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(Bell)

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Dear Thay,[br]dear Sangha

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I have heard that a few months ago,

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a monk ended his life

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in Plum Village.

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I have this monk always in my head.

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He was always smiling.

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He was always wanting[br]to help other people.

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And I do not understand.

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My question is:

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How can the daily[br]practice of your teaching

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lead to desperation and to suicide?

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In the time of the Buddha, there were[br]also monks who committed suicide.

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Did you know that?

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You didn't.

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Many of us come[br]to Plum Village and practice.

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And there are those of us[br]who are capable of

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transforming and healing very quickly.

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And there are those of us[br]who are very slow

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in the practice[br]of transforming and healing.

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But if you stick to the practice,[br]you have a chance.

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If you truly take refuge in the Sangha,

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if you try to practice wholeheartedly,[br]putting the practice into yourself,

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then you have more chance[br]to transform and to heal.

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And if you just want to prove[br]that you are a practitioner,

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that is not good enough.

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So that is what happened[br]during the time of the Buddha,

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and it will continue[br]to happen in the Sangha.

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In the Sangha there[br]will be people like that.

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If we really take refuge in the Sangha,[br]get rooted in the brothers and sisters,

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we will have more chance[br]to transform and heal,

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even if we have that tendency,

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that nature, of suicide in ourselves,

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transmitted by[br]many generations of ancestors.

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You bring that tendency, that seed[br]of society into the Sangha.

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And if you hide that from us,

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we do not have a chance[br]to help you soon enough.

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So you do not have a chance.

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So when you come to us, you should[br]tell us your suffering, your weakness

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and ask for help.

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And then we will know how[br]to generate a collective energy

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to help you deal[br]with that specific question.

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But if you try to hide it,

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then we do not know how[br]to help you in the beginning

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and you lose your time.

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You pretend that everything is good,[br]everything is going well,

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until one day,[br]you cannot do it anymore.

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So things like that happened[br]during the time of the Buddha,

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and, I think, will continue[br]to happen in the future.

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We have to learn the lesson.

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And that applies not only[br]to monastics, but also to lay people.

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If you come to the Sangha,[br]you should take refuge in it.

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You should sit among us and say:

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Dear Sangha,[br]dear brothers and sisters in the Dharma,

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here is my pain, here is my sorrow,[br]here is my despair.

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Please help recognize and embrace it.

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I need you, I need the collective[br]of the Sangha to guide me,

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to lead me,[br]to help me transform.

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That is our practice.

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This is called the practice of[br]taking refuge in the Sangha.

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Taking refuge in the Sangha is not[br]a statement made by chanting.

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Taking refuge in the Sangha is

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to truly believe in the power[br]of the Sangha to help you

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and to open your heart,

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ready to be embraced, guided[br]and instructed by the Sangha.

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(Bell)