Stop Running | Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh

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The practice of stopping is very crucial in the Buddhist tradition.

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There are moments when we don't do anything, we just sit there.

Our body has not stopped.

There is a tension in our body.

There is a kind of energy that pushes you, pushes your body.

Your body wants to do something, to be active, to run, to do something.

Your body does not have the 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.

There is a feeling of restlessness in the body.

The body and the mind are, 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."

There is a feeling that you are home, and you want to really rest.

You like to listen to the music of your breathing, in and out.

Your heart is playing music, and your lungs is playing music.

You just tune to that kind of music.

And whether the feelings and emotions arise,

you allow that music of breathing to embrace it.

And the Buddhist term for stopping is "śamatha".

You are not searching for anything at all.

You are completely at ease in the present moment.

And that is the meaning of "śamatha."

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 lives.

They may have inherited it from our grandparents.

But now we have a chance to encounter Buddhadharma,

and Buddha said, "Stop my child."

And then we 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 vipaśyanā (vipassanā in Pali).

Vipaśyanā is the practice of looking deeply in order to get insight.

Śamatha and vipaśyanā are the two wings of the bird.

You are already what you want to become, namely a Buddha.

You feel that there is 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 śamatha is not possible without vipaśyanā,

and vipaśyanā is not possible without śamatha.

Imagine a bird flying only with one wing.

It is very difficult.

We may have some wound in our body.

We may 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.

If you are 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 śamatha is to help you to heal.

When you breathe in, you breathe in in such a way that makes the healing possible.

Because your in-breath is not a fight, an act of fighting.

Your in-breath is an expression of arrival.

I have arrived.

I don't need to run.

And if your in-breath 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 in-breath has the power of stopping, of healing.

This is the voice of Buddha, directly to you and from yourself.

Stop Running

Teachings by Thích Nhất Hạnh

Directed and edited by Miguel Sánchez

Co-produced by Plum Village App and earth.fm (2024)

Talk originally recorded on Feb 1 2004

Filmed in Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France

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