Mindfulness: The Path Into Liberation | Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh (EN subtitles)

Plum Village Monastery
Winter Rains Retreat 2006-2007

Mindfulness: The Path Into Liberation
09 November 2006 — New Hamlet

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Dear Sangha, today is November 09, 2006.

We're in Loving-Kindness
(Từ Nghiêm) Temple in New Hamlet.

And today is the first Dharma talk day
of the Winter Rains Retreat 2006-2007.

In the Chinese Buddhist Canon (Đại tạng kinh,
大藏經), there is a sutra called...

"Nhất Nhập Đạo" in Sino-Vietnamese ("一入道" in Chinese),
or "Ekāyano Maggo" (sometimes "Ekāyana Magga") in Pali.

Nhất Nhập Đạo literally means
"the only way to go in."

We can translate it into English
as "The Only Way In."

And that's the title of a sutra

on...

the Four Establishments of Mindfulness (Kinh Bốn
Lĩnh Vực Quán Niệm, Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, 四念處經).

Actually, the Discourse on the
Four Establishments of Mindfulness

that we've studied and
practiced over the years

is the version handed down from the Sarvāstivāda
Buddhist school (Hữu Bộ, 說一切有部).

Meanwhile, "The Only Way In"
is another version of that sutra

but was handed down by the Mahāsāṃghika
Buddhist school (Đại Chúng Bộ 大眾部).

Instead of...

naming it "The Discourse on the Four
Establishments of Mindfulness" ("四念處經"),

they put it "Nhất Nhập Đạo" ("一入道"),
meaning "The Only Way In."

Of course, that "Only Way In"
is the path of mindfulness.

Because we know that,
mindfulness brings concentration.

Concentration leads to insight.
And insight leads to liberation.

So besides the path of mindfulness
—right mindfulness,

there's no other way.

So, in the Buddhist tradition,

we can see clearly that
mindfulness is the heart of the practice

—the heart of the meditation practice.

At Plum Village, we know that mindfulness...

is also the heart of our practice.

The moment we give rise
to the aspiration to practice—

to go into the path...

of practice,

we immediately apply mindfulness
in all aspects of our daily life.

The purpose of all that we've learned

or discussed in Dharma discussions

is to make sure that
our practice is successful.

But what is our practice exactly?

Our practice is to make sure
that we...

...are mindfully aware
in every moment of our daily life.

We're mindfully aware of
our physical form, our body.

We're mindfully aware...

of our feelings.

We're mindfully aware...

of our perceptions.

And we're mindfully aware

of the mental formations in us.

Going into this path,

it's like we're being born again.

Going into this path,
we need to learn to sit again,

we need to learn to breathe again,

to walk again,

to...

eat again,

to do dishes again.

It means, all that we think we've already
known how to do or been good at,

we need to learn to do them all over again.

We relearn how to sit,
we relearn how to walk,

we relearn how to work,
we relearn how to breathe,

we relearn how to eat,

and we relearn how to do dishes.

We make sure that
in every action of the body,

there's the light of mindfulness,
of mindful awareness.

So, be it a monastic or a lay practitioner,

as long as we're determined
to enter this spiritual life,

we need to learn to walk,

sit,

stand,

breathe,

eat,

and drink tea—
all in mindful awareness.

Walk in such a way

that each footstep is guided
by the light of mindful awareness.

Walk in such a way that, in each footstep,
there's inner peace, leisureliness,

that there's liberation and freedom,

that there's happiness.

When we sit, sit in such a way that...

we have inner peace, leisureliness,
and liberation and freedom.

When we eat, eat in such a way

that we have inner peace, leisureliness,
and liberation and freedom.

And that is a challenge.

We have been offered
countless favorable conditions

to be able to do this.

For example, to be in a practice community,
or a sangha, is a very good condition.

Because in the sangha, everybody has the same
desire to take solid, leisurely, happy steps.

Being in such a sangha,

we have all favorable conditions
to do like everybody else.

Because, in the sangha, there are those
who are able to take peaceful, happy steps.

This has nothing to do with the future.

It's about the present moment.

Because, in taking peaceful, leisurely, happy steps,
we need to make sure we really make it now—

in this very moment.

That's a challenge.

When we sit,

sit in such a way that there's inner peace,
leisureliness, and happiness.

It has nothing to do with the future.
It has a lot to do with today—

right now.

And that's a challenge.

If we're...

determined enough, we can do it.

The practice in Buddhism

is focused on the present moment.

All we've been searching for—

such as liberation and freedom,
enlightenment, or happiness,...

...are to be found
right in the present moment.

Some religious traditions

promise us

a kind of inner peace,

a kind of leisureliness,

a kind of happiness, or
a kind of liberation and freedom in the future.

It's a promise.

However, in Buddhism,
there's not such a promise.

Buddhism says that,
that happiness,

that heaven or paradise, and
that liberation or freedom—

we need to find them
right in the present moment.

They're "centered in the present moment."

The teachings and the practice
are centered in the present moment.

We need to get this.

We need to see it for ourselves.

And we need to really make it in our practice.

That's a challenge.

Without a doubt, Lord Buddha
already offered us many...

many suggestions and many instructions

so we can make it in our practice.

Patriarchal Bodhisattvas and...

great masters in history
have also...

shared with us their ways of practice

so that we can also make it in our practice.

And we need to really
make it in our practice now.

So, we need to ask ourselves, "Today,

have I been able to sit...

easefully, peacefully, contentedly, and
with a sense of well-being throughout my sitting?

Have I been able to fulfill the deep wishes of the
Buddha, ancestral teachers, Thay, and the sangha?

While sitting,

am I truly at peace, content, happy, and free?

Or have I been sitting in
a deep cave of darkness the whole time?"

It's because, some people are sitting

with happiness, inner peace, and well-being
—with halos surrounding them;

but we're probably sitting
in the deep dark cave...

of regrets, longing, sorrows, and pain.

Well, if that's the case,
it's a fail.

"Sitting in the deep cave of darkness"

is a...

a...

a term in Zen school.

In Zen school, there's a lot of sitting.
But some people...

only sit in dark caves.

They don't feel peaceful, content, happy, or free
during the whole time of sitting. It's a pity!

Why do we have to go into a dark cave
and sit in there?

Why don't we sit on the Vulture Peak,

free, light, and happy?

Find out why.

Ask ourselves, "How can I sit like that?"

Ask our fellow practitioners,
"How can I sit like that?".

We need to sit like that right now.

No need to wait till tomorrow
or the day after tomorrow.

That's a huge challenge.

Of course, there are...

negative energies

in us

that stop us from sitting like that.

For example, the sadness, the longing,
the regrets, or the worries in us

don't allow us to sit like that.

We should non-judgmentally recognize
these negative energies in us,

smile kindly to them,
saying, "You know,

you can't lock me up
all the time like this."

When we can merely recognize them
this way, these mental formations...

can't get the better of us.

So the practice of mere recognition
works miracles.

Yet, non-judgmentally recognizing negative mental
formations is also a practice of right mindfulness.

On one Monastic Day happening just recently,

Thay suggested a very easy way of practice

that can induce us to sit...

with a lot of inner peace,

breathe with a lot of inner peace,
and walk with a lot of inner peace.

It's the practice of
"dedicating or offering...

to the person we love."

Let's say, when we...

when we pick...

some flowers

to offer up

to the Buddha,

we really want to pick
the most beautiful flowers,

and we...

arrange the flowers in such a way...

that each flower's beauty can shine through,

and that it can express our sincerity
to Lord Buddha at the same time.

While offering the flowers up
on the Buddha's altar,

we do that.

We all want to do that.
And we can all do that.

When we arrange...

5 or 8 oranges on a dish

to put on the Buddha's altar,

we know that we need to
wash these oranges thoroughly,

and arrange them in the way that it
expresses their beauty and freshness.

With water glistening on the oranges like dewdrops,

when offering them up on the altar,
we feel a deep sense of lightness and well-being,

a deep sense of contentment.

Well, when we sit,

we can do the same.

As we sit and follow our breath mindfully, we give rise
to the thought, "Now I'm breathing for the Buddha.

I'm dedicating and offering the Buddha
an in-breath and out-breath as beautiful...

as those oranges that I offered just now."

When we have the thought,

"I'd like to dedicate and offer this
in-breath and out-breath to the Buddha,"

very naturally at that moment,
we'll breathe in very beautifully

and we'll breathe out very beautifully.

Because we really want to dedicate
the most beautiful that we have.

We never want to dedicate anything...

less beautiful.

If you give rise to the thought, "These are
the breaths I'm offering to the Buddha,"

with your whole heart, you will make your breathing
ever so gentle, ever so deep,

ever so concentrated,
and ever so peaceful.

Breathing this way is like a gift
we're offering to the Buddha.

We're breathing for the Buddha.

And we're the Buddha's continuation.

Even though it's a gift
we're offering to the Buddha,

we are indeed the first
to receive and enjoy that gift.

So while breathing,

we can breathe for the Buddha.

We breathe with our utmost gratitude.

Because no one gives birth to us
in this spiritual life—but the Buddha.

No one is our guiding teacher—but the Buddha.
So, when there's fond appreciation,

when there's deep gratitude,

the nature and quality of the breath that
we're offering up to the Buddha will be divine.

Very easy.

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Let's say, while sitting, we are...

breathing for our dear mother.

We're dedicating to our mother
an in-breath and out-breath.

Certainly, we want to take in a breath

truly beautiful,

truly quiet,

and truly deep. Only then, can it be
a deserving gift for her. Isn't that so?

You'll come to see that
breathing this way is so easy.

Those in-breaths and out-breaths
have divine nature and quality.

Because we hold our mother dear in our heart, we want to
offer her the most beautiful thing we can possibly offer.

We offer her three in- and out-breaths.

"Mum is breathing with me.

She is present in every cell of my body.

Mum and I are breathing together now. And
this is a beautiful gift I'm dedicating to her."

With that love in us,

our breath becomes divine
in nature and quality.

The same with when we walk.

We walk for the Buddha.

We walk for our dear father.

We walk for our dear mother.

These steps are the beautiful gifts

we offer to our father and mother,
to our siblings,...

When there's a thought of wanting
to dedicate and to offer,

very naturally, the nature and quality
of our footsteps will be...

beautifully divine.

We all...

...have a good heart.
We all want to give.

The day before Christmas Eve,

we prepare our gift very carefully.

Sometimes, we spend hours just to
make sure the gift looks good.

We want to make happy
the person who gets to receive it.

So, while preparing the gift,
we have a lot of happiness.

Likewise,

when our sitting is a gift to the Buddha,
to our mother, and to our father,

we'll sit very well. We'll sit with
a lot of happiness and well-being.

When we breathe—if we use our breath
as a gift to our father, our mother,

Thay, or the Buddha—we'll have
a lot of happiness and well-being,

and those breaths will have divine
value, nature and quality.

It's because our practice...

is...

manifested from the ground of love.

In us, there's love.
In us, there's gratitude.

Happiness and well-being, leisureliness,
and liberation and freedom

are that...

which are contrasted on the background
of suffering and ill-being,

of fetteredness and bondage.

We used to be restricted.

We used to be fettered.

We used to be caught in attachments.

We used to go up and come down.

Well,

because of that, we have
the ability to recognize...

leisureliness and freedom,

lightness and ease,

and peace and happiness.

So,

we need to learn to
make use of the background

of our suffering and afflictions,

of our lack of freedom,

of entanglement and attachment,

in order to...

recognize the peace,

happiness, well-being, leisureliness
and freedom that we have.

When a loved one of ours
falls seriously ill

and becomes bedridden,

we see that, that person can no longer...

sit up

and take leisurely, peaceful, happy steps

like we can.

For someone who's dying or already dead,

there's no way to stand up and take such steps.

One such step—

even if they want to pay
a small fortune for it, they can't.

When one falls seriously ill
and is confined to one's bed,

one can never take one such step.

While walking in meditation,

if we can get in touch with the background

of suffering, despair, and deep afflictions,

each step we take will naturally
have an immeasurable value

and bring about a lot of
happiness and well-being.

Whether it's on the grass

or on the...

...pebble-covered road,
each of such steps is a miracle.

The happiness and well-being each of such steps
brings us can be immeasurable.

If we walk in forgetfulness or worries,

those steps don't bring us
any happiness or well-being.

But if we walk with the mindful awareness,

"Many people want to take this step
but they can't,

they're no longer able to do this,"

and we remind ourselves, "I'm having
two strong legs, still able to take these steps,"

the footsteps we take will naturally
have immeasurable value,

bring about a lot of
happiness and well-being,

and have a tremendous healing
and nourishing power on us.

So,

if we want to have well-being, happiness,
liberation, and freedom,

we need to make use of the background
of ill-being, suffering and afflictions,

of fetteredness and bondage.

We see that in the present moment, we're not
in that situation of ill-being or suffering,

we're not in that situation of fetteredness,

and that we can have inner peace,
happiness, and well-being.

With that, each step will naturally have
a nature and quality that's absolutely divine.

These are firsthand experiences

that Thay want to hand down to you.

The secret lies in the way we breathe.

It doesn't matter whether you're
breathing or not breathing,

sitting or not sitting,
walking or not walking.

It's the way you breathe,
sit, or walk that matters.

It doesn't matter
whether you sit in meditation or not,

whether you walk in meditation or not,
whether you breathe or not.

It's the way you walk, the way you sit,
and the way you breathe that matter.

Our happiness and well-being
depends on the way we do all these.

So, in this retreat, each of us
needs to be resolute

to really sit.

It's because the retreat gives us
opportunities to really sit.

It's because, in life, not many people
have the opportunity to really sit.

But in a retreat, we have
the opportunity to really sit.

Have we made good use
of that opportunity?

In a retreat, we get to really breathe.

The retreat schedule gives us many
opportunities to really breathe.

The retreat schedule gives us many
opportunities to really walk.

Do we have this resolve

to breathe in such a way that we have
happiness, well-being, and freedom?

Do we have this resolve
to walk in such a way

that each step brings about
freedom, happiness, and well-being?

Do we have this resolve

to eat our meals in such a way

that each moment of mealtime

becomes a moment of happiness,
well-being, and freedom?

That happiness and well-being, that freedom,
must be found in this very moment.

Buddhism is not a chimeric promise

about happiness in the future.

Buddhism is a path.

Whether we can find
happiness, well-being, and freedom...

in the present moment or not

depends on each of us.

We take refuge in the energy of the
Three Jewels to be able to do that.

Yet the Three Jewels—the Buddha, the Dharma,
and the Sangha—are there for us.

Yesterday we held the Opening Ceremony
for the Rains Retreat.

We shared with one another that
this is such a great,

beautiful,

and marvelous opportunity

to get to come together and live
as a spiritual family in 90 days.

Every day, we have each other.

Every day, we get to practice.
That's what we've aspired.

Many people don't get to have
this opportunity, this happiness.

Meanwhile, we are here,
having that opportunity.

That's why we need to give it our all,
we need to...

put all our heart and mind into the practice.

The practice in a Zen monastery or practice center
is called "công phu," or "daily mindfulness practice".

In the West, when people hear
the term công phu, they mistake it...

for the martial art (kungfu).

But công phu in a Zen monastery or practice center,

first of all, means the daily mindfulness practice of
walking, standing, lying down, sitting, and breathing.

Each step is a daily mindfulness practice.

Each breath is a daily mindfulness practice.

Each smile is a daily mindfulness practice.

So are doing the dishes and cooking.

Everything is a daily mindfulness practice.

There's nothing that isn't
a daily mindfulness practice.

Urinating and defecating

are also daily mindfulness practices.

Because while urinating,
one can still practice mindfulness.

Practicing mindfulness, when one is urinating, one can
also have peace, happiness, leisureliness, and freedom.

And while urinating,
the passing of urine matters the most.

We don't consider the passing of urine to be
any less significant than any other thing.

While doing dishes,
the washing of dishes matters the most.

While walking in meditation,
walking matters the most.

Whatever...

whatever that happens
to be happening

...in the present moment
has its own significance.

Don't consider one thing to be
more important than the other.

Let's say, we're walking from our
living quarters to the meditation hall

to sit in meditation with the sangha.

Sitting meditation is undeniably important.
But walking from our living quarters...

...to the meditation hall
is equally important.

So, when we walk from the living quarters
to the meditation hall,

each footstep must own
a significant nature and quality.

If we rush, if we run
to the meditation hall,

we have sacrificed the present moment,

and we fail to see
the miracle of each footstep.

So,

nothing is more important
than any other thing.

In the light of mindfulness,
in the daily practice of mindful awareness,

any moment is as important as any other moment,

and any bodily action is as important
as any other bodily action.

There need to be inner peace,
well-being, happiness, freedom,

and love in that very moment.

When we walk,

we walk for the Buddha,

we walk for our father,

we walk for our mother.

But where are the Buddha,

our father, and our mother?

The Buddha, our father, and our mother
are all present in us.

That's why when we walk,
the Buddha walks.

When we walk, our father walks.
When we walk, our mother walks.

We bring them all along
in this walk with us.

So, each step

can be...

a collective bodily action.

When we take one step,
we can say,

"I have arrived."

And when we take another step,

we can say, "I am home."

Arrived.

Home.

This is not the parroting back of what's written
in the sutra. This is the embodiment of the practice.

When we take one step saying "I have arrived,"
we have to have truly arrived.

It means, we stop running,
we stop going hither and thither,

we stop wandering away from our true home.
We come back home to the present moment.

We live the present moment deeply and
with a lot of solidity. That's "I have arrived".

If we've truly arrived,

our parents and all our blood ancestors
have also arrived.

Very miraculous.

I have arrived.

I am home.

I have already arrived.

I am already home.

We can put our heart and mind
to the soles of our feet.

And we put our heart and mind to...

the feet's contact with the ground.

I have arrived.

I am home.

Our having truly arrived, our being
truly home—or the lack thereof,

leave their marks.

We can't make empty declarations. When we say
"I have arrived," we have to have truly arrived.

When we say "I am home,"
we must truly be home.

If we've truly arrived,

our mind doesn't wander...

...idly or go hither and thither anymore.

Our mind is dwelling peacefully
and contentedly in the here and now.

Walking this way, we walk
for our father, our mother,

the Buddha, Thay, and the whole sangha.

Walking this way nourishes us,

Thay, the whole sangha, and
our dear father and mother.

What a miracle!

What are you still searching for?

What practices are you still searching for?

This is a concrete practice—a Dharma door,
that works wonders. This is "the only way in."

The only way into the realm of happiness and well-being.
The only way into the realm of freedom and liberation.

That's "Nhất Nhập Đạo,"
i.e. The Only Way In.

When we walk in meditation
with the sangha, we...

benefit from the sangha's
collective energy,

because everyone wants to successfully
walk in mindful awareness the same.

Because of that, we don't fall into the trap
of practicing for the sake of appearances.

We're very fortunate people.

We're very blessed. We have all the right conditions
to practice, and to succeed in the practice.

If we can't make it,

it's us who are to blame.

If we just let our days and time pass us by,
if we just let 90 days zip past us,

it's very not-right of us,

it's not very kind of us,

to treat our blood ancestors, the Buddha,
Thay, and the sangha this way.

We know that

building the sangha

and dedicating and offering to the sangha

is something we can do

in each moment of our daily life.

The most precious gift

we can offer to our sangha

is our own practice.

When a person takes
peaceful and happy steps,

that person...

is offering the sangha
their most precious gift.

It's not by gluing ourselves to the computers, working
day and night, that we're offering to the sangha

or be of service for the sangha.

That said, it doesn't mean
that we spurn computers because...

if we use computers and
work with mindfulness—

if we do everything with all our mindful awareness,
that'll also be a great dedication to the sangha.

When we cook for the sangha—
let's say, we cook for 200 people,

of course, the merit is there,
i.e. there's already the intention of love.

But if we hurry and want to get the cooking over with,
if we don't have inner peace and happiness while cooking,

the gift we offer to the sangha will
fall short of the beauty we intended.

But if—while cooking for the sangha—
each moment of washing, chopping,

stirring, and frying, there's inner peace,
happiness, and mindful awareness,

that's...

a huge gift we're dedicating
and offering to the sangha.

Not only does the sangha have the physical food
to eat, but the sangha also has...

the divine nature and quality of mindfulness.

That's the most precious thing.

When a sangha is brimming with this divine
nature and quality of mindful awareness,

the sangha is truly
one of the Three Jewels,

it's truly "a place of refuge for
the ocean of beings in the ten directions"

(excerpted from "Praising Ancestral Teachers Ceremony"
or "Nghi Thức Chúc Tán Tổ Sư" chanting text).

So,

Former US President Kennedy once said,

"Ask not what your country
can do for you,

ask what you can do
for your country."

That quote has often been...

repeated by many people.

Well, we can...

change it into, "Ask not
what your sangha can do for you,

ask what you can do for your sangha."

But what can we do for the sangha?

Here it's very clear: We walk for the sangha,
we breathe for the sangha,

we sit for the sangha.

And that's our biggest dedication,
offering, and contribution to the sangha.

That's what sangha building is.

Building the sangha

and dedicating to the sangha,

we are—at the same time, building ourselves
and dedicating to ourselves.

Because the giver and the given...

cannot be separated.

It's like, this year Thay has told...

lay friends,

"If you want to send a gift to Thay,

instead of buying it from a supermarket,

you should...

promise Thay that you'll practice something.

For example, 'From now on,
whenever I hold a cup of tea in my hands,

I will practice seeing a cloud in the tea.' "

Well, some people have...

made very good promises.

E.g. "Whenever I walk up the stairs
to get to my bed,

I'll practice taking leisurely, peaceful and
happy steps, and remind myself of you, Thay."

Well,

that's a gift.

But,

although we say "it's a gift for Thay",

we benefit a lot from it ourselves.

Every day we get to take such mindful steps,

and every day when we drink our tea, we can
be in touch with the cloud in our cup of tea.

With that, the giver and the given
are not two separate self-entities.

Even though we're the giver,
we're at the same time the given.

And even though the other person is the given,
they're at the same time the giver.

It's called "the emptiness in giving"—
i.e. "The gift, the giver, and the given are one."

[Bell]

Seize that opportunity.

Don't let that opportunity...

slip away, only to regret later,
"Good grief,...

I had that opportunity
but I didn't seize it."

Each of us should maintain a công phu journal.

In the evening, we can make a few minutes
to keep records and reflect on, say,...

"How is the quality of my sitting today?",

"How is the quality of my breathing today?",

"How is the quality of my working today?",

or "How is the quality of my walking today?".

"Do I enjoy and benefit...

from the opportunities

that the Buddha, the Dharma,
and the Sangha...

have dedicated to me?

Or do I continue to complain?"

We've got many, many opportunities
like this that we need to seize.

When we can take mindful steps like that,

when we can take mindful breaths like that,

when we work happily like that,

we've become but a source of
inspiration for those around us.

Our contribution will, then, be
of great significance to the sangha.

Every day, we make time to eat breakfast,
to eat lunch, to eat dinner, to do the washing up,

and to clean things up.

But we should also make a few minutes

at the end of the day for journaling,

to see how well...

we've done our 'business,'
i.e. our practice, today.

Did I walk more mindfully today? Was there
more quality of mindfulness in my steps?

Have I breathed with a deeper sense of
inner peace, well-being, and happiness?

Was my sitting more solid and
leisurely than it was yesterday?

We grade the quality of our own practice.
That's what công phu journal is.

Công phu records.

It only takes us 1 or 2 minutes.
Not much.

Keep in mind

that everybody walks the same,

but the nature and quality of
each person's steps is very different.

Some people

...don't have a chance—
they no longer have the chance,

to take a step like that.

Because they've been bedridden
breathing their last.

Our two legs are still strong.

We can take however many steps we'd like.

If we can't make use of them, if we can't benefit from
them and enjoy them, it's indeed very unwise of us.

In that mindful awareness, each step
will bring about a lot of happiness.

So, Thay want to remind you that
the background of suffering and ill-being,

of despair,...

of stuckness,

of entanglement and attachment,

allows us to recognize
the peace, happiness, and freedom

that we can have right in the present moment.

This talk...

is a few encouraging and admonishing words

aimed at helping you
to seize the opportunity—

to not forgo the opportunity,

to practice for yourself,

your family, your clan, your country,
your homeland, and the whole of humanity.

Whatever we can do today, we should do.

Don't wait till tomorrow.

[Thay bowing out]

[Bell]

[Bell]

[Bell]

[Touching hand bell]

[Hand bell]