"The Secret to Continuing Thay" - Br. Phap Linh (Brother Spirit) | Dharma talk | 2022 03 10

This poignant Dharma Talk was given in the Upper Hamlet on 10th March 2022, on the first day of the "Coming & Going in Freedom" weekend retreat to honor 49 days since Thich Nhat Hanh's passing. There so many urgent crises in the world, we may think, "If only Thay were still alive, he would know what to do." In this talk, Brother Phap Linh explains that Thay can be VERY alive in us, if we know how to practice. By applying the essence of Thầy's teaching on mindfulness of the body we can learn to be peace in our daily lives, and this can right away offer peace to those around us.
Thay loved life. Brother Phap Linh invites us to do the things that Thay loved to do, and not to do those things that could hurt "Thay in us". Then we will know what to do and what not to do, what to say and what not to say, to respond to the suffering in the world.

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Dear respected teacher

Dear beloved community

Today is the 10th of March
in the year 2022

and we are gathered together
in the Stillwater Hall

of the Upper Hamlet
at Plum Village, France,

as well as

in many places all around the world.

for this retreat.

So let us

start just by enjoying
three sounds of the bell

as we settle into this moment.
Into our bodies,

into our feelings,

into our breath.

Just allow your mind to be

guided back to the present moment

with the sound of the bell.

(Waking the bell - muted ring)

(Deep bell sounds)

(Deep bell sounds)

(Deep bell sounds)

Dear respected Thay.

Dear friends.

We have come together

in this three or four day online retreat,

three and a half day online retreat

to honor our teacher

and our beloved abbot Thay Phap Huu.

And Thay Phap Trien
and Sister Lang Nghiem

just returned from Vietnam a few days ago

bearing the ashes
of our teacher's body.

They made that trip specially just to

to welcome Thay's ashes back

to Plum Village.

And on Sunday
we'll have a ceremony to

receive his ashes
here in this hall

and then to take them to

to spread them

in the beautiful grounds of
Upper Hamlet that Thay loved so much.

Where the daffodils are currently

smiling,

and I know they will welcome Thay

back to the earth.

So we've gathered together

maybe more than 500 of us

online and offline

to honor our teacher

And yet . . .

at the same time, we know
that there is a war going on

And that people are dying

People are being buried
under piles of rubble

and many thousands of people

are dying.

Millions are fleeing

their homes

trying to find shelter somewhere else

and there's a lot of suffering.

And so . . .

I have been asking myself
the last few days

how can we

continue with this retreat when we know

the suffering that is going on.

And part of me was feeling

Thay would know what to do.

Thay would know how to
respond to this moment,

to this terrible and challenging moment.

And a . . .

I think that when Thay passed away

a month and a half ago

many of us felt

a kind of a . . . a need to

to step up.

A sense of responsibility,

because now who will play that role?

Who will be able to guide the sangha

in these challenging moments?

Who will be able to respond

to the suffering of the world
as Thay would do?

And . . .

It's very difficult to know what to do

(Whispering instructions)

So as I reflected on this

I realized that we have
an opportunity in this retreat

to a . . .

to make sure that
Thay is very alive.

Because we know he would know what to do.

He does know what to do.

So our job is just
to make sure that he's very alive

in us and in the whole community.

And I think we know how to do that.

I look into my feelings
and my perceptions

around the passing of our teacher, and

I can't really say that he's gone,

and I can't really say that he's dead,

or that he's not there.

If anything he feels more there,

much more.

Very present, very alive.

So if we want to know
what to do, we can ask Thay.

But first we have to help him
to be very present with us.

And a . . .

then we will know what to do.

And what not to do.

What to say

and what not to say.

Because we want to,
we want to help.

Of course, we want to help.

But we also know that if we

if we don't have peace,
if we are not at peace

then when we try to help
we may make the situation worse.

And a . . .

And we want to know
that we are really helping,

helping in the right way.

So Thay said many times
and he wrote beautiful calligraphy

"Peace in oneself, peace in the world."

And when I first saw that calligraphy

I struggled with it
a little bit, if I'm honest.

I . . .

I sort of wasn't convinced.

I thought,
Thay, it's not going to be enough

if, you know,
I can be at peace, sure, but

there are still terrible things
happening in the world.

It doesn't seem to make much difference.

But as I reflected more

on that statement

my feeling about it started to change.

So first of all
I looked at the inverse statement.

So if there's no peace in me

then there's definitely
not peace in the world

because I'm in the world.

I'm part of the world.

So that is true.

If there's no peace in us

then how can there be peace in the world?

And then I asked myself

how do I know

that it's not true?
You know, that if there's peace in me

there would be peace in the world.

I haven't even really tried.

I think it's a . . .

I'm a little bit arrogant
to think that I know

what peace in me would be.

Have I really committed myself

to peace?

In my life, in my actions

in my way of consuming,

my way of speaking.

And do I risk to underestimate

peace?

Real peace.

So I think it's worth checking.

To ask ourselves

Have we really tried yet?

Thay always liked to say

that in Plum Village we don't

our intention is not to

give you more ideas about peace.

Because we already have
a lot of ideas about peace.

We don't need any more.

But our intention is to

learn to be peace.

It's not to talk about it,

but to be it.

And we have a way to do that.

And . . .

Then we can

we can see

for ourselves what is the effect

of that peace in the world.

Of course, we know that
the seeds of the current war

were sown a long time ago.

And so . . .

we may not be able to stop

the current destruction

the loss of life, the suffering.

But, we also know that we

don't want to continue to
sow the seeds of war now,

for future wars.

And we have confidence that if we

truly sow the seeds of peace,

in ourselves, in our own hearts,

in our communities,

then perhaps we can avoid

other wars in the future.

Towards the beginning of the war

I saw somebody posted online

something like this.
It said,

When will we learn

to love our neighbors as ourselves?

This is from Jesus' commandments to us.

To love thy neighbor as thyself.

It's known as the golden rule.

Do to others as you would be done by.

And it seems simple.

It seems that if we could just

love others as we love ourselves then

that would already be a
much more beautiful society.

A much more beautiful world.

But . . .

I'm not sure

that I

know even how to love myself, really.

So even if I did
love my neighbor as I love myself

would I really love them,

if I can't yet love myself?

So it seems to me
this is a good place to start.

And it's a way to act.

To really take care of ourselves

is action,

is engagement,

it's not turning away.

It is a real contribution.

So . . . we know that
we have a physical body

and we can ask ourselves,

if we've really been
taking good care of our body.

Have we allowed

tension and stress
to accumulate in our body.

Have we put pressure on ourselves

to be a certain way

to work late into the night.

Have we pushed our body too hard?

And are we really even paying attention

to our body.

This is the first practice

just to bring the mind back

to the sensations in the body
right now, in this moment.

And . . .

it's not always easy because if we have

allowed some tension to accumulate,
then when we bring our minds back

to the body it isn't necessarily pleasant.

There may be some pain,

some tension.

There may be

traces of past suffering
accumulated in our body.

The body might not feel

totally safe to take refuge in.

It might not feel like a refuge.

There may be feelings of discomfort.

So if we

if we bring our mind back
to our body, and if we find

some painful feelings,

some uncomfortable feelings,

then we need to know how to

take care of those feelings.

To embrace those feelings
with all of our love,

tenderness,

and to give our body a chance

to relax.

To release some of
that accumulated tension,

and to heal.

Our body knows very well
how to heal if we give it the chance.

So, we can do this multiple times a day,

in any position we happen to find
ourselves we can do a body scan.

Whether we're sitting, standing
lying down, even while we're walking.

We can just scan the
different parts of our body and

give them permission to

to relax any tension that
might have accumulated.

We have to be careful not to

make more pressure.

"You have to relax!"

"Why are you so tense?"

We have a kind of conditioning to

tend to want to do everything perfectly.

To do,

to be good at relaxing,

to do it well,

that we may unconsciously put
more pressure on ourselves

and create more tension.

So, it's very nice just to

just to give ourselves permission,

to give our body permission

to release, just as much as
as it would like to release

without any expectation.

So, I like to do this

many times a day.

I might start with

with my jaw,

and just check in and say "hello."

"Hello" my jaw.

Have I allowed some
tension to build up here?

Is my jaw locked?

If you want to, you can just release

as much as you would like to release.

Ah . . .

It feels better already.

I can check in with my tongue,

the palate of my mouth,

the gums, even the teeth.

The whole mouth, and the lips.

Just check.

See how it feels right now.

I just let my mouth and my jaw know

it's ok to let go of

whatever you'd like to let go of.

And check my nose, the sinuses,

the nostrils,

the eyes.

And all the little muscles
around the eyes.

We make our eyes work so hard.

Reading and looking at screens.

So it's very nice just to
give them a chance to

to become soft.

Give them permission to rest.

This is a kind of love, already,

that we can offer ourselves.

Kindness, compassion.

"It's ok, my two eyes,

you can rest now."

My forehead may
have accumulated a lot of

intensity, or thinking energy.

I can just let my forehead know

"Hmm, now it's ok

just to be soft."

I can check in with my ears,

my scalp,

my hands,

thumbs and fingers.

Is there any feeling of

tension in my fingers.

Just say "hello" to my two hands.

Hello.

You can let go now.

Nothing to hold on to.

Nothing to grasp.

You can rest.

I can say hello to my arms,

my shoulders.

Maybe there's a
little tension in the shoulders,

or even a little pain.

And say
"Hello, my two shoulders, thank you,

for holding everything
you've been holding, and now

you can release
what ever you'd like to release.

Don't worry.

My arms won't fall off.

You can get back

how ever much of my arms

that you've been holding up.

Just let them hang.

Maybe arms feel a little heavier,

a little more loose.

Maybe the breath comes a little easier.

Be aware of the movement of the chest,

aware of any tightness that may be there.

Just give it permission to soften.

And feel the belly
rising with the inbreath.

Falling with the outbreath.

Hello, my abdomen.

Is there anything
you've been holding on to?

If you want to

you can just release it now.

We can feel our two legs, our feet,

and just give them permission to rest.

You're not going anywhere,
not doing anything.

It's so nice.

Just to rest,

to allow ourselves
to sink a little deeper

into our contact with the ground,

the cushion or the chair.

Feel ourselves resting on Mother Earth,

and to entrust ourselves to Mother Earth.

And maybe . . .

our body feels a little sense of relief.

(Exhales)

And we can smile,

and feel the smile
embracing our whole body.

It's very nice to be

just aware of the
sensations in the body.

And we know our mind
is in the present moment

because those sensations
are only in the present moment.

It's a wonderful way to take care

of our body.

And then, in the body
we may notice some feelings.

There may be a feeling of

pressure,

anxiety, tension.

Some kind of unease or discomfort.

We can say hello
to those feelings as well.

And know that
we are more than those feelings.

That we are vast.

That there is a quality of love

and stability in us
that is capable

of embracing whatever is there

with tenderness.

And those feelings, they like to be held.

You don't need to do much.

Just to allow any feelings
of discomfort or uneasiness to

to take a bath of mindfulness.

To be bathed in the energy of mindfulness.

And that means
just listening to those feelings.

Being there for them.

Taking the time to be fully present

for whatever is there.

It's very nice to do that.

And we may find
that we have some emotions as well.

Maybe there's some anger in our heart,

or despair or anxiety,

or fear.

And those feelings
might have been pushing us to act,

to consume,

to speak.

And somehow, when we're
pushed by those feelings we

we lose a little of our freedom.

We lose our sovereignty.

We're not ourselves.

So it's very nice also to

to create the time, to take the time

to say hello to those feelings,

which may have been there a long time.

To offer them our love, our presence.

Our presence is very powerful

when we're not distracted

by the telephone.

So we learn,
in this retreat how to handle

our emotions.

And if we are to handle them,
first we have the recognize them,

that they are there.

And be humble and honest.

And taken together,

the tension in our body,

the tension in our feelings,
in our emotions,

they form a kind of

background

inclination of our mind

that may have a tendency to push us.

And this inclination of mind
might have been transmitted to us

over many generations.

We may recognize our ancestors in it.

Maybe there's a . . .

just a . . .
it's like a subtle filter

over everything.

It influences our perceptions

of everything.

Maybe it's a kind of subtle cynicism

that things will not work out.

Things won't turn out well.

(Whispers) I just know it.

Maybe there's just a feeling that

it won't go well for me.

No matter what I do.

I'm going to suffer.

Maybe it's a tendency to feel like

ultimately, we will let people down

no matter what, in the end

I will let you down.

Maybe it's a feeling, unconscious,

that in the end, will be betrayed.

That love isn't really
something that we can rely on.

Something that we can trust.

These may be

the kind of attitudes that have been

transmitted over many generations.

And conditioned by real suffering,

by real betrayal,

by real disappointment,

by real pain.

But now, maybe we just have

the attitude.

And it's worth having a deep
conversation with our ancestors

to see if we can update that attitude.

Invite them to look again, check.

I like to talk to my grandfather.

My grandfather was very sure that

ultimately, things wouldn't go well.

There would just be pain.

And he

caused people to suffer

in our family,

caused himself to suffer.

And so he had lots of evidence.

So I like to check in with him and say

Hello.

Look, in this moment

we're not harming anyone.

In this moment,
we're not harming ourselves.

In this moment

we're taking good care of ourselves.

In this moment,
we're doing exactly the thing

that we always wanted to do.

In this moment, we're realizing

our deepest aspiration.

To love,

to cultivate awareness,

to wake up.

And it's like a magic formula.

It's a . . .

It's an instant source of happiness.

To recognize that in this very moment

we're doing exactly

what we wanted to do all along.

Because we need to know how
to generate a feeling of happiness.

Generating a feeling of happiness is

a powerful way to act in the world.

It's a way to

help take care of our pain,

of our painful feelings.

A feeling of happiness will

already help to
embrace our painful feelings.

And it's wonderful when
we are already practicing

just to notice, oh, I'm practicing.

Wow.

That's a source of happiness.

That mindfulness is a source of happiness.

Taking care of our suffering

is a source of happiness.

Now we need to let our ancestors know

and invite them to participate

and gradually,
the inclination of our minds

starts to change.

Maybe we have
a chance to see things anew.

And maybe our perceptions change.

Because our perceptions
are the ground of our action.

And if we have a lot of wrong perceptions

about each other and about ourselves

then it will be very hard to act

with wisdom.

So . . .

when we are able to

to take care of our body,

to relax our body,
to allow our body to relax,

to take care of our feelings,

to take care of our emotions,

the fundamental attitude of our mind,

then we can start to

to be peace.

And then we can really help.

(Waking the bell - soft bell)

(Bell sounds)

So we want Thay to be very alive in us,

and in our community

in these four days.

So I suggest

that we live for these next few days

like Thay.

Thay had a lot of confidence

in his students.

Thay would always say

Thay is in you.

When often people would
come and ask Thay a question

about starting an initiative somewhere,

"I want to start a program

for mindfulness
in hospitals" or something

and Thay would just say,
"Thay is in you."

Go ahead. Do it.

He had a lot of confidence in us.

And he gave himself to us.
His whole self, he held nothing back.

And I think, when we practice

we can feel that it's true.
That Thay is in us

when we practice.

So . . .

if we want to live like Thay

for these few days,

to make sure that Thay is really alive

in the community, in us,

I think it's very easy.

We just have to do
the things that Thay likes to do.

And not do the things
that would hurt Thay in us.

And I think we know what they are.

I think we can tell the difference.

That Thay is very sensitive.

And some things that we
might have a tendency to do, that

he would not do.

So we can ask ourselves,

or let him guide us.

That's very easy.
In the morning when we wake up

we can smile.

It's a real practice.

Waking up, this morning

I smiled.

It's not always easy.

And I need to remember
24 brand new hours are before me.

And to make the vow to live each moment

in mindfulness like Thay.

It's not easy

to really do it.

And to look at all beings

with the eyes of compassion,

like Thay.

Even Vladimir Putin.

Even the Russian soldiers

that are bombing civilians.

Thay didn't have enemies.

He didn't hate.

And that doesn't mean
that we condone the actions.

But if we don't want to
contribute to future wars, then

we cannot hate.

And we have to be very careful
in our way of consuming

the media.

Right now there's a lot in the media

of videos being shared of

Russian tanks being destroyed

by missiles.

And they're shared like it's

something to celebrate,

a victory.

Like it's in a video game.

And you see what people are commenting,
what they post on social media.

It's very hard to know

how to handle that.

Because of course

we . . .

we know that sometimes

the use of force is necessary.

Thay once said that

sometimes non-violence is violence.

If we could avoid the loss of life,

if we could protect civilians,

by the use of force, then

sometimes, we should.

And that is true non-violence.

But it's very hard.

And to do that we have to
have compassion in our hearts.

And we have to know that there are

young Russian men in those tanks,

who have been misled

and . . .

have been fed with a lot of propaganda

and they're dying too.

So, whatever we look at

let us be careful, how we consume it and

to always keep
compassion alive in our hearts.

To look at all beings
with the eyes of compassion,

even though they hold a gun.

And when we make tea

maybe while the water is boiling

my hand starts to twitch
and there's and impulse to

turn on the phone, check the news.

Would Thay do that?

I don't think so.

So we can notice the impulse,

the habit, that we've trained,

see it coming up,

and we don't have to act.

We can say, No, thank you.

I'm making my tea.

I'm going to enjoy my tea.

Like Thay.

And it's very interesting when you resist

an impulse, that you've trained

like checking your e-mail,

or looking at the news.

Because there may initially
be a feeling of discomfort,

it's unsatisfying.

You want to check and

now you're not
allowing yourself to check.

It's kind of uncomfortable, a little.

So it's very interesting to
notice that feeling in the body.

To allow it to be there,

to embrace it,

to smile to it,

to allow it to soften.

And actually, we can also cultivate

a feeling of profound joy.

Just by realizing that in that moment

I was not pushed.

I was able to say No.

No, thank you,

to this push.

And that is a feeling of triumph.

That is a feeling of joy.

A success in the practice.

To be able to stop

and take care of what ever
feeling of discomfort was

pushing us to act.

And then you can
make your tea in freedom.

And that is happiness.

When is the last time

you really savored a sip of tea

in total freedom.

When was the last time
you allowed a drop of tea

to roll on your tongue and
you could feel the cloud in your tea.

And enjoy the magic, the mystery,

the wonder of tea.

Water, the fragrance.

The coming together
of all the causes and conditions.

It's magical.

And Thay has taught us
very well how to enjoy a cup of tea.

We know exactly how to do it. And yet,

maybe we don't always do it.

So in these four days

let's see if we can.

We can become absorbed in the tea.

And then we go
to join the sitting meditation

and we know that Thay loved to breathe.

Thay knew exactly
how to enjoy his breathing.

So we can sit there, and say

Let Thay breathe.

I don't need to breathe.

And it's true.

Thay is breathing.

I just enjoy the breathing.

Thay knows how to breathe very well.

Thay is the breathing.

I am the breathing.

There is only breathing.

There is no 'breather.'

Peace,

while breathing.

Peace is the breathing.

This is something possible.

You can allow Thay to breathe for us.

And he can continue to teach us

how to enter concentration,

stillness.

How to be peace.

And then when we
go to make our breakfast

we can make our breakfast, like Thay.

Thay loved to make his breakfast.

And he wasn't in a hurry.

He didn't have to multi-task.

He didn't have to listen to a podcast

whilst making breakfast.

He didn't have to check his e-mail

whilst making breakfast.

So let's try, and do it like Thay.

Let's just do one thing at a time,

with ease, with freedom,

with joy.

And when we eat our breakfast

before putting the food
in your mouth you can

look at it.

Recognize it.

This is porridge.

Or this is a piece of apple.

Then we can touch gratitude.

We have food to eat.

Not everybody does.

It's already a wonder,

to have something in our bowl.

And when we take a spoonful of

porridge or cereal

and we can put our spoon down

and chew.

And wait until we have swallowed

before picking up our spoon.

It's a real practice.

And we invite Thay
to have breakfast with us.

It's a great honor
to eat breakfast with Thay.

And we can all do it.

It's wonderful.

There's plenty of Thay to go around.

There's no shortage.

Now we can listen to the dharma talk

with Thay's ears, and I know that Thay

will be so happy

to listen to Thay Phap Huu tomorrow,

and Sister Chan Duc on Saturday.

Thay will be so proud

to hear his students sharing the dharma.

And so we can listen with Thay's ears,

with Thay's heart,

with Thay's breath,

with Thay's concentration and stillness.

And then we can walk.

Hopefully each of us has

somewhere we can go
to practice walking meditation.

Whether it's in our yard, or

maybe just along the street,

or in a park,

or even just in our home.

And Thay taught us so well

how to walk.

How to walk in freedom.

How to arrive with every step.

Not to hurry towards our destination,

but to know that
our true destination is

this moment.

This step.

Now we can do that
where ever we have to walk

in our house, even from the bathroom

to the living room, or

as we walk around the kitchen.

We can take steps in freedom.

This is something possible.

And I know if we all do this together

it generates a powerful collective energy

and we support each other.

It's much easier to do it together

than alone.

We may have the
impulse to check the news

many times, coming up in the

spaces in between activities.

It's like, oh, I have some time

before the dharma sharing.

Let me just check the news.

And you can, if you want to.

But try to read the news like
Thay would read the news.

And we can ask ourselves

how much is enough?

How much do we need to take in?

And, can we give ourselves a break

for these few days.

It's up to you.
Each of us can make a decision.

But you may like
to set a timer on your phone.

To give yourself ten minutes.

If you really need to know,

I think ten minutes is enough.
Just to check in.

And then, when you
turn off the phone

it's very interesting to ask

What did I learn?

How do I feel?

Did it help?

Was it important?

What will I now do, as a result

of knowing this?

Is there anything I can do?

Was it important?

Really.

It's very interesting,

if you need to check, check, but then,

ask yourself afterwards

What did you learn?

Was it important?

And how do you feel?

How do you feel in your body?

And how often do you want to do that?

You may like to
install a bell of mindfulness

on your computer or your phone.

We have the wonderful Plum Village app.

You can set a bell to sound

every hour or every half hour

how ever often you want

and that is a practice
that Thay really enjoyed.

Stopping . . .

coming back to the present moment.

We can let the sound of the bell

be the voice

of Thay calling us back.

"Hello."

Would you like to breathe with me?

Would you like to rest,

to relax,

to take care of yourself in this moment.

To greet any stress or tension

or discomfort that may have arisen

with love and tenderness.

It's amazing, in one sound of the bell

you can do a
complete body scan if you want.

Just check.
How does your body feel?

Has any tension gathered anywhere?

It's very nice.

And when you brush
your teeth you can smile.

If you like, you can use the gatha.

Brushing my teeth

and rinsing my mouth

I vow to speak purely, lovingly.

When my mouth is purified,

is fragrant with loving speech

a flower blooms in the garden of my heart.

It's very interesting to check

if that's true.

I sometimes use that gatha to check

in that day, how was my speech?

Was it skillful?

Did I allow myself to be

aggressive or cynical?

Did I use humor to put someone down?

Did I lie?
Did I distort the truth?

Just to check; it's very interesting.

Once a day, or twice a day; to check

How is my speech?

And to notice that, when my speech

really was mindful and kind,

(breathing in) wow, yes.

I can feel

a flower blooms in my heart.

It's very wonderful to notice

when we haven't been unkind,

when we haven't been unfair,

when we haven't taken advantage of anyone.

When we've been generous.

When we've been loving.

And it's also, kind of
letting our ancestors know,

"Yeah, look! We're doing ok."

"It's good."

So we know that Thay

loved life.

He loved to do all these things.

And so it's very easy,
if we want to

live like Thay.

We just do the things that Thay loved.

You may like to stare at the moon.

And just become absorbed in the moon.

I remember one time

I was Thay's attendant
just for a few days, and

I was carrying Thay's bag
during the walking meditation.

And it was in a big retreat there,
many hundreds of people.

But he stopped,

and he turned to me with this huge grin

and he pointed at the trunk of a tree.

He said,
"It's so green!"

Because there was moss,

there was like beautiful emerald moss.

It was so green.

And Thay was just completely

absorbed with this moss.

And there were hundreds of people there

kind of like,
what's Thay doing?

(Whispering)
Why have we stopped? Where?

What's happening?

And Thay's just like,
"Look! It's so green!"

(Laughs)

So you can do that too.

You can fall in love with the moss.

You can say hello to every tiny flower

that crosses your way.

You can look at the blue sky
as if it's the first time.

And I think if we can do that

then . . .

Thay will be with us.

Thay will be alive.

And we will know what to do.

What not to do.

What to say,

and what not to say.

(Wake the bell - soft ring)

(Deep bell sound)

(Deep bell sound)

(Deep bell sound)

(Wake the mini-bell)

(Mini bell rings)