Stop Running | Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh

The practice of stopping is very

crucial in

the Buddhist tradition.

There are moments when

we don't do anything.

We just sit there.

But our body has

not stopped.

It's a tension in our body.

There

is the kind of energy that push

you,

push your body.

Your body wants to do something,

to be active, to

run, to do something.

Your body does not have a capacity

to rest, to stop,

that is why stopping

does not mean just stopping the

mind,

but stopping the body.

Because the body also has the habit

of running,

of being in movement.

And there is

a feeling of restlessness in the

body.

The body and the mind, they

inter-are.

The body contains the mind,

and the mind contains the body.

They inter-contain each

other

that is why helping the body to

stop, you can

help the mind to stop also.

And helping the mind to stop, you

help the body to stop. You

practice with body and mind at the

same time, not just with the mind.

That is why meditation includes

the body.

You don't just meditate with your

mind.

You meditate with your body.

That is why it's good that we

practice "I have arrived, I am

home." I don't want to run anymore.

And you enjoy doing nothing.

Just feeling that you are home

and you want to really rest.

And you like to listen to the music

of your breathing in and out.

Your heart is playing music.

Your lungs are playing music.

You just tune to that kind of

music.

And whatever feelings and emotions

arise, you allow that music

of breathing

to embrace it.

And the Buddhist term for

stopping is

Samatha.

You are not searching for anything

at all.

You are completely at ease in

the present moment and that

is the meaning of Samatha.

It sounds easy,

but we need some training.

We need a strong will also, we

need a big desire in order to be

able to stop,

because the habit of running

is very strong in us,

in our body, and in our mind.

And the habit of running, the

habit energy might

have been transmitted by our

parents.

Our parents might have run all

their life.

And they may have inherited

that from our grandparents.

But now we have a chance to

encounter Buddha Dharma.

And the Buddha said, Stop, my child.

And then you have a chance

to transform that habit energy.

I have arrived,

I am home.

It means I

don't feel the need to run anymore.

What I am looking for it is right

here, right now.

And that is why we need the insight

in order to really stop.

That is Vipassiana.

Vipassiana is the practice of

looking deeply in order to get the

insight.

Samatha and Vipassana are the two
wings of a bird.

You are already what you want to

become,

namely a Buddha.

You feel that there's no

longer any need to run.

That is why the insight

allows you to really stop.

Without the insight, no

matter how hard you strive,

you cannot stop.

That is why Samatha

is not possible without Vipassana.

And Vipassana is not possible

without Samatha.

Imagine a bird flying only with

one wing.

It's very difficult.

You may have some wound

in our body.

We might have a cancer.

We may have a wound in our soul,

in our consciousness.

We may have some despair,

a lot of injustice,

a lot of anger.

You feel deeply wounded,

you want to heal.

And healing is possible with the

practice of stopping.

If you don't know how to stop

running, the healing cannot

take place.

That is why

the purpose of

Samatha is

help you to heal.

When you breathe in, you

breathe in in such a way

that makes the healing possible.

Because your inbreath is not

a fight,

an act of fighting. Your

inbreath

is an expression of arrival.

I have arrived.

I don't need to

run.

And if your inbreath is like that,

it has the power of healing.

That is possible for us to live

every moment of our daily life

in such a way that every moment

becomes a moment of healing.

When you make a step,

make sure that the step has the

power of healing, relaxing.

When you breathe in,

make sure that your inbreath has

the power of stopping,

of healing.

And this is the voice of the Buddha,

directly to you

and from yourself.