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And we've come back to Stourbridge.

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And I think many of us have been here
several times already,

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And feel very at home here.

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So as we said yesterday, there are a couple
of questions that got hidden in the bell.

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We didn't have a chance to look at.

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So maybe we can begin today by looking at 
those two questions.

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So one is about getting lost in our thoughts
during our sitting meditation.

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Actually we get lost in our thoughts
at other times, too.

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Not just when we're doing sitting meditation.

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When we're sitting on the bus or the train,
we may also be lost in our thoughts.

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And in Buddhism...Yesterday you looked at 
the Noble Eightfold Path,

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and you saw that one of the factors of the 
Path is Right Thinking.

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So we have Right Thinking, and we have 
Wrong Thinking.

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And meditative concentration is fine with 
thinking.

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It always says that the first level of
meditation, meditative concentration,

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it has thinking in it.

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So we don't have to throw thinking out
altogether.

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And as you can see in our guided mediations,

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we've also been using Right Thinking.

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And Right Thinking goes along with Right
View.

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And we know that, as we heard this morning

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in the Precept Transmission, 
the Mindfulness Trainings Transmission,

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that the view Interbeing, the understanding
of Interbeing, is Right View.

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So, the thinking that goes in the direction
of Interbeing, we can call Right Thinking.

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And we can use that a great deal 
in our sitting meditation.

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So if possible, in your sitting meditation,

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make use of the guided meditations

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in order to keep the Right Thinking there

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and not get lost in the non-stop Thinking,

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which we could also call the Wrong Thinking.

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And we've had a guided meditation on seeing

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that we inter-are with our mother and
our father.

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We can also do a guided meditation to see

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that we inter-are with the leaf on the tree

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or with the tree.

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There are things that we can do like this.

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And then we go..Right Thinking is like

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in the conventional realm of thought.

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But if it's Right Thinking, it can take us

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from the conventional, from the historical,

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into the ultimate dimension.

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That is the dimension that goes 
beyond words.

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So the thinking has a role to play.

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Thank you.

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It's also helpful, before you begin to

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meditate, to decide what you're going to 
meditate on.

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When I sit down to meditate, the first thing
I do is like bring my body and mind

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back together, and calm my body and mind.

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That is "Breathing in, I calm my body."

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"Breathing out, I smile."

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I do exercises like that.

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But when I feel peaceful enough,

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I ask my Store Consciousness,
the deep level of my consciousness,

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"What do you need today?"

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"Which meditation do you need today?"

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And then I allow Store Consciousness to

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tell me what I need.

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And it may say that I need to do the

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Loving Kindness meditation, which now

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I'm going to talk about.

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Or it may tell me that now I need to do

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the meditation on interbeing with my 
parents, or something like that.

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So there's a book, it's called

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Blooming of the Lotus,

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that I am indebted to for my meditation
practice.

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And that book has, I don't know how many,

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more than thirty, guided meditations.

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And I translated them into English,

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and then, now they're in English.

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And then I learnt them.

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And so they are all in 
my Store Consciousness,

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and I can call them up when I want to.

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And I think you also, before your meditation,

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you can read the book, and

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then you see one that is suitable for

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your situation at the moment.

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And then you try to remember it,

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and you use it in your sitting meditation.

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And there are wonderful meditations on

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no birth and no death, like the meditation

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on the wave and the water.

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The wave going back, the wave breaking

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on the shore and then going back to the
water.

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Which, when we are dying, can be very helpful.

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And the meditation on the no birth and

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no death of our in-breath is also

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very helpful.

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And the no birth and no death

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of our body.

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These kind of meditations are very deep

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and in the book we are led into them slowly.

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And they can be very helpful to us.

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So now we come to the loving kindness
meditation.

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This morning in our Mindfulness Training

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Transmission, in the Third Mindfulness Training

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we heard about True Love.

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True Love and the four elements of True Love.

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Loving kindness, compassion, joy and
equanimity.

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And these four elements are also called
limitless minds.

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Infinite -- they don't have any limit.

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When you meditate on loving kindness,

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you feel that you have limitless space

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and that your loving kindness is not limited.

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It's not something, "Oh, I can have
loving kindness for this person,

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but I don't think I can have loving

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kindness for the other person."

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Our loving kindness can embrace everything.

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So these four limitless minds belong to

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every tradition of Buddhism.

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And they also belong to the Plum Village
tradition of Buddhism.

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And some time ago, Thay developed

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loving kindness meditation -

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that's one of the limitless minds -

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into nine parts.

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And the first thing we recognize is what 


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was pointed out by Buddhaghosa is that

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we must have loving kindness for oneself.

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And if you get not yet enough loving 
kindness for me, what you consider me,

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then you can't go on to have loving
kindness for you, or for someone else.

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Buddhaghosa in the Visuddhimagga, a
book of commentary on the Abhidhamma,

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say that if you want to start a fire,

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you have to have dry wood.

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And then when the fire is going well,

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you can put the wet wood on top.

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So the dry wood is you yourself.

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The loving kindness for you.

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because you yourself is closest to you.

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Sometimes we say, "Nobody understands me!"

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But you have to ask yourself,

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"Do I understand me?"

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"Do I understand myself?"

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And you might say, "No, I don't either."

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So why do we expect other people to

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understand us, when we don't understand
ourselves.

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The first step is to understand ourself.

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And then when we understand ourself,

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we understand the happiness that we need,

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we shall be able to offer ourself happiness.

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And that is what loving kindness meditation

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is about -- it's about offering happiness.

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But the first person I need to offer

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happiness is to me.

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And some people when they are on 
their death bed, and you ask

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"What do you regret?"

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They will say, "I did not allow
myself to be happy.

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I could have been happy.

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I see now there were many times

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I could have been happy.

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But somehow, I thought I didn't deserve it.

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I didn't deserve to be happy.

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So I didn't allow myself.

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And the loving kindness meditation

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is meditation when you allow yourself

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to be happy.

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I don't know if you want me to read it,

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if I can remember it, and then I can tell

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you what the different elements are.

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But you will be able to find it in the

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Plum Village Chanting book or

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on the Plum Village app.

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Brother Phap Lai is not sure.

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But, anyway, never mind, I'm going
to tell you now.

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"May I be happy, peaceful and light
in body and in spirit."

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So, I want to be happy.

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Not just my body, but also my spirit.

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I want to be peaceful.

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How can I be happy if I'm not peaceful?

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It's another thing that Buddhaghosa said.

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He said when the mind is agitated,

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no other positive mental formations
can be present.

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So we need a mind that is peaceful.

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And when the mind is peaceful,

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then other positive things,

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like happiness and understanding, 
will come up.

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So, "may I be happy, peaceful and light
in my body and my spirit."

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And you have to really want it for yourself.

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And when you feel strongly that you want,

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that's what you really want for yourself,

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then you can offer yourself happiness by

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the second part:

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"May I be safe and free from accident."

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We know that life is insecure.

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We don't know what is going to happen to us.

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But deep down, we all have a desire to be safe.

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There is no one who doesn't have that desire.

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And sometimes we feel, we feel safe.

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Sometimes when we can, when we have that
peacefulness....

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We have that understanding.

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We feel completely safe.

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But it's not all the time.

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And I think Wittgenstein is not a Buddhist
practitioner, but he also mentions

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somewhere, in the tractatus or somewhere, 
I think

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There are times when I feel absolutely safe.

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So on the one hand,

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we spend a lot of our time feeling

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insecure and unsafe,

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but on the other hand,

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the seed of feeling safe is in us.

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And we deeply want that.

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We need that.

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So, we have to wish that for ourselves.

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The most important thing maybe is not to

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wish it for yourself but to see how much

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you want it, how much you need it.

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And then you will see that other people,

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that's what they want, too.

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That's what they need, too.

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And sometimes they do things trying to

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get that safety and security,

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like controlling or having power,

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where they feel they can be secure

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if they are in control or they have power,
outside power.

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But that isn't the real safety.

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The real safety is a seed that is deep 
in our consciousness.

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So the third thing is:

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"May I be free from anger, anxiety and worry."

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So, anxiety and fear, sorry.

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And I think that anxiety, we could say, is

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one of the sicknesses of our time, of our era.

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Many people suffer from anxiety and fear.

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And none of us want to be angry.

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Even though we sometimes get angry,

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we express our anger,

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I don't think there's anybody who has

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a desire to be angry.

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We all want to be free from anger.

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So we have that deep desire that

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when we are put in a situation

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which waters our seed of anger,

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we will be able to come back to ourself

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and take care, so that we don't express 
our anger in a harmful way,

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towards others and towards ourselves.

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So that the first triad, those three.

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And then the second triad is:

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"May I learn to look at myself with eyes
of understanding."

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So we already mentioned that often

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we don't understand ourselves.

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Ourselves is really a non-self,

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changing at every moment,

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different one moment to the next,

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so it's not particularly easy

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to understand oneself.

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But we can get closer.

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We can get closer to understanding ourselves.

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And often in a retreat,

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it's what people manage to do.

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To come back to themselves,

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and understand a little bit more

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about themselves.

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Understand about their feelings more,

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about their mental formations,

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about their perceptions.

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So understanding oneself

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is something we long for.

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And it's not just something Buddhist.

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We know that Socrates,

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over the place where Socrates taught,

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he wrote "gnōthi seauton",

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"Know yourself"

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And when we know ourself,

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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
then we suffer much less.

262
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We know our own mind,

263
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we can control our own mind.

264
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, know yourself.

265
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And may I recognize --

266
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this is a little bit like the Right Effort,

267
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that you probably heard about yesterday,

268
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Four Diligences.

269
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"May I recognize the wholesome seeds
in myself."

270
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And if you don't recognize

271
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
any wholesome seeds in yourself,

272
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what should you do?

273
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Go to your good friends,

274
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
your Sangha friend, your Dharma friend,

275
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and say to them:

276
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"I don't recognize, I haven't recognized,

277
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
any wholesome seeds in me.

278
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Could you please tell me what wholesome

279
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
seeds you see in me?"

280
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because often we the things that

281
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are not wholesome in ourselves,

282
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but we forget about what is wholesome.

283
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So that is a real exercise, to be able

284
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to recognize what is wholesome.

285
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The peacefulness you have,

286
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the loving kindness you have,

287
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the way you care for your children,

288
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
your grandchildren.

289
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That is a wholesome seed.

290
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I've heard many stories in the

291
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Dharma sharing about how

292
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
grandparents and parents,

293
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they take care of their children.

294
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So many of us have that wholesome seed.

295
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we are also developing the wholesome

296
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
seed of mindfulness, concentration and insight.

297
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the third part of the second triad is:

298
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"May I identify the unwholesome seeds in
myself."

299
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is a very important practice for me.

300
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't know about for you!

301
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I know certain unwholesome seeds I have.

302
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And one of them is my ego.

303
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And one of them is my pride.

304
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And often before I give a Dharma talk,

305
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I talk to Thay.

306
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't really talk to Thay there,

307
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but I talk to Thay in me.

308
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That is my teacher, Thay.

309
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I also talk to my mother and father.

310
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sometimes before I give a Dharma talk,

311
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I feel a bit nervous.

312
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't know if I have anything to offer.

313
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So I ask my mother and my father

314
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to support me, and Thay to support me.

315
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And when I talk to Thay,

316
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I usually say that I want

317
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to remain humble,

318
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that it's very important that

319
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I remain humble.

320
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And if people after the Dharma talk,

321
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they come up and praise me,

322
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I want to recognize:

323
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"You are partly right."

324
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because those words of praise,

325
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they are not really praising me,

326
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there's no separate self that is me.

327
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So I say to Thay please - because Thay

328
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
really helped me to develop humility

329
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and not so much pride --

330
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So I ask Thay please -- I know that

331
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when I give this Dharma talk it's not me

332
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who gives the talk.

333
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That everything I can teach,

334
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's what Thay has handed on to me.

335
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, I ask Thay to keep me humble.

336
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So I recognize that seed of pride,

337
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that seed of ego, in me.

338
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I identify it.

339
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that means it's good that I know it's there.

340
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because if I don't identify the unwholesome

341
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
things in me, it means that I don't have

342
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a chance to transform them.

343
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They will just stay there like they are.

344
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we need to identify the unwholesome things.

345
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then the last triad is

346
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"May I nourish myself with happiness
every day."

347
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you may think,

348
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Oh, that's very selfish, wanting to 
nourish yourself."

349
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But actually it's not.

350
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because the world really needs people

351
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who have the capacity to be happy.

352
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And if I can be happy,

353
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I can offer happiness to others.

354
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And of course, the kind of happiness

355
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that I want is the happiness that

356
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we talk about in True Happiness,

357
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the second Mindfulness Training today.

358
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The happiness that is not dependent

359
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on outer conditions,

360
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but the happiness I can:

361
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Oh, I'm so happy I can still walk!"

362
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"I'm so happy that I have eyes to look at
the trees!"

363
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That kind of happiness in our daily lives.

364
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, may I nourish happiness in myself
every day.

365
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then the next one is

366
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"May I live fresh, solid and free."

367
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Though we, sometimes we meditate on

368
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
being a flower, being a mountain,

369
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
being space,

370
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and during the meditation, we might

371
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
do it quite well.

372
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But some other time, we may forget it.

373
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And sometimes when you come home from work,

374
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you don't feel very fresh,

375
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and Thay suggests that before you open

376
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the front door to your house,

377
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you just stop a moment,

378
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and you breathe in:

379
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
breathing in, I am a flower.

380
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
breathing out, I feel fresh.

381
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because I want to be fresh for my family

382
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when I walk in the door.

383
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the last one is:

384
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"May I be free from attachment and aversion,
but not be indifferent."

385
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, we know how we suffer when

386
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we're attached to something

387
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or to someone.

388
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And cannot be free when we are attached.

389
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we want that freedom for ourselves.

390
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And after that, we -- the opposite to

391
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
attachment is aversion -- we want to

392
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
be free from that, because

393
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when we have aversion for someone

394
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or for something, we also lose our freedom.

395
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But we don't want to be indifferent.

396
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because we are going to practice

397
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
loving kindness and compassion.

398
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Equanimity, inclusiveness, doesn't mean
indifference.

399
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It means the capacity to embrace

400
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and to hold.

401
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Other people, other species.

402
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So this is the way that we practice

403
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
loving kindness meditation.

404
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And as I said, we practice it for ourselves.

405
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then, when we feel that we've

406
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
nourished ourselves and our fire is burning,

407
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our fire of loving kindness is burning,

408
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we can practice it for someone else.

409
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We can practice it for "you".

410
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Maybe we can practice it for somebody

411
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who makes our life difficult.

412
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And in that way we can look at that person

413
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
differently.

414
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the way that we look at another person

415
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is important.

416
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sometimes we think when we have

417
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a difficulty with someone else,

418
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that it just comes from the other person.

419
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's nothing to do with us.

420
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They are a difficult person.

421
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But actually, it also comes from the way

422
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that we look at that person.

423
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And people that recognize very quickly

424
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when we look at them,

425
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they recognize the kind of eyes we look
at them.

426
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And if we have some aversion for somebody.

427
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And even though we may smile and say

428
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
good morning, how are you and so on,

429
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the aversion, it may come through our eyes.

430
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that person unconsciously,

431
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
maybe not consciously bu subconsciously,

432
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will pick up that aversion.

433
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then that makes our relationship

434
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
more difficult.

435
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we need to be able to

436
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
develop our loving kindness for

437
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the person who is difficult

438
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so that when we look at them,

439
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there is real love in our eyes,

440
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not just a smile to show that we like them.

441
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[The bell is awoken.]

442
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[The bell is invited to sound.]

443
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So sometimes, I'm not afraid of death at all.

444
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But other times, I feel fear of death.

445
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So that is a seed in us.

446
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We have those two seeds.

447
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We have the seed of fearlessness,

448
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and we have the seed of fear,

449
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as far as death is concerned.

450
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we need to be a little bit

451
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
afraid of death, because if we're not,

452
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we might fall off a cliff very easily.

453
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, we need to know there's the edge

454
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the cliff and we better stop.

455
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we feel a bit afraid when

456
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we get too near.

457
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So that fear is something very, is

458
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
necessary maybe for our survival.

459
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But also that fear, it kind of stretches

460
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
out a bit too wide, and then

461
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
takes over territory that we don't really

462
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
need it to be there.

463
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, in then those areas,

464
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we need to develop the fearlessness,

465
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as far as death is concerned.

466
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so the Buddhist teachers in the past,

467
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they have said that the great work of a

468
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
meditator is the realization of

469
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no birth and no death.

470
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So it's a great work.

471
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And it's not just an intellectual realization.

472
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's a deep realization in our unconscious,

473
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in our subconscious mind,

474
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't know what you call it,

475
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the deeper levels of our consciousness,

476
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that are usually subconscious.

477
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That non-fear.

478
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The intellect is not enough.

479
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So when we give a Dharma talk,

480
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we're usually on the intellectual level.

481
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We use words.

482
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We use concepts.

483
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The first Dharma talk I heard about

484
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no birth and no death was the first

485
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
retreat I went to in Cumbria with Thay.

486
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I organized the retreat for Thay.

487
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And during that retreat, Thay was talking

488
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
about the Heart Sutra,

489
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and Thay held up a piece of paper,

490
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and Thay asked, when is the birthday

491
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of this piece of paper?

492
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When was it born?

493
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then Thay asked,

494
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and when is the death day of this piece

495
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of paper?

496
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Thay said, maybe when the paper came

497
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
off the, off the machine in the factory,

498
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and rolled off as a sheet of paper,

499
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
then that was its birthday.

500
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And if we are to take a match,

501
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and burn it,

502
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it turns into ashes,

503
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that will be its deathday.

504
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So that is our normal way of thinking

505
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
about birth and death.

506
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But if we look more deeply,

507
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we will see that the paper

508
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is there in many things that

509
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are not the paper.

510
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The paper inter is,

511
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
inter is with the cloud, with the sunshine.

512
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because in the paper there is water.

513
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And in the paper there is some tree

514
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or some plant or something that made

515
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the paper.

516
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we can see that the paper is not

517
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
something that has a real birthday

518
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or a real death day either.

519
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because when you burn the paper,

520
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
energy is produced, the smoke is produced,

521
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the ash is produced, the heat is produced.

522
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So paper doesn't become nothing.

523
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the paper doesn't come from nothing.

524
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And normally when we think about death,

525
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we think we become nothing.

526
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So yesterday, my friend said my self will

527
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
become nothing. This is what I heard.

528
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
My self will become nothing.

529
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
My separate self will become nothing

530
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when I die.

531
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And this can be something that

532
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we are afraid of,

533
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
losing our separate self.

534
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But the fact is that our separate self

535
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
doesn't exist when we are alive.

536
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not there now, while we're breathing.

537
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There is no separate self.

538
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So in a way it can't die, because

539
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it doesn't really, it's not really alive

540
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There is no separate self.

541
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So of course, the ash will go

542
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
back to the earth.

543
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And maybe it will be fertilizer

544
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for the earth, and the earth

545
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will give rise to a flower.

546
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The heat and the smoke will go

547
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
into the universe.

548
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So one person told me that when

549
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
his wife died, he took her ashes, and

550
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he put them at the foot of a magnolia

551
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
tree in their garden.

552
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And every year, the magnolia tree

553
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
blossoms on her birthday.

554
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So when we say that the ashes

555
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
go back to the earth,

556
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's not just the ashes.

557
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's also some other energy that

558
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
goes with the ashes that goes back

559
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to the earth.

560
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we also, in Plum Village, we also

561
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
had a young meditation student

562
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of 8 years old, who died,

563
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of meningitis or something.

564
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's very sad.

565
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we put his ashes at the foot of

566
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a plum tree, a plum tree he had saved up

567
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
his pocket money in order to be able

568
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to buy that plum tree for Plum Village.

569
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so that we can sell the plums and send

570
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the money to hungry children in Vietnam.

571
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So he saved up his pocket money to

572
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
buy a plum tree.

573
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And when he died, we put his ashes at

574
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the foot of that tree.

575
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that tree is always the first tree

576
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to blossom, and the last tree for the

577
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
blossom to fade.

578
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we can see that in the matter,

579
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what we call matter,

580
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there is also spirit.

581
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We have these two energies.

582
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Matter is a kind of energy,

583
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
condensed energy, and then

584
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there is the energy we send out

585
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with our loving kindness, or

586
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with our anger, or whatever.

587
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we usually distinguish between

588
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
matter and spirit,

589
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but in fact, matter and spirit are,

590
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you can't really take them out of each other.

591
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You can't really separate

592
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
one from the other.

593
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we have an idea of ourselves as

594
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
five skandas, we call the five skandas.

595
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The body, is, the body we think of

596
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as being matter.

597
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The feelings, and then the perceptions,

598
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and then the mental formations,

599
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and finally the consciousness.

600
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we think that is what my person is

601
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
made up of, these five things.

602
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And one of them has to do with

603
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
material -- our body,

604
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the other four have to do with

605
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our mind, our spirit.

606
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But actually, we make that division,

607
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
even the Buddha, when the Buddha was

608
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
teaching, he made that division,

609
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but in fact, you can't divide things like that.

610
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They always inter-are.

611
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So in the ashes left from the body,

612
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there is also some mental formations,

613
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
some feelings, and so on.

614
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When Anathapindika was dying.

615
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Anathapindika was a lay disciple of the

616
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Buddha, who donated the Jeta Grove

617
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Monastery in Savatthi.

618
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So Anathapindika was a very diligent
practitioner.

619
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He was sometimes successful, and

620
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
sometimes unsuccessful businessman.

621
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He went bankrupt at one point.

622
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But because he was such a good friend

623
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to so many people,

624
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they helped him, and then

625
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he became a successful business man again.

626
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And he used to bring his businessman friends

627
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to listen to the Buddha's teaching.

628
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then he was dying.

629
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
At first the Buddha went to visit him.

630
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And after that, he said Sariputra, one of

631
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the disciples of the Buddha,

632
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
should take care of going to visit

633
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Anathapindika, because Sariputra was

634
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the best friend of Anathapindika.

635
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so Sariputra went with Ananda -

636
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- at that time, Anathapindika was on

637
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
his death bed -

638
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to give final teachings to Anathapindika.

639
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the first thing they wanted to do

640
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
was to take care of the feelings,

641
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the perceptions, the mental formations

642
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the consciousness.

643
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Of course, when someone is dying,

644
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we can also take care of the body.

645
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We can massage while we are talking

646
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to the person, we can massage

647
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
their or their hands, in order to help

648
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
them feel that we are really there for them

649
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they are not alone.

650
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So Thay often tells us how when one of his

651
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
lay friends was dying, Thay massaged their

652
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
feet. Alfred Hassler.

653
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sister Chan Khong said, "Alfred, you know

654
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's Thay massaging your feet."

655
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, but anyway, in this case,

656
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sariputra wanted to concentrate more on

657
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the feelings, perceptions and consciousness.

658
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So Sariputra said to Anathapindika,

659
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Anathapindika, remember the Buddha."

660
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Remember the happy times that you

661
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have had with the Buddha."

662
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then, "Remember the Dharma."

663
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Remember all the happiness that

664
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
listening to the Dharma has brought you."

665
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then, "Remember the Sangha, the

666
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
happiness that you have received

667
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from the Sangha."

668
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so giving these teachings is to take

669
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
care of the feelings and the perceptions

670
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the person who is dying, to send the

671
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
feelings and the perceptions

672
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in a certain direction.

673
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because they have to continue.

674
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Those feelings, those perceptions,

675
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they continue

676
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
even though they become,

677
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
usually at death we say that the body

678
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
becomes separate from the feelings and

679
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the perceptions, we also saw that that

680
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is not completely correct, but in a sense

681
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they also have their own way to go,

682
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have their own energy to go, to give.

683
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we want that energy to continue as a

684
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
beautiful, peaceful energy.

685
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that by giving our attention

686
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to the happiness we receive from being

687
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in touch with the Buddha, the Dharma and

688
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Sangha, those feelings can go in

689
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a good direction, a good energy.

690
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so when we are taking care of

691
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
someone who is dying, it's important

692
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to know about the happiness of that person.

693
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If somebody was not a Buddhist, to talk

694
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
about the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha

695
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it might not be helpful.

696
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So you would need to talk about something else.

697
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And sometimes remembering wholesome

698
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
things that that person had done

699
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
during their life time.

700
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When I was with my father,

701
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I reminded him of the beautiful things

702
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that he had done in his lifetime,

703
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and also the happy things that he had done.

704
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
At one and the same time, we remind about

705
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
things that had a lot of happiness in, but

706
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at the same time, those things that were

707
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
done that were very beneficial, that

708
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
brought happiness to others as well.

709
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we need to know about that person.

710
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then we can nourish that person with

711
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
happiness, help that person be nourished

712
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by feelings of happiness, so that he or she

713
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is able to look deeply into non-self.

714
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That is our true nature.

715
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Singing:] "Nothing whatsoever to remove

716
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from this. Not a single thing thereon to

717
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
add. Properly regarding the true nature.

718
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When truly seeing, complete liberation."

719
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sorry, I don't have enough qi, eh?

720
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Nothing whatsoever to remove from this.

721
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Not a single thing thereon to add.

722
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Properly regarding the true nature.

723
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When truly seeing, complete liberation.

724
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So this meditation that was offered to

725
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Anathapindika was for Anathapindika to

726
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
be able to see the true nature and

727
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
therefore be liberated from the sense of

728
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
self and to be free at the moment of death.

729
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So this meditation goes something like this.

730
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You begin by meditating on your eyes.

731
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now, normally we think these eyse are

732
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
part of me, they're part of my body.

733
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Sariputra when guiding the meditation

734
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for Anathapindika, he said that

735
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"These eyes are not me. I am not

736
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
caught in these eyes."

737
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So this is something we can prepare

738
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
ourselves before we lie on our deathbed.

739
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's better, because Sariputra may not be

740
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there for us when we are on our deathbed.

741
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we can prepare. It's good.

742
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we have to look deeply at the nature

743
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of our eyes. When were our eyes born?

744
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we see that our eyes are just the

745
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
continuation of our mother's eyes,

746
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our father's eyes.

747
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And they are not really mine.

748
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Our eyes have been nourished by the food

749
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that we have eaten, that we've been given.

750
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They inter-are with everything that

751
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we eat every day.

752
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Our eyes, in fact, inter-are with the

753
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
dust of the stars.

754
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If there weren't the stars, the dust of

755
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the stars, our eyes would not be there.

756
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If we look into the elements that make

757
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our fleshly eyes, we will see the

758
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
different chemical elements that are

759
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there, they come from the stars.

760
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so, we have to learn to meditate on

761
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our eyes, to see that they are not me.

762
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The same with our ears.

763
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But not only that, we need to meditate

764
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on the object of our eyes,

765
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the object of our vision.

766
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Whatever we see and we consider to be

767
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
outside of ourselves, we also consider

768
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that to be me.

769
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When somebody was dying, they were once

770
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
asked, "Is there anything that you regret?"

771
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that person said, "Yes, I regret that

772
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I will no longer be able to be in touch

773
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with the beauties of spring, the beauties

774
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of autumn, when I die, I won't be in touch

775
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with those things.

776
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But in fact, that is because we think that

777
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
those things are there for me, but when

778
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I die, the beauty of spring and the

779
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
beauty of autumn, it doesn't die as well.

780
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There will be other eyes which will be

781
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in touch with those things.

782
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, and I inter-am with those other eyes

783
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that will be in touch.

784
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we have to let go of the idea that the

785
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
outside world is something that belongs

786
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to me.

787
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then of course, in our vision, it's

788
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not just eyes and the light waves, and

789
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the so-called objects out there that make

790
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
possible our vision. We need something else.

791
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that is, we need our consciousness.

792
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Without consciousness, we wouldn't see

793
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
anything, even though our eyes are

794
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
perfectly good, our optic nerve is

795
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
perfectly good, but without

796
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
consciousness, we don't see anything.

797
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because the light waves that our retina

798
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is able to pick up, the nerves are able

799
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to pick up and send a message to our

800
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
primary visual cortex and our secondary

801
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
visual cortex, those light waves, they have

802
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to be interpreted.

803
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we have to see that also this 
consciousness, this visual cortex,

804
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is not me, it's not mine,

805
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's not myself.

806
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So in this way we are liberated.

807
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We don't identify ourselves with any of

808
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the things that we normally in our lifetime

809
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
identify ourselves with.

810
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In Plum Village, we often use the meditation

811
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on the water and the wave.

812
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We visualize ourself as a wave,

813
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and there is a time when the wave is born,

814
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and then it exists for a while, and then,

815
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it crashes on the shore or

816
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it goes back into the sea.

817
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And at that time when it crashes on the

818
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
shore, the water, it goes back into the sea.

819
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And also there's the energy from the wave,

820
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that you can hear on the shore,

821
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you can feel on the sand on the shore,

822
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you can feel the energy from the wave.

823
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So it's true, that the wave has lost

824
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
its separate self.

825
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Its separate self has gone back into

826
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
energy on the shore and water in the sea.

827
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But nothing is lost.

828
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's something very scientific.

829
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not metaphysics.

830
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And as our friend said yesterday,

831
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Buddha didn't like metaphysics.

832
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Not he didn't like it, but he thought it

833
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
was a bit of a waste of time.

834
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When the Buddha was asked:

835
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"After death, do you continue to exist?

836
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Or after death, do you cease to exist?"

837
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The Buddha's reply was that the Buddha

838
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
only teaches two things,

839
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
suffering and the end of suffering.

840
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I can't answer that question.

841
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So the wave you can see that you can't

842
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
say that the wave continues to exist,

843
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because it's not that wave that we saw

844
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that was there before.

845
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But you can't say it ceases to exist,

846
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because the energy is still there,

847
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the water is still there.

848
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And this is something very scientific.

849
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The scientist Lavoisier,

850
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the chemist Lavoisier.

851
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Rien ne se créé, rien ne se perd."

852
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Nothing is created, nothing is lost.

853
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Everything is in transformation.

854
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that is something that was seen by

855
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
scientists when they do experiments in

856
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
their laboratory, chemists and physicists.

857
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we know that the first law of

858
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
thermodynamics is that energy is not lost.

859
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, when we look at this matter of

860
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no birth and no death, we have to take

861
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in consideration what scientists say as well.

862
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not just something metaphysical.

863
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So the occasion when the Buddha said that

864
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he only taught about suffering and

865
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not suffering was when one of his

866
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
young disciples, a young monk, of the

867
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
name of Anuruddha. He went out on the

868
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
alms round in the early morning.

869
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then after the alms round, he thought

870
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
why don't I go and visit the pavilion where

871
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
all the monks of all the different

872
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
traditions are sitting having some kind

873
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of Dharma discussion.

874
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So there were many kinds of spiritual

875
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
traditions in India at that time,

876
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not just Buddhism.

877
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, Anuruddha walked into the pavilion,

878
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they said, "Oh, look, there's one of

879
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the disciples of Gautama Buddha!"

880
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Why don't we ask him about what

881
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
happens to us after we die.

882
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He must have heard from the Buddha

883
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what happens.

884
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So they said, "Anuruddha, you're a disciple

885
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of Guatama Buddha. So please tell us:

886
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
after death, will the Buddha continue to

887
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
exist? After his death, will the Buddha

888
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
cease to exist? After death, will he both

889
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
continue and cease to exist? After death,

890
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will he neither continue nor cease

891
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to exist?" This is Indian logic, at that time.

892
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Anuruddha was completely befuddled.

893
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He didn't know what to say. He felt

894
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
very bad. "Here I am representing the

895
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Buddha. But I'm a young monk, and

896
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I never heard the Buddha talk about

897
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
any of these things."

898
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So he couldn't answer. And he said,

899
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Friends, I'm sorry, but I've never heard

900
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Buddha talk about any of these things."

901
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then they said, "This monk either

902
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
just became ordained, or he is stupid."

903
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And he didn't feel very good about that.

904
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But anyway, he went back to the Buddha

905
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and said "Lord Buddha, this morning I

906
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
went to the pavilion and I was asked

907
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this question, and I couldn't answer.

908
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Please sir, can you teach me, so the next

909
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they ask me this question, they won't say

910
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that I am stupid. I will be able to answer."

911
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so the Buddha taught Anuruddha.

912
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the Buddha said to Anuruddha,

913
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Here is the Buddha sitting here."

914
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"So first of all, is the Buddha the body?"

915
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Anuruddha said "No, the Buddha

916
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is not the body."

917
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Is the Buddha feelings?"

918
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Anuruddha said,

919
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"No, the Buddha is not feelings."

920
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Is the Buddha perceptions, mental 
formations, consciousness?"

921
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Anuruddha said, "No."

922
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then the Buddha asked,

923
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Is the Buddha possible without the body?"

924
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Anuruddha said, "No."

925
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Is the Buddha possible without feelings?"

926
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"No."

927
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Without perceptions, mental formations...."

928
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so in the end, Anuruddha

929
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
could not find the Buddha.

930
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the Buddha said,

931
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Anuruddha, if you cannot find the Buddha

932
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
while he is alive, how to you hope to be

933
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
able to find him after he's died?"

934
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Anuruddha said "You're right."

935
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then the Buddha said,

936
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Yes, the Buddha has only taught

937
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
two things, suffering and the end of suffering."

938
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[The bell is awoken.]

939
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[The bell is invited to sound.]

940
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And sometimes after a young couple have

941
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
been married, Thay will ask them to do

942
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this kind of exercise.

943
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So you ask your loved one questions

944
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like that: am I this body?

945
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then the other person says no.

946
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Am I my feelings? No.

947
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then you recognize that person you love

948
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is not somebody you can find.

949
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not something you can grasp onto.

950
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It escapes all definitions.

951
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then when that person dies,

952
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you won't feel that it's only after

953
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they've died that you can't find them.

954
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You also see that when they were alive,

955
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you could not find them.

956
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because when they are alive,

957
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they aren't. They inter-are.

958
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And when they are dead, they aren't.

959
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They inter-are.

960
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This morning when we chanted the

961
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Insight the brings us to the Other Shore,

962
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we said "no being, no non-being."

963
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that is a new addition to that sutra,

964
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but Thay saw that it's very important.

965
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We believe that things really are,

966
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or that things really are not,

967
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because we are caught in our perception

968
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of a sign.

969
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We identify someone with a sign.

970
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we say that person is.

971
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And when that sign is not there for us to

972
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
identify, we say that person is not.

973
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This line is infinity, it's not begin and end.

974
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And on this line there's a sign that we

975
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
call "B", and that sign is the sign "birth".

976
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And there's another sign that we call "D".

977
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that's the sign "death".

978
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Birth is a sign.

979
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not an absolute reality.

980
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We say where there is a sign,

981
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there is a deception.

982
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But we need signs in order to be able to

983
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
recognize things.

984
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Like you need a birth certificate

985
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in order to be able, I don't know

986
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
sometimes you need a birth certificate

987
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't know when you need it,

988
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but you do, eh? [laughter]

989
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you also need a death certificate

990
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
sometimes. Well, you don't need it, but...

991
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[laughter] somebody else does.

992
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So anyway. Birth and death are signs.

993
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we saw that when we looked at the paper,

994
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's very difficult to find the birthday

995
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of a piece of paper, if you look deeply.

996
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But, you can establish a sign, and say

997
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that was the birthday when it came off the

998
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
tread, or whatever it came off, I don't know.

999
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And also for your own birth.

1000
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When they say "Oh, there's that new baby,

1001
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what it looks like, we can see with our eyes."

1002
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Then that is a sign, and we call it

1003
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the birthday.

1004
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But some people call the birthday

1005
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the conception day, the day when

1006
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
conception took place.

1007
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But that is also another sign.

1008
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because before the conception there was

1009
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
also mother's egg, father's seed.

1010
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So it's not exactly a birthday.

1011
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So death is also a sign.

1012
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If you look outside, there are some poppies.

1013
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yesterday there were two, and today

1014
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there are three. Or maybe the day before.

1015
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Anyway, there are now three.

1016
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the two older ones, they're beginning,

1017
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the petals are getting a little bit faded

1018
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on the edges. And then along side of them,

1019
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there are some seed pods,

1020
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
two flowers already changed into seedpods.

1021
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So you can say that two flowers have died.

1022
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But in fact, they've changed their sign.

1023
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Before they were red flowers, but now

1024
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they are seedpods. And then the seed

1025
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will at some time fall back to the earth,

1026
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and then they'll be another sign of

1027
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
another flower coming up.

1028
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So it's not really a matter of death.

1029
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Normally we say that death is non-being.

1030
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But the flower hasn't become non-being.

1031
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The petals have gone back down into

1032
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the earth and the seedpod is continuing

1033
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the flower.

1034
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then you say here, after the flower

1035
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
has opened, it became being.

1036
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But that is just a sign.

1037
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Before that, when it was a bud..

1038
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we say before that, it was non-being.

1039
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So the idea of birth and death is connected

1040
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to the idea of being and non-being.

1041
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If you don't have an idea of being and

1042
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
non-being, you won't have an idea

1043
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of birth and death.

1044
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because birth coming into being from

1045
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
non-being, and death is going out of being

1046
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
into non-being.

1047
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we've all witnessed people who have died.

1048
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We've all. They are people in our family who

1049
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have died, or we know people who have died.

1050
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we have to ask ourselves,

1051
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"After that person died, did they become

1052
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
non-being?"

1053
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
While they were alive, were they being?

1054
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Or while they were alive, were they non-being?

1055
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So now we look at ourself when

1056
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we were a child.

1057
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And if somebody took a photograph of us.

1058
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And sometimes we will open the

1059
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
photograph album, and we will say to

1060
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our friend, "Do you know what, that's me!

1061
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when I was 6 years old or something."

1062
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the friend will say, "Oh really,

1063
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I would never have guessed it?"

1064
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So that child in the photograph,

1065
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it looks very different from how you look

1066
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when you are 30 or 40, or 80 or 90

1067
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or whatever.

1068
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And not only the body of the child is different.

1069
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But also the feelings are different.

1070
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If you ask yourself when I was that age,

1071
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what were my feelings like?

1072
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What were my perceptions like?

1073
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You will see that they are quite different,

1074
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
although you can remember what they

1075
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
were like, from what they are now.

1076
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we have to say that that child is not

1077
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
really me, no really the same me as the

1078
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
me now. But on the other hand, we

1079
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
can't say that that child is different,

1080
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because that child hadn't been there,

1081
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there's no way that this thing I call me

1082
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
now would be here.

1083
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So this is some time, in this way of looking

1084
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we have to go beyond our normal

1085
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
concepts and categories.

1086
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Normally we say it has to be in a box

1087
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
called "same", or we have to put it in a

1088
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
box called "different".

1089
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So either I am the same as that child, or

1090
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I am different from that child.

1091
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Thay, when I first came to Plum Village,

1092
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this was one thing that Thay was always

1093
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
asking his students,

1094
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Is Thay the same as Thay was last year?"

1095
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I would always say,

1096
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Yes, Thay is the same as last year."

1097
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then somebody else in the room would

1098
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
say "No, Thay is different."

1099
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Thay would say, "You cannot put Thay

1100
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in a box "same", you cannot put Thay in a

1101
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
box "different". Thay is outside

1102
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
those two boxes.

1103
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's the same when people want to make

1104
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a stupa for Thay.

1105
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When Thay dies, they want to have a

1106
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
little bit of Thay's ashes that they can

1107
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
put in that stupa. I think Thay doesn't

1108
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
terribly want to have a stupa, I'm not sure.

1109
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Anyway, he said to the people.

1110
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Ok, you can make a stupa for me, but

1111
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you have to put a notice on it, that says

1112
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
'Thay is not in here.'" And then you also

1113
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have to say 'Thay is not outside of here'

1114
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
either, because inside and outside of here

1115
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are also two boxes.

1116
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, it gets deeper and deeper.

1117
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So if you have someone you love,

1118
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
be careful not to put them in a box.

1119
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If you have someone you don't love,

1120
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
be careful , don't put them in a box.

1121
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That box is made out of signs.

1122
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
One sister I know practised very well.

1123
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Her father and mother died when she was

1124
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
quite young. And she said now I see that

1125
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I am much closer to my mother and father

1126
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
than when they were alive.

1127
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So this means that mother and father

1128
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
continue in you, and they continue in

1129
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
your siblings, they continue in their

1130
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
children, in their grandchildren.

1131
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And when Mother and Father were alive,

1132
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
maybe you put them in boxes.

1133
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So you weren't able to be in touch with

1134
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
them as a whole, as part of everything,

1135
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as part of interbeing.

1136
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So in order to free ourselves from ideas

1137
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of being and non-being, we have to have

1138
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
another concept which, with any luck,

1139
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will take us into the non-conceptual.

1140
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, before someone dies, they inter-are.

1141
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And after they die, they continue

1142
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to inter-be.

1143
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sometimes, after someone has died,

1144
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you see them much more clearly

1145
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in their children and their grandchildren

1146
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
than before, because before they died,

1147
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you looked at them as separate from

1148
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
their children. But after they die, you

1149
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
don't have anywhere else to look, so

1150
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you see them in their children.

1151
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we've been practising to walk on

1152
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Mother Earth, to place footsteps of love,

1153
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and to caress the Earth as we walk, to

1154
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
see that the Earth is not just matter,

1155
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but also spirit. And we've talked about

1156
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Mother Earth as we are born from the Earth

1157
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and we go back to the Earth.

1158
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I think that this can remove a lot of

1159
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our fear also. Whenever we walk on the

1160
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Earth, we see, yes, this is where I will

1161
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
go back to. A large part of me will

1162
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
go back to the Earth.

1163
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the Earth is always ready to receive

1164
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and embrace me.

1165
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So an important part of developing

1166
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
fearlessness about death is to be able to

1167
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
see the Earth as your loving Mother who

1168
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will receive you when you die.

1169
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we talked a bit about the teaching of

1170
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no same, no different, not in those boxes.

1171
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We also have boxes which are

1172
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no coming, no going.

1173
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No, sorry, we also have boxes which are

1174
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"coming" and "going".

1175
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And often when people die, people ask,

1176
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Oh, can you tell me where he has gone?"

1177
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Where can I find him now?"

1178
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Thay used to light a match.

1179
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Do you remember Thay's box of matches?

1180
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We forgot the matches today.

1181
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Nevermind, you can remember.

1182
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So you have a box of matches, and then you

1183
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
take out one match and you ask,

1184
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Dear little match, will you produce a

1185
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
flame for us?"

1186
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Thank you.

1187
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So first of all, we have to ask,

1188
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Where is the flame now?"

1189
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We don't see a flame;

1190
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we don't have the sign of a flame.

1191
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But on the other hand, we know that all

1192
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the elements to make the flame are present

1193
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
inside this box and also outside, because

1194
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you also need the oxygen, so inside and

1195
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
outside.

1196
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So now we have the match, we have the box,

1197
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we have the oxygen. We only need one

1198
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
more condition for the flame to manifest.

1199
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that is we have to do something with

1200
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our fingers. "So, dear flame, please manifest.

1201
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Dear match, please help manifest the flame

1202
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for the Sangha.

1203
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And now the flame is manifesting.

1204
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You allow it to manifest.

1205
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And while it's manifesting it's giving

1206
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
off light and heat.

1207
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And now it's giving off smoke.

1208
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So then we ask the flame,

1209
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Oh, dear little flame, where have you gone?"

1210
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the flame says it hasn't gone anywhere.

1211
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Dear Sangha, I haven't gone anywhere.

1212
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I haven't gone North, South, East or West.

1213
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's just the conditions were not there

1214
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for me to manifest anymore,

1215
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so I ceased to manifest.

1216
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And similarly, I didn't come from anywhere.

1217
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I didn't come from the North, the South,

1218
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the East or the West, but the conditions

1219
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
were all there for me to manifest

1220
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so I manifested.

1221
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So when somebody dies, and we ask them

1222
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Where have you gone?" then the answer

1223
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will also be "I haven't gone anywhere."

1224
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And if you look, you can be in touch

1225
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with them.

1226
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Somebody will say [singing]

1227
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This body is not me;

1228
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I am not caught in this body.

1229
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I am life without limit.

1230
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I've never been born, and I've never died.

1231
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Over there the wide ocean and

1232
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
millions of galaxies,

1233
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
all arise from the depth of consciousness.

1234
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So smile to me and take my hand,

1235
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and wave good-bye.

1236
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tomorrow we shall meet again,

1237
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or even before.

1238
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We shall always be meeting again

1239
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on the millions walks of life.

1240
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We shall meet in every moment,

1241
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on the million walks of life. [end of singing]

1242
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Did I leave out a line? I think I did:

1243
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Birth and death are only a game

1244
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of hide and seek.

1245
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Birth and death are only a threshold,

1246
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a door through which we go in and out.

1247
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Birth and death are only a game

1248
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of hide and seek.

1249
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we use our understanding of interbeing

1250
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in order to be able find the person who

1251
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
has died, to find they haven't gone

1252
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
anywhere, they didn't come from anywhere,

1253
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they haven't gone anywhere.

1254
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When the conditions were right, they manifest.

1255
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Conditions not right, they cease to manifest.

1256
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the first place to look is in yourself,

1257
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to find that person.

1258
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To find the feeling they transmitted to you,

1259
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the perception that they left to you.

1260
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So dear friends, our retreat is coming

1261
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to an end. And thank you for being here.

1262
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we will have a kind of closing, I think,

1263
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by singing together.

1264
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we may have a little time

1265
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to say thank you. A few people

1266
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will say thank you to each other.

1267
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, we will listen to three

1268
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
sounds of the bell.

1269
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the three sounds of the bell are

1270
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our good wish for you.

1271
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Firstly, to have a good journey home.

1272
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And secondly, to be able to continue

1273
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
whatever part of the practice that is

1274
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
most helpful for you.

1275
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And thirdly, to come back again,

1276
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when we next have a retreat.

1277
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[a lotus for you]

1278
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[The bell is awoken.]

1279
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[The bell is invited to sound.]

1280
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[The bell is invited to sound.]

1281
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[The bell is invited to sound.]

1282
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[The small bell is invited to sound.]