1 00:00:00,201 --> 00:00:04,507 [The Plum Village Online Monastery] 2 00:00:04,778 --> 00:00:10,708 (Bell) 3 00:00:34,035 --> 00:00:40,085 (Bell) 4 00:01:03,517 --> 00:01:09,666 (Bell) 5 00:01:26,163 --> 00:01:31,759 Dear respected teacher, dear brothers and sisters, 6 00:01:31,957 --> 00:01:34,044 dear sangha, 7 00:01:34,165 --> 00:01:36,170 can you hear OK? 8 00:01:42,828 --> 00:01:47,867 This autumn retreat we are exploring for three months 9 00:01:49,082 --> 00:01:50,948 Thay's 10 00:01:54,118 --> 00:01:57,906 14 mindfulness trainings of the Order of Interbeing. 11 00:01:58,011 --> 00:02:02,409 It's like a tradition that Thay founded. 12 00:02:02,925 --> 00:02:06,482 Some of you are new to our community, to Plum Village 13 00:02:06,592 --> 00:02:08,923 so, please, do your best. 14 00:02:08,990 --> 00:02:11,897 If you don't know what we are talking about, it is OK. 15 00:02:12,269 --> 00:02:15,641 But in the autumn time, for three months 16 00:02:15,829 --> 00:02:22,042 we brothers and sisters like to go focus on a particular topic 17 00:02:22,118 --> 00:02:27,514 so that it nourishes all of us to go deeper, 18 00:02:27,603 --> 00:02:31,664 to understand Thay, to understand our tradition. 19 00:02:34,155 --> 00:02:36,736 The Order of Interbeing 20 00:02:36,910 --> 00:02:40,175 is a kind of new vision of Thay. 21 00:02:40,980 --> 00:02:43,744 Thay is trying to - 22 00:02:44,522 --> 00:02:51,597 Back then he didn't really envision himself having monastic disciples. 23 00:02:52,499 --> 00:02:54,522 I think we've heard him share that, 24 00:02:54,714 --> 00:02:58,706 "There are already too many teachers with too many students. 25 00:02:58,859 --> 00:03:02,684 I will just teach the students of other teachers." 26 00:03:03,301 --> 00:03:07,194 So he really wanted to 27 00:03:09,571 --> 00:03:14,036 just to be doing the part of the teaching. 28 00:03:15,901 --> 00:03:18,596 Not having students. 29 00:03:19,653 --> 00:03:22,445 I think that during that time, 30 00:03:22,615 --> 00:03:25,080 he experimented a lot. 31 00:03:25,246 --> 00:03:29,036 You can see some old pictures of Thay, his hair is long. 32 00:03:29,535 --> 00:03:33,904 I think he is probably aware of the hippy movement. 33 00:03:34,691 --> 00:03:38,693 If you see Thay's old pictures sometimes he looks cool. 34 00:03:39,092 --> 00:03:41,935 Looks like a renegade. 35 00:03:42,095 --> 00:03:46,887 He didn't wear the formal robe like you see Thay does now, 36 00:03:46,968 --> 00:03:49,465 and with a OI jacket. 37 00:03:50,445 --> 00:03:53,064 We see Thay evolve 38 00:03:53,229 --> 00:03:57,723 from a hippyish monk traveling, 39 00:03:58,452 --> 00:04:00,487 experimenting and - 40 00:04:00,672 --> 00:04:03,034 Anyway, this is my perception, OK? 41 00:04:03,161 --> 00:04:04,574 (Laughter) 42 00:04:04,684 --> 00:04:06,835 You have to ask Thay yourself. 43 00:04:07,509 --> 00:04:12,470 For me that's how I begin to understand a little bit 44 00:04:12,669 --> 00:04:15,036 of the Order of Interbeing, 45 00:04:15,186 --> 00:04:18,755 as well as our tradition. 46 00:04:19,497 --> 00:04:24,153 To not to make such a distinction, 47 00:04:24,297 --> 00:04:28,431 but Buddhist teaching is to help us liberate ourselves 48 00:04:28,532 --> 00:04:31,032 and to relieve suffering within us 49 00:04:31,166 --> 00:04:34,502 and to relieve suffering in the world. 50 00:04:34,644 --> 00:04:37,016 That is the main purpose. 51 00:04:37,135 --> 00:04:42,434 Buddhism is not here to describe the world, the reality, 52 00:04:42,543 --> 00:04:45,667 the nature of things or how we came to be. 53 00:04:45,719 --> 00:04:47,991 It's not philosophical. 54 00:04:48,492 --> 00:04:50,845 When the Buddha found this path 55 00:04:50,956 --> 00:04:54,136 is to help relieve suffering. That's it. 56 00:04:55,342 --> 00:04:57,454 And as Buddhism evolved, 57 00:04:57,556 --> 00:05:03,124 it became more and more philosophical, academic, and theoretical. 58 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:10,765 Thay's new Order of Interbeing is to revive that. 59 00:05:12,055 --> 00:05:16,213 It is something we need to look deeply, practice deeply, 60 00:05:16,328 --> 00:05:21,677 so we can understand our teacher more, 61 00:05:21,804 --> 00:05:28,535 to understand what we are doing here, in Plum Village 62 00:05:28,619 --> 00:05:31,534 as well as sangha building and so on. 63 00:05:33,860 --> 00:05:40,492 Today I will share about the four principles of the Order of Interbeing. 64 00:05:42,225 --> 00:05:46,804 The Order of Interbeing has precepts, the fourteen precepts, 65 00:05:47,388 --> 00:05:53,589 and the underlying foundation, the spirit of the 14 mindfulness trainings 66 00:05:54,433 --> 00:05:57,230 Thay has shared it, 67 00:05:57,796 --> 00:06:06,347 put it into four principles, or four spirits of the Order of Interbeing. 68 00:06:07,617 --> 00:06:14,695 Openness, direct experimentation, appropriateness and skillfulness. 69 00:06:15,949 --> 00:06:19,007 I will write that up. 70 00:06:19,171 --> 00:06:21,257 And before we - 71 00:06:22,708 --> 00:06:27,582 To understand those four, why they were so important to Thay 72 00:06:27,796 --> 00:06:29,981 we will look a little bit 73 00:06:30,180 --> 00:06:34,723 at some of the conditions that existed 74 00:06:34,836 --> 00:06:40,766 when Thay was becoming, evolving as a young monk. 75 00:06:41,945 --> 00:06:46,777 This is my own reflection to try to understand more 76 00:06:47,462 --> 00:06:51,888 and I leave it up to you to study more and to look more deeply 77 00:06:52,302 --> 00:06:56,146 why these four are so important 78 00:06:56,609 --> 00:07:01,020 during Thay's time as it is now in our time. 79 00:07:01,906 --> 00:07:04,914 The first principle is openness. 80 00:07:05,370 --> 00:07:09,603 [Openness] 81 00:07:10,499 --> 00:07:13,130 The second one is 82 00:07:14,301 --> 00:07:21,977 [Direct Experimentation] 83 00:07:26,995 --> 00:07:29,835 direct experimentation. 84 00:07:29,968 --> 00:07:33,098 The third one is appropriateness. 85 00:07:35,894 --> 00:07:39,489 [Appropriateness] 86 00:07:40,587 --> 00:07:44,006 And the last one is skillfulness. 87 00:07:44,804 --> 00:07:48,226 [Skilness] 88 00:07:50,845 --> 00:07:53,602 And these are things not to just write down in notes 89 00:07:53,714 --> 00:07:56,211 for us to reflect on in our practice. 90 00:07:56,299 --> 00:07:59,524 They are the spirit, the guides of practice. 91 00:08:00,154 --> 00:08:05,165 To understand a little bit, at least my own looking, 92 00:08:05,525 --> 00:08:09,537 I try to look at what was happening during Thay's time. 93 00:08:10,203 --> 00:08:12,162 The conditions. 94 00:08:13,957 --> 00:08:17,196 There is a misspelling, skill -ful. 95 00:08:19,258 --> 00:08:21,697 "Skilness" is not a word yet. 96 00:08:21,869 --> 00:08:23,236 (Laughter) 97 00:08:23,435 --> 00:08:25,129 Skillfulness. 98 00:08:25,472 --> 00:08:28,171 Two "l"s? Two two "l"s? Four "l"s? 99 00:08:29,897 --> 00:08:32,736 One "l" somewhere there, right? Maybe here. 100 00:08:33,003 --> 00:08:35,025 (Laughter) 101 00:08:35,449 --> 00:08:38,634 Yes? No? The other one! 102 00:08:39,824 --> 00:08:41,868 It's not very skillful. 103 00:08:41,997 --> 00:08:43,704 (Laughter) 104 00:08:43,802 --> 00:08:45,947 Voilà! 105 00:08:47,937 --> 00:08:51,285 So I was reflecting a little bit of - 106 00:08:51,483 --> 00:08:55,859 And we've heard Thay share how he was inspired 107 00:08:56,017 --> 00:09:00,492 when he learned about what Buddhism did one time 108 00:09:00,601 --> 00:09:04,108 during Vietnam's history. 109 00:09:04,357 --> 00:09:08,514 How it actually was very integrated in society, in politics. 110 00:09:09,357 --> 00:09:15,037 A lot of Buddhists were teachers of political leaders, 111 00:09:15,172 --> 00:09:17,365 so it was very integrated. 112 00:09:17,959 --> 00:09:23,554 So Buddhism was never something you do outside of what was happening in society. 113 00:09:23,654 --> 00:09:25,707 This is something - 114 00:09:26,872 --> 00:09:32,753 So during Thay's time, there was a war going on. 115 00:09:34,011 --> 00:09:39,572 [height war] 116 00:09:43,996 --> 00:09:49,669 This is in 1968. 117 00:09:53,311 --> 00:09:56,573 What we call the Tet Offensive. 118 00:09:56,770 --> 00:09:59,180 [1968 Tết Offensive] 119 00:09:59,341 --> 00:10:03,135 It's like a lot of violence happening. 120 00:10:03,242 --> 00:10:04,914 There is the - 121 00:10:05,279 --> 00:10:08,016 In the war's history they say this is the height 122 00:10:08,142 --> 00:10:15,080 of when the Vietnamese wanted to show America 123 00:10:15,474 --> 00:10:18,447 that they are not giving up. 124 00:10:18,548 --> 00:10:23,277 So there is a lot of atrocity happening in 1968. 125 00:10:23,441 --> 00:10:26,693 And just let us know that the OI order 126 00:10:26,971 --> 00:10:31,512 [OI Order] 127 00:10:32,452 --> 00:10:35,471 1966. 128 00:10:37,082 --> 00:10:39,426 This is when Thay - 129 00:10:39,838 --> 00:10:46,579 I have a feeling Thay had formulated these teachings and trainings before that 130 00:10:46,665 --> 00:10:49,298 but we put there 66, 131 00:10:49,416 --> 00:10:52,485 it is when sister Chan Khong and the six - 132 00:10:52,891 --> 00:10:54,755 (Vietnamese) 133 00:10:54,958 --> 00:10:56,983 Six cedars? No. 134 00:10:57,087 --> 00:10:58,751 (Vietnamese) 135 00:10:58,932 --> 00:11:02,244 The first six OI members, three men and three women 136 00:11:02,899 --> 00:11:04,718 were ordained. 137 00:11:04,845 --> 00:11:07,671 So we look and we see that during that time 138 00:11:08,502 --> 00:11:12,841 there were bombs being thrown on the country 139 00:11:13,175 --> 00:11:15,178 and people were dying. 140 00:11:15,825 --> 00:11:19,007 We have to imagine that time. 141 00:11:20,068 --> 00:11:22,025 So, how to help? 142 00:11:22,638 --> 00:11:25,753 We all know the story of Thay saying that 143 00:11:26,043 --> 00:11:28,935 if you are a monk and you are sitting in the monastery 144 00:11:28,999 --> 00:11:31,182 and you are chanting 145 00:11:31,253 --> 00:11:34,350 and there are bombs and people being blown to pieces outside, 146 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,918 you do not sit in the temple and continue to chant. 147 00:11:39,512 --> 00:11:43,510 This is just to understand a little bit 148 00:11:44,311 --> 00:11:46,277 Thay's intention. 149 00:11:46,362 --> 00:11:48,172 During this time, 150 00:11:48,894 --> 00:11:52,811 there are a lot of young people's movements, 151 00:11:57,670 --> 00:11:59,571 students, 152 00:11:59,940 --> 00:12:01,930 [Young People (students)] 153 00:12:02,092 --> 00:12:07,670 who were going into the streets, in the Universities. 154 00:12:07,798 --> 00:12:09,362 [Univ.] 155 00:12:09,507 --> 00:12:13,009 This was happening in Vietnam and in the US. 156 00:12:13,307 --> 00:12:15,257 [VN U.S.] 157 00:12:15,864 --> 00:12:19,321 In the mid-sixties, this is happening. 158 00:12:19,447 --> 00:12:23,750 The young people were actually a great part of the - 159 00:12:23,927 --> 00:12:26,801 How many of you were part of that movement? 160 00:12:26,911 --> 00:12:30,454 Some of you here, yes? A few? Let's see hands! 161 00:12:31,056 --> 00:12:35,034 In America a lot of OI members were from that era. 162 00:12:36,443 --> 00:12:41,343 I remember Thay shared with me one time he was in Columbia University 163 00:12:41,463 --> 00:12:43,697 and there was a student protest. 164 00:12:44,473 --> 00:12:47,694 And Thay witnessed all that. 165 00:12:49,932 --> 00:12:57,998 This also informs the S-Y student, what is it? 166 00:12:58,262 --> 00:13:00,629 The S-Y-S-S? 167 00:13:03,415 --> 00:13:05,567 What it stands for? 168 00:13:06,341 --> 00:13:08,521 Social Service. 169 00:13:13,031 --> 00:13:15,448 School? Yes. 170 00:13:15,587 --> 00:13:21,061 School for Youth and Social Service. 171 00:13:21,372 --> 00:13:24,288 [Sch. Youth. Soc. Serv.) 172 00:13:24,614 --> 00:13:28,116 So in this you can see what Thay was trying to do. 173 00:13:28,330 --> 00:13:35,253 Trying to help bring - Have students gather to help. 174 00:13:36,532 --> 00:13:43,443 And this is also during the time when Thay envisions also a kind of Plum Village, 175 00:13:44,384 --> 00:13:46,808 "Phương Bối", 176 00:13:48,371 --> 00:13:53,023 Fragrant Palm Village in the mountains side. 177 00:13:53,192 --> 00:13:58,339 Because he saw as we were doing social service and I guess helping, 178 00:13:59,136 --> 00:14:04,169 we also needed a place to retreat and to revitalize ourselves. 179 00:14:09,626 --> 00:14:11,575 There was also 180 00:14:12,516 --> 00:14:17,526 religious persecution, 181 00:14:17,897 --> 00:14:21,160 [Religious persecution] 182 00:14:22,712 --> 00:14:24,656 between - 183 00:14:27,886 --> 00:14:31,241 There was a big attack 184 00:14:31,445 --> 00:14:35,198 because the person who came into political power 185 00:14:35,391 --> 00:14:38,266 had Catholic backgrounds. 186 00:14:38,375 --> 00:14:42,772 So there was a lot of tension between - 187 00:14:45,177 --> 00:14:49,914 and other Buddhist religious sects as well. 188 00:14:50,007 --> 00:14:52,855 So this was happening during that time. 189 00:14:53,000 --> 00:15:00,053 The big reason for all that was the political ideology. 190 00:15:01,333 --> 00:15:04,951 [Political Ideology] 191 00:15:08,330 --> 00:15:11,352 With the Communists, 192 00:15:11,990 --> 00:15:14,447 [Communist] 193 00:15:18,355 --> 00:15:20,726 the Democracy, 194 00:15:20,961 --> 00:15:23,388 [Democracy] 195 00:15:24,678 --> 00:15:27,360 and then of course the capitalism and so on. 196 00:15:28,208 --> 00:15:32,092 So there is a lot of that happening. 197 00:15:32,193 --> 00:15:34,251 Afraid of the - 198 00:15:34,415 --> 00:15:38,137 As you learn more of the war in Vietnam, the history, 199 00:15:38,243 --> 00:15:40,396 as things are coming out more, you see - 200 00:15:41,046 --> 00:15:44,513 I think there was recently a ten part series 201 00:15:44,802 --> 00:15:47,305 on the war in Vietnam. 202 00:15:47,930 --> 00:15:52,484 And we see that actually a lot of it was so unnecessary. 203 00:15:53,603 --> 00:15:55,598 There was a wrong perception, 204 00:15:55,731 --> 00:16:01,730 the idea that if you allow one country to become Communist, 205 00:16:02,438 --> 00:16:06,044 that was not even necessarily that assumption was true, 206 00:16:06,270 --> 00:16:10,608 that the whole, entire area was - They call it the domino effect. 207 00:16:11,408 --> 00:16:14,359 And you see how a concept creates a fear, 208 00:16:14,467 --> 00:16:16,967 as we are doing now with terrorists. 209 00:16:17,106 --> 00:16:19,902 But it's a new thing. It's not a domino effect, 210 00:16:20,015 --> 00:16:21,752 but it's a more - 211 00:16:21,858 --> 00:16:24,313 We don't know a term yet for it. 212 00:16:24,452 --> 00:16:27,273 But here you see the view, 213 00:16:28,752 --> 00:16:32,348 the things that make us have fear 214 00:16:33,274 --> 00:16:35,564 and we will not let go. 215 00:16:36,486 --> 00:16:40,739 Because of this fear, some political leaders, 216 00:16:41,079 --> 00:16:43,078 presidents and so on, 217 00:16:43,197 --> 00:16:45,958 were afraid and they got stuck in, 218 00:16:46,079 --> 00:16:49,627 and because they were stuck in, their pride came up. 219 00:16:49,687 --> 00:16:54,590 "No longer can I be the president that let America fail." 220 00:16:55,477 --> 00:16:59,662 So there is stuckness because of a view, an idea. 221 00:17:00,913 --> 00:17:07,103 And if you are working on the ground, and this is happening out there - 222 00:17:07,965 --> 00:17:11,168 Thay sees that it's not happening in Vietnam, 223 00:17:11,303 --> 00:17:15,492 it's not the only place where we are going to find peace and resolution to this. 224 00:17:16,341 --> 00:17:20,972 This moves Thay to go to the US to try to convince 225 00:17:21,211 --> 00:17:24,913 the intellectuals, the political leaders, the religious leaders 226 00:17:25,713 --> 00:17:28,214 to change the idea. 227 00:17:28,370 --> 00:17:32,642 These are some of the conditions that were happening 228 00:17:32,767 --> 00:17:35,759 at the time that the OI, 229 00:17:36,831 --> 00:17:39,599 the Order, the Trainings, the Charter - 230 00:17:39,704 --> 00:17:43,208 Thay writes the whole complete - Not just the trainings, 231 00:17:43,312 --> 00:17:46,900 but the Charter, how it should be organized, 232 00:17:47,797 --> 00:17:49,838 and so on. 233 00:17:56,742 --> 00:18:01,124 And this also, during this time, 234 00:18:01,649 --> 00:18:03,897 these movements in the US, 235 00:18:04,102 --> 00:18:07,811 Thay meets with Martin Luther King. 236 00:18:08,370 --> 00:18:10,181 [MLK] 237 00:18:10,292 --> 00:18:12,293 After the meeting, 238 00:18:12,420 --> 00:18:19,657 Dr. Martin Luther King gave a speech on Vietnam. 239 00:18:21,683 --> 00:18:24,315 So there is a lot happening as well. 240 00:18:24,406 --> 00:18:28,847 Thay came into contact with that while he traveled the US. 241 00:18:29,223 --> 00:18:34,159 But there were a lot of like-minded people doing the - Martin and so on. 242 00:18:37,657 --> 00:18:46,504 And Thay at this time also starts to look into forming the Van Hanh University. 243 00:18:46,821 --> 00:18:49,562 [Van Hanh Unv.] 244 00:18:51,617 --> 00:18:56,383 So Thay is trying also to re-envision a kind of Buddhism 245 00:18:56,798 --> 00:19:03,960 that is informed and interactive, engaged Buddhism is born during this time. 246 00:19:04,679 --> 00:19:10,623 Thay's engaged Buddhism in the sense of - with these conditions. 247 00:19:10,740 --> 00:19:16,724 Because Thay has shared that there is a movement like this happening also in China 248 00:19:17,214 --> 00:19:19,737 with another Buddhist monk. 249 00:19:20,385 --> 00:19:23,810 But this is to understand a little bit. 250 00:19:24,618 --> 00:19:31,549 Because when we look at how something manifests, 251 00:19:31,764 --> 00:19:34,060 we need to look at the conditions. 252 00:19:34,921 --> 00:19:39,969 That will inform us and we'll understand what Thay is trying to do. 253 00:20:15,952 --> 00:20:23,063 So those are external conditions in society. 254 00:20:23,211 --> 00:20:27,917 We can also look into Thay, what inspires him. 255 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:33,438 The Lý and Trần dynasties. 256 00:20:33,737 --> 00:20:36,918 [Lý, Trần Dyn.] 257 00:20:37,973 --> 00:20:44,438 This is where Buddhism was very integrated with society. 258 00:20:44,850 --> 00:20:46,748 [B. - Soc.] 259 00:20:46,927 --> 00:20:48,698 Not separated. 260 00:20:50,135 --> 00:20:52,747 And Thay shares a lot about this. 261 00:20:58,176 --> 00:21:01,663 And during this time, Thay would begin to write - 262 00:21:02,015 --> 00:21:05,295 Before the founding of the Order, he wrote two books. 263 00:21:06,086 --> 00:21:08,916 "Modernized Buddhism", 264 00:21:09,417 --> 00:21:11,527 [Modernized Bud.] 265 00:21:15,564 --> 00:21:20,786 "Đạo Phật hiện đại hóa" in Vietnamese. 266 00:21:21,247 --> 00:21:25,394 [Đ. P. hiện đại hóa] 267 00:21:28,738 --> 00:21:31,433 And then he writes another one, 268 00:21:31,928 --> 00:21:34,744 "Socially Engaged Buddhism". 269 00:21:35,067 --> 00:21:37,457 [Socially Eng. B.] 270 00:21:39,766 --> 00:21:42,005 This one is 271 00:21:42,519 --> 00:21:45,926 "Đạo Phật đi vào cuộc đời". 272 00:21:46,506 --> 00:21:49,328 [Đi vào c. đ.] 273 00:21:54,437 --> 00:21:57,996 So here Thay is expressing 274 00:21:58,167 --> 00:22:02,794 and he is also in this time writing many articles in Buddhist magazines 275 00:22:04,385 --> 00:22:08,075 to share his vision of a Buddhism 276 00:22:08,483 --> 00:22:12,348 that is very connected to society, 277 00:22:12,895 --> 00:22:15,540 working in politics, 278 00:22:15,742 --> 00:22:19,215 social service 279 00:22:19,474 --> 00:22:21,958 as well as in education, 280 00:22:22,024 --> 00:22:24,436 in organizations and so on. 281 00:22:25,257 --> 00:22:33,516 This is a vision of Thay for the SYSS, the School of Youth and Social Service. 282 00:22:43,162 --> 00:22:47,855 In the School of Youth and Social Service they went into the villages 283 00:22:48,198 --> 00:22:51,812 and they helped organize the health care, 284 00:22:52,477 --> 00:22:58,357 the management as well as very practical things, 285 00:22:58,466 --> 00:23:02,364 helping the farmers deep wells. 286 00:23:03,433 --> 00:23:07,196 It was not just go there and teach Buddhism, 287 00:23:07,308 --> 00:23:09,763 but go there and you'll see. 288 00:23:09,893 --> 00:23:15,915 This was Thay's vision of monastics or OI members doing not just 289 00:23:19,100 --> 00:23:21,613 "philosophical ideas", 290 00:23:21,726 --> 00:23:24,467 but actually very practical. 291 00:23:24,593 --> 00:23:27,910 So it's an engaged, practical Buddhism 292 00:23:28,028 --> 00:23:31,650 that is not just in the temple, in the University, 293 00:23:32,154 --> 00:23:35,745 but actually embedded in society. 294 00:24:05,230 --> 00:24:10,484 So we can here begin to see these four principles 295 00:24:10,685 --> 00:24:13,422 based on these conditions. 296 00:24:13,543 --> 00:24:17,375 There was a very intense debate 297 00:24:17,542 --> 00:24:19,888 between two ideas. 298 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,676 And Thay saw that very clearly, 299 00:24:23,385 --> 00:24:25,628 that it caused a lot of suffering 300 00:24:25,780 --> 00:24:28,617 just based on a viewpoint, 301 00:24:28,789 --> 00:24:32,915 having an agenda. 302 00:24:34,165 --> 00:24:38,783 So the first principle of the Order of Interbeing is openness. 303 00:24:40,744 --> 00:24:49,540 In Vietnamese it is "phá chấp". 304 00:24:50,447 --> 00:24:53,010 [phá chấp] 305 00:24:53,739 --> 00:24:55,805 It is very interesting. 306 00:24:55,907 --> 00:24:57,868 I read the Vietnamese. 307 00:24:57,945 --> 00:25:02,138 It's not "cởi mở", "cởi mở" is openness. 308 00:25:03,169 --> 00:25:05,089 But it is "phá chấp". 309 00:25:05,220 --> 00:25:09,849 "Phá" is to phá, right? 310 00:25:10,103 --> 00:25:11,824 (Laughter) 311 00:25:11,925 --> 00:25:14,089 To remove. 312 00:25:14,635 --> 00:25:18,483 But it also means to mess around. 313 00:25:19,260 --> 00:25:21,495 To "phá", to remove. 314 00:25:21,717 --> 00:25:24,174 [remove] 315 00:25:24,460 --> 00:25:27,370 And "chấp" is like 316 00:25:29,780 --> 00:25:32,063 stuckness. 317 00:25:32,232 --> 00:25:34,524 [stuckness] 318 00:25:34,591 --> 00:25:36,407 To remove stuckness. 319 00:25:36,538 --> 00:25:39,308 Thay would say it is also "thủ", 320 00:25:39,951 --> 00:25:42,789 a kind of grasping. 321 00:25:44,581 --> 00:25:46,534 It is very interesting, eh? 322 00:25:46,628 --> 00:25:49,388 Openness is to remove your - 323 00:25:49,582 --> 00:25:52,296 You know? Openness is like this. 324 00:25:53,353 --> 00:25:57,878 This way is describing "to remove your -". 325 00:25:58,366 --> 00:26:01,535 And everyone can relate to that. 326 00:26:01,658 --> 00:26:04,361 When you have a view and you think you're right, 327 00:26:04,438 --> 00:26:06,899 it's pretty tight. 328 00:26:07,619 --> 00:26:09,901 (Laughter) 329 00:26:10,298 --> 00:26:11,984 He is wrong! 330 00:26:12,132 --> 00:26:14,204 You hold your breath, right? 331 00:26:14,303 --> 00:26:16,477 When you are right, you hold your breath. 332 00:26:16,574 --> 00:26:18,192 (Laughter) 333 00:26:18,315 --> 00:26:20,727 You know that feeling, right? 334 00:26:21,124 --> 00:26:24,812 You see, openness is very - It's up to you! 335 00:26:26,581 --> 00:26:29,833 You want to hold? Or you want to -? 336 00:26:30,659 --> 00:26:32,457 You can see. 337 00:26:32,590 --> 00:26:36,262 This is easy to understand on the individual level, 338 00:26:36,333 --> 00:26:39,278 but when it happens on a mass level, 339 00:26:39,372 --> 00:26:42,977 when a whole nation, when a whole group of people 340 00:26:44,163 --> 00:26:46,939 is based on fear and wrong perceptions, 341 00:26:49,179 --> 00:26:53,098 they build walls, they make more guns, 342 00:26:54,583 --> 00:26:57,427 start to have cameras, 343 00:26:57,695 --> 00:26:59,515 start to search. 344 00:27:00,066 --> 00:27:02,263 You know, at the airport? 345 00:27:03,657 --> 00:27:08,494 This is to understand what Thay is looking at 346 00:27:08,614 --> 00:27:11,993 in terms of what is coming for the modern world. 347 00:27:12,319 --> 00:27:16,809 Because of the militarization, the fear, the wrong perceptions. 348 00:27:18,323 --> 00:27:25,194 This is the root of a lot of suffering in the world on the mass scale. 349 00:27:25,981 --> 00:27:29,484 And it begins with the individual scale. 350 00:27:29,684 --> 00:27:31,667 If you cannot handle this, 351 00:27:32,072 --> 00:27:35,115 if you go to education and you are not taught this, 352 00:27:35,482 --> 00:27:37,697 you will become a leader. 353 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:42,167 And if you don't know how the mind works, you will be caught in a view. 354 00:27:43,411 --> 00:27:47,628 My sister Tue Nghiem will speak more about this next week 355 00:27:48,275 --> 00:27:52,159 so I will stop there. 356 00:27:58,249 --> 00:28:02,562 And of course, this you can understand more, 357 00:28:03,636 --> 00:28:08,309 the root of it, in the Buddhist teaching in the Sutra called the Kalama, 358 00:28:08,763 --> 00:28:13,608 [Kalama Sutra] 359 00:28:15,641 --> 00:28:19,779 where these monks from a different tradition, 360 00:28:20,048 --> 00:28:25,511 many teachers teach them many things and they don't know which one to follow 361 00:28:25,638 --> 00:28:27,933 because they all make sense. 362 00:28:28,353 --> 00:28:31,151 This is the Buddha teaching 363 00:28:34,110 --> 00:28:37,311 you need to test it yourself and see if it works. 364 00:28:38,521 --> 00:28:40,463 So it's a kind of a - 365 00:28:41,688 --> 00:28:47,362 The Sutra that shows the spirit of openness, of tolerance in Buddhism. 366 00:28:49,577 --> 00:28:53,580 Now we move into direct experimentation. 367 00:29:05,736 --> 00:29:08,067 In Vietnamese it's 368 00:29:13,675 --> 00:29:15,046 "thực chứng". 369 00:29:15,272 --> 00:29:17,381 [thực chứng] 370 00:29:18,524 --> 00:29:21,043 (Vietnamese) 371 00:29:23,636 --> 00:29:25,338 "Thực chứng" 372 00:29:25,978 --> 00:29:27,729 Real 373 00:29:28,346 --> 00:29:30,390 [real] 374 00:29:32,813 --> 00:29:35,116 experience. 375 00:29:35,276 --> 00:29:38,047 [experience] 376 00:29:39,093 --> 00:29:42,263 This is a heart of the Buddhist teaching as well. 377 00:29:42,842 --> 00:29:46,950 It's based on our own experience 378 00:29:47,298 --> 00:29:52,555 that we believe in something or not believe in something. 379 00:29:53,716 --> 00:29:56,715 This is also found in the Kalama Sutra. 380 00:29:57,928 --> 00:30:02,808 So it's not a belief based on what a teacher or what the Sutra 381 00:30:03,097 --> 00:30:05,486 or what someone says, 382 00:30:05,601 --> 00:30:07,924 but it is from your direct - 383 00:30:07,994 --> 00:30:10,814 And we need to keep this in mind. 384 00:30:11,213 --> 00:30:14,344 Because it's very easy just to follow. 385 00:30:31,010 --> 00:30:33,633 So the practice of meditation 386 00:30:34,719 --> 00:30:36,318 will help us 387 00:30:39,349 --> 00:30:43,830 know more and more what is appropriate for us. 388 00:30:44,239 --> 00:30:48,820 So these two are very linked to appropriateness and skillfulness. 389 00:30:51,123 --> 00:30:53,471 Sometimes we learn something 390 00:30:53,591 --> 00:30:58,876 and we have not fully tasted it 391 00:30:59,700 --> 00:31:02,816 and we are very easy to teach it. 392 00:31:03,385 --> 00:31:05,741 This is a danger. 393 00:31:06,999 --> 00:31:13,839 Also in our work of - how we call it- 394 00:31:14,352 --> 00:31:17,354 sangha building or helping the world, 395 00:31:18,187 --> 00:31:21,459 this is where it can be dangerous 396 00:31:22,775 --> 00:31:24,517 in terms of - 397 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:28,745 If you have not found ease, found peace within yourself, 398 00:31:29,327 --> 00:31:31,803 have touched that within us, 399 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,478 and we go and teach it, 400 00:31:34,812 --> 00:31:37,436 I think that's where it can become 401 00:31:38,195 --> 00:31:40,613 in Vietnamese they call it (Vietnamese). 402 00:31:40,990 --> 00:31:44,605 It's like you do the Buddhist work, 403 00:31:45,970 --> 00:31:48,312 sangha building for instance, 404 00:31:48,409 --> 00:31:51,688 and you see this a lot in sangha building. 405 00:31:55,990 --> 00:31:58,743 You come into the sangha, you join the sangha, 406 00:31:58,997 --> 00:32:01,466 and you learn about the 5 mindfulness trainings, 407 00:32:01,629 --> 00:32:05,441 you practice it but it's not fully ripe. 408 00:32:05,504 --> 00:32:08,297 And then you hear there is a 14 mindfulness training. 409 00:32:08,462 --> 00:32:10,585 Wow! 14! Bigger number! 410 00:32:10,774 --> 00:32:12,914 (Laughter) 411 00:32:13,447 --> 00:32:15,619 And you get involved. 412 00:32:16,586 --> 00:32:18,669 You have a good spirit, 413 00:32:18,817 --> 00:32:22,126 you want to continue Thay's engaged Buddhism! 414 00:32:23,508 --> 00:32:28,383 But because of this direct experience, 415 00:32:29,022 --> 00:32:30,578 direct 416 00:32:31,239 --> 00:32:34,763 [realization] 417 00:32:36,776 --> 00:32:38,185 ripening 418 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:39,704 [ripening] 419 00:32:39,819 --> 00:32:41,944 Two "n"s? One "n". 420 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:50,902 This is very important 421 00:32:51,029 --> 00:32:54,165 and it links to direct experimentation. 422 00:32:55,359 --> 00:32:58,033 We are very good to - 423 00:33:01,992 --> 00:33:03,373 How we called it - 424 00:33:03,504 --> 00:33:05,964 We like newness, we like - 425 00:33:07,699 --> 00:33:09,657 Once you know it, 426 00:33:09,766 --> 00:33:12,505 and we've done it once, like walking meditation, 427 00:33:13,039 --> 00:33:14,673 we've touched it, 428 00:33:14,998 --> 00:33:17,595 as, "Now I can walk in meditation". 429 00:33:17,722 --> 00:33:19,494 But we don't continue it. 430 00:33:19,635 --> 00:33:23,029 It's like, "Let's do something else, let's start jogging meditation. 431 00:33:25,567 --> 00:33:28,020 It's fast walking meditation". 432 00:33:29,763 --> 00:33:32,855 Or sitting everyday, you touch it 433 00:33:33,654 --> 00:33:36,909 and you get bored of it. "Let's go sit outside!". 434 00:33:37,413 --> 00:33:40,115 Or, "Let's sit -" We - 435 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:43,413 Because of our restlessness, 436 00:33:43,595 --> 00:33:46,790 and our not-stillness, 437 00:33:48,287 --> 00:33:52,644 this direct experimentation can be a temptation. 438 00:33:54,442 --> 00:33:57,866 We haven't really touched this kind of stillness, 439 00:33:58,015 --> 00:34:01,321 this kind of calm, this peace, this freedom. 440 00:34:03,232 --> 00:34:06,603 It hasn't ripened in the Buddhist circle 441 00:34:06,968 --> 00:34:09,008 and we are too quick 442 00:34:09,114 --> 00:34:14,296 to start engaging in the world. Sangha building. 443 00:34:16,450 --> 00:34:18,855 What will happen is - 444 00:34:19,263 --> 00:34:21,833 Two of those elements come together 445 00:34:21,985 --> 00:34:25,369 and you have collision of views. 446 00:34:25,671 --> 00:34:28,606 This is something we need to know, 447 00:34:29,194 --> 00:34:31,484 because OI members, 448 00:34:32,133 --> 00:34:34,845 one of their fundamental- not fundamental, 449 00:34:35,012 --> 00:34:41,110 one of their misperception or kind a drive in OI members 450 00:34:41,256 --> 00:34:44,785 is to sangha build, and to engage in the world, 451 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:49,019 and to help do what Thay did during his time. 452 00:34:51,132 --> 00:34:57,163 This is - It needs to be some caution with that. 453 00:34:58,395 --> 00:35:05,480 Because I think, as we talk with OI members and sangha builders, 454 00:35:06,026 --> 00:35:12,856 there is a lot of colliding of viewpoints if we are not careful. 455 00:35:14,827 --> 00:35:21,089 So this is direct experimentation. 456 00:35:22,756 --> 00:35:26,016 We like it. You can see how Thay was influenced 457 00:35:29,185 --> 00:35:35,576 by the West scientific rational thinking, to test everything. 458 00:35:39,472 --> 00:35:42,224 But do we need to test everything? 459 00:35:42,637 --> 00:35:46,279 Sometimes in Dharma sharing or consultation 460 00:35:46,707 --> 00:35:51,444 I hear someone describe their suffering and it's something I've never experienced. 461 00:35:53,022 --> 00:35:56,037 Do I need to go experiment with that? 462 00:35:56,818 --> 00:35:59,052 No, there is another thing going on. 463 00:35:59,164 --> 00:36:03,205 It is also a kind of intuition, our wisdom, our own deep looking. 464 00:36:04,070 --> 00:36:06,683 So this is out there. 465 00:36:06,950 --> 00:36:09,928 We just recently had a Wake Up retreat 466 00:36:11,286 --> 00:36:15,140 and a young man said, "I want to experience everything!", 467 00:36:16,108 --> 00:36:22,571 including open sex, open relationships. 468 00:36:23,579 --> 00:36:26,408 And I was like, "OK, good". 469 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:31,903 It is quite interesting, because you hear a lot of sharing 470 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:34,518 about the suffering surrounding that. 471 00:36:34,701 --> 00:36:40,258 But he didn't want to just believe in someone else, 472 00:36:40,527 --> 00:36:42,741 he wanted to experiment. 473 00:36:42,931 --> 00:36:45,779 I chose not to. 474 00:36:46,887 --> 00:36:49,950 It's very clear where it leads. 475 00:36:50,425 --> 00:36:52,848 Because there is a wrong perception. 476 00:36:53,485 --> 00:36:57,494 We don't look deeply that we are lacking something 477 00:36:57,786 --> 00:37:01,150 and we are chasing maybe a sensual pleasure. 478 00:37:01,248 --> 00:37:05,182 Anyway, certain things that you can look deeply into. 479 00:37:06,091 --> 00:37:08,289 And from the deep looking, 480 00:37:08,451 --> 00:37:10,085 we don't need - 481 00:37:10,850 --> 00:37:13,307 We can see clearly. 482 00:37:13,490 --> 00:37:18,501 So the experimentation doesn't- This is where there is a fine line. 483 00:37:19,110 --> 00:37:21,268 I think we all know this. 484 00:37:21,501 --> 00:37:26,145 It's obvious that there are certain things you can know it's hot. Don't touch it. 485 00:37:26,950 --> 00:37:29,389 But it's very tempting. 486 00:37:29,651 --> 00:37:32,131 So experimentation 487 00:37:34,986 --> 00:37:38,672 is very tempting. 488 00:37:51,715 --> 00:37:56,405 We will have a sound of the bell before we continue. 489 00:38:08,026 --> 00:38:09,409 (Bell) 490 00:38:10,855 --> 00:38:17,991 (Bell) 491 00:38:42,390 --> 00:38:44,941 One time I heard Thay share 492 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,328 that before he brings out a new teaching, a new practice, 493 00:38:48,507 --> 00:38:51,818 he has practiced it for about ten years. 494 00:38:52,599 --> 00:38:56,751 I think it was during a Dharma talk, I've forgiven which practice it was. 495 00:38:58,453 --> 00:39:00,375 But that's pretty - 496 00:39:00,777 --> 00:39:02,716 And there are other instances 497 00:39:02,902 --> 00:39:06,918 where we've seen Thay held on to his insight for a long time. 498 00:39:09,119 --> 00:39:13,265 And then he revealed it to the sangha. 499 00:39:13,413 --> 00:39:16,792 That is something I'm learning. 500 00:39:17,532 --> 00:39:20,931 Because usually we find something, we learn something, 501 00:39:21,065 --> 00:39:23,141 we experience something 502 00:39:23,232 --> 00:39:26,335 and we right away, the way my education is, 503 00:39:26,463 --> 00:39:30,321 we share it out before it's ripe. 504 00:39:30,900 --> 00:39:37,969 There is something that is in the training that is very hard to transmit. 505 00:39:38,218 --> 00:39:41,017 And that is the thing that I'm learning here. 506 00:39:41,402 --> 00:39:44,520 There are certain things we have to cherish 507 00:39:44,686 --> 00:39:48,282 and keep practicing until it ripens. 508 00:39:50,342 --> 00:39:54,415 I know it's not always the case, 509 00:39:54,682 --> 00:39:57,575 but there are certain things you do, you practice 510 00:39:57,947 --> 00:40:01,627 and you find lightness, liberation, more insight. 511 00:40:02,453 --> 00:40:05,728 And it is amazing what happens when you keep it. 512 00:40:06,777 --> 00:40:10,151 Don't share it out too quickly. 513 00:40:11,171 --> 00:40:14,559 Have we ever thought about writing a book? 514 00:40:16,227 --> 00:40:20,856 Have we ever shared it with someone and then somehow the inspiration goes away? 515 00:40:23,110 --> 00:40:26,052 Or you want to do something and you get so excited and you share it 516 00:40:26,246 --> 00:40:30,260 to too many people and then we just don't do it anymore. 517 00:40:31,045 --> 00:40:34,254 I don't know, there is something psychological about that. 518 00:40:34,728 --> 00:40:38,426 In the mindfulness trainings, in our practice, 519 00:40:40,198 --> 00:40:43,515 it has something to do with intuition as well. 520 00:40:43,674 --> 00:40:47,357 There is an inner training that is happening. 521 00:40:49,105 --> 00:40:53,134 When you succeed, and you have an insight on one of the trainings, 522 00:40:53,918 --> 00:40:57,621 it is very tempting to share it in Dharma sharing right away. 523 00:40:57,805 --> 00:41:00,883 I know you are supposed to, and the monks encourage you to, 524 00:41:03,246 --> 00:41:06,768 but just - I throw that out there. 525 00:41:09,329 --> 00:41:11,364 To cook something, 526 00:41:11,544 --> 00:41:14,476 don't let people look in it. 527 00:41:14,931 --> 00:41:18,360 You are cooking potatoes, stop lifting the lid 528 00:41:18,708 --> 00:41:21,309 letting people look into it. 529 00:41:21,494 --> 00:41:23,815 It's not going to cook. 530 00:41:24,634 --> 00:41:28,213 I don't know how to share this way of training. 531 00:41:28,570 --> 00:41:30,919 Outside you don't train like this. 532 00:41:31,119 --> 00:41:34,448 In education, in university, you have something, 533 00:41:35,437 --> 00:41:38,551 Ah! You write it on Facebook and you let everyone know. 534 00:41:43,241 --> 00:41:46,456 You have lo live here at least five years 535 00:41:46,604 --> 00:41:50,736 for you to taste that. 536 00:41:52,928 --> 00:41:56,114 To have that direct experience. 537 00:41:59,263 --> 00:42:03,380 There was something I wanted to share about experimenting. 538 00:42:07,177 --> 00:42:15,037 When you discover something from your experience and from your experimentation, 539 00:42:17,126 --> 00:42:19,834 don't make a thing out of it. 540 00:42:19,974 --> 00:42:22,054 (Laughter) 541 00:42:22,231 --> 00:42:25,788 You know? You discover that these shoes are amazing! 542 00:42:26,766 --> 00:42:29,316 And you just go around telling all your brothers, 543 00:42:29,374 --> 00:42:34,150 "These shoes are amazing! They help you run, they keep your back, 544 00:42:34,257 --> 00:42:36,567 you will never have backaches again". 545 00:42:36,749 --> 00:42:42,608 You begin to form a theory around it. You make a thing out of it. 546 00:42:43,609 --> 00:42:46,090 You know what I'm talking about? 547 00:42:48,190 --> 00:42:50,973 You discover a new food, 548 00:42:51,474 --> 00:42:53,665 you went on the Internet 549 00:42:54,523 --> 00:42:57,427 and it starts so like - 550 00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:00,793 And it becomes something. 551 00:43:01,614 --> 00:43:05,095 That will make the openness less. 552 00:43:06,168 --> 00:43:09,194 Slowly, your thing you discovered, 553 00:43:10,394 --> 00:43:12,399 you hold it. 554 00:43:12,619 --> 00:43:15,611 That is so hard to do. 555 00:43:18,641 --> 00:43:22,040 So I'm very sensitive to that. 556 00:43:22,321 --> 00:43:26,961 I have suffered a lot because of my own "thing out of it". 557 00:43:30,215 --> 00:43:34,389 I helped form the teenage program, 558 00:43:34,516 --> 00:43:37,831 one of my sufferings as the abbot in Deer Park Monastery 559 00:43:38,180 --> 00:43:42,900 was I helped for six years to form the Teenage Program. 560 00:43:44,176 --> 00:43:47,321 Just the teenagers, no parents. 561 00:43:47,610 --> 00:43:51,909 I remember the teenagers came to us after a family retreat 562 00:43:52,997 --> 00:43:55,174 and they spoke to me, 563 00:43:55,512 --> 00:43:59,563 and they shared it to me, only me. 564 00:44:00,426 --> 00:44:03,209 And they shared, "Oh, we don't want our parents here". 565 00:44:04,392 --> 00:44:10,022 I remember it was very inspiring to see the young people, Vietnamese Americans. 566 00:44:10,238 --> 00:44:12,237 I really connected to them, 567 00:44:12,388 --> 00:44:14,934 I can feel they need space from their parents. 568 00:44:15,033 --> 00:44:17,986 Because the teenagers, with their parents around, 569 00:44:18,164 --> 00:44:21,511 they always get followed by their parents. 570 00:44:22,617 --> 00:44:25,137 "Do you drink enough water?", or 571 00:44:25,380 --> 00:44:28,332 "You're late for walking meditation!" 572 00:44:28,976 --> 00:44:31,729 So I remember hearing that from the teenagers 573 00:44:31,855 --> 00:44:35,187 and slowly we convinced the parents not to come. 574 00:44:35,271 --> 00:44:37,685 But some parents wanted to be staff, 575 00:44:37,812 --> 00:44:40,551 so they came in the staff to watch their kids. 576 00:44:40,667 --> 00:44:42,807 Anyhow, I was involved in this 577 00:44:42,937 --> 00:44:46,239 and I had to slowly, skilfully get rid of the parents. 578 00:44:46,824 --> 00:44:48,704 (Laughter) 579 00:44:48,806 --> 00:44:51,369 And after six years, we finally had real - 580 00:44:51,514 --> 00:44:53,976 And every year we would do it. 581 00:44:54,066 --> 00:44:56,760 And one year, the sangha decided, 582 00:44:56,951 --> 00:45:01,209 "Maybe we should combine the teenage program with the families, 583 00:45:01,343 --> 00:45:03,272 because we are doing too many retreats." 584 00:45:03,936 --> 00:45:06,276 And I got really upset. 585 00:45:06,670 --> 00:45:12,013 I was very, like, "You know how long it took to form that program?" 586 00:45:13,863 --> 00:45:18,818 I remember in that meeting I was quite not appropriate 587 00:45:19,263 --> 00:45:21,612 and not skillful. 588 00:45:21,692 --> 00:45:23,351 (Laughter) 589 00:45:23,472 --> 00:45:25,676 This is sangha building, you know? 590 00:45:25,743 --> 00:45:28,203 I was doing good! I was building the sangha! 591 00:45:28,370 --> 00:45:30,910 Doing what Thay wants! 592 00:45:33,456 --> 00:45:36,503 But I didn't listen to anyone else. 593 00:45:36,668 --> 00:45:39,017 I pretended I listened, 594 00:45:39,751 --> 00:45:43,993 but I think I came back really hurt. 595 00:45:46,315 --> 00:45:49,529 I made a thing out of it. It's a good thing, 596 00:45:50,915 --> 00:45:53,323 but still not good, because - 597 00:45:53,930 --> 00:45:56,019 I was - 598 00:45:56,309 --> 00:46:00,571 Anyway, that is where the phrase "Don't make a thing out of it!" comes from. 599 00:46:01,007 --> 00:46:04,385 Don't make your thing become a "thing". 600 00:46:04,618 --> 00:46:06,140 (Laughter) 601 00:46:06,252 --> 00:46:08,706 I know this is hard to translate. 602 00:46:08,832 --> 00:46:10,772 (Laughter) 603 00:46:13,711 --> 00:46:17,299 That is involved with dogmatism. 604 00:46:17,695 --> 00:46:22,035 It is the technical word for it. Right? Dogmatism, and other ism. 605 00:46:22,827 --> 00:46:26,791 The ism is you make whatever it is into an ism. 606 00:46:27,203 --> 00:46:30,382 That is to be careful of. 607 00:46:33,614 --> 00:46:36,661 So we move into appropriateness. 608 00:46:55,834 --> 00:46:59,093 Appropriateness in Vietnamese is 609 00:46:59,923 --> 00:47:01,866 "khế cỏ". 610 00:47:02,055 --> 00:47:03,705 [khế cỏ] 611 00:47:03,786 --> 00:47:06,600 I've just learned this morning "khế" is like - 612 00:47:11,148 --> 00:47:14,070 I said, I know what "cỏ" is, like 613 00:47:14,252 --> 00:47:16,192 (Vietnamese) 614 00:47:16,266 --> 00:47:18,667 But what is "khế"? 615 00:47:18,785 --> 00:47:21,318 It's appropriateness, right? 616 00:47:21,469 --> 00:47:24,288 But I don't know why there is two words. 617 00:47:24,420 --> 00:47:27,463 But it goes with "khế Lý", 618 00:47:28,252 --> 00:47:30,573 [khế Lý] 619 00:47:30,724 --> 00:47:32,685 which is - 620 00:47:34,182 --> 00:47:37,326 I keep forgetting that something today. 621 00:47:38,949 --> 00:47:41,369 "Khế cỏ" and ""khế Lý", 622 00:47:42,336 --> 00:47:43,976 this is appropriate, 623 00:47:44,150 --> 00:47:45,798 [app.] 624 00:47:46,191 --> 00:47:47,801 to the situation. 625 00:47:48,529 --> 00:47:50,776 [situation] 626 00:47:52,963 --> 00:47:55,003 And this is appropriate 627 00:47:55,225 --> 00:47:56,736 [app.] 628 00:48:02,753 --> 00:48:05,852 to the principle, to the spirit, 629 00:48:09,534 --> 00:48:11,811 to the principle, Lý. 630 00:48:12,483 --> 00:48:14,398 [principle] 631 00:48:14,731 --> 00:48:17,114 Spirit. 632 00:48:17,328 --> 00:48:18,928 [spirit] 633 00:48:19,060 --> 00:48:22,810 Or in the Buddhist circle, we say maybe to the Dharma. 634 00:48:23,142 --> 00:48:25,724 [Dharma] 635 00:48:28,409 --> 00:48:33,568 To whatever it is that makes you it feels OK. 636 00:48:37,225 --> 00:48:39,769 So there is a situation. 637 00:48:42,912 --> 00:48:46,442 And there is also the Dharma. 638 00:48:55,842 --> 00:49:01,775 Sometimes, the Dharma, if you teach it and it is not appropriate, 639 00:49:02,395 --> 00:49:04,262 then it becomes - 640 00:49:05,076 --> 00:49:08,282 I don't know, it's hard, but like poisonous. 641 00:49:08,408 --> 00:49:11,296 Like you do harm to the Dharma. 642 00:49:11,871 --> 00:49:13,922 For instance, you go home 643 00:49:14,031 --> 00:49:17,151 and you are so inspired after two weeks in Plum Village, 644 00:49:18,799 --> 00:49:21,325 mindfulness! 645 00:49:21,525 --> 00:49:23,348 Plum Village! 646 00:49:23,485 --> 00:49:26,329 And you go home and you tell it to your family, 647 00:49:28,820 --> 00:49:33,098 "Eating in silence is so good for you! You touche peace." 648 00:49:34,055 --> 00:49:37,666 But you don't know the situation, the person. 649 00:49:37,967 --> 00:49:41,407 You don't know the situation of your family is not appropriate. 650 00:49:42,081 --> 00:49:46,012 It is not skillful, it is not appropriate, they are not ready. 651 00:49:46,329 --> 00:49:49,022 The Dharma is not for that. 652 00:49:49,985 --> 00:49:51,937 You go to the Dharma 653 00:49:52,057 --> 00:49:55,328 but it is not something you put in the Dharma. 654 00:49:55,447 --> 00:49:58,464 We hear this all the time from - 655 00:50:00,673 --> 00:50:05,006 That's my own experience as well as many consultations and Dharma sharings. 656 00:50:05,892 --> 00:50:10,733 So knowing what is appropriate for the situation, for our time. 657 00:50:15,203 --> 00:50:19,734 I remember first learning about the practice, my first retreat. 658 00:50:19,853 --> 00:50:24,488 I came home, and I organized everything in our house. 659 00:50:24,692 --> 00:50:28,628 I put everything back to where it should go, the shoes. 660 00:50:29,290 --> 00:50:33,510 And then the closet, I helped my mum redo her food stuff, 661 00:50:33,621 --> 00:50:35,909 the cans, can food. 662 00:50:36,992 --> 00:50:40,393 It became an obsession. Because I had an idea 663 00:50:41,329 --> 00:50:46,701 that when you put things mindfully, it goes back to where it should be. 664 00:50:46,875 --> 00:50:50,083 You all have that idea? As a beginning practitioner? 665 00:50:50,217 --> 00:50:53,354 It's the most beautiful and tempting idea. 666 00:50:53,473 --> 00:50:56,206 To practice mindfulness when you put a cup down, 667 00:50:56,403 --> 00:50:58,605 it has a place. 668 00:50:58,819 --> 00:51:02,206 I mean, it makes sense, right? But when it becomes an obsession - 669 00:51:03,400 --> 00:51:06,276 Ow! OK, that toothbrush is not - 670 00:51:07,257 --> 00:51:09,668 It goes in here, eh? 671 00:51:09,826 --> 00:51:12,850 The shoe, it goes there! 672 00:51:12,988 --> 00:51:17,505 These mats should be straighter. 673 00:51:19,775 --> 00:51:21,702 So we begin to - 674 00:51:21,822 --> 00:51:24,786 And then I go home and I do this to the house. 675 00:51:25,674 --> 00:51:30,039 My two brothers were back from college, back for the summer, 676 00:51:30,215 --> 00:51:32,108 and we shared the same house. 677 00:51:32,943 --> 00:51:34,811 (Laughter) 678 00:51:35,672 --> 00:51:38,111 And the story, you know. 679 00:51:39,230 --> 00:51:42,864 We had a lot of interesting conversations. 680 00:51:43,063 --> 00:51:45,475 They were fully not open. 681 00:51:45,624 --> 00:51:47,541 (Laughter) 682 00:51:47,640 --> 00:51:49,809 So I caused a lot of suffering 683 00:51:49,959 --> 00:51:57,192 because of my "Lý" law. 684 00:51:58,140 --> 00:52:00,497 I had a reason for everything. 685 00:52:01,145 --> 00:52:03,526 And because it's "Lý" - 686 00:52:06,145 --> 00:52:11,193 So when something is appropriate, it is also in line with the Dharma, 687 00:52:11,516 --> 00:52:17,071 in line with something more true, more human, more open, more whatever, 688 00:52:17,541 --> 00:52:19,717 less suffering. 689 00:52:19,849 --> 00:52:23,381 If it is appropriate, it will not cause suffering. 690 00:52:24,742 --> 00:52:28,601 This is something we need to ingrain in ourselves. 691 00:52:28,688 --> 00:52:33,402 Because we believe so much in truth, we believe that this really happened, 692 00:52:34,614 --> 00:52:36,380 and we say it. 693 00:52:36,884 --> 00:52:38,962 "But it is the truth!" 694 00:52:39,615 --> 00:52:42,881 But the person is not ready for it. 695 00:52:43,563 --> 00:52:46,896 So we cause suffering. Truth does not harm. 696 00:52:47,828 --> 00:52:51,273 But we have an idea about truth, that it is objective. 697 00:52:51,366 --> 00:52:55,291 Somewhere there is a truth. "This is really what happened!". 698 00:52:57,285 --> 00:53:00,094 And we cause suffering because of our truth. 699 00:53:00,212 --> 00:53:02,525 There are many truths. 700 00:53:02,669 --> 00:53:04,964 And that is very hard to believe. 701 00:53:05,079 --> 00:53:07,292 Specially when you are right. 702 00:53:07,383 --> 00:53:09,014 (Laughter) 703 00:53:09,146 --> 00:53:11,756 When you are right, it is like, 704 00:53:11,854 --> 00:53:15,360 "OK, I give it a year, but I'm still right." 705 00:53:19,705 --> 00:53:23,914 A lot of suffering, for yourself as well, because you hold it like this 706 00:53:24,025 --> 00:53:28,028 and when you see that brother you kind of- You see that sister, you kind of- 707 00:53:28,286 --> 00:53:30,698 because you are holding on to something. 708 00:53:30,847 --> 00:53:33,924 Remember that image, eh? You have a choice! 709 00:53:36,327 --> 00:53:37,921 Relax. 710 00:53:38,132 --> 00:53:41,475 It's true, but, you know, there are many truths. 711 00:53:42,088 --> 00:53:44,439 It is such a hard training. 712 00:53:44,558 --> 00:53:47,413 If you want to taste it, come and stay here one year. 713 00:53:47,716 --> 00:53:49,906 We will put you in the cooking team. 714 00:53:50,106 --> 00:53:51,768 (Laughter) 715 00:53:51,858 --> 00:53:54,628 Like the brother shared. Advance training. 716 00:53:55,196 --> 00:53:59,162 I already shared that in the lay - No, he shared - 717 00:53:59,646 --> 00:54:03,191 The cooking team is the most advanced training. 718 00:54:03,720 --> 00:54:08,099 It's strange for a monastery. 719 00:54:08,199 --> 00:54:10,903 It is supposed to be in the meditation hall. 720 00:54:12,744 --> 00:54:15,281 Sorry, I'm a comedian. 721 00:54:15,412 --> 00:54:17,524 (Laughter) 722 00:54:17,716 --> 00:54:20,542 When we say "khế Lý", 723 00:54:20,663 --> 00:54:23,205 how do we know it is appropriate? 724 00:54:23,325 --> 00:54:29,155 This requires us to go deeper and deeper as we do the sangha building, 725 00:54:29,336 --> 00:54:33,862 as we become OI members, to touch interbeing, and so on. 726 00:54:33,990 --> 00:54:37,970 The three, the six, the three, the two threes. 727 00:54:38,387 --> 00:54:42,742 Just remember, the three seals and the three doors. 728 00:54:44,857 --> 00:54:47,787 And you use that to test everything. 729 00:54:47,896 --> 00:54:52,410 You want to experiment? Go ahead, but use these to test. 730 00:54:52,609 --> 00:54:56,540 In chemistry it is called litmus paper. 731 00:54:57,713 --> 00:55:00,900 You throw it in to see if it is the right thing. 732 00:55:01,018 --> 00:55:06,520 In Vietnamese, they say, "Use fire to test gold." 733 00:55:07,433 --> 00:55:11,533 (Vietnamese) 734 00:55:12,267 --> 00:55:14,591 It is a beautiful saying. 735 00:55:14,692 --> 00:55:18,664 You want to see if it's real gold? Put fire to it. 736 00:55:19,887 --> 00:55:24,232 And all the impurities, they separate and the gold collects. 737 00:55:24,847 --> 00:55:29,671 So the three seals, I think you know them already. 738 00:55:31,051 --> 00:55:33,366 Some of you. Three Seals. 739 00:55:35,195 --> 00:55:37,944 [3 Seals] 740 00:55:38,518 --> 00:55:40,364 What are they? 741 00:55:40,478 --> 00:55:42,563 Impermanence, 742 00:55:43,247 --> 00:55:46,053 [Impermanence] 743 00:55:47,833 --> 00:55:49,873 Non-self, 744 00:55:49,960 --> 00:55:51,906 [Non-self] 745 00:55:52,438 --> 00:55:54,271 and Nirvana. 746 00:55:54,367 --> 00:55:56,139 [Nirvana] 747 00:55:57,017 --> 00:55:59,487 This is 3 Doors. 748 00:55:59,631 --> 00:56:01,697 [3 Doors] 749 00:56:02,681 --> 00:56:04,931 "Trois portes." 750 00:56:05,373 --> 00:56:07,405 Just remember the "s"s. 751 00:56:07,638 --> 00:56:09,946 [ss] 752 00:56:10,319 --> 00:56:11,885 Right? 753 00:56:11,989 --> 00:56:13,441 Empty, 754 00:56:13,604 --> 00:56:14,984 [E] 755 00:56:15,164 --> 00:56:17,214 signless, 756 00:56:17,581 --> 00:56:18,903 [S] 757 00:56:19,019 --> 00:56:20,629 Aimless. 758 00:56:20,738 --> 00:56:22,502 [A] 759 00:56:23,252 --> 00:56:25,309 That is how I remember it, sorry. 760 00:56:25,421 --> 00:56:29,024 I just remember the three doors, "ss", remember. 761 00:56:29,151 --> 00:56:33,280 Emptiness, signlessness, aimlessness. 762 00:56:33,806 --> 00:56:36,799 And this helps us in our practice. 763 00:56:39,223 --> 00:56:42,053 When you make a thing out of it, 764 00:56:43,455 --> 00:56:47,609 it's no longer very related to other things, right? 765 00:56:49,555 --> 00:56:53,186 And we become caught by it. 766 00:56:56,729 --> 00:57:01,308 "Sign" here also represents words, concepts. 767 00:57:08,151 --> 00:57:11,081 There is one word that challenges people. 768 00:57:11,230 --> 00:57:17,758 When we do the morning recitation, before the nuns and monks chant, 769 00:57:17,835 --> 00:57:24,550 we say, "Remove your inferiority complex, superiority complex 770 00:57:25,467 --> 00:57:28,358 and your equality complex." 771 00:57:29,345 --> 00:57:33,861 When Thay first came out with that text, and we had to tour the US, 772 00:57:34,469 --> 00:57:39,591 many people asked this question, "What's wrong with equality?, 773 00:57:39,815 --> 00:57:42,068 How is that a complex?" 774 00:57:46,171 --> 00:57:50,312 The word "equality" or the idea of equality 775 00:57:51,387 --> 00:57:53,416 can be a thing. 776 00:57:56,253 --> 00:57:58,757 Who has a thing about equality? 777 00:57:59,912 --> 00:58:02,322 How come the monks are sitting at one side, 778 00:58:02,461 --> 00:58:05,299 at the non-monks and the nuns sitting at the other side? 779 00:58:06,523 --> 00:58:11,118 Or, how come the nuns have smaller bowls and the monks have bigger bowls? 780 00:58:11,738 --> 00:58:16,718 Or, how come the bell is always on that side?, or, what else? 781 00:58:17,788 --> 00:58:19,674 There are so many. 782 00:58:19,749 --> 00:58:22,336 How come the grass is greener on this side? 783 00:58:22,436 --> 00:58:24,350 (Laughter) 784 00:58:26,157 --> 00:58:28,591 There are some good ones, eh? 785 00:58:28,759 --> 00:58:31,395 I used to have a - We should make a catalog 786 00:58:31,895 --> 00:58:35,439 of equality as a thing. 787 00:58:39,537 --> 00:58:42,417 It is a complex. Equality is good, 788 00:58:43,543 --> 00:58:48,590 and getting people to - Injustice causes suffering. 789 00:58:50,104 --> 00:58:54,346 Inequality can cause suffering. 790 00:58:54,781 --> 00:58:57,154 So it's not to deny 791 00:58:57,408 --> 00:59:01,400 that that is happening in our world as well. 792 00:59:01,990 --> 00:59:04,864 But just don't make a thing out of it. 793 00:59:05,606 --> 00:59:08,999 Going everywhere to always look for - 794 00:59:12,775 --> 00:59:16,338 This is not to be caught by dualism. 795 00:59:17,243 --> 00:59:20,518 It is all skillful means. 796 00:59:20,687 --> 00:59:23,443 We wear this just for 797 00:59:24,476 --> 00:59:30,179 a way to skillfully do something, to manifest something. 798 00:59:31,258 --> 00:59:36,121 When Thay was in Vietnam, or in America touring, 799 00:59:36,254 --> 00:59:38,558 a reporter asked him, 800 00:59:39,107 --> 00:59:42,111 "Are you from the North or from the South?" 801 00:59:42,250 --> 00:59:44,642 Do you know that story? 802 00:59:44,788 --> 00:59:48,195 And Thay says, "I am from the Center." 803 00:59:49,438 --> 00:59:52,284 He is from the center. 804 00:59:53,152 --> 00:59:55,647 From Hue, or something like that. 805 00:59:56,686 --> 01:00:00,845 He is from the center. And we love that story, I love that story. 806 01:00:05,643 --> 01:00:10,673 If we are not careful, we can make the "center" become a thing. 807 01:00:10,866 --> 01:00:13,655 And I've seen that, living in the monastery. 808 01:00:13,848 --> 01:00:16,920 You don't want to choose left or right, then you choose the middle. 809 01:00:16,994 --> 01:00:21,909 And you are always choosing the middle. You make a "thing" out of centralness. 810 01:00:36,224 --> 01:00:38,307 You are- 811 01:00:44,456 --> 01:00:47,620 We get caught, so the idea of centralness 812 01:00:47,754 --> 01:00:51,115 is to help the reporter in that situation. 813 01:00:53,369 --> 01:00:55,818 To take away his idea 814 01:00:56,316 --> 01:00:58,618 that there is just North and South. 815 01:00:59,890 --> 01:01:02,121 So that is the means. 816 01:01:02,279 --> 01:01:07,568 Thay uses that answer to help that reporter in that moment 817 01:01:09,066 --> 01:01:12,074 to let go of his North and South. 818 01:01:12,617 --> 01:01:16,266 But us, when we hear the story, we love it 819 01:01:16,528 --> 01:01:19,487 and then we hang on to centralness. 820 01:01:20,600 --> 01:01:23,555 And we go around being careful. 821 01:01:24,295 --> 01:01:27,771 "No, I'm not choosing! No!" 822 01:01:28,959 --> 01:01:31,457 And that becomes an obstacle. 823 01:01:32,948 --> 01:01:36,637 We become like relative, liberal, 824 01:01:37,092 --> 01:01:40,012 not always - Let's see. 825 01:01:41,212 --> 01:01:45,688 It seems like I'm open, but actually I'm very tight. 826 01:01:46,461 --> 01:01:49,122 That is stuckness. 827 01:01:53,011 --> 01:01:57,909 This is from my own suffering of practicing with that. 828 01:01:58,579 --> 01:02:01,318 Of always avoiding each team 829 01:02:01,478 --> 01:02:03,605 to the point where - 830 01:02:04,846 --> 01:02:07,990 You know what is the right thing to do. 831 01:02:14,298 --> 01:02:16,428 There is also - 832 01:02:16,618 --> 01:02:19,147 The idea here is 833 01:02:20,336 --> 01:02:22,836 when it is true to the Dharma, 834 01:02:25,602 --> 01:02:29,813 is to not be caught by the word by the sign. 835 01:02:30,831 --> 01:02:33,635 Therefore, you don't grasp. 836 01:02:33,991 --> 01:02:36,234 That is the aimlessness. 837 01:02:36,492 --> 01:02:39,700 You need a little freedom from that. 838 01:02:40,189 --> 01:02:42,015 These are all - 839 01:02:42,134 --> 01:02:44,806 These three, three, 840 01:02:45,878 --> 01:02:50,535 are - Thay would say concentrations, they help us. 841 01:02:50,921 --> 01:02:55,652 You may choose a week to contemplate signlessness. 842 01:02:58,598 --> 01:03:02,790 To look and to see where you are caught with signs 843 01:03:03,217 --> 01:03:06,347 and to test for yourself. 844 01:03:06,960 --> 01:03:09,330 Or aimlessness. 845 01:03:09,480 --> 01:03:13,253 In a way, they are like Plum Village's koans, 846 01:03:13,458 --> 01:03:19,608 something that you can hold here like a mother carrying her child around. 847 01:03:20,579 --> 01:03:23,556 And you begin to look like that. 848 01:03:24,101 --> 01:03:30,242 You look and you discern when you are being not aimless. 849 01:03:31,453 --> 01:03:36,033 You want something, so you come back to your steps. 850 01:03:37,756 --> 01:03:44,111 The tea will still be there, the hot water will still be there, 851 01:03:46,522 --> 01:03:49,630 so you slow yourself down. 852 01:03:49,854 --> 01:03:55,161 So these practices, these ideas here are for us to practice. 853 01:03:56,210 --> 01:03:59,056 What I share with you is - 854 01:03:59,753 --> 01:04:03,283 Watch when you are not being aimless. 855 01:04:03,946 --> 01:04:07,535 But how to touch aimlessness while we walk? 856 01:04:08,735 --> 01:04:11,949 You make a step, a left step, 857 01:04:13,907 --> 01:04:16,068 a right step. 858 01:04:19,238 --> 01:04:21,899 Or aimlessness when you eat. 859 01:04:22,209 --> 01:04:24,553 When you put a morsel in your mouth, 860 01:04:24,726 --> 01:04:28,346 you put the spoon down. 861 01:04:28,551 --> 01:04:30,620 And you chew. 862 01:04:31,075 --> 01:04:34,395 And you put a hundred per cent in the act of chewing. 863 01:04:34,503 --> 01:04:40,781 Savoring the food, contemplation with nature and Mother Earth, the sun, 864 01:04:42,380 --> 01:04:46,675 before you take the next spoon. I remember having to train this. 865 01:04:47,514 --> 01:04:50,428 When I'm chewing, I'm preparing for the next one. 866 01:04:52,574 --> 01:04:56,213 It's a big habit I had to remove. 867 01:04:57,852 --> 01:05:00,779 The same thing with our walking. 868 01:05:01,039 --> 01:05:03,909 These two are very trainable. 869 01:05:05,742 --> 01:05:10,258 But they can help us also when we have ideas and concepts. 870 01:05:12,114 --> 01:05:18,352 When we practice the trainings, and we will learn more these coming weeks, 871 01:05:19,886 --> 01:05:26,100 they speak of a truth, of a way, 872 01:05:26,771 --> 01:05:30,045 but we need to know when to apply it, 873 01:05:31,583 --> 01:05:34,996 so that it is appropriate for the situation with the people, 874 01:05:36,292 --> 01:05:40,014 and if it is appropriate to the Dharma, 875 01:05:40,137 --> 01:05:46,631 to the guiding spirit of the Buddhist teachings. 876 01:05:49,332 --> 01:05:52,409 I think Thay has shared - 877 01:05:54,125 --> 01:05:57,505 To prepare to operate on someone 878 01:05:57,702 --> 01:05:59,880 they need to be healthy. 879 01:06:02,904 --> 01:06:05,136 You prepare and you - 880 01:06:05,973 --> 01:06:07,724 That's kind of - 881 01:06:08,011 --> 01:06:10,140 That is tough, eh? 882 01:06:10,705 --> 01:06:13,680 But sometimes it's like that, I think 883 01:06:15,675 --> 01:06:18,240 Thay's method, I sensed that. 884 01:06:18,769 --> 01:06:22,969 When we first come in the community Thay is very gentle with us. 885 01:06:23,992 --> 01:06:26,080 He nurtures us. 886 01:06:26,195 --> 01:06:30,053 Everything, he flower-waters us. 887 01:06:30,410 --> 01:06:32,763 He pushes it. 888 01:06:32,906 --> 01:06:36,764 And then, when we have enough strong roots, Thay starts to trim. 889 01:06:37,302 --> 01:06:39,328 (Laughter) 890 01:06:39,609 --> 01:06:42,436 Have you been trimmed by Thay before? 891 01:06:42,602 --> 01:06:44,637 You're lucky. 892 01:06:44,836 --> 01:06:46,976 Because it is painful. 893 01:06:47,135 --> 01:06:48,174 (Laughter) 894 01:06:48,433 --> 01:06:50,250 Operation. 895 01:06:50,410 --> 01:06:54,363 Because you have something you're holding on to. 896 01:07:00,539 --> 01:07:01,933 And - 897 01:07:03,374 --> 01:07:05,350 (Laughter) 898 01:07:05,489 --> 01:07:07,886 And one mourns. 899 01:07:08,506 --> 01:07:11,053 It touches your ego. 900 01:07:12,282 --> 01:07:17,828 So there is not enough liberation. You had an idea about it. 901 01:07:18,831 --> 01:07:22,883 Something, whatever that is you're holding on too tightly. 902 01:07:24,032 --> 01:07:27,395 In the sangha building it is very important 903 01:07:27,653 --> 01:07:31,036 that we get this one done. 904 01:07:32,077 --> 01:07:35,909 Because we sometimes bring the stuff that has not ripened, 905 01:07:36,041 --> 01:07:38,276 has not let go yet, 906 01:07:38,393 --> 01:07:40,640 and we start to sangha-build, 907 01:07:41,342 --> 01:07:44,547 we make sangha become a thing 908 01:07:46,044 --> 01:07:47,615 and so on. 909 01:07:47,686 --> 01:07:51,367 But inside of us it is not fully, still, fully - 910 01:07:51,772 --> 01:07:54,176 There are certain things still - 911 01:07:54,361 --> 01:07:56,868 And that can come and bite you. 912 01:07:57,745 --> 01:08:00,532 The Buddhist teaching is not for us to do 913 01:08:00,879 --> 01:08:02,466 (Vietnamese). 914 01:08:02,577 --> 01:08:06,525 It's to help us relieve our suffering and in doing so we - 915 01:08:07,998 --> 01:08:10,762 inter-be with the world. 916 01:08:10,901 --> 01:08:13,231 And how we do it? 917 01:08:13,951 --> 01:08:18,179 You can see this in today's society. 918 01:08:18,726 --> 01:08:22,812 People build up, fame, power. 919 01:08:23,210 --> 01:08:25,866 After ten, twenty years, what happens? 920 01:08:26,142 --> 01:08:28,733 They did not ripen. 921 01:08:30,062 --> 01:08:34,239 Sexual scandals, political scandals, corruption. 922 01:08:35,098 --> 01:08:38,836 There is a movement going on that is so beautiful in society. 923 01:08:38,959 --> 01:08:42,106 It is like the rain washing 924 01:08:42,291 --> 01:08:44,965 and revealing. 925 01:08:47,898 --> 01:08:53,271 Other things are going on underneath of that fame, power, wealth. 926 01:08:54,016 --> 01:08:56,231 Political and- 927 01:08:56,580 --> 01:09:00,086 In the political world, in the corporate world 928 01:09:00,219 --> 01:09:03,174 as well as in the entertainment world. 929 01:09:03,296 --> 01:09:08,513 This is because the person did not do the homework. 930 01:09:08,941 --> 01:09:12,171 Did not care for the ripening inside. 931 01:09:12,344 --> 01:09:17,755 But they were tempted with external achievements, success. 932 01:09:19,517 --> 01:09:24,368 This is where direct experience, direct liberation, 933 01:09:24,858 --> 01:09:28,727 direct touching of peace, happiness. 934 01:09:30,134 --> 01:09:32,275 When you do this, 935 01:09:32,398 --> 01:09:36,107 you become more appropriate, more skillful. 936 01:09:40,166 --> 01:09:43,194 We are moving to skillfulness in here. 937 01:09:44,212 --> 01:09:46,120 In Vietnamese, 938 01:10:03,294 --> 01:10:05,357 is "phủỏng tiện". 939 01:10:06,056 --> 01:10:10,128 [Phủỏng tiện] 940 01:10:18,139 --> 01:10:21,135 These are the methods and practices 941 01:10:22,402 --> 01:10:24,481 to help us teach, 942 01:10:24,652 --> 01:10:27,650 to guide and to apply the Buddhist teachings. 943 01:10:27,791 --> 01:10:30,511 These are the ways we do it. 944 01:10:34,961 --> 01:10:37,054 Skillfulness here 945 01:10:41,602 --> 01:10:44,162 can be seen as a means, 946 01:10:44,678 --> 01:10:46,655 skillful means. 947 01:10:46,866 --> 01:10:49,356 [s. means] 948 01:10:52,736 --> 01:10:54,431 I think it is 949 01:10:55,240 --> 01:10:58,835 very fundamental in the Buddhist teachings 950 01:10:59,073 --> 01:11:01,771 and it has great examples. 951 01:11:01,874 --> 01:11:03,695 The raft, 952 01:11:04,158 --> 01:11:07,775 when you get to a river and you see you need to cross, 953 01:11:07,950 --> 01:11:10,245 and you build yourself a raft. 954 01:11:10,394 --> 01:11:13,425 It helps you cross the river. 955 01:11:14,782 --> 01:11:18,910 And you get attached because the raft is so cool. 956 01:11:19,050 --> 01:11:23,402 You did it by yourself, by hand and you start carrying the raft around 957 01:11:25,108 --> 01:11:27,697 even though you don't need it anymore. 958 01:11:27,816 --> 01:11:31,624 And the Buddha says, "It is a wise thing to do, brothers and sisters? 959 01:11:34,794 --> 01:11:37,089 To carry a raft around?" 960 01:11:38,089 --> 01:11:41,904 And, of course, the students reply obediently, 961 01:11:42,097 --> 01:11:44,759 "No, no, it's not a skillful thing to do. 962 01:11:45,070 --> 01:11:47,582 You should leave it there and share it with others, 963 01:11:47,933 --> 01:11:51,102 be generous because they might need it." 964 01:11:51,580 --> 01:11:54,316 But we have to ask ourselves, do we do that? 965 01:11:59,746 --> 01:12:02,477 So there are skillful means. 966 01:12:04,806 --> 01:12:07,923 It's very easy to get caught 967 01:12:12,029 --> 01:12:14,213 by the raft. 968 01:12:22,321 --> 01:12:25,506 So appropriateness and skillfulness. 969 01:12:25,859 --> 01:12:29,894 I think those are areas where we 970 01:12:32,932 --> 01:12:35,963 learn a lot from living in the sangha. 971 01:12:36,589 --> 01:12:39,337 We make mistakes and we adjust. 972 01:12:40,588 --> 01:12:45,407 They allow us to be creative, allow us to - 973 01:12:47,794 --> 01:12:52,771 It's not a perfection in our rhythm and there is no manual. 974 01:12:54,057 --> 01:12:59,415 So we can always continue to be more appropriate, more skillful. 975 01:13:01,121 --> 01:13:03,636 I'll read you a text 976 01:13:05,513 --> 01:13:11,008 from the book, Interbeing book, Thay wrote: 977 01:13:12,096 --> 01:13:18,724 "The spirit of non-attachment to views and the spirit of direct experimentation 978 01:13:20,108 --> 01:13:27,618 lead to open-mindedness and compassion, both in the realm of perception of reality 979 01:13:28,628 --> 01:13:31,623 and in the area of relationships." 980 01:13:35,189 --> 01:13:39,063 So openness and direct experimentation, 981 01:13:40,011 --> 01:13:44,974 it keeps us open to experiencing life, experiencing, 982 01:13:46,313 --> 01:13:48,593 being alive, interacting. 983 01:13:48,892 --> 01:13:51,688 And there is the word compassion in it. 984 01:13:51,800 --> 01:13:54,679 It helps us be compassionate. Very important. 985 01:13:55,104 --> 01:13:59,469 So it's not to experiment to be open like a scientist, 986 01:14:00,759 --> 01:14:05,449 but in the Buddhist tradition 987 01:14:06,199 --> 01:14:08,467 it is based on compassion. 988 01:14:09,360 --> 01:14:15,335 It is to relieve suffering, it's not just to describe reality and the world, 989 01:14:15,745 --> 01:14:18,194 or how the mind works and so on. 990 01:14:18,552 --> 01:14:20,364 But just enough 991 01:14:20,514 --> 01:14:24,002 so that there is compassion in the world, 992 01:14:24,794 --> 01:14:28,087 in society, in our families, in ourselves. 993 01:14:29,206 --> 01:14:34,380 This is a distinction from the scientific endeavor, 994 01:14:35,124 --> 01:14:39,676 which is to try to figure out how this thing works, 995 01:14:39,855 --> 01:14:42,420 where do we come from, and so on. 996 01:14:42,523 --> 01:14:47,016 Sometimes interacting with scientists and the sciences, 997 01:14:47,954 --> 01:14:53,136 if we are not careful, we can also lose a little bit of the "khế Lý", 998 01:14:55,073 --> 01:14:59,551 the primary reason for the Buddha's finding the teachings 999 01:14:59,777 --> 01:15:02,737 and the practices to help relieve suffering. 1000 01:15:03,191 --> 01:15:08,548 It is not to come up with a new theory about the world or about our minds 1001 01:15:08,701 --> 01:15:10,805 and how things work. 1002 01:15:14,851 --> 01:15:17,692 "The spirit of appropriateness and skillful means 1003 01:15:18,341 --> 01:15:23,021 lead to the capacity to be creative and to reconcile, 1004 01:15:23,898 --> 01:15:28,564 both of which are necessary for the development and the effective realization 1005 01:15:29,341 --> 01:15:32,326 of the idea of serving living beings." 1006 01:15:33,250 --> 01:15:35,728 This is very Mahayana. 1007 01:15:37,456 --> 01:15:39,928 Save the world! 1008 01:15:41,499 --> 01:15:44,980 "Reconcile" here can be incorporate, to integrate. 1009 01:15:45,862 --> 01:15:50,518 So appropriateness and skillful means help us be in touch 1010 01:15:50,767 --> 01:15:53,613 with what is happening in our world. 1011 01:15:54,900 --> 01:15:58,762 And to find ways to help relieve the suffering. 1012 01:16:01,323 --> 01:16:04,197 I think most of you know, who are here, 1013 01:16:04,378 --> 01:16:09,249 that one of the primary sufferings in the world now is climate change. 1014 01:16:12,269 --> 01:16:15,620 You can hear it already in weather reports. 1015 01:16:15,778 --> 01:16:19,305 It seems like they are from movies, 1016 01:16:20,539 --> 01:16:22,636 but they are not- 1017 01:16:22,775 --> 01:16:26,753 Climate change isn't going to come anymore, it is here. 1018 01:16:27,547 --> 01:16:33,950 And many of us may have families in some parts of the world. 1019 01:16:34,410 --> 01:16:37,761 Indonesia recently, I think two days ago, 1020 01:16:37,902 --> 01:16:39,849 had a big tsunami. 1021 01:16:39,970 --> 01:16:45,559 This will, scientists predict, will occur more regular and more regularly. 1022 01:16:46,194 --> 01:16:49,877 That means displacement of population. 1023 01:16:50,561 --> 01:16:53,043 So we have to prepare us so, 1024 01:16:53,496 --> 01:16:55,785 not to be in despair, 1025 01:16:57,455 --> 01:17:01,675 to be aware, to be mindful of the present moment. 1026 01:17:03,253 --> 01:17:06,807 And adjust. We have suffering, we have some healing to do, 1027 01:17:07,167 --> 01:17:09,519 we have some transformation. 1028 01:17:10,522 --> 01:17:14,146 That is why Thay has dedicated his whole life to building the sangha, 1029 01:17:14,277 --> 01:17:16,499 to building a refuge. 1030 01:17:17,125 --> 01:17:18,931 So climate change, 1031 01:17:25,410 --> 01:17:29,885 alienation, loneliness, despair, depression, 1032 01:17:32,387 --> 01:17:35,922 suicide, these numbers are on the rise. 1033 01:17:36,917 --> 01:17:40,899 Because of urbanization and the breakdown of families. 1034 01:17:41,049 --> 01:17:44,115 Whatever in your field you're working on. 1035 01:17:45,595 --> 01:17:50,840 These are real issues of our society and they are not happening out there. 1036 01:17:51,778 --> 01:17:54,153 They are very connected 1037 01:17:54,671 --> 01:17:58,131 to how we are in the world now. 1038 01:17:59,058 --> 01:18:02,189 Young people having no direction, 1039 01:18:03,737 --> 01:18:07,982 being restless because of the media industry. 1040 01:18:08,861 --> 01:18:12,430 These are all thought about and mastered. 1041 01:18:14,125 --> 01:18:20,489 It is not coincidental, the mechanism that drives capitalism 1042 01:18:21,892 --> 01:18:24,750 while we are so like - 1043 01:18:25,211 --> 01:18:27,945 My niece, it is hard for her 1044 01:18:28,193 --> 01:18:32,957 to put down the gadget, the screen. 1045 01:18:34,300 --> 01:18:35,956 This is not - 1046 01:18:37,650 --> 01:18:42,865 We have, we do have some contribution to make. 1047 01:18:43,902 --> 01:18:45,797 It's not to say just - 1048 01:18:46,004 --> 01:18:50,263 And this is what I love about Thay's work. We don't wait until we are liberated, 1049 01:18:51,145 --> 01:18:55,104 or find peace and then do the good work. 1050 01:18:55,452 --> 01:18:59,955 Actually, interbeing is we transform ourselves 1051 01:19:01,245 --> 01:19:04,041 and we help transform the world. 1052 01:19:04,204 --> 01:19:08,772 Whatever scope your are in. It can be on your individual level, 1053 01:19:09,184 --> 01:19:13,742 because so much suffering you cannot be involved, 1054 01:19:14,642 --> 01:19:18,736 and you take care of yourself. Make yourself less grumpy, 1055 01:19:19,247 --> 01:19:26,099 less obnoxious, less whatever, less provoking, reactive. 1056 01:19:27,143 --> 01:19:29,054 Personal level. 1057 01:19:29,175 --> 01:19:31,831 Or group level, family. 1058 01:19:32,163 --> 01:19:34,364 Work on the family level, 1059 01:19:34,685 --> 01:19:38,775 work on your neighborhood, what can you do for your neighborhood? 1060 01:19:40,232 --> 01:19:46,139 How can you help build a sangha to be a refuge in your city for the neighborhood? 1061 01:19:47,543 --> 01:19:52,562 Because you see young people no longer going to church, going to temples. 1062 01:19:53,434 --> 01:19:56,570 And they are looking for a spiritual direction. 1063 01:19:56,839 --> 01:20:00,468 Building sangha, Thay has shared, is the most noble task, 1064 01:20:00,668 --> 01:20:04,933 because they are refugee camps, they are like refugee camps. 1065 01:20:07,196 --> 01:20:10,648 Refugees in the media are lot lately. 1066 01:20:11,428 --> 01:20:14,581 And there is a refugee going on now. 1067 01:20:15,242 --> 01:20:19,394 People coming to monasteries retreat centers, finding refuge 1068 01:20:20,664 --> 01:20:25,233 because of the war going on a war on restlessness, 1069 01:20:27,184 --> 01:20:29,464 discrimination, 1070 01:20:29,674 --> 01:20:35,869 or no break from rushing energy. 1071 01:20:37,315 --> 01:20:40,304 So there is another war going on. 1072 01:20:40,728 --> 01:20:43,993 In Thay's time, it was the war in Vietnam. 1073 01:20:44,980 --> 01:20:47,296 In our time, what is the war? 1074 01:20:48,762 --> 01:20:50,986 Or what is the peace? 1075 01:20:51,971 --> 01:20:54,784 This is something for us to reflect on 1076 01:20:56,423 --> 01:21:00,333 as we engage and build the Order of Interbeing. 1077 01:21:01,642 --> 01:21:07,144 It's very tempting to do the outer work. 1078 01:21:10,333 --> 01:21:13,476 (Vietnamese) 1079 01:21:15,251 --> 01:21:18,654 Buddhism goes into society. 1080 01:21:18,897 --> 01:21:25,508 This goes hand in hand with Buddhism that goes inside in our heart. 1081 01:21:26,211 --> 01:21:29,033 (Vietnamese) 1082 01:21:29,196 --> 01:21:33,546 Thay has a saying, "The way out is in." 1083 01:21:35,909 --> 01:21:41,222 It's not surprising that it's a very visited calligraphy 1084 01:21:42,753 --> 01:21:45,434 of Thay, to remind us, 1085 01:21:47,940 --> 01:21:50,619 "Don't forget to do your homework". 1086 01:21:51,360 --> 01:21:55,415 Because building sangha and doing the great things 1087 01:21:56,536 --> 01:22:00,672 is very glamorous. 1088 01:22:02,053 --> 01:22:06,183 People prays you, there is result. 1089 01:22:07,403 --> 01:22:08,673 It gets - 1090 01:22:09,793 --> 01:22:11,873 But if we don't do our homework, 1091 01:22:12,220 --> 01:22:14,684 when the time comes - 1092 01:22:15,390 --> 01:22:18,244 Very unstable. Your emotion will come up. 1093 01:22:19,325 --> 01:22:21,621 You won't let go. 1094 01:22:23,109 --> 01:22:26,355 That is why the sangha is very important. 1095 01:22:26,509 --> 01:22:28,605 They are a protection 1096 01:22:28,753 --> 01:22:31,301 and they help prevent us from going - 1097 01:22:31,454 --> 01:22:33,848 And holding on too tightly. 1098 01:22:34,957 --> 01:22:38,770 The vision of Thay, the Buddha as a sangha, 1099 01:22:39,507 --> 01:22:42,115 is doable. 1100 01:22:42,914 --> 01:22:46,869 We don't all have to be the Buddha, which is needed is to be part time. 1101 01:22:46,989 --> 01:22:49,257 And we take turns. 1102 01:22:50,110 --> 01:22:52,438 I mean, it's OK. 1103 01:22:54,290 --> 01:22:58,843 So it's our protection from becoming dogmatic and so on. 1104 01:23:03,038 --> 01:23:10,418 My gratefulness to Thay to emphasizing building sangha 1105 01:23:12,299 --> 01:23:17,206 as a way to keep us in line with the spirit. 1106 01:23:17,564 --> 01:23:20,378 That is why in the Charter of Interbeing 1107 01:23:20,488 --> 01:23:26,549 it's very important that when you become an OI member, you grow from the sangha. 1108 01:23:27,912 --> 01:23:30,167 But now lately there is a trend 1109 01:23:30,291 --> 01:23:34,391 that the people want to receive the OI membership or become an OI member 1110 01:23:34,626 --> 01:23:37,430 like the world, it's very worldly. 1111 01:23:37,553 --> 01:23:41,062 It is like, "Oh! I want to be an OI! How do I become an OI?" 1112 01:23:41,354 --> 01:23:44,178 It's like very isolated. 1113 01:23:45,052 --> 01:23:49,493 An OI member or a person who grows in the Dharma 1114 01:23:49,868 --> 01:23:52,343 grows from the sangha. 1115 01:23:52,768 --> 01:23:57,425 That is why you cannot become an OI member out of thin air, 1116 01:23:57,689 --> 01:23:59,948 it comes from the sangha. 1117 01:24:00,114 --> 01:24:03,127 I mean, I guess you can. I don't want to be dogmatic about it. 1118 01:24:03,275 --> 01:24:06,159 Maybe in Alaska or somewhere there is no sangha. 1119 01:24:06,471 --> 01:24:08,833 You can become OI member. 1120 01:24:08,961 --> 01:24:12,623 But the intention there is that you come from a culture. 1121 01:24:14,156 --> 01:24:16,686 You have support, you have brothers and sisters 1122 01:24:16,843 --> 01:24:20,760 that know you. They know you very well. 1123 01:24:22,995 --> 01:24:25,815 They are your protection. They understand you, 1124 01:24:25,980 --> 01:24:29,283 they know your weaknesses, they know your strengths. 1125 01:24:29,979 --> 01:24:32,307 It is very easy to just - 1126 01:24:33,173 --> 01:24:39,376 Be by yourself and operating on your own. 1127 01:24:40,010 --> 01:24:43,515 Because it's very hard to live with those who know you. 1128 01:24:43,865 --> 01:24:45,605 (Laughter) 1129 01:24:48,047 --> 01:24:51,885 Sangha is all nice. Plum Village is all nice. Wait until you live here. 1130 01:24:51,995 --> 01:24:53,415 (Laughter) 1131 01:24:53,545 --> 01:24:55,594 It's very easy 1132 01:24:57,400 --> 01:25:00,176 but difficult, because your brothers know you. 1133 01:25:01,681 --> 01:25:04,490 It's easier to live as a tourist. 1134 01:25:04,619 --> 01:25:07,763 Ah! Nice! So beautiful! 1135 01:25:08,709 --> 01:25:13,378 Everything is so wonderful! Plum Village is so nice for one week! 1136 01:25:14,360 --> 01:25:16,440 (Laughter) 1137 01:25:16,811 --> 01:25:21,944 You stay here and we get to know you and we let you grow some roots, 1138 01:25:22,321 --> 01:25:24,346 and then we start trimming. 1139 01:25:24,509 --> 01:25:26,370 (Laughter) 1140 01:25:26,574 --> 01:25:29,162 "You don't show up on time. 1141 01:25:29,608 --> 01:25:31,764 Why is that? 1142 01:25:31,924 --> 01:25:33,892 Look at your room! 1143 01:25:34,012 --> 01:25:36,398 How do you live inside your room?" 1144 01:25:36,634 --> 01:25:38,735 You look very good, 1145 01:25:38,867 --> 01:25:42,563 when you see the monks walking around, all like that. 1146 01:25:42,739 --> 01:25:47,517 But take a look at your room, how do you live inside your room? 1147 01:25:49,543 --> 01:25:51,561 That's the in. 1148 01:25:51,676 --> 01:25:54,769 The way outside needs to be inside. 1149 01:25:55,136 --> 01:25:58,032 If you cannot do the little work, 1150 01:25:58,922 --> 01:26:01,434 when the tsunami comes, 1151 01:26:02,029 --> 01:26:04,314 no foundation. 1152 01:26:04,655 --> 01:26:09,155 So in our sangha building, please do your homework. 1153 01:26:11,103 --> 01:26:15,019 That wasn't too intense? I did shining light 1154 01:26:15,941 --> 01:26:19,555 too intense sometimes, so I apologize. 1155 01:26:19,727 --> 01:26:24,336 But this is me speaking to myself, so I need to be careful. 1156 01:26:24,567 --> 01:26:28,176 Thank you, sangha for being here with us. 1157 01:26:29,935 --> 01:26:32,520 Please enjoy breathing 1158 01:26:33,407 --> 01:26:36,261 and let go of everything I say. 1159 01:26:38,118 --> 01:26:40,710 Please, dong hang on to it. OK? 1160 01:26:41,804 --> 01:26:44,935 Oh, it's quite - Throw it away. 1161 01:26:45,399 --> 01:26:47,381 (Laughter) 1162 01:26:47,717 --> 01:26:49,534 (Bell) 1163 01:26:50,280 --> 01:26:55,995 (Bell) 1164 01:27:18,039 --> 01:27:24,190 (Bell) 1165 01:27:41,610 --> 01:27:47,459 (Bell) 1166 01:28:07,607 --> 01:28:09,753 (Bell)