Touching Miracles in the Pure Land of the Present Moment | Thich Nhat Hanh (EN subtitles)

[Thay bowing in]

Dear Sangha, today is July 26, 2003.

We're currently in Cam Lộ
(Nectar of Compassion) Temple,

Lower Hamlet,
in the Summer’s Retreat 2003.

If we have time,

if we're not too busy
working in our business,

we're able to be in touch
with the miracles of life

in the present moment.

Each flower bud,

each leafstalk,

or each dewdrop,

is a marvel

of life.

And these marvels are not only
around us, but also within us.

For example, our two eyes are a marvel.

If we have time to study the eyes,

we’ll see that the eyes are something
of great preciousness — a real miracle.

And

in large cities in the world,

universities there have institutes

specialized in ophthalmology,

called “Eye Institute.”

In these institutes, they study
the eyes very deeply.

And they find... They come up with
many different methods to protect the eyes,

to protect true marvels.

One day, Thay had the eyes checked.

And it took a little bit

of an effort.

It took Thay

three days

to have an appointment
with an ophthalmologist

at an institute called Eye Institute
in the Columbia University.

The people who worked there had studied.

And they...

They had a very deep understanding
of the eyes.

And they had different techniques
to treat and to protect the eyes,

which are just one of the many marvels
of the human body.

In the human body, there are
other marvels, such as the heart.

There are those who understand
the heart very well

and know how to protect the heart

and to heal the heart when it has problems.

In our body, there are countless marvels.

And those marvels we haven't fully understood.

The departments of biology and anatomy

continue to make important discoveries
about other marvels of the body.

And our soul is the same.
Our soul is something very miraculous.

In terms of

feelings, perceptions, mental formations,
and consciousness,

each feeling is a miracle.

Each perception is a miracle.

Each mental formation is a miracle.

Be it compassion or anger,

these mental formations are all
miraculous manifestations of life.

It’s like...

It's like a lotus flower

and the mud from which the lotus grows.

Not only is the lotus flower a wonder,
but the mud also.

Because we know very well that
without mud, there's no lotus.

It's the same with our body.

There are countless other marvels in
the body that science has yet to discover.

Only a small fraction of them
has been discovered.

In Buddhism, we have a practice called
"observation of the body in the body,"

which helps us look at and merely recognize
the marvels in the body.

“Observation of the body in the body.”

Body belongs to “form”, which is
the first of the five skandhas.

And now, we can invite meditators

and scientists to work together,

to observe the body together, and to discover
all the marvels in the body together.

Which is the first skandha,
called the skandha of “form.”

It may take us

a thousand — or two thousand, years
in order to know in depth

the body of our own.

The material form of us humans.

And with that, science and Buddhism,

scientists and meditators, can now...

work together.

When scientists study something,

they have to observe that thing.

If that object is wiggling, it makes it
very difficult for them to observe.

If a human body is already dead,

one can slice up, say, the liver,
the brain, or the blood to study.

It makes the whole process easier
because these things stay put.

But life is not like that.

Life is constantly moving and changing.

So studying an object of study while it's...

while it's...

while it's still in operation, is very difficult.

So, meditation

is the study of objects while they're
in operation — on the move.

We cannot wait or force them
to lie still before studying.

So now science is following that lead.

They're trying to study the human bodies
not as "still objects."

Still objects are objects

that stay stock-still.

Because when it’s still, when it stays put,
there’s no life in it.

We should learn to study objects
when they’re still living organisms.

And when we train ourselves
to meditate and look deeply,

we observe the body, as well as
mental formations, as phenomena

that are being...

being in operation.

Therefore, meditation can help science,

and science can help meditation.

That's a vision for studies
in the next century

and many centuries to come.

Human body should be studied
more in depth

so that we can be in touch
with all the marvels in the human body.

Besides human body, we also have bodies
of other beings, other species,

such as animal species,

or plant species;

and the cosmic bodies
like stars and constellations,

or the Milky Way.

They are all great marvels.

But if we are too busy working
in our job or business,

already having one shop
but still wanting a second,

wanting to have a bit more income
to dispose,

then we won't have time to be in touch
with all these marvels of the universe.

Wanting to have the best car,
we have to work day and night.

For that reason, we keep working
beyond our normal working hours.

Which we call...

"overtime," working beyond working hours.

Instead of working 8 hours a day,
we work 12 hours a day.

That means, we get home dead tired.

There’s no time left to be in touch
with the wonders of life,

with the marvels inside our body,

and the miracles outside our body,

like, the moonlight...
the light of a full moon,

or the twinkling stars,

or the beauty of an early morning.

So, as we're born a human,

it's such a great fortune.

Because being born a human,
we get to be deeply in touch with

all the marvels

that are in and around us.

Actually, if we were born a bird, we
could still get to be in touch with these.

Or if we were born...

a deer, we could still get to
be in touch with these.

But birds and deer spend quite
too much time searching for food.

They eat all day.

And for that reason,

the time they have left to be in touch
with the marvels of life is very little.

And humans now behave the same.

Completely losing ourselves in eating, clothing,
climbing the career ladder all day,

we have no time to be at ease, and
to be in touch with the wonders of life.

Meanwhile,

these wonders are always there,
in the present moment.

They are in us, and around us.

Wonders

in the body,

wonders of feelings, perceptions,
mental formations, and consciousness.

All of them are wonders.

And Shakyamuni Buddha is someone

who had abdicated his throne,

abandoned his political life,

and left the busy life of a householder

to inquire...

to inquire, to get in touch with and
plumb the depths of these wonders of life.

Someone could say our world is one
full of sorrows and pains.

That may be right.

But only partly right.

Someone else could say the opposite,

that our world is one full of marvels.

That is also right.

There are those who, all year round,
are only in touch with pain and suffering.

But there are those who are wiser.

We don’t know exactly how they do it,

but all day every day, they can get
in touch with wonders and miracles.

On the one hand, one says
life is suffering. That's correct.

On the other hand, one says
life is a miracle. That’s also very correct.

So, live in such a way that we can get in touch
with not only pain and suffering,

but also wonders and miracles of life,

so that a human life doesn’t go to waste.

In Plum Village, we practice "đương hạ Tịnh Độ,”
which means we practice in such a way

that we can be in touch with
the Pure Land of the present moment.

"Đương hạ Tịnh Độ.” "Touching the
Pure Land of the present moment."

It means

we don’t have to wait
until this body dissolves

to get to be born in the Pure Land and be in
touch with the wonders of the Pure Land,

such as lotus flowers the size of truck tires,

or the lotus lake that only has golden
sand instead of mud at the bottom,

or trees made of gold, jade, or jade towers.

That Pure Land

can be called "the Pure Land of the future."

But while waiting for that Pure Land
of the future to come,

we, at Plum Village, practice getting in touch
with "the Pure Land of the present moment."

Because we know that
if we have mindfulness,

if we have awakened awareness,

we’ll be able to tell, to realize,
that within us

are teeming with marvels.

And around us
are teeming with wonders.

The blue sky, the white clouds,

the singing birds, the cheering pines,
the blooming flowers…

So many marvels and wonders!

And if these marvels don’t belong to
the Pure Land, what do they belong to?

Among us are fellow meditators who
come from traditions other than Buddhism,

such as Christian traditions
and Jewish traditions.

This morning we have found that

at Plum Village today,

there are forty-nine...

The retreatants who've joined us

at Plum Village today

represent forty-nine countries.

And we're truly an intercultural,
international sangha.

And we're as a family

living in mindfulness.

Last Thursday

was the departing day of some friends

so places can be given to new friends.

In Upper Hamlet, there are
some young children

who have to leave Plum Village
to go back home.

Many of them cried their hearts out.

Among them were two young friends
from Korea.

Seeing them leave Plum Village crying,
not wanting to leave,

compassion arises in the heart.

Bảo Tích was supposed to leave too.

But thanks to Thay’s intervention, Bảo Tích
can stay on for two more weeks.

So, for what reason
do they like Plum Village

and feel attached to Plum Village
when parting with it?

In Plum Village, there’s literally
nothing interesting.

Neither TV

nor electronic games.

Electronic games and television are not
available. But they like Plum Village. Why?

In Plum Village, young children get to...

young children get to be in touch with
the other, miraculous facets of life.

If all day every day, we only bury
ourselves in TV programs,

if all day every day, we only bury
ourselves in electronic games,

how do we get to come in touch
with wonders of life, with the Pure Land?

We lose the Pure Land.

The adults, on the one hand, are so
preoccupied with work or business,

working themselves too hard,
aiming for riches.

So they lose the Pure Land.

On the other hand, the children are so deep
in TV programs and electronic games.

So they, too, lose the Pure Land.

In Plum Village,

we practice in such a way

that every day we can touch the miracles
in the Pure Land of the present moment.

Doing that,

we help each other

and we help

generate

siblinghood, brotherhood and sisterhood.

And siblinghood is something very ambrosial.

Siblinghood is something very nourishing.

And if young children leave Plum Village
crying, it’s because

it's because they've tasted the flavor
of siblinghood in Plum Village,

and tasted the flavor

of wholesome joys
in the Pure Land of Plum Village.

And we, as Plum Village permanent residents, should preserve Plum Village in such a way

that Plum Village will forever
remain a Pure Land for everyone

to come, practice, and touch
the miracles of the Pure Land

in them and around them.

But Pure Land is not only in Plum Village.

Pure Land is everywhere.

When we're back to our city

— be it Munich,

Amsterdam,

or New York,

if we have mindfulness,

we'll be able to find out

and get in touch with the Pure Land
right where we are.

And the first prerequisite is
don't be too busy,

don't work yourself too hard at work.

Live simply.

Choose one of two.

Either riches.

Or Pure Land.

Choose one.

And after we choose the Pure Land,

we

have to make a step forward,

meaning, we have to help each other
get in touch with the Pure Land.

Because sometimes the Pure Land
is right there but we're so busy arguing,

the Pure Land is there
but can never be touched.

When a couple argue, where...

where is the Pure Land to be found?

When a father and a son/a daughter
are mad at each other and arguing,

how can the Pure Land be available?

So, practice in such a way that we help each other touch the Pure Land

instead of becoming

obstacles for each other.

In each of us, there are seeds
of suffering, anxieties, or worries.

If we often water the seeds of suffering,
anxieties, and worries, in each other,

the Pure Land disappears.

Doing that, we prevent each other
from getting in touch with the Pure Land.

For that reason, be resolved
to do the opposite.

In our daily encounters living with each other,

make sure we water the seeds

of leisureliness, of peace and freedom,

of joy

in ourselves and in other people.

This allows the Pure Land to be.

There’s a French author named André Gide.

He said…

He had a very good definition of God.

He said, “God is happiness.”

“Dieu

c’est le bonheur.”

And he said that...

that happiness, which is God, is
there for us 24 hours, every day.

And for Christian friends, they don’t
call that miraculous realm “Pure Land,”

they call it the “Kingdom of Heaven”.

It means, the Kingdom of God.

"Thiên quốc" in Vietnamese.

The Kingdom of Heaven.

So all that we see in the present moment

— the blue sky, the white clouds,
the green willows, the pink flowers,

or the look in a baby's eyes...

They all belong to the Pure Land,
to the Kingdom of Heaven.

But if we're angry, if we're in despair,
if we're anxious and worried,

how can we get in touch
with these miracles?

So a couple should learn to live
with one another in such a way

that obstacles

can never be established,

making both lose the Pure Land.

Losing the Pure Land is
the most regrettable thing.

Because it’s the most valuable thing
a human can ever touch in their lifetime.

Thay composed a couplet while teaching
and guiding retreats in Korea.

It goes,

“Failing to stroll through the Pure Land, /
For a human, a lifetime has just gone to waste.“

As a human, not being able to tootle
along the Pure Land is such a big waste.

Now learn them by heart,
write them down when you're back home

and place them on your table
just for fun.

“Failing to stroll through the Pure Land,“

Write them down nicely,
like, in calligraphic style.

“For a human, a lifetime
has just gone to waste...“

"...has just gone to waste."

We can put these lines to music
and sing them to ourselves like lullaby.

We should put an intonation,
or exclamation mark here to emphasize it.