Is the Buddha in the Car? | Short Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh (English subtitles)

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US Tour 2013

Upper Hamlet
October 31, 2013

Dear sangha, today is...

October 31,

2013.

We're in the Still Water Meditation Hall,
Upper Hamlet, Plum Village France,

in the Autumn Retreat...

2013.

This morning, at...

Phương Khê, upon waking up,

it was 3 degrees outside. Above zero.

In Plum Village,

it's still early autumn, so
leaves haven't turned yellow.

There was a mist this morning,

but as soon as the sun went up,
it cleared.

Now, Thay can afford the time to share
a little about the recent North America tour.

Later today, other people will probably
continue going into more detail.

Thay will only share

the main points.

The recent tour took two months, and...

20 days.

two months and 20 days.
Nearly three months.

Before setting off, Thay wasn't quite well,
still having a cough.

By the time we arrived in Canada,
Thay still had a cough.

But this retreat tour was a blessing because...

after the retreats in Canada,
Thay no longer coughed.

And in North America, well,...

In the US, we have three monasteries.

Blue Cliff Monastery in New York.

Then, Magnolia Grove Monastery in Mississippi.

And finally, Deer Park Monastery in...

California.

There was no rain
in any of the three places.

No rain. Very sunny.

All streams in the forests dried up.
There was no rain in any place.

But when the sangha arrived,
it rained in all three places.

First, it rained at Blue Cliff Monastery.

Roughly 3 or 4 days
after we arrived, it rained.

It was such happiness.

All sentient beings,

humans included, were so happy.

Plants and animals

were so happy.

The same happened when we arrived
at Magnolia Grove Monastery.

There was no rain in such a long time.

But after the retreat for Vietnamese people,

it rained.

And in the retreat for American people,

everyone got to enjoy such coolness.

Such a good thing.

Thay heard that
at Deer Park Monastery,

it had been very hot and sunny
for too many days.

It was so dry.

Some sages started to die.

That's why before arriving at Deer Park,
Thay had already concentrated and...

prayed that Mother Earth
and Father Sky would offer rain.

After disembarking at Los Angeles Airport,
Thay heard that it still didn't rain yet.

So, on the way from the airport to the monastery,
Thay continued to concentrate

and pray, "The Plum Village Sangha prays to Mother Earth
and Father Sky for one rainy day and one rainy night."

Sometimes Thay thought Mother Earth
and Father Sky hadn't given any rain yet

perhaps because the sangha wasn't loveable...

enough to move the earth and
the sky to tears so Thay prayed,...

"All beings in the forests,

all plant species, and millions of...

other species of living beings
are fervently praying

and earnestly wishing

that Mother Earth would give a day of rain."

And finally, there was rain.

That day when it rained, Thay was
sitting in meditation inside, looking out.

The rain was so beautiful.
Such a happy moment.

The following day, Thay wanted
to visit some trees and plants.

It was so obvious that the trees
and plants were more than happy.

It took the sages only five days
to be themselves again. They started...

They started sprouting...

young shoots.

So, this trip was such a blessing.

Especially when we had three
rainy days at all three centers.

Can you hear me well?

Can't hear okay?

Let us turn up the microphone's volume a little bit.

A little bit more.

Can you hear me okay now?

This tour consisted of many retreats,

many mindfulness days,

and many public talks.

The delegation worked really hard.

The retreatants and...

the local people greatly benefited from them.

But the monastic sangha...

Can you hear me well?

The monastics from all three US monasteries

got to be with Thay and the Plum Village
France sangha throughout the whole trip.

So there were opportunities...

for teacher and disciples,
and the Dharma siblings...

to work together,

to sit together, and to walk together,

so there were many happy moments.

So, not only the retreatants
got to be nourished

by the trip, but

all three monastic sanghas also
got to be nourished the same.

All got to be with Thay and with the other sanghas,
and the Dharma siblings got to work together

...and serve together.
Everyone learned so much during the trip.

One day, while riding on a bus,

Thay asked Thay's attendant,

"Dear child, do you think the Buddha
is in the bus with us?"

Well, Brother...

Pháp Nguyện said,
"Dear Thay, yes, I think he is."

Thay said, "Are you sure?"

Because at that time, there were three buses.

Thay was already sitting in one.
What about the other two?

To know whether the Buddha
is on the bus with us,

it's quite easy.

If there were fifty people on the bus and
there was just one person breathing mindfully,

we could say the Buddha
was on the bus.

And if two, three, or even five people

were...

were enjoying the views and,
at the same time, breathing mindfully,

the Buddha's presence was palpable.

And if all fifty people were breathing mindfully,

that would be very beautiful.

But it might just be wishful thinking.

For that reason, Thay say
"We just need one person...

one person on the bus breathing mindfully

to tell if the Buddha is with us."

When the Buddha is on the bus
or in the car with us,

everyone on the bus or in the car
will be protected by that energy.

It feels much more peaceful and safe.

So if you happen to sit
on a bus, in a van,

or...

in a car,

and you feel inspired to ask yourself

that question,

"Is the Buddha on the bus /
in the van / in the car?,"

you can tell yourself the answer.

We have the power to make the Buddha
present in whatever vehicle we're in or on.

If we breathe mindfully, we know
for sure the Buddha is with us.

And everyone on the bus, in the van,
or in the car is safe.

Flying on the airplane

from San Francisco to Paris, Thay asked,
"Is the Buddha on the plane?"

The answer is clear. If we wish to have the Buddha
on the plane with us, all we need to do is breathe

mindfully.

We have such a great power
but we don't know.

If two people are breathing mindfully,

the Buddha's presence is very palpable.

If it's three people, the Buddha's
presence is even more palpable.

So Thay hope when we go
from the Upper Hamlet

to the Middle Hamlet, Lower Hamlet,

or New Hamlet,

when you sit on the bus, in the van, or in the car,
ask yourself, "Is the Buddha with me?"

Thay remember on one of our pilgrimages

to India

organized by Dharma teacher Shantum,

our delegation had 300 people

so it took 11 buses to transport us all.

Thay wanted to be sure that
the Buddha would be sitting on each bus,

not just on Thay's bus.

So Thay suggested that
each bus have a bell,

and that from time to time,
we would invite the bell once

to remind everyone to breathe mindfully.

If everyone is breathing mindfully, we can
be sure that the Buddha is sitting with us.

With the Buddha's presence,
our sitting becomes much more pleasant,

and we have much more
peace and safety from within.

In order to tell if the Buddha

is on the bus or in the car with us,

it's very easy.

On each bus or in each car,
there should be a bell.

Well, as a monastic or a lay sangha,
anywhere we go — anywhere in the world,

it's important to have a bell
on every bus, or in every van or car.

There should be a place
dedicated to the bell.

In Vietnam, as well as
in many Buddhist countries,

people usually have
a Buddha statue in their car,

or they have

mini sutras-inscribed woodblocks strung
together. It may be The Heart Sutra, or...

The Mantras to Protect from Misfortunes
and Promote Well-being, for example.

However, having the Buddha statue in the car
doesn't mean the Buddha is in the car.

Because the Buddha statue...

is made of plastic

or...

precious jade.
It's still not the Buddha.

Only when at least one person
in the car breathes mindfully,

is the Buddha present in the car.

Otherwise, the Buddha you have is nothing
more than a piece of plastic, or jade, or fabric.

So Thay suggest, from now on
in each car or van of Plum Village

there be a sticker that reads,

"Is the Buddha in the car / van?"

Getting into the car or van,
and seeing that sticker,

we may feel like,
"Well, I can be the Buddha."

If everyone else is busy worrying,
thinking about many things,

let me be their Buddha.

Does anyone remember the title of the chant?

"Taking refuge in Amitabha Buddha"
(Nương Tựa A Di Đà). Good job!

[Audience laughing]

In the chanting text "Taking refuge in
Amitabha Buddha," there's a line that goes,

"If you have the Buddha in your life,
you're a happy person."

That's when you have the Buddha in your life.

But the Buddha isn't all there is in life.
We also have one another.

Not only do we have the Buddha,
we also have each other.

We have the Buddha in our life,
but we also have each other.

That is such great happiness.

That's why when we invite the bell, everyone...

stops talking, drops all thinking, comes back
to themself, and breathes mindfully.

Then, we're mindful that
we have the Buddha in our life

and we still have each other.

Such a great happiness.

So, from now on,
in each vehicle of Plum Village,

whether it's on a bus,
in a van, or in a car,

we should have that sticker and
a bell to invite every now and then.