In the City | Brother Phap Lai

Now, how do people in cities do that?

Three and a half billion people live in cities nowadays,

and they live a lot of hours per day through screens.

How can they come back?

Connected.

Well, I

Most cities

have trees and parks.

You have to make time to walk.

And even walking is good.

I remember when I lived in London not to use the elevator but to use the stairs,

and to use each step as a way to come back to my myself.

And the great thing was that nobody use the stairs.

I remember it was five storeys.

I had to go up and

every time I got up to one flight,

if I had lost my connection with my steps, I would go back down and start again.

So sometimes it took me quite a while to get to the top,

but by the time I got to the top, I felt reconnected with myself and my breathing.

And if I would take a ride on the bus, I would make sure I did not look at the adverts,

but I would look at the trees if I could see trees.

And I'd always try to focus some.

You know, you can still look up and see the sky in the city,

and in London or other places, other cities,

there are beautiful parts of nature,

you can restore your connection to nature and it's so important to do so.

Even you're on your own in a flat,

just to to lie down and relax and connect with your body

is something we can do every day,

15 minutes a day of just becoming aware of your body,

scanning your body, reconnecting, of course, doing some exercise.

And learning how to come back in connection,

bringing the mind and the the body back together through the awareness of the the inbreath and the outbreath,

re-establishes that connection.

And we will find ways, even we live in the city to to connect with what is beautiful, and good for us.

We'll learn how to manage our screen time,

have bells on our computer to stop and reconnect.

Because yeah, it's true.

We lose our connection to ourselves when we're absorbed in the screen.

It's very clear. I've experienced it.

Even I live in a monastery and I have to manage that.

But how much more in a city when you you spend a lot of time on the screens.

So we have to take back control,

not be a slave, a victim of this technology.

But, you know, we only get this one life and it's so precious,

and you don't want to get to the end of your life,

before you realize how precious a gift to be alive is.

And only at the end of your life you are aware and you touch that.