Touching the Past | Thich Nhat Hanh (short teaching video)

There was a young man from America
who stayed in the Upper Hamlet.

One day he was given
the exercise of writing down...

the positive elements,

the beautiful characteristics
of his mother.

Other people including monks
were also given the assignment

to practice walking meditation,
sitting meditation, mindful breathing,

and use a piece of paper
and list all the positive elements...

of his mother.

The Upper Hamlet is for the residents
of monks and laymen...

That is why I use the word "he."

And Richard did not believe that
he can write down more than three lines.

"My father, yes, I can.
He has many qualities.

But my mother, I don't think
that there are so many qualities."

Since the the assignment has been given,
he had to practice like others.

But after a few days, he was very surprised
to see that the list was very long.

He was able to discover
many qualities of his mother.

I think his mother at one time
made him suffer somehow,

and that kind of suffering prevented him
from seeing all the other qualities of his mother.

When you see one tree in the garden die,

you think that every tree
in the garden is dying also,

which is not true.

So we are very often caught
by that impression...

when there is something happen
not to our liking,

we have the tendency
to disregard the rest.

That is not very wise.

We have to be objective.

we have to touch all aspects of the reality

and not to allow one aspect of reality
to prevent us from seeing the whole thing.

So supported by the sangha,
he did the exercise...

and he discovered so many
wonderful qualities of his mother.

And after that he wrote his mother

that was part of the assignment.

He wrote a very sweet letter.

and in the letter he said
he is very proud to have a mother like her.

His wife...

who lives in Washington D.C.

reported that when his mother received 
that letter she was so moved.

Her son had never talked to her
in that kind of language.

Her son has never
acknowledged her that way.

And she found...

a new son in him - very sweet,

very understanding,
very loving.

Of course she has given birth to her son.

But this was a new son
born from the Dharma

with much more understanding
and love.

She has a new son
because her son has a new mother.

And his mother was born
from his deep looking.

Because he practiced deep looking...

his true mother began
to reveal herself to him,

and he was really proud of his mother.

And that letter he wrote
was very healing for himself...

and for his mother.

His wife said that...

the lady, after having read the letter,
cried a lot.

And she said that she regretted
her own mother is no longer alive.

She would have liked to write a letter like that
to her own mother.

But unfortunately her mother 
had passed away,

that is why she could not write
a letter like that.

But in the Upper Hamlet 
which he was still practicing,

when he heard the news
about his mother from his wife,

he wrote her another letter.
He said, "Mommy,

don't think that
Grandma no longer exists.

She is still alive in you.

And she is still alive in me.

I can touch Grandma
anytime I want.

It is like I can touch you anytime I want.
Because Grandma...

is still alive in me
and you are in me.

I am a continuation of Grandma.

So write a letter anyway.

Grandma will receive it
and read it right away.

You don't even have to post it."

This is the insight he got
from the teaching and from the practice.

It corresponds to the deep teaching
of the Buddha.

And we, all of us, have to practice
like that too.

Our presence here means
the presence of all our ancestors.

All our ancestors are
still alive in us.

And every time we produce a smile,

all generations of ancestors
smile with us.

And not only that,

our children and many generations
to come are already in us.

And every time we can produce a smile,

our children and their children are
smiling at the same time with us.

You practice not just for yourself.

You practice for everyone.

And the stream of life continues.

And Richard was right.

He said, "Mommy,
please write the letter anyway.

She is still alive in you and in me.

And his mother spent time
writing the letter.

And that letter was
very healing to her also,

because in the past
when her mother was still alive,

she did not know
the art of mindful living.

so they both made mistakes and 
they created suffering to each other

and she regretted later...

and that became a kind of obstacle
for happiness.

Now the obstacle is removed.

That is why the letter
she was writing to her mother...

was a very healing letter also.

And she cried during the writing,

and these tears are
tears of happiness.

If you have made a mistake,

if you have made your beloved
suffer in the past,

and if she is no longer alive,
and if he is no longer alive,

don't be frustrated.
You can still do something

because the wound is still in you
waiting to be healed.

And the person whom you think
that have passed away

is still alive in you.

You can make her smile.
You can make him smile.

Suppose when your Grandma was alive,

out of forgetfulness you had said
something that made her unhappy.

And now you still regret.

Then sit down,
breathe in and out mindfully...

visualize your Grandma 
sitting in you,

and tell her,
"Grandma, I'm sorry.

I will never say something like that again

to you or to anyone I love."

And if you are sincere,
if you are concentrated,

if you are utterly mindful,

then you see her smiling in you
and the wound will heal.

Because the mistakes
come from unskillfulness...

the unskillfulness, the forgetfulness,
which is in the mind.

Everything comes from the mind.

And everything can be
transformed by the mind.

That is the teaching of the Buddha.

Everything comes from the mind, and can 
be removed and transformed by the mind.

In this teaching,

although we think that the past is already gone
and the future is not yet here,

if you look deeply,
the reality is more than that.

The past is somehow still existing
under the form of the present,

because the present is made
of a substance called past.

The present is made of the past. That is 
why the past is still available to you.

And in this teaching,
you can...

very well go back to the past
and repair the damage

you have done in the past.

Establishing yourself
in the present firmly,

and touching the wound,
touching the present moment deeply,

you also touch the past, and you 
have the power to repair the past.

That is a wonderful teaching,
a wonderful practice.

You don't have to bear
the wounds forever.

You know that every one of us
can be unmindful at times.

And we have made mistakes in the past.

But that does not mean that
we have to carry that complex, guilt all the time

without being able to transform them.

The past is still available.

Touch the present deeply,
and you can touch the past.

And take care of the present properly,

you can repair the past.

The practice of beginning anew...

the practice of beginning new is
the practice of the mind.

Once you have realized
what happened in the past,

and once you have been...

exposed to the truth,

you are determined
never to do it again.

Then the wound will be healed.

This is a very wonderful practice.

A Vietnam war veteran in America...

told me this story.

One day he saw many friends of his
killed in an ambush.

And he was so mad, so hateful,

he wanted to...

to revenge.

So he set an ambush...

to kill some people in the village 
where the battle had taken place.

He put explosives in sandwiches,

and he left a whole bag
of sandwiches like that...

at the entrance of the village.

And he hid himself
in order to see what happens.

And the number of children passed by
and saw the sandwiches. They were very glad.

So they shared the sandwiches
with each other.

And after having eaten them,
they began to cry...

and to say that they had been poisoned.

The movement of their bodies showed that
the poison had penetrated in the bloodstream.

At that time their parents came,
and they did not know why.

And they tried to get a car
to transport them to the hospital,

but it was a very far away
from any hospital.

The GI knew that there was no hope,
the children would die.

Out of anger,
out of the will to harm, to punish,

he has done a terrible thing,
killing five children.

When he was released from the army 
and went home,

he could not have any peace.

Many, many years had passed,

and he bore the wound
within himself

until that day he came to a retreat

offered by us to Vietnam war veterans
in Santa Barbara.

The veterans were encouraged
to speak out of their suffering.

It was very difficult for them to do so.

There was only one person

who had heard the story -- his mother.

And his mother had said,
"Don't suffer too much, my son.

In a war, such things happen."

But that did not help him.

Every time he found himself
sitting in a room with children,

He could not bear it.

He had to run away from the room...

run out of the room right away.

And that had been more than 10 years
he suffered in that way

until he came to the retreat.

So one day with the strong support
of the sangha...

We had monks and nuns and other friends
in the practice.

There were psychotherapists
in the retreat also...

psychotherapists who
work with war veterans.

And with the love and support of the sangha,
he was able to tell the story

to a group of about nine people.

Sometimes we had to sit and breathe
for a long time

waiting for the veteran to continue.

And sometimes we waited for one hour...

and he wasn't able to say anything
and just sat there and cried.

After I had heard the story,

I took him to my room

for a private consultation.

I said, "Dear friend,
it's true that you have killed five children.

But there is something you can do
in order to repair that.

You know that there are many children
who are dying today.

Not because of explosives,
but because of other causes like...

lack of medicine and food.

And do you know that
40,000 children die every day

because of the lack of nutrition and food?

So why don't you do something
in order to save the dying children today...

instead of letting yourself be caught
only by the five children in the past?

You have to begin anew.

You have to use your life
in order to do the opposite

of what you have done in the past.

You have to make a vow
to receive the Mindfulness Trainings,

and make up your mind
that from now on you will...

do your best to protect life,
to protect children

and to save them from dying.

And you can save five children,
10, 20, 100.

And there are means that you can
go to the world in order to do that.

Why imprison yourself in guilt?

You can repair the past."

So that was like
unlocking the door for him.

And he was transformed.
He followed my advices...

and transformation took place after that.

This is the practice of beginning anew.

And the energy of the practice
you get from the sangha

and from your determination
to follow the right path,

is a very powerful.

It can wipe away
the suffering in the past

and transform the guilt within yourself.