-
[Bell]
-
[Bell]
-
[Bell]
-
THE PATH OF THE BUDDHA
Summer Retreat 2009
-
Plum Village
Sơn Hạ Temple
-
THE MAIN TAKEAWAYS OF THE
DISCOURSE ON MINDFUL BREATHING
-
July 21, 2009 — Sư Ông Làng Mai
(Plum Village Grandpa Teacher)
-
[Thay bowing in]
-
Dear Sangha,
today is July 21, 2009.
-
We are currently at Sơn Hạ Temple,
Plum Village France,
-
in the Summer Retreat 2009.
-
I've promised that today I'll be talking about
the 16 mindful breathing exercises succinctly.
-
In fact, it will need 21 days
-
in order to fully explain
the 16 mindful breathing exercises.
-
But we only have 1 hour today
so we're speaking about it succinctly.
-
When I wrote "Old Path White Cloud,"
-
it was wintertime.
-
It was very cold.
-
There was no central heating.
-
In my room, there was a...
-
a wood-burning fireplace.
-
And I held my left hand
over the fire to keep it warm.
-
And I used my right hand
to write "Old Path White Cloud."
-
Every day I spent many hours writing.
-
And...
-
there's a lot of happiness
writing "Old Path White Cloud."
-
Even though...
-
in the hut, there was no central heating,
and there wasn't much material comfort,
-
the happiness was very great.
-
And while writing, I was certain
the readers would be happy.
-
Because if the writer was happy,
-
the readers would be happy, too.
-
When Mr. Modi
-
proposed a film adaptation
of "Old Path White Cloud,"
-
I told him,
"As you're making this film,
-
if you work and practice
mindfulness at the same time,
-
the film will have much more value.
-
While making this film, if you're happy and
if you practice mindfulness at the same time,
-
when the film is released
for the public to see,
-
viewers will feel happy
and inspired to practice mindfulness.
-
And so, from director
to actors and actresses,
-
all should practice mindfulness
at work.
-
And after we're done making the film,
-
we'll have already been transformed and
happy ourselves — we'll have changed.
-
And certainly when the audience see it,
they will change.
-
They will be very happy."
-
So does Parallax Press publisher.
So does Palm Leaves Press publisher.
-
We publish books that many people
read and practice accordingly.
-
Working at these publishers,
we have to practice mindfulness ourselves.
-
When we print the books,
-
when we release the books,
-
we have to practice
what we have mentioned in the books.
-
And with that, when the seeds are good,
the fruits will come along nicely.
-
And so, I really hope that you,
-
while figuring out ways
-
to share the mindful breathing practice
to the world,
-
you yourselves will also practice mindfulness
during the whole time.
-
And practicing like that will bring about
immediate happiness for all of us,
-
in the here and now,
while at work.
-
The day I discovered the Discourse
on the Full Awareness of Breathing,
-
I was extremely happy.
-
It's like I'd just discovered
a treasure chest.
-
And
-
it felt like I was the happiest person
in the world.
-
And for that reason,
-
I have taught, I have presented,
I have instructed
-
many, many practitioners.
-
And as always, I've had
a lot of happiness.
-
And those who get to hear the teachings
-
and practice accordingly
have also had a lot of happiness.
-
And so,
-
I believe, in the following hour or so,
-
I'll present the 16 breathing exercises
in such a way that allows you to
-
grasp the teachings and
practice successfully right away.
-
And while looking for ways
to share this practice with others,
-
you will have already dwelled
in the happiness of practicing it.
-
The Buddha did propose
16 exercises for mindful breathing.
-
And I have studied them very carefully.
-
I have put the teachings into practice,
in my own life.
-
And what I have taught
is from direct experiences
-
rather than academic research
and book knowledge.
-
And I believe while making this film,
building up the plot of narrative,
-
we have to also live that Dharma,
that true teaching.
-
So that when the viewers
watch the movie,
-
they'll be able to receive the practice
in a concrete way
-
and apply them into their daily life.
-
We know that the 1st exercise
that the Buddha suggested practicing
-
is "mere recognition."
-
Mere recognition here means
merely recognizing the breaths.
-
When we breathe in,
we know that this is an in-breath.
-
And when we breathe out,
we know this is an out-breath.
-
So the...
-
the purpose of the 1st exercise
-
is recognizing the in-breaths,
recognizing the out-breaths.
-
When we breathe in,
we know we are breathing in.
-
When we breathe out,
we know we are breathing out.
-
So, this exercise is not difficult at all.
-
Even children can do it.
-
But its benefit is unparalleled.
-
It's because when we want
to recognize something,
-
we have to be present
to recognize "something" is there.
-
When we breathe in,
we know it's an in-breath.
-
Naturally, our mind takes hold
of the breaths.
-
It's aware that
this is an in-breath.
-
And when putting our mind to the breath,
we no longer ruminate about the past,
-
we're no longer worried about the future.
The mind is with the body.
-
That's the result you get right away
while practicing recognizing the breaths.
-
Breathing in, I know
this is an in-breath.
-
Breathing out, I know
this is an out-breath.
-
We humans
-
live in forgetfulness,
-
the opposite of mindfulness.
-
So the body is in one place,
and the mind, another.
-
And so, the body and the mind
are not in unison.
-
And for that reason,
we are not truly present.
-
We are not truly present
in the moment.
-
And we cannot live deeply
the present moment.
-
So, this 1st breathing exercise
-
is to bring the mind
home to the body.
-
And when the mind already comes
back to the body,
-
we are truly present.
-
And when we are truly present,
we touch deeply the miracles of life
-
that are currently available
in and around us.
-
By merely recognizing the breath,
-
"this is an in-breath,"
and "this is an out-breath,"
-
we can already do this.
-
And so, while driving,
we can practice this exercise.
-
Breathing in, we know
this is the in-breath.
-
Breathing out, we know
this is the out-breath.
-
Doing the dishes,
we can do the same.
-
At any moment of our daily life,
we can always practice this 1st exercise,
-
bringing the mind back to the body
-
to truly be present,
to live deeply that moment.
-
Recognizing the breaths is the practice
of the 1st mindful breathing exercise.
-
The 2nd exercise
is "following the breaths."
-
Each breath has its own length
— with the starting point and the ending point.
-
And while breathing in, we should
follow the breath from the beginning till the end.
-
I am breathing in
and I know I am breathing in.
-
Our attention is completely devoted
to the breath.
-
And not a single moment
is our attention diverted from the breath.
-
We stick our attention to the breaths,
which is called "following the breaths,"
-
or "tùy tức" in Vietnamese — with "tùy"
meaning "to follow closely behind."
-
For example, this marker
represents the in-breath.
-
And this finger of mine
represents the attention of my mind.
-
When I start breathing, my finger sticks
to the marker. My attention sticks to the breath.
-
And for the entire in-breath,
I'm completely focused on the in-breath,
-
and so my concentration
is not at all interrupted.
-
Perhaps in the 1st breathing exercise,
-
although I was able to recognize
"this is an in-breath, this is an out-breath,"
-
the concentration might not have been
as devoted as that in the 2nd exercise.
-
Because in the 2nd breathing exercise,
I've been able to completely follow the breath,
-
never leaving the in-breath,
and never leaving the out-breath.
-
It's called "following the breath,"
"tùy tức."
-
And in this 2nd exercise, we see clearly
that our mindfulness and concentration
-
are more stable, deeper,
more solid and strengthful.
-
And of course, when our mindfulness and
concentration become more stable and solid,
-
we are more stably and solidly present
in the moment.
-
And when we are
truly present in this moment,
-
we can touch the wonders of life
more deeply.
-
We are truly living our life.
-
For example, we are standing in front
of a brilliant, majestic sunset scenery.
-
If our mind is not there, the beauty
of the setting sun is not for us.
-
Other people, because they are truly present,
can truly dwell in that beautiful scenery.
-
Meanwhile, although we're physically there,
our mind is in the past, or the future,
-
feeling worried and afflicted,
so we are not there at all,
-
and we cannot be nourished
by the beautiful sunset scenery.
-
And so, the 1st exercise brings the mind back
to the body so that we can be truly present.
-
And in the 2nd exercise, we are present
continuously — uninterruptedly,
-
so the brilliant and majestic sunset
is all ours.
-
All the miracles of life in and around us
are always there.
-
But because we aren't present,
we cannot be nourished by them.
-
Therefore, these first two breathing exercises
help us to come back to ourselves,
-
to be truly present, and to touch
these miracles of life — that is called "living."
-
From being a dead person,
we become alive.
-
Living like a dead person, like Albert Camus
wrote in "L'Étranger," or "The Stranger",
-
that man lived like a dead person.
-
We live like someone who is alive
because we have the mind being with the body.
-
The 3rd breathing exercise
is "being aware of the whole body."
-
While breathing in and breathing out,
-
we are generating an energy
called "mindfulness."
-
This energy allows us to be present,
or makes us present, in the moment.
-
And so, we can define
"mindfulness" as the energy
-
which helps us be truly present in the moment,
and aware of what is going on in that moment.
-
That's the definition of "mindfulness."
-
And that energy is generated by ourselves
while breathing in and breathing out.
-
And with that energy, now we can recognize
the presence of our form, our body.
-
That is the purpose of
the 3rd breathing exercise.
-
Breathing in, I am aware
of the presence of my whole body.
-
And with that, it's like we're using the energy
of mindfulness to embrace the whole body.
-
A true homecoming, a true reunion,
between the body and the mind.
-
Very deep.
-
Breathing in, I am aware
of the presence of my whole body.
-
Here, we have the awareness of the body.
But that "body" is only limited to the breath.
-
Because the breaths belong to the body.
-
And we begin our homecoming.
And our breaths are the gateway.
-
First of all, we come back to our breaths.
-
Once we already come back to the breaths,
we come back to the whole body.
-
So the 3rd exercise is different
from the 1st and the 2nd.
-
It has a very good order.
-
Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body.
Breathing out, I know my body is here.
-
It is a reunion
between the body and the mind.
-
And while driving, while doing the dishes,
while sweeping the floor, or making breakfast,
-
we can practice this 3rd exercise,
-
as well as the 1st
and the 2nd exercises.
-
And when we're present
for the body, we can...
-
discover one thing, that is, in our body,
there are pains and aches.
-
That is, in our body, there are stress
and tensions that we've bottled up for so long.
-
Because all these years,
we haven't practiced mindfulness.
-
We've allowed all the stress and pains
to be accumulated.
-
And with time, illnesses manifest
one after another.
-
And now we come back to the body.
-
We are awakened. We realize there are pains
and there are tensions in the body.
-
And so we really need
the 4th breathing exercise.
-
The 4th exercise is
"releasing and relaxing the whole body."
-
"Releasing and relaxing the whole body"
means to calm, or to soothe, our body.
-
It means we practice in such a way that
these tensions can go out of our body.
-
And when these tensions are relieved,
-
pains and aches will follow that lead
to be reduced as well.
-
When we have a lot of stress,
there will be plenty of pains and aches.
-
And plenty of stress and pains
will bring on one disease after another.
-
First come physical illnesses,
then mental illnesses.
-
And so, the... the...
-
the 3rd and the 4th exercises
have enormous healing powers.
-
They have the value of prevention,
and they have the value of healing.
-
If we practice, we will not have stress,
pains, and those illnesses.
-
And if we have already had
tensions, pains, and illnesses,
-
practicing these exercises will embark us
on the healing journey. Very wonderful.
-
And all it takes is breathing
to prevent illnesses.
-
All it takes is breathing to help
treat already-manifested illnesses.
-
So "releasing and relaxing the whole body"
can be done in a sitting position,
-
or in a lying position.
-
Even in the positions of standing and walking,
we can still release and relax the whole body.
-
When practicing walking meditation,
we don't feel stressed at all.
-
Each of such mindful steps helps us unclench
and abandon all the stress and tensions.
-
Walk like jaunting.
-
"The endless path is turned to joy."
(from poem "Peace is every step")
-
So the path is no longer long.
-
And we have happiness in each footstep,
we no longer walk like being chased by ghosts.
-
And so, while walking, we can still
release and relax the whole body,
-
and let go of all the tensions.
-
And walking meditation, first of all,
is to drop all the stress and tensions
-
so that we can walk
in the Pure Land.
-
And if we loosen up
and take mindful steps,
-
each step will help us get in touch
with the wonders of the earth and the sky,
-
of the blue sky, the white clouds,
-
the birds singing, the pines cheering,
the flowers blooming.
-
And the Pure Land is present
in the here and now.
-
The Pure Land is no longer
a dream for the future.
-
For the blue sky, white clouds, singing birds,
cheering pines, and blooming flowers
-
are all miracles of life
that are truly present.
-
If they don't belong to the Pure Land,
what do they belong?
-
We ourselves are also the same,
we also belong to the Pure Land.
-
But we don't know that
so we cause ourselves pains and sorrows.
-
We become increasingly estranged
from the Pure Land.
-
And when we come back to ourselves,
when we can release and relax,
-
dwelling peacefully
in the present moment,
-
suddenly we can be in touch with the Pure Land
all around and right inside our own body.
-
Our bodies also belong
to the Pure Land.
-
They are also belongings of Amitabha Buddha,
and of Shakyamuni Buddha.
-
Our bodies...
Don't spoil our bodies,
-
poor Amitabha and Shakyamuni Buddhas.
-
So, these first four breathing exercises
relate to the body.
-
Contemplation of the body in the body.
-
And it brought... It can already bring
about a lot of happiness for us.
-
So far, we've just practiced
with the body, not the mind yet.
-
Simply coming back to the body, we can
already let go of pain and suffering,
-
and start having happinesses.
-
[Touching the bell once]
-
[Bell]
-
As for the 5th exercise,
we move on to the arena of feelings.
-
We can look at our own body
as a river.
-
In that river, each cell
is a drop of water.
-
Because the body
is in a momentary flux of change.
-
In each moment, there are cells
that have just died.
-
And in each moment, there are cells
that have just been born.
-
It is not an inanimate reality.
-
It is impermanence. It is a river.
-
So now, we are sitting on the bank
of the second river,
-
also within our body,
which is the river of feelings.
-
There's a river of feelings flowing night and day.
And each drop of water...
-
Each feeling in that river
is a drop of water in the river.
-
The feelings arise, stay for some time,
and fade away
-
to give place to newly-arisen feelings,
-
and we have a river of feelings.
-
And the 5th exercise helps us learn
to bring ourselves the feeling of joy.
-
A practitioner must be capable
of bringing a feeling of joy for themselves.
-
Because we really need nourishment.
-
"Bringing ourselves
the feeling of joy."
-
Or we can make it short,
"bringing ourselves joy".
-
And the 6th exercise is "bringing ourselves
the feeling of happiness."
-
It means, a practitioner should be capable
of generating their own joy.
-
A practitioner should be capable
of generating their own happiness.
-
And so, we can...
-
we can call the 5th exercise,
-
"generating our own joy"
-
— "generating our own joy,"
-
and the 6th exercise,
"generating our own happiness."
-
If you brother haven't been able
to generate joy for yourself,
-
you're not a good practitioner yet.
-
If you sister haven't been able
to generate happiness for yourself,
-
you're not a good practitioner yet.
-
But how do we generate joy
and generate happiness?
-
Because we really need moments of joy,
and moments of happiness
-
in order to be nourished.
-
Because we all have pain and suffering
that need to be embraced and transformed.
-
But if we're not strong enough, we won't be able
to embrace and transform our own sufferings.
-
And for that reason,
the Buddha said,
-
in order to have enough strength
to embrace and transform our sufferings,
-
we have to nourish ourselves with the joys and
happinesses that we can generate ourselves.
-
And so, the 5th exercise
is to create joy.
-
The 6th exercise
is to create happiness.
-
Joy, in the sutra, is called "hỷ."
-
"Chế tác hỷ,"
or "generating joy."
-
And happiness, in the sutra,
is called "lạc."
-
"Chế tác lạc"
or "generating happiness."
-
You know, the Buddha taught us
many, many methods
-
to bring ourselves the feeling of joy,
and to bring ourselves the feeling of happiness
-
Anytime we want, we can always have joy,
and we can always have happiness.
-
It's that wonderful.
-
First of all,
-
it's the method of letting go.
-
Letting go.
-
Letting go can bring
joy and happiness.
-
This, in Vietnamese, is called "ly sinh..."
-
"ly sinh hỷ"
-
and "ly sinh lạc,"
-
meaning "joy is born out of letting go,"
and "happiness is born out of letting go."
-
Here's an example.
-
Let's say we are living in a big city,
very noisy, very polluted.
-
And on the weekend, we want
to get away from that cityscape.
-
We get our car or motorbike ready.
-
We bring some...
-
...water and food with us.
-
And we purposely go to the country
to spend the weekend.
-
And an hour later,
we leave the city behind.
-
And we start seeing in the distance
luscious green paddies and terraces,
-
feeling the wind
blowing against our cheeks,
-
hearing the birds singing,
and seeing coconut and palm trees.
-
We feel so happy.
-
This kind of happiness that we have
is all thanks to our ability to leave behind
-
that polluted and noisy city.
-
And so, letting go is one of the practices
that can bring joy and happiness.
-
It's called "letting go gives birth to joy,"
and "letting go gives birth to happiness."
-
There are many things
we can let go of.
-
For example, we have an idea.
-
We have an idea, like "If I don't have that,
I'll never feel happy,"
-
or, "If I don't..."
-
"If I don't get rid of that,
I'll never feel happy."
-
We have many ideas like that.
-
And these ideas
don't make us happy.
-
Because perhaps we have those ideas
but we never can implement them.
-
"If I can't marry that person,
perhaps I should no longer live."
-
"If I don't have that degree,
if I don't have that social status,
-
living means nothing to me."
-
We put into our mind
ideas like these.
-
And we end up suffering all the time,
there's no joy or happiness.
-
But if we can rid ourselves of those ideas,
happiness will naturally flood in.
-
Joy and happiness
will suddenly flood in.
-
So, our ideas, our perceptions,
can also be...
-
the very causes
of our pain and suffering.
-
So, we should examine whether we have
any ideas, or perceptions,
-
or prejudices, or stereotypes,
that need to be let go.
-
The more one can let go,
the happier one becomes.
-
It's called, "ly sinh hỷ,"
and "ly sinh lạc."
-
Happiness and joy are there
all thanks to letting go.
-
The second method that the Buddha taught
to create joy and happiness for ourselves is...
-
the practice of right mindfulness,
-
called, "Right mindfulness gives birth
to joy and happiness."
-
Right mindfulness, as you've already known,
is the energy
-
that allows us to be truly present
in the moment,
-
and to be aware of, to merely recognize,
what is going on in that moment.
-
Right mindfulness allows us to be aware
that "this is an in-breath."
-
And when we breathe in,
-
we know we are a creature,
-
that we are a person
who is still alive.
-
And the awareness of our being alive
is such a great happiness.
-
Because how can those already dead
breathe in?
-
And so, when we breathe in,
suddenly we're awakened
-
to the reality
that we are still alive.
-
And being alive
is such a miracle.
-
And we can celebrate that miracle
with breathing in and breathing out.
-
It only takes an in-breath and it only takes
an out-breath to feel content and happy.
-
Because we breathe in mindfully,
because we breathe out mindfully,
-
the energy of mindfulness allows us
to be aware that we are a miraculous reality.
-
And around us is teeming
with life in all its glory.
-
And so, when there is mindfulness,
it means there are joy and happiness.
-
And we can say that,
-
"Right mindfulness is an endless source
of happiness."
-
Right mindfulness brings out...
It brings forth a lot of joy and happiness.
-
For example, I practice,
"Breathing in, I am aware of my heart."
-
My heart
-
is very...
-
very kind to me.
-
It works night and day to pump blood
through the body and nourish the cells.
-
I myself can sleep 5 or 6 hours a night.
But my heart works non-stop.
-
Yet, I have never cared for,
or paid loving attention to my heart.
-
I can smoke cigarettes.
I can drink alcohol. I can stay up late.
-
I've worked my heart too hard.
Poor thing.
-
So right here and right now,
I take a full breath
-
and I bring the energy of mindfulness
to recognize the existence of my heart.
-
Breathing in, my dear heart,
I know you are there.
-
We embrace our heart with deep appreciation,
with our mindful awareness.
-
Because we know our heart
has never been treated very nicely
-
because of our smoking, drinking alcohol,
and staying up late.
-
And so, naturally, we give rise to compassion,
and we vow, "From now on,
-
I will stop drinking alcohol,
smoking, and staying up late,
-
so that my heart
can have happiness."
-
When we embrace our heart with mindfulness,
we realize something miraculous,
-
"Our heart is..."
-
"Our heart is working very normally."
-
Some people do not have
a normal heart,
-
and they've always afraid that
they can suffer a heart attack anytime.
-
They're living
with cardiovascular conditions.
-
And their deepest wish is to have
a normal heart like everyone else.
-
When we take a breath, we're awakened
to the reality that we have a normal heart.
-
And we can celebrate this reality
of our having a normal heart.
-
It's all thanks to right mindfulness.
-
Breathing in, I am aware of my heart,
I am aware of the existence of my heart.
-
Breathing in, I know my heart
is a normal, healthy heart.
-
And that awareness
brings forth joy and happiness.
-
It's called, "Right mindfulness gives birth
to joy and happiness."
-
And the heart is not all there is
in the body.
-
My liver may still function relatively well.
My kidneys may still work relatively well.
-
Both of my feet are still strong, I can
still jump, walk in meditation, and run.
-
So many conditions of happiness
that are available.
-
But, because I don't have awareness
and mindfulness, I don't have any happiness.
-
So coming back to ourselves
with the energy of mindfulness,
-
recognizing all the conditions
of happiness that we're having,
-
we'll have an abundance of "hỷ"
and an abundance of "lạc."
-
An abundance of joy
and an abundance of happiness.
-
And looking out the window, we see
the blue sky, white clouds,
-
birds singing, pines cheering,
flowers blooming,...
-
Life has so many miracles.
-
Our beloveds are still alive, and we still get
to live with them under one roof.
-
Too many conditions of happiness to count
and to be happy about right now.
-
We don't have to run
searching for more.
-
These are all benefits
of right mindfulness.
-
For that reason, as long as we practice
breathing in and breathing out mindfully,
-
coming back to be in touch with all the
conditions of happiness that we're having,
-
as a matter of course, joy is born,
and happiness is born — one after another.
-
That is the method the Buddha taught us
to have joy and to have happiness.
-
And we can sum up by saying,
-
"The energy of right mindfulness
is an endless source of happiness."
-
And the energy of right mindfulness
can be generated
-
through mindful in-breaths
and mindful out-breaths.
-
"Letting go and right mindfulness
give birth to joy and happiness."
-
And now, "Right concentration gives birth
to joy and happiness."
-
Right concentration
is also a kind of energy.
-
When we have right mindfulness,
we're having right concentration.
-
For example, when we are aware
of the presence of the flower,
-
we have mindfulness of the flower.
-
But if we maintain that mindfulness
over a longer period of time,
-
we start giving the flower
more attention.
-
And with that, right concentration
is born out of right mindfulness.
-
And the more powerful concentration is,
-
the more powerful mindfulness is
and the greater our happiness becomes.
-
For example, when we drink a...
-
...a cup of fragrant tea,
-
if we have mindfulness,
we are truly present in the moment.
-
When we are truly present, the cup of tea
also becomes something real.
-
But if we are not present,
if our mind is somewhere else,
-
obviously, we're drinking tea
but we don't know we're drinking tea.
-
We're a ghostly figure, not real. And
the tea cup is also a ghostly item, not real.
-
Because we are being caught up
in worries, sorrows, anticipation.
-
There's no one sitting there, drinking tea,
and there's no tea being drunk.
-
Obviously, we drink tea
on autopilot.
-
Meanwhile, when we're accompanied
by mindful breathing,
-
naturally we are truly present.
-
Body and mind are in perfect oneness.
-
When we are truly present,
the tea cup is also truly present.
-
Then the contact between us
and the tea cup is life in its true form.
-
And when we drink tea like that
— in mindfulness and concentration,
-
tea tastes much better.
-
Otherwise, the tea cup
is only a ghostly item.
-
It's the same with our beloveds.
If we do not have mindfulness,
-
if we're not aware that our beloveds
are still there, they are but ghostly figures.
-
We're only living
with ghostly figures.
-
So, with mindfulness and concentration,
everything becomes vividly real.
-
And that brings forth a lot of joy,
and a lot of happiness — which we call
-
"Right mindfulness" and "Right concentration"
"give birth to joy and happiness."
-
The more one-pointed our mind is,
the greater our happiness becomes.
-
And when we have right mindfulness
and right concentration, we have right views.
-
Right views mean understanding.
-
If we have mindfulness
and if we stay solidly concentrated,
-
we will see very clearly and very deeply,
and we come to right understanding.
-
That right understanding brings us
a lot of happiness.
-
It is called, "Right views
give birth to joy and happiness."
-
So, for that reason,
-
a practitioner...
a practitioner who is wise,
-
is capable of creating, of generating
-
their own joy and happiness, "hỷ" and "lạc",
at any given moment, using the methods
-
of letting go, right mindfulness,
right concentration, and right views.
-
[Touching the bell once]
-
[Bell]
-
When we have
enough joy and happiness,
-
we will be capable of handling pain
and suffering in and around us more easily.
-
That's why we need the 5th and 6th exercises
before moving on to the 7th exercise.
-
Because the 7th exercise
is to embrace suffering,
-
to merely recognize
the existence of suffering.
-
A practitioner, a person who practices
mindfulness meditation,
-
does not look to hide or run
from their suffering.
-
They do not look to cover up their suffering
with consumption,
-
like alcohol, drugs, food, or
any other means that help you forget.
-
A practitioner who knows how to practice
is capable of facing their suffering head-on
-
and embracing suffering
in order to transform it.
-
But first, I'd like to
sort of...
-
distinguish between "hỷ" and "lạc,"
meaning joy and happiness.
-
In the sutra, there is an example.
-
We're walking in a desert,
feeling parched.
-
But in the distance, we see
a grove of trees and a lake.
-
We jump for joy.
-
We haven't really drunk the lake's water,
or sat under the trees yet,
-
but on seeing that in the distance,
we're excited and joyful.
-
Although we must walk
for maybe half a kilometer to be there,
-
we have already had joy.
-
And when we arrive there, kneeling down,
and taking some water in our cupped hands
-
— that feeling while taking the water
in our hands is happiness, is "lạc."
-
Joy and happiness are distinguished
at this point.
-
In joy, there's still restlessness,
longing and expecting.
-
But in happiness, we're completely free from
this fever of restlessness and anticipation,
-
we are completely satisfied
and content.
-
So the practice leads us to joy,
and it leads us to happiness.
-
And when there are joy and happiness,
we are then strong enough
-
to be able to recognize
and embrace suffering.
-
Be aware of the suffering.
Recognize the suffering.
-
Not run from it.
-
Not cover it up.
Not suppress the suffering.
-
Breathing in,
I know there's pain in me.
-
This is a feeling,
-
an unpleasant feeling.
-
There are three types of feeling:
-
pleasant feelings,
-
unpleasant feelings,
-
and neutral feelings.
-
So,
-
the 5th exercise is to generate
pleasant feelings.
-
The 6th exercise is to generate
pleasant feelings.
-
The 7th exercise is to handle
painful feelings,
-
to embrace pain and suffering.
-
So
-
when talking about embracing, there must be
the embracer and the embraced.
-
Our pain is the object
that needs to be embraced,
-
that needs to be...
-
that needs to be recognized
that it's there.
-
My dear pain,
I know you are there.
-
I'm not running away.
I'm not pretending that I don't have any pain.
-
We must have the courage to admit
there are pain and suffering in us.
-
And we should use the energy of mindfulness
that we have already generated
-
to recognize and to embrace
that pain, that suffering, in us.
-
That is the 7th exercise
-
that any true practitioner
should know how to do.
-
And if we teach it to young children,
they can also do it.
-
In the "Chant on the Three Jewels
for children", one passage goes:
-
"I bow to you, Buddha.
You have given me the wonderful Dharma
-
"which helps me to nourish true love,
brotherhood and sisterhood,
-
"happiness, smiles,
and trust in the practice."
-
"You have taught me to breathe,
to embrace my pain and suffering
-
"whenever my heart is taken over
by greed, anger, confusion, and jealousy."
-
So these are lines for the children
to recite.
-
But indeed it's also
a method of practice for them.
-
"I bow to you, Buddha" because
"You have given me the wonderful Dharma."
-
"You have taught me to breathe,
to embrace my pain and suffering"
-
whenever greed, anger, confusion,
and jealousy make me suffer.
-
It's the same here.
This is a practice.
-
And when adults can do it,
we can show young children how to do it.
-
And the children who've come to Plum Village
from all over the world
-
have proved that they can do it.
-
Breathing in,
-
I recognize the pain,
the suffering, in me,
-
and I am embracing
that pain, that suffering.
-
But if I don't have the energy
of mindfulness, how can I...
-
With what exactly can I recognize
and embrace that pain, that suffering?
-
That pain, that suffering,
-
has filled me up to the top,
it's overspilling.
-
But if we want to keep pain and suffering
from filling us to the top and spilling over,
-
we must have the energies
of right mindfulness and right concentration.
-
And if we know how to practice
mindful breathing,
-
we can continuously generate mindfulness
— the energy of mindfulness.
-
And with that energy of mindfulness, we can
hold the pain and suffering in our embrace.
-
When there's an embrace of suffering,
there's a relief from suffering.
-
It's like a mother who's doing
something in the kitchen.
-
As soon as she hears
her baby crying,
-
she immediately puts down what she's at,
goes into the baby's room,
-
and holds the baby...
-
picks the baby up and holds the baby
in her loving, gentle embrace.
-
The mother has no idea
what's going wrong for the baby.
-
But simply holding her baby in her arms
with all her gentle, loving care
-
can already relieve the baby
from some suffering.
-
It's the same here — we are having
a nagging pain or suffering.
-
If we have mindfulness, being able to recognize
the presence of suffering and embrace it,
-
we're already relieved
from some suffering.
-
We haven't done anything other than that,
but it's already relieved us from some suffering.
-
There's an energy which is called
the energy of suffering.
-
And there's also another energy
that we've generated to encompass the pain,
-
which is mindfulness.
-
The first energy is being looked after
and safeguarded by the second energy.
-
The second energy is doing the job
of an elder sister, of an elder brother,
-
of a mother embracing
the child of suffering.
-
That is the miracle
of the 7th exercise
-
which any real practitioner
has to succeed at.
-
Because every one of us
has pain and suffering
-
which we tend to hide from,
or run from, or cover up.
-
Meanwhile, the Buddha taught us,
Don't run from it. Don't cover it up.
-
Have the courage to recognize
and to embrace the suffering.
-
But if you don't practice
mindful breathing,
-
how can you have that energy to do the work
of embracing the suffering?
-
There must be someone there
to embrace it.
-
There must be a mother there
to embrace the crying baby.
-
We must be truly present to be able
to embrace the pain, the suffering.
-
But to be truly present to embrace the suffering,
the only way to go is mindful breathing.
-
Mindful breathing allows us
to have the energy of mindfulness.
-
And the result
is the 8th exercise.
-
We can calm and soothe
the suffering.
-
Calm and soothe the suffering.
Calm it down and soothe it.
-
We haven't been able
to transform suffering at the base.
-
But with the fact that we've been able
to realize its presence
-
and embrace it
in a very gentle and loving way,
-
that pain, that suffering,
will be soothed.
-
You're now suffering much less.
-
Although suffering is still there,
it's already lessened.
-
And with other breathing exercises,
we can even go further
-
to completely transform
the roots of our pain and suffering.
-
But here, the simple act of recognizing
and embracing can already lessen suffering.
-
[Touching the bell once]
-
[Bell]
-
We are truly present
so the tea cup is also truly present
-
and the sangha is truly present.
-
As to the 9th exercise,
-
we move on to the arena
of the mind.
-
The four exercises
we've just mentioned
-
belong to the arena of feelings
-
— of...
-
of our joys and our pains.
-
The 9th...
-
The 9th exercise
-
is
-
to recognize...
-
recognize the mind.
-
Here (1st), we see there is recognition
of the breathing.
-
Here (3rd), we see
there is recognition...
-
recognition of the whole body, and then
(4th) calming and soothing of the whole body.
-
"Releasing and relaxing the body"
means calming and soothing the body.
-
Here (7th), we recognize the presence
of suffering, and embrace suffering.
-
And here (8th), we calm
and soothe the suffering.
-
The methods go like that.
-
Here (3rd) we recognize the whole body. And
here (4th), calm and soothe the whole body.
-
Here (7th), recognize the suffering. And
here (8th), calm and soothe the suffering.
-
They are the same. One is about the body.
The other, about the feelings.
-
Now we have "recognizing the mind."
-
"Mind" here means mental formations.
-
Mind is no longer something abstract.
-
Now we know, with absolute certainty
and clarity, what the mind is.
-
In Buddhism, they talk
about 51 mental formations.
-
51 mental formations.
-
Our mind is a river in which 51 types
of mental formations are flowing.
-
All the sadness, joy, anger, hate,
love, longing... are mental formations.
-
And when we enroll at a Buddhist college,
we have to learn by heart the names
-
of these 51 mental formations.
-
Anger, resentment, concealment,
maliciousness, jealousy, selfishness,
-
deceitfulness, guile, desire to harm, pride,
lack of inner shame and shame before others,
-
restlessness, drowsiness,...
We have to learn them all by heart.
-
So that when a mental formation
manifests, or arises,
-
we'll be able to tell what it is.
-
"Ahh, you're the mental formation of Anger.
I know you're the mental formation of Anger."
-
Just like when we study
pharmacy, or medicine.
-
We have to be able to tell
one medicinal herb from another.
-
We have to be able to call them by their names.
Likewise, there are 51 mental formations.
-
There are positive mental formations,
like forgiveness and compassion.
-
There are negative mental formations,
like anger and despair.
-
Whenever a mental formation manifests,
we must tell exactly which one it is.
-
We have to succeed at telling
what it is exactly, calling it by its name.
-
So this is the 9th exercise.
-
Sitting on the bank of the river
of mental formations, we simply observe.
-
When there is a mental formation
manifesting
-
— be it anger, sadness, longing, attachment,
hate, world-weariness, or despair,
-
we have to recognize them all.
-
Be it positive or negative,
we have to be able to tell.
-
But we just recognize it
— non-judgmentally.
-
We neither hold on to it,
nor shoo it away.
-
We call this "mere recognition."
-
Mere recognition.
-
Just look and observe.
Don't attach ourselves to it.
-
No matter how good or bad it is,
don't attach ourselves to it.
-
If it's good, don't try to pull it toward us.
If it's bad, don't try to push it away.
-
That is called "mere recognition."
-
"Recognizing the mind" (9th).
-
And "mind" here is not something abstract
but the mental formations that are very specific.
-
And "feelings" is a mental formation.
-
"Feelings" is one type
of mental formations.
-
And so, here (9th),
-
the "mind" here...
-
51 minus 1 is 50.
-
Here (9th), we have
50 mental formations.
-
Because here (6th and 7th), we've had
one type of mental formation.
-
"Joy," “happiness,” and "suffering" belong...
-
to one mental formation
of "feelings", or "sensations."
-
And a practitioner
should always be present.
-
Thanks to the practice of mindful breathing,
we can always be present
-
so that when a mental formation
is born or manifests,
-
we can immediately tell what it is.
-
And it cannot get the better of us
because it has been 'busted'.
-
We have sovereignty over it.
-
And
-
the 10th exercise
-
is to...
-
is to gladden the mind.
-
To cheer the mind up.
-
"Aware of the mind" (9th).
-
Then, "gladdening the mind" (10th).
-
Cheering the mind up.
-
Because we really need positive energies
to go far on the path of practice,
-
we must know how to lift our spirits,
bringing ourselves joy and happiness.
-
It goes deeper than...
-
the 5th and 6th exercises.
-
The 10th exercise picks up what's being
left off in the 5th and 6th exercises,
-
and goes deeper into other types
of mental formations.
-
So
-
this exercise is closely related
to Right Diligence,
-
or the Four Right Efforts.
-
It means, in us, there are
good mental formations
-
like forgiveness and equanimity,
-
like joy and happiness,
-
like compassion and true love,
-
like the desire to help all beings.
-
They are all very precious.
-
That is why we have to find ways to invite
these mental formations to come up.
-
It's like in our home, we have many
good music CDs on the shelves,
-
but we've let them collect dust
year after year, never listening to them.
-
It's such a big waste!
-
The same here. We have many
mental formations that are very good,
-
very wholesome,
very virtuous
-
that our parents and blood ancestors
have transmitted to us.
-
But we have never put them to use.
-
We've only brought into play
bad mental formations
-
like sadness, anger,
worry, fear, discrimination...
-
Listening to these bad CDs for a while
really drives us out of our wits.
-
And so here, we have
to select the right CDs.
-
When a CD we don't like is being played,
right away we have to replace it with a new CD.
-
That is called
"gladdening the mind."
-
So many good songs
that we don't listen to.
-
Why do we have to listen,
over and over again, to songs like,
-
"I'm dying. If you don't love me, I'll take my own
life." Why chewing these songs over and over?
-
Meanwhile, there's lots of good music
that we've never listened to.
-
So in the past, the Buddha
used a very good example.
-
A carpenter,
-
he uses a peg
-
to connect two...
-
two...
-
two timber beams.
-
He drills a hole in one beam
and another in the other,
-
and he drives the peg into the holes,
to join the two beams together.
-
But if it happens that the peg isn't a good fit,
or the peg gets a bit rotten, he'll change the peg.
-
He'll use a brand-new, solid peg,
place it on the old peg,
-
and hammer the new peg
into the same hole.
-
The old peg, already rotten, is pushed out from
the other side, and he has the new peg in place.
-
That's called the method
of "changing the peg."
-
The same here. If we have a mental formation
that makes us suffer a great deal,
-
why do we force ourselves
to sit through it?
-
Change the peg!
-
Change the CD!
-
In the past, the Buddha had "changing the peg,"
now we have "changing the CD" or "DVD."
-
For example, when we watch TV,
that film is undeniably bad,
-
but we just sit through it.
-
Why don't you change the channel?
-
That is the practice
of "gladdening the mind."
-
There are so many good
mental formations within a person.
-
Large-heartedness,
-
great aspiration, great understanding,
great compassion,
-
forgiveness, generosity,
joy, true love, happiness.
-
Why don't we make
the good ones manifest?
-
Why do we let all the bad ones like pains
and sorrows take over our life?
-
So this is the 10th exercise.
-
Make sure that we succeed
at practicing this exercise.
-
A practitioner is someone
who is very wise themselves,
-
knowing how to bring happiness
not only to themselves, but also to others.
-
And the Buddha transmitted
to us so many good methods (to do this).
-
The 11th exercise
-
is "concentrating the mind."
-
Our mind can be distracted,
-
mindless, or forgetful.
-
We use right mindfulness
to bring the mind back.
-
And we use right mindfulness
to bring the mind into concentration.
-
We focus the mind.
-
When the mind is concentrated,
the mind becomes strengthful
-
and the mind can do many...
-
many powerful things.
-
It's like light.
-
Light travels...
-
in straight lines.
-
But we have
a magnifying glass here.
-
And that magnifying glass helps cause
light rays to come together in one spot
-
that we call the "only one point."
-
And when the light...
-
When the focused beams of light
come together at this one point here,
-
it has a power.
-
And if we put a skein of steelwool,
or a piece of paper here, it burns.
-
All the desires born out of ignorance, and
the misunderstanding that makes us go astray,
-
once there's concentration,
will be burned by concentration.
-
And when it comes to concentration,
there are many types.
-
Emptiness. Signlessness. Aimlessness.
Impermanence. Non-self. So many types.
-
When our mind is one-pointed,
it's very easy to burn up all afflictions.
-
This exercise helps bring the mind
into one-pointed concentration
-
so the mind is strong enough to start
burning up afflictions and fetters that bind us.
-
An hour is simply not enough for us
to talk about concentration.
-
Hopefully we will have another chance
in the future to learn more about it.
-
But the 11th exercise is the breath
bringing us into concentration.
-
And it's not so difficult to practice,
say, concentration on impermanence.
-
Impermanence is a practice
of concentration, not a theory.
-
For example, we're so angry
with the other person.
-
And when we're angry like that,
we want to punish them.
-
We say something hurtful to 'put them in
their place' because they dared make us suffer.
-
Or we want to deal them a blow to 'put them in
their place' because they dared make us suffer.
-
Because in us, there's suffering
and there's anger.
-
So now, if we practice one
of the practices of concentration,
-
let's say, concentration
on impermanence.
-
So you close your eyes, you take
a full breath, and you contemplate.
-
Breathing in,
-
I see...
-
... in 300 years
what I will become.
-
Breathing in, I contemplate
-
what the person standing in front
of me will become in 300 years.
-
Because everything is impermanent.
-
We don't need 300 years. In just tens of years,
we'll have already turned into ashes.
-
Yet now we sit there, angry with each other. We
only have tens of years to play with each other.
-
But now the two of you are angry, wanting
to punish one another. That's sheer stupidity.
-
And all it takes is to have
this concentration on impermanence.
-
In just 2 seconds,
that anger will vanish.
-
And opening our eyes, we only want
to give that person a hug.
-
"Oh dear, you're still alive,
I'm so happy."
-
That is the practice of concentration.
-
Non-self's a type of concentration.
Impermanence is another type.
-
Emptiness is another. So is Signlessness.
So is Aimlessness.
-
There are many types of concentration
that work wonders.
-
And when we concentrate the mind,
we can burn up all afflictions.
-
And the burning up is likely
to be very quick.
-
That is "concentrating the mind."
-
Mr. Director, please think about bringing this
into the film. That'd be very nice.
-
Number 12.
-
The 12th exercise
is "liberating the mind."
-
Or "untying the fetters of the mind."
-
Chinese loanwords in Vietnamese, "mental
focus" (11th), and "mental liberation" (12th).
-
"Mental focus" (11th) means
"concentrating the mind".
-
Using pure Vietnamese
to make it easier to understand.
-
"Mental liberation" (12th) means
"untying the fetters of the mind."
-
Our mind is being tied up
by many fetters.
-
The fetters of anger and hate, of revenge,
of despair. They make us suffer.
-
And thanks to practicing these types
of concentration, we can burn them up.
-
We can untie the knots.
That's "liberating the mind." We are free.
-
Four more exercises to go.
-
The exercise...
-
With the 13th exercise, we move on
to the arena of our perceptions.
-
These four exercises belong to the mind,
or mental formations.
-
From the 13th exercises onwards,
it goes into our perceptions.
-
Vietnamese term "tri giác"
means "perceptions" in English.
-
Let's say, looking at this marker, we know
it is a marker. That is one perception.
-
And the technical term for this,
in Vietnamese, is "tưởng."
-
"Tưởng."
-
"Tưởng" means "perceptions."
-
"Perceptions" is one
of the five aggregates,
-
which are form, feelings, perceptions,
mental formations, and consciousness.
-
"Perception" in Chinese characters
has the upper component meaning "form."
-
"Form" means the looks of things,
how something appears to be.
-
We recognize it's a marker
because it has the form of a marker.
-
That flower we can recognize it's a flower
because it has the form of a flower.
-
Because of the way things look,
we have perceptions.
-
And the lower component of "perception"
in Chinese character means "the mind."
-
The "mind" which perceives the "form,"
that is called "perception."
-
And our perceptions can be erroneous.
It's a rope, but we mistake it for a snake.
-
That is called "erroneous perceptions,"
"wrong views," or misunderstanding.
-
And we suffer a great deal
because of wrong views.
-
And so the ultimate calling of Buddhism
-
is to dig up the roots of all wrong views,
and throw them all away.
-
And so the last four breathing exercises
are closely linked to perceptions.
-
But "perceptions" is also one
of the 51 types of mental formations.
-
And so, 50 here
minus 1 comes to 49.
-
49 mental formations plus 1 mental
formation ("feelings" in the 5th and 6th)
-
equals 50,
-
plus 1 here ("perception"
in the 9th), means 51.
-
Observing impermanence.
-
When we look into our own body,
our form, we see that it is a river.
-
And the cells
-
Each cell is a...
-
a drop of water.
-
And we see that our body
is not something inanimate
-
but a stream of change.
-
We can see the true nature
of impermanence of the body.
-
When we look at the family photo album,
we see the photos of us at 5 and of us now...
-
Such a big difference.
-
Obviously nothing stays the same.
-
Like bodily form, feelings, perceptions,
mental formations, and consciousness.
-
None is the same.
Yet we still have the same name.
-
The name is still the same,
but the five skandhas
-
— form, feelings, perceptions, mental
formations, and consciousness — change.
-
We have to see that impermanence.
-
And impermanence is a meditation practice
that works wonders.
-
And... and...
-
although
-
in theory we know
everything is impermanent,
-
we still behave
as if everything was permanent.
-
Theoretically, we know the person
with whom we live will die one day.
-
And that we ourselves
will also die one day.
-
But in our daily life, we tend to assume
that person will live forever and ever.
-
And we have treated that person
not very nicely.
-
If we know that person is impermanent,
today we can do something
-
to make that person happy right away,
because tomorrow may be too late.
-
And so observing impermanence
brings about a lot of happiness.
-
If we know what we can do for the other person
to feel happy, do it right away, today. Don't wait.
-
And we know that all the accumulations,
and all the overexertion
-
that haven't brought any practical benefits
to true happiness
-
— we should stop pursuing.
Let them all go.
-
It's very wonderful!
-
Be realistic.
-
So observing impermanence brings a lot
of happiness to us and to our beloveds.
-
The 14th breathing exercise is
contemplating not-worth-desiring-ness.
-
Not-worth-desiring means
not worth being hungry or thirsty for.
-
Not worth running after.
Not worth pursuing.
-
Looking deeply, we can see the dangers
lying deep in the objects of our desire.
-
The objects of our desire
look very enticing.
-
And we are like a moth to a flame,
just wanting to throw ourselves into it.
-
Not knowing what it is, we just throw ourselves
into it, we burn in the sizzle, and we're done for.
-
So we should look deeply to see the objects of
our desire have all sorts of hidden adversities.
-
For example, we cast to the river a fishing line,
the hook baited with very mouth-watering bait.
-
When a fish sees that, he or she
immediately bites the bait
-
and gets pulled up by the throat.
-
Perhaps the bait it bites is only made
from plastic, but it looks extremely attractive.
-
And so, look very carefully
-
into the objects
-
of your pursuit.
-
That can be fame, or position, or power,
or sex appeal, or sensual desire.
-
They all have hidden dangers.
-
It's not worth pursuing, not worth
sacrificing our whole life for it.
-
That is called "contemplating
not-worth-desiring-ness."
-
And once we can successfully
contemplate not-worth-desiring-ness,
-
we are liberated, we have peace of mind.
And that happiness is very great.
-
Let's say, if someone goes
to Thay, inviting,
-
"Hm, I see you are quite intelligent,
why don't you run for office
-
and become the Minister of Education,
or the Prime Minister?"
-
Thay see that being a monk
is such a great happiness,
-
why do Thay have to trouble
himself with that?
-
No, I am begging you, dear sir,
please spare me the job,
-
I'm in such a great happiness right now.
Going into that place?
-
I'm not hungry or thirsty for it. No desire,
no craving whatsoever. Not even a tiny bit.
-
Absolutely cold to this matter.
-
And so, the happiness is very great.
-
Because Thay can see all the perils, dangers,
hardships, and unavoidable consequences
-
of all of that, and Thay do not want
any of them.
-
That's the benefit of contemplating
not-worth-desiring-ness.
-
It's thanks to one mindful in-breath,
we can see things clearly.
-
Breathing in, I can see
the true nature of the objects
-
of my desire.
-
In the sutra called
-
Samiddhi Sutra,
-
the Buddha taught,
-
“Not knowing the true nature of desire,
people throw themselves into desire.
-
"Knowing the true nature of desire,
nothing or no one can tempt you."
-
We are a truly free person.
-
The freer we are,
the happier we are.
-
No freedom, no happiness.
-
And as a practitioner,
the most important thing is...
-
freedom.
-
The 15th breathing exercise
-
is "contemplating no birth, no death."
-
No birth, no death
and nirvana.
-
This is a very wonderful
method of practice.
-
On the surface, there seems to be birth - death,
being - non-being, coming - going, gain - loss.
-
But when we look deeply,
we see that the true nature
-
of all that exists is no birth, no death,
no coming, no going, no being, no non-being.
-
And that's the subject
of the Heart Sutra we chant every day.
-
Let's say, a cloud.
-
Its true nature is no birth.
-
Its true nature is no death.
-
The cloud is not nothing
that becomes something.
-
Before becoming a cloud, it's water
of the ocean and heat of the sun.
-
And the existence of the cloud
is simply the continuation
-
of the sun's heat
and the ocean's water.
-
And so, it's not that the cloud comes
from nothing and becomes something.
-
And the cloud is in essence a continuation.
That's why its true nature is no birth.
-
Because what does "birth" mean?
From nothing, it becomes something.
-
But the cloud can't come from nothing
and become something.
-
Nothing that comes from nothing
becomes something.
-
The same to you brother.
The same to you sister. The same to me.
-
We do not come from thin air.
-
So saying "come from thin air and
back into thin air" is not correct.
-
And when we say "a cloud dies,"
-
how can a cloud die?
-
"Death" means from something,
it becomes nothing.
-
How can a cloud become nothing?
A cloud can become snow or rain,
-
it can become mist or hail.
-
But the cloud can't become nothing.
-
And so, the true nature of a cloud
is no birth, no death.
-
So is the true nature of our beloveds,
no birth, no death.
-
The true nature of the Buddha
is no birth, no death.
-
So is the nature of us ourselves,
no birth and no death.
-
And when we see that our true nature
is no birth and no death,
-
we have nothing more to fear.
-
Non-fear.
-
And when there's no more fear,
our happiness is truly perfectly whole.
-
As long as there's fear, happiness will never
be fully-satisfying, never be perfectly whole.
-
For example, a wave goes up
and then goes down.
-
That wave has a beginning
and it has an end.
-
That wave does go up
and does go down.
-
That wave can claim that
it's high or low,
-
that it's beautiful or ugly,
-
that it's more or less beautiful
than the other waves.
-
All of those comparisons and those notions
put the wave on edge and make it suffer.
-
But when the wave looks deeply,
it can see its true nature is no birth.
-
Saying that 'I was born at this point'
is not correct because I'm already water.
-
Before I manifest as a wave,
I've always been water.
-
I am of no birth.
-
And so when the wave knows it is water,
going up it is joyful, going down it is joyful.
-
It sees itself beautiful and the other person
— the other wave, also beautiful.
-
And so, we have to be in touch
with our true nature of no birth.
-
The true nature of ours,
which is called "no birth."
-
No birth means no death,
no coming, no going.
-
No birth represents the 8 no's:
-
no birth, no death,
no being, no non-being, etc.
-
And so this is a very miraculous
practice of deep looking.
-
When looking deeply
and seeing its true nature
-
of no birth and no death,
the cloud is happy being a cloud.
-
It's happy being rain.
And it's also happy being a river.
-
We're like that. We no longer fear death.
We no longer fear birth.
-
Because birth and death
are just notions.
-
And this is the 15th exercise.
-
Once the 15th exercise
has already been practiced well,
-
the 16th exercise will come
very easily.
-
Which is "contemplating letting go."
-
What are we actually "letting go" of?
-
It's letting go of notions.
-
Notions about before and after,
-
about inside and outside,
-
about
-
birth and death,...
-
We let go of all these notions
-
because we're afraid, we're sad,
we're worried because of notions.
-
But once we can get in touch
with the true nature of no birth,
-
we can let go of everything.
-
For example,
-
we have a notion about time.
-
That time is a stream that flows
-
constantly.
-
And
-
because we have an idea about time,
-
we choose a point in time
to be the point of our birth (B).
-
And because we have birth,
we have to have death.
-
So there has to be
some point in time that we call
-
death (D).
-
And from these two notions
of "birth" and "death,"
-
there comes the notion
of "allotted span."
-
A "lifespan."
-
Or "allotted span."
-
Which means from B to D,
it could be 80 years or 90 years,
-
or 100 years
if we live too long.
-
So that notion is called
"thọ mạng" in Vietnamese.
-
Or "lifespan."
-
We can have a life 20 years long,
50 years long, or 100 years long.
-
And we think that before point B,
we do not exist.
-
Only from point B,
do we start to exist.
-
And when we reach point D,
our life ends.
-
That from something,
we become nothing.
-
From nothing, you become something.
From something, you become nothing.
-
So notions like being and non-being,
before and after, birth and death,...
-
they drive us nuts.
-
And so, "letting go" here means
letting go of all of those notions.
-
And we become a completely
free person, with no fear.
-
And that's when our happiness
is divinely perfect.
-
That's the happiness
of a world-honored one.
-
And the Buddha said that, as a human,
anyone can reach that state.
-
[Touching the bell once]
-
[Bell]
-
Brother Pháp Niệm, a Dharma teacher
of Plum Village, has just finished translating
-
the book "The Path of Emancipation"
into Vietnamese,
-
which explains the 16 mindful breathing
exercises in much detail.
-
And a publisher in Saigon
is publishing it.
-
And I'd like to entrust that book to you so that
you can continue learning these exercises.
-
Today we've only been able
to cover the crux of the matter.
-
And we really need
to dig deeper into it,
-
especially put what we've learned
into practice in our daily life.
-
That will deepen our understanding
about the practice day by day.
-
Thank you, dear friends.