WEBVTT 00:00:05.477 --> 00:00:07.579 (Bell) 00:00:11.139 --> 00:00:17.161 (Bell) 00:00:31.502 --> 00:00:37.408 (Bell) 00:00:53.843 --> 00:01:00.598 (Bell) 00:01:10.776 --> 00:01:13.002 Dear respected Thay, 00:01:14.083 --> 00:01:17.329 dear brothers and sisters, dear community, 00:01:18.708 --> 00:01:24.461 today is Sunday the 7th of October in the year 2018 00:01:24.570 --> 00:01:29.627 and we are in the Assembly of Stars meditation hall at the Lower Hamlet. 00:01:32.176 --> 00:01:36.899 And I think it is our fourth week of the Rain Retreat. 00:01:41.767 --> 00:01:46.465 We are continuing on the theme of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings 00:01:46.648 --> 00:01:49.101 for this Rain Retreat. 00:01:56.704 --> 00:02:01.512 We've learned the moment we step into Plum Village 00:02:03.375 --> 00:02:06.593 that we want to cultivate here 00:02:08.173 --> 00:02:13.200 our energies of mindfulness, concentration and insight. 00:02:16.921 --> 00:02:21.121 These are energies that are innate in us. 00:02:21.626 --> 00:02:27.697 And the practices that we do here help us to tap into these energies inside. 00:02:27.880 --> 00:02:32.698 Because once the energies of mindfulness, concentration and insight 00:02:34.086 --> 00:02:36.912 are growing in us, 00:02:37.611 --> 00:02:42.149 they help us to be truly alive, 00:02:43.839 --> 00:02:48.490 to savor every moment of our life, 00:02:49.565 --> 00:02:57.486 to experience deeply, to appreciate deeply the simplicity of life, 00:02:57.749 --> 00:03:03.580 the beauties around us that a lot of times we take for granted. 00:03:05.640 --> 00:03:09.076 And they are these energies that help us 00:03:11.473 --> 00:03:20.697 to understand deeply who we are, the way we are, 00:03:21.225 --> 00:03:24.276 why we suffer the way we do 00:03:24.747 --> 00:03:28.049 and to transform this suffering that we have. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:32.464 So these are powerful energies. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:35.578 The Buddha had taught 00:03:36.578 --> 00:03:42.789 these what we call learnings, trainings but they are learnings, 00:03:43.386 --> 00:03:49.454 extensively in his teachings during his lifetime. 00:03:53.353 --> 00:04:00.325 But he also mentioned the three learnings or the three trainings as 00:04:00.546 --> 00:04:03.718 precepts, concentration and insight, 00:04:03.846 --> 00:04:07.656 not just mindfulness, concentration and insight but it is precepts. 00:04:07.716 --> 00:04:10.678 Precepts, concentration and insight. 00:04:10.775 --> 00:04:15.487 In our first Dharma talk we heard about that a little bit from Sister Doan Nghiem. 00:04:17.403 --> 00:04:26.823 And it was Thay who showed us the link between mindfulness and precepts. 00:04:29.492 --> 00:04:36.278 And that the practice of the precepts is really the practice of mindfulness, 00:04:36.516 --> 00:04:42.086 because the precepts really heighten our awareness of our actions 00:04:42.436 --> 00:04:48.776 of body, speech and mind that could bring suffering to ourselves and to other people. 00:04:53.467 --> 00:04:59.205 The precepts, I call them the Dharma doors, they are different Dharma doors, 00:04:59.296 --> 00:05:02.684 each one of the precepts is a Dharma door 00:05:02.927 --> 00:05:08.575 that help us to experience 00:05:10.605 --> 00:05:14.788 what is happening in the present moment in ourselves. 00:05:15.929 --> 00:05:21.794 They are like an MRI that help us to see our mind. 00:05:24.786 --> 00:05:27.966 In the lifetime of the Buddha, 00:05:29.076 --> 00:05:34.597 he devised the precepts for us to practice. 00:05:34.898 --> 00:05:39.227 And usually he devised these precepts 00:05:41.743 --> 00:05:47.687 in response to incidents that happened, 00:05:49.326 --> 00:05:55.355 incidents that the monks and the nuns encountered 00:05:55.756 --> 00:05:57.717 that could... 00:06:00.517 --> 00:06:04.989 So incidents that happened that creat suffering 00:06:06.476 --> 00:06:11.157 for oneself and for other people either now or later. 00:06:17.936 --> 00:06:22.838 The precepts are really guidelines for us 00:06:29.212 --> 00:06:33.333 to see ourselves, to go into ourselves, 00:06:33.488 --> 00:06:38.876 to be aware of the working of our mind. 00:06:52.151 --> 00:06:57.525 And Thay instead of calling them precepts, 00:06:58.295 --> 00:07:02.152 Thay called them the Mindfulness Trainings. 00:07:02.272 --> 00:07:06.125 And that is what they are to train us to be more mindful. 00:07:07.238 --> 00:07:12.500 So we have five trainings for lay practitioners, 00:07:13.890 --> 00:07:23.418 we have 250 for fully ordained monks and we have 348 for fully ordained nuns. 00:07:25.648 --> 00:07:32.198 I remember when I was a novice, I was a bit resistant to the trainings, 00:07:32.405 --> 00:07:37.976 especially to the idea that the nuns have more trainings than the monks, 00:07:40.006 --> 00:07:43.447 and it was one of the venerables from Vietnam 00:07:43.561 --> 00:07:46.838 who was teaching us the mindfulness trainings who said, 00:07:46.942 --> 00:07:50.576 and he was quite serious when he said this, he said, 00:07:51.867 --> 00:07:57.634 "The Buddha loves the nuns so much more, 00:07:58.136 --> 00:08:05.665 because he devised 348 mindfulness trainings for the nuns 00:08:05.835 --> 00:08:10.638 which means that the nuns have more protections than the monks." 00:08:11.267 --> 00:08:15.798 And that really shifted my perspective on this, 00:08:16.197 --> 00:08:19.715 that we are loved, we are loved by the Buddha 00:08:19.955 --> 00:08:23.260 and that we have more trainings for us to practice, 00:08:23.598 --> 00:08:26.196 more trainings for us to... 00:08:28.154 --> 00:08:30.788 More Dharma doors for us 00:08:31.807 --> 00:08:38.596 to experience the present moment, to experience and to see ourselves deeply. 00:08:40.655 --> 00:08:43.656 More protection for us. 00:08:44.249 --> 00:08:47.768 So it was just a matter of perspective 00:08:48.041 --> 00:08:52.978 that changed completely my idea about the mindfulness trainings. 00:08:53.855 --> 00:08:59.907 So during the war we have learned that, during the war in Vietnam, 00:09:00.061 --> 00:09:03.477 in the midst of all the atrocities 00:09:03.928 --> 00:09:07.305 and the suffering and the violence that was happening 00:09:08.917 --> 00:09:14.877 Thay devised the 14 mindfulness trainings for us to practice. 00:09:16.098 --> 00:09:21.104 They were also in response to the situation that was happening in Vietnam 00:09:21.272 --> 00:09:24.197 but also in the world. 00:09:32.927 --> 00:09:40.769 The war, those of you who have been in it know 00:09:44.890 --> 00:09:48.972 the horrendous suffering, the fear, 00:09:55.648 --> 00:10:01.394 that everyone is feeling, experiencing. 00:10:04.908 --> 00:10:10.891 For many of us, the Vietnamese siblings, 00:10:11.962 --> 00:10:15.221 even though we may be born after the war, 00:10:15.359 --> 00:10:19.125 but I know the war is very much a part of us. 00:10:21.791 --> 00:10:25.124 I know that is my case too. 00:10:32.358 --> 00:10:37.579 I was born at the end of the war and I didn't think it had an impact on me. 00:10:37.774 --> 00:10:45.749 But one time there was a documentary of Sister Chan Khong and her work. 00:10:48.458 --> 00:10:55.506 And it was shown like a preview for her and some of the monastics. 00:10:55.636 --> 00:11:00.395 So I went in, and right in the middle of the documentary 00:11:01.116 --> 00:11:08.439 there was a scene where there was fighting 00:11:08.627 --> 00:11:11.628 and Sister Chan Khong's voice in the background 00:11:11.777 --> 00:11:14.648 but the scene was killing and fighting. 00:11:14.719 --> 00:11:18.941 And at that moment I felt a lot of tension and I couldn't even breathe. 00:11:19.068 --> 00:11:21.598 I thought, "What's going on?". 00:11:21.719 --> 00:11:24.377 And I had to leave the room after five minutes. 00:11:24.447 --> 00:11:26.837 I couldn't bear it anymore. 00:11:26.966 --> 00:11:29.807 So I went out and I was really perplexed about it, 00:11:29.926 --> 00:11:31.879 I thought, 00:11:32.477 --> 00:11:35.496 "What is happening in me?" 00:11:35.619 --> 00:11:40.757 So I breathed and I practiced walking meditation 00:11:40.948 --> 00:11:47.577 and I realized that even though I didn't experience the war, 00:11:49.544 --> 00:11:53.799 but it had affected me very much. 00:11:54.336 --> 00:12:00.835 And just seeing a scene of the killing and the fighting in the movie 00:12:01.136 --> 00:12:03.608 was enough to trigger 00:12:04.638 --> 00:12:08.585 this fear and anxiety that I have. 00:12:08.696 --> 00:12:15.608 So I know a lot of my siblings have PTSD, not just veterans in Vietnam 00:12:15.707 --> 00:12:19.500 but a lot of us have it. 00:12:19.923 --> 00:12:26.298 We just have to sit and look deeply into ourselves 00:12:26.445 --> 00:12:31.735 and we can see the presence of the war there in us. 00:12:32.575 --> 00:12:38.259 So the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings came about. 00:12:42.581 --> 00:12:45.570 They are guidelines 00:12:46.001 --> 00:12:50.895 to practice in the midst of all the suffering. 00:12:52.825 --> 00:12:57.462 In Vietnamese we call the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings "Tiếp Hiện". 00:12:58.307 --> 00:13:03.599 "Tiếp" as in the word (Vietnamese), 00:13:03.748 --> 00:13:06.877 which means to be in touch. 00:13:07.035 --> 00:13:12.556 To be in touch with the reality of the world, 00:13:13.315 --> 00:13:17.715 to be in touch with the reality of our body and mind. 00:13:17.815 --> 00:13:21.575 In other words, to be present to whatever is there, 00:13:21.706 --> 00:13:24.909 we are not running away from whatever is there. 00:13:25.026 --> 00:13:28.692 Thay and the monastics during the war 00:13:28.792 --> 00:13:35.903 they were not satisfied by sitting in the temple meditating in the meditation hall. 00:13:35.973 --> 00:13:38.255 They found they needed to really go out there 00:13:39.137 --> 00:13:42.666 and really do something to help alleviate the suffering. 00:13:48.455 --> 00:13:52.218 "Tiếp" also means to continue, 00:13:52.398 --> 00:13:55.509 as in the word (Vietnamese). 00:13:56.150 --> 00:13:59.316 To continue, to extend, 00:13:59.934 --> 00:14:04.180 to continue the work of the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas 00:14:04.304 --> 00:14:07.111 and all our ancestral teachers, 00:14:07.993 --> 00:14:15.276 to sow seeds of awakening, to sow seeds of love and peace. 00:14:23.986 --> 00:14:28.110 So it's really being in touch with the suffering 00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:30.898 in us and around us. 00:14:36.017 --> 00:14:40.984 We have a chance to cultivate compassion, to cultivate awakening 00:14:41.091 --> 00:14:43.965 just like the mud and the lotus. 00:14:44.068 --> 00:14:47.625 We've heard about mud and lotus. 00:14:48.315 --> 00:14:52.432 That is for us to grow lotuses we need the mud. 00:14:52.710 --> 00:14:54.744 The suffering is the mud. 00:14:54.878 --> 00:14:59.547 We really need to face the mud, to face the suffering 00:15:01.325 --> 00:15:04.333 in order for lotuses to grow, 00:15:04.469 --> 00:15:10.272 in order for happiness, and peace, and compassion to be possible. 00:15:13.486 --> 00:15:18.329 And "hiện", as in the word "Tiếp Hiện", 00:15:20.110 --> 00:15:26.881 it means present, like (Vietnamese) for example. 00:15:31.127 --> 00:15:33.868 It means here and now. 00:15:35.253 --> 00:15:39.717 That only the present moment is real, 00:15:40.330 --> 00:15:43.498 and that only in the present moment 00:15:45.098 --> 00:15:55.078 we can tap into the seed of peace and awakening inside us. 00:16:02.450 --> 00:16:08.321 "Hiện" also means to realize, as in the word (Vietnamese), to realize. 00:16:09.438 --> 00:16:14.958 Realization means to be able to understand ourselves 00:16:15.130 --> 00:16:18.499 and to transform ourselves, to transform our suffering. 00:16:25.357 --> 00:16:28.226 Because when we are transformed, 00:16:29.603 --> 00:16:34.500 when we have a lot of space inside ourselves, 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:38.109 when we have clarity inside ourselves, 00:16:40.368 --> 00:16:46.387 we have a lot of energy to do something to alleviate the suffering 00:16:46.721 --> 00:16:48.929 for other people. 00:16:49.552 --> 00:16:53.977 We know what to do and what not to do to alleviate the suffering. 00:16:55.534 --> 00:17:02.331 So I'd like to read the first three of the 14 Mindfulness Trainings, 00:17:02.450 --> 00:17:06.880 because today I will talk about the first, and the second, and the third 00:17:06.951 --> 00:17:09.876 of the 14 Mindfulness Trainings. 00:17:10.038 --> 00:17:14.874 The First Mindfulness Training, Openness: 00:17:16.542 --> 00:17:20.386 "Aware of the suffering created by fanaticism and intolerance, 00:17:20.524 --> 00:17:23.315 we are determined not to be idolatrous about 00:17:23.448 --> 00:17:27.987 or bound to any doctrine, theory or ideology, even Buddhist ones. 00:17:28.105 --> 00:17:32.095 We are committed to seeing the Buddhist teachings as guiding means 00:17:32.268 --> 00:17:36.700 that help us develop our understanding and compassion. 00:17:36.763 --> 00:17:40.332 They are not doctrines to fight, kill or die for. 00:17:40.588 --> 00:17:45.825 We understand that fanaticism in its many forms is the result of perceiving things 00:17:46.116 --> 00:17:52.585 in a dualistic and discriminative manner. We will train ourselves to look deeply 00:17:53.007 --> 00:17:55.981 at everything with openness and the insight of Interbeing 00:17:56.116 --> 00:18:01.587 in order to transform dogmatism and violence in ourselves and in the world." 00:18:04.188 --> 00:18:09.329 And the Second Mindfulness Training: Non-attachment to Views. 00:18:09.977 --> 00:18:14.059 "Aware of the suffering created by attachment to views and wrong perceptions, 00:18:14.197 --> 00:18:19.373 we are determined to avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. 00:18:20.088 --> 00:18:24.505 We are committed to learning and practicing non-attachment to views 00:18:24.655 --> 00:18:29.058 and being open to others experiences and insights in order to benefit 00:18:29.202 --> 00:18:34.022 from the collective wisdom. We are aware that the knowledge we presently posses 00:18:34.132 --> 00:18:36.941 is not changeless, absolute truth. 00:18:37.044 --> 00:18:42.953 Insight is revealed through the practice of compassionate listening, deep looking 00:18:43.023 --> 00:18:45.234 and letting go of notions, 00:18:45.306 --> 00:18:49.988 rather than through accumulation of intellectual knowledge. 00:18:50.147 --> 00:18:56.909 Truth is found in life, and we will observe life within and around us in every moment, 00:18:56.977 --> 00:19:00.653 ready to learn throughout our lives." 00:19:02.038 --> 00:19:06.361 The Third Mindfulness Training, Freedom of Thought: 00:19:06.609 --> 00:19:10.782 "Aware of the suffering brought about when we impose our views on others, 00:19:10.904 --> 00:19:16.552 we are determined not to force others, even our children, by any means whatsoever 00:19:16.611 --> 00:19:21.144 such as authority, threat, money, propaganda or indoctrination, 00:19:21.416 --> 00:19:23.911 to adopt our views. 00:19:24.033 --> 00:19:27.918 We are committed to respecting the right of others to be different, 00:19:28.035 --> 00:19:31.372 to choose what to believe and how to decide. 00:19:31.494 --> 00:19:37.927 We will, however, learn to help others let go of and transform fanaticism 00:19:38.058 --> 00:19:43.418 and narrowness through loving speech and compassionate dialogue." 00:19:46.922 --> 00:19:50.320 So we can see that the first... 00:19:53.379 --> 00:19:56.400 first three of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings... 00:19:56.509 --> 00:19:59.110 I have to mention about. 00:19:59.219 --> 00:20:06.932 In English, the 14 Mindfulness Trainings are called the Order of Interbeing. 00:20:08.712 --> 00:20:15.869 I thought one said that it is not a direct translation 00:20:17.978 --> 00:20:23.170 of "Tiếp Hiện", "Interbeing", because "Tiếp Hiện" is not really interbeing. 00:20:23.350 --> 00:20:29.812 Why are there two different names? 00:20:30.907 --> 00:20:35.290 So I reflected on it, 00:20:40.064 --> 00:20:43.244 and what I found is that 00:20:43.538 --> 00:20:48.592 when we truly experience interconnectedness, interbeing, 00:20:52.043 --> 00:20:57.906 what it helps us is that our heart and our mind are completely open. 00:20:59.162 --> 00:21:03.597 Are completely open to be in the skin of other people. 00:21:03.946 --> 00:21:08.462 We can see what's happening to me is happening to other people, 00:21:08.554 --> 00:21:13.399 and what is happening to other people is actually affecting me a lot. 00:21:14.474 --> 00:21:20.577 So naturally, the insight of interbeing when I'm able to experience it deeply, 00:21:20.970 --> 00:21:29.786 helps me to protect, it helps me to do something to help other people. 00:21:30.491 --> 00:21:36.736 So it's in the same spirit of "Tiếp Hiện", coming in touch with the suffering 00:21:38.333 --> 00:21:42.046 and seeing the connectedness between myself and other people. 00:21:46.009 --> 00:21:51.628 It is only through this insight of interconnectedness, of interbeing, 00:21:54.274 --> 00:22:00.806 that we can be motivated to do something. 00:22:01.905 --> 00:22:05.105 Otherwise, we are just looking after our own interest 00:22:05.827 --> 00:22:08.908 and our own safety. 00:22:09.621 --> 00:22:16.179 The first three fo these Mindfulness Trainings talk about the mind. 00:22:18.117 --> 00:22:25.833 Buddha taught us that the mind is really the king of all the dharmas. 00:22:27.249 --> 00:22:30.668 (Vietnamese) in Vietnamese. 00:22:31.051 --> 00:22:34.417 Because the mind paints the world, 00:22:34.588 --> 00:22:38.430 the mind is like a painter that paints a reality. 00:22:41.723 --> 00:22:46.725 The mind creates our own reality, 00:22:46.936 --> 00:22:53.489 whether it's a physical reality, whether it is social or the environment. 00:22:57.264 --> 00:23:01.177 And it's also called the first three trainings 00:23:01.309 --> 00:23:05.124 "The cream of the Buddha's teaching". 00:23:05.285 --> 00:23:09.917 Because in Buddhism, 00:23:10.957 --> 00:23:14.747 our ultimate goal is to be free. 00:23:16.917 --> 00:23:21.531 To free from ideas and views and notions. 00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:25.479 So these trainings really adjust that issues, 00:23:25.679 --> 00:23:30.352 the issues of attachment, the issue of dogmatism, 00:23:30.670 --> 00:23:34.411 the issues of fanaticism, 00:23:38.100 --> 00:23:42.436 so that we can free ourselves. 00:23:45.020 --> 00:23:51.352 So that we can be free from ideas and notions and perceptions. 00:23:53.030 --> 00:23:57.886 When we are free, we can experience nirvana right here, right now. 00:23:58.445 --> 00:24:02.209 We don't need to die to experience nirvana. 00:24:03.328 --> 00:24:07.446 Nirvana is a place, is a state of mind 00:24:08.820 --> 00:24:13.801 when we are free. Brother Phap Dung mentioned this. 00:24:13.986 --> 00:24:17.874 When we are free of ideas and notions, 00:24:18.281 --> 00:24:21.119 not holding on to, not clinging. 00:24:21.782 --> 00:24:24.813 We can let go. 00:24:26.604 --> 00:24:30.795 That is the cream of the Buddhist teachings. 00:24:30.993 --> 00:24:34.596 The other things that we are doing in Plum Village, 00:24:34.714 --> 00:24:37.441 the other practices that we do, 00:24:37.596 --> 00:24:40.856 whether it's breathing or walking, 00:24:41.143 --> 00:24:46.868 they help us to have peace now. 00:24:47.352 --> 00:24:55.223 They help us to calm our body, to calm our mind, but ultimately, 00:24:57.040 --> 00:25:00.744 it is to help us to let go of our ideas and notions. 00:25:00.912 --> 00:25:04.208 To help us to see where we get stuck and blocked 00:25:04.364 --> 00:25:09.015 so that we can let go and be free. 00:25:17.529 --> 00:25:23.790 So when we hold on to an idea, when we are attached to views and notions, 00:25:24.708 --> 00:25:28.228 when we are dogmatic about something, 00:25:28.923 --> 00:25:32.723 we feel rigid and close-minded. 00:25:34.573 --> 00:25:40.553 For me, ideas and notions is all about my perceptions, 00:25:40.656 --> 00:25:44.405 it is all about the constructions of the mind, right? 00:25:44.504 --> 00:25:47.234 It's my own construction 00:25:47.384 --> 00:25:51.235 of reality, of other people. 00:25:51.816 --> 00:25:56.678 And it feels so real, it's like our own reality. 00:25:59.149 --> 00:26:04.690 The Buddha taught about knowledge like my own experience of reality, 00:26:04.775 --> 00:26:07.980 my knowledge of reality, 00:26:08.128 --> 00:26:15.242 the knowledge I have about reality, about myself and about other people, 00:26:17.129 --> 00:26:22.905 maybe an obstacle to my own growth and to my own transformation, 00:26:24.113 --> 00:26:27.332 my own growth. 00:26:29.403 --> 00:26:33.852 It's an obstacle to true understanding. 00:26:36.415 --> 00:26:39.710 So clinging on to views, 00:26:40.298 --> 00:26:44.747 clinging on to notions can prevent us from arriving 00:26:45.647 --> 00:26:51.347 at a deeper and profound understanding of reality. 00:27:02.607 --> 00:27:06.023 There is a sutra that Thay always talked about 00:27:06.144 --> 00:27:09.366 when he talked about these first three trainings. 00:27:09.496 --> 00:27:16.689 It's a story in the sutra called The Sutra of the One Hundred Parables, 00:27:17.416 --> 00:27:20.638 the story of a father and a son. 00:27:20.729 --> 00:27:27.459 The father is a merchant, and he was living with his son. 00:27:28.987 --> 00:27:32.791 One time, he went on a business trip. 00:27:37.986 --> 00:27:43.405 During that time, the robbers came to the village 00:27:43.474 --> 00:27:47.159 and stole everything and they burned down the village 00:27:47.255 --> 00:27:49.547 and they killed people. 00:27:49.667 --> 00:27:52.265 And when he came home, 00:27:52.416 --> 00:27:57.178 he found a dead body next to his house. 00:27:58.517 --> 00:28:02.581 And he thought that was his son that was killed. 00:28:02.749 --> 00:28:09.109 So he suffered a lot and he cremated the body of his son 00:28:10.460 --> 00:28:13.370 and put the ashes in a bag. 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:18.318 And he took it with him wherever he went. 00:28:18.654 --> 00:28:24.783 And he lamented over the death of his son, he suffered a lot. 00:28:26.777 --> 00:28:28.926 One time- 00:28:29.795 --> 00:28:32.009 His son, 00:28:32.314 --> 00:28:37.475 he was not actually killed, he was kidnapped by these robbers. 00:28:38.990 --> 00:28:42.498 And he managed to escape. 00:28:44.877 --> 00:28:48.088 And he went back home, he found his way back. 00:28:48.237 --> 00:28:54.077 In the mid of the night, he knocked at the house that his dad had rebuild. 00:28:55.953 --> 00:28:58.540 He knocked, he knocked, 00:28:58.690 --> 00:29:03.034 but his dad, who was inside crying and suffering from the dead of his son, 00:29:03.134 --> 00:29:05.053 refused to open the door. 00:29:05.467 --> 00:29:09.811 He thought it was someone playing a prank on him. 00:29:11.748 --> 00:29:16.448 So out of desperation he left his dad, 00:29:16.597 --> 00:29:21.120 and his dad lost him forever. 00:29:21.239 --> 00:29:27.601 So the Buddha said that sometimes the truth comes knocking at our door, 00:29:28.194 --> 00:29:30.686 but we refuse to let it in 00:29:30.814 --> 00:29:33.954 because we have all these ideas, 00:29:35.685 --> 00:29:40.915 we have all these beliefs that we consider the truth, reality, 00:29:41.027 --> 00:29:44.867 and nothing else is the truth. 00:29:46.018 --> 00:29:52.480 So knowledge is an obstacle to the path. 00:29:59.694 --> 00:30:02.313 (Vietnamese) 00:30:03.050 --> 00:30:04.841 (Bell) 00:30:07.967 --> 00:30:14.804 (Bell) 00:30:42.408 --> 00:30:47.850 My question, every time I heard this teaching was, 00:30:49.065 --> 00:30:53.516 How do I know I'm stuck in my ideas and perceptions? 00:30:55.431 --> 00:31:01.449 How do I know I'm caught in, I'm attached to notions, and ideas, and perceptions? 00:31:02.253 --> 00:31:05.896 Because I realize that if I know this is a perception, 00:31:06.013 --> 00:31:08.991 it's no longer a perception. 00:31:10.753 --> 00:31:15.266 And if I know I'm caught in a perception, or an idea or a notion, 00:31:15.388 --> 00:31:18.006 I can let go so easily. 00:31:18.120 --> 00:31:25.720 It's just that I don't know that I'm caught in an idea or notion or perception. 00:31:26.231 --> 00:31:31.168 And I see that in people around me. Sometimes they are so stuck, 00:31:31.501 --> 00:31:34.222 and yet they don't see they are stuck. 00:31:34.325 --> 00:31:39.334 Sometimes their ideas and views are so narrow like this 00:31:39.455 --> 00:31:41.580 but they don't see that. 00:31:41.661 --> 00:31:46.016 And that's the difficult thing about perception 00:31:47.535 --> 00:31:50.787 and belief systems that we have. 00:31:53.750 --> 00:31:56.176 So how do I practice, 00:31:57.916 --> 00:32:06.209 how do you practice to recognize that you are attached to views, and notions, 00:32:06.901 --> 00:32:09.929 ideas and perceptions? 00:32:13.442 --> 00:32:24.476 It's been something that I've... always have to sort of warn myself, 00:32:24.636 --> 00:32:29.902 caution myself about it, about whether I am stuck in ideas, and views 00:32:29.982 --> 00:32:32.128 and perceptions, 00:32:32.267 --> 00:32:36.437 because I know the suffering that I would experience if I'm stuck, 00:32:36.557 --> 00:32:42.843 I'm attached to a perception, to an idea, to a notion. 00:32:51.614 --> 00:32:54.129 So I have some practices. 00:32:57.821 --> 00:33:02.830 Sister Annabel, Sister Chan Duc talked about the love meditation, 00:33:02.961 --> 00:33:08.683 the metta meditation. I have my own metta meditation. 00:33:13.008 --> 00:33:16.872 I made it really simple so that I can practice them. 00:33:17.044 --> 00:33:19.505 I usually do it 00:33:20.958 --> 00:33:26.036 when I go to bed, I say this loving meditation for myself. 00:33:26.402 --> 00:33:32.137 And then, when I wake up in the morning, I say this loving meditation to everyone, 00:33:32.310 --> 00:33:34.672 to other people. 00:33:34.770 --> 00:33:40.222 The first one is, May I be safe and protected. 00:33:42.191 --> 00:33:45.557 The second one, May I be happy and peaceful. 00:33:47.103 --> 00:33:52.305 And the third one is, May I be healthy in my body and my mind. 00:33:52.895 --> 00:33:55.302 And the fourth one is, 00:33:56.914 --> 00:34:02.630 May I be free from wrong views, wrong perceptions, and wrong desires. 00:34:04.078 --> 00:34:07.228 This is a reminder for me 00:34:07.749 --> 00:34:13.267 to be really mindful, to be able to see 00:34:15.790 --> 00:34:18.430 the wrong views, the wrong perceptions I have. 00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:21.990 It's coming from a deep desire in me 00:34:23.487 --> 00:34:28.578 to understand and to see whether I'm caught in a wrong view, 00:34:28.878 --> 00:34:32.212 wrong perception, wrong desire, 00:34:32.381 --> 00:34:35.639 because I realize that I may be stuck in a wrong perception, 00:34:35.781 --> 00:34:38.229 in a wrong desire, 00:34:38.336 --> 00:34:41.144 a wrong view and I may not even know it. 00:34:42.873 --> 00:34:48.573 This love meditation that I do for myself is to help me 00:34:51.009 --> 00:35:00.116 enhance my awareness of notions and ideas and belief systems that I may have, 00:35:01.335 --> 00:35:05.340 that are narrow and limited. 00:35:10.650 --> 00:35:15.172 But it also comes from this deep desire to understand. 00:35:15.423 --> 00:35:18.382 And I know where I am right now 00:35:23.829 --> 00:35:26.395 can be changed, 00:35:26.495 --> 00:35:29.503 that my understanding grows 00:35:29.655 --> 00:35:35.567 and that there is a higher reality, a higher understanding, a higher wisdom 00:35:36.407 --> 00:35:40.802 and that my practice is to be able to stay open 00:35:40.934 --> 00:35:44.219 so that I can experience this deeper understanding, 00:35:44.494 --> 00:35:47.564 deeper wisdom. 00:35:50.963 --> 00:35:56.615 So that I'm not caught in my own understanding and knowledge. 00:35:57.195 --> 00:36:05.210 May I be free from wrong views, wrong perceptions and wrong desires. 00:36:06.425 --> 00:36:15.820 The fifth one that I practice is, May I have clarity into my own suffering, 00:36:17.491 --> 00:36:22.591 into habit energies, into my shortcomings. 00:36:31.643 --> 00:36:36.096 That also from that desire to understand, 00:36:37.365 --> 00:36:40.187 that desire to, 00:36:42.974 --> 00:36:48.675 to not get caught in my narrow views, in my belief system. 00:36:49.794 --> 00:36:53.320 To be free from my conditioning. 00:36:57.249 --> 00:37:03.293 But one of the sutras that was eye-opening for me 00:37:04.302 --> 00:37:08.031 was the Discourse on the Absolute Truth. 00:37:08.801 --> 00:37:15.265 It is a sutra in the Sutta Nipata 4.5, 00:37:15.341 --> 00:37:18.076 and I really like this discourse. 00:37:18.170 --> 00:37:21.216 It's something that I read often to myself 00:37:21.855 --> 00:37:25.588 because they are... 00:37:30.354 --> 00:37:34.717 because they are like MRI for me to look at myself, 00:37:34.811 --> 00:37:42.351 a sort of guidelines for me to go in and to see whether I'm attached to views, 00:37:43.434 --> 00:37:46.426 whether I'm being dogmatic or not. 00:37:49.736 --> 00:37:54.494 "He who still abides by a dogmatic view, 00:37:54.569 --> 00:37:58.257 considering it as the highest in the world, 00:37:58.327 --> 00:38:01.239 thinking, “This is the most excellent,” 00:38:01.317 --> 00:38:04.657 and disparaging other views as inferior, 00:38:04.721 --> 00:38:08.880 is still considered not to be free from disputes." 00:38:10.878 --> 00:38:16.148 So if I had a think that I am the best, if I think that my idea is the best, 00:38:16.228 --> 00:38:22.289 then this is I'm caught. This maybe a dogmatic view. 00:38:23.361 --> 00:38:26.189 That is a bell of mindfulness for me, 00:38:26.269 --> 00:38:29.108 because I know that is the tendency I have, 00:38:29.194 --> 00:38:33.114 to think that the idea I have is right. 00:38:33.351 --> 00:38:37.870 This helps me, it is like a light that brings... 00:38:39.154 --> 00:38:42.673 You know, bringing a light into my mind to see, 00:38:42.852 --> 00:38:47.070 Yes, I'm being caught in a dogmatic view. 00:38:48.571 --> 00:38:51.849 "When seeing, hearing, or sensing something 00:38:51.915 --> 00:38:57.529 and considering it as the only thing that can bring comfort and advantage to self, 00:38:57.700 --> 00:39:05.030 one is always inclined to get caught in it and rule out everything else as inferior." 00:39:07.455 --> 00:39:10.360 That sounds familiar, isn't it? 00:39:11.161 --> 00:39:14.692 What we see, what we hear, what we sense 00:39:16.040 --> 00:39:22.480 we consider that they are the only things that can bring us comfort. 00:39:25.565 --> 00:39:31.317 And it is a bell of mindfulness for me, because I see that sometimes 00:39:32.300 --> 00:39:36.252 our thinking, our belief system, our notions and ideas 00:39:36.371 --> 00:39:39.711 could be a comfort zone for us. 00:39:42.384 --> 00:39:49.362 We all have a need for material comfort and emotional comfort. 00:39:50.174 --> 00:39:53.754 And sometimes this comfort can be... 00:40:00.381 --> 00:40:04.271 They may be causes of our suffering. 00:40:06.229 --> 00:40:11.689 And finding comfort in our ideas, and notions, and knowledge 00:40:14.440 --> 00:40:17.430 is another thing 00:40:18.117 --> 00:40:23.550 that we sometimes get stuck in and we dont' even know. 00:40:23.889 --> 00:40:26.983 Because these comforts, 00:40:27.269 --> 00:40:31.694 these belief systems we have, these ideas we have, these perceptions we have 00:40:31.819 --> 00:40:36.052 give us a sense of self-worth, give us a sense of identity. 00:40:37.271 --> 00:40:44.051 And if we let go of this identity, if we let go of this sense of self-worth, 00:40:44.181 --> 00:40:46.955 then, who are we? 00:40:47.694 --> 00:40:51.225 That is the tendency to cling. 00:40:57.205 --> 00:41:03.648 "Caught in one’s view and considering all other views as inferior, 00:41:03.996 --> 00:41:10.187 this attitude is considered by the wise as bondage, as the absence of freedom. 00:41:11.200 --> 00:41:17.269 A good practitioner is never too quick to believe what is seen, heard, and sensed, 00:41:17.389 --> 00:41:20.903 including rules and rites." 00:41:22.239 --> 00:41:24.622 So, 00:41:25.163 --> 00:41:28.864 the question that we have to ask ourselves, 00:41:29.101 --> 00:41:33.235 as Thay always reminded us is: Are you sure? Am I sure? 00:41:33.356 --> 00:41:36.516 Am I sure of my perception? 00:41:37.389 --> 00:41:40.279 Am I sure of what I heard? 00:41:41.558 --> 00:41:43.927 What I've seen? 00:41:45.390 --> 00:41:48.116 What I sensed? 00:41:48.230 --> 00:41:52.670 Now that is the season or us to do Shining Light. 00:41:52.879 --> 00:41:56.889 We are beginning Shining Light sessions in the New Hamlet. 00:41:57.377 --> 00:42:04.080 I think this is really relevant to us. Am I sure about my perception? 00:42:04.190 --> 00:42:08.035 Am I sure about what I have seen? What I have heard? 00:42:10.904 --> 00:42:13.836 So that we can come to - 00:42:14.701 --> 00:42:20.006 So that we can let go of our ideas and our perceptions, 00:42:20.485 --> 00:42:24.315 so that we won't shine too strongly on our sisters. 00:42:24.425 --> 00:42:28.136 Because what we see, what we hear could be just 00:42:29.529 --> 00:42:32.130 our perception. 00:42:34.750 --> 00:42:42.474 "A good practitioner abandons the notion of self and the tendency to cling to views. 00:42:42.988 --> 00:42:47.727 He is free and does not depend on anything, even on knowledge. 00:42:47.888 --> 00:42:54.450 He does not take sides in controversies and does not hold on to any view or dogma." 00:43:00.931 --> 00:43:03.325 I think I skipped one. 00:43:03.451 --> 00:43:07.210 "A good practitioner has no need to set up a new theory for the world, 00:43:07.752 --> 00:43:13.035 using the knowledge he has picked up or the rules and rites he is practicing. 00:43:13.154 --> 00:43:19.238 He does not consider himself as “superior” “inferior”, or ‘equal” to anyone." 00:43:20.872 --> 00:43:25.534 And what I notice in myself 00:43:27.524 --> 00:43:30.706 which means that we are very much the same, 00:43:30.825 --> 00:43:33.548 that it's something we all do, 00:43:33.654 --> 00:43:39.406 that there is this tendency to form ideas and opinions about everything, 00:43:40.227 --> 00:43:44.646 about circumstances, about people, 00:43:44.747 --> 00:43:48.598 that tendency goes unnoticed, 00:43:48.909 --> 00:43:52.911 forming ideas, forming opinions 00:43:53.609 --> 00:43:57.813 and they are truly we are just forming perceptions 00:43:58.061 --> 00:44:02.799 about circumstances, about people, about ourselves. 00:44:03.442 --> 00:44:05.632 So, 00:44:05.955 --> 00:44:12.698 this discourse is a bell of mindfulness to help us to see if we can really let go 00:44:13.238 --> 00:44:19.179 of forming ideas and perceptions. If we can just see things as they are, 00:44:19.296 --> 00:44:26.079 without the need to forming an opinion about it. 00:44:26.230 --> 00:44:29.609 And this is a challenge. 00:44:32.026 --> 00:44:35.773 It's a challenge to see and to hear 00:44:36.693 --> 00:44:40.272 and to stay quiet about it in our head. 00:44:42.065 --> 00:44:46.533 I think that is when we really need to practice mindful breathing, 00:44:46.767 --> 00:44:50.444 taking refuge in our breathe in a 100% 00:44:50.554 --> 00:44:57.987 so that we can watch ourselves and we can let go of this tendency 00:44:58.108 --> 00:45:01.529 to form ideas and perceptions. 00:45:01.910 --> 00:45:07.668 Most of the times, we form ideas and perceptions and then we judge. 00:45:08.494 --> 00:45:11.676 We judge others, good, bad. 00:45:11.811 --> 00:45:18.672 This is a really good way to also let go of judgments. 00:45:18.921 --> 00:45:23.534 Judgments towards ourselves and judgments towards other people. 00:45:27.885 --> 00:45:31.720 "He does not seek for anything or cling to anything, 00:45:31.855 --> 00:45:35.225 either this extreme or the other extreme, 00:45:35.297 --> 00:45:39.197 either in this world or in the other world. 00:45:39.287 --> 00:45:41.726 He has abandoned all views and 00:45:41.916 --> 00:45:49.053 no longer has the need to seek for comfort or refuge in any theory and ideology. 00:45:52.563 --> 00:45:54.982 To the wise person, 00:45:55.153 --> 00:46:00.141 there are no longer any views concerning what is seen, heard, and sensed. 00:46:00.523 --> 00:46:05.441 How could one judge or have an opinion concerning such a pure being 00:46:05.549 --> 00:46:08.163 who has let go of all views?" 00:46:08.499 --> 00:46:15.420 So when we are able to let go of our views, when we let go of clinging, 00:46:15.550 --> 00:46:19.050 and forming these ideas and perceptions, 00:46:19.150 --> 00:46:24.046 then we are not caught in this extreme or the other extreme. 00:46:25.392 --> 00:46:28.729 We are practicing the middle way, 00:46:29.673 --> 00:46:37.196 which is being truly present and not-attached to any ideas or notions. 00:46:40.291 --> 00:46:45.169 And this is when we can experience nirvana here and now. 00:46:52.241 --> 00:46:56.799 A pure being who has let go of all views. 00:46:57.603 --> 00:47:04.634 This is a being who is dwelling in nirvana right here and right now. 00:47:05.333 --> 00:47:08.269 And it could be us 00:47:08.913 --> 00:47:11.595 if we are able to let go of these views. 00:47:12.089 --> 00:47:16.809 Not forming new views, and opinions, and perceptions 00:47:17.787 --> 00:47:22.550 we can experience nirvana here and now, we could be that pure being. 00:47:25.312 --> 00:47:32.824 " A wise person no longer feels the need to set up dogmas or choosing an ideology. 00:47:32.967 --> 00:47:37.667 All dogmas and ideologies have been abandoned by such a person. 00:47:38.005 --> 00:47:42.165 A real noble one is never caught in rules or rites. 00:47:43.110 --> 00:47:47.754 He or she is advancing steadfastly to the shore of liberation 00:47:47.993 --> 00:47:52.312 and will never return to the realm of bondage." 00:47:53.939 --> 00:47:58.663 It is a very short discourse, 00:47:59.559 --> 00:48:03.663 but they are like guidelines for us 00:48:05.152 --> 00:48:11.356 to look at ourselves and to see where we are caught, where we are stuck 00:48:14.278 --> 00:48:16.631 and how to let go of it, 00:48:16.761 --> 00:48:20.445 how to throw it out, like brother Phap Dung said. 00:48:20.578 --> 00:48:22.930 I loved this image of 00:48:23.037 --> 00:48:26.510 throwing out those views and ideas. 00:48:26.890 --> 00:48:30.773 Although it is not as simple as that. 00:48:35.756 --> 00:48:39.385 But what I also found 00:48:41.044 --> 00:48:46.052 for me to see where I am stuck 00:48:48.959 --> 00:48:55.370 is the practice of deep listening and loving speech. 00:48:55.497 --> 00:48:58.307 And especially deep listening, 00:48:58.444 --> 00:49:02.206 because I notice that sometimes when I'm listening to other people 00:49:02.325 --> 00:49:05.677 I'm not really listening deeply, I'm not really there, 00:49:05.856 --> 00:49:15.006 I'm in my head forming new ideas and ways to respond to what is said. 00:49:16.885 --> 00:49:22.042 I'm pretending I'm listening but I'm not really listening. 00:49:22.332 --> 00:49:26.516 And even though I'm not intentionally pretending not to listen, 00:49:27.030 --> 00:49:29.380 it's just - 00:49:29.812 --> 00:49:33.228 I guess that is how our mind works, right? 00:49:33.360 --> 00:49:36.904 It's not that we are intent to pretend 00:49:39.335 --> 00:49:41.700 that we are listening, 00:49:41.837 --> 00:49:46.158 it is just that is how our minds works automatically. 00:49:46.274 --> 00:49:48.836 It is habitual. 00:49:48.970 --> 00:49:51.753 Mindfulness helps us to be a Buddha, 00:49:52.970 --> 00:49:55.615 to really stay present 00:49:55.690 --> 00:50:00.301 and to hear deeply without forming ideas and opinions in our head, 00:50:00.667 --> 00:50:03.979 so that we can really hear between the lines. 00:50:04.113 --> 00:50:09.313 And we can hear so much more, when we can hear without forming ideas 00:50:09.491 --> 00:50:13.168 and not preparing how to respond. 00:50:15.110 --> 00:50:20.082 Then we can truly hear what is not said. 00:50:23.831 --> 00:50:32.086 Living in a community, living in a sangha is a really precious opportunity. 00:50:33.129 --> 00:50:36.536 When we talk about taking refuge in the sangha, 00:50:36.744 --> 00:50:41.232 it's something that I have reflected on all my life, 00:50:41.343 --> 00:50:46.481 what does really taking refuge in the sangha mean? 00:50:46.878 --> 00:50:52.442 Surely I want to take refuge in her? Or in her? Or in her? 00:50:53.549 --> 00:50:55.811 You know? 00:50:57.807 --> 00:51:00.602 Because sometimes I, I - 00:51:05.906 --> 00:51:10.103 Sometimes, especially when I was younger, 00:51:10.968 --> 00:51:15.752 I sort of doubted these people around me. 00:51:15.985 --> 00:51:19.646 I doubted their love and I doubted their - 00:51:25.509 --> 00:51:28.127 Their goodness. 00:51:28.593 --> 00:51:30.812 It is like, you know, like 00:51:30.972 --> 00:51:34.076 how do I really - What does it really mean by taking refuge, 00:51:34.226 --> 00:51:39.106 I do not want to take refuge in these people around me like these. 00:51:39.656 --> 00:51:42.668 What I realized was that 00:51:42.835 --> 00:51:45.538 the sangha, even though they are not perfect 00:51:45.639 --> 00:51:48.935 like these people, like my sisters, they are not perfect. 00:51:49.077 --> 00:51:53.515 They have a lot of flaws, I do have a lot of flaws. 00:51:54.133 --> 00:51:58.912 But they are there, and they have this deep desire to practice. 00:51:59.146 --> 00:52:02.603 And that is what I have to take refuge in. 00:52:02.803 --> 00:52:06.495 It's just their presence there, practicing, 00:52:06.645 --> 00:52:10.632 creates an environment for me to practice. 00:52:11.919 --> 00:52:17.582 And that is what I'm taking refuge in. I'm not taking refuge in her, or in her, 00:52:17.931 --> 00:52:22.966 I'm taking refuge in the collective energy of practice 00:52:23.120 --> 00:52:27.992 that everyone here is creating and generating. 00:52:28.584 --> 00:52:33.481 And that this is a really good environment for me to be in, 00:52:35.567 --> 00:52:37.979 to be motivated, 00:52:38.495 --> 00:52:41.235 to practice. 00:52:41.428 --> 00:52:43.455 And everyone 00:52:45.378 --> 00:52:49.059 is really a reminder for me to come back to my practice. 00:52:49.224 --> 00:52:52.963 Each one of them is like a bell of mindfulness for me 00:52:53.500 --> 00:52:57.621 to help me come back to myself, come back to the practice. 00:52:57.883 --> 00:53:01.166 Because I'm not always very disciplined. 00:53:01.352 --> 00:53:05.055 I cannot always do it myself 00:53:05.186 --> 00:53:09.117 and I need the presence of everyone else 00:53:09.332 --> 00:53:13.548 to help me, to remind me to come back to myself. 00:53:13.939 --> 00:53:17.509 But what I also realized 00:53:19.229 --> 00:53:24.622 is that the presence of the sangha helps me to see where I'm stuck, 00:53:24.776 --> 00:53:27.574 where I am blocked, 00:53:27.740 --> 00:53:31.636 where I tend to cling and attach. 00:53:36.802 --> 00:53:42.815 And it happens in sharing, 00:53:43.927 --> 00:53:47.577 but it happens a lot in meetings. 00:53:47.787 --> 00:53:55.183 That is when I have a lot of opportunities to see whether I'm stuck or not. 00:53:55.313 --> 00:53:59.699 Whether I'm clinging on to my views or not. 00:54:03.460 --> 00:54:06.840 Here is my rule. 00:54:08.947 --> 00:54:11.639 I look inside myself, 00:54:11.808 --> 00:54:16.833 and if I see in my interaction with my sister or in meetings or whatever, 00:54:19.002 --> 00:54:27.390 if my heart is constricted, and tight, then I know I'm attached to an idea. 00:54:28.364 --> 00:54:35.265 I'm attached. I'm stuck in a perception. I'm stuck in my belief system. 00:54:38.534 --> 00:54:42.985 So if I feel constricted, if I feel blocked in here, 00:54:43.110 --> 00:54:45.722 if I feel discomfort inside, 00:54:45.892 --> 00:54:48.509 then I know that is where I need to face, 00:54:48.641 --> 00:54:51.770 know what I need to look into. 00:54:51.952 --> 00:54:59.021 Because I'm probably stuck and clinging to my views, and my perceptions 00:54:59.102 --> 00:55:01.566 and my ideas. 00:55:01.740 --> 00:55:04.836 So the presence of the sangha helps enormously, 00:55:04.974 --> 00:55:09.230 because they are there constantly and they are challenging my ideas 00:55:09.408 --> 00:55:12.713 and my perception all the time. 00:55:13.927 --> 00:55:17.158 And every time it happens, 00:55:17.227 --> 00:55:20.972 is an opportunity for me to see where I am right now. 00:55:21.122 --> 00:55:23.641 Whether I am rigid, 00:55:23.875 --> 00:55:28.150 I am holding, or whether I am just opening 00:55:29.851 --> 00:55:32.431 and let it in. 00:55:33.370 --> 00:55:36.878 Letting it happen, let it in, accepting 00:55:37.994 --> 00:55:45.126 whatever ideas that are coming from other people. 00:55:52.475 --> 00:55:55.471 So for me, 00:55:56.912 --> 00:56:02.702 the practice is to come back to myself and to feel that block inside. 00:56:06.804 --> 00:56:08.937 And I, I - 00:56:13.292 --> 00:56:16.599 I do it when I am in sitting meditation, 00:56:16.788 --> 00:56:19.628 I just follow my breathing, I just go in 00:56:19.744 --> 00:56:22.999 and I localize if I'm stuck and blocked anywhere. 00:56:23.099 --> 00:56:26.390 And I just breathe with that blockage. 00:56:26.500 --> 00:56:29.561 But also, I can't sleep at night. 00:56:29.671 --> 00:56:32.294 I can wake up in the middle of the night 00:56:32.460 --> 00:56:35.914 and sometimes for two or three hours and I couldn't go back to sleep. 00:56:36.080 --> 00:56:40.676 And it is usually in the wee hours of the night. 00:56:42.700 --> 00:56:48.404 And I make use of that time to do see if I'm stuck and blocked. 00:56:48.909 --> 00:56:54.438 So instead of forcing myself to go back to sleep, 00:56:54.918 --> 00:56:59.189 or beating myself down for not being able to sleep, 00:56:59.399 --> 00:57:02.287 I just go back to my body, 00:57:02.524 --> 00:57:08.701 I go through my body and I feel if there is anything that feels uncomfortable 00:57:08.982 --> 00:57:13.283 stuck and blocked, and I just breathe with it. 00:57:13.772 --> 00:57:18.364 And I found that sometimes it takes an hour or even two 00:57:18.492 --> 00:57:21.634 just to get this opening in that blockage, 00:57:21.804 --> 00:57:25.437 because you can see that when your mind from your present 00:57:25.556 --> 00:57:28.668 breathes with that blockage, 00:57:28.808 --> 00:57:31.406 then it sort of dissipates, it melts away. 00:57:31.517 --> 00:57:34.584 And you hear this gurgling, softening in the body, 00:57:34.713 --> 00:57:37.047 like the circulation in the body. 00:57:37.417 --> 00:57:41.010 And then there is openness in the body. 00:57:41.180 --> 00:57:43.748 And when that happens, 00:57:43.896 --> 00:57:47.200 it's not just melting away this blockage in my body, 00:57:47.312 --> 00:57:52.630 but I realize that it is also melting away the blockage that I have in my mind, 00:57:52.772 --> 00:57:57.391 because whatever I experience in my mind, 00:57:58.863 --> 00:58:02.457 is manifesting in the body. 00:58:02.593 --> 00:58:09.994 And helping that part in my body to melt is also helping to melt the way, 00:58:10.153 --> 00:58:13.106 the blockage that is in my mind. 00:58:13.297 --> 00:58:17.470 So taking care of the body is really taking care of the mind. 00:58:17.831 --> 00:58:22.489 Transformation in the body is also transformation in the mind. 00:58:23.231 --> 00:58:29.050 But it's easier for me to work on my body, because I can feel it, sense it. 00:58:36.143 --> 00:58:40.444 One phenomena that I realized that is happening inside 00:58:40.773 --> 00:58:46.632 and I see happening around me is what I call spiritual bypassing. 00:58:50.337 --> 00:58:53.036 It is the way we think, 00:58:53.304 --> 00:58:56.154 it is the way we look at things 00:58:56.399 --> 00:59:00.532 that we sort of not going through our difficulties and suffering, 00:59:00.671 --> 00:59:03.910 we sort of go around it. 00:59:06.781 --> 00:59:09.340 We think we have transformed 00:59:09.493 --> 00:59:12.487 but actually we are just avoiding the issues. 00:59:17.719 --> 00:59:21.904 And I realized one of the practices, it's a very precious practice, 00:59:22.002 --> 00:59:25.871 but we can get stuck in it. 00:59:26.157 --> 00:59:30.706 We can make use of it to bypass the difficulties and suffering we have. 00:59:30.854 --> 00:59:34.126 It is called "changing CDs". You've heard of it? 00:59:34.197 --> 00:59:36.839 Changing pegs? 00:59:36.975 --> 00:59:40.446 That means that when we have this enormous suffering 00:59:40.518 --> 00:59:43.049 that is manifesting, 00:59:43.169 --> 00:59:46.885 we don't have the clarity and the mindfulness energy, the strength 00:59:47.035 --> 00:59:51.911 in order to embrace it because it would be too overwhelming for us, 00:59:52.980 --> 00:59:58.391 it could be devastating to face that suffering that is unfolding inside, 00:59:58.661 --> 01:00:04.193 so the Buddha taught this practice so that we can go, 01:00:04.632 --> 01:00:09.074 instead of looking at this enormous suffering that is manifesting 01:00:09.257 --> 01:00:12.226 or that is threatening to come up, 01:00:12.326 --> 01:00:16.328 we can go, we can practice walking, coming in touch with the beauties around us, 01:00:16.494 --> 01:00:21.073 the trees, the good qualities, the positive things, 01:00:21.456 --> 01:00:25.652 so that we can have enough strength, 01:00:26.105 --> 01:00:32.938 enough clarity in order to go back and face this block, this suffering. 01:00:33.377 --> 01:00:37.177 But some of us have used it to bypass his suffering. 01:00:37.316 --> 01:00:40.448 We just do this all the time. 01:00:40.701 --> 01:00:43.647 And the suffering stays the same 01:00:43.848 --> 01:00:46.342 because we never really face it. 01:00:46.460 --> 01:00:49.381 We never really go into it. 01:00:53.313 --> 01:00:55.575 So, 01:00:56.994 --> 01:00:59.355 The practice is- 01:00:59.445 --> 01:01:02.237 Maybe at the beginning we need this practice of changing CD, 01:01:02.423 --> 01:01:06.007 but eventually we need really to go inside, 01:01:06.156 --> 01:01:12.716 we need really feel the rawness of that suffering, the discomfort feeling 01:01:12.848 --> 01:01:18.821 and energy, and the pain of that suffering. 01:01:20.011 --> 01:01:23.513 We need to really face it head on. 01:01:23.839 --> 01:01:26.693 And the tools that we can use, 01:01:26.912 --> 01:01:33.144 truly mindfulness, the breathing, accepting it, 01:01:34.023 --> 01:01:37.789 there is no need to struggle anymore, there is no need no run away. 01:01:37.904 --> 01:01:41.304 Spiritual bypassing is a skillful way 01:01:41.948 --> 01:01:44.904 to run away. 01:01:45.162 --> 01:01:47.887 For my self. 01:01:47.998 --> 01:01:51.437 We need to go in. 01:01:56.308 --> 01:01:58.231 (Bell) 01:02:01.581 --> 01:02:07.764 (Bell) 01:02:22.489 --> 01:02:25.121 So the way in 01:02:25.931 --> 01:02:30.110 is the only way in order to transform, 01:02:30.660 --> 01:02:33.063 in order to understand, 01:02:33.255 --> 01:02:35.560 in order to heal ourselves. 01:02:52.362 --> 01:02:56.864 The practice of Interbeing, 01:02:59.226 --> 01:03:02.606 the practice of non-self, 01:03:04.642 --> 01:03:12.168 interdependent arising, these are really profound Buddhist insights, teachings. 01:03:17.201 --> 01:03:25.045 But they are something we can experience, we can practice in our daily life. 01:03:26.391 --> 01:03:30.103 They are not something beyond our reach. 01:03:33.790 --> 01:03:39.963 When we are able to have this insight of interconnectedness, of interbeing, 01:03:45.226 --> 01:03:48.476 then we can be really free. 01:03:48.686 --> 01:03:53.569 Free from views and ideas. We can be in the skin of other people, 01:03:53.984 --> 01:03:57.180 we can be truly open. 01:04:01.930 --> 01:04:05.072 And that is when we can really transform 01:04:05.243 --> 01:04:08.824 the discrimination we have inside our head. 01:04:14.313 --> 01:04:17.594 These teachings can be practiced, 01:04:17.925 --> 01:04:21.022 they can be experienced 01:04:21.175 --> 01:04:23.405 when we are eating. 01:04:23.521 --> 01:04:27.627 It is in something mundane as eating 01:04:29.038 --> 01:04:33.378 that we can experience these really profound teachings. 01:04:33.666 --> 01:04:37.480 Or when we are urinating or defecating, 01:04:37.590 --> 01:04:41.181 or when we breathe. 01:04:41.757 --> 01:04:44.162 When we touch the Earth, 01:04:44.339 --> 01:04:46.802 these are practices 01:04:48.364 --> 01:04:50.686 that can help us 01:04:50.994 --> 01:04:55.882 cultivate the insight of Interbeing, of no-self. 01:04:57.576 --> 01:05:02.394 And this is, when we have this experience, this insight, 01:05:04.249 --> 01:05:09.777 that we can really transform ideas, and notions of separateness, 01:05:12.239 --> 01:05:15.116 we can really transform 01:05:16.850 --> 01:05:20.250 clinging and attachment. 01:05:27.576 --> 01:05:31.842 And that really can be truly free. 01:05:36.506 --> 01:05:44.005 So may you be free, may you be free from wrong views, 01:05:45.332 --> 01:05:48.942 wrong perceptions and wrong desires, 01:05:49.114 --> 01:05:51.563 and may you have clarity 01:05:51.672 --> 01:05:54.834 into your suffering, into yourself, 01:05:54.964 --> 01:05:58.067 into your shortcomings, and your weaknesses, 01:05:58.195 --> 01:06:00.284 so that you can be an instrument, 01:06:02.961 --> 01:06:09.507 an instrument to alleviate the suffering in the world, in yourself, 01:06:10.738 --> 01:06:13.919 in your families, and your society. 01:06:17.937 --> 01:06:21.430 When we have this insight, 01:06:22.269 --> 01:06:24.877 we know that the suffering 01:06:25.764 --> 01:06:28.790 that is happening on the other side of the globe 01:06:30.222 --> 01:06:32.870 through war, 01:06:33.401 --> 01:06:36.191 through human cruelty, 01:06:36.515 --> 01:06:42.694 they are not just of these people over there but they are ours too. 01:06:43.346 --> 01:06:46.864 They are our suffering as well. 01:06:47.082 --> 01:06:53.954 Even if this suffering had happened 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 01:06:58.036 --> 01:07:00.748 that we can do something right now 01:07:01.260 --> 01:07:04.089 in this breath, in this step, 01:07:06.408 --> 01:07:12.011 in order to change, in order to bring peace to the people 01:07:13.098 --> 01:07:16.006 that have died. 01:07:19.230 --> 01:07:21.131 This is 01:07:21.802 --> 01:07:25.194 we are not just practicing this for ourselves. 01:07:25.374 --> 01:07:31.045 So with the insight of interbeing we know that our practice today 01:07:33.966 --> 01:07:36.574 is not just for ourselves. 01:07:36.787 --> 01:07:40.562 That we are doing it for those people who had suffered 01:07:40.710 --> 01:07:43.659 and who are suffering right now. 01:07:47.692 --> 01:07:51.938 And that we need more people to wake up, 01:07:53.770 --> 01:07:56.490 wake up to the fact that they are, 01:07:58.936 --> 01:08:01.951 they are clinging, 01:08:02.270 --> 01:08:04.956 so that they can let go. 01:08:05.066 --> 01:08:08.693 It's only when they can let go that they can be happy, can be free. 01:08:08.843 --> 01:08:12.425 So when we are able to let go, we can be happy and free. 01:08:12.537 --> 01:08:16.238 And with our own transformation, we can help other people to see 01:08:16.338 --> 01:08:19.725 that they are clinging, so that they can let go, 01:08:19.841 --> 01:08:22.798 they can be happy and they can be free. 01:08:22.961 --> 01:08:28.979 So our own awakening is helping others to wake up as well. 01:08:30.044 --> 01:08:38.372 Thank you for listening, thank you for practicing to wake up 01:08:40.303 --> 01:08:43.236 for yourselves and for humanity. 01:08:45.286 --> 01:08:51.549 (Bell) 01:09:09.622 --> 01:09:15.522 (Bell) 01:09:34.613 --> 01:09:40.800 (Bell)