stone, with asphalt, with tarmac 00:49:48.305 --> 00:49:49.739 with a lot of things 00:49:50.296 --> 00:49:53.366 we love you we're here for you 00:49:53.934 --> 00:49:55.256 we want to be here for you 00:49:55.601 --> 00:49:57.805 because you're here for us always 00:50:00.374 --> 00:50:04.933 and this walking gave me stability and gave me freedom 00:50:05.768 --> 00:50:08.238 as I was aware of my steps I felt the contact 00:50:08.426 --> 00:50:12.399 between my feet and the Earth I created some space 00:50:13.133 --> 00:50:14.935 some space inside 00:50:15.203 --> 00:50:17.673 I created some silence inside 00:50:20.332 --> 00:50:24.705 space to be there when our heart is small, 00:50:25.203 --> 00:50:27.365 Thay says, sometimes it's like a peanut 00:50:27.793 --> 00:50:29.767 I think, sometimes my heart is like a mung bean 00:50:30.568 --> 00:50:34.194 there's no space, neither for myself nor for anybody else 00:50:35.028 --> 00:50:38.370 but walking like this, my heart opened and there's space 00:50:38.659 --> 00:50:42.196 there's space for everything I meet, for everybody I meet in the street 00:50:42.590 --> 00:50:45.136 and I can smile 00:50:45.987 --> 00:50:48.840 so you walk like this, it's our root 00:50:50.428 --> 00:50:54.037 in the early years, in the early 1990s 00:50:56.104 --> 00:50:59.767 friends of Plum Village, practitioners, they went to Vietnam 00:51:00.098 --> 00:51:03.326 and they visited Thay's root temple 00:51:04.426 --> 00:51:07.732 and as they were walking there, they practised walking meditation 00:51:09.601 --> 00:51:12.339 and a young monastic, a young novice came up to them and said 00:51:12.667 --> 00:51:14.876 “you must be from Plum Village” 00:51:15.232 --> 00:51:17.201 and they said “yes, how do you know?” 00:51:17.503 --> 00:51:19.803 and he said, I can see it by your walking 00:51:20.638 --> 00:51:22.939 it's our roots, our spiritual roots 00:51:23.231 --> 00:51:28.236 it's our walking, our breathing our listening and our speaking 00:51:29.231 --> 00:51:33.166 we listen to ourselves with compassion to others 00:51:34.668 --> 00:51:42.004 we speak lovingly we learn how to truly love 00:51:43.839 --> 00:51:49.168 how to truly love, how to offer compassion how to be loving and kind 00:51:49.902 --> 00:51:51.904 how to share our joy 00:51:52.239 --> 00:51:54.902 and how to embrace each other with equanimity 00:51:55.496 --> 00:52:00.202 that is true love and we learn how to be truly happy 00:52:00.558 --> 00:52:03.364 as my brother already said, not running after things 00:52:03.929 --> 00:52:08.638 but to see that we have more than enough conditions to be happy already 00:52:11.195 --> 00:52:16.790 we do not need that other ice-cream not the coffee, 00:52:17.131 --> 00:52:19.630 although we had coffee before we came here NOTE Paragraph 00:52:24.722 --> 00:52:25.771 we can have coffee, 00:52:26.026 --> 00:52:29.132 but it's not because we don't have enough conditions to be happy 00:52:29.331 --> 00:52:32.502 it's to enjoy the conditions for happiness we have 00:52:41.773 --> 00:52:46.926 so, celebrate our spiritual roots, whatever our spiritual roots may be 00:52:47.463 --> 00:52:49.303 discover the beauties 00:52:50.234 --> 00:52:54.107 everything that contributes to our own well-being, 00:52:54.764 --> 00:52:58.098 to the well-being of the others and the well-being of the world 00:52:58.395 --> 00:53:00.136 and the Earth 00:53:00.902 --> 00:53:03.039 celebrate, connect 00:53:03.872 --> 00:53:06.265 and we can do this altogether 00:53:08.200 --> 00:53:10.961 I think my brother wanted to add something to this 00:53:16.033 --> 00:53:19.259 I'm his souffleur 00:53:21.963 --> 00:53:24.686 she's giving another chance to share something 00:53:24.748 --> 00:53:25.744 yes, please 00:53:26.419 --> 00:53:30.419 so I'll take this opportunity I'll stop being nice 00:53:37.998 --> 00:53:42.206 our teacher, you know, he was a radical monk 00:53:42.418 --> 00:53:44.978 he grew up in a time of war 00:53:44.978 --> 00:53:49.791 he saw the French come and the Americans come 00:53:50.666 --> 00:53:56.697 this is what produced this practise, this tradition 00:53:58.268 --> 00:54:00.805 you know, the classic images of a monk 00:54:01.190 --> 00:54:05.032 is not sitting in there, praying and doing the gong 00:54:05.736 --> 00:54:10.596 hoping that there will be a better world that we can be reborn into 00:54:11.632 --> 00:54:15.338 but he stood up and he gathered the monastics 00:54:15.862 --> 00:54:19.498 as well as his elder monks and venerables 00:54:20.431 --> 00:54:25.171 and they went into the villages to help, they actively 00:54:26.202 --> 00:54:30.302 so this is what has moved our teacher 00:54:30.566 --> 00:54:32.540 and now he's come to the West 00:54:32.990 --> 00:54:37.203 and he's seeing that some of the roots of why those wars happen, 00:54:39.392 --> 00:54:43.296 and I just want to throw that out there, just so 00:54:43.863 --> 00:54:46.868 as we been around our teacher he sees like, you know, what people ask 00:54:47.265 --> 00:54:51.429 why are you guys speaking against war and going out there? 00:54:51.864 --> 00:54:56.738 like going to the warring countries and doing what your teacher did 00:54:57.492 --> 00:55:03.600 and there is a real teaching to it, to ask and to keep that awareness 00:55:04.069 --> 00:55:08.208 like, why is Thay teaching us to breathe and smile, what is that? 00:55:09.763 --> 00:55:12.265 Some people say that's like Buddhism, right? 00:55:13.703 --> 00:55:15.559 Like, what is that, you know? 00:55:16.536 --> 00:55:19.731 There is a real challenge for our community 00:55:20.332 --> 00:55:22.936 as we struggle between engagement 00:55:23.205 --> 00:55:25.938 and also taking, not losing ourselves 00:55:26.863 --> 00:55:31.861 'cause the war starts when we're actually we've lost our roots, lost our refuge 00:55:32.076 --> 00:55:36.698 we are not happy with just being alive on this planet 00:55:37.332 --> 00:55:38.767 you're going to die, 00:55:40.290 --> 00:55:43.331 the world will go on, you're going to die, you know, 00:55:43.798 --> 00:55:48.693 so our teacher teaches to really come from a deeper, 00:55:49.767 --> 00:55:51.897 of course you do the social change 00:55:52.437 --> 00:55:54.365 you do these activities 00:55:54.599 --> 00:55:58.170 but don't lose these deep moments for yourself 00:55:59.439 --> 00:56:00.898 and to do it together 00:56:01.240 --> 00:56:07.138 and this is our teacher's challenge to our next century 00:56:09.440 --> 00:56:11.297 I think maybe some of you heard, 00:56:11.540 --> 00:56:16.921 our teacher sharing about the last century as a century of individualism 00:56:19.172 --> 00:56:23.999 you know, everyone, me and my nation and my people and so on 00:56:24.636 --> 00:56:28.238 and it's caused a lot of stuff happen 00:56:28.962 --> 00:56:32.365 so the teacher is really emphasizing on the collective 00:56:33.689 --> 00:56:37.594 and it's tough to be in the collective, part of this community 00:56:37.797 --> 00:56:39.732 you know, it's not easy 00:56:39.964 --> 00:56:42.704 you have to conform and you have to be like the rest 00:56:43.000 --> 00:56:47.532 and kind of like, lose your identity I just tell you some of the truth about it 00:56:49.502 --> 00:56:52.135 it challenges every L.A. seed in me! 00:56:54.663 --> 00:56:57.868 I want to go out there and change L.A. you know, 00:56:58.203 --> 00:56:59.468 and the brothers say, no, 00:56:59.669 --> 00:57:03.364 you're going to go breathe and walk in the woods 00:57:08.026 --> 00:57:09.735 sorry my sisters and brothers 00:57:12.165 --> 00:57:14.533 it's a challenge to be part of a community 00:57:14.762 --> 00:57:19.064 it is, because it goes against everything we know, 00:57:19.195 --> 00:57:20.766 you know, I have rights, 00:57:20.998 --> 00:57:26.743 especially when you're right you have to just.. 00:57:28.332 --> 00:57:34.392 and this is the root of war “I'm right” 00:57:35.895 --> 00:57:38.598 and to live in a collective, to live in a community 00:57:39.634 --> 00:57:43.627 to live in a family, you know that, that's a small little community there 00:57:43.672 --> 00:57:48.522 in the family, around the kitchen around the dining table 00:57:49.698 --> 00:57:51.361 I was witness to that 00:57:52.269 --> 00:57:57.031 because we're not able to let go and see the 'come on, it's just' 00:57:58.862 --> 00:58:00.870 so this is the training for us 00:58:01.091 --> 00:58:04.532 to learn to let go of our own ideas or notions 00:58:05.565 --> 00:58:07.901 of what is right, what is wrong, what is just 00:58:07.901 --> 00:58:08.679 sometimes, 00:58:08.679 --> 00:58:11.969 even fighting for a just cause, we cause a lot of suffering 00:58:13.130 --> 00:58:16.902 so we have to be careful as we come together and help 00:58:18.125 --> 00:58:20.863 and remind ourselves to check in with each other 00:58:21.463 --> 00:58:23.930 to see that 'hey, is this where we want to go?” 00:58:25.172 --> 00:58:30.464 so this is a challenge our teacher has for our community, for our next 00:58:30.765 --> 00:58:37.341 you know, he's famous for having said our teacher has a saying that's pretty, 00:58:39.495 --> 00:58:40.901 I haven't heard it anywhere 00:58:41.168 --> 00:58:45.130 “the next Buddha will be your community” 00:58:45.798 --> 00:58:48.435 that's very beautiful, you know can you imagine that, 00:58:48.636 --> 00:58:51.606 you don't look for somebody leading and charging, and 00:58:51.907 --> 00:58:54.199 oh well the Buddha will probably do something 00:58:54.895 --> 00:58:59.091 but the community that actually deals with challenges, suffering 00:59:00.038 --> 00:59:03.157 but it checks itself, it helps each other 00:59:03.363 --> 00:59:07.370 there's a sense of love and understanding, of septance 00:59:07.489 --> 00:59:09.706 cause this is all the energy, 00:59:10.206 --> 00:59:16.172 all the difficulties that we're facing as a family as a group of people 00:59:16.289 --> 00:59:19.873 as a work place right, where you look, and your company 00:59:20.965 --> 00:59:24.337 what are the most challenging things at your work place 00:59:24.495 --> 00:59:25.624 it's all about that, 00:59:25.900 --> 00:59:28.363 people don't know how to work together you have to let go 00:59:29.231 --> 00:59:33.419 so the collective for us is a challenge, 00:59:33.736 --> 00:59:38.498 how to learn these practises so we don't lose our center, 00:59:38.687 --> 00:59:42.902 our harmony within and then working ways, 00:59:43.001 --> 00:59:45.229 finding ways to build community 00:59:45.763 --> 00:59:50.855 because to resist this other energy, we need to do it as a community 00:59:51.464 --> 00:59:56.026 and we need everyone to have this kind of training so that you feel 00:59:56.794 --> 01:00:00.031 I don't need another sweater, just because it's a new season 01:00:00.729 --> 01:00:02.867 or they change color on me again 01:00:07.831 --> 01:00:12.937 sorry, I remember, it's brown season, it's yellow season 01:00:13.125 --> 01:00:16.496 you know, you got to change your whole wardrobe just because they say so 01:00:18.063 --> 01:00:20.204 so they know, I don't want to say 'they' 01:00:21.126 --> 01:00:25.746 maybe some of us are in advertising media now 01:00:27.797 --> 01:00:32.604 but they know how the mind works and if you don't know how your mind works 01:00:33.067 --> 01:00:38.136 and if we don't come together we're just, you think you're free 01:00:41.770 --> 01:00:46.565 I'm sorry to kind of lay it out there 'cause this is our last chance 01:00:48.968 --> 01:00:53.164 but this is what I've learned from my teacher and I just wanted to share with you 01:00:53.532 --> 01:00:58.941 we need to come together and really resist all these temptations 01:00:59.640 --> 01:01:04.935 these kind of temporary pleasures these moments, right 01:01:05.402 --> 01:01:09.533 more consuming, more stimulation, entertaining yourself 01:01:09.806 --> 01:01:14.558 this is what is happening 01:01:15.361 --> 01:01:19.965 we need to find ways to come together, to resist 01:01:20.569 --> 01:01:24.161 so, have a refugee-camp but do it together 01:01:24.562 --> 01:01:29.070 that's the addition I think my sister was inviting me to add 01:01:29.689 --> 01:01:33.933 so not just you alone on the island in a refugee-camp 01:01:34.161 --> 01:01:39.774 but bring friends, make friends come together and make that island, expand 01:01:41.230 --> 01:01:45.240 and if we can do this together here a little bit 01:01:45.240 --> 01:01:48.240 and a little bit around the planet 01:01:48.240 --> 01:01:50.965 I think, I'm pretty hopeful 01:01:52.035 --> 01:01:57.963 and we need to keep that, don't let it drag you down 01:01:59.198 --> 01:02:01.199 we were at the Huffington Post 01:02:01.404 --> 01:02:04.294 and we learned that they have a department for Good News 01:02:06.763 --> 01:02:07.998 yeah, that is pretty cool 01:02:08.563 --> 01:02:12.739 and I asked them, so what do you guys do, make stories up? 01:02:14.469 --> 01:02:19.950 'cause I don't see any good news in the news and they say, yeah, we shared, 01:02:20.365 --> 01:02:26.515 they have a small team and actually they look at stories out there, and 01:02:26.515 --> 01:02:31.665 they try to find something positive and they go do more research 01:02:31.866 --> 01:02:35.207 and that's beautiful and I was really moved, 01:02:35.471 --> 01:02:39.260 there was like four or five in that department, and that's their work 01:02:39.589 --> 01:02:43.963 we need to do that, we need to do that in our family, within ourselves 01:02:44.132 --> 01:02:47.401 look, there's something happening that's good for today 01:02:47.968 --> 01:02:51.303 and accentuate it, do it in the family, do it at your work, 01:02:51.806 --> 01:02:54.464 please, do it in your work 01:02:56.322 --> 01:03:00.413 it's tough to work at a hard place, but do it there 01:03:00.413 --> 01:03:02.689 and then create your work, become a community 01:03:04.003 --> 01:03:07.233 and then begin to come together build a sangha 01:03:07.374 --> 01:03:11.251 a sangha is just a group of people coming together 01:03:11.251 --> 01:03:14.741 to remind each other with the practise 01:03:15.003 --> 01:03:18.430 so this is our teacher's deepest wish 01:03:19.164 --> 01:03:25.339 to have a little bit around every place for us 01:03:25.529 --> 01:03:29.132 to remind ourselves and remind others 01:03:31.467 --> 01:03:33.234 thank you 01:03:34.105 --> 01:03:35.828 I believe there's something 01:03:40.869 --> 01:03:49.500 oh yes, we now open the mike for any questions or any comment or 01:03:51.672 --> 01:03:54.297 I think there's a microphone around, 01:03:54.965 --> 01:03:56.500 I think there's some brothers and sisters 01:03:56.734 --> 01:04:02.768 who'll come up here to join us to add a different perspective 01:04:06.373 --> 01:04:08.697 is there a mike around? 01:04:09.700 --> 01:04:18.466 Yes, you can come up here if you'd like to share or make a comment 01:04:29.733 --> 01:04:31.471 oh, they have a mike right there 01:04:35.967 --> 01:04:38.170 I just wanted to thank you 01:04:39.640 --> 01:04:46.191 gratitude for sharing your love and your light with us here, 01:04:47.226 --> 01:04:52.599 and bringing your stories, your honesty, your experience, your humor 01:04:53.101 --> 01:05:00.634 really grateful for that, it's really refreshing to embrace the reflection 01:05:00.821 --> 01:05:07.232 we all know that we have within us and to see a collective 01:05:10.302 --> 01:05:17.700 as you say, this community that does exist and I just wanted to say thank you, 01:05:17.700 --> 01:05:20.006 I'm really grateful 01:05:25.668 --> 01:05:27.862 and congratulations 01:05:48.660 --> 01:05:52.464 sister Jang Nghiem and Phap Hai have joined us 01:05:53.165 --> 01:05:56.533 and they will take personal questions too, so if you 01:06:01.833 --> 01:06:04.169 yes, questions from the heart 01:06:07.106 --> 01:06:12.534 hi, welcome, I'm actually new to the city, I'm from Philadelphia 01:06:13.037 --> 01:06:17.329 so I drove up this morning, three hours, I took the back roads 01:06:18.897 --> 01:06:28.249 and I go to Weltran Unitarian church and every Sunday I'm blessed to have a quote, 01:06:28.734 --> 01:06:32.090 like there is up on the screen, by Thich Nhat Hanh 01:06:32.134 --> 01:06:34.734 that leads us into meditation for five minutes 01:06:36.156 --> 01:06:39.200 all you need to enter heaven on earth is one conscious step, 01:06:39.200 --> 01:06:40.670 one conscious breath 01:06:41.375 --> 01:06:44.638 and I really appreciate this opportunity to be here with you 01:06:45.893 --> 01:06:50.566 and my question, it takes me a long time to get to my question, is 01:06:51.837 --> 01:06:55.464 as you talk about refuge inside and refuge in community, 01:06:56.833 --> 01:07:02.404 I'm blessed to have a small community that really is building on mindfulness, 01:07:03.463 --> 01:07:07.969 it's probably the most rapidly growing Unitarian church in the country which is 01:07:08.579 --> 01:07:13.314 tremendous, because it's very open, spiritually and we embraced 01:07:13.314 --> 01:07:17.002 a lot of things, including Thich Nhat Hanh's mindfulness 01:07:19.279 --> 01:07:24.109 How can we, I'm sure everyone in this room is from a different place, 01:07:25.903 --> 01:07:33.301 in our society, in our jobs that are not sitting mindfully all day long, 01:07:34.749 --> 01:07:46.929 how can we bridge this experience into the world of wifi and phones, 01:07:48.432 --> 01:07:51.925 thinking of myself last night when I was on my phone with my boyfriend 01:07:52.124 --> 01:07:57.867 at the restaurant, how do we actually try to do that more? 01:08:21.383 --> 01:08:24.034 So, dear family, life's full of surprises, 01:08:24.034 --> 01:08:27.824 I stood up to walk off the stage to stretch my legs 01:08:30.475 --> 01:08:34.591 and I was invited, is the kind way to put it, 01:08:34.834 --> 01:08:37.095 to be part of the question- and-answer panel 01:08:37.296 --> 01:08:42.269 so I'm very happy to be sitting here and as I received that invitation 01:08:43.117 --> 01:08:47.749 to be part of the Q&A-panel I realized that as a practitioner, 01:08:49.137 --> 01:08:54.101 the most central practise for me, is to learn how to say 'yes' 01:08:56.005 --> 01:08:59.062 not only to say yes with my mouth, 01:09:00.265 --> 01:09:06.238 but to say yes to the experience that I'm invited to have in this moment 01:09:07.229 --> 01:09:09.765 to look at the places that I close down 01:09:10.032 --> 01:09:15.300 or the ways that I try to manufacture this moment into something 01:09:15.348 --> 01:09:18.430 that I believe it should be 01:09:20.903 --> 01:09:23.370 in our tradition, in the Plum Village tradition, we practise 01:09:23.370 --> 01:09:27.995 what we call 'Engaged Buddhism' and we've all heard the stories about 01:09:27.995 --> 01:09:32.545 going out to bombed out villages, building schools, 01:09:33.766 --> 01:09:37.905 doing flood-work relief work, we've done all of those things 01:09:38.341 --> 01:09:40.397 and we do all of those things 01:09:40.897 --> 01:09:43.466 and yet, at its core, Engaged Buddhism means, 01:09:43.769 --> 01:09:48.664 choosing to engage in this moment, whatever this moment is 01:09:49.664 --> 01:09:52.033 as a moment of practise 01:09:54.114 --> 01:09:55.962 we're coming into the Jewish New Year 01:09:55.962 --> 01:09:59.962 and I'm thinking of somebody called Victor Franco, 01:10:02.263 --> 01:10:05.532 who wrote in 'Men's search for meaning' 01:10:05.958 --> 01:10:08.866 something that we also find to be true in Buddhism as well 01:10:09.702 --> 01:10:13.796 we can't always, or very often, choose our circumstances 01:10:14.128 --> 01:10:17.201 but as human beings 01:10:17.324 --> 01:10:21.518 the one choice we truly have, is the choice of how we respond 01:10:24.734 --> 01:10:30.130 so when we say that we can't sit all day mindfully, why not? 01:10:31.032 --> 01:10:33.068 What does mindfully mean? 01:10:34.068 --> 01:10:39.598 Does it mean we need to go to a mountainside or go to a cave or a hut, 01:10:40.198 --> 01:10:42.403 a nice retreat-hut somewhere 01:10:42.769 --> 01:10:46.796 that was my view of what monastic life is or life in the practise 01:10:47.163 --> 01:10:50.902 and it's only ever happened once, in twenty years 01:10:53.970 --> 01:11:00.260 how do I use this moment as a moment that I can be fully present in my body 01:11:01.558 --> 01:11:05.899 with the experience that I'm having with the person who's in front of me 01:11:06.835 --> 01:11:12.664 Can I choose, when the phone rings, to take an in-breath and an out-breath 01:11:13.295 --> 01:11:15.901 bring myself back to my body and pick up the phone 01:11:16.766 --> 01:11:21.665 can I choose to, rather than just run from here to the coffee-maker, 01:11:21.794 --> 01:11:29.528 can I choose to take a few steps with each breath, to arrive with each step 01:11:30.094 --> 01:11:34.035 these are ways that it is possible for us 01:11:34.193 --> 01:11:36.938 to bring the practise of mindfulness to our daily lives 01:11:37.149 --> 01:11:42.635 so our spiritual life is not something compart mentalized to one side 01:11:42.793 --> 01:11:45.193 that we do inbetween things 01:11:46.370 --> 01:11:50.268 but it is actually our life itself 01:11:50.268 --> 01:11:54.206 that's the invitation of Engaged Buddhism 01:11:55.332 --> 01:11:59.705 to see what we can do, where we're planted in this very moment 01:12:00.101 --> 01:12:02.997 this is something that's possible for us 01:12:03.765 --> 01:12:07.369 there are some of us, there are maybe a few hundred of us in this room 01:12:08.696 --> 01:12:11.749 we're all sharing the same space together 01:12:13.001 --> 01:12:16.771 and yet, there are some of us in this room who are thinking 01:12:17.104 --> 01:12:19.198 oh, this talk was so interesting tonight, 01:12:19.665 --> 01:12:24.255 it was so wonderful to hear from a half- Irish, half-Dutch senior disciple of Thay 01:12:24.255 --> 01:12:26.453 and our brother Phap Dung 01:12:26.453 --> 01:12:28.476 there are so many interesting spirits 01:12:28.476 --> 01:12:30.534 and then there's others who are thinking 01:12:30.534 --> 01:12:33.823 I can't wait until this is over why did I come here tonight? 01:12:35.160 --> 01:12:36.270 This kind of thing 01:12:36.420 --> 01:12:38.350 some of us are in heaven, some of us are in hell, 01:12:38.350 --> 01:12:40.490 who's right, who's wrong? 01:12:42.297 --> 01:12:44.534 Now, I mean, some of you might think it's a cheap shot, 01:12:44.802 --> 01:12:46.850 but it really does depend on you, doesn't it 01:12:46.975 --> 01:12:50.300 it really does depend on our mind and the way we interpret things 01:12:50.966 --> 01:12:53.127 so I invite you to look at that 01:12:53.500 --> 01:12:57.766 I invite you to engage with that practise and see if it's possible for you 01:12:57.876 --> 01:13:00.135 to make just a small change 01:13:00.868 --> 01:13:05.732 not ten small changes, but a small change in your daily life 01:13:06.794 --> 01:13:08.698 good luck 01:13:23.728 --> 01:13:29.092 (sound of the bell) 01:13:44.000 --> 01:13:46.038 I want to thank you for being here 01:13:46.338 --> 01:13:49.229 and I'm really grateful for your presence here 01:13:49.729 --> 01:13:54.703 and your presence in the world and I think about if there was 01:13:55.659 --> 01:14:01.132 a beloved community of more people, like in this room 01:14:02.435 --> 01:14:04.503 how much empathy and how much compassion 01:14:04.792 --> 01:14:06.173 could really be present in the world 01:14:06.763 --> 01:14:09.600 and you've in a way answered what my question was but 01:14:10.924 --> 01:14:13.838 someone like me, I feel overwhelmed when I read the news 01:14:14.239 --> 01:14:16.766 really overwhelmed by for example 01:14:16.999 --> 01:14:19.335 what's happening to our brothers and sisters in Syria 01:14:20.703 --> 01:14:28.068 how do you balance being internal and having compassion internally 01:14:30.127 --> 01:14:33.698 and balancing that with being engaged in the world 01:14:34.129 --> 01:14:37.302 and something as small as keeping up with the news 01:14:37.536 --> 01:14:41.665 I could easily feel overwhelmed and I know we have really beautiful 01:14:41.964 --> 01:14:44.568 examples with Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King 01:14:44.834 --> 01:14:48.906 so we can reflect on their example but how do you find that balance 01:14:49.261 --> 01:14:53.734 when it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the suffering and the violence 01:14:53.869 --> 01:14:56.664 and the pain that we know that a lot of people are dealing with 01:14:57.596 --> 01:14:59.433 thank you so much 01:15:16.601 --> 01:15:19.772 yes, that's a very important question 01:15:20.375 --> 01:15:26.338 in terms of the amount of information that we should expose ourselves to 01:15:28.572 --> 01:15:33.201 the important thing is, maintaining compassion in our heart 01:15:34.825 --> 01:15:39.228 but more practically, I think our human mind is not meant to 01:15:39.235 --> 01:15:43.335 actually be constantly bombarded with so much suffering 01:15:45.035 --> 01:15:47.985 you hear it in your car or your subway, you're driving here 01:15:48.734 --> 01:15:51.404 you hear it in the morning, you hear it while you take a break 01:15:52.044 --> 01:15:55.396 in the afternoon you hear it, I mean when I was driving in L.A. 01:15:56.538 --> 01:15:59.762 an hour and a half to work in the morning I listened to NPR 01:16:00.396 --> 01:16:05.636 cause people said I should be informed I have friends from Berkeley you know 01:16:08.766 --> 01:16:11.937 so every time they come back they always ask me to go to, 01:16:12.738 --> 01:16:14.998 these picket things, they were good 01:16:15.793 --> 01:16:19.090 it was my way of my getting out of my anger, now that I remember back 01:16:21.043 --> 01:16:25.424 so, we put so high on a pedestal 'being informed' 01:16:26.434 --> 01:16:32.044 you got to be 'up to date' but how much more do you want? 01:16:34.957 --> 01:16:37.900 I mean, you hear it in the morning and then in the afternoon when driving back 01:16:37.900 --> 01:16:40.378 it's the same news, but I keep hearing it 01:16:40.849 --> 01:16:43.759 before I even get to work, I'm already angry 01:16:46.554 --> 01:16:48.797 I haven't seen that secretary yet 01:16:51.037 --> 01:16:55.364 it's a good question, you have to know how to take care of yourself 01:16:56.602 --> 01:16:59.239 and question the 'being informed', 01:16:59.506 --> 01:17:04.203 how much should you keep inflicting, it's a scar you keep picking 01:17:05.166 --> 01:17:10.197 ok, this is a balance you need to find, each one of us 01:17:10.697 --> 01:17:13.197 in our workplace as well as in society 01:17:16.659 --> 01:17:23.634 we had a session, two days ago, with news people, 01:17:24.836 --> 01:17:29.407 it was at the Columbia University for journalists at the Dart Center 01:17:30.797 --> 01:17:35.393 where they take care of journalists who have to go to, 01:17:39.144 --> 01:17:44.461 conflicting sites or tragedy, and then have to report 01:17:44.461 --> 01:17:48.001 and then come back and they can't handle it, 01:17:48.001 --> 01:17:53.403 so this Dart center was formed to take care of and bring more awareness 01:17:53.403 --> 01:17:57.403 to the suffering that journalists face as they come back 01:17:57.493 --> 01:18:02.207 it's kind of like veterans and I learned a lot from that 01:18:02.761 --> 01:18:07.038 and the Dart Center is trying to bring more mindfulness and wellness 01:18:07.504 --> 01:18:11.932 to take care of the journalists 'cause after you see these images and 01:18:12.263 --> 01:18:17.105 you've been in places like that you see, the mind needs healing 01:18:17.559 --> 01:18:19.661 it's kind of like, getting inflicted 01:18:20.530 --> 01:18:22.667 and you know, that's journalists 01:18:23.234 --> 01:18:27.303 but we ourselves as readers we have take care of that as well 01:18:27.995 --> 01:18:30.667 so be informed, be intelligent, 01:18:31.566 --> 01:18:36.507 but know what you're doing to yourself and what that is causing 01:18:37.095 --> 01:18:42.226 because that can actually spill out to your loved ones who had nothing to do with it 01:18:43.060 --> 01:18:46.030 but because you keep watering the seeds, 01:18:46.664 --> 01:18:49.637 in our practise we call, we each all have a seed, 01:18:51.104 --> 01:18:57.769 a seed of anger, a seed of discrimination, a seed of blame and so on 01:18:58.639 --> 01:19:03.032 and if these keep being watered, you become immobile 01:19:03.335 --> 01:19:09.664 you can't really be an activist if you are not, like, solid 01:19:10.596 --> 01:19:14.670 so this is something for us all as we want to change 01:19:15.372 --> 01:19:17.863 and help effect the world in a better way 01:19:18.329 --> 01:19:22.491 we also need to take care and nourish our happiness, our joy 01:19:23.871 --> 01:19:26.930 so it's how you say, pay attention to the mud, 01:19:27.396 --> 01:19:31.256 but don't forget to also pay attention to the flower, to the lotus 01:19:32.168 --> 01:19:33.996 that's also there 01:19:34.629 --> 01:19:38.134 so we keep reading books on negativity, 01:19:38.801 --> 01:19:44.630 and it makes you really, you can't move and your mind becomes tight 01:19:45.632 --> 01:19:48.462 and you start actually causing others suffering 01:19:48.462 --> 01:19:50.113 in a way that's toxic 01:19:51.259 --> 01:19:55.465 so, nothing is lost, everything you read, everything you come in through the sens, 01:19:55.681 --> 01:20:00.272 the eyes, the things you hear, the conversations I used to have with my friends 01:20:00.605 --> 01:20:03.474 they didn't make me happier, they actually made me more angry 01:20:04.266 --> 01:20:06.671 and sometimes anger is useful 01:20:08.036 --> 01:20:13.331 but as my brother or my sister shared one time, maybe 5% 01:20:14.500 --> 01:20:17.872 but I'm still trying to figure how much of that energy 01:20:18.872 --> 01:20:24.437 you know, I know, there's a, sometimes it's useful to speak out 01:20:24.957 --> 01:20:29.498 but how can we do it in a way that has a little bit more understanding, 01:20:29.829 --> 01:20:30.934 more compassion 01:20:31.335 --> 01:20:35.830 more of that sense of embracing the other person rather than 01:20:37.865 --> 01:20:42.605 so this is what happens when we get informed 01:20:43.104 --> 01:20:44.862 and it's over our limit 01:20:45.431 --> 01:20:50.938 we actually start to cause more trouble than helpful 01:20:51.472 --> 01:20:57.367 and this is each one of us through the practise of taking care of ourselves, 01:20:58.391 --> 01:21:02.299 nourishing ourselves with good news, nourishing ourselves with moments 01:21:02.463 --> 01:21:06.268 of actually recognizing taking a walk in the park 01:21:07.057 --> 01:21:09.473 recognizing, hugging a tree 01:21:10.930 --> 01:21:15.958 watching, you know, sitting there in front of a flower and feeling, 01:21:16.134 --> 01:21:17.995 recognizing that flower 01:21:18.462 --> 01:21:24.428 so these are things that I found helpful in my practise in terms of engaging the 01:21:25.173 --> 01:21:28.765 world as we travel and we hear people suffering 01:21:29.769 --> 01:21:33.471 you know, I have to take a walk in nature after a consultation or something, 01:21:33.906 --> 01:21:39.367 I can't do consultations six right away 'cause my mind is no longer present 01:21:39.537 --> 01:21:41.237 for the third person 01:21:41.638 --> 01:21:44.097 I mean, it looks like I'm there but it's too much for me 01:21:44.696 --> 01:21:50.639 so I'd only do one, and then I go take a nap or I go walk in nature 01:21:51.208 --> 01:21:53.265 and this is just the truth of our mind 01:21:53.765 --> 01:21:56.795 we're not meant to actually know everything that's happening 01:21:57.103 --> 01:22:01.065 around the world I mean, the internet now, you think, oh, 01:22:01.370 --> 01:22:04.872 we have access, but, look what it's doing to you 01:22:07.041 --> 01:22:13.705 you have access but you're like, you're afraid, and you're suspicious, 01:22:14.005 --> 01:22:16.264 you're fearful 01:22:16.496 --> 01:22:20.102 and this, you cannot help the world in that state of mind 01:22:21.104 --> 01:22:30.238 so please take a look at your, at the balance, we need balance in terms of information 01:22:42.176 --> 01:22:43.945 we have one last question 01:22:45.509 --> 01:22:48.263 may we listen to one sound of the bell 01:22:49.023 --> 01:22:50.040 (sound of the bell) 01:22:50.640 --> 01:22:56.900 breathing in everything we need is here and now 01:22:58.505 --> 01:23:01.332 breathing out we let go 01:23:02.068 --> 01:23:05.962 this moment, without expectation 01:23:08.549 --> 01:23:12.654 (sound of the bell) 01:23:34.602 --> 01:23:35.559 Hi there 01:23:39.765 --> 01:23:43.170 you know, it's kind of intimidating talking to you guys 01:23:44.072 --> 01:23:47.200 but what I love in the nature of how you spoke today 01:23:48.234 --> 01:23:52.202 was that you're still embracing that whole studentness about you 01:23:53.073 --> 01:23:56.499 'cause sometimes when people that don't live in the kind of environment 01:23:56.931 --> 01:23:58.300 that you live in 01:24:02.630 --> 01:24:05.832 I guess I'm speaking for myself but I have talked to a few other people 01:24:06.666 --> 01:24:13.898 there's a way that we can feel not as spiritual or not as worthy 01:24:14.966 --> 01:24:20.795 and what I love what you brought here was that you're still learning 01:24:21.630 --> 01:24:26.959 and that you're still figuring it out and that you're still on your journey 01:24:28.471 --> 01:24:31.899 and that's really inspiring to hear 01:24:32.500 --> 01:24:36.540 because some of us are a little bit further back in the road on the journey 01:24:37.806 --> 01:24:42.884 one of the things I do is I go into companies, into the dark, deep scary 01:24:42.884 --> 01:24:46.234 territory of corporate America and I try to bring 01:24:46.234 --> 01:24:48.894 a tiny bit of mindfulness with me 01:24:49.602 --> 01:24:53.764 but what you've inspired me to do today is, to take it further 01:24:54.266 --> 01:24:57.535 you know, some of the little teachings or some of the things you said 01:24:57.792 --> 01:25:02.664 like, and I love what you said about how being right is the root of war 01:25:03.864 --> 01:25:08.205 and how we can bring a little bit of non-violence to how we talk 01:25:08.676 --> 01:25:11.600 to each other every day by not trying to be so right 01:25:13.067 --> 01:25:15.237 and trying to be more compassionate 01:25:17.529 --> 01:25:20.733 trying to be more vulnerable, which you guys exhibited today, 01:25:21.067 --> 01:25:23.826 the vulnerability of showing that you don't know it all 01:25:24.092 --> 01:25:26.432 you're still a student, you're still on your journey 01:25:26.930 --> 01:25:29.166 so I want to thank you for that and to let you know 01:25:29.366 --> 01:25:34.728 there are warriors out here, working for the same cause, 01:25:34.929 --> 01:25:39.169 we might not look the same way that outfit would definitely make me look 01:25:39.322 --> 01:25:42.406 a lot chubbier and that would really annoy me 01:25:43.039 --> 01:25:47.400 but, you know, we're out here warriors on the front line, 01:25:47.577 --> 01:25:52.294 with you and supporting you and loving you from our place, 01:25:52.816 --> 01:25:54.853 so thank you 01:26:02.534 --> 01:26:04.202 Hi, thank you for being here tonight 01:26:05.102 --> 01:26:09.631 I've been exploring the value of mindfulness in organizations and I was wondering if you 01:26:09.797 --> 01:26:12.368 could speak a little bit more about the benefits that you see 01:26:13.926 --> 01:26:19.333 to bringing mindfulness into workplaces and I'm particularly interested in 01:26:19.568 --> 01:26:21.937 how it might help to build trust 01:26:48.761 --> 01:26:55.457 For me, being a monastic is something I always wanted to do 01:26:56.372 --> 01:26:58.597 but in another way this, 01:26:59.075 --> 01:27:02.180 I agree with my brother, there's challenges 01:27:02.907 --> 01:27:08.001 so when I entered the community you know, I love to do art, 01:27:08.234 --> 01:27:14.498 to sing songs and write poetry but I've always been asked to do things 01:27:14.498 --> 01:27:22.775 that is out of the ordinary you know, is not my field, is not my, 01:27:24.555 --> 01:27:27.608 I feel like it's not even my capacity 01:27:27.831 --> 01:27:34.271 but recently, the sangha invited me to join the finance team and 01:27:34.602 --> 01:27:41.402 to work with all these figures, and it's not what I imagined I would do 01:27:42.334 --> 01:27:48.131 so I think the practise of mindfulness just helps me to just be present 01:27:48.900 --> 01:27:56.498 and to take things as they are and not to have expectation or 01:27:56.764 --> 01:28:02.072 to have to struggle with it 01:28:02.606 --> 01:28:05.863 at first I struggled a lot, but I feel like 01:28:06.230 --> 01:28:11.367 when I can just come back to my breathing just to be what it is, I can just let it go 01:28:11.933 --> 01:28:17.040 and whatever comes, I learn from it and I build my experience on it 01:28:18.060 --> 01:28:24.906 so I think that in the workplace, we can apply mindfulness 01:28:25.771 --> 01:28:30.134 for instance, when I am working on something that is very challenging 01:28:30.870 --> 01:28:33.605 for my brainwork 01:28:34.240 --> 01:28:37.065 then I just take a deep breath and come back and smile, 01:28:37.397 --> 01:28:40.625 and take a break and we have the time-out on a screen 01:28:40.971 --> 01:28:46.068 or a bell of mindfulness that we install into the PC or the computer 01:28:46.935 --> 01:28:51.064 and we just take a break, you know you close your eyes and breathe 01:28:51.394 --> 01:28:53.031 and then smile 01:28:53.399 --> 01:28:57.876 and I find that also working in a team or in a group is very helpful 01:28:58.061 --> 01:29:02.835 because I see that I have my brothers and sisters who have experience in finance 01:29:03.437 --> 01:29:05.994 and they have all kinds of experiences 01:29:06.628 --> 01:29:09.531 and when we come together, we really make things work 01:29:10.001 --> 01:29:12.899 without, you know, one having to think too hard 01:29:13.833 --> 01:29:17.595 so I think that try to learn from the experience of the others 01:29:19.128 --> 01:29:21.364 and be mindful, be open 01:29:22.099 --> 01:29:25.270 and, you know, things can become easier that way 01:29:25.861 --> 01:29:28.095 rather than taking on everything on ourselves 01:29:30.499 --> 01:29:34.503 and also create a space for nurturing brotherhood and sisterhood 01:29:36.281 --> 01:29:41.523 in our monastery, at Blue Cliff, when we have finance meeting, 01:29:41.523 --> 01:29:47.055 I'm always the team-master I make sure, I prepare tea and bring some 01:29:47.055 --> 01:29:52.725 snacks and cookies or some healthy snacks and then we start the meeting that way 01:29:52.725 --> 01:29:56.725 we don't just start by saying 'ok, what's the agenda' 01:29:57.024 --> 01:30:01.024 of course somebody will say that, but I always do the tea part first 01:30:02.525 --> 01:30:07.566 and it's so light and nourishing and then people feel like, oh, there's a connection 01:30:08.202 --> 01:30:14.965 you are here for being together, it's not just about trying to work something out 01:30:15.268 --> 01:30:19.030 or trying to go forward with the result, 01:30:19.632 --> 01:30:24.958 so I think that teamwork and nourishing brotherhood, sisterhood 01:30:25.673 --> 01:30:29.599 and to build the energy of mindfulness, 01:30:29.977 --> 01:30:32.250 to share that together is very helpful 01:30:32.520 --> 01:30:34.216 thank you