(Bell)
(FRENCH) Why do I sometimes feel everyone is against me?
(ENGLISH) Why do I sometimes have the feeling that everyone is against me?
That is only a feeling.
(Translate for her.)
That is only a feeling.
(FRENCH) That is only...a feeling.
(FRENCH) (Sister Tong Nghiem will translate for you.)
That feeling may be born from a wrong perception.
We imagine that people don't like us, are against us.
But the fact may be the opposite.
The fact may be that everyone likes you
and sees you as a beautiful flower in the garden of humanity.
So if we are her friends, we should say it out loud:
"I like you, I love you, you are a beautiful flower."
But...
Something can be done about this,
while waiting for the people to say they do not dislike you, they like you.
You have to learn to like yourself.
You have to learn how to love yourself.
This is very important, to accept yourself.
In order to accept yourself, you have to practice.
And this does not only count for young but also for old people.
Sometimes we do not like ourselves.
We think we are not good enough.
But in fact there are many good things in us,
that have been transmitted to us by our parents and ancestors.
We may not have seen them.
That is why we may have an inferiority complex.
Among our ancestors there are people who are very talented,
who have great virtues like beauty, understanding, compassion.
They have transmitted to us the seeds of beauty, understanding, love, forgiveness.
And we have them, but we don't know that we have them.
So when you breathe in and out mindfully, you might recognize these seeds in you,
because you know you are capable of understanding, forgiving and being happy.
And if you recognize these good things in you,
you don't have the complex anymore.
And you can accept yourself and you can love yourself.
The teaching of the Buddha says that everyone has the capacity
to love and to understand,
that everyone has the Buddha Nature in himself or herself.
The Buddha Nature is something very beautiful.
And you have it in yourself.
So if you believe and see that, you will accept yourself easily.
And you know that you can help people to suffer less.
When another person is unhappy, you can very well do or say something
to make him or suffer less.
You have that capacity. And you have done that in the past.
You have helped one person, one child to suffer less.
When you see someone get hurt you can help that person to feel better.
And that is the Buddha Nature in you.
And if you see the Buddha Nature in you,
if you can see the beauty, the stability, the freshness in you,
then you can accept yourself, you can love yourself.
It is very important to accept oneself, to love oneself.
If you don't accept and love yourself, how can you expect others to do so?
That is why to accept oneself is very important.
And Thay has practised and Thay has been able to accept himself.
So he has a lof of peace and joy because he was able
to accept himself and like himself.
That is a good question. That has helped many of us.
Thank you for asking the question.
(Bell)