-
I think we have enough copies for everyone.
-
We only have it in English.
-
So we shall try to have it in French,
-
German,
-
and so on later on.
-
And there may be friends
who would like to help translate.
-
Three kinds of approach to the problem of ethics.
-
And the first one is
-
the standpoint of religion,
-
theistic traditions.
-
The second is the so-called scientific approach.
-
And the third one is the
-
Buddhist approach.
-
First is the theistic traditions,
-
Judaism and Christianity.
-
Judaism and Christianity teach that
the world was created by a loving,
-
all-powerful God
-
to provide a home for us.
-
We in turn were created in
his image to be his children.
-
Thus the world is not
devoid of meaning and purpose.
-
It is instead the arena in which
God's plans and purposes are realized.
-
What could be more natural than to think that
morality is a part of a just view of the world?
-
Whereas the artistic world has no place for values.
-
In the major theistic traditions, including Judaism,
-
Christianity, and Islam,
-
God is conceived as a lawgiver who has
let down rules that we are to obey.
-
He does not compel us to obey them.
-
But we were created as free agents,
-
so we may choose to accept
or to reject his commandments.
-
But if we are to live as we should,
-
we must follow God's law.
-
This conception has been elaborated by some theologians
into a theory about the nature of right and wrong,
-
known as the divine command theory.
-
Essentially,
-
this theory says that morally right
is a matter of being commanded by God.
-
And morally wrong is a matter
of being forbidden by God.
-
That is the theistic approach.
-
And then we have Bertrand Russell's
scientific approach.
-
This was written in 1902,
-
more than 100 years ago,
-
in his book A Free Man's Worship.
-
That man is the product of causes which had
no prevision of the end they were achieving.
-
That his origin,
-
his growth, his hopes and fears,
-
his loves and his beliefs are but the outcome
of accidental collocations of atoms.
-
That no fire,
-
no heroism,
-
no intensity of thought and feeling
can preserve an individual life beyond the grave.
-
That all the labors of all the ages,
-
all the devotion,
-
all the inspiration,
-
all the noonday brightness of human genius
-
are destined to extinction in
the vast depth of the solar system.
-
And that the whole temple of man's
achievement must inevitably be buried
-
beneath the debris of a universe in ruins.
-
All these things,
-
if not quite beyond dispute,
-
are yet so nearly certain
-
that no philosophy which
rejects them can hope to stand.
-
Only within the scaffolding of this truth,
-
only on the firm foundation
of the unyielding despair,
-
can the soul habitation
henceforth be safely built.
-
Very strong.
-
So,
-
according to him,
-
coincidence
-
and
-
annihilation of man
-
after his appearance
-
is the opposite with the religious view.
-
Because in the religious view the soul is
-
immortal,
-
immortal,
-
permanent.
-
So,
-
one is the view of
-
of permanence,
-
immortality.
-
And the other is the view of annihilation.
-
The opposite views.
-
And one
-
is the view of
-
there's a
-
purpose,
-
a plan,
-
a project.
-
And the other
-
view is that just pure coincidence,
-
the collocation of atoms,
-
we are the product of
-
coincidence.
-
So it's
-
opposite views.
-
And there is another
scientific view that is more recent.
-
The universe is some
-
15 billion years old.
-
That is the time elapsed since the Big Bang.
-
And the earth itself was formed
about 4.6 billion years ago.
-
The evolution of life
on the planet was a slow process,
-
guided largely by natural selection.
-
The evolution of life,
-
the first humans appeared quite recently.
-
The extinction of great
dinosaurs 65 million years ago
-
left ecological room for
the evolution of the few little mammals
-
that were about.
-
And after 63 or 64 million more years,
-
one line of that evolution finally produced us.
-
In geological time,
-
we,
-
man,
-
arrived only yesterday.
-
But no sooner did our ancestors arrive,
-
then they began to think of themselves
as the most important things in all creation.
-
Some of them even imagined that the whole
universe had been made for their benefit.
-
Thus, when they began to develop
theories of right and wrong,
-
they held that the protection of their own interests
had a kind of ultimate and objective value.
-
The rest of creation,
-
the reason was intended for their use.
-
We know now better.
-
We now know better.
-
We now know that we exist by
-
evolutionary accident.
-
As one species among many
-
on a small and insignificant world
-
in one little corner of the cosmos.
-
The details of this picture are revised each year
-
as more is discovered,
-
but the main outline seems well established.
-
So the idea of coincidence still remains
-
in the so-called scientific world.
-
I think there are a few scientists who do not agree.
-
with that
-
coincidence.
-
And finally, we have the
Buddhist approach in just a few lines.
-
And this is what we
-
these few lines we use during the winter
-
the last winter retreat.
-
Both subject and object of perception
-
manifest from consciousness
-
according to the principle of inter-being.
-
Man is present in all things
and all things are present in man.
-
On the phenomenal level
-
there seem to be birth,
-
death, being and non-being.
-
But ontologically these notions
cannot be applied to reality.
-
The dynamic consciousness
is called karma energy.
-
Everything evolves according
to the principle of interdependence,
-
but there is free will
-
and the possibility to transform.
-
There is probability.
-
The one affects the all
and all affects the one.
-
Interbeing also means
impermanence, non-self, emptiness,
-
karma and countless world systems.
-
Right view allows right action
-
leading to the reduction of suffering
and the increase of happiness.
-
Happiness and suffering inter-are.
-
The ultimate reality transcends
notions of good and evil,
-
right and wrong.
-
So it's only
-
seven or eight lines.
-
Good morning,
-
dear Sangha.
-
Today is Sunday,
-
June the 7th, the year 2009.
-
And we are in the Assembly of Stars Meditation Hall,
-
Lower Hamlet during our 21-day retreat.
-
Yesterday we began with
-
right view.
-
We have heard that right view
-
is the absence of all views.
-
As far as you are still caught in one view,
-
you don't have right view.
-
And it is possible for us to
-
reveal all kinds of views
-
and to transcend all of them.
-
And
-
the noble
-
path consists of right view and
-
then right
-
thinking.
-
Right thinking
-
has
-
the connotation of right intention in it.
-
When you think,
-
you express also somehow your intention.
-
And then we have right speech,
-
right action.
-
Right action means right physical action,
-
bodily action.
-
Because thinking is a kind of action already.
-
Speaking is also a kind of action.
-
So right action here means
right physical bodily action.
-
Right...
-
Please help me.
-
Livelihood.
-
Diligence.
-
Diligence.
-
And then right mindfulness.
-
And then right
-
concentration.
-
And right view.
-
1, 2, 3, 4,
-
5, 6, 7, 8.
-
Complete.
-
We know that the
-
thinking,
-
the speaking,
-
and the acting is
-
what we
-
perform every day,
-
every moment of our daily life.
-
The value of our life depends
on the value of our thinking,
-
of our
-
speech and our
-
action.
-
And
-
in Buddhism
-
this is called triple action.
-
Triple action.
-
Because thinking
-
is the first kind of action.
-
Because thinking can affect the world.
-
If you think wrongly,
-
the world will be destroyed.
-
The world will suffer and you will suffer.
-
So that is why you have
to practice right thinking.
-
And when you produce a thought
in the line of right thinking,
-
a thought that has no discrimination,
-
a thought that goes along with
-
non-discrimination,
-
that goes along with interbeing,
-
understanding, forgiveness,
-
compassion,
-
that thought will have
-
an effect right away on yourself,
-
on your health,
-
and
-
on your mind,
-
and on the world.
-
And this is true.
-
Producing right thinking can heal yourself,
-
your body,
-
and your mind.
-
And if you think in the wrong way,
-
that destroys your body,
-
that destroys your mind.
-
So it's very important to learn
how to produce a thought of compassion,
-
a thought of
-
forgiveness,
-
a thought of understanding,
-
a thought of (non)discrimination.
-
And that is right thinking.
-
Right thinking can heal you and heal the world.
-
And good practitioners are capable of producing
-
right thoughts
-
at every moment.
-
And because we have right view,
-
that is why it's so easy,
-
it's so natural that our thinking will be right.
-
And right view does not have discrimination.
-
Right view is
-
the
-
insight of non-duality,
-
interbeing,
-
non-discrimination.
-
And that is why
-
thinking
-
can change the world.
-
We have to learn
-
the art of
-
right thinking.
-
Speaking also can change the world.
-
If
-
we are capable of saying something,
-
of writing something,
-
in the line of compassion, understanding,
-
non-discrimination,
-
all-embracing,
-
we feel wonderful in our body, in our mind.
-
And that kind of
-
right speech will have a healing effect.
-
After you have been able to say something kind,
-
forgiving,
-
compassionate,
-
you feel much better.
-
When you write such a letter
full of compassion and forgiveness,
-
you are feeling very well
-
within yourself,
-
although the other person has not read it.
-
You have not posted the letter,
-
you have not sent the email,
-
but you feel liberated,
-
you feel wonderful already.
-
So right speech also can heal,
-
can liberate.
-
And healing yourself, liberate yourself,
-
and help to heal other people in the world.
-
That is the second form of action.
-
And the third form of action is a bodily
-
action.
-
If you are able to do something in the line of
-
saving,
-
supporting,
-
protecting,
-
comforting,
-
rescuing, saving,
-
you feel wonderful within yourself.
-
And you get the effect right away.
-
And that is a triple action.
-
It comprises
-
the body,
-
involves the body,
-
it involves the mouth,
-
the speech,
-
and it involves
-
your mind consciousness.
-
And this kind of action,
-
we call it karma.
-
Karma means action.
-
When it is action,
-
we call it karma hetu,
-
karma cause.
-
And when it is the fruit,
-
we call it karmaphala,
-
the fruit of the consequence,
-
the fruit of your action.
-
There's a French philosopher called Jean-Paul Sartre.
-
He said that
-
man is the sum of all his actions.
-
L'homme est la somme de ses actes.
-
He's very close to this.
-
And if we understand act,
-
action,
-
as a triple action,
-
the way we think,
-
the way we speak,
-
and the way
-
we do things.
-
When we observe
-
an orange tree,
-
we see that
-
the orange tree wants to propagate
beautiful leaves, beautiful blossoms,
-
and beautiful oranges.
-
Yes.
-
If the orange tree is healthy,
-
then she can produce these kind of things.
-
Very beautiful leaves,
-
very beautiful orange blossoms,
-
and very delicious oranges.
-
And we humans,
-
what we can offer
-
is our thinking,
-
our speech, and our action.
-
It is possible to offer the best kind of thinking,
-
the best kind of
-
speech,
-
and the best kind of action,
-
because that is our continuation.
-
When we think,
-
when we speak, when we do things, we produce.
-
That is the outcome of our being.
-
That's our product.
-
And they will not be lost,
-
they will continue in the cosmos.
-
The effect of our thinking,
-
the effect of our speech,
-
and the effect of our action will continue.
-
Whether this body is still there,
-
or it has
-
disintegrated,
-
our action continues.
-
Karma continues.
-
Karma as
-
energy,
-
karma cause, karma effect,
-
continues.
-
When you produce a thought,
-
that thought you have produced
-
bears your signature.
-
It's you who have produced that thought.
-
You are responsible for that thought.
-
If it is a thought of compassion,
-
forgiveness,
-
non-discrimination,
-
you will continue beautifully,
-
because it has your signature in it.
-
You are the author
-
of the action.
-
If you say something in the line of
-
forgiveness,
-
compassion,
-
non-discrimination,
-
and what you say has your signature in it.
-
You cannot say that,
-
"No, I have not said that."
-
You have said that.
-
There's a signature, your signature in it.
-
You cannot deny that.
-
And action, the same.
-
Whatever you have done bears your signatures.
-
And they have
-
gone to the cosmos.
-
They are always there.
-
So even if this body is no longer there,
-
you continue.
-
So to say that when this body disintegrates,
-
you are no longer there,
-
is a wrong view.
-
So the so-called scientific view
that there's nothing left after the
-
disintegration of the body,
-
that's a wrong view.
-
According to
-
Buddhist wisdom,
-
the view of immortality,
-
impermanence,
-
is a wrong view.
-
Because
-
according to our
-
observation,
-
everything is impermanent,
-
everything is changing.
-
Nothing can be the same
-
forever.
-
So permanence,
-
is not the truth.
-
But to say that
-
when we die, there is nothing left,
-
is also a wrong view.
-
And that is also a pair of opposites.
-
Permanence,
-
immortality,
-
and annihilation.
-
Immortality is a wrong view.
-
Because so far,
-
we have not seen anything
-
like that.
-
Everything you observe is impermanent,
-
always changing.
-
But annihilation is also
-
a wrong view.
-
Suppose we speak of the death of a cloud.
-
You look up in the sky and you don't
see your beloved cloud anymore.
-
And you cry, "Oh my beloved cloud,
-
you are no longer there.
-
How can I survive without you?"
-
And you cry.
-
You are thinking of the cloud as
-
having passed from
-
being into non-being,
-
from existence
-
into non-existence.
-
But in fact, it is impossible for a cloud to die.
-
To die means from something
you suddenly become nothing at all.
-
To die means from someone
-
you suddenly become no one.
-
But this is not the case of the cloud.
-
A cloud cannot become nothing.
-
It is possible for a cloud to become rain, or snow,
-
or fog,
-
or vapor,
-
water vapor.
-
But it's not possible for
a cloud to become nothing.
-
And that is why the view of
annihilation is a wrong view.
-
If you are a scientist,
-
and if you think that
-
after the disintegration
-
of this body, you are no longer there,
you become nothing,
-
you have passed from being to non-being,
-
you are not a very good scientist.
-
Because that is against evidence.
-
There is a French scientist who said that nothing
-
can die.
-
His name is Lavoisier.
-
Rien ne se crée,
-
rien ne se perd.
-
And you know that he's not a Buddhist.
-
Rien ne se crée,
[ Nothing is created ]
-
rien ne se perd.
[ Nothing can die ]
-
Nothing
-
is created,
-
is born.
-
Nothing can die.
-
And that is the nature of everything.
-
No birth, no death.
-
Because birth and death again is a pair of notions.
-
The cloud in the sky
-
is a new manifestation
-
before assuming the form of a cloud.
-
The cloud had been
-
water vapor.
-
The cloud had been water in the ocean
-
and
-
the heat
-
of the sun created by the sunshine,
-
the sunlight.
-
So that is, you can call it her previous life.
-
In her previous life the cloud had been
-
the water in the ocean,
-
the heat and so on.
-
So being a cloud is only a continuation.
-
A cloud has not come from nothing.
-
A cloud always
-
comes from something.
-
So there's no birth,
-
there's only a continuation.
-
And that is why
-
when we celebrate the birthday of someone instead of
-
singing happy birthday to you,
-
it may be better to sing happy continuation day to you.
-
That's not your beginning.
-
Your birth is not your beginning.
-
That's only your continuation.
-
Because you have been before that.
-
You have been there before your birth
-
in other forms.
-
Like this piece of paper.
-
Before
-
this piece of paper appeared in this form, before
-
it had been something else.
-
It has not come from nothing,
-
because from nothing
-
you cannot become something.
-
And looking as a meditator,
-
we can look into the sheet of paper
and we see the forest, the trees,
-
the earth, the soil,
-
the rain,
-
the cloud that nourish the trees.
-
So the previous life
-
of the sheet of paper you can see.
-
Looking into a sheet of paper you can see
-
the cloud,
-
the earth,
-
the trees,
-
the paper mill.
-
And that is where
-
the sheet of paper comes.
-
So the sheet of paper has not come from nothing.
-
And the manifestation as a sheet of
paper is only a new manifestation.
-
Not really a birth.
-
Because to be born means
-
from nothing you suddenly become something.
-
From no one you suddenly become someone.
-
So the nature of this sheet of
paper is the nature of no birth.
-
And it is impossible for
the sheet of paper to die.
-
When you
-
burn this sheet of paper
-
and you observe,
-
you see that the sheet of paper
will be transformed into smoke,
-
vapor,
-
and ash,
-
and heat.
-
And that heat is energy.
-
There's smoke coming up, water,
-
and
-
the ash
-
going down.
-
The sheet of paper will continue.
-
So to say that
-
after the disintegration of the body,
-
there is nothing more.
-
There's nothing left.
-
It is a wrong view called
-
the view of annihilation.
-
So right thinking is a kind of
-
thinking that is based on right view.
-
And right thinking
-
is
-
free from fear,
-
from discrimination,
-
and so on.
-
We know that with the
-
insight of interbeing,
-
the insight of no self,
-
the insight of
-
non-duality,
-
the thinking
-
will have a chance to be right thinking.
-
The speaking will have the
-
chance to be right speech.
-
And the action will have the right,
-
the chance to be right action.
-
And
-
every thought, every speech,
-
every act of ours bear our signature.
-
And it will continue.
-
It will continue with our karma.
-
And that is why
-
the notion of immortality
and the notion of annihilation
-
are just notions.
-
And they have to...
-
The view of permanence and the view of
annihilation should be transcended
-
in order for
-
us to have the right view.
-
Right view is the absence of views,
-
including the views of permanence
and the views of annihilation.
-
We have lost someone who is very close to us.
-
We are grieving his or her
-
death.
-
We have to look again.
-
And that person still continues
-
somehow.
-
And we can do something in order to help
him or her to continue more beautifully.
-
He or she is still alive in us and around us.
-
With the new way of looking,
-
we can still recognize him or her around very well.
-
The way we recognize
-
our beloved
-
cloud in the cup of tea.
-
When you drink your cup of tea
-
with mindfulness and concentration,
-
you can get the insight
-
that the cloud is your tea.
-
Very close.
-
You have never lost him or her.
-
She is still alive.
-
Very close.
-
And maybe in a more beautiful form
-
or different forms than
-
in the past.
-
So that is the kind of vision,
-
that is the kind of
-
insight that we should have
in order to overcome grief.
-
Because we think that we have lost him,
-
we have lost her.
-
But that person has not died,
has not disappeared.
-
She continues, he continues
-
in her new forms.
-
And you have to practice looking deeply
in order to recognize
-
her continuation, his continuation,
-
and support that.
-
And by producing right thought,
-
right speech, and right thinking,
-
we can support him or her.
-
Darling, I know you are there somehow.
-
Very real to me.
-
I'm breathing for you.
-
I'm looking around for you.
-
I enjoy life for you.
-
And I know that
-
you are there, still there.
-
You are very close to me,
-
and you are in me.
-
And we can transform our suffering.
-
We can feel much better.
-
We want to have right view.
-
When we come to right mindfulness,
-
samyak-smṛti,
-
chánh niệm,
-
we know that
-
together with
-
right concentration,
-
mindfulness can help bring right view.
-
When you practice right mindfulness,
-
you bring about
-
good concentration.
-
And with good concentration,
-
you can break through,
-
you can understand reality as it is.
-
You overcome all wrong views,
-
and you get right view,
-
which is insight.
-
And it is that insight
that liberates you from fear,
-
and despair,
-
and anger.
-
In Buddhism, we speak of liberation,
-
salvation,
-
in terms of understanding.
-
It is understanding,
-
right understanding.
-
It is right view that liberates us.
-
And we know that insight, understanding,
-
is possible only with
-
the energy of mindfulness and concentration.
-
And that is why
-
practitioners
-
of Buddhist meditation are those who
-
generate the energy of mindfulness
in their daily life,
-
and practice,
-
concentrated on the object of their mind.
-
And then
-
by doing so, they get the right view that will
-
help them to transform,
-
to be liberated from their fear,
-
their anger.
-
Suppose you have the fear of dying,
-
and if
-
you touch the nature of no birth and no death,
-
you can remove that fear.
-
And that is why
-
your savior
-
is right view,
-
is insight.
-
And that is the outcome of your
practice of mindfulness and concentration.
-
In the beginning of our retreat,
-
we have
-
defined what mindfulness is,
-
and we said that mindfulness is
-
the kind of energy that can help bring
-
our mind back to our body,
-
so that we can be established
-
well in the present moment,
-
so that we can
-
get in touch with life and
the wonders of life deeply,
-
so that we can live truly
-
our life.
-
Mindfulness
-
allowed us to be aware of what is going on
-
in the present moment, in our body,
-
in our feelings,
-
in our perceptions,
-
in the world.
-
And that is mindfulness.
-
But why there is the word right mindfulness?
-
Right mindfulness is there because
there is wrong mindfulness.
-
You keep thinking of the things that
-
can bring you sorrow and fear.
-
You have suffered in the past.
-
And the memories of your suffering
-
in the past
-
continue to be there.
-
And you tend to go back to the past.
-
You review, you watch the film of the past.
-
And every time you get in touch with
pictures and films of the past, you suffer again.
-
Suppose you were abused as a child
at the age of five or ten.
-
And you suffered so much.
-
You felt that
-
you were helpless.
-
You had no means to defend yourself.
-
They abused you.
-
You are fragile.
-
You are vulnerable.
-
You were so afraid you did not
know how to protect yourself.
-
And that kind of suffering
-
was created.
-
And then you have a memory of it.
-
There is a film,
-
there is a picture
-
stored in your consciousness.
-
In your store consciousness.
-
And every time you go home to the past
-
and look at that picture or
watch that film, you suffer again.
-
You continue to be abused again, even when
-
you have grown up.
-
You have grown up to be an adult.
-
You are now capable of defending yourself.
-
You are capable of using telephone.
-
You are capable of calling the police.
-
You know that.
-
You are no longer that child that was fragile.
-
And
-
vulnerable.
-
Without means to defend yourself.
-
You are no longer that little child.
-
And yet you continue to suffer
the suffering of the child.
-
Because
-
you practice wrong mindfulness.
-
You always go back to the memories of the past.
-
You feel more comfortable going
-
home to the past.
-
While right mindfulness wants you
to be in the here and the now.
-
Forget the past.
-
Get rid of the past in order to
live your life in the present moment.
-
And there must be ways for you
to stick to the present moment.
-
For you not to
-
slide back into the past and suffer.
-
Suppose someone slapped you on the face
-
20 years ago.
-
And that was recorded as a picture.
-
And our subconsciousness,
-
our store consciousness stores a lot of
films and pictures of the past.
-
And pictures are,
-
films are always projected there.
-
And pictures are stored there.
-
And you have the tendency to go back
-
and watch them.
-
And continue to suffer.
-
Every time you saw that picture you are slapped again,
and slapped again, slapped again.
-
But that
-
that is only the past.
-
You are no longer
-
in the past.
-
You are in the present moment.
-
That is why right mindfulness
-
is the practice that helps you
-
to be in the present moment.
-
That did happen in the past.
-
But the past is already gone.
-
It's only pictures and memories.
-
And if you keep going to the past
-
and touch that, that is wrong mindfulness.
-
We have to talk about the original fear,
-
original suffering,
-
and the original desire.
-
When we were a little
-
baby,
-
when we were still in
-
the womb of our mother,
-
we felt so comfortable.
-
The weather is perfect.
-
And we did not have to do anything.
-
Our mother breathed for us,
-
eat for us,
-
think for us.
-
We don't have to do anything.
-
And we were in a very soft cushion,
-
water.
-
Water is the best kind of cushion.
-
And that is a period of no worries.
-
It lasts about nine months.
-
That's paradise.
-
But the moment when we have to be born,
-
that's a very difficult moment.
-
The situation changed completely.
-
You touch the hardship.
-
They cut the umbilical cord.
-
Now you have to breathe for yourself.
-
Your mommy cannot breathe for you anymore.
-
And you try your first in-breath.
-
It's so difficult because
there was liquid in your lungs.
-
You have to
-
spit out.
-
You have to make an effort
-
to expel
-
that liquid from your lung
in order to be able to
-
breathe in for the first time.
-
It's very difficult.
-
It's very dangerous.
-
You risk to die.
-
And you were able to overcome that.
-
And you breathe your first.
-
And you are full of fear.
-
Your concern is how to survive.
-
You are so alone.
-
You are so fragile.
-
You are so vulnerable.
-
Nobody can help you.
-
And that is what we call the original fear.
-
And you continue to grow up as a baby
-
with that kind of fear.
-
"I cannot survive by myself.
-
There must be someone to help me."
-
So you lie there waiting for someone to come.
-
And that someone may be your mommy,
-
your nurse,
-
or your big sister.
-
And you do everything you can in order
to attract that person to come to you.
-
And your belief is that without another person
-
around you cannot survive.
-
You need a person in order to survive.
-
That person
-
may be mommy
-
or someone else.
-
So you have a desire.
-
You desire
-
the presence of that person
-
because there is a belief that without him,
-
without her, that person,
-
you cannot survive.
-
The feeling is very clear.
-
I am fragile.
-
I am vulnerable.
-
I have no means to defend myself.
-
Without you, I cannot survive.
-
That is our original fear and our original desire.
-
Our desire is that there must be someone.
-
And as you grow up,
-
you learn to manipulate
-
in order to attract that person to come.
-
Sometimes you are given something to hold.
-
Sometimes they take it from you and
-
one of your weapons is to cry.
-
You try to manipulate yourself.
-
You try to manipulate the situation.
-
And sometimes you smile.
-
But that is to please that person
in order for her to come.
-
So you learn a diplomatic smile
even when you are a little infant.
-
That's the problem of survival.
-
You learn without knowing that you are learning.
-
And that feeling that you are
-
fragile,
-
vulnerable, vulnerable,
-
without means to defend yourself,
-
you always need another person
to be with you, is always there.
-
That kind of fear,
-
that kind of desire
-
called original fear,
-
original desire,
-
is always there.
-
The infant is always alive in us
with that kind of desire and fear.
-
And in our present days,
-
all our desire and fear are linked
to that original fear and desire.
-
If we work non-stop,
-
accumulating more money,
-
that's because of fear, original fear,
-
that I cannot survive.
-
We look for someone to love,
-
to support us,
-
look for a lover, a lover,
-
a man or a woman.
-
That is also the continuation of your desire.
-
When you were infant,
-
you looked for mommy.
-
Now you look for another person to be your mommy,
-
whether that is a young man or a young woman.
-
So the new desire is only a
continuation of the old desire.
-
The new fear is only a
continuation of the old fear.
-
And there is a tendency for you
to go back to being that child
-
and suffer the suffering of that desire
and suffer the suffering of that fear.
-
That those of us who have a depression,
-
those of us who suffer, continue to suffer,
-
even if in the present condition everything looks
-
all right,
-
because there is a tendency
for us to go home to the past.
-
We feel more comfortable with that home,
-
even if in that home
there is a lot of suffering.
-
That home is deep down
-
in the store consciousness,
-
where the films of the past
are always projected.
-
And every night you go home
and watch the films and suffer.
-
And the future is only a
projection of the past,
-
but fear and desire.
-
Suppose you come to a cinema,
-
to a movie,
-
and down there you look
up here on the screen,
-
and there is a story,
-
there are people in the screen,
-
they are interacting with each other,
-
and down there
-
you cry.
-
You believe that
-
what is happening on the screen is real,
-
and that is why you shed a real tear,
-
and you have real emotion.
-
The suffering is real,
-
the tear is real.
-
But when you come up
-
and you touch the screen,
-
you don't see any person.
-
It's only light, flickering light.
-
You cannot talk to people,
-
you cannot invite them to
-
have tea, you cannot stop them,
-
you cannot ask a question,
-
because this is not real,
-
this is only a movie.
-
Something not real and yet
can create real suffering.
-
The memories of the past are not real,
-
not reality, they are only pictures,
-
and every time you watch the picture,
-
you suffer.
-
And that is why we are advised
not to go back to the past,
-
and live in the past,
-
get caught in the past.
-
And that is part of the practice of
living in the present moment.
-
Mindfulness
-
is to learn to live in the present moment,
-
not to allow ourselves to slip back
-
to the past in order to relive
-
the past one time,
-
two times, three times.
-
If you have suffered in the past,
-
and if you continue to to suffer,
-
if we go back to
-
to watch the film,
-
we suffer again and again and again.
-
Suppose you are a boat person,
-
you have crossed the ocean and
arrived safely and accepted into
-
a third country.
-
And you are now safe,
-
you have a job.
-
But you still have a picture
-
of the ocean where
-
you navigated as a boat person.
-
Every time you see the ocean,
-
you suffer,
-
because
-
at that time you risk
-
to sink at any time and devoured by
-
the fish.
-
Because crossing
-
the ocean is very risky,
-
and hundreds of thousands of
boat people have died in the sea.
-
So you still have that memory,
-
you still have that picture taken.
-
And that picture, every time you look,
-
you feel the suffering again.
-
But in fact,
-
it is only a picture.
-
You can get drowned,
-
you can die in the ocean,
-
but you cannot die in a picture.
-
So something not real can create real suffering.
-
And that is why we should tell ourselves,
-
we should tell the child, the suffering,
-
the wounded child in us,
-
that she should not suffer anymore.
-
We should
-
take her hand
-
and invite her to come to the present moment,
-
and to witness to all the wonders of life
that are available in the present moment.
-
Come with me, dear one.
-
We have grown up.
-
We are no longer afraid.
-
We can defend ourselves.
-
We are no longer vulnerable.
-
We are no longer
-
fragile.
-
Don't be afraid anymore.
-
You have to teach
-
the child in you.
-
You have to invite him or her to come with you
and live your life in the present moment.
-
That is the practice.
-
That is mindfulness.
-
Mindfulness
-
is not to allow ourselves
-
to get lost,
-
to be caught
-
in the memories of the past.
-
Of course, we can study the past,
-
but we are grounded in the present moment.
-
We are grounded, well grounded in the present moment.
-
We can study the past without being
-
sucked
-
and overwhelmed by the past.
-
The same thing is true with the future.
-
We can bring the future back to the present moment
and study the future and make plans for the future.
-
But we don't have to get lost
-
in the fear,
-
in the uncertainty concerning the future.
-
Because the future has not yet come.
-
It's only a ghost.
-
And the past is already gone.
-
It's also a ghost.
-
Why,
-
to live with ghosts?
-
We have to live with reality.
And that is right mindfulness.
-
So if you have a friend
-
who suffers,
-
who sheds tears, who has strong emotions,
-
when situations are unsafe,
-
you have to help him, to help her.
-
My dear friend,
-
you are on safe ground.
-
Everything is okay now.
-
Why do you continue to suffer?
-
Don't go back to the past.
-
It's only a phantom.
-
It's unreal.
-
And
-
every time we are aware
-
that these are only
-
movies and pictures,
-
not reality,
-
we are free.
-
And that is the practice of mindfulness.
-
Yesterday we spoke about
-
many
-
pairs of opposites as views,
-
like the views of being
-
and the views of
-
non-being,
-
the view of birth
-
and of death.
-
This morning when we speak about
-
the cloud
-
and the sheet of paper,
-
we learned that the nature of the cloud
as well as the nature of
-
the sheet of paper is the
nature of no birth and no death.
-
Overcoming
-
the notion of birth and death
-
and you have non-fear.
-
The notion of being
-
and the notion of non-being also
can create a lot of fear.
-
Right view consists in overcoming
-
both notions, being and non-being.
-
And it is possible to observe,
-
to meditate in order to overcome.
-
Suppose
-
we speak about
-
a little flame.
-
We speak about the little flame that the
-
match can produce.
-
And we can do a little meditation on the flame
-
about the notion of being and non-being.
-
We know that it's possible to
help the flame to manifest.
-
There are conditions
-
so that the flame
-
can manifest as a flame.
-
Before the sheet of paper appeared,
-
we know that the sheet of paper
has been there in its condition.
-
So we know that the flame is
hidden somewhere in the matchbox.
-
And we know that the flame is
hidden also outside of the matchbox.
-
Because out here there is
-
oxygen.
-
And oxygen is a very important
condition for the flame to
-
manifest.
-
Without oxygen
-
the flame cannot manifest.
-
And my finger may serve
as one of the causes,
-
one of the conditions to
help the flame manifest.
-
So we can already talk to the flame.
-
My dear little flame,
-
I know you are there somewhere.
-
Manifest yourself so that I can see.
-
We know that you are already there,
-
even if you don't perceive
you in the form of a flame.
-
So before the manifestation of the flame,
-
should we
-
qualify it as
-
non-existing,
-
non-being?
-
With our
-
practice of looking deeply,
-
we see that everything
-
manifests
-
based on conditions.
-
Conditions.
-
This flower,
-
she comes from a seed,
-
from a cutting,
-
from the soil, from the sunshine,
-
from
-
from the cloud,
-
from the gardener,
-
etc.
-
And she is made of non-flower elements.
-
If we send back
-
the cloud to the sky,
-
if we send back
-
the soil to the earth,
-
if we send back
-
the seed,
-
there is no flower left.
-
So a flower is made only
of non-flower elements.
-
And looking into the flower you can see
-
all the conditions that have
come together and help the flower
-
to manifest.
-
A flower cannot exist
-
outside of her conditions.
-
So the flame is the same.
-
When conditions are sufficient,
-
the flame manifests.
-
So it is possible for a meditator
to already see the flame
-
before its manifestation.
-
That is why I say,
-
my dear flame, I know you are
somewhere there already.
-
So please manifest.
-
And the flame tells us
-
it's okay.
-
Thay,
-
the sangha, if you help me with the last
-
condition, I will manifest.
-
And then we are providing the last condition,
-
which is a movement of my fingers.
-
And
-
the flame is manifested.
-
So you have the tendency to
call the flame existing now.
-
No,
-
the flame is in the realm of being.
-
But we tend to think also that before manifesting,
-
the flame belongs to the realm of non-being.
-
But reality transcends both
-
notion of being and non-being.
-
Because we already know that
before manifesting in its form,
-
the flame already is there in its condition.
-
So it is very important
-
to see,
-
to recognize the wrong view.
-
Suppose this is representing time.
-
And this point represents birth.
-
And this point represents death.
-
When someone is born
-
from B,
-
we believe that the segment before B
-
belongs to non-being
-
of that person.
-
That person did not exist
-
before B.
-
And when that person is born,
-
we make a birth certificate.
-
We certify that this person existed.
-
So this person
-
entered the realm of being.
-
And 100 years later,
-
hopefully, hopefully,
-
when that person comes to D,
-
then she passes from being to non-being
-
once again.
-
So that's our idea of
-
lifespan.
-
We only exist from B and D.
-
Before that, it was non-being.
-
So our idea is that from non-being,
-
we can pass into being.
-
And from being, we can pass
into non-being again.
-
But when we meditate on the cloud,
-
we see that it's wrong.
-
A cloud has never passed
from non-being to being.
-
And when the cloud disappears in the sky,
-
it does not pass from being to non-being.
-
It continues always.
-
So the nature of the cloud is
the nature of no birth and no death.
-
So the nature of your beloved one is like that.
-
And you are like that also.
-
And when you transcend the notion,
-
the view of being and non-being,
-
you get the right view.
-
You get the right view.
-
And that is why we have said
-
that right view is the absence of all views,
-
including the view of birth and death,
-
being and non-being,
-
permanence and annihilation.
-
Suppose I want
-
to light this candle
-
using another candle,
and I produce another flame.
-
And I would like to ask you, my dear friends,
-
this question.
-
As
-
whether this flame,
-
second flame,
-
is the same flame with the other
or a totally different flame.
-
That is meditation.
-
When you take the family album and
-
look for your picture when
you were five years old,
-
you see that
-
the young,
-
the little boy or the little girl
-
is so different from you now.
-
Are you the same with that little girl?
-
Or are you a different person?
-
You look so different.
-
As far as form is concerned,
-
feelings, you have very different feelings,
-
perception, mental formation and consciousness.
-
You are quite different from
that little girl, that little boy.
-
So are you the same with that little girl,
-
or you are a totally different person?
-
So that is another set of notions
-
called
-
sameness, otherness.
-
In Chinese, Chinese
-
Not one,
-
not a different one.
-
Not the same,
-
not a different,
-
totally different one.
-
The other day we spoke about the seed of corn
-
and the young plant of corn.
-
And we can ask the young plant of corn,
-
are you the same
-
with the seed of corn
-
that I planted before?
-
Or are you a totally different entity?
-
The answer must be
-
you are neither the same
-
nor a different one.
-
You are
-
neither the same with that
little girl in the picture,
-
but you are not entirely a different person.
-
So the notion of
-
sameness and otherness
-
is also a couple of notions that you have to
transcend in order to get the right view.
-
The other day we spoke about
the father and the son.
-
The son might believe that he
is a totally different person.
-
It's like the plant of corn does not believe
that he has come from a seed of corn.
-
But the hard fact is the son is
the continuation of the father.
-
And he is his father.
-
It's like the plant of corn is the
continuation of the seed of corn.
-
He is the seed of corn.
-
And the fact is that
-
the notion of
-
sameness and otherness should be
transcended for you to see the truth.
-
Now we come to a
-
pair of notions that is so
-
so crucial
-
in our studies of
-
right view,
-
subject and object.
-
When we speak of a perception,
-
in fact,
-
in the Sutra of Mindful Breathing,
-
there are four exercises of mindful
breathing to help with our perception.
-
To correct a perception,
-
to transcend all wrong perceptions
so that you can get the right view.
-
That's the last four
exercises of mindful breathing.
-
Hopefully we have the time
to treat these four last exercises.
-
We usually believe that
there is a consciousness,
-
which is the subject of perception.
-
And the world out there
-
as the object of our perception.
-
And these two things are different.
-
There is consciousness in here,
-
and there is
-
the world out there
-
as object of our consciousness.
-
And science,
-
philosophy and science begin by that.
-
And in the Buddha's teaching,
-
that is
-
the basic error.
-
That is the basic error.
-
This is very important
-
in the teaching of the Buddha.
-
When you practice mindful breathing,
-
breathing in,
-
I'm aware
-
of my in-breath.
-
You practice in such a way
that you are no longer
-
an observer.
-
You practice in such a way
that you calm your in-breath.
-
You become a participant,
-
no longer
-
an
-
outside observer.
-
In the teaching of the Buddha,
-
you see that there are six
-
sense organs, which are eyes,
-
ears,
-
nose,
-
tongue,
-
body,
-
and mind.
-
Mind is also
-
an organ,
-
mental,
-
our mental consciousness.
-
These five are rather physiological,
-
and this is mental.
-
Mental.
-
And the object of eyes is form,
-
sound,
-
smell,
-
taste,
-
touch.
-
And,
-
please help,
-
dharma.
-
In Buddhism, Dharma with
-
capital D means the teaching of the Buddha.
-
And dharma with the little d means object of
-
the mind.
-
Object of the mind.
-
Not an objective reality.
-
The world is just an object of mind.
-
So the twelve
-
include everything.
-
In fact,
-
we are taught that
-
eyes and form bring about eyes consciousness,
-
ears consciousness,
-
nose consciousness,
-
tongue
-
consciousness,
-
body consciousness,
-
and mind consciousness.
-
Mind consciousness includes
-
object and
-
subject.
-
When we perceive something,
-
that something is the object
of our consciousness.
-
This is a subject,
-
this is object,
-
and subject and object,
-
they manifest at the
same time and together.
-
So,
-
in the Buddhist literature,
-
when you hear the word dharma,
-
you have to understand right away
that it is the object of mind,
-
and not
-
an objective reality outside.
-
When you see a mountain,
-
that mountain is the object
of your perception,
-
of your mind.
-
Not something
-
separate from your consciousness.
-
This is very important.
-
Because to see always,
-
to see something,
-
always means to see something.
-
To hear
-
means always to hear something.
-
You cannot hear nothing.
-
You have to hear something,
-
you have to see something,
-
you have to think of something.
-
And the mind,
-
the object of mind,
-
can be form, sound, smell, taste, touch,
-
whatever,
-
an idea,
-
an image,
-
and so on.
-
So if you believe
-
that there is a subjective consciousness
that exists separately from
-
the object of your consciousness,
-
if you believe that there is
an external world that exists
-
separately from your consciousness,
-
you are caught
-
in a kind of error called double
-
grasping,
-
double
-
grasping.
-
[ Nhị thủ, 二取 ]
-
Because you are caught by this and by this
as two different things.
-
So right view is the possibility,
-
is possible only when you overcome
-
the view of subject and object as two separate
-
entities.
-
I think modern science is on
the verge of touching this truth.
-
Many scientists began to speak about
-
you can no longer
-
remain an observer standing outside.
-
You have to go in,
-
you have to become
-
a participant in order to hope,
-
to understand something.
-
And the world you think that
is something that is not you,
-
the world that you observe is yourself.
-
The mountain, the river, the sky, the stars,
-
everything is the object of your consciousness,
-
is your consciousness.
-
They say that sometimes
-
appear like a wave,
-
and sometimes else appear
-
like a particle.
-
According to our way of inquiry, inquiry,
-
if we inquire in such a way
-
and then
-
in terms of particle,
-
it appears to us as a particle.
-
But we inquire in terms of wave
and then the particle,
-
that particle will appear to us as a wave.
-
So it is possible
-
to call it whether a wave or a particle.
-
And that particle
-
can be everywhere at the same time.
-
It's like your mind.
-
There is a well-known British
-
astronomer,
-
physicist,
-
Arthur Stanley Eddington.
-
He said something like this.
-
We are on a trip to discover
-
and we come to a shore.
-
We are able to reach a shore of the unknown.
-
A place where nobody has been there.
-
And we are very surprised to see
the footprints of someone left there.
-
Before that,
-
we didn't believe that anyone has come here,
-
because
-
this is the territory of the unknown.
-
And yet someone has left his footprints there.
-
So surprising.
-
So we come to have a deep look.
-
And we discover
-
how strange, it is our own footprints.
-
It's our own footprints.
-
As in the way a modern physicist said,
-
the world,
-
the so-called objective world,
-
it is our mind.
-
It's the object of our mind.
-
And the Buddha said it in the very beginning.
-
Dharma is the object of mind.
-
In the Sutra on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness,
-
you study four realms.
-
Body,
-
feelings,
-
mind,
-
and object of mind.
-
Not reality.
-
Not
-
objective reality.
-
And scientists
-
of our time are making
-
an effort in order to overcome what we call
-
double grasping.
-
And if scientists can overcome the double grasping,
-
no longer,
-
if they no longer discriminate between the
-
consciousness in here
-
and the reality of the world
-
out there,
-
and then they have a chance.
-
There's a very beautiful
-
chapter
-
in this book I would like to read to you.
-
We need a Pooh
-
on this subject.
-
I'd like to invite a volunteer to come and read.
-
One of you has a good British accent.
-
Please.
-
Because Pooh bear discovered also some footprints.
-
In which Pooh and Piglet go hunting
and nearly catch a woozle.
-
The piglet lived in a very grand house
in the middle of a beech tree.
-
And the beech tree was
in the middle of the forest.
-
And the piglet lived in the middle of the house.
-
Next to his house was a
piece of broken board which had
-
Trespasses W on it.
-
When Christopher Robin asked
the piglet what it meant,
-
he said it was his grandfather's name and
had been in the family for a long time.
-
Christopher Robin said,
-
you couldn't be called Trespasses W.
-
And piglet said,
-
yes,
-
you could.
-
Because his grandfather was and
it was short for Trespasses Will.
-
Which was short for Trespasses William.
-
And his grandfather had two names
in a case in case he lost one.
-
Trespasses after an uncle,
and William after Trespasses.
-
I've got two names,
-
said Christopher Robin carelessly.
-
Well,
-
there you are.
-
That proves it,
-
said Piglet.
-
One fine winter's day when Piglet was
brushing away the snow in front of his house.
-
He happened to look up.
-
And there was Winnie the Pooh.
-
Pooh was walking round and round in a circle.
-
Thinking of something else.
-
And when Piglet called to him,
-
he just went on walking.
-
Hello,
-
said Piglet.
-
What are you doing?
-
Hunting,
-
said Pooh.
-
Hunting what?
-
Tracking something, said Winnie the Pooh,
very mysteriously.
-
Tracking what?
-
Said Piglet coming closer.
-
That's just, that's just what I ask myself.
-
I ask myself what?
-
What do you think you will answer?
-
I shall have to wait until I catch up with it,
-
said Winnie the Pooh.
-
Now, look there.
-
He pointed to the ground in front of him.
-
What do you see?
-
Tracks,
-
said Piglet.
-
Paw marks.
-
He gave a little squeak of excitement.
-
Oh,
-
Pooh,
-
do you think it's a woozle?
-
It may be,
-
said Pooh.
-
Sometimes it is.
-
And sometimes it isn't.
-
You can never tell with paw marks.
-
With these few words,
-
he went on tracking.
-
And Piglet, after watching him for
a minute or two, ran after him.
-
Winnie the Pooh had come to a sudden stop
-
and was bending over the tracks
in a puzzled sort of way.
-
What's the matter?
-
asked Piglet.
-
It's a very funny thing, said Bear.
-
But there seem to be two animals now.
-
This is whatever it was,
-
has been joined by whatever it is.
-
And the two of them are now proceeding in company.
-
Would you mind coming with me,
-
Piglet, in case they turn out to be hostile animals?
-
Piglet scratched his ear in a nice sort of way
-
and said that he had nothing to do until Friday
-
and would be delighted to come
in case it really was a woozle.
-
You mean,
-
in case it really is two woozles,
-
said Winnie the Pooh.
-
And Piglet said that,
-
anyhow, he had nothing to do until Friday.
-
And so off they went together.
-
There was a small spinny of
larch trees just here
-
and it seemed as if the two woozles,
-
if that is what they were,
-
had been going round this spinny.
-
So round this spinny went
Pooh and Piglet after them.
-
Piglet, passing the time by telling Pooh
-
what his grandfather Trespasses W had done
-
to remove stiffness after tracking,
-
and how his grandfather Trespasses W
-
had suffered in his later years
from shortness of breath
-
and other matters of interest.
-
And Pooh wondering what a grandfather was like
-
and if perhaps this was two grandfathers
they were after now and if so,
-
whether he would be allowed
to take one home and keep it
-
and what Christopher Robin would say.
-
And still the tracks went on in front of them.
-
Suddenly,
-
Winnie the Pooh stopped and
pointed excitedly in front of him.
-
Look!
-
What?
-
said Piglet with a jump.
-
And then, to show he hadn't been frightened,
-
he jumped up and down once more,
-
once or twice more
-
in an exercising sort of way.
-
The tracks, said Pooh.
-
A third animal has joined the other two.
-
Pooh! cried Piglet.
-
Do you think it's another woozle?
-
No,
-
said Pooh,
-
because it makes different marks.
-
It's either two woozles,
-
one as it might be whizzle
-
or two as it might be whizzles
and one if it is woozle.
-
Let's continue to follow them.
-
So they went on feeling just a little anxious now
-
in case the three animals in
front of them were of hostile intent.
-
And Piglet wished very much
that his grandfather T.W.
-
were there instead of elsewhere.
-
And Pooh thought how nice it would be
-
if they met Christopher Robin
suddenly but quite accidentally
-
and only because he liked
Christopher Robin so much.
-
And then all of a sudden,
-
Winnie the Pooh stopped again
-
and licked the tip of his nose in a cooling manner
-
for he was feeling more hot and anxious
than ever in his life before.
-
There were four animals in front of them.
-
Do you see, Piglet?
-
Look at their tracks,
-
three as it were woozles
-
and one as it were whizzle,
-
another woozle has joined them.
-
And so it seemed to be.
-
There were the tracks crossing over each other.
-
Here, getting quite muddled up with each other there
-
but quite plainly every now and then
-
the tracks of four sets of paw marks.
-
I think, said Piglet when he
licked the tip of his nose too
-
and found it brought very little comfort.
-
I think that I've just remembered something.
-
I have just remembered something
that I forgot to do yesterday
-
and shan't be able to do tomorrow.
-
So I suppose I really ought to
go back and do it now.
-
Well, do it this afternoon and
I'll come with you, said Pooh.
-
It is the sort of thing you can't do
in the afternoon, said Piglet quickly.
-
It's a very particular morning thing
that has to be done in the morning.
-
And if possible between the hours of...
-
What would you say the time was?
-
About 12, said Winnie the Pooh,
-
looking at the sun.
-
Between, as I was saying,
-
the hours of 12 and 12.05.
-
So really, dear old Pooh, if you'll excuse me.
-
What's that?
-
Pooh looked up at the sky and then
as he heard the whistle again
-
he looked up into the branches
of a big oak tree
-
and then he saw a friend of his.
-
It's Christopher Robin, he said.
-
Ah, then you'll be all right, said Piglet.
-
You'll be quite safe with him.
-
Goodbye.
-
And he trotted off home as quickly as he could,
-
very glad to be out of all danger again.
-
Christopher Robin came slowly down his tree.
-
Silly old bear, he said.
-
What were you doing?
-
First you went round the spinny twice by yourself
-
and then Piglet ran after you
-
and you went round again together
-
and then you were just going round a fourth time.
-
Wait a moment, said Winnie the Pooh,
-
holding up his paw.
-
He sat down and thought in the most
thoughtful way he could think.
-
Then he fitted his paw into one of the tracks
-
and then he scratched his nose twice and stood up.
-
Yes,
-
said Winnie the Pooh.
-
I see now,
-
said Winnie the Pooh.
-
I have been foolish and deluded, he said,
-
and I'm a bear of no brain at all.
-
You're the best bear in all the world,
-
said Christopher Robin soothingly.
-
Am I, said Pooh, hopefully.
-
And then he brightened up suddenly.
-
Anyhow, he said,
-
it's nearly luncheon time.
-
So he went home for it.
-
When we meet the terrorist,
-
we see that he has the intention to punish,
-
to kill.
-
And we tell him that it's not good,
-
killing.
-
But he doesn't listen to us.
-
There must be a way of helping him
-
to see that killing is not right.
-
So the first mindfulness training is to protect life.
-
And not to kill.
-
But if we just advise people not to kill,
-
that may not be enough.
-
We have to inspire them.
-
We have to help them to understand
-
that killing someone is killing yourself.
-
If you are inhabited by the insight of interbeing,
-
you know that killing someone is killing yourself.
-
And that is why the first mindfulness training,
not to kill,
-
to always protect life,
-
should not be just a commandment.
-
Someone tells you that it's a good thing to do.
-
But you have to understand why you shouldn't do it.
-
Because if you touch the insight of interbeing,
-
if you are free of the double grasping,
-
and you see very clearly that
killing him is to kill yourself,
-
and the intention to kill is no longer there.
-
Until you help the terrorist to see that,
-
you cannot transform his anger,
-
his suffering.
-
Because he thinks that killing and destroying
-
is the only way to get a relief.
-
You have to punish,
-
because that is your enemy.
-
That is the enemy of mankind.
-
That is the enemy of your civilization,
-
and so on.
-
So that is why we have to present
-
the first mindfulness training in such a way
-
that helps people to see that fanaticism,
-
to be caught in a view,
-
to be caught in an ideology or an idea.
-
You can be a killer,
-
because you believe that killing is good.
-
Killing is something you need.
-
And a person who is free from all views,
-
a person who is capable of seeing that
-
everything is everything else,
-
will never have the desire to kill anymore.
-
So you don't have to enforce.
-
And that is why the mindfulness trainings
-
have to be presented in such a way
-
that can help the people to
get the insight of interbeing.
-
They can help the people to see that,
-
to be caught in a view,
-
whether that is a doctrine,
-
an ideology,
-
or a dogma.
-
You are still caught in the double grasping.
-
You are not free,
-
and your action cannot be right.
-
Otherwise, the person will continue to think,
-
to believe that his action is right,
-
in the name of God,
-
in the name of the best of ideologies,
-
in the name of best view.
-
And in the Buddhist tradition,
-
as we have seen it,
-
right view is the absence,
-
is the removal of all views.
-
So our work,
-
our working together for a global ethic,
-
should be in the line of thinking that
-
our ethic should be an ethic
without dogmas, without views.
-
And the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra is the beacon.
-
It's the light that shines on it.
-
We have to transcend all kinds of views
-
in order to have the real insight.
-
And with that insight,
-
there will be non-discrimination,
-
tolerance,
-
brotherhood, sisterhood.
-
And then the practice of
the five mindfulness trainings
-
will be true practice.
-
Because there is no one
imposing the trainings on us,
-
asking us to practice.
-
Because we see that that is our path,
-
that is our joy,
-
that is our compassion,
-
that is our love.
-
So please help with this.
-
Sister Pine has been joined with her brother,
-
Michelle,
-
brother,
-
sister Anh Huong.
-
And we need those of you who
-
have the talent of editing
-
in order to work on a revised version
of the five mindfulness trainings.
-
Where is she?
-
In Upper Hamlet.
-
Here is Sister Pine.
-
Michelle, please come.
-
Anh Huong, come.
-
And Sister Kinh Nghiem proposed
a sister in the Lower Hamlet.
-
Her name is
-
Tri
-
Nghiem.
-
Tri Nghiem, come.
-
Anh Huong, come.
-
We need some more volunteers.
-
You know that during the winter retreat we have
already worked during three months on this.
-
And during the French retreat we have continued.
-
And we continue with this retreat,
-
collective meditation,
-
collective insight,
-
in order to offer a new version of the five
trainings that can be used by non-Buddhists.
-
Is sister Anh Huong here? Please come.
-
And we have actually a working version
-
of the five trainings,
-
so that we can have the input from everyone.
-
So the first training and all the other trainings
also should include the practice of
-
we should not be caught in views,
-
in the dualistic way of seeing things,
-
so that we can remove all discrimination and fear.
-
And that is the foundation of
the practice of the training.
-
So the training becomes a joy.
-
The training becomes our love, our life,
-
our happiness.
-
And not something we have to do.
-
It's like when we refrain from polluting
-
the planet,
-
when we refrain from eating much
-
of the flesh of animals,
-
we don't feel that we have to suffer.
-
In fact we feel that we are very happy to
be able to consume and to live in such a way
-
that makes the future for the planet to be possible.
-
So that is our love, our joy.
-
And the five mindfulness trainings
should be presented in such a way.
-
Sister Tung Nghiem, you may say something.
-
Dear respected teacher,
-
dear noble community,
-
we enjoyed very much during
this past winter retreat,
-
listening to Dharma talks of
Thay about the global ethic
-
and the cream of the Buddhist teaching
-
and what we can contribute to a
-
to a direction that everyone can say,
-
yes, this is the way I want to go.
-
And we also had the chance to do
the same during the French retreat.
-
After the winter retreat we made one draft,
-
a new revision in February,
-
and then after the French retreat we had
a group of monastic and lay practitioners
-
who sat together and made a revision in French.
-
And very recently, just before this retreat started,
-
we made another draft in English.
-
So I think this is the working draft
that Thay is speaking of now.
-
But we are very happy to have
so many deep looking friends
-
and brothers and sisters here right now
who can sit together again
-
and find the most inspiring possible words
-
for a world that is suffering
and looking for a way out.
-
Thank you.
-
Is
-
it possible for your group to report to us
from time to time during the retreat?
-
Yes, of course, dear Thay.
-
And ask for inputs.
-
Yes.
-
And we also have...
-
I heard that there were some other
friends in Lower Hamlet, Miriam,
-
and I heard Peggy also.
-
And I think there were at least one or two
other people that I've heard about
-
and there may be others.
-
Yes. Feel free to invite them.
-
So of course, yes, we will be very
happy to share our progress with Thay.
-
And you are planning to meet when?
-
Yes, that's the question.
-
When we can meet from the three hamlets.
-
I don't know if Thay has an idea for us.
-
Thay has also already many ideas.
-
I will try to come up with an approach,
-
a proposal, and I will send to the other Hamlets
for their announcements this evening.
-
Okay.