0:00:00.201,0:00:04.507
[The Plum Village Online Monastery]

0:00:04.778,0:00:10.708
(Bell)

0:00:34.035,0:00:40.085
(Bell)

0:01:03.517,0:01:09.666
(Bell)

0:01:26.163,0:01:31.759
Dear respected teacher,[br]dear brothers and sisters,

0:01:31.957,0:01:34.044
dear sangha,

0:01:34.165,0:01:36.170
can you hear OK?

0:01:42.828,0:01:47.867
This autumn retreat[br]we are exploring for three months

0:01:49.082,0:01:50.948
Thay's

0:01:54.118,0:01:57.906
14 mindfulness trainings[br]of the Order of Interbeing.

0:01:58.011,0:02:02.409
It's like a tradition that Thay founded.

0:02:02.925,0:02:06.482
Some of you are new[br]to our community, to Plum Village

0:02:06.592,0:02:08.923
so, please, do your best.

0:02:08.990,0:02:11.897
If you don't know what[br]we are talking about, it is OK.

0:02:12.269,0:02:15.641
But in the autumn time, for three months

0:02:15.829,0:02:22.042
we brothers and sisters like to[br]go focus on a particular topic

0:02:22.118,0:02:27.514
so that it nourishes[br]all of us to go deeper,

0:02:27.603,0:02:31.664
to understand Thay,[br]to understand our tradition.

0:02:34.155,0:02:36.736
The Order of Interbeing

0:02:36.910,0:02:40.175
is a kind of new vision of Thay.

0:02:40.980,0:02:43.744
Thay is trying to -

0:02:44.522,0:02:51.597
Back then he didn't really envision[br]himself having monastic disciples.

0:02:52.499,0:02:54.522
I think we've heard him share that,

0:02:54.714,0:02:58.706
"There are already too many teachers[br]with too many students.

0:02:58.859,0:03:02.684
I will just teach the students[br]of other teachers."

0:03:03.301,0:03:07.194
So he really wanted to

0:03:09.571,0:03:14.036
just to be doing the part of the teaching.

0:03:15.901,0:03:18.596
Not having students.

0:03:19.653,0:03:22.445
I think that during that time,

0:03:22.615,0:03:25.080
he experimented a lot.

0:03:25.246,0:03:29.036
You can see some old pictures of Thay,[br]his hair is long.

0:03:29.535,0:03:33.904
I think he is probably[br]aware of the hippy movement.

0:03:34.691,0:03:38.693
If you see Thay's old pictures[br]sometimes he looks cool.

0:03:39.092,0:03:41.935
Looks like a renegade.

0:03:42.095,0:03:46.887
He didn't wear the formal robe[br]like you see Thay does now,

0:03:46.968,0:03:49.465
and with a OI jacket.

0:03:50.445,0:03:53.064
We see Thay evolve

0:03:53.229,0:03:57.723
from a hippyish monk traveling,

0:03:58.452,0:04:00.487
experimenting and -

0:04:00.672,0:04:03.034
Anyway, this is my perception, OK?

0:04:03.161,0:04:04.574
(Laughter)

0:04:04.684,0:04:06.835
You have to ask Thay yourself.

0:04:07.509,0:04:12.470
For me that's how I begin[br]to understand a little bit

0:04:12.669,0:04:15.036
of the Order of Interbeing,

0:04:15.186,0:04:18.755
as well as our tradition.

0:04:19.497,0:04:24.153
To not to make such a distinction,

0:04:24.297,0:04:28.431
but Buddhist teaching is to help us[br]liberate ourselves

0:04:28.532,0:04:31.032
and to relieve suffering within us

0:04:31.166,0:04:34.502
and to relieve suffering in the world.

0:04:34.644,0:04:37.016
That is the main purpose.

0:04:37.135,0:04:42.434
Buddhism is not here to describe[br]the world, the reality,

0:04:42.543,0:04:45.667
the nature of things or how we came to be.

0:04:45.719,0:04:47.991
It's not philosophical.

0:04:48.492,0:04:50.845
When the Buddha found this path

0:04:50.956,0:04:54.136
is to help relieve suffering.[br]That's it.

0:04:55.342,0:04:57.454
And as Buddhism evolved,

0:04:57.556,0:05:03.124
it became more and more philosophical,[br]academic, and theoretical.

0:05:03.600,0:05:10.765
Thay's new Order of Interbeing[br]is to revive that.

0:05:12.055,0:05:16.213
It is something we need to[br]look deeply, practice deeply,

0:05:16.328,0:05:21.677
so we can understand our teacher more,

0:05:21.804,0:05:28.535
to understand what we are doing here,[br]in Plum Village

0:05:28.619,0:05:31.534
as well as sangha building and so on.

0:05:33.860,0:05:40.492
Today I will share about the four[br]principles of the Order of Interbeing.

0:05:42.225,0:05:46.804
The Order of Interbeing has precepts,[br]the fourteen precepts,

0:05:47.388,0:05:53.589
and the underlying foundation,[br]the spirit of the 14 mindfulness trainings

0:05:54.433,0:05:57.230
Thay has shared it,

0:05:57.796,0:06:06.347
put it into four principles, or four[br]spirits of the Order of Interbeing.

0:06:07.617,0:06:14.695
Openness, direct experimentation,[br]appropriateness and skillfulness.

0:06:15.949,0:06:19.007
I will write that up.

0:06:19.171,0:06:21.257
And before we -

0:06:22.708,0:06:27.582
To understand those four,[br]why they were so important to Thay

0:06:27.796,0:06:29.981
we will look a little bit

0:06:30.180,0:06:34.723
at some of the conditions that existed

0:06:34.836,0:06:40.766
when Thay was becoming,[br]evolving as a young monk.

0:06:41.945,0:06:46.777
This is my own reflection[br]to try to understand more

0:06:47.462,0:06:51.888
and I leave it up to you to study more[br]and to look more deeply

0:06:52.302,0:06:56.146
why these four are so important

0:06:56.609,0:07:01.020
during Thay's time[br]as it is now in our time.

0:07:01.906,0:07:04.914
The first principle is openness.

0:07:05.370,0:07:09.603
[Openness]

0:07:10.499,0:07:13.130
The second one is

0:07:14.301,0:07:21.977
[Direct Experimentation]

0:07:26.995,0:07:29.835
direct experimentation.

0:07:29.968,0:07:33.098
The third one is appropriateness.

0:07:35.894,0:07:39.489
[Appropriateness]

0:07:40.587,0:07:44.006
And the last one is skillfulness.

0:07:44.804,0:07:48.226
[Skilness]

0:07:50.845,0:07:53.602
And these are things not to just[br]write down in notes

0:07:53.714,0:07:56.211
for us to reflect on in our practice.

0:07:56.299,0:07:59.524
They are the spirit,[br]the guides of practice.

0:08:00.154,0:08:05.165
To understand a little bit,[br]at least my own looking,

0:08:05.525,0:08:09.537
I try to look at what was happening[br]during Thay's time.

0:08:10.203,0:08:12.162
The conditions.

0:08:13.957,0:08:17.196
There is a misspelling,[br]skill -ful.

0:08:19.258,0:08:21.697
"Skilness" is not a word yet.

0:08:21.869,0:08:23.236
(Laughter)

0:08:23.435,0:08:25.129
Skillfulness.

0:08:25.472,0:08:28.171
Two "l"s?[br]Two two "l"s? Four "l"s?

0:08:29.897,0:08:32.736
One "l" somewhere there, right?[br]Maybe here.

0:08:33.003,0:08:35.025
(Laughter)

0:08:35.449,0:08:38.634
Yes? No? The other one!

0:08:39.824,0:08:41.868
It's not very skillful.

0:08:41.997,0:08:43.704
(Laughter)

0:08:43.802,0:08:45.947
Voilà!

0:08:47.937,0:08:51.285
So I was reflecting a little bit of -

0:08:51.483,0:08:55.859
And we've heard Thay share[br]how he was inspired

0:08:56.017,0:09:00.492
when he learned about[br]what Buddhism did one time

0:09:00.601,0:09:04.108
during Vietnam's history.

0:09:04.357,0:09:08.514
How it actually was very integrated[br]in society, in politics.

0:09:09.357,0:09:15.037
A lot of Buddhists[br]were teachers of political leaders,

0:09:15.172,0:09:17.365
so it was very integrated.

0:09:17.959,0:09:23.554
So Buddhism was never something you do[br]outside of what was happening in society.

0:09:23.654,0:09:25.707
This is something -

0:09:26.872,0:09:32.753
So during Thay's time,[br]there was a war going on.

0:09:34.011,0:09:39.572
[height war]

0:09:43.996,0:09:49.669
This is in 1968.

0:09:53.311,0:09:56.573
What we call the Tet Offensive.

0:09:56.770,0:09:59.180
[1968 Tết Offensive]

0:09:59.341,0:10:03.135
It's like a lot of violence happening.

0:10:03.242,0:10:04.914
There is the -

0:10:05.279,0:10:08.016
In the war's history they say[br]this is the height

0:10:08.142,0:10:15.080
of when the Vietnamese[br]wanted to show America

0:10:15.474,0:10:18.447
that they are not giving up.

0:10:18.548,0:10:23.277
So there is a lot of atrocity[br]happening in 1968.

0:10:23.441,0:10:26.693
And just let us know that the OI order

0:10:26.971,0:10:31.512
[OI Order]

0:10:32.452,0:10:35.471
1966.

0:10:37.082,0:10:39.426
This is when Thay -

0:10:39.838,0:10:46.579
I have a feeling Thay had formulated[br]these teachings and trainings before that

0:10:46.665,0:10:49.298
but we put there 66,

0:10:49.416,0:10:52.485
it is when sister Chan Khong[br]and the six -

0:10:52.891,0:10:54.755
(Vietnamese)

0:10:54.958,0:10:56.983
Six cedars? No.

0:10:57.087,0:10:58.751
(Vietnamese)

0:10:58.932,0:11:02.244
The first six OI members,[br]three men and three women

0:11:02.899,0:11:04.718
were ordained.

0:11:04.845,0:11:07.671
So we look and we see that[br]during that time

0:11:08.502,0:11:12.841
there were bombs being thrown[br]on the country

0:11:13.175,0:11:15.178
and people were dying.

0:11:15.825,0:11:19.007
We have to imagine that time.

0:11:20.068,0:11:22.025
So, how to help?

0:11:22.638,0:11:25.753
We all know the story of Thay saying that

0:11:26.043,0:11:28.935
if you are a monk[br]and you are sitting in the monastery

0:11:28.999,0:11:31.182
and you are chanting

0:11:31.253,0:11:34.350
and there are bombs and people[br]being blown to pieces outside,

0:11:34.440,0:11:37.918
you do not sit in the temple[br]and continue to chant.

0:11:39.512,0:11:43.510
This is just to understand a little bit

0:11:44.311,0:11:46.277
Thay's intention.

0:11:46.362,0:11:48.172
During this time,

0:11:48.894,0:11:52.811
there are a lot of[br]young people's movements,

0:11:57.670,0:11:59.571
students,

0:11:59.940,0:12:01.930
[Young People (students)]

0:12:02.092,0:12:07.670
who were going into the streets,[br]in the Universities.

0:12:07.798,0:12:09.362
[Univ.]

0:12:09.507,0:12:13.009
This was happening in Vietnam[br]and in the US.

0:12:13.307,0:12:15.257
[VN U.S.]

0:12:15.864,0:12:19.321
In the mid-sixties, this is happening.

0:12:19.447,0:12:23.750
The young people[br]were actually a great part of the -

0:12:23.927,0:12:26.801
How many of you[br]were part of that movement?

0:12:26.911,0:12:30.454
Some of you here, yes?[br]A few? Let's see hands!

0:12:31.056,0:12:35.034
In America a lot of OI members[br]were from that era.

0:12:36.443,0:12:41.343
I remember Thay shared with me[br]one time he was in Columbia University

0:12:41.463,0:12:43.697
and there was a student protest.

0:12:44.473,0:12:47.694
And Thay witnessed all that.

0:12:49.932,0:12:57.998
This also informs the S-Y student,[br]what is it?

0:12:58.262,0:13:00.629
The S-Y-S-S?

0:13:03.415,0:13:05.567
What it stands for?

0:13:06.341,0:13:08.521
Social Service.

0:13:13.031,0:13:15.448
School? Yes.

0:13:15.587,0:13:21.061
School for Youth and Social Service.

0:13:21.372,0:13:24.288
[Sch. Youth. Soc. Serv.)

0:13:24.614,0:13:28.116
So in this you can see[br]what Thay was trying to do.

0:13:28.330,0:13:35.253
Trying to help bring -[br]Have students gather to help.

0:13:36.532,0:13:43.443
And this is also during the time when Thay[br]envisions also a kind of Plum Village,

0:13:44.384,0:13:46.808
"Phương Bối",

0:13:48.371,0:13:53.023
Fragrant Palm Village[br]in the mountains side.

0:13:53.192,0:13:58.339
Because he saw as we were doing [br]social service and I guess helping,

0:13:59.136,0:14:04.169
we also needed a place[br]to retreat and to revitalize ourselves.

0:14:09.626,0:14:11.575
There was also

0:14:12.516,0:14:17.526
religious persecution,

0:14:17.897,0:14:21.160
[Religious persecution]

0:14:22.712,0:14:24.656
between -

0:14:27.886,0:14:31.241
There was a big attack

0:14:31.445,0:14:35.198
because the person[br]who came into political power

0:14:35.391,0:14:38.266
had Catholic backgrounds.

0:14:38.375,0:14:42.772
So there was a lot of tension between -

0:14:45.177,0:14:49.914
and other Buddhist religious sects as well.

0:14:50.007,0:14:52.855
So this was happening during that time.

0:14:53.000,0:15:00.053
The big reason for all that[br]was the political ideology.

0:15:01.333,0:15:04.951
[Political Ideology]

0:15:08.330,0:15:11.352
With the Communists,

0:15:11.990,0:15:14.447
[Communist]

0:15:18.355,0:15:20.726
the Democracy,

0:15:20.961,0:15:23.388
[Democracy]

0:15:24.678,0:15:27.360
and then of course[br]the capitalism and so on.

0:15:28.208,0:15:32.092
So there is a lot of that happening.

0:15:32.193,0:15:34.251
Afraid of the -

0:15:34.415,0:15:38.137
As you learn more of the war[br]in Vietnam, the history,

0:15:38.243,0:15:40.396
as things are coming out more, you see -

0:15:41.046,0:15:44.513
I think there was recently[br]a ten part series

0:15:44.802,0:15:47.305
on the war in Vietnam.

0:15:47.930,0:15:52.484
And we see that actually a lot of it[br]was so unnecessary.

0:15:53.603,0:15:55.598
There was a wrong perception,

0:15:55.731,0:16:01.730
the idea that if you allow one country[br]to become Communist,

0:16:02.438,0:16:06.044
that was not even necessarily[br]that assumption was true,

0:16:06.270,0:16:10.608
that the whole, entire area was -[br]They call it the domino effect.

0:16:11.408,0:16:14.359
And you see how a concept[br]creates a fear,

0:16:14.467,0:16:16.967
as we are doing now with terrorists.

0:16:17.106,0:16:19.902
But it's a new thing. [br]It's not a domino effect,

0:16:20.015,0:16:21.752
but it's a more -

0:16:21.858,0:16:24.313
We don't know a term yet for it.

0:16:24.452,0:16:27.273
But here you see the view,

0:16:28.752,0:16:32.348
the things that make us have fear

0:16:33.274,0:16:35.564
and we will not let go.

0:16:36.486,0:16:40.739
Because of this fear,[br]some political leaders,

0:16:41.079,0:16:43.078
presidents and so on,

0:16:43.197,0:16:45.958
were afraid and they got stuck in,

0:16:46.079,0:16:49.627
and because they were stuck in,[br]their pride came up.

0:16:49.687,0:16:54.590
"No longer can I be the president[br]that let America fail."

0:16:55.477,0:16:59.662
So there is stuckness[br]because of a view, an idea.

0:17:00.913,0:17:07.103
And if you are working on the ground,[br]and this is happening out there -

0:17:07.965,0:17:11.168
Thay sees that[br]it's not happening in Vietnam,

0:17:11.303,0:17:15.492
it's not the only place where we are going[br]to find peace and resolution to this.

0:17:16.341,0:17:20.972
This moves Thay to go to the US[br]to try to convince

0:17:21.211,0:17:24.913
the intellectuals, the political leaders,[br]the religious leaders

0:17:25.713,0:17:28.214
to change the idea.

0:17:28.370,0:17:32.642
These are some of the conditions[br]that were happening

0:17:32.767,0:17:35.759
at the time that the OI,

0:17:36.831,0:17:39.599
the Order, the Trainings, the Charter -

0:17:39.704,0:17:43.208
Thay writes the whole complete -[br]Not just the trainings,

0:17:43.312,0:17:46.900
but the Charter,[br]how it should be organized,

0:17:47.797,0:17:49.838
and so on.

0:17:56.742,0:18:01.124
And this also, during this time,

0:18:01.649,0:18:03.897
these movements in the US,

0:18:04.102,0:18:07.811
Thay meets with Martin Luther King.

0:18:08.370,0:18:10.181
[MLK]

0:18:10.292,0:18:12.293
After the meeting,

0:18:12.420,0:18:19.657
Dr. Martin Luther King[br]gave a speech on Vietnam.

0:18:21.683,0:18:24.315
So there is a lot happening as well.

0:18:24.406,0:18:28.847
Thay came into contact with that[br]while he traveled the US.

0:18:29.223,0:18:34.159
But there were a lot of like-minded people[br]doing the - Martin and so on.

0:18:37.657,0:18:46.504
And Thay at this time also starts to[br]look into forming the Van Hanh University.

0:18:46.821,0:18:49.562
[Van Hanh Unv.]

0:18:51.617,0:18:56.383
So Thay is trying also[br]to re-envision a kind of Buddhism

0:18:56.798,0:19:03.960
that is informed and interactive,[br]engaged Buddhism is born during this time.

0:19:04.679,0:19:10.623
Thay's engaged Buddhism in the sense of -[br]with these conditions.

0:19:10.740,0:19:16.724
Because Thay has shared that there is a[br]movement like this happening also in China

0:19:17.214,0:19:19.737
with another Buddhist monk.

0:19:20.385,0:19:23.810
But this is to understand a little bit.

0:19:24.618,0:19:31.549
Because when we look at[br]how something manifests,

0:19:31.764,0:19:34.060
we need to look at the conditions.

0:19:34.921,0:19:39.969
That will inform us and we'll understand[br]what Thay is trying to do.

0:20:15.952,0:20:23.063
So those are[br]external conditions in society.

0:20:23.211,0:20:27.917
We can also look into Thay,[br]what inspires him.

0:20:30.120,0:20:33.438
The Lý and Trần dynasties.

0:20:33.737,0:20:36.918
[Lý, Trần Dyn.]

0:20:37.973,0:20:44.438
This is where Buddhism[br]was very integrated with society.

0:20:44.850,0:20:46.748
[B. - Soc.]

0:20:46.927,0:20:48.698
Not separated.

0:20:50.135,0:20:52.747
And Thay shares a lot about this.

0:20:58.176,0:21:01.663
And during this time,[br]Thay would begin to write -

0:21:02.015,0:21:05.295
Before the founding of the Order,[br]he wrote two books.

0:21:06.086,0:21:08.916
"Modernized Buddhism",

0:21:09.417,0:21:11.527
[Modernized Bud.]

0:21:15.564,0:21:20.786
"Đạo Phật hiện đại hóa" in Vietnamese.

0:21:21.247,0:21:25.394
[Đ. P. hiện đại hóa]

0:21:28.738,0:21:31.433
And then he writes another one,

0:21:31.928,0:21:34.744
"Socially Engaged Buddhism".

0:21:35.067,0:21:37.457
[Socially Eng. B.]

0:21:39.766,0:21:42.005
This one is

0:21:42.519,0:21:45.926
"Đạo Phật đi vào cuộc đời".

0:21:46.506,0:21:49.328
[Đi vào c. đ.]

0:21:54.437,0:21:57.996
So here Thay is expressing

0:21:58.167,0:22:02.794
and he is also in this time writing[br]many articles in Buddhist magazines

0:22:04.385,0:22:08.075
to share his vision of a Buddhism

0:22:08.483,0:22:12.348
that is very connected to society,

0:22:12.895,0:22:15.540
working in politics,

0:22:15.742,0:22:19.215
social service

0:22:19.474,0:22:21.958
as well as in education,

0:22:22.024,0:22:24.436
in organizations and so on.

0:22:25.257,0:22:33.516
This is a vision of Thay for the SYSS,[br]the School of Youth and Social Service.

0:22:43.162,0:22:47.855
In the School of Youth and Social Service[br]they went into the villages

0:22:48.198,0:22:51.812
and they helped organize the health care,

0:22:52.477,0:22:58.357
the management as well as[br]very practical things,

0:22:58.466,0:23:02.364
helping the farmers deep wells.

0:23:03.433,0:23:07.196
It was not just go there[br]and teach Buddhism,

0:23:07.308,0:23:09.763
but go there and you'll see.

0:23:09.893,0:23:15.915
This was Thay's vision of monastics[br]or OI members doing not just

0:23:19.100,0:23:21.613
"philosophical ideas",

0:23:21.726,0:23:24.467
but actually very practical.

0:23:24.593,0:23:27.910
So it's an engaged, practical Buddhism

0:23:28.028,0:23:31.650
that is not just in the temple,[br]in the University,

0:23:32.154,0:23:35.745
but actually embedded in society.

0:24:05.230,0:24:10.484
So we can here begin to see[br]these four principles

0:24:10.685,0:24:13.422
based on these conditions.

0:24:13.543,0:24:17.375
There was a very intense debate

0:24:17.542,0:24:19.888
between two ideas.

0:24:20.000,0:24:22.676
And Thay saw that very clearly,

0:24:23.385,0:24:25.628
that it caused a lot of suffering

0:24:25.780,0:24:28.617
just based on a viewpoint,

0:24:28.789,0:24:32.915
having an agenda.

0:24:34.165,0:24:38.783
So the first principle[br]of the Order of Interbeing is openness.

0:24:40.744,0:24:49.540
In Vietnamese it is "phá chấp".

0:24:50.447,0:24:53.010
[phá chấp]

0:24:53.739,0:24:55.805
It is very interesting.

0:24:55.907,0:24:57.868
I read the Vietnamese.

0:24:57.945,0:25:02.138
It's not "cởi mở",[br]"cởi mở" is openness.

0:25:03.169,0:25:05.089
But it is "phá chấp".

0:25:05.220,0:25:09.849
"Phá" is to phá, right?

0:25:10.103,0:25:11.824
(Laughter)

0:25:11.925,0:25:14.089
To remove.

0:25:14.635,0:25:18.483
But it also means to mess around.

0:25:19.260,0:25:21.495
To "phá", to remove.

0:25:21.717,0:25:24.174
[remove]

0:25:24.460,0:25:27.370
And "chấp" is like

0:25:29.780,0:25:32.063
stuckness.

0:25:32.232,0:25:34.524
[stuckness]

0:25:34.591,0:25:36.407
To remove stuckness.

0:25:36.538,0:25:39.308
Thay would say it is also "thủ",

0:25:39.951,0:25:42.789
a kind of grasping.

0:25:44.581,0:25:46.534
It is very interesting, eh?

0:25:46.628,0:25:49.388
Openness is to remove your -

0:25:49.582,0:25:52.296
You know?[br]Openness is like this.

0:25:53.353,0:25:57.878
This way is describing[br]"to remove your -".

0:25:58.366,0:26:01.535
And everyone can relate to that.

0:26:01.658,0:26:04.361
When you have a view[br]and you think you're right,

0:26:04.438,0:26:06.899
it's pretty tight.

0:26:07.619,0:26:09.901
(Laughter)

0:26:10.298,0:26:11.984
He is wrong!

0:26:12.132,0:26:14.204
You hold your breath, right?

0:26:14.303,0:26:16.477
When you are right, you hold your breath.

0:26:16.574,0:26:18.192
(Laughter)

0:26:18.315,0:26:20.727
You know that feeling, right?

0:26:21.124,0:26:24.812
You see, openness is very -[br]It's up to you!

0:26:26.581,0:26:29.833
You want to hold?[br]Or you want to -?

0:26:30.659,0:26:32.457
You can see.

0:26:32.590,0:26:36.262
This is easy to understand[br]on the individual level,

0:26:36.333,0:26:39.278
but when it happens on a mass level,

0:26:39.372,0:26:42.977
when a whole nation,[br]when a whole group of people

0:26:44.163,0:26:46.939
is based on fear and wrong perceptions,

0:26:49.179,0:26:53.098
they build walls,[br]they make more guns,

0:26:54.583,0:26:57.427
start to have cameras,

0:26:57.695,0:26:59.515
start to search.

0:27:00.066,0:27:02.263
You know, at the airport?

0:27:03.657,0:27:08.494
This is to understand[br]what Thay is looking at

0:27:08.614,0:27:11.993
in terms of what is coming[br]for the modern world.

0:27:12.319,0:27:16.809
Because of the militarization, the fear,[br]the wrong perceptions.

0:27:18.323,0:27:25.194
This is the root of a lot of suffering[br]in the world on the mass scale.

0:27:25.981,0:27:29.484
And it begins with the individual scale.

0:27:29.684,0:27:31.667
If you cannot handle this,

0:27:32.072,0:27:35.115
if you go to education[br]and you are not taught this,

0:27:35.482,0:27:37.697
you will become a leader.

0:27:38.080,0:27:42.167
And if you don't know how the mind works,[br]you will be caught in a view.

0:27:43.411,0:27:47.628
My sister Tue Nghiem[br]will speak more about this next week

0:27:48.275,0:27:52.159
so I will stop there.

0:27:58.249,0:28:02.562
And of course,[br]this you can understand more,

0:28:03.636,0:28:08.309
the root of it, in the Buddhist teaching[br]in the Sutra called the Kalama,

0:28:08.763,0:28:13.608
[Kalama Sutra]

0:28:15.641,0:28:19.779
where these monks[br]from a different tradition,

0:28:20.048,0:28:25.511
many teachers teach them many things[br]and they don't know which one to follow

0:28:25.638,0:28:27.933
because they all make sense.

0:28:28.353,0:28:31.151
This is the Buddha teaching

0:28:34.110,0:28:37.311
you need to test it yourself[br]and see if it works.

0:28:38.521,0:28:40.463
So it's a kind of a -

0:28:41.688,0:28:47.362
The Sutra that shows the spirit[br]of openness, of tolerance in Buddhism.

0:28:49.577,0:28:53.580
Now we move into direct experimentation.

0:29:05.736,0:29:08.067
In Vietnamese it's

0:29:13.675,0:29:15.046
"thực chứng".

0:29:15.272,0:29:17.381
[thực chứng]

0:29:18.524,0:29:21.043
(Vietnamese)

0:29:23.636,0:29:25.338
"Thực chứng"

0:29:25.978,0:29:27.729
Real

0:29:28.346,0:29:30.390
[real]

0:29:32.813,0:29:35.116
experience.

0:29:35.276,0:29:38.047
[experience]

0:29:39.093,0:29:42.263
This is a heart[br]of the Buddhist teaching as well.

0:29:42.842,0:29:46.950
It's based on our own experience

0:29:47.298,0:29:52.555
that we believe in something[br]or not believe in something.

0:29:53.716,0:29:56.715
This is also found in the Kalama Sutra.

0:29:57.928,0:30:02.808
So it's not a belief based on[br]what a teacher or what the Sutra

0:30:03.097,0:30:05.486
or what someone says,

0:30:05.601,0:30:07.924
but it is from your direct -

0:30:07.994,0:30:10.814
And we need to keep this in mind.

0:30:11.213,0:30:14.344
Because it's very easy just to follow.

0:30:31.010,0:30:33.633
So the practice of meditation

0:30:34.719,0:30:36.318
will help us

0:30:39.349,0:30:43.830
know more and more[br]what is appropriate for us.

0:30:44.239,0:30:48.820
So these two are very linked to[br]appropriateness and skillfulness.

0:30:51.123,0:30:53.471
Sometimes we learn something

0:30:53.591,0:30:58.876
and we have not fully tasted it

0:30:59.700,0:31:02.816
and we are very easy to teach it.

0:31:03.385,0:31:05.741
This is a danger.

0:31:06.999,0:31:13.839
Also in our work of[br]- how we call it-

0:31:14.352,0:31:17.354
sangha building or helping the world,

0:31:18.187,0:31:21.459
this is where it can be dangerous

0:31:22.775,0:31:24.517
in terms of -

0:31:24.640,0:31:28.745
If you have not found ease,[br]found peace within yourself,

0:31:29.327,0:31:31.803
have touched that within us,

0:31:32.000,0:31:34.478
and we go and teach it,

0:31:34.812,0:31:37.436
I think that's where it can become

0:31:38.195,0:31:40.613
in Vietnamese they call it (Vietnamese).

0:31:40.990,0:31:44.605
It's like you do the Buddhist work,

0:31:45.970,0:31:48.312
sangha building for instance,

0:31:48.409,0:31:51.688
and you see this a lot in sangha building.

0:31:55.990,0:31:58.743
You come into the sangha,[br]you join the sangha,

0:31:58.997,0:32:01.466
and you learn about[br]the 5 mindfulness trainings,

0:32:01.629,0:32:05.441
you practice it but it's not fully ripe.

0:32:05.504,0:32:08.297
And then you hear[br]there is a 14 mindfulness training.

0:32:08.462,0:32:10.585
Wow![br]14! Bigger number!

0:32:10.774,0:32:12.914
(Laughter)

0:32:13.447,0:32:15.619
And you get involved.

0:32:16.586,0:32:18.669
You have a good spirit,

0:32:18.817,0:32:22.126
you want to continue Thay's[br]engaged Buddhism!

0:32:23.508,0:32:28.383
But because of this direct experience,

0:32:29.022,0:32:30.578
direct

0:32:31.239,0:32:34.763
[realization]

0:32:36.776,0:32:38.185
ripening

0:32:38.320,0:32:39.704
[ripening]

0:32:39.819,0:32:41.944
Two "n"s? One "n".

0:32:48.520,0:32:50.902
This is very important

0:32:51.029,0:32:54.165
and it links to direct experimentation.

0:32:55.359,0:32:58.033
We are very good to -

0:33:01.992,0:33:03.373
How we called it -

0:33:03.504,0:33:05.964
We like newness, we like -

0:33:07.699,0:33:09.657
Once you know it,

0:33:09.766,0:33:12.505
and we've done it once,[br]like walking meditation,

0:33:13.039,0:33:14.673
we've touched it,

0:33:14.998,0:33:17.595
as, "Now I can walk in meditation".

0:33:17.722,0:33:19.494
But we don't continue it.

0:33:19.635,0:33:23.029
It's like, "Let's do something else,[br]let's start jogging meditation.

0:33:25.567,0:33:28.020
It's fast walking meditation".

0:33:29.763,0:33:32.855
Or sitting everyday, you touch it

0:33:33.654,0:33:36.909
and you get bored of it.[br]"Let's go sit outside!".

0:33:37.413,0:33:40.115
Or, "Let's sit -"[br]We -

0:33:40.880,0:33:43.413
Because of our restlessness,

0:33:43.595,0:33:46.790
and our not-stillness,

0:33:48.287,0:33:52.644
this direct experimentation[br]can be a temptation.

0:33:54.442,0:33:57.866
We haven't really touched[br]this kind of stillness,

0:33:58.015,0:34:01.321
this kind of calm, this peace,[br]this freedom.

0:34:03.232,0:34:06.603
It hasn't ripened in the Buddhist circle

0:34:06.968,0:34:09.008
and we are too quick

0:34:09.114,0:34:14.296
to start engaging in the world.[br]Sangha building.

0:34:16.450,0:34:18.855
What will happen is -

0:34:19.263,0:34:21.833
Two of those elements come together

0:34:21.985,0:34:25.369
and you have collision of views.

0:34:25.671,0:34:28.606
This is something we need to know,

0:34:29.194,0:34:31.484
because OI members,

0:34:32.133,0:34:34.845
one of their fundamental-[br]not fundamental,

0:34:35.012,0:34:41.110
one of their misperception[br]or kind a drive in OI members

0:34:41.256,0:34:44.785
is to sangha build,[br]and to engage in the world,

0:34:45.080,0:34:49.019
and to help do what Thay did[br]during his time.

0:34:51.132,0:34:57.163
This is -[br]It needs to be some caution with that.

0:34:58.395,0:35:05.480
Because I think, as we talk with[br]OI members and sangha builders,

0:35:06.026,0:35:12.856
there is a lot of colliding of viewpoints[br]if we are not careful.

0:35:14.827,0:35:21.089
So this is direct experimentation.

0:35:22.756,0:35:26.016
We like it. You can see[br]how Thay was influenced

0:35:29.185,0:35:35.576
by the West scientific rational thinking,[br]to test everything.

0:35:39.472,0:35:42.224
But do we need to test everything?

0:35:42.637,0:35:46.279
Sometimes in Dharma sharing[br]or consultation

0:35:46.707,0:35:51.444
I hear someone describe their suffering[br]and it's something I've never experienced.

0:35:53.022,0:35:56.037
Do I need to go experiment with that?

0:35:56.818,0:35:59.052
No, there is another thing going on.

0:35:59.164,0:36:03.205
It is also a kind of intuition,[br]our wisdom, our own deep looking.

0:36:04.070,0:36:06.683
So this is out there.

0:36:06.950,0:36:09.928
We just recently had a Wake Up retreat

0:36:11.286,0:36:15.140
and a young man said,[br]"I want to experience everything!",

0:36:16.108,0:36:22.571
including open sex, open relationships.

0:36:23.579,0:36:26.408
And I was like, "OK, good".

0:36:27.440,0:36:31.903
It is quite interesting,[br]because you hear a lot of sharing

0:36:32.040,0:36:34.518
about the suffering surrounding that.

0:36:34.701,0:36:40.258
But he didn't want to[br]just believe in someone else,

0:36:40.527,0:36:42.741
he wanted to experiment.

0:36:42.931,0:36:45.779
I chose not to.

0:36:46.887,0:36:49.950
It's very clear where it leads.

0:36:50.425,0:36:52.848
Because there is a wrong perception.

0:36:53.485,0:36:57.494
We don't look deeply[br]that we are lacking something

0:36:57.786,0:37:01.150
and we are chasing maybe[br]a sensual pleasure.

0:37:01.248,0:37:05.182
Anyway, certain things[br]that you can look deeply into.

0:37:06.091,0:37:08.289
And from the deep looking,

0:37:08.451,0:37:10.085
we don't need -

0:37:10.850,0:37:13.307
We can see clearly.

0:37:13.490,0:37:18.501
So the experimentation doesn't-[br]This is where there is a fine line.

0:37:19.110,0:37:21.268
I think we all know this.

0:37:21.501,0:37:26.145
It's obvious that there are certain things[br]you can know it's hot. Don't touch it.

0:37:26.950,0:37:29.389
But it's very tempting.

0:37:29.651,0:37:32.131
So experimentation

0:37:34.986,0:37:38.672
is very tempting.

0:37:51.715,0:37:56.405
We will have a sound of the bell[br]before we continue.

0:38:08.026,0:38:09.409
(Bell)

0:38:10.855,0:38:17.991
(Bell)

0:38:42.390,0:38:44.941
One time I heard Thay share

0:38:45.120,0:38:48.328
that before he brings out[br]a new teaching, a new practice,

0:38:48.507,0:38:51.818
he has practiced it for about ten years.

0:38:52.599,0:38:56.751
I think it was during a Dharma talk,[br]I've forgiven which practice it was.

0:38:58.453,0:39:00.375
But that's pretty -

0:39:00.777,0:39:02.716
And there are other instances

0:39:02.902,0:39:06.918
where we've seen Thay[br]held on to his insight for a long time.

0:39:09.119,0:39:13.265
And then he revealed it to the sangha.

0:39:13.413,0:39:16.792
That is something I'm learning.

0:39:17.532,0:39:20.931
Because usually we find something,[br]we learn something,

0:39:21.065,0:39:23.141
we experience something

0:39:23.232,0:39:26.335
and we right away, [br]the way my education is,

0:39:26.463,0:39:30.321
we share it out before it's ripe.

0:39:30.900,0:39:37.969
There is something that is in the training[br]that is very hard to transmit.

0:39:38.218,0:39:41.017
And that is the thing[br]that I'm learning here.

0:39:41.402,0:39:44.520
There are certain things[br]we have to cherish

0:39:44.686,0:39:48.282
and keep practicing until it ripens.

0:39:50.342,0:39:54.415
I know it's not always the case,

0:39:54.682,0:39:57.575
but there are certain things you do,[br]you practice

0:39:57.947,0:40:01.627
and you find lightness,[br]liberation, more insight.

0:40:02.453,0:40:05.728
And it is amazing what happens[br]when you keep it.

0:40:06.777,0:40:10.151
Don't share it out too quickly.

0:40:11.171,0:40:14.559
Have we ever thought about[br]writing a book?

0:40:16.227,0:40:20.856
Have we ever shared it with someone and[br]then somehow the inspiration goes away?

0:40:23.110,0:40:26.052
Or you want to do something and[br]you get so excited and you share it

0:40:26.246,0:40:30.260
to too many people and then[br]we just don't do it anymore.

0:40:31.045,0:40:34.254
I don't know, there is something[br]psychological about that.

0:40:34.728,0:40:38.426
In the mindfulness trainings,[br]in our practice,

0:40:40.198,0:40:43.515
it has something to do[br]with intuition as well.

0:40:43.674,0:40:47.357
There is an inner training[br]that is happening.

0:40:49.105,0:40:53.134
When you succeed, and you have an insight[br]on one of the trainings,

0:40:53.918,0:40:57.621
it is very tempting to share it[br]in Dharma sharing right away.

0:40:57.805,0:41:00.883
I know you are supposed to,[br]and the monks encourage you to,

0:41:03.246,0:41:06.768
but just -[br]I throw that out there.

0:41:09.329,0:41:11.364
To cook something,

0:41:11.544,0:41:14.476
don't let people look in it.

0:41:14.931,0:41:18.360
You are cooking potatoes,[br]stop lifting the lid

0:41:18.708,0:41:21.309
letting people look into it.

0:41:21.494,0:41:23.815
It's not going to cook.

0:41:24.634,0:41:28.213
I don't know how to share[br]this way of training.

0:41:28.570,0:41:30.919
Outside you don't train like this.

0:41:31.119,0:41:34.448
In education, in university,[br]you have something,

0:41:35.437,0:41:38.551
Ah! You write it on Facebook[br]and you let everyone know.

0:41:43.241,0:41:46.456
You have lo live here at least five years

0:41:46.604,0:41:50.736
for you to taste that.

0:41:52.928,0:41:56.114
To have that direct experience.

0:41:59.263,0:42:03.380
There was something I wanted to[br]share about experimenting.

0:42:07.177,0:42:15.037
When you discover something from your[br]experience and from your experimentation,

0:42:17.126,0:42:19.834
don't make a thing out of it.

0:42:19.974,0:42:22.054
(Laughter)

0:42:22.231,0:42:25.788
You know? You discover that[br]these shoes are amazing!

0:42:26.766,0:42:29.316
And you just go around[br]telling all your brothers,

0:42:29.374,0:42:34.150
"These shoes are amazing![br]They help you run, they keep your back,

0:42:34.257,0:42:36.567
you will never have backaches again".

0:42:36.749,0:42:42.608
You begin to form a theory around it.[br]You make a thing out of it.

0:42:43.609,0:42:46.090
You know what I'm talking about?

0:42:48.190,0:42:50.973
You discover a new food,

0:42:51.474,0:42:53.665
you went on the Internet

0:42:54.523,0:42:57.427
and it starts so like -

0:42:58.239,0:43:00.793
And it becomes something.

0:43:01.614,0:43:05.095
That will make the openness less.

0:43:06.168,0:43:09.194
Slowly, your thing you discovered,

0:43:10.394,0:43:12.399
you hold it.

0:43:12.619,0:43:15.611
That is so hard to do.

0:43:18.641,0:43:22.040
So I'm very sensitive to that.

0:43:22.321,0:43:26.961
I have suffered a lot[br]because of my own "thing out of it".

0:43:30.215,0:43:34.389
I helped form the teenage program,

0:43:34.516,0:43:37.831
one of my sufferings[br]as the abbot in Deer Park Monastery

0:43:38.180,0:43:42.900
was I helped for six years[br]to form the Teenage Program.

0:43:44.176,0:43:47.321
Just the teenagers, no parents.

0:43:47.610,0:43:51.909
I remember the teenagers[br]came to us after a family retreat

0:43:52.997,0:43:55.174
and they spoke to me,

0:43:55.512,0:43:59.563
and they shared it to me, only me.

0:44:00.426,0:44:03.209
And they shared,[br]"Oh, we don't want our parents here".

0:44:04.392,0:44:10.022
I remember it was very inspiring to see[br]the young people, Vietnamese Americans.

0:44:10.238,0:44:12.237
I really connected to them,

0:44:12.388,0:44:14.934
I can feel they need space[br]from their parents.

0:44:15.033,0:44:17.986
Because the teenagers,[br]with their parents around,

0:44:18.164,0:44:21.511
they always get followed by their parents.

0:44:22.617,0:44:25.137
"Do you drink enough water?", or

0:44:25.380,0:44:28.332
"You're late for walking meditation!"

0:44:28.976,0:44:31.729
So I remember hearing that[br]from the teenagers

0:44:31.855,0:44:35.187
and slowly we convinced[br]the parents not to come.

0:44:35.271,0:44:37.685
But some parents wanted to be staff,

0:44:37.812,0:44:40.551
so they came in the staff[br]to watch their kids.

0:44:40.667,0:44:42.807
Anyhow, I was involved in this

0:44:42.937,0:44:46.239
and I had to slowly, skilfully[br]get rid of the parents.

0:44:46.824,0:44:48.704
(Laughter)

0:44:48.806,0:44:51.369
And after six years, we finally had real -

0:44:51.514,0:44:53.976
And every year we would do it.

0:44:54.066,0:44:56.760
And one year, the sangha decided,

0:44:56.951,0:45:01.209
"Maybe we should combine[br]the teenage program with the families,

0:45:01.343,0:45:03.272
because we are doing too many retreats."

0:45:03.936,0:45:06.276
And I got really upset.

0:45:06.670,0:45:12.013
I was very, like, "You know[br]how long it took to form that program?"

0:45:13.863,0:45:18.818
I remember in that meeting[br]I was quite not appropriate

0:45:19.263,0:45:21.612
and not skillful.

0:45:21.692,0:45:23.351
(Laughter)

0:45:23.472,0:45:25.676
This is sangha building, you know?

0:45:25.743,0:45:28.203
I was doing good![br]I was building the sangha!

0:45:28.370,0:45:30.910
Doing what Thay wants!

0:45:33.456,0:45:36.503
But I didn't listen to anyone else.

0:45:36.668,0:45:39.017
I pretended I listened,

0:45:39.751,0:45:43.993
but I think I came back really hurt.

0:45:46.315,0:45:49.529
I made a thing out of it.[br]It's a good thing,

0:45:50.915,0:45:53.323
but still not good, because -

0:45:53.930,0:45:56.019
I was -

0:45:56.309,0:46:00.571
Anyway, that is where the phrase[br]"Don't make a thing out of it!" comes from.

0:46:01.007,0:46:04.385
Don't make your thing become a "thing".

0:46:04.618,0:46:06.140
(Laughter)

0:46:06.252,0:46:08.706
I know this is hard to translate.

0:46:08.832,0:46:10.772
(Laughter)

0:46:13.711,0:46:17.299
That is involved with dogmatism.

0:46:17.695,0:46:22.035
It is the technical word for it. Right?[br]Dogmatism, and other ism.

0:46:22.827,0:46:26.791
The ism is you make whatever it is[br]into an ism.

0:46:27.203,0:46:30.382
That is to be careful of.

0:46:33.614,0:46:36.661
So we move into appropriateness.

0:46:55.834,0:46:59.093
Appropriateness in Vietnamese is

0:46:59.923,0:47:01.866
"khế cỏ".

0:47:02.055,0:47:03.705
[khế cỏ]

0:47:03.786,0:47:06.600
I've just learned this morning[br]"khế" is like -

0:47:11.148,0:47:14.070
I said, I know what "cỏ" is, like

0:47:14.252,0:47:16.192
(Vietnamese)

0:47:16.266,0:47:18.667
But what is "khế"?

0:47:18.785,0:47:21.318
It's appropriateness, right?

0:47:21.469,0:47:24.288
But I don't know why there is two words.

0:47:24.420,0:47:27.463
But it goes with "khế Lý",

0:47:28.252,0:47:30.573
[khế Lý]

0:47:30.724,0:47:32.685
which is -

0:47:34.182,0:47:37.326
I keep forgetting that something today.

0:47:38.949,0:47:41.369
"Khế cỏ" and ""khế Lý",

0:47:42.336,0:47:43.976
this is appropriate,

0:47:44.150,0:47:45.798
[app.]

0:47:46.191,0:47:47.801
to the situation.

0:47:48.529,0:47:50.776
[situation]

0:47:52.963,0:47:55.003
And this is appropriate

0:47:55.225,0:47:56.736
[app.]

0:48:02.753,0:48:05.852
to the principle, to the spirit,

0:48:09.534,0:48:11.811
to the principle, Lý.

0:48:12.483,0:48:14.398
[principle]

0:48:14.731,0:48:17.114
Spirit.

0:48:17.328,0:48:18.928
[spirit]

0:48:19.060,0:48:22.810
Or in the Buddhist circle, we say maybe[br]to the Dharma.

0:48:23.142,0:48:25.724
[Dharma]

0:48:28.409,0:48:33.568
To whatever it is[br]that makes you it feels OK.

0:48:37.225,0:48:39.769
So there is a situation.

0:48:42.912,0:48:46.442
And there is also the Dharma.

0:48:55.842,0:49:01.775
Sometimes, the Dharma, if you teach it[br]and it is not appropriate,

0:49:02.395,0:49:04.262
then it becomes -

0:49:05.076,0:49:08.282
I don't know, it's hard,[br]but like poisonous.

0:49:08.408,0:49:11.296
Like you do harm to the Dharma.

0:49:11.871,0:49:13.922
For instance, you go home

0:49:14.031,0:49:17.151
and you are so inspired[br]after two weeks in Plum Village,

0:49:18.799,0:49:21.325
mindfulness!

0:49:21.525,0:49:23.348
Plum Village!

0:49:23.485,0:49:26.329
And you go home[br]and you tell it to your family,

0:49:28.820,0:49:33.098
"Eating in silence is so good for you![br]You touche peace."

0:49:34.055,0:49:37.666
But you don't know[br]the situation, the person.

0:49:37.967,0:49:41.407
You don't know the situation[br]of your family is not appropriate.

0:49:42.081,0:49:46.012
It is not skillful, it is not appropriate,[br]they are not ready.

0:49:46.329,0:49:49.022
The Dharma is not for that.

0:49:49.985,0:49:51.937
You go to the Dharma

0:49:52.057,0:49:55.328
but it is not something[br]you put in the Dharma.

0:49:55.447,0:49:58.464
We hear this all the time from -

0:50:00.673,0:50:05.006
That's my own experience as well as many[br]consultations and Dharma sharings.

0:50:05.892,0:50:10.733
So knowing what is appropriate[br]for the situation, for our time.

0:50:15.203,0:50:19.734
I remember first learning about[br]the practice, my first retreat.

0:50:19.853,0:50:24.488
I came home, and I organized[br]everything in our house.

0:50:24.692,0:50:28.628
I put everything back[br]to where it should go, the shoes.

0:50:29.290,0:50:33.510
And then the closet,[br]I helped my mum redo her food stuff,

0:50:33.621,0:50:35.909
the cans, can food.

0:50:36.992,0:50:40.393
It became an obsession.[br]Because I had an idea

0:50:41.329,0:50:46.701
that when you put things mindfully,[br]it goes back to where it should be.

0:50:46.875,0:50:50.083
You all have that idea?[br]As a beginning practitioner?

0:50:50.217,0:50:53.354
It's the most beautiful and tempting idea.

0:50:53.473,0:50:56.206
To practice mindfulness[br]when you put a cup down,

0:50:56.403,0:50:58.605
it has a place.

0:50:58.819,0:51:02.206
I mean, it makes sense, right?[br]But when it becomes an obsession -

0:51:03.400,0:51:06.276
Ow! OK, that toothbrush is not -

0:51:07.257,0:51:09.668
It goes in here, eh?

0:51:09.826,0:51:12.850
The shoe, it goes there!

0:51:12.988,0:51:17.505
These mats should be straighter.

0:51:19.775,0:51:21.702
So we begin to -

0:51:21.822,0:51:24.786
And then I go home[br]and I do this to the house.

0:51:25.674,0:51:30.039
My two brothers were back from college,[br]back for the summer,

0:51:30.215,0:51:32.108
and we shared the same house.

0:51:32.943,0:51:34.811
(Laughter)

0:51:35.672,0:51:38.111
And the story, you know.

0:51:39.230,0:51:42.864
We had a lot of interesting conversations.

0:51:43.063,0:51:45.475
They were fully not open.

0:51:45.624,0:51:47.541
(Laughter)

0:51:47.640,0:51:49.809
So I caused a lot of suffering

0:51:49.959,0:51:57.192
because of my "Lý" law.

0:51:58.140,0:52:00.497
I had a reason for everything.

0:52:01.145,0:52:03.526
And because it's "Lý" -

0:52:06.145,0:52:11.193
So when something is appropriate,[br]it is also in line with the Dharma,

0:52:11.516,0:52:17.071
in line with something more true,[br]more human, more open, more whatever,

0:52:17.541,0:52:19.717
less suffering.

0:52:19.849,0:52:23.381
If it is appropriate,[br]it will not cause suffering.

0:52:24.742,0:52:28.601
This is something[br]we need to ingrain in ourselves.

0:52:28.688,0:52:33.402
Because we believe so much in truth,[br]we believe that this really happened,

0:52:34.614,0:52:36.380
and we say it.

0:52:36.884,0:52:38.962
"But it is the truth!"

0:52:39.615,0:52:42.881
But the person is not ready for it.

0:52:43.563,0:52:46.896
So we cause suffering.[br]Truth does not harm.

0:52:47.828,0:52:51.273
But we have an idea about truth,[br]that it is objective.

0:52:51.366,0:52:55.291
Somewhere there is a truth.[br]"This is really what happened!".

0:52:57.285,0:53:00.094
And we cause suffering[br]because of our truth.

0:53:00.212,0:53:02.525
There are many truths.

0:53:02.669,0:53:04.964
And that is very hard to believe.

0:53:05.079,0:53:07.292
Specially when you are right.

0:53:07.383,0:53:09.014
(Laughter)

0:53:09.146,0:53:11.756
When you are right, it is like,

0:53:11.854,0:53:15.360
"OK, I give it a year,[br]but I'm still right."

0:53:19.705,0:53:23.914
A lot of suffering, for yourself as well,[br]because you hold it like this

0:53:24.025,0:53:28.028
and when you see that brother you kind of-[br]You see that sister, you kind of-

0:53:28.286,0:53:30.698
because you are holding on to something.

0:53:30.847,0:53:33.924
Remember that image, eh?[br]You have a choice!

0:53:36.327,0:53:37.921
Relax.

0:53:38.132,0:53:41.475
It's true, but, you know,[br]there are many truths.

0:53:42.088,0:53:44.439
It is such a hard training.

0:53:44.558,0:53:47.413
If you want to taste it,[br]come and stay here one year.

0:53:47.716,0:53:49.906
We will put you in the cooking team.

0:53:50.106,0:53:51.768
(Laughter)

0:53:51.858,0:53:54.628
Like the brother shared.[br]Advance training.

0:53:55.196,0:53:59.162
I already shared that in the lay -[br]No, he shared -

0:53:59.646,0:54:03.191
The cooking team[br]is the most advanced training.

0:54:03.720,0:54:08.099
It's strange for a monastery.

0:54:08.199,0:54:10.903
It is supposed to be[br]in the meditation hall.

0:54:12.744,0:54:15.281
Sorry, I'm a comedian.

0:54:15.412,0:54:17.524
(Laughter)

0:54:17.716,0:54:20.542
When we say "khế Lý",

0:54:20.663,0:54:23.205
how do we know it is appropriate?

0:54:23.325,0:54:29.155
This requires us to go deeper and deeper[br]as we do the sangha building,

0:54:29.336,0:54:33.862
as we become OI members,[br]to touch interbeing, and so on.

0:54:33.990,0:54:37.970
The three, the six,[br]the three, the two threes.

0:54:38.387,0:54:42.742
Just remember, the three seals[br]and the three doors.

0:54:44.857,0:54:47.787
And you use that to test everything.

0:54:47.896,0:54:52.410
You want to experiment? Go ahead,[br]but use these to test.

0:54:52.609,0:54:56.540
In chemistry it is called litmus paper.

0:54:57.713,0:55:00.900
You throw it in to see[br]if it is the right thing.

0:55:01.018,0:55:06.520
In Vietnamese, they say,[br]"Use fire to test gold."

0:55:07.433,0:55:11.533
(Vietnamese)

0:55:12.267,0:55:14.591
It is a beautiful saying.

0:55:14.692,0:55:18.664
You want to see if it's real gold?[br]Put fire to it.

0:55:19.887,0:55:24.232
And all the impurities,[br]they separate and the gold collects.

0:55:24.847,0:55:29.671
So the three seals,[br]I think you know them already.

0:55:31.051,0:55:33.366
Some of you. Three Seals.

0:55:35.195,0:55:37.944
[3 Seals]

0:55:38.518,0:55:40.364
What are they?

0:55:40.478,0:55:42.563
Impermanence,

0:55:43.247,0:55:46.053
[Impermanence]

0:55:47.833,0:55:49.873
Non-self,

0:55:49.960,0:55:51.906
[Non-self]

0:55:52.438,0:55:54.271
and Nirvana.

0:55:54.367,0:55:56.139
[Nirvana]

0:55:57.017,0:55:59.487
This is 3 Doors.

0:55:59.631,0:56:01.697
[3 Doors]

0:56:02.681,0:56:04.931
"Trois portes."

0:56:05.373,0:56:07.405
Just remember the "s"s.

0:56:07.638,0:56:09.946
[ss]

0:56:10.319,0:56:11.885
Right?

0:56:11.989,0:56:13.441
Empty,

0:56:13.604,0:56:14.984
[E]

0:56:15.164,0:56:17.214
signless,

0:56:17.581,0:56:18.903
[S]

0:56:19.019,0:56:20.629
Aimless.

0:56:20.738,0:56:22.502
[A]

0:56:23.252,0:56:25.309
That is how I remember it, sorry.

0:56:25.421,0:56:29.024
I just remember the three doors,[br]"ss", remember.

0:56:29.151,0:56:33.280
Emptiness, signlessness, aimlessness.

0:56:33.806,0:56:36.799
And this helps us in our practice.

0:56:39.223,0:56:42.053
When you make a thing out of it,

0:56:43.455,0:56:47.609
it's no longer very related[br]to other things, right?

0:56:49.555,0:56:53.186
And we become caught by it.

0:56:56.729,0:57:01.308
"Sign" here also represents[br]words, concepts.

0:57:08.151,0:57:11.081
There is one word that challenges people.

0:57:11.230,0:57:17.758
When we do the morning recitation,[br]before the nuns and monks chant,

0:57:17.835,0:57:24.550
we say, "Remove your inferiority complex,[br]superiority complex

0:57:25.467,0:57:28.358
and your equality complex."

0:57:29.345,0:57:33.861
When Thay first came out with that text,[br]and we had to tour the US,

0:57:34.469,0:57:39.591
many people asked this question,[br]"What's wrong with equality?,

0:57:39.815,0:57:42.068
How is that a complex?"

0:57:46.171,0:57:50.312
The word "equality"[br]or the idea of equality

0:57:51.387,0:57:53.416
can be a thing.

0:57:56.253,0:57:58.757
Who has a thing about equality?

0:57:59.912,0:58:02.322
How come the monks[br]are sitting at one side,

0:58:02.461,0:58:05.299
at the non-monks and[br]the nuns sitting at the other side?

0:58:06.523,0:58:11.118
Or, how come the nuns have smaller bowls[br]and the monks have bigger bowls?

0:58:11.738,0:58:16.718
Or, how come the bell is always[br]on that side?, or, what else?

0:58:17.788,0:58:19.674
There are so many.

0:58:19.749,0:58:22.336
How come the grass[br]is greener on this side?

0:58:22.436,0:58:24.350
(Laughter)

0:58:26.157,0:58:28.591
There are some good ones, eh?

0:58:28.759,0:58:31.395
I used to have a -[br]We should make a catalog

0:58:31.895,0:58:35.439
of equality as a thing.

0:58:39.537,0:58:42.417
It is a complex. Equality is good,

0:58:43.543,0:58:48.590
and getting people to -[br]Injustice causes suffering.

0:58:50.104,0:58:54.346
Inequality can cause suffering.

0:58:54.781,0:58:57.154
So it's not to deny

0:58:57.408,0:59:01.400
that that is happening[br]in our world as well.

0:59:01.990,0:59:04.864
But just don't make a thing out of it.

0:59:05.606,0:59:08.999
Going everywhere to always look for -

0:59:12.775,0:59:16.338
This is not to be caught by dualism.

0:59:17.243,0:59:20.518
It is all skillful means.

0:59:20.687,0:59:23.443
We wear this just for

0:59:24.476,0:59:30.179
a way to skillfully do something,[br]to manifest something.

0:59:31.258,0:59:36.121
When Thay was in Vietnam,[br]or in America touring,

0:59:36.254,0:59:38.558
a reporter asked him,

0:59:39.107,0:59:42.111
"Are you from the North[br]or from the South?"

0:59:42.250,0:59:44.642
Do you know that story?

0:59:44.788,0:59:48.195
And Thay says,[br]"I am from the Center."

0:59:49.438,0:59:52.284
He is from the center.

0:59:53.152,0:59:55.647
From Hue, or something like that.

0:59:56.686,1:00:00.845
He is from the center.[br]And we love that story, I love that story.

1:00:05.643,1:00:10.673
If we are not careful, we can[br]make the "center" become a thing.

1:00:10.866,1:00:13.655
And I've seen that,[br]living in the monastery.

1:00:13.848,1:00:16.920
You don't want to choose left or right,[br]then you choose the middle.

1:00:16.994,1:00:21.909
And you are always choosing the middle.[br]You make a "thing" out of centralness.

1:00:36.224,1:00:38.307
You are-

1:00:44.456,1:00:47.620
We get caught, so the idea of centralness

1:00:47.754,1:00:51.115
is to help the reporter in that situation.

1:00:53.369,1:00:55.818
To take away his idea

1:00:56.316,1:00:58.618
that there is just North and South.

1:00:59.890,1:01:02.121
So that is the means.

1:01:02.279,1:01:07.568
Thay uses that answer to help[br]that reporter in that moment

1:01:09.066,1:01:12.074
to let go of his North and South.

1:01:12.617,1:01:16.266
But us, when we hear the story,[br]we love it

1:01:16.528,1:01:19.487
and then we hang on to centralness.

1:01:20.600,1:01:23.555
And we go around being careful.

1:01:24.295,1:01:27.771
"No, I'm not choosing! No!"

1:01:28.959,1:01:31.457
And that becomes an obstacle.

1:01:32.948,1:01:36.637
We become like relative, liberal,

1:01:37.092,1:01:40.012
not always - Let's see.

1:01:41.212,1:01:45.688
It seems like I'm open,[br]but actually I'm very tight.

1:01:46.461,1:01:49.122
That is stuckness.

1:01:53.011,1:01:57.909
This is from my own suffering[br]of practicing with that.

1:01:58.579,1:02:01.318
Of always avoiding each team

1:02:01.478,1:02:03.605
to the point where -

1:02:04.846,1:02:07.990
You know what is the right thing to do.

1:02:14.298,1:02:16.428
There is also -

1:02:16.618,1:02:19.147
The idea here is

1:02:20.336,1:02:22.836
when it is true to the Dharma,

1:02:25.602,1:02:29.813
is to not be caught by the word[br]by the sign.

1:02:30.831,1:02:33.635
Therefore, you don't grasp.

1:02:33.991,1:02:36.234
That is the aimlessness.

1:02:36.492,1:02:39.700
You need a little freedom from that.

1:02:40.189,1:02:42.015
These are all -

1:02:42.134,1:02:44.806
These three, three,

1:02:45.878,1:02:50.535
are - Thay would say concentrations,[br]they help us.

1:02:50.921,1:02:55.652
You may choose a week[br]to contemplate signlessness.

1:02:58.598,1:03:02.790
To look and to see[br]where you are caught with signs

1:03:03.217,1:03:06.347
and to test for yourself.

1:03:06.960,1:03:09.330
Or aimlessness.

1:03:09.480,1:03:13.253
In a way, they are like[br]Plum Village's koans,

1:03:13.458,1:03:19.608
something that you can hold here like[br]a mother carrying her child around.

1:03:20.579,1:03:23.556
And you begin to look like that.

1:03:24.101,1:03:30.242
You look and you discern[br]when you are being not aimless.

1:03:31.453,1:03:36.033
You want something,[br]so you come back to your steps.

1:03:37.756,1:03:44.111
The tea will still be there,[br]the hot water will still be there,

1:03:46.522,1:03:49.630
so you slow yourself down.

1:03:49.854,1:03:55.161
So these practices, these ideas here[br]are for us to practice.

1:03:56.210,1:03:59.056
What I share with you is -

1:03:59.753,1:04:03.283
Watch when you are not being aimless.

1:04:03.946,1:04:07.535
But how to touch aimlessness[br]while we walk?

1:04:08.735,1:04:11.949
You make a step, a left step,

1:04:13.907,1:04:16.068
a right step.

1:04:19.238,1:04:21.899
Or aimlessness when you eat.

1:04:22.209,1:04:24.553
When you put a morsel in your mouth,

1:04:24.726,1:04:28.346
you put the spoon down.

1:04:28.551,1:04:30.620
And you chew.

1:04:31.075,1:04:34.395
And you put a hundred per cent[br]in the act of chewing.

1:04:34.503,1:04:40.781
Savoring the food, contemplation[br]with nature and Mother Earth, the sun,

1:04:42.380,1:04:46.675
before you take the next spoon.[br]I remember having to train this.

1:04:47.514,1:04:50.428
When I'm chewing,[br]I'm preparing for the next one.

1:04:52.574,1:04:56.213
It's a big habit I had to remove.

1:04:57.852,1:05:00.779
The same thing with our walking.

1:05:01.039,1:05:03.909
These two are very trainable.

1:05:05.742,1:05:10.258
But they can help us also[br]when we have ideas and concepts.

1:05:12.114,1:05:18.352
When we practice the trainings, and[br]we will learn more these coming weeks,

1:05:19.886,1:05:26.100
they speak of a truth, of a way,

1:05:26.771,1:05:30.045
but we need to know when to apply it,

1:05:31.583,1:05:34.996
so that it is appropriate[br]for the situation with the people,

1:05:36.292,1:05:40.014
and if it is appropriate to the Dharma,

1:05:40.137,1:05:46.631
to the guiding spirit[br]of the Buddhist teachings.

1:05:49.332,1:05:52.409
I think Thay has shared -

1:05:54.125,1:05:57.505
To prepare to operate on someone

1:05:57.702,1:05:59.880
they need to be healthy.

1:06:02.904,1:06:05.136
You prepare and you -

1:06:05.973,1:06:07.724
That's kind of -

1:06:08.011,1:06:10.140
That is tough, eh?

1:06:10.705,1:06:13.680
But sometimes it's like that, I think

1:06:15.675,1:06:18.240
Thay's method, I sensed that.

1:06:18.769,1:06:22.969
When we first come in the community[br]Thay is very gentle with us.

1:06:23.992,1:06:26.080
He nurtures us.

1:06:26.195,1:06:30.053
Everything, he flower-waters us.

1:06:30.410,1:06:32.763
He pushes it.

1:06:32.906,1:06:36.764
And then, when we have enough[br]strong roots, Thay starts to trim.

1:06:37.302,1:06:39.328
(Laughter)

1:06:39.609,1:06:42.436
Have you been trimmed by Thay before?

1:06:42.602,1:06:44.637
You're lucky.

1:06:44.836,1:06:46.976
Because it is painful.

1:06:47.135,1:06:48.174
(Laughter)

1:06:48.433,1:06:50.250
Operation.

1:06:50.410,1:06:54.363
Because you have something[br]you're holding on to.

1:07:00.539,1:07:01.933
And -

1:07:03.374,1:07:05.350
(Laughter)

1:07:05.489,1:07:07.886
And one mourns.

1:07:08.506,1:07:11.053
It touches your ego.

1:07:12.282,1:07:17.828
So there is not enough liberation.[br]You had an idea about it.

1:07:18.831,1:07:22.883
Something, whatever that is[br]you're holding on too tightly.

1:07:24.032,1:07:27.395
In the sangha building[br]it is very important

1:07:27.653,1:07:31.036
that we get this one done.

1:07:32.077,1:07:35.909
Because we sometimes bring the stuff[br]that has not ripened,

1:07:36.041,1:07:38.276
has not let go yet,

1:07:38.393,1:07:40.640
and we start to sangha-build,

1:07:41.342,1:07:44.547
we make sangha become a thing

1:07:46.044,1:07:47.615
and so on.

1:07:47.686,1:07:51.367
But inside of us it[br]is not fully, still, fully -

1:07:51.772,1:07:54.176
There are certain things still -

1:07:54.361,1:07:56.868
And that can come and bite you.

1:07:57.745,1:08:00.532
The Buddhist teaching is not for us to do

1:08:00.879,1:08:02.466
(Vietnamese).

1:08:02.577,1:08:06.525
It's to help us relieve our suffering[br]and in doing so we -

1:08:07.998,1:08:10.762
inter-be with the world.

1:08:10.901,1:08:13.231
And how we do it?

1:08:13.951,1:08:18.179
You can see this in today's society.

1:08:18.726,1:08:22.812
People build up, fame, power.

1:08:23.210,1:08:25.866
After ten, twenty years,[br]what happens?

1:08:26.142,1:08:28.733
They did not ripen.

1:08:30.062,1:08:34.239
Sexual scandals,[br]political scandals, corruption.

1:08:35.098,1:08:38.836
There is a movement going on[br]that is so beautiful in society.

1:08:38.959,1:08:42.106
It is like the rain washing

1:08:42.291,1:08:44.965
and revealing.

1:08:47.898,1:08:53.271
Other things are going on[br]underneath of that fame, power, wealth.

1:08:54.016,1:08:56.231
Political and-

1:08:56.580,1:09:00.086
In the political world,[br]in the corporate world

1:09:00.219,1:09:03.174
as well as in the entertainment world.

1:09:03.296,1:09:08.513
This is because the person[br]did not do the homework.

1:09:08.941,1:09:12.171
Did not care for the ripening inside.

1:09:12.344,1:09:17.755
But they were tempted[br]with external achievements, success.

1:09:19.517,1:09:24.368
This is where direct experience,[br]direct liberation,

1:09:24.858,1:09:28.727
direct touching of peace, happiness.

1:09:30.134,1:09:32.275
When you do this,

1:09:32.398,1:09:36.107
you become[br]more appropriate, more skillful.

1:09:40.166,1:09:43.194
We are moving to skillfulness in here.

1:09:44.212,1:09:46.120
In Vietnamese,

1:10:03.294,1:10:05.357
is "phủỏng tiện".

1:10:06.056,1:10:10.128
[Phủỏng tiện]

1:10:18.139,1:10:21.135
These are the methods and practices

1:10:22.402,1:10:24.481
to help us teach,

1:10:24.652,1:10:27.650
to guide and to apply[br]the Buddhist teachings.

1:10:27.791,1:10:30.511
These are the ways we do it.

1:10:34.961,1:10:37.054
Skillfulness here

1:10:41.602,1:10:44.162
can be seen as a means,

1:10:44.678,1:10:46.655
skillful means.

1:10:46.866,1:10:49.356
[s. means]

1:10:52.736,1:10:54.431
I think it is

1:10:55.240,1:10:58.835
very fundamental in the Buddhist teachings

1:10:59.073,1:11:01.771
and it has great examples.

1:11:01.874,1:11:03.695
The raft,

1:11:04.158,1:11:07.775
when you get to a river[br]and you see you need to cross,

1:11:07.950,1:11:10.245
and you build yourself a raft.

1:11:10.394,1:11:13.425
It helps you cross the river.

1:11:14.782,1:11:18.910
And you get attached [br]because the raft is so cool.

1:11:19.050,1:11:23.402
You did it by yourself, by hand[br]and you start carrying the raft around

1:11:25.108,1:11:27.697
even though you don't need it anymore.

1:11:27.816,1:11:31.624
And the Buddha says, "It is a wise thing[br]to do, brothers and sisters?

1:11:34.794,1:11:37.089
To carry a raft around?"

1:11:38.089,1:11:41.904
And, of course, the students[br]reply obediently,

1:11:42.097,1:11:44.759
"No, no, it's not a skillful thing to do.

1:11:45.070,1:11:47.582
You should leave it there[br]and share it with others,[br]

1:11:47.933,1:11:51.102
be generous because they might need it."

1:11:51.580,1:11:54.316
But we have to ask ourselves,[br]do we do that?

1:11:59.746,1:12:02.477
So there are skillful means.

1:12:04.806,1:12:07.923
It's very easy to get caught

1:12:12.029,1:12:14.213
by the raft.

1:12:22.321,1:12:25.506
So appropriateness and skillfulness.

1:12:25.859,1:12:29.894
I think those are areas where we

1:12:32.932,1:12:35.963
learn a lot from living in the sangha.

1:12:36.589,1:12:39.337
We make mistakes and we adjust.

1:12:40.588,1:12:45.407
They allow us to be creative,[br]allow us to -

1:12:47.794,1:12:52.771
It's not a perfection in our rhythm[br]and there is no manual.

1:12:54.057,1:12:59.415
So we can always continue to be[br]more appropriate, more skillful.

1:13:01.121,1:13:03.636
I'll read you a text

1:13:05.513,1:13:11.008
from the book, Interbeing book,[br]Thay wrote:

1:13:12.096,1:13:18.724
"The spirit of non-attachment to views[br]and the spirit of direct experimentation

1:13:20.108,1:13:27.618
lead to open-mindedness and compassion,[br]both in the realm of perception of reality

1:13:28.628,1:13:31.623
and in the area of relationships."

1:13:35.189,1:13:39.063
So openness and direct experimentation,

1:13:40.011,1:13:44.974
it keeps us open to experiencing life,[br]experiencing,

1:13:46.313,1:13:48.593
being alive, interacting.

1:13:48.892,1:13:51.688
And there is the word compassion in it.

1:13:51.800,1:13:54.679
It helps us be compassionate.[br]Very important.

1:13:55.104,1:13:59.469
So it's not to experiment[br]to be open like a scientist,

1:14:00.759,1:14:05.449
but in the Buddhist tradition

1:14:06.199,1:14:08.467
it is based on compassion.

1:14:09.360,1:14:15.335
It is to relieve suffering, it's not just[br]to describe reality and the world,

1:14:15.745,1:14:18.194
or how the mind works and so on.

1:14:18.552,1:14:20.364
But just enough

1:14:20.514,1:14:24.002
so that there is compassion in the world,

1:14:24.794,1:14:28.087
in society, in our families, in ourselves.

1:14:29.206,1:14:34.380
This is a distinction[br]from the scientific endeavor,

1:14:35.124,1:14:39.676
which is to try to figure out[br]how this thing works,

1:14:39.855,1:14:42.420
where do we come from, and so on.

1:14:42.523,1:14:47.016
Sometimes interacting with[br]scientists and the sciences,

1:14:47.954,1:14:53.136
if we are not careful, we can also lose[br]a little bit of the "khế Lý",

1:14:55.073,1:14:59.551
the primary reason for[br]the Buddha's finding the teachings

1:14:59.777,1:15:02.737
and the practices[br]to help relieve suffering.

1:15:03.191,1:15:08.548
It is not to come up with a new theory[br]about the world or about our minds

1:15:08.701,1:15:10.805
and how things work.

1:15:14.851,1:15:17.692
"The spirit of appropriateness [br]and skillful means

1:15:18.341,1:15:23.021
lead to the capacity to be creative[br]and to reconcile,

1:15:23.898,1:15:28.564
both of which are necessary for the[br]development and the effective realization

1:15:29.341,1:15:32.326
of the idea of serving living beings."

1:15:33.250,1:15:35.728
This is very Mahayana.

1:15:37.456,1:15:39.928
Save the world!

1:15:41.499,1:15:44.980
"Reconcile" here can be[br]incorporate, to integrate.

1:15:45.862,1:15:50.518
So appropriateness and skillful means[br]help us be in touch

1:15:50.767,1:15:53.613
with what is happening in our world.

1:15:54.900,1:15:58.762
And to find ways[br]to help relieve the suffering.

1:16:01.323,1:16:04.197
I think most of you know,[br]who are here,

1:16:04.378,1:16:09.249
that one of the primary sufferings[br]in the world now is climate change.

1:16:12.269,1:16:15.620
You can hear it already[br]in weather reports.

1:16:15.778,1:16:19.305
It seems like they are from movies,

1:16:20.539,1:16:22.636
but they are not-

1:16:22.775,1:16:26.753
Climate change isn't going[br]to come anymore, it is here.

1:16:27.547,1:16:33.950
And many of us may have families[br]in some parts of the world.

1:16:34.410,1:16:37.761
Indonesia recently,[br]I think two days ago,

1:16:37.902,1:16:39.849
had a big tsunami.

1:16:39.970,1:16:45.559
This will, scientists predict, will occur[br]more regular and more regularly.

1:16:46.194,1:16:49.877
That means displacement of population.

1:16:50.561,1:16:53.043
So we have to prepare us so,

1:16:53.496,1:16:55.785
not to be in despair,

1:16:57.455,1:17:01.675
to be aware, to be mindful[br]of the present moment.

1:17:03.253,1:17:06.807
And adjust. We have suffering,[br]we have some healing to do,

1:17:07.167,1:17:09.519
we have some transformation.

1:17:10.522,1:17:14.146
That is why Thay has dedicated[br]his whole life to building the sangha,

1:17:14.277,1:17:16.499
to building a refuge.

1:17:17.125,1:17:18.931
So climate change,

1:17:25.410,1:17:29.885
alienation, loneliness,[br]despair, depression,

1:17:32.387,1:17:35.922
suicide, these numbers are on the rise.

1:17:36.917,1:17:40.899
Because of urbanization[br]and the breakdown of families.

1:17:41.049,1:17:44.115
Whatever in your field you're working on.

1:17:45.595,1:17:50.840
These are real issues of our society[br]and they are not happening out there.

1:17:51.778,1:17:54.153
They are very connected

1:17:54.671,1:17:58.131
to how we are in the world now.

1:17:59.058,1:18:02.189
Young people having no direction,

1:18:03.737,1:18:07.982
being restless[br]because of the media industry.

1:18:08.861,1:18:12.430
These are all thought about and mastered.

1:18:14.125,1:18:20.489
It is not coincidental,[br]the mechanism that drives capitalism

1:18:21.892,1:18:24.750
while we are so like -

1:18:25.211,1:18:27.945
My niece, it is hard for her

1:18:28.193,1:18:32.957
to put down the gadget, the screen.

1:18:34.300,1:18:35.956
This is not -

1:18:37.650,1:18:42.865
We have, we do have[br]some contribution to make.

1:18:43.902,1:18:45.797
It's not to say just -

1:18:46.004,1:18:50.263
And this is what I love about Thay's work.[br]We don't wait until we are liberated,

1:18:51.145,1:18:55.104
or find peace and then do the good work.

1:18:55.452,1:18:59.955
Actually, interbeing is[br]we transform ourselves

1:19:01.245,1:19:04.041
and we help transform the world.

1:19:04.204,1:19:08.772
Whatever scope your are in.[br]It can be on your individual level,

1:19:09.184,1:19:13.742
because so much suffering[br]you cannot be involved,

1:19:14.642,1:19:18.736
and you take care of yourself.[br]Make yourself less grumpy,

1:19:19.247,1:19:26.099
less obnoxious, less whatever,[br]less provoking, reactive.

1:19:27.143,1:19:29.054
Personal level.

1:19:29.175,1:19:31.831
Or group level, family.

1:19:32.163,1:19:34.364
Work on the family level,

1:19:34.685,1:19:38.775
work on your neighborhood,[br]what can you do for your neighborhood?

1:19:40.232,1:19:46.139
How can you help build a sangha to be a[br]refuge in your city for the neighborhood?

1:19:47.543,1:19:52.562
Because you see young people no longer[br]going to church, going to temples.

1:19:53.434,1:19:56.570
And they are looking for[br]a spiritual direction.

1:19:56.839,1:20:00.468
Building sangha, Thay has shared,[br]is the most noble task,

1:20:00.668,1:20:04.933
because they are refugee camps,[br]they are like refugee camps.

1:20:07.196,1:20:10.648
Refugees in the media are lot lately.

1:20:11.428,1:20:14.581
And there is a refugee going on now.

1:20:15.242,1:20:19.394
People coming to monasteries[br]retreat centers, finding refuge

1:20:20.664,1:20:25.233
because of the war going on[br]a war on restlessness,

1:20:27.184,1:20:29.464
discrimination,

1:20:29.674,1:20:35.869
or no break from rushing energy.

1:20:37.315,1:20:40.304
So there is another war going on.

1:20:40.728,1:20:43.993
In Thay's time, it was the war in Vietnam.

1:20:44.980,1:20:47.296
In our time, what is the war?

1:20:48.762,1:20:50.986
Or what is the peace?

1:20:51.971,1:20:54.784
This is something for us to reflect on

1:20:56.423,1:21:00.333
as we engage and build[br]the Order of Interbeing.

1:21:01.642,1:21:07.144
It's very tempting to do the outer work.

1:21:10.333,1:21:13.476
(Vietnamese)

1:21:15.251,1:21:18.654
Buddhism goes into society.

1:21:18.897,1:21:25.508
This goes hand in hand with[br]Buddhism that goes inside in our heart.

1:21:26.211,1:21:29.033
(Vietnamese)

1:21:29.196,1:21:33.546
Thay has a saying,[br]"The way out is in."

1:21:35.909,1:21:41.222
It's not surprising[br]that it's a very visited calligraphy

1:21:42.753,1:21:45.434
of Thay, to remind us,

1:21:47.940,1:21:50.619
"Don't forget to do your homework".

1:21:51.360,1:21:55.415
Because building sangha[br]and doing the great things

1:21:56.536,1:22:00.672
is very glamorous.

1:22:02.053,1:22:06.183
People prays you, there is result.

1:22:07.403,1:22:08.673
It gets -

1:22:09.793,1:22:11.873
But if we don't do our homework,

1:22:12.220,1:22:14.684
when the time comes -

1:22:15.390,1:22:18.244
Very unstable. Your emotion will come up.

1:22:19.325,1:22:21.621
You won't let go.

1:22:23.109,1:22:26.355
That is why the sangha is very important.

1:22:26.509,1:22:28.605
They are a protection

1:22:28.753,1:22:31.301
and they help prevent us from going -

1:22:31.454,1:22:33.848
And holding on too tightly.

1:22:34.957,1:22:38.770
The vision of Thay,[br]the Buddha as a sangha,

1:22:39.507,1:22:42.115
is doable.

1:22:42.914,1:22:46.869
We don't all have to be the Buddha,[br]which is needed is to be part time.

1:22:46.989,1:22:49.257
And we take turns.

1:22:50.110,1:22:52.438
I mean, it's OK.

1:22:54.290,1:22:58.843
So it's our protection[br]from becoming dogmatic and so on.

1:23:03.038,1:23:10.418
My gratefulness to Thay[br]to emphasizing building sangha

1:23:12.299,1:23:17.206
as a way to keep us[br]in line with the spirit.

1:23:17.564,1:23:20.378
That is why in the Charter of Interbeing

1:23:20.488,1:23:26.549
it's very important that when you become[br]an OI member, you grow from the sangha.

1:23:27.912,1:23:30.167
But now lately there is a trend

1:23:30.291,1:23:34.391
that the people want to receive[br]the OI membership or become an OI member

1:23:34.626,1:23:37.430
like the world, it's very worldly.

1:23:37.553,1:23:41.062
It is like, "Oh! I want to be an OI![br]How do I become an OI?"

1:23:41.354,1:23:44.178
It's like very isolated.

1:23:45.052,1:23:49.493
An OI member or a person[br]who grows in the Dharma

1:23:49.868,1:23:52.343
grows from the sangha.

1:23:52.768,1:23:57.425
That is why you cannot become[br]an OI member out of thin air,

1:23:57.689,1:23:59.948
it comes from the sangha.

1:24:00.114,1:24:03.127
I mean, I guess you can.[br]I don't want to be dogmatic about it.

1:24:03.275,1:24:06.159
Maybe in Alaska or somewhere[br]there is no sangha.

1:24:06.471,1:24:08.833
You can become OI member.

1:24:08.961,1:24:12.623
But the intention there is[br]that you come from a culture.

1:24:14.156,1:24:16.686
You have support,[br]you have brothers and sisters

1:24:16.843,1:24:20.760
that know you.[br]They know you very well.

1:24:22.995,1:24:25.815
They are your protection.[br]They understand you,

1:24:25.980,1:24:29.283
they know your weaknesses,[br]they know your strengths.

1:24:29.979,1:24:32.307
It is very easy to just -

1:24:33.173,1:24:39.376
Be by yourself and operating on your own.

1:24:40.010,1:24:43.515
Because it's very hard[br]to live with those who know you.

1:24:43.865,1:24:45.605
(Laughter)

1:24:48.047,1:24:51.885
Sangha is all nice. Plum Village[br]is all nice. Wait until you live here.

1:24:51.995,1:24:53.415
(Laughter)

1:24:53.545,1:24:55.594
It's very easy

1:24:57.400,1:25:00.176
but difficult, because[br]your brothers know you.

1:25:01.681,1:25:04.490
It's easier to live as a tourist.

1:25:04.619,1:25:07.763
Ah! Nice! So beautiful!

1:25:08.709,1:25:13.378
Everything is so wonderful![br]Plum Village is so nice for one week!

1:25:14.360,1:25:16.440
(Laughter)

1:25:16.811,1:25:21.944
You stay here and we get to know you[br]and we let you grow some roots,

1:25:22.321,1:25:24.346
and then we start trimming.

1:25:24.509,1:25:26.370
(Laughter)

1:25:26.574,1:25:29.162
"You don't show up on time.

1:25:29.608,1:25:31.764
Why is that?

1:25:31.924,1:25:33.892
Look at your room!

1:25:34.012,1:25:36.398
How do you live inside your room?"

1:25:36.634,1:25:38.735
You look very good,

1:25:38.867,1:25:42.563
when you see the monks[br]walking around, all like that.

1:25:42.739,1:25:47.517
But take a look at your room,[br]how do you live inside your room?

1:25:49.543,1:25:51.561
That's the in.

1:25:51.676,1:25:54.769
The way outside needs to be inside.

1:25:55.136,1:25:58.032
If you cannot do the little work,

1:25:58.922,1:26:01.434
when the tsunami comes,

1:26:02.029,1:26:04.314
no foundation.

1:26:04.655,1:26:09.155
So in our sangha building,[br]please do your homework.

1:26:11.103,1:26:15.019
That wasn't too intense?[br]I did shining light

1:26:15.941,1:26:19.555
too intense sometimes, so I apologize.

1:26:19.727,1:26:24.336
But this is me speaking to myself,[br]so I need to be careful.

1:26:24.567,1:26:28.176
Thank you, sangha[br]for being here with us.

1:26:29.935,1:26:32.520
Please enjoy breathing

1:26:33.407,1:26:36.261
and let go of everything I say.

1:26:38.118,1:26:40.710
Please, dong hang on to it. OK?

1:26:41.804,1:26:44.935
Oh, it's quite -[br]Throw it away.

1:26:45.399,1:26:47.381
(Laughter)

1:26:47.717,1:26:49.534
(Bell)

1:26:50.280,1:26:55.995
(Bell)

1:27:18.039,1:27:24.190
(Bell)

1:27:41.610,1:27:47.459
(Bell)

1:28:07.607,1:28:09.753
(Bell)