Concentrating & Liberating Our Mind | Thich Nhat Hanh (short teaching video)

And the 11th exercise
(Full Awareness of Breathing Sutra)

is concentrating mind

and the 12th is liberating mind,

mental formation.

We know that mindfulness

is a kind of energy
that carries within herself

the energy of concentration.

And if we continue
the practice of mindfulness

throughout the day,
our concentration continues to grow.

And when you are concentrated,
you discover the nature of what is there.

When you look at the tea
with concentration,

you can discover that the tea is
the continuation of the cloud, and so on.

When you look into a flower,

you discover that a flower
is made only of non-flower elements.

When you look at the lotus flower,

you know that the lotus flower
is made of non-lotus elements,

including the element of mud.

The mud is not very clean,

it does not smell good

but without the mud,
a lotus flower is impossible.

And when you look at...

happiness,

you see that happiness
is made of non-happiness elements

including suffering.

If you know how to handle suffering,

if you know how to
make good use of suffering,

we can produce happiness.

If you are an organic gardener,
you don't want to throw away the garbage.

You can preserve them
and make them into compost

and nourish the flowers
and the vegetables.

So suffering has a role to play
in making happiness.

And a good practitioner
is not afraid of suffering.

She knows how to
make good use of suffering

in order to create happiness.

And that is why concentration
is so important.

Mindfulness brings concentration

and when mindfulness and concentration
are powerful, you get a breakthrough.

And you get the insight
into the nature of everything that is.

And we can be liberated
from our afflictions,

our fear, our anger, and so on.

So liberation, freedom
is the fruit of concentration.

And in many schools of Buddhism,

we learn many forms of
practice of concentration.

Samādhi: concentration.

Samādhi is to focus on our mind
in just one point, one pointed mind.

When you expose the lens to the sunshine,

the lens can concentrate

the light into one small part.

And when you put a piece of paper there,
it will be burned.

The same thing is true with concentration.

When you have a strong,
a powerful concentration,

that concentration will be able
to burn away your afflictions,

whether it is fear or anger,

or despair.

And there are many forms of,
many practices of concentration.

And there are three kinds of concentration

that can be seen
in every school of Buddhism.

Concentration on...

on emptiness:

(Sanskrit:) Śūnyatā.

Concentration on signlessness:

(Vietnamese) Vô tướng.

The concentration on aimlessness:

(Vietnamese) Vô tác.

And these three forms of practice,
these three practices of concentration,

are available in every school of Buddhism.

And they are called
"The Three Doors of Liberation".

If we master the
practice of this concentration,

we surely be able to liberate ourselves
from our afflictions, including our fear,

our anger, and our despair.

And we know that the 8th...

the 7th and the 8th exercises
are just to recognize

and embrace the afflictions.

But with the 11th and the 12th,
well, we go further.

We get the insight that can help
liberate us from that affliction.

Impermanence is one form of concentration,

Non-self is another form of concentration.

There are many wonderful practices
of concentration.

Suppose we talk about impermanence
as a practice.

We all know what impermanence is:

everything changes.

The baby becomes a little boy,

the little boy becomes a young man,

The young man becomes a father,
and then a grandfather,

everything changing.

When you look into the family album,
you see yourself, the picture of yourself

as a baby.

And you ask the question,

"am I the same with that baby or not?"

You are so different from the baby.

Form, feelings, perception,
mental formation, consciousness.

You are so different
from the baby in the picture.

And yet you still keep the same name.

And we know that impermanence
is the nature of things.

And we understand perfectly
what impermanence is.

But in our daily life, we still believe,

we still behave as things are permanent.

Things are impermanent,

but because we see them as permanent,
that is why we suffer.

Suppose you get angry at your beloved one.

She just said something,
or did something that makes you angry.

And in order to suffer less,
we want to say something very strong

or do something very strong

to punish him or her.

And you believe that by doing so,
you will suffer less.

That is very childish, but many of us do.

And when you say something strong,

do something strong,
and the other person will suffer.

And she will try to suffer less,
and she will say something even stronger.

(laughter)

And that is an escalation of anger.

But if we know the practice of
meditation on impermanence,

we may like to close our eyes
and take one in-breath.

And during the time of the in-breath,

we can visualize the other person
and ourselves.

What will we become in 300 years?

Not 300 years, just 100 years,
you become ash,

and the other person
will become ash, ashes.

And it's not very wise
to get angry at each other.

Because you know
that her nature is impermanent,

and your nature is also impermanent.

It's not a wise thing
to get angry at each other,

and make each other suffer.

So just close your eyes, and breathe in,
and touch the nature of impermanence.

In that person, and in you.

It does not take long for you to touch
the reality of impermanence.

And you see that,
how unwise to behave like that.

And when you open your eyes,

you are very glad
that she, he is still alive.

And you would like to take
him or her into your arms.

Breathing in,
I know you are still there alive,

Breathing out,
I am so happy.

So impermanence as a theory,
as a notion, does not help.

Impermanence as a concentration,
as an insight,

has the power to liberate.

Many of us have...

the notion of impermanence,
the idea of impermanence.

And we accept wholeheartedly
the reality of impermanence.

But we do not practice the insight,

we do not have
the insight of impermanence.

So during our daily life,

we should train ourselves
to look at everything, at everyone,

in such a way that we can touch
the nature of impermanence

in everyone, everything.

And we will behave wisely,

and will not make, create suffering
for us, for the other person.

So according to the teaching,

the knowledge about impermanence
does not help.

Only the insight and samādhi,
the concentration on impermanence,

can help liberate us from suffering.

Samādhi means to keep it alive like that,

and not to allow it to die.