How to Enjoy Doing What You're Doing | Thich Nhat Hanh (EN subtitles)

Sally Green.

She's in...

the US.

Wondering how old she is now.

But there was a time
when she was very famous

because she...

won many swimming championships.

Champion

of swimming.

Now let me write her name
on the board so we...

can all know her name.

That year, at the Munich Olympics,

she won

all swimming events.

She'd got lots of...

lots of...

cups,

trophies, and medals.

But the year she turned twenty,

she decided to stop swimming altogether.

We can say that
she's the world's best swimmer.

But the year she turned twenty,
she gave up on her swimming career.

Surprised, a reporter

named Tom Parker

wondered why,

at the summit of her success,

as the winner

of myriad swimming championships,

she suddenly called it quits

at the age of twenty,

completely giving up on swimming.

So in his interview with Miss Sally
in her Californian home,

he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

He's a reporter.

And here, we have the interview

between reporter...

Tom Parker and Miss Sally.

An interview that lasted for probably...

less than two minutes.

Mr. Tom asked her,

"Is it true that you don't swim at all now?"

That's what he asked.

She said,

"I'm afraid so. I'm too old."

Then Mr. Tom said,

"But you are only twenty!"

Then Miss Sally replied very calmly,

"That's too old for a swimmer."

Twenty...

twenty years old

is too old for a swimmer.

"If I swam

in an international competition now,
I wouldn't win.

So I'd rather not swim at all."

[Tom] "But you are only twenty!"

[Sally] "That's too old for a swimmer.

If I swam in an international competition now,

I would not win.

So I would rather not swim at all."

That's her response.

Mr. Tom

tried to ask another question.

He asked, "But don't you enjoy swimming?"

Tom was wondering, "I understand
you don't want to swim in competitions,

so you stop swimming in competitions.

But for what reason
do you stop swimming altogether?"

She went,

"I used to enjoy swimming

when I was small.

I used to enjoy swimming when I was small.

But if you go in for big competitions,
you have to work very hard.

I used to get up at 6am to go to the pool.

I had to train before school, after school, and
at weekends. I swam 35 miles every week!"

Mr. Tom asked one last question,

"But you were famous at fifteen.
And look at all those cups."

And Sally answered this last question,

while showing him to the door,

saying

"Would you like to polish them?

It's true that I have
some wonderful memories.

While taking part in those competitions,

I got to visit many countries.

I got to take part in the Olympics games

that are very..."

— the English term in use was "exciting".

I'm wondering what its nearest
Vietnamese equivalent is.

Well, probably "very adrenaline-charged."

"But at those times,

I missed

the most important things in life."

"But

during that time,...

I enjoyed visiting other countries,

and the Olympics were very exciting. But...

I missed more important things.

While other girls were growing up,

I was swimming.

What can I do now?"

She said, "I was so busy
training myself to swim

so I didn't live for the many things
in life that are worth living for.

While other girls — from age 15,

live a normal life and grow up like anybody,

enjoying every moment of their daily life,

I didn't get to enjoy those things.

I only swim,

and swim, and swim, and swim,
and swim.

Bone-tired.

But now it's a bit too late.

I didn't get to live my youth.

What can I do now?"

It means Miss Sally

felt sad

because she wasted her youth

running after fame.

She didn't get to live the beautiful years of
her life as a 15-, 16-, 17-, 18-, and 19-year-old.

This is a true story.

The Buddha taught that,

whatever we are doing, we have to enjoy it.

And the Buddha also taught that,

whatever we are, we have to enjoy it.

That's...

what dawns on us

if we meditate deeply on this interview.

If we're a young, little boy,

know that being a young,
little boy is a wonder.

Don't rush to adulthood.

If we're a little girl,

say, five years old or seven years old,

know that being a five-year-old or
seven-year-old girl is a marvel.

Don't rush

to adulthood.

And if we're someone who's a bit
advanced in years,

say, if we're 70,

know that

being 70 is something beautiful.

Living to the age of 70
can be such a miracle.

We don't need to grieve, thinking,

"Alas, my youth is lost.

If only I was 10 or 20 years old again."

It's because you have all the joys
and beauties that are unique to 70.

Like Grandpa Teacher now.

At 70,

it dawns on Grandpa Teacher that

age 70

has its own joys and beauties that belong to it.

We don't regret,

wanting to be 20 again.

If we identify as a girl,

know that being a girl is a great miracle.

We don't need to wishfully think,
"I'm supposed to be otherwise."

Is there anyone here who identifies
as a girl but wishes to be otherwise?

There's one?

Then, you need to practice mindfulness

and learn to accept yourself.

And if we identify as a boy, know that
being a boy is a great miracle.

Don't wish to be otherwise.

If we're a young novice monk,

know that being a young novice monk

is such a miracle.

Don't say, "What should I do to
become a venerable master in no time

so I can have someone attending me,

holding my hat for me?"

It's because being a young novice monk
is such a great miracle.

If we don't live

with all our heart and soul

as a...

young novice monk,

when coming of age, we'll regret it

exactly the way Miss Sally did.

This is so simple

yet so important.

Not only children but adults
also need to learn to do this

because many of us

are just the same as Miss Sally.

At the time of interview, Miss Sally

regretted she didn't truly live from 15 to 20.

But now as she's 20,

— "now" being the point she was interviewed,

I'm wondering

if she truly lived at 21, 22, and 23,

or she just sat there regretting

the years between 15 and 20
not being lived to the full.

Perhaps we can ask Mr. Tom

to interview her again

to find out whether she has enjoyed her life
since the age of 20

or not.

So what Grandpa Teacher have just shared,

i.e. "Whatever we do,

we have to enjoy doing it,"

is a very important practice in Buddhism.

"Whatever we do,

we have to enjoy

doing it."

It's not different from "Whatever we are,...

we have to like it,

to enjoy

being it."

In Vietnamese,

whatever we're doing,

we have to

enjoy what we're doing.

Whatever we are,

we have to enjoy being that.

Don't wish to be otherwise.

Let's say, someone says,

"Why haven't I received the lamp from Thay
to be a Dharma teacher yet?"

Thinking that way proves that, that person
doesn't practice mindfulness well

because being a Dharma teacher
is wonderful

but not being a Dharma teacher
is equally wonderful.

Those who receive the Ten Novice Precepts

should take joy in their ten novice precepts.

Don't rush

to mature quickly in order to receive
the bhikshu / bhikshuni precepts.

If we go to elementary school,

we should

enjoy going to elementary school.

And when we go to junior/senior high school,

we should enjoy

going to junior/senior high school.

It's something very obvious.

But how can we enjoy
doing what we're doing?

That's what matters the most.

In theory, we know that

we should enjoy and savor every moment
of us doing what we're doing.

However, we don't know how
to enjoy doing what we're doing

because more often than not,
we think about what comes next.

And our heart and mind

is not focused on what's really
going on in the present moment.

Did Miss Sally

enjoy it when she trained
for swimming competitions?

She got up at 6am to go to the pool.

She had to train before school.

And then...

she had to train after school.

She had to train at night.

Then, she had to train at weekends.

She'd had enough of swimming.

She didn't enjoy swimming.

She had to swim because she...

had to be number one

in the swimming field.

During ages 15 to 20, she didn't live...

She didn't truly live.

She had chased after something
called "danh" in Vietnamese,

which means "fame" in English.

When we're caught up

in fame,

we don't truly live our life.

So we feel deep compassion for Miss Sally
when she was from ages 15 to 20.

Meanwhile, dear young ones, you know that

swimming is a miracle,

isn't it?

If there was a swimming pool
in the Upper Hamlet

and we could swim every day,
it would be such a delight.

We could have a big swimming pool.

Swimming brings a lot of joy.

Swimming in the ocean

or in a lake or a pool brings a lot of joy.

But if you have to train hard in swimming

— even when you don't feel like it,

in order to

win the championships,

swimming is just torture.

That way, we no longer enjoy swimming.

That way,

we're not following the Buddha's teaching

"Whatever we do, we have to enjoy doing it."

Be it at home or in the monastery.

Let's say a Brother — a novice monk,

is boiling water

to make tea

for Thay.

He should practice in such a way

that he can really

enjoy making tea for Thay,

not seeing it as torture

but a great joy.

But if that Brother can do this,

it means he's training himself
according to the Buddha's teachings.

Dear young ones, if you're eating your lunch...

with the whole sangha in Persimmon Village
(Plum Village's former name),

know that

eating is a miracle.

Eat in such a way

that each moment of our mealtime

is but a joy.

So

dear young ones, you should train yourselves

to make sure that you can eat your lunch

in such a way that it becomes a delight.

Let's say someone is giving you
a cone of ice-cream.

People think an ice-cream makes your day.

You may feel delighted, in fact,

but there are many ways to eating

ice-cream.

Let's say, if we're feeling angry,
sad, and resentful all at once

while eating...

...ice-cream,
the ice-cream won't taste good, will it?

And if we chomp down on the ice-cream
and finish it in no time,

the precious moment of eating an ice-cream
has just gone to waste.

So there should be a way to eating ice-cream

that allows us to savor it
in great delight the whole time.

We should learn that way.

There is a way to everything that we need
to learn. What's the point of learning?

We learn to live deeply
each moment of our life.

In Persimmon Village,

we get to learn the ways to many things.

We learn to eat in such a way

that happiness and contentment
are possible throughout the mealtime.

It's not to eat in such a big hurry

to get it over with
in order to do something else.

It's because the Buddha taught, "Whatever
we do, we have to enjoy doing it."

Or when we are cooking

for the whole sangha,

when it's our turn to cook for the sangha,

our team has to cook for, say, 300 people.

We should cook in such a way

that the whole time cooking,

there is

enjoyment, peace, and happiness.

We should learn to enjoy cooking.

If we don't know the way to do this,
we should learn.

And when we walk in meditation
with the whole sangha,

we...

walk in such a way that in each step
there's peace and there's happiness.

But while walking, if we think to ourselves,

"Why does it take us forever to arrive?
And why are we walking...

as slow as a snail?

Walking at a snail's pace like this
doesn't make any sense! I don't like it,"

it means, we haven't understood
the way to walking

where happiness is possible in each step.

We haven't known how to enjoy
each step we take yet.

So in our daily life,

we don't know

how

to enjoy what we're doing.

We don't know how to enjoy

our age,

or the task at hand.

That's why we come to
Persimmon Village to learn this.

Let's say, you're...

currently in the seventh grade.

The practice the Buddha taught is
to make sure that, let's say, while learning...

history,

or histoire,

we make sure we enjoy learning history.

While learning math,

we make sure we enjoy learning math.

While learning French,

we make sure we enjoy learning French.

That way, we're practicing
according to the Buddha's teachings.

But if we don't like the subject we're studying

and we want to do it quickly
to finish high school early,

it means we're doing something...

that goes against the Buddha's teachings.

That way, we end up not being
so different from Miss Sally

— the subject of this interview, at all.

This is not only an important life lesson
for young ones,

but an important life lesson
for everyone, no matter...

how old they already are.

It doesn't matter whether you're 70 or 80,
you all have to learn this lesson the same.

With each day we have left to live,

learn to live that day as deeply and
happily as we can, take satisfaction...

in whatever we're doing,

and

really enjoy

doing whatever we're doing,

our age,

our day-to-day life.

This is essential to our...

happiness.

Today we're focusing our Dharma talk
on that practice.

[Bell]

Dear Sangha, at 20, Miss Sally
had a moment of awakening.

It's because if it had been someone else,

perhaps they could never
have stopped at the age of 20.

She came to realize that
for five or six years,

she had wasted her life running after fame.

She didn't get to live

those precious months and years
of her youth.

If we got hurled into...

fame,

we would never have come
to awaken as timely as Miss Sally.

We would very probably continue

to waste

even more months and years of our life.

Perhaps we're not after fame,
but we're after something else.

It's all the same.

Some people aren't after fame,
but they're after wealth.

The Vietnamese term "danh" means "fame."

And "lợi" means "wealth."

Some people are after
dazzling appearances and sex.

"Sắc" in Vietnamese means "sex" (note:
"sắc" also means "deceptive appearances".)

When we run after these three things,

we're abandoning,

we're trampling on,

and we're letting so many wonderful
things in our life go to waste.

Because we strongly feel that happiness

is

possible

only when we have those three things.

Many of us are holding...

such an...

erroneous view,

i.e. "Without those three things,
happiness is not possible."

But the truth shows us that when we
get lured in by those three things,

just like Miss Sally,

we can't live our life

deeply and happily.

It's because happiness is
what's already going on

in each moment of our daily life.

Happiness

means we can accept ourselves as we are,

we are content with ourselves.

Say, as a little one, we feel content.

Being a little one is a great miracle.

As an adult, we should know that
being an adult is a great miracle.

We don't deny ourselves

in order to become someone we're not.

This is crucial.

Many of us want to deny

ourselves;

we want to deny

the way

we are

in order to become someone else.

That's something

that goes against the Buddha's teachings.

So this practice taught by the Buddha
is about us accepting ourselves.

That's why we should learn the way

to...

be content and enjoy

doing whatever we...

are doing.

Writing a book, we learn
to enjoy writing a book.

Washing our clothes, we learn
to enjoy washing our clothes.

Doing dishes, we learn
to enjoy doing dishes.

Drinking coffee, we learn
to enjoy drinking coffee.

Being

in the company of good friends, we learn
to enjoy the company of good friends.

Mopping the floor, we learn
to enjoy mopping the floor.

All of these things need to be learned.

It's because we always
think of the other thing.

"The other thing" here means the end,

the happiness that we visualize
in the distant future.

We're incapable of dwelling peacefully

in the present moment.

That's why coming to Persimmon Village,
we have to learn to do this.

We learn the way to stop
in the present moment,

to accept that moment,

and to live that moment deeply.

So

we learn to sit mindfully.

Sit in such a way that we feel a great sense
of well-being, that we feel content,

that we feel comfortable sitting.

It's because there are those
who can never sit still.

They sit as if on a heap of burning charcoal.

Many are like that.

They can never sit still.

It's a state of restlessness and discontent

in the heart and mind.

With this fire burning in our heart and mind,

we're restless and discontent
sitting on soft grass,

we're restless and discontent
sitting on a stone bench,

and we're restless and discontent
sitting in the living room.

No matter how luxurious our chair
or sofa is, we can't sit

for long because we've already
had this restlessness and discontent in us.

That's why one...

one...

of the things we should learn
to do in Persimmon Village

is to train ourselves to sit
in stillness and contentment.

Practice sitting still and peacefully.

Sit in such a way that we're not being pushed
to stand up by a very strong energy...

from deep within us,

to go round and round nonstop.

We think we have peace
sitting on another cushion,

but when we've already sat down
on that cushion,

we're still restless and dissatisfied.

This strong habitual energy inside of us

pushes us to stand up
and find another place to sit.

This practice is called "an tọa" in Vietnamese,

meaning "still sitting,"

or "sitting in contentment and peace."

And the Buddha is someone
extremely good at that.

He could sit very still

with a half smile on his face

because there's peace in his heart and mind.

So, going to the meditation hall
and practicing sitting together,

we train ourselves to sit still and peacefully.

Going to the meditation hall and
practicing sitting together is not...

a form of forced labor,

nor a form of punishment.

It's an opportune time
to train ourselves to sit still.

In Sino-Vietnamese, it's "tĩnh tọa."

In English, it's "still sitting."

Let's say you

have a mother

or a father

who has never

been able to sit still and in peace.

They've always rushed,

always hurried.

Not a single moment in their life, have they
ever been able to sit still, breathe, and smile.

Do you have compassion for them?

Are they worthy of compassion? They are.

It's because their whole life, they've always
been busy going round and round.

They've never had a single moment

of inner stillness, of inner peace.

And we're that person's child.

We say, "Mom, I'm sitting still.

I'm sitting still for you, Mum."

It's because I have you in me, Mum,

and I'm your continuation, Mum.

If I myself can sit still, breathe, and smile,

it means the Mum in me can also sit still,
breathe, and smile at the same time.

That's being kind and loyal to our parents.

However, are we truly able to sit still,

breathe, and smile while sitting?

If we're not able to do that,

how can we help our mother in us

sit still,

breathe, and smile?

Or

are we still continuing

our mother's ingrained habit of
always rushing, always hurrying,

going around in circles,

never stopping and being still?

That, in Buddhism, is called "samsara"

— meaning "the going around in circles being
continued from generation to generation."

The Buddhist practice of mindfulness
is to end samsara

— to end the cyclic patterns
of pain and suffering in a lineage.

So if our mother — when she was still alive,

had never had a moment of calmness,
contentment, or stillness,

now when it comes to our generation,
we have to learn to make it possible.

We have to learn to sit very still.

Breathing in, I feel light in my body and mind.
Breathing out, I smile.

Once we can already do this,
we invite our mother, "Mum,

breathe in with me."

What a great relief!

Breathing out, we say, "Mum,
smile with me" — and we smile.

As we breathe in,

our mind is still and quiet.

As we breathe out, we smile.

That quiet stillness and that smile
sink into our body and into our soul.

And of course, they will also sink into
our mother's body and soul.

It's because our mother's body and soul
are continuing

in every cell of our body and soul.

It's because we are but her continuation.

People say being kind and loyal
to our parents

means providing for our parents.

But that's not necessarily correct.

Being kind and loyal to our parents

means our being able to live
in contentment and peace,

in freedom and leisureliness.

That's Mum's deepest wish.

When birthing and bringing up a child,

the deepest wish of a mother

is for the child to have true happiness,
to have peace and contentment.

Her deepest wish is not that
her child brings her gifts, goodies,

or money on their visits.

For that reason, if we know how to sit

in freedom and leisureliness

— breathing in,

our hearts are at peace;

breathing out,

a half-smile is born upon our lips

— then that stillness, that peace, will
sink into our body and into our soul,

and of course, they'll also sink
into our mother's body and soul.

That's the greatest act of kindness
we can do to our mother.

If we can do this over and over,

our mother in us will be freed
from this circle of samsara.

We are freed and, at the same time,
our mother will also be freed.

We practice living deeply
and mindfully for ourselves,

but, at the same time, we also practice
living deeply and mindfully for our mother.

Although I'm already advanced in age,
I still train myself to do exactly this.

It's because

as I breathe in,

I feel a deep sense of stillness

and tranquility.

And as I breathe out,

I feel a great sense of peace,
happiness, and ease.

So sometimes I say,

"Dear beloved Mum,

take a breath with me."

Then both mother and son
breathe in together.

And as I breathe out, I say,
"Dear beloved Mum, smile with me."

Then mother and son smile
at the same time. It feels wonderful!

It's not hard labor whatsoever.

Only when we can already do this, do we
invite our mother in us to do it with us.

After doing this with my mother,
I do this with my maternal grandmother.

"Dear maternal grandma,
breathe in with me."

Dear maternal grandma,

breathe out and smile with me."

After doing this 3~4 times, when
both we and our grandmother are happy,

we move on to...

our father.

"Dear beloved Dad, breathe in and enjoy
a deep sense of well-being with me.

Dear beloved Dad,
breathe out and smile with me."

There's a palpable feeling
that we and our father are one.

Between us and our father, there's a...

deep sense of unity.

Growing up, we've never seen our father

for once have the opportunity to be in touch
with the true meanings of the Dharma,

to get to know what mindful walking is,

or what sitting meditation is.

Although he recites sutras
and invokes the Buddha's names,

he's never been able to touch

the contentment, peace, and happiness
that we've touched now.

That's why we should practice living
deeply and mindfully for our father.

After we and our father in us

have already had peace and contentment,

we then invite our
paternal grandpa and grandma

to breathe and live deeply with us.

Such a miracle!

You will come to realize that
half an hour sitting in meditation

passes very quickly

because you have happiness

in that half an hour.

We should also stand up
and stretch our legs.

And while stretching our legs, we can also
train ourselves to live deeply and mindfully.

Taking a step, we breathe in

and say, "I have arrived."

Taking another step, we breathe out,
and say, "I am home."

It's because for so long, I've been
a child wandering away from home.

I've been chasing rainbows,

getting nowhere

going in this direction (i.e. fame, wealth, sex).

And I...

get scratches, I get cuts, I bleed,
I step on thorns, I get punctured,

I hit my forehead & get a bump because I've
been looking for happiness in that direction.

Now I've awakened,

I know true happiness is right here,

in the present moment.

I can always take satisfaction and
find happiness in washing pots,

cooking,

sitting still,

washing clothes,

arranging flowers.

That's why I've already stopped.

I've already arrived.
I've already arrived at my true home.

I've already arrived at my true happiness.

That true home

is the present moment,
the here and now.

The Buddha taught us that our true home

is in the present moment.

So this morning when we
chant The Great Bell Chant,

it goes,

"I listen, I listen,

this wonderful sound brings me back
to my true home."

It's because the Buddha taught that
our true home is in the present moment.

In the present moment,
we're doing dishes,

cooking, washing clothes,

holding a baby, or enjoying ourselves
in the company of good friends.

That's the most important moment of our life.

Miss Sally didn't know this way of living.

She was after fame, so she had to swim in the
morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening.

It was such hard labor

with only one purpose in mind,
which was coming first in competitions.

So she couldn't truly live each moment
of her daily life.

Meanwhile, the Buddha taught us to learn

to live each moment of our daily life

mindfully and deeply.

This way, "I have arrived"

means I've already

stopped wandering away from home
and going pointlessly from place to place.

I've already come back to the Buddha in me,

to my mother and my father in me.

I've learned to breathe and sit mindfully,

and I get to reunite with

my teacher Thay,

with the Buddha,

with my mother, my father, and those I love.

That's

how we practice when we sit in meditation.

Breathing in,

we say, "I have arrived."

"I have arrived" means I've already ended
my wandering away from my true home.

Breathing out, we say "I am home."

Breathing in, we say "I have arrived."

Breathing out, "I am home."

We do the same with mindful walking.

For so long, we've walked
as if being chased by ghosts.

Now as we come to Persimmon Village,
we have to learn again how to walk.

Having already learned how to sit,
now we learn how to walk again.

Taking one step, we breathe in and say,

"I have arrived."

Taking another step, we breathe out
and say, "I am home."

Arrived.

Home.

Every step is a miracle.

Arrived.

Home.

Master Linji

once said,

"The miracle

is to walk on earth."

When we're already dead,
turning into a stiff corpse,

we can no longer see anything,

we can no longer hear or feel anything.

Our two legs can no longer walk.

At this moment,

we're still very alive.

Opening our eyes, we can already see
the blue sky and the white clouds.

With a little bit of attention,
we can already hear the birds warbling

and the familiar voices of our beloveds'.

And if we want to walk,
the only thing to do is to move our feet.

So,

the fact that we're still alive is a miracle.

A wonderful miracle.

Of all the great miracles,

the fact that we're still alive

is the greatest.

That's why, while breathing in,
know that we're still alive.

Breathing out, we smile,

knowing that we're still alive.

That alone

can already bring us a lot of happiness.

Breathing in, I know I'm still alive.

Breathing out, I smile.

Breathing in, I have arrived.

Breathing out, I am home.

We train ourselves to sit in meditation

in this way.

Or when we stand up and
practice taking each step

in the same way,
that's training ourselves to walk.

What's the point of training ourselves
to sit and walk this way?

To learn the way to live each moment of
our daily life deeply, peacefully, and happily.

We train ourselves to do something
Miss Sally could not do

in five years.

She unwittingly wasted her youth.

Miss Sally was only 20 then

but she was already awakened to the fact that she'd wasted 5 precious years of her life.

That awakening may have already helped her
live deeply the remaining years of her life.

The same with us.

Having the opportunity
to listen to the true Dharma,

we should make sure to live
the remaining years of our life

deeply

peacefully, and happily.

Looking back on our life now, ask ourselves,
"What have I done with my life?"

"What have I done with my life?"

We've burned away our life.

We've lived like Miss Sally.

We've trifled

and frivoled away our youth.

Do we want to continue living this way :

living in forgetfulness,

living in a hurry,

chasing shadows of happiness
in the distant future and...

throwing away the happiness

that is already there in the present moment?

Once we're awakened to this truth,
we resolve

to never

let go of what's precious to us

— the most precious things in our life.

We learn to always come home
to the present moment

in order to live the present moment deeply.

That's why we practice mindful sitting

and mindful walking.

Then we should also practice mindful eating.

Eat a meal in such a way that there's
leisureliness and lightness in body and mind,

that there's joy and happiness
in each moment of the mealtime.

It takes practice to be able to do this.

Like, for little ones,
eating ice-cream mindfully is not easy

because many are so used to
wasting their ice-cream.

There's no happiness
in every bit of ice-cream.