2018 11 15 NH EN Discourse on Happines sr Thuần Khánh

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(Bell)

(Bell)

(Bell)

(Bell)

Good morning dear respected Thay,
dear sangha,

today is the 15th of November
in the year 2018,

and we are in the lay day mindfulness day
for the lay friends in New Hamlet,

in the Rains Retreat. And today
we are going to learn with each other

the Discourse on Love,

which is in Saturday evening chanting,

in the Plum Village's daily chanting book.

And also we are going to share
with each other some ways

to practice cultivating happiness,
cultivating joy and happiness.

On the way to this hall,

I picked up an autumn leaf,

and I just remembered and invite
our teacher to be here with me,

to be here with us this morning.

Do you hear me well? Okay.

The Buddha is an autumn leaf.

Our teacher Thay, is an autumn leaf, and
each of us is also an autumn leaf.

And we enjoyed some guided meditation
before the sharing,

and we allowed ourselves

to be penetrated
by the beauty of the nature,

like in the song,

"And when I fall, let me fall gracefully".
Like a leaf.

Now the autumn is ripening everywhere.

Yesterday, when we -

Yesterday, and the day before, on Tuesday,
in Lower Hamlet,

we had a walking meditation
down to the forest.

There is a pond in the forest
which is full of water.

In the summertime,
the sisters and the lay friends

we had community work down there

to clear the branches, the dead trunks,

and we made a new path for walking.

And I was so happy walking

with the sangha.

I felt myself like - I see myself
resting in each step.

It's quite easy for us to contemplate
resting in the autumn time,

in the autumn season.

Somehow, we penetrate
the energy of the cosmos.

We absorb the energy of the nature,
from the nature.

The trees, the plants, all beings
are preparing

for the winter.

Each of us have to really

let go

of some small habit energies,

just like to prepare ourselves
for a challenging time

that we would like to focus
on the main thing.

Just like the tree on focusing
how to sustain life,

so that all the tree

needs to let go the leaves

so that it can withdraw inside
to reserve the energy inside,

to really bring the life-force down
to the trunk of the tree,

so that it can survive through winter.

Even if we know that spring
is always there, in the trees,

but all the trees are doing this thing.

And somehow in autumn season I feel myself
as kind of the same energy.

This time is a very special time
for the whole sangha,

for each of us, as monastics disciples
of our teacher,

and for each of you as lay disciple
of our teacher,

for everyone here in the sangha,

to really preserve our energy
for the challenging times,

which is, we are preparing
the transformation of our teacher.

And in order to go

to the teaching of this sutra,
I would like to go

overview of the Buddha's teachings

so that we have the picture of
the whole teachings of the Buddha

more than 2600 years ago.

[The Buddha Teachings]

So the Buddha's teachings contain -

The essential teachings of the Buddha
can be divided into three baskets,

the three canon.

[Three Basket Canon]

The first one is the Sutra Canon.

In Pali called Sutta Pitaka.

[Sutta Pitaka]

Vinaya, which is the trainings.

[Vinaya Pitaka]

[Abhidhamma Pitaka]

These two baskets of the sutras

were collected by the Buddha's disciples

from the first time, after the Buddha's
passing away.

And this is about the commentaries

taught by our ancestors

many hundreds years after the Buddha.

In these sutras there are five.

The first collection we call (Vietnamese).

Digha Nikaya.

[Digha Nikaya - Majjhima Nikaya]

And Majjhima Nikaya.

The third one is

Samyutta Nikaya.

[Samyutta Nikaya]

(Vietnamese)

I speak in Vietnamese.

Anguttara Nikaya.

[Anguttara Nikaya]

And (Vietnamese), Khuddaka Nikaya.

[Khuddaka Nikaya]

And the sutra we are going to
learn with each other this morning

belongs to this collection.

We have fifteen books of these sutras,

and the sutra we are going to
learn with each other

belongs to the fifth one,

we call it Sutta Nipata.

[The 5th Sutta Nipata]

This is the group of discourses,
the short discourses,

and they belong to one of the
main canon

of the Buddha's teachings.

In Vietnamese we call it (Vietnamese),

in English, Thay translated it into
the Discourse of Happiness.

[Discourse of Happiness]

And in Pali it is the Mahamangala Sutta.

[Mahamangala Sutta]

And 'maha' means 'great',

and 'mangala' in Pali means

'fortune' or 'blessing', something good.

We wish each other 'have a good day',
'have a beautiful day'.

This meaning is- The root,
the original meaning

is 'auspicious', 'auspicious sign',

something that let you know before

that there are some good things
that will happen.

In different countries, different
cultures, we have different signs

for auspiciousness.

Sometimes, like in Asia,

when people get out of their house,

if they encounter a monastic,
they may feel, "That is a great fortune!

I'm going to have good things
happening in the day."

But in the West, that is not sure, right?

Maybe people see a monastic
with bold head and weird gowns out there,

and they may say, "Oh! What a weird people
going on in this street.

That may bring something
not so good for me."

So it is different from
culture and country.

And this sutra,

because the lay friends
in the Buddha's time

were not so sure about what are
the auspicious signs for them

to practice living a happy life,
they come to the Buddha and ask.

It is in the Pali canon,
but in the Chinese canon it is -

The background of the sutra is different,

but the content of the sutra
is very much the same.

This sutra, Discourse of Happiness,
in the Chinese canon,

we call

(Vietnamese) also means
auspicious signs.

This sutra belongs to the sutra

Dharmapadavadana sutra.

[Dharmapadavadana sutra]

Chapter 42 in Dharmapadavana sutra
in Chinese canon.

And the content is very much the same.

The way they describe how the Buddha
taught this sutra is different,

but the content is very much the same.

People ask the Buddha, 'What can I do,
what can I practice for a happy life?'

And we are going to share something
about the happiness.

There are two kinds of teachings
from the Buddha

we need to understand, to distinguish,

so that there is clearer understanding.

Some teachings belong
to the absolute truth,

and some teachings belong to
the relative secular truth.

This sutra describes relative truth,

[relative truth]

or secular.

Which means that it can be different
from cultures and countries,

from areas.

And the absolute truth,

like the Heart Sutra,

that is the Buddha describes
the truth which is absolute.

But this sutra describes a truth
which is secular or relative.

It means that you can apply
to our daily life,

but also we can combine, observe,
and understand the culture

of that area, so that it will not like -

create conflicts in ourselves.

And about the teaching of happiness,

maybe we have heard
a lot of this word in Plum Village.

I would like to ask you one question.

We can see that even a child
or young people know

that from time to time
we suffer from different things.

Whatever, even the weather changing
can create suffering.

There are many sisters in Lower Hamlet
who are sick right now.

And I also had headache for many days.

Specially when the time
of the changing season.

And now is that time.

Or people can suffer from

the bigger things, like war,
or starvation.

So I would like to double check that.
Is there any of you sitting here

who have not suffered?
Please, put your hand up.

Okay, great relief.

Yes, I think so. Everyone of us has
suffered for something.

Our teacher always teaches us

that with the background of suffering,
we can be able to recognize

and cultivate happiness.

It is like the background of the board,
which is white, we can see clearly

the writing in black.

If we have never had headache,
or toothache,

we don't really enjoy the non- toothache
or the non-headache situation.

So I have headache quite often,

and I really enjoy the days when my head
is quite clear and light.

And it is easy for me

not only to be happy,
but also to be not irritated

towards others.

So for me happiness is also a habit.

A habit to be happy, a habit to think
in the direction of being happy.

The habit of enjoying
the happiness of others.

Because somehow,
if there is something blocking here,

and we are not so free,
we are not so light,

we feel not so happy
when we see others happy. Right?

Has it happened to you?

Happiness is a habit.

And here, living in the sangha,
we have the opportunity

to experience that. The sangha
gives us many opportunities

to train ourselves to be happy.

And also,

for some people, when they come and share,

we can see that when people

are using drugs or drinking alcohol
to cover some loneliness,

a suffering inside of them,

yes, at that time they are joyful,

at that time they can forget everything.
Just enjoy in alcohol or in drugs.

In the very like -

Up here feeling.

But we can ask ourselves,
or we can ask the society the question,

is that true happiness?

Because we all know that after,

behind that joy, behind that excitement
there is something.

There is something that
makes us drown into that consumption.

For example,

there is a time that when -

In the year 2009,

we call it the Bat Nha event,

something happening in one
of our centers in Vietnam

in the year 2009,

we were monastics and aspirants.

We were about 400 people,

and we were harassed
and pushed away from our center

for many reasons,
that is a very long story.

And at that time I was here
in Plum Village,

because I spent four years
with them in Bat Nha.

And when I was here
listening to that news,

my heart was so heavy.

And I suffered so deeply about

how terrible

the people in Vietnam

behaved like that towards monks and nuns.

We didn't do any harm to others,
we just practiced the way.

And how come they didn't allow us
to stay in the temple?

So Thay asked me and some sisters
to go over Vietnam

after just one week to help.
I don't know how we could help,

but Thay just sent a group of sisters
to come to support.

And I knew that there is danger,
there are difficulties,

there are obstacles
happening all the time.

And we were not allowed
to go directly to Vietnam.

We had to fly to Thailand and go by bus.

It is like -

The police could stop us at the airport.

So even going to the area which I knew
before there were a lot of difficulties,

and sometimes dangers,

but I see something fulfilled in my heart,
I don't know why.

I'm not a person who likes
adventures a lot, or risk.

But then, when we know that
hundreds of our brothers and sisters

are put into a very difficult situation,

somehow the aspiration, the need inside
that I would like to be there.

I don't know what can I do,
but I just want to be there,

to be with them.

Just to maybe to endure together
the suffering that we had at that time.

And even it is going through difficulties,

but it is a kind of happiness.

So for me, happiness is not
a blessing feeling only,

it is not like when something
satisfies ourselves

and we feel pleasant.

At that time, I felt unpleasant,

I felt I suffered in my heart,
but at the same time, there was happiness.

It is as I understand the teaching about
how a Great Being

made a Great Vow to rescue people
and to go the realms of hell or difficulty

to help people.

So just a little thing,
a little compassion in my heart

at that time to help me understand
what is true happiness.

Many people understand,
if we have this house,

and if we have that car,

then we will be happy. We normally
wait for something to be happy.

Normally we think that -

Or people may say many times that

for men, they can say that,

'Until I marry that woman
I won't be happy'

or for women, you may say that
'When I marry that man I will be happy'.

I just listen from you, eh?

I don't understand this very much.

My brother said that, 'Oh! The monks
and the nuns know a lot!'

It is not because we are not
in your position that we know a lot,

but through consultations.

So we have a lot of consultations
from you, all of you, from time to time,

and we know everything.

(Laughter)

Okay, we go to the sutra.

(Laughter)

So this sutra, I would like to start
from the second paragraph,

that I will read for you:

Discourse on Happiness.

Okay, we go through,
this is the Buddha's answer.

The upper part is the question from

from a deva.

"Late at night, a deva appeared,

whose light and beauty made
the whole Jeta Grove shine radiantly.

After paying respects to the Buddha,

the deva asked him a question
in the form of a verse:

Many gods and men are eager to know

what are the greatest blessings which
bring about a peaceful and happy life.

Please, Tathagata, will you teach us?

This is the Buddha’s answer:

Not to be associated with
the foolish ones,

to live in the company of wise people,
honoring those who are worth honoring,

this is the greatest happiness.

To live in a good environment,
to have planted good seeds,

and to realize that
you are on the right path,

this is the greatest happiness."

So, in these two chapters,
in these two paragraphs,

the Buddha talks about the environment.

And planting good seeds. So I would like
to go a little bit deeper about this.

[manas]

[Store C.]

[Mind C.]

[eyes]

[ear]

[nose]

[tongue]

[body]

In Buddhist psychology,
we call it the psychology of the mind,

this is the simplest way
for us to understand

according to the Buddhist psychology.

It divides the mind into eight parts.
That is easier for us to understand.

This is the store consciousness,
the manas, the mind consciousness,

and the five sense consciousness,
which are the eye consciousness,

the ear consciousness, the nose
consciousness, the tongue consciousness,

and the body consciousness.

And when we live in the environment,

it is not only that we contribute to
our individual consciousness,

but we also absorbe and also add
to the collective consciousness.

Sometimes we think that if
I say this thing or I say the other thing

it doesn't matter,
it will not relate to any of you.

I just want to speak from my own view,
but actually,

the individual consciousnesses
are affected.

The collective consciousness.

It is like when we are here,
together in this hall.

Our energy affects each other.

It is like the many, many ways

of relating to each other
through our energy.

And in the store consciousness,

we have also learned a lot from -

I think many of you know a lot
about this teaching.

There are many seeds
in our store consciousness

including wholesome seeds
and unwholesome seeds.

Wholesome seeds like mindfulness,
faith, happiness, joy, etc.

As well as the unwholesome seeds like
anger, or jealousy, despair, etc.

And the quality of our lives depends
quite a lot on these seeds,

on the quality of these seeds.

And also as -

We can together contemplate
the image of a garden.

There is a gardener who sows a seed of,
for example, lettuce, or carrots,

any plants.

And suppose he already did the soil up
and put the seed down to the earth.

The weather is quite nice.
There is a lot of sun,

enough rain, and also appropriate manure.

I think the happy farmers
can understand this a lot, more than me.

But then, the last condition,
which is the earth.

So we need to give space and time
for the earth so that the seed can sprout.

I'm just thinking about a gardener
who is worried sometimes.

And he would like to make sure
that the seed is still there,

and make sure that -
He just would like to see

what is going on with the seed.

And after one day, he goes to the garden
and digs the soil up and he looks,

'Okay, you are there'. And then,
puts it back down.

And after three days,
digs the soil up again.

Just to see, to make sure
that the seed is still there.

So, what happens?

I don't think the seed
will sprout on time,

or if it sprouts, it will be
quite weak in the future.

For us it's the same.

Our mind is the same.

If we sow the seed of,
for example, mindfulness,

we come here,

and you are to do everything
in mindfulness.

You are guided to eat in silence,
to walk in silence.

We are sowing the seed
of mindfulness in the store consciousness.

And with some conditions,
spiritual friends, a sangha, the nature,

the food, everything, the seed
of mindfulness already like -

It was in the earth,

in the store consciousness, in the earth
of our consciousness already.

The last thing we should do is
to give it time and space,

be patient with our store consciousness,
be patient with the earth.

Some day, when we have enough time
and space, and faith,

the seed of mindfulness will sprout

and become a tree,

a flower, in here.

And you become peaceful, and mindful.
It is a process.

So my practice is

we try to provide the good conditions,

the supporting conditions for the seed

so that it can be taken care of
and have faith in our store consciousness.

When learning about this,
it is the Manifestation Only teaching,

when I was learning about this
I found it quite interesting,

because I ask myself a question,

when do I have to have faith
in the store consciousness?

How do we know that the store
consciousness can take care of everything?

We can see that. I try very hard,
but my habit energy stays still,

no changing.

And after three weeks, or two months,
three months, and a year in Plum Village

I see my anger is still there.

So I kind of lose faith in the practice.

Some friend - It has happened
to some of us.

Also some monastic brothers and sisters,
after quite a long time practicing,

we take everything for granted.

We say, 'Oh! The practice is not
so beneficial for me.'

That is why we lose our faith
in our store consciousness.

And I keep asking myself, why? Why I must
have faith in the store consciousness?

When asking that question,

it was a great opportunity for me
to learn more.

And after a while, when Thay taught about

the functions of store consciousness,
I was very fulfilled.

I would like to share briefly about this,

why do we practice being faithful
to the store consciousness

and let the store consciousness
take care of our life.

One example that Thay gave quite often

about how to describe the role
of the store consciousness

is a person who learns to drive.

At the begining he needs to spend
a lot of energy

to try to control the car,
how to guide the car,

how to understand the car, etc.

And he needs to use the mind consciousness
all the time to really control the car.

But after a while of driving,
he gets used to it.

And actually, when you drive you don't
really focus a lot in driving.

That is the time
the store consciousness works.

Even that, if something happens,

that can bring danger
to you or your passengers,

the store consciousness reacts
very quickly.

You can turn, or make something,
or you brake,

anything to save ourselves
from the situation.

That is also the work
of the store consciousness.

[1. Holding, restoring]

It is the first function
of our store consciousness.

Holding and restoring things,
just like the hard disk of the computer.

Whatever we say, or we think, or we feel
through these senses,

through eyes, ears,
these five senses

and also through the mind,

the store consciousness
stores and holds everything

back down here.

So it is also the meaning
how to choose the environment to live in,

how to choose food to eat.

And the second is learning.
It is a function.

The nine functions of store consciousness.

[9 Functions of Store C.]

[2. learning]

The store consciousness
has the function of learning.

When you first come to Plum Village

you may not really be confident
in walking meditation, for example.

And you tell yourself, 'No, no.
It is too slow for me.

I should walk a little bit faster.'
Things like that.

But actually, after one week
in Plum Village,

naturally and gradually you slow down.

It is the capacity
of the store consciousness.

You observe things and learn things
and change.

Also from this meaning
the store consciousness is organic.

The nature of impermanence,
the nature of changing

the nature of transforming.

For me it is good news,

because our difficulties, our suffering,
when it gets enough conditions,

enough training, can be transformed.

It is not something stuck,
that stays there forever.

[3. Processing]

And the third function is processing.

Yes, it receives information

and it is processing.

That will produce
more beautiful results for us.

And the fourth is

[4. Maturation]

Maturation.

About the capacity to
make things ripe on time.

For example, we may say that,

'Oh! I practice not so well.
I lose mindfulness all the time.'

But actually, it will depend
on the time and the way.

Our store consciousness needs time
to get things mature, to get things ripen

on time.

Like the orange tree.

It needs time, manure and everything,
all the conditions

so that the oranges can be ripe,
can get the orange color

and we can eat them.

It is the same for the things
happening in our mind.

And the fifth function is

nourishing.

[5. Nourishing]

The sixth is healing.

[6. Healing]

These two capacities
of store consciousness

also need to be recognized
by a practitioner

with the practice of sitting meditation,
walking meditation, eating in silence,

we allow ourselves to be nourished
and to be healed

by the beauty elements in ourselves
and in the sangha,

in the environment.

And in the sutra, the Buddha says that

to be able to live in the environment,

this is the greatest happiness.

For me it is really
related to each other.

For example, you live in Bordeaux,
or in Paris,

in Amsterdam, or in Hanoi,

it is a very busy and crowded city.

And after a long arrangement,
you come here.

Even if you haven't arrived
to the countryside yet,

but when you get out of the busy city,
you already feel

very well, and you already feel
light inside

with the view of the green around.

There is one time,

I went to Italy with my brothers
and sisters for a retreat,

a quite long retreat, one month.

We went to different places
to have retreats there.

It was in spring time.

We went to Pisa and
many big cities in Italy.

And we went also to visit Venice.

Yes, it was very beautiful,
but it was very noisy for me.

And when we were able to take the train
back to Verona,

where we were staying together
before we came back to Plum Village,

I was so relieved.

It was like -

All the noise in my head -

So I understand this feeling.

When we go back from Bordeaux or Paris
to Plum Village, even on the way here

we already feel very fresh.

So that is the 5th and the 6th function
of the store consciousness.

And the seventh,

[7. auto-piloting]

the eighth,

(Vietnamese)

sustaining life.

[8. sustaining life]

[9. manifesting as environment]

(Vietnamese)

I would like to go to the number nine.

This is concerning the non-self practices,

I wouid like to go here.

Our store consciousness has the capacity

to manifest as an environment.
It means that

when we are able to be here,

we already have sown the seed
of mindfulness, of peace, of happiness

sometime in the past already.

Why you don't remain in your city?

You choose to come here. Or maybe
someone forced you to come here.

That is also a good condition.

This is like

even if we don't know how and what,

but all of us have something

similar to each other,
so that we are here today together.

Our store consciousness knows
how to direct our life

into the direction that describes
the very deep desire inside of us.

Like the people who are gifted

in singing, they can join with each other.

Or people who are gifted in arts,
they find each other.

And we, gifted in happy life,
mindful life,

we are finding each other.
That is the meaning.

For me, be patient and be deep,
be ourselves,

so that our capacity of auto-pilot

can direct us to a very good environment,
which expresses our deepest aspiration.

Of course, all of us have the aspiration
to have a happy life,

to have a mindful life, so that
be can be able

to have ourselves suffer less,
and have our beloved ones suffer less.

But because of many reasons,
we forget this.

We are struggling, fighting
with the conditions outside.

Then, we lose our own capacity
to be auto-piloting ourselves.

(Bell)

(Bell)

Okay, then.

When we are able to be here
as a community,

we have an opportunity to sow good seeds.

The seed of mindfulness, the seed
of happiness, the seed of peace,

not only in ourselves but also
in the people around us.

I know you are also doing this,

because, for example,

at the beginning of the day,

(instead of being) busy and
worry about your work,

you get up and light up the awareness

of being in Plum Village,
I have nothing to do.

Just go to the bathroom,
and go to the meditation hall.

And enjoy sitting in silence and peace.

For me, that is a great fortune.

I know my parents worked a lot
to take care of us, seven children.

And me, I don't have to work a lot,
as my mum.

In working meditation time, just one hour,
or one hour and a half.

But we do this in a very joyful
and relaxing way.

No one pushes me to finish the work.

There is no boss.

You don't have to be afraid of your boss.

You don't have to try to
get a progress in the work

so that you have to get more salary.

When I am aware of this path in my life,
I feel very grateful.

I don't know which good seeds
I have sown in the past,

or my parents sowed in the past

so that today I have
such a wonderful life.

Of course, we have difficulties and
challenges in monastic life.

If you would like to know,

you are welcome.

But then, the happiness,
and the joy, and the peace

is full, is everywhere.

It is available all the time.

We have many opportunities

not only to sow good seeds in ourselves
but also in others,

and also in the society.

I remember when I read the book
about mother Theresa,

there is a sentence that I like a lot,
that she said that,

if you would like to change the world,
come back to your family

and love your family members.

Wow! It is very simple!
Very simple and doable!

As practitioners, we are also gardeners.

The mind consciousness is a gardener,

and the store consciousness is the garden.

We use the mind consciousness
to sow the seed, to garden,

like to put manure, and everything,
weeding,

to help our garden grow beautifully.

But if some day there is
a dead tree in your garden,

or there is a lot of weed in your garden,
don't be too worried about that.

Somehow we, human beings, we remember
suffering easier and more often

than we remember happiness, right?

Like, during a day,

there is like ten times moments
you feel happy,

and suppose there is one time
that you feel difficult with someone.

And somehow, at the end of the day
you remember that difficult moment

more than the other ten times
of happiness.

So I would like to suggest
one exercise for all of us.

How many days you remain in Plum Village?

Please, find some time
to do this exercise,

which is to write down
the list of happiness.

The list of

things you feel grateful to.

Instead of preparing the list of shopping,
shopping list,

you make a happiness list.

Even an autumn leaf can be added
in that catalog.

A list of happiness.

Okay, we go to the next,

“To have a chance to learn and grow, to
be skillful in your profession or craft,

practicing the precepts and loving speech,
this is the greatest happiness."

So the Buddha taught us
in very concrete ways,

how to cultivate happiness.

If you have a -

If you have been doing a job, which
does not bring any harm to yourself,

to the Earth, to the environment,

you must recognize that it is
my greatest happiness.

In the Buddha's teaching,

to be skillful in your profession
means that you have a right livelihood.

And livelihood means you have a vocation
that is beneficial to humans,

animals, plants, and the Earth,
or at least, minimally harmful.

Which is the definition
of the right livelihood.

Yesterday, in Lower Hamlet,

the group of sisters

offered to the monastic sangha

a presentation on the topic
about the environment,

protecting planet Earth,
and global warming, etc.

And there is a research from a sister,

I was very impressed,

she worked on the transportation
of Lower Hamlet's sisters,

and how transportation of the community

helps reducing the global warming.

She told that

in one month,

the whole monastic sangha,
we are about 60 sisters,

and in one month we drive

53,000 km for one year

for the 60 people.

And the average for a French driver,
he will drive 20,000 km one year.

So we are 60 people, but we just
drive 53,000 km.

But a French driver, in general,
he will drive 20,000 km for one year.

So we don't really do anything,

but as a community
we contribute quite a lot

to help reducing the global warming,

the quantity of carbon to the environment,
to the air.

And after that,

she also presented a point
which is quite funny.

In order to take one round
around the Earth,

people would drive 40,000 km
one year.

So it means that

60 sisters in Lower Hamlet in one year,
we make one round around the planet Earth.

So it is also -

The sister told me it is still a shame
we use a lot of energy.

But then it is already a good news.

Because if we live as individuals,

we use quite a lot the car.

And she also presented

the four ways of supporting transportation
to reduce using cars.

One of that ways was
we were thinking about bicycles.

And the sister was so happy with that,

because there is many long term friends
in Lower Hamlet using bicycles,

even electric bicycles,
it is already wonderful.

So the next paragraphs of the sutra
I would like to read.

“To be able to serve
and support your parents,

to cherish and love your family,

to have a vocation that brings you joy –
this is the greatest happiness.

To live honestly, generous in giving,

to offer support to relatives and friends,

living a life of blameless conduct,
this is the greatest happiness."

I remember in one session
of Q&A in Lower Hamlet,

there was a young woman.

She asked a question about -

Her parents divorced when she was two.

And she was brought up by her mum.

And her dad never came to visit her
or gave any support to her mum.

And even he has his own family.

Sometimes she had to come
to stay there with him.

And she didn't feel any love from him

as well as from her stepmother.

She was crying a lot
when asking this question.

And she shared, how can
she overcome this suffering

and this blame in her towards her parents,
towards her dad.

Because she tried her best,
but he could not accept her. Why?

Why her dad leaved her
when she was just two?

What happened between them

so that things happened like that?

And she was crying and suffered.

And she said that

with the practice, she knew that

she should love her dad.

But she felt that very deep down
in her heart

she didn't accept her dad.
She wanted to push him away.

She didn't want to do anything with him.
She didn't want to see him.

She didn't want to do anything
relating to her dad.

And I was there, I was so moved
from the story.

We shared with her that -

I asked her, dear friend, do you see
that you are more lucky than your dad?

And she didn't understand
why I asked that question.

But actually I see that she is more lucky
than her dad,

because she knows the practice.

She knows even deep down in her heart
that she didn't accept

but she knows that,

she wants to reconcile with her dad.

And she knows how to breathe,
to embrace her suffering.

She knows how to do walking meditation
even if she lives in Paris,

she practices walking meditation
in the park in Paris.

So many people pass by and stop
and stare at her.

I saw she is very courageous,

to keep practicing.

And we shared that we are lucky,
because we know the practice.

For me, that is the point.

Because of the suffering
that our parents could not continue,

but there are no parents on this Earth
who don't love their children.

Just because of some reasons,

because they cannot embrace
their suffering, their difficulties.

And maybe that suffering was transmitted
from their parents too.

Maybe your dad suffered as a child.

So just by practicing,

we have the way.

Even if our mindfulness and compassion
are not strong enough yet

to embrace this suffering,

we should have faith
in our store consciousness.

We practice more, and more, and more.

And one of my practices is also
to restart over, to start over everything.

Renew again even the very basic practices.
Do it again, just do it again.

After some time, we feel,

we feel that we are not interested
in sitting meditation anymore.

We need to be creative
to renew our practice.

Do it again, and again, and again.

With this line of this teaching
from this sutra,

I see that in order to -

In order to practice being happy
in ourselves,

normally we would like to be fulfilled,

the two needs of all human being
which is understanding and love.

We have that need inside,

we want to have understanding
and love for others.

And also we would like
to be understood and loved by others too.

They can be our parents, our friends,
our relatives, our neighbours,

or even nature, etc.

So, with the practice,
when we are able to

take care of our parents,

when we are able to be a good friend,
that is the greatest happiness.

Do we recognize that happiness
that we have right now?

By recognizing, by watering

the seed of joy and happiness,

joy and happiness will sprout,
will flower,

sooner or later, it depends.
But it is already in here.

I would like to go to the next paragraph.

"To persevere and be open to change,

to have regular contact
with monks and nuns,

and to fully participate
in Dharma discussions,

this is the greatest happiness.

To live diligently and attentively,
to perceive the Noble Truths,

and to realize Nirvana,
this is the greatest happiness."

To live attentively here means
to live mindfully.

In the sixteen exercises of breathing, in
the Sutra of the Awareness of Breathing,

the Buddha taught
sixteen exercises of breathing.

And the exercise number 5 and number 6

teach about cultivating joy, I breathe in,
and I breathe out,

and cultivating happiness, I breathe in,
and I breathe out.

Normally, for example,

we are on the way back to Plum Village,
when I was on the way back to Plum Village

after a long trip,

I had excitement.

I mean that, oh! I will get home,
I will be able to rest,

and to see my sisters!
That was joy.

And there was excitement in it.

But when I was able to really arrive
to Lower Hamlet,

really step on the land of Lower Hamlet,
go back to my room and lie down,

that is happiness.
That is something peaceful.

Something very deep down in here.

Practicing meditation is the same.
At the beginning,

we may have some joy and excitement
in the quality of meditation.

But later on, just like the people
who are thirsty,

and who are on the way to get water,
there is joy and excitement in it.

But when he drinks the water,
and the water goes into the body,

he feels the freshness of the water.
That is happiness,

which is something very deep. And in
happiness there is the element of peace

very deep inside.

And instead of

living in the busy city, right now
you choose Plum Village to stay,

and go back to the countryside
and have a simple life here.

In the Buddha's teaching, that is,

the Buddha calls, by the practice
of letting go we create joy and happiness.

That is, you would like to
let go of something

that makes you tired and lose your energy.

You would like to choose an environment
which brings peace, and joy, and relax

to our body and mind.

There is a practice of meditation called
'dwelling happily in the present moment'.

In Vietnamese, (Vietnamese).

Letting go by the practice -

By the practice of letting go,
you cultivate joy and happiness.

For the people who think that

in order to be happy, I need to have
that beautiful house.

Or in order to be happy, I need to have
that car, I need to buy that car.

The Buddha asks whether that is you cow.

There is a sutra -
The Buddha was teaching about

a farmer who lost his cows.

He was very worried, and running around
the hamlet to try to find the cows.

And the Buddha told the monks,

'Monks, you are lucky. You don't have
any cows to lose.'

From that sutra, our teacher teaches about
letting go of our cows.

But if you have any cow,

if you are caught in something
that prevents you from being happy,

you can recognize that is a cow.

That obstacle prevents us from being
happy. It may be the idea of happiness.

That idea of a house, that idea of a car,
the idea of a partner, etc.

Or for the monastics,
maybe the idea of liberation.

That I need to be liberated,
then I will be happy. Things like that.

Sometimes,

I notice that I was caught
in the idea of freedom.

I want to be free.

I want to practice in order to be
a free person, or a happy person.

And if I am not careful with my practice,

if I do not stick to the basic practices,

I see that that idea easily
lifts me up to the sky.

And it is like dreaming about
the liberation.

And the second suggestion from the Buddha

about the practice of
cultivating happiness

is (Vietnamese).

The practice of mindfulness
helps to cultivate joy and happiness.

By practicing mindfulness,
we cultivate joy and happiness.

I think this is quite clear for all of us.

And in here,

the Plum Village meditation
practice tradition

is very much the same to the line
of the meditation we call (Vietnamese),

'dwelling happily in the present moment',
'drsta-dharma-sukha-vihara'.

This word is repeated quite a lot in here.

Dwelling happily in the present moment.

Whenever we are able to be in touch
with the present moment,

we can be in touch with happiness.

And by the practice of breathing,
like in the exercise number 5 and number 6

in the sixteen exercises of breathing,

Cultivating Joy, Cultivating Happiness,

we continue to maintain the practice
of our mindfulness,

to support us in every day,

in the daily activities

so that we are able to more and more
cultivate the energy of mindfulness.

When we first enter the practice,

we normally see that
our awareness is very weak,

we forget all the time.

We are walking in the autumn forest,

the leaves are very beautiful,

but we are drown in our own
difficulties and suffering.

We are planning about something else.

And by the training, by the support
of our friends, our sangha,

we can be able to remind ourselves
to come back again, and again.

And this is also a training.

For me, it is also a training,
a really -

We really make a commitment with ourselves
that we would like to train ourselves

so that we can get the new habit
of being mindful.

And the third practice which the Buddha
and our teacher suggested about this

is (Vietnamese),

by the practice of meditation,
concentration,

you can create joy and happiness.

So the mindfulness, concentration
and insight

are essential teachings
of the Buddha's teachings.

Actually, one contains the other.

When we practice mindfulness,

in mindfulness there is
the element of concentration and insight.

And in concentration there is the element
of mindfulness and insight too.

And the fourth method is (Vietnamese),

by the practice of insight,
you create joy and happiness.

() is joy, and () is happiness.

I remember one time when I gave a
consultation for a friend in Lower Hamlet.

When she started to share,

I was surprised, because
after sharing her difficulties,

she shared what she thought
about that difficulties.

She shared how she suffered,
and acknowledged,

and knows the way out of that suffering.

And when she finished sharing, that woman,
I asked her,

'I see you know everything.
Why don't you put it into practice?

You know everything about the human mind,
the habit energy,

and even the way to practice mindfulness.'

And I was surprised that
she still suffered about that thing.

And she shared that

'Yes, sister. I know this, but
I don't have any support.

I don't know how to start.
I cannot do it by myself.'

And when I listened to that,
I felt quite impressed,

because she knew the wisdom about her,

and then she was very open to share
that with me, everything with me.

And I see that everyone of us
has all the insights, everyone of us,

small insights, or bigger insights,
about something.

I see when people ask questions,

in that question somehow
they know the answer.

But then,

for me, when I share
in the questions and answers session,

I share from my own experiences
about that issue.

And I believe that everyone of us
have our own answer.

If we really understand our mind,
if we really love our soul,

then we will find our own answer.

And the thing is to put it into practice.

And we are lucky.

Living in the community,

even if some of you come here
for just one week.

Our teacher always said that one week
is enough for you to change your life.

Challenging, eh?

Yes, he said that one week is enough
for you to change your life.

And it has happened
for quite many of our friends.

It is very impressive for me.

Many of them come back for a second time,
a third time.

It is normal. But there are some friends
just coming for one week,

and they really make good use
of the time of one week

to really garden so that they can
transform their garden.

So I would like to read
the last paragraphs to end.

“To live in the world
with your heart undisturbed by the world,

with all sorrows ended, dwelling in peace,
this is the greatest happiness.

For he or she who accomplishes this,
unvanquished wherever she goes,

always he is safe and happy.
Happiness lives within oneself.”

Yes, happiness comes from ourselves,
not from the sky.

Happiness is something that we can
train ourselves to have and to be.

When I prepared the sharing this morning,
I wrote down a sentence:

'Thay, I'm going to share for you."

Yes, I'm not really good at
sharing Dharma talks.

But then, this is the practice
as a Dharma teacher.

You are trained to give Dharma talks,

and also it's your responsibility
to give Dharma talks.

And this morning, I wrote down on
my notebook, 'I do this for you'.

By this I invite Thay to be here with us.

And in order to end the sharing
this morning

I would like to read for you
some paragraphs in one of Thay's poems

that I like a lot.

Thay called himself 'a lazy monk'.

'A lazy monk have done quite
enormous things'.

Yes, for the world.

And for me, Thay is a happy person.

When being around him,

I see that in very small things,

Thay is able to be happy.
Amazing!

Even the birth of a flower!

One time he walked me around his garden

just to watch the birth of the -

A plum flower was blooming,
was about to bloom.

And his face, his expression,
was full of joy and excitement!

And he was eighty something.

And I was twenty something.

And I was surprised by this happy, joyful,
and excited old man,

watching and enjoying
the birth of a flower!

That stuck in my heart all the time.

Specially whenever I feel
a little bit bored,

or something.

And also we were very moved

when Thay decided to come back
to the root temple and stay,

you know that?

This poem was composed by him
when he was in New York, in America.

And he was asked by his brothers
in the Buddhist Delegation

to go back to Vietnam to help.

To call for peace. And he knew

that he had wounds.

Even with the love
and the faith in his heart,

he was not healed yet

from the wound he got

during the Vietnam war.

And in this poem, Thay was talking about
the two hands.

Here are my two hands I would like to
bring back for you.

You here is what Thay called the beloved
one, is the Buddhist Association,

is Vietnam's people,
Vietnam's country,

to whom he would like to offer his hands,

the hands of young people full of love,
full of faith, full of hope.

Because at that time,

there were many young people
already losing their hope.

They came and asked Thay,

whether this war would end sometime.

And even in the very dark times,

Thay felt very painful in his heart about
the very long time of the war at that time

but he shared that, 'I had to breathe
deeply before I answered that question,

because if I answered no,
we have no hope,

I would kill the hope
in the young people.'

So Thay answered in a very skillful
and compassionate way to the young people:

'As the Buddha teaches,
everything is impermanent.

War is impermanent.

As a community, as a sangha,

we need to cultivate and nourish
our hope in our hearts.'

When I read that part, I was crying.

Because I saw how caring he was,

how hard was for him to hold
the suffering in his heart,

so that he can transmit the mission,

transmit the love and the hope
to the young people.

In the year 1963,

that is a time when Thay accepted the
invitation to go back to Vietnam to help.

And maybe it is the last time Thay chooses
to come back to Vietnam.

Maybe to rest, but it is not only resting.

We know that Thay is like

helping the root temple

by his presence, by his own body
and mind residing there.

"Here are my hands

that are also my heart, my mind,
my life -

all that remains.

Their sole power is
having bled

on the frets of love.

Here are my hands.
Let me give them back to you.

Remember,
Mother taught us to love

the withered grass on tombs
even so,

the blooming roses.

For them,
as for everything,

love is
the immaculate morning dew.

Here are my hands.

With bowed head, I give them to you.

Look, the old wounds have yet to heal.

Their blood is still fresh,

and on the fingertips,
your soul may rest

as the dew rests,

glistening
on the trembling blades of grass.

Here are my hands,

reborn once again
but still carrying old wounds.

And here is my smile

because I never hated.

And here is my heart,
my pure heart

from days gone by.

Here are my hands,

brought back to you
unhealed beneath their bandages.

I pray
they will not be crushed again.

And I beg
the stars

to be my witness.

(Bell)

(Bell)

(Bell)

(Bell)

(Small bell)