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2018 09 30 4 Principles| DT by br Phap Dung

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    [The Plum Village Online Monastery]
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    (Bell)
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    (Bell)
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    (Bell)
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    Dear respected teacher,
    dear brothers and sisters,
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    dear sangha,
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    can you hear OK?
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    This autumn retreat
    we are exploring for three months
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    Thay's
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    14 mindfulness trainings
    of the Order of Interbeing.
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    It's like a tradition that Thay founded.
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    Some of you are new
    to our community, to Plum Village
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    so, please, do your best.
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    If you don't know what
    we are talking about, it is OK.
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    But in the autumn time, for three months
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    we brothers and sisters like to
    go focus on a particular topic
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    so that it nourishes
    all of us to go deeper,
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    to understand Thay,
    to understand our tradition.
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    The Order of Interbeing
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    is a kind of new vision of Thay.
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    Thay is trying to -
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    Back then he didn't really envision
    himself having monastic disciples.
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    I think we've heard him share that,
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    "There are already too many teachers
    with too many students.
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    I will just teach the students
    of other teachers."
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    So he really wanted to
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    just to be doing the part of the teaching.
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    Not having students.
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    I think that during that time,
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    he experimented a lot.
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    You can see some old pictures of Thay,
    his hair is long.
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    I think he is probably
    aware of the hippy movement.
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    If you see Thay's old pictures
    sometimes he looks cool.
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    Looks like a renegade.
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    He didn't wear the formal robe
    like you see Thay does now,
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    and with a OI jacket.
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    We see Thay evolve
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    from a hippyish monk traveling,
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    experimenting and -
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    Anyway, this is my perception, OK?
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    (Laughter)
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    You have to ask Thay yourself.
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    For me that's how I begin
    to understand a little bit
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    of the Order of Interbeing,
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    as well as our tradition.
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    To not to make such a distinction,
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    but Buddhist teaching is to help us
    liberate ourselves
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    and to relieve suffering within us
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    and to relieve suffering in the world.
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    That is the main purpose.
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    Buddhism is not here to describe
    the world, the reality,
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    the nature of things or how we came to be.
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    It's not philosophical.
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    When the Buddha found this path
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    is to help relieve suffering.
    That's it.
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    And as Buddhism evolved,
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    it became more and more philosophical,
    academic, and theoretical.
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    Thay's new Order of Interbeing
    is to revive that.
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    It is something we need to
    look deeply, practice deeply,
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    so we can understand our teacher more,
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    to understand what we are doing here,
    in Plum Village
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    as well as sangha building and so on.
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    Today I will share about the four
    principles of the Order of Interbeing.
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    The Order of Interbeing has precepts,
    the fourteen precepts,
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    and the underlying foundation,
    the spirit of the 14 mindfulness trainings
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    Thay has shared it,
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    put it into four principles, or four
    spirits of the Order of Interbeing.
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    Openness, direct experimentation,
    appropriateness and skillfulness.
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    I will write that up.
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    And before we -
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    To understand those four,
    why they were so important to Thay
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    we will look a little bit
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    at some of the conditions that existed
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    when Thay was becoming,
    evolving as a young monk.
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    This is my own reflection
    to try to understand more
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    and I leave it up to you to study more
    and to look more deeply
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    why these four are so important
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    during Thay's time
    as it is now in our time.
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    The first principle is openness.
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    [Openness]
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    The second one is
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    [Direct Experimentation]
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    direct experimentation.
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    The third one is appropriateness.
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    [Appropriateness]
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    And the last one is skillfulness.
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    [Skilness]
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    And these are things not to just
    write down in notes
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    for us to reflect on in our practice.
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    They are the spirit,
    the guides of practice.
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    To understand a little bit,
    at least my own looking,
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    I try to look at what was happening
    during Thay's time.
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    The conditions.
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    There is a misspelling,
    skill -ful.
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    "Skilness" is not a word yet.
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    (Laughter)
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    Skillfulness.
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    Two "l"s?
    Two two "l"s? Four "l"s?
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    One "l" somewhere there, right?
    Maybe here.
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    (Laughter)
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    Yes? No? The other one!
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    It's not very skillful.
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    (Laughter)
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    Voilà!
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    So I was reflecting a little bit of -
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    And we've heard Thay share
    how he was inspired
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    when he learned about
    what Buddhism did one time
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    during Vietnam's history.
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    How it actually was very integrated
    in society, in politics.
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    A lot of Buddhists
    were teachers of political leaders,
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    so it was very integrated.
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    So Buddhism was never something you do
    outside of what was happening in society.
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    This is something -
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    So during Thay's time,
    there was a war going on.
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    [height war]
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    This is in 1968.
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    What we call the Tet Offensive.
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    [1968 Tết Offensive]
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    It's like a lot of violence happening.
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    There is the -
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    In the war's history they say
    this is the height
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    of when the Vietnamese
    wanted to show America
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    that they are not giving up.
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    So there is a lot of atrocity
    happening in 1968.
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    And just let us know that the OI order
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    [OI Order]
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    1966.
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    This is when Thay -
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    I have a feeling Thay had formulated
    these teachings and trainings before that
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    but we put there 66,
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    it is when sister Chan Khong
    and the six -
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    (Vietnamese)
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    Six cedars? No.
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    (Vietnamese)
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    The first six OI members,
    three men and three women
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    were ordained.
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    So we look and we see that
    during that time
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    there were bombs being thrown
    on the country
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    and people were dying.
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    We have to imagine that time.
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    So, how to help?
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    We all know the story of Thay saying that
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    if you are a monk
    and you are sitting in the monastery
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    and you are chanting
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    and there are bombs and people
    being blown to pieces outside,
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    you do not sit in the temple
    and continue to chant.
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    This is just to understand a little bit
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    Thay's intention.
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    During this time,
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    there are a lot of
    young people's movements,
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    students,
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    [Young People (students)]
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    who were going into the streets,
    in the Universities.
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    [Univ.]
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    This was happening in Vietnam
    and in the US.
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    [VN U.S.]
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    In the mid-sixties, this is happening.
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    The young people
    were actually a great part of the -
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    How many of you
    were part of that movement?
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    Some of you here, yes?
    A few? Let's see hands!
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    In America a lot of OI members
    were from that era.
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    I remember Thay shared with me
    one time he was in Columbia University
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    and there was a student protest.
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    And Thay witnessed all that.
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    This also informs the S-Y student,
    what is it?
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    The S-Y-S-S?
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    What it stands for?
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    Social Service.
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    School? Yes.
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    School for Youth and Social Service.
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    [Sch. Youth. Soc. Serv.)
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    So in this you can see
    what Thay was trying to do.
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    Trying to help bring -
    Have students gather to help.
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    And this is also during the time when Thay
    envisions also a kind of Plum Village,
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    "Phương Bối",
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    Fragrant Palm Village
    in the mountains side.
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    Because he saw as we were doing
    social service and I guess helping,
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    we also needed a place
    to retreat and to revitalize ourselves.
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    There was also
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    religious persecution,
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    [Religious persecution]
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    between -
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    There was a big attack
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    because the person
    who came into political power
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    had Catholic backgrounds.
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    So there was a lot of tension between -
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    and other Buddhist religious sects as well.
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    So this was happening during that time.
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    The big reason for all that
    was the political ideology.
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    [Political Ideology]
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    With the Communists,
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    [Communist]
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    the Democracy,
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    [Democracy]
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    and then of course
    the capitalism and so on.
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    So there is a lot of that happening.
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    Afraid of the -
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    As you learn more of the war
    in Vietnam, the history,
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    as things are coming out more, you see -
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    I think there was recently
    a ten part series
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    on the war in Vietnam.
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    And we see that actually a lot of it
    was so unnecessary.
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    There was a wrong perception,
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    the idea that if you allow one country
    to become Communist,
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    that was not even necessarily
    that assumption was true,
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    that the whole, entire area was -
    They call it the domino effect.
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    And you see how a concept
    creates a fear,
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    as we are doing now with terrorists.
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    But it's a new thing.
    It's not a domino effect,
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    but it's a more -
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    We don't know a term yet for it.
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    But here you see the view,
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    the things that make us have fear
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    and we will not let go.
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    Because of this fear,
    some political leaders,
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    presidents and so on,
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    were afraid and they got stuck in,
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    and because they were stuck in,
    their pride came up.
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    "No longer can I be the president
    that let America fail."
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    So there is stuckness
    because of a view, an idea.
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    And if you are working on the ground,
    and this is happening out there -
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    Thay sees that
    it's not happening in Vietnam,
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    it's not the only place where we are going
    to find peace and resolution to this.
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    This moves Thay to go to the US
    to try to convince
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    the intellectuals, the political leaders,
    the religious leaders
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    to change the idea.
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    These are some of the conditions
    that were happening
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    at the time that the OI,
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    the Order, the Trainings, the Charter -
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    Thay writes the whole complete -
    Not just the trainings,
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    but the Charter,
    how it should be organized,
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    and so on.
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    And this also, during this time,
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    these movements in the US,
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    Thay meets with Martin Luther King.
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    [MLK]
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    After the meeting,
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    Dr. Martin Luther King
    gave a speech on Vietnam.
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    So there is a lot happening as well.
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    Thay came into contact with that
    while he traveled the US.
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    But there were a lot of like-minded people
    doing the - Martin and so on.
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    And Thay at this time also starts to
    look into forming the Van Hanh University.
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    [Van Hanh Unv.]
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    So Thay is trying also
    to re-envision a kind of Buddhism
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    that is informed and interactive,
    engaged Buddhism is born during this time.
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    Thay's engaged Buddhism in the sense of -
    with these conditions.
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    Because Thay has shared that there is a
    movement like this happening also in China
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    with another Buddhist monk.
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    But this is to understand a little bit.
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    Because when we look at
    how something manifests,
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    we need to look at the conditions.
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    That will inform us and we'll understand
    what Thay is trying to do.
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    So those are
    external conditions in society.
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    We can also look into Thay,
    what inspires him.
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    The Lý and Trần dynasties.
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    [Lý, Trần Dyn.]
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    This is where Buddhism
    was very integrated with society.
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    [B. - Soc.]
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    Not separated.
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    And Thay shares a lot about this.
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    And during this time,
    Thay would begin to write -
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    Before the founding of the Order,
    he wrote two books.
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    "Modernized Buddhism",
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    [Modernized Bud.]
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    "Đạo Phật hiện đại hóa" in Vietnamese.
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    [Đ. P. hiện đại hóa]
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    And then he writes another one,
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    "Socially Engaged Buddhism".
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    [Socially Eng. B.]
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    This one is
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    "Đạo Phật đi vào cuộc đời".
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    [Đi vào c. đ.]
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    So here Thay is expressing
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    and he is also in this time writing
    many articles in Buddhist magazines
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    to share his vision of a Buddhism
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    that is very connected to society,
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    working in politics,
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    social service
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    as well as in education,
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    in organizations and so on.
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    This is a vision of Thay for the SYSS,
    the School of Youth and Social Service.
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    In the School of Youth and Social Service
    they went into the villages
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    and they helped organize the health care,
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    the management as well as
    very practical things,
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    helping the farmers deep wells.
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    It was not just go there
    and teach Buddhism,
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    but go there and you'll see.
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    This was Thay's vision of monastics
    or OI members doing not just
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    "philosophical ideas",
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    but actually very practical.
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    So it's an engaged, practical Buddhism
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    that is not just in the temple,
    in the University,
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    but actually embedded in society.
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    So we can here begin to see
    these four principles
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    based on these conditions.
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    There was a very intense debate
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    between two ideas.
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    And Thay saw that very clearly,
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    that it caused a lot of suffering
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    just based on a viewpoint,
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    having an agenda.
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    So the first principle
    of the Order of Interbeing is openness.
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    In Vietnamese it is "phá chấp".
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    [phá chấp]
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    It is very interesting.
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    I read the Vietnamese.
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    It's not "cởi mở",
    "cởi mở" is openness.
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    But it is "phá chấp".
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    "Phá" is to phá, right?
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    (Laughter)
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    To remove.
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    But it also means to mess around.
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    To "phá", to remove.
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    [remove]
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    And "chấp" is like
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    stuckness.
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    [stuckness]
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    To remove stuckness.
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    Thay would say it is also "thủ",
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    a kind of grasping.
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    It is very interesting, eh?
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    Openness is to remove your -
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    You know?
    Openness is like this.
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    This way is describing
    "to remove your -".
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    And everyone can relate to that.
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    When you have a view
    and you think you're right,
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    it's pretty tight.
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    (Laughter)
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    He is wrong!
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    You hold your breath, right?
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    When you are right, you hold your breath.
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    (Laughter)
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    You know that feeling, right?
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    You see, openness is very -
    It's up to you!
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    You want to hold?
    Or you want to -?
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    You can see.
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    This is easy to understand
    on the individual level,
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    but when it happens on a mass level,
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    when a whole nation,
    when a whole group of people
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    is based on fear and wrong perceptions,
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    they build walls,
    they make more guns,
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    start to have cameras,
  • 26:58 - 27:00
    start to search.
  • 27:00 - 27:02
    You know, at the airport?
  • 27:04 - 27:08
    This is to understand
    what Thay is looking at
  • 27:09 - 27:12
    in terms of what is coming
    for the modern world.
  • 27:12 - 27:17
    Because of the militarization, the fear,
    the wrong perceptions.
  • 27:18 - 27:25
    This is the root of a lot of suffering
    in the world on the mass scale.
  • 27:26 - 27:29
    And it begins with the individual scale.
  • 27:30 - 27:32
    If you cannot handle this,
  • 27:32 - 27:35
    if you go to education
    and you are not taught this,
  • 27:35 - 27:38
    you will become a leader.
  • 27:38 - 27:42
    And if you don't know how the mind works,
    you will be caught in a view.
  • 27:43 - 27:48
    My sister Tue Nghiem
    will speak more about this next week
  • 27:48 - 27:52
    so I will stop there.
  • 27:58 - 28:03
    And of course,
    this you can understand more,
  • 28:04 - 28:08
    the root of it, in the Buddhist teaching
    in the Sutra called the Kalama,
  • 28:09 - 28:14
    [Kalama Sutra]
  • 28:16 - 28:20
    where these monks
    from a different tradition,
  • 28:20 - 28:26
    many teachers teach them many things
    and they don't know which one to follow
  • 28:26 - 28:28
    because they all make sense.
  • 28:28 - 28:31
    This is the Buddha teaching
  • 28:34 - 28:37
    you need to test it yourself
    and see if it works.
  • 28:39 - 28:40
    So it's a kind of a -
  • 28:42 - 28:47
    The Sutra that shows the spirit
    of openness, of tolerance in Buddhism.
  • 28:50 - 28:54
    Now we move into direct experimentation.
  • 29:06 - 29:08
    In Vietnamese it's
  • 29:14 - 29:15
    "thực chứng".
  • 29:15 - 29:17
    [thực chứng]
  • 29:19 - 29:21
    (Vietnamese)
  • 29:24 - 29:25
    "Thực chứng"
  • 29:26 - 29:28
    Real
  • 29:28 - 29:30
    [real]
  • 29:33 - 29:35
    experience.
  • 29:35 - 29:38
    [experience]
  • 29:39 - 29:42
    This is a heart
    of the Buddhist teaching as well.
  • 29:43 - 29:47
    It's based on our own experience
  • 29:47 - 29:53
    that we believe in something
    or not believe in something.
  • 29:54 - 29:57
    This is also found in the Kalama Sutra.
  • 29:58 - 30:03
    So it's not a belief based on
    what a teacher or what the Sutra
  • 30:03 - 30:05
    or what someone says,
  • 30:06 - 30:08
    but it is from your direct -
  • 30:08 - 30:11
    And we need to keep this in mind.
  • 30:11 - 30:14
    Because it's very easy just to follow.
  • 30:31 - 30:34
    So the practice of meditation
  • 30:35 - 30:36
    will help us
  • 30:39 - 30:44
    know more and more
    what is appropriate for us.
  • 30:44 - 30:49
    So these two are very linked to
    appropriateness and skillfulness.
  • 30:51 - 30:53
    Sometimes we learn something
  • 30:54 - 30:59
    and we have not fully tasted it
  • 31:00 - 31:03
    and we are very easy to teach it.
  • 31:03 - 31:06
    This is a danger.
  • 31:07 - 31:14
    Also in our work of
    - how we call it-
  • 31:14 - 31:17
    sangha building or helping the world,
  • 31:18 - 31:21
    this is where it can be dangerous
  • 31:23 - 31:25
    in terms of -
  • 31:25 - 31:29
    If you have not found ease,
    found peace within yourself,
  • 31:29 - 31:32
    have touched that within us,
  • 31:32 - 31:34
    and we go and teach it,
  • 31:35 - 31:37
    I think that's where it can become
  • 31:38 - 31:41
    in Vietnamese they call it (Vietnamese).
  • 31:41 - 31:45
    It's like you do the Buddhist work,
  • 31:46 - 31:48
    sangha building for instance,
  • 31:48 - 31:52
    and you see this a lot in sangha building.
  • 31:56 - 31:59
    You come into the sangha,
    you join the sangha,
  • 31:59 - 32:01
    and you learn about
    the 5 mindfulness trainings,
  • 32:02 - 32:05
    you practice it but it's not fully ripe.
  • 32:06 - 32:08
    And then you hear
    there is a 14 mindfulness training.
  • 32:08 - 32:11
    Wow!
    14! Bigger number!
  • 32:11 - 32:13
    (Laughter)
  • 32:13 - 32:16
    And you get involved.
  • 32:17 - 32:19
    You have a good spirit,
  • 32:19 - 32:22
    you want to continue Thay's
    engaged Buddhism!
  • 32:24 - 32:28
    But because of this direct experience,
  • 32:29 - 32:31
    direct
  • 32:31 - 32:35
    [realization]
  • 32:37 - 32:38
    ripening
  • 32:38 - 32:40
    [ripening]
  • 32:40 - 32:42
    Two "n"s? One "n".
  • 32:49 - 32:51
    This is very important
  • 32:51 - 32:54
    and it links to direct experimentation.
  • 32:55 - 32:58
    We are very good to -
  • 33:02 - 33:03
    How we called it -
  • 33:04 - 33:06
    We like newness, we like -
  • 33:08 - 33:10
    Once you know it,
  • 33:10 - 33:13
    and we've done it once,
    like walking meditation,
  • 33:13 - 33:15
    we've touched it,
  • 33:15 - 33:18
    as, "Now I can walk in meditation".
  • 33:18 - 33:19
    But we don't continue it.
  • 33:20 - 33:23
    It's like, "Let's do something else,
    let's start jogging meditation.
  • 33:26 - 33:28
    It's fast walking meditation".
  • 33:30 - 33:33
    Or sitting everyday, you touch it
  • 33:34 - 33:37
    and you get bored of it.
    "Let's go sit outside!".
  • 33:37 - 33:40
    Or, "Let's sit -"
    We -
  • 33:41 - 33:43
    Because of our restlessness,
  • 33:44 - 33:47
    and our not-stillness,
  • 33:48 - 33:53
    this direct experimentation
    can be a temptation.
  • 33:54 - 33:58
    We haven't really touched
    this kind of stillness,
  • 33:58 - 34:01
    this kind of calm, this peace,
    this freedom.
  • 34:03 - 34:07
    It hasn't ripened in the Buddhist circle
  • 34:07 - 34:09
    and we are too quick
  • 34:09 - 34:14
    to start engaging in the world.
    Sangha building.
  • 34:16 - 34:19
    What will happen is -
  • 34:19 - 34:22
    Two of those elements come together
  • 34:22 - 34:25
    and you have collision of views.
  • 34:26 - 34:29
    This is something we need to know,
  • 34:29 - 34:31
    because OI members,
  • 34:32 - 34:35
    one of their fundamental-
    not fundamental,
  • 34:35 - 34:41
    one of their misperception
    or kind a drive in OI members
  • 34:41 - 34:45
    is to sangha build,
    and to engage in the world,
  • 34:45 - 34:49
    and to help do what Thay did
    during his time.
  • 34:51 - 34:57
    This is -
    It needs to be some caution with that.
  • 34:58 - 35:05
    Because I think, as we talk with
    OI members and sangha builders,
  • 35:06 - 35:13
    there is a lot of colliding of viewpoints
    if we are not careful.
  • 35:15 - 35:21
    So this is direct experimentation.
  • 35:23 - 35:26
    We like it. You can see
    how Thay was influenced
  • 35:29 - 35:36
    by the West scientific rational thinking,
    to test everything.
  • 35:39 - 35:42
    But do we need to test everything?
  • 35:43 - 35:46
    Sometimes in Dharma sharing
    or consultation
  • 35:47 - 35:51
    I hear someone describe their suffering
    and it's something I've never experienced.
  • 35:53 - 35:56
    Do I need to go experiment with that?
  • 35:57 - 35:59
    No, there is another thing going on.
  • 35:59 - 36:03
    It is also a kind of intuition,
    our wisdom, our own deep looking.
  • 36:04 - 36:07
    So this is out there.
  • 36:07 - 36:10
    We just recently had a Wake Up retreat
  • 36:11 - 36:15
    and a young man said,
    "I want to experience everything!",
  • 36:16 - 36:23
    including open sex, open relationships.
  • 36:24 - 36:26
    And I was like, "OK, good".
  • 36:27 - 36:32
    It is quite interesting,
    because you hear a lot of sharing
  • 36:32 - 36:35
    about the suffering surrounding that.
  • 36:35 - 36:40
    But he didn't want to
    just believe in someone else,
  • 36:41 - 36:43
    he wanted to experiment.
  • 36:43 - 36:46
    I chose not to.
  • 36:47 - 36:50
    It's very clear where it leads.
  • 36:50 - 36:53
    Because there is a wrong perception.
  • 36:53 - 36:57
    We don't look deeply
    that we are lacking something
  • 36:58 - 37:01
    and we are chasing maybe
    a sensual pleasure.
  • 37:01 - 37:05
    Anyway, certain things
    that you can look deeply into.
  • 37:06 - 37:08
    And from the deep looking,
  • 37:08 - 37:10
    we don't need -
  • 37:11 - 37:13
    We can see clearly.
  • 37:13 - 37:19
    So the experimentation doesn't-
    This is where there is a fine line.
  • 37:19 - 37:21
    I think we all know this.
  • 37:22 - 37:26
    It's obvious that there are certain things
    you can know it's hot. Don't touch it.
  • 37:27 - 37:29
    But it's very tempting.
  • 37:30 - 37:32
    So experimentation
  • 37:35 - 37:39
    is very tempting.
  • 37:52 - 37:56
    We will have a sound of the bell
    before we continue.
  • 38:08 - 38:09
    (Bell)
  • 38:11 - 38:18
    (Bell)
  • 38:42 - 38:45
    One time I heard Thay share
  • 38:45 - 38:48
    that before he brings out
    a new teaching, a new practice,
  • 38:49 - 38:52
    he has practiced it for about ten years.
  • 38:53 - 38:57
    I think it was during a Dharma talk,
    I've forgiven which practice it was.
  • 38:58 - 39:00
    But that's pretty -
  • 39:01 - 39:03
    And there are other instances
  • 39:03 - 39:07
    where we've seen Thay
    held on to his insight for a long time.
  • 39:09 - 39:13
    And then he revealed it to the sangha.
  • 39:13 - 39:17
    That is something I'm learning.
  • 39:18 - 39:21
    Because usually we find something,
    we learn something,
  • 39:21 - 39:23
    we experience something
  • 39:23 - 39:26
    and we right away,
    the way my education is,
  • 39:26 - 39:30
    we share it out before it's ripe.
  • 39:31 - 39:38
    There is something that is in the training
    that is very hard to transmit.
  • 39:38 - 39:41
    And that is the thing
    that I'm learning here.
  • 39:41 - 39:45
    There are certain things
    we have to cherish
  • 39:45 - 39:48
    and keep practicing until it ripens.
  • 39:50 - 39:54
    I know it's not always the case,
  • 39:55 - 39:58
    but there are certain things you do,
    you practice
  • 39:58 - 40:02
    and you find lightness,
    liberation, more insight.
  • 40:02 - 40:06
    And it is amazing what happens
    when you keep it.
  • 40:07 - 40:10
    Don't share it out too quickly.
  • 40:11 - 40:15
    Have we ever thought about
    writing a book?
  • 40:16 - 40:21
    Have we ever shared it with someone and
    then somehow the inspiration goes away?
  • 40:23 - 40:26
    Or you want to do something and
    you get so excited and you share it
  • 40:26 - 40:30
    to too many people and then
    we just don't do it anymore.
  • 40:31 - 40:34
    I don't know, there is something
    psychological about that.
  • 40:35 - 40:38
    In the mindfulness trainings,
    in our practice,
  • 40:40 - 40:44
    it has something to do
    with intuition as well.
  • 40:44 - 40:47
    There is an inner training
    that is happening.
  • 40:49 - 40:53
    When you succeed, and you have an insight
    on one of the trainings,
  • 40:54 - 40:58
    it is very tempting to share it
    in Dharma sharing right away.
  • 40:58 - 41:01
    I know you are supposed to,
    and the monks encourage you to,
  • 41:03 - 41:07
    but just -
    I throw that out there.
  • 41:09 - 41:11
    To cook something,
  • 41:12 - 41:14
    don't let people look in it.
  • 41:15 - 41:18
    You are cooking potatoes,
    stop lifting the lid
  • 41:19 - 41:21
    letting people look into it.
  • 41:21 - 41:24
    It's not going to cook.
  • 41:25 - 41:28
    I don't know how to share
    this way of training.
  • 41:29 - 41:31
    Outside you don't train like this.
  • 41:31 - 41:34
    In education, in university,
    you have something,
  • 41:35 - 41:39
    Ah! You write it on Facebook
    and you let everyone know.
  • 41:43 - 41:46
    You have lo live here at least five years
  • 41:47 - 41:51
    for you to taste that.
  • 41:53 - 41:56
    To have that direct experience.
  • 41:59 - 42:03
    There was something I wanted to
    share about experimenting.
  • 42:07 - 42:15
    When you discover something from your
    experience and from your experimentation,
  • 42:17 - 42:20
    don't make a thing out of it.
  • 42:20 - 42:22
    (Laughter)
  • 42:22 - 42:26
    You know? You discover that
    these shoes are amazing!
  • 42:27 - 42:29
    And you just go around
    telling all your brothers,
  • 42:29 - 42:34
    "These shoes are amazing!
    They help you run, they keep your back,
  • 42:34 - 42:37
    you will never have backaches again".
  • 42:37 - 42:43
    You begin to form a theory around it.
    You make a thing out of it.
  • 42:44 - 42:46
    You know what I'm talking about?
  • 42:48 - 42:51
    You discover a new food,
  • 42:51 - 42:54
    you went on the Internet
  • 42:55 - 42:57
    and it starts so like -
  • 42:58 - 43:01
    And it becomes something.
  • 43:02 - 43:05
    That will make the openness less.
  • 43:06 - 43:09
    Slowly, your thing you discovered,
  • 43:10 - 43:12
    you hold it.
  • 43:13 - 43:16
    That is so hard to do.
  • 43:19 - 43:22
    So I'm very sensitive to that.
  • 43:22 - 43:27
    I have suffered a lot
    because of my own "thing out of it".
  • 43:30 - 43:34
    I helped form the teenage program,
  • 43:35 - 43:38
    one of my sufferings
    as the abbot in Deer Park Monastery
  • 43:38 - 43:43
    was I helped for six years
    to form the Teenage Program.
  • 43:44 - 43:47
    Just the teenagers, no parents.
  • 43:48 - 43:52
    I remember the teenagers
    came to us after a family retreat
  • 43:53 - 43:55
    and they spoke to me,
  • 43:56 - 44:00
    and they shared it to me, only me.
  • 44:00 - 44:03
    And they shared,
    "Oh, we don't want our parents here".
  • 44:04 - 44:10
    I remember it was very inspiring to see
    the young people, Vietnamese Americans.
  • 44:10 - 44:12
    I really connected to them,
  • 44:12 - 44:15
    I can feel they need space
    from their parents.
  • 44:15 - 44:18
    Because the teenagers,
    with their parents around,
  • 44:18 - 44:22
    they always get followed by their parents.
  • 44:23 - 44:25
    "Do you drink enough water?", or
  • 44:25 - 44:28
    "You're late for walking meditation!"
  • 44:29 - 44:32
    So I remember hearing that
    from the teenagers
  • 44:32 - 44:35
    and slowly we convinced
    the parents not to come.
  • 44:35 - 44:38
    But some parents wanted to be staff,
  • 44:38 - 44:41
    so they came in the staff
    to watch their kids.
  • 44:41 - 44:43
    Anyhow, I was involved in this
  • 44:43 - 44:46
    and I had to slowly, skilfully
    get rid of the parents.
  • 44:47 - 44:49
    (Laughter)
  • 44:49 - 44:51
    And after six years, we finally had real -
  • 44:52 - 44:54
    And every year we would do it.
  • 44:54 - 44:57
    And one year, the sangha decided,
  • 44:57 - 45:01
    "Maybe we should combine
    the teenage program with the families,
  • 45:01 - 45:03
    because we are doing too many retreats."
  • 45:04 - 45:06
    And I got really upset.
  • 45:07 - 45:12
    I was very, like, "You know
    how long it took to form that program?"
  • 45:14 - 45:19
    I remember in that meeting
    I was quite not appropriate
  • 45:19 - 45:22
    and not skillful.
  • 45:22 - 45:23
    (Laughter)
  • 45:23 - 45:26
    This is sangha building, you know?
  • 45:26 - 45:28
    I was doing good!
    I was building the sangha!
  • 45:28 - 45:31
    Doing what Thay wants!
  • 45:33 - 45:37
    But I didn't listen to anyone else.
  • 45:37 - 45:39
    I pretended I listened,
  • 45:40 - 45:44
    but I think I came back really hurt.
  • 45:46 - 45:50
    I made a thing out of it.
    It's a good thing,
  • 45:51 - 45:53
    but still not good, because -
  • 45:54 - 45:56
    I was -
  • 45:56 - 46:01
    Anyway, that is where the phrase
    "Don't make a thing out of it!" comes from.
  • 46:01 - 46:04
    Don't make your thing become a "thing".
  • 46:05 - 46:06
    (Laughter)
  • 46:06 - 46:09
    I know this is hard to translate.
  • 46:09 - 46:11
    (Laughter)
  • 46:14 - 46:17
    That is involved with dogmatism.
  • 46:18 - 46:22
    It is the technical word for it. Right?
    Dogmatism, and other ism.
  • 46:23 - 46:27
    The ism is you make whatever it is
    into an ism.
  • 46:27 - 46:30
    That is to be careful of.
  • 46:34 - 46:37
    So we move into appropriateness.
  • 46:56 - 46:59
    Appropriateness in Vietnamese is
  • 47:00 - 47:02
    "khế cỏ".
  • 47:02 - 47:04
    [khế cỏ]
  • 47:04 - 47:07
    I've just learned this morning
    "khế" is like -
  • 47:11 - 47:14
    I said, I know what "cỏ" is, like
  • 47:14 - 47:16
    (Vietnamese)
  • 47:16 - 47:19
    But what is "khế"?
  • 47:19 - 47:21
    It's appropriateness, right?
  • 47:21 - 47:24
    But I don't know why there is two words.
  • 47:24 - 47:27
    But it goes with "khế Lý",
  • 47:28 - 47:31
    [khế Lý]
  • 47:31 - 47:33
    which is -
  • 47:34 - 47:37
    I keep forgetting that something today.
  • 47:39 - 47:41
    "Khế cỏ" and ""khế Lý",
  • 47:42 - 47:44
    this is appropriate,
  • 47:44 - 47:46
    [app.]
  • 47:46 - 47:48
    to the situation.
  • 47:49 - 47:51
    [situation]
  • 47:53 - 47:55
    And this is appropriate
  • 47:55 - 47:57
    [app.]
  • 48:03 - 48:06
    to the principle, to the spirit,
  • 48:10 - 48:12
    to the principle, Lý.
  • 48:12 - 48:14
    [principle]
  • 48:15 - 48:17
    Spirit.
  • 48:17 - 48:19
    [spirit]
  • 48:19 - 48:23
    Or in the Buddhist circle, we say maybe
    to the Dharma.
  • 48:23 - 48:26
    [Dharma]
  • 48:28 - 48:34
    To whatever it is
    that makes you it feels OK.
  • 48:37 - 48:40
    So there is a situation.
  • 48:43 - 48:46
    And there is also the Dharma.
  • 48:56 - 49:02
    Sometimes, the Dharma, if you teach it
    and it is not appropriate,
  • 49:02 - 49:04
    then it becomes -
  • 49:05 - 49:08
    I don't know, it's hard,
    but like poisonous.
  • 49:08 - 49:11
    Like you do harm to the Dharma.
  • 49:12 - 49:14
    For instance, you go home
  • 49:14 - 49:17
    and you are so inspired
    after two weeks in Plum Village,
  • 49:19 - 49:21
    mindfulness!
  • 49:22 - 49:23
    Plum Village!
  • 49:23 - 49:26
    And you go home
    and you tell it to your family,
  • 49:29 - 49:33
    "Eating in silence is so good for you!
    You touche peace."
  • 49:34 - 49:38
    But you don't know
    the situation, the person.
  • 49:38 - 49:41
    You don't know the situation
    of your family is not appropriate.
  • 49:42 - 49:46
    It is not skillful, it is not appropriate,
    they are not ready.
  • 49:46 - 49:49
    The Dharma is not for that.
  • 49:50 - 49:52
    You go to the Dharma
  • 49:52 - 49:55
    but it is not something
    you put in the Dharma.
  • 49:55 - 49:58
    We hear this all the time from -
  • 50:01 - 50:05
    That's my own experience as well as many
    consultations and Dharma sharings.
  • 50:06 - 50:11
    So knowing what is appropriate
    for the situation, for our time.
  • 50:15 - 50:20
    I remember first learning about
    the practice, my first retreat.
  • 50:20 - 50:24
    I came home, and I organized
    everything in our house.
  • 50:25 - 50:29
    I put everything back
    to where it should go, the shoes.
  • 50:29 - 50:34
    And then the closet,
    I helped my mum redo her food stuff,
  • 50:34 - 50:36
    the cans, can food.
  • 50:37 - 50:40
    It became an obsession.
    Because I had an idea
  • 50:41 - 50:47
    that when you put things mindfully,
    it goes back to where it should be.
  • 50:47 - 50:50
    You all have that idea?
    As a beginning practitioner?
  • 50:50 - 50:53
    It's the most beautiful and tempting idea.
  • 50:53 - 50:56
    To practice mindfulness
    when you put a cup down,
  • 50:56 - 50:59
    it has a place.
  • 50:59 - 51:02
    I mean, it makes sense, right?
    But when it becomes an obsession -
  • 51:03 - 51:06
    Ow! OK, that toothbrush is not -
  • 51:07 - 51:10
    It goes in here, eh?
  • 51:10 - 51:13
    The shoe, it goes there!
  • 51:13 - 51:18
    These mats should be straighter.
  • 51:20 - 51:22
    So we begin to -
  • 51:22 - 51:25
    And then I go home
    and I do this to the house.
  • 51:26 - 51:30
    My two brothers were back from college,
    back for the summer,
  • 51:30 - 51:32
    and we shared the same house.
  • 51:33 - 51:35
    (Laughter)
  • 51:36 - 51:38
    And the story, you know.
  • 51:39 - 51:43
    We had a lot of interesting conversations.
  • 51:43 - 51:45
    They were fully not open.
  • 51:46 - 51:48
    (Laughter)
  • 51:48 - 51:50
    So I caused a lot of suffering
  • 51:50 - 51:57
    because of my "Lý" law.
  • 51:58 - 52:00
    I had a reason for everything.
  • 52:01 - 52:04
    And because it's "Lý" -
  • 52:06 - 52:11
    So when something is appropriate,
    it is also in line with the Dharma,
  • 52:12 - 52:17
    in line with something more true,
    more human, more open, more whatever,
  • 52:18 - 52:20
    less suffering.
  • 52:20 - 52:23
    If it is appropriate,
    it will not cause suffering.
  • 52:25 - 52:29
    This is something
    we need to ingrain in ourselves.
  • 52:29 - 52:33
    Because we believe so much in truth,
    we believe that this really happened,
  • 52:35 - 52:36
    and we say it.
  • 52:37 - 52:39
    "But it is the truth!"
  • 52:40 - 52:43
    But the person is not ready for it.
  • 52:44 - 52:47
    So we cause suffering.
    Truth does not harm.
  • 52:48 - 52:51
    But we have an idea about truth,
    that it is objective.
  • 52:51 - 52:55
    Somewhere there is a truth.
    "This is really what happened!".
  • 52:57 - 53:00
    And we cause suffering
    because of our truth.
  • 53:00 - 53:03
    There are many truths.
  • 53:03 - 53:05
    And that is very hard to believe.
  • 53:05 - 53:07
    Specially when you are right.
  • 53:07 - 53:09
    (Laughter)
  • 53:09 - 53:12
    When you are right, it is like,
  • 53:12 - 53:15
    "OK, I give it a year,
    but I'm still right."
  • 53:20 - 53:24
    A lot of suffering, for yourself as well,
    because you hold it like this
  • 53:24 - 53:28
    and when you see that brother you kind of-
    You see that sister, you kind of-
  • 53:28 - 53:31
    because you are holding on to something.
  • 53:31 - 53:34
    Remember that image, eh?
    You have a choice!
  • 53:36 - 53:38
    Relax.
  • 53:38 - 53:41
    It's true, but, you know,
    there are many truths.
  • 53:42 - 53:44
    It is such a hard training.
  • 53:45 - 53:47
    If you want to taste it,
    come and stay here one year.
  • 53:48 - 53:50
    We will put you in the cooking team.
  • 53:50 - 53:52
    (Laughter)
  • 53:52 - 53:55
    Like the brother shared.
    Advance training.
  • 53:55 - 53:59
    I already shared that in the lay -
    No, he shared -
  • 54:00 - 54:03
    The cooking team
    is the most advanced training.
  • 54:04 - 54:08
    It's strange for a monastery.
  • 54:08 - 54:11
    It is supposed to be
    in the meditation hall.
  • 54:13 - 54:15
    Sorry, I'm a comedian.
  • 54:15 - 54:18
    (Laughter)
  • 54:18 - 54:21
    When we say "khế Lý",
  • 54:21 - 54:23
    how do we know it is appropriate?
  • 54:23 - 54:29
    This requires us to go deeper and deeper
    as we do the sangha building,
  • 54:29 - 54:34
    as we become OI members,
    to touch interbeing, and so on.
  • 54:34 - 54:38
    The three, the six,
    the three, the two threes.
  • 54:38 - 54:43
    Just remember, the three seals
    and the three doors.
  • 54:45 - 54:48
    And you use that to test everything.
  • 54:48 - 54:52
    You want to experiment? Go ahead,
    but use these to test.
  • 54:53 - 54:57
    In chemistry it is called litmus paper.
  • 54:58 - 55:01
    You throw it in to see
    if it is the right thing.
  • 55:01 - 55:07
    In Vietnamese, they say,
    "Use fire to test gold."
  • 55:07 - 55:12
    (Vietnamese)
  • 55:12 - 55:15
    It is a beautiful saying.
  • 55:15 - 55:19
    You want to see if it's real gold?
    Put fire to it.
  • 55:20 - 55:24
    And all the impurities,
    they separate and the gold collects.
  • 55:25 - 55:30
    So the three seals,
    I think you know them already.
  • 55:31 - 55:33
    Some of you. Three Seals.
  • 55:35 - 55:38
    [3 Seals]
  • 55:39 - 55:40
    What are they?
  • 55:40 - 55:43
    Impermanence,
  • 55:43 - 55:46
    [Impermanence]
  • 55:48 - 55:50
    Non-self,
  • 55:50 - 55:52
    [Non-self]
  • 55:52 - 55:54
    and Nirvana.
  • 55:54 - 55:56
    [Nirvana]
  • 55:57 - 55:59
    This is 3 Doors.
  • 56:00 - 56:02
    [3 Doors]
  • 56:03 - 56:05
    "Trois portes."
  • 56:05 - 56:07
    Just remember the "s"s.
  • 56:08 - 56:10
    [ss]
  • 56:10 - 56:12
    Right?
  • 56:12 - 56:13
    Empty,
  • 56:14 - 56:15
    [E]
  • 56:15 - 56:17
    signless,
  • 56:18 - 56:19
    [S]
  • 56:19 - 56:21
    Aimless.
  • 56:21 - 56:23
    [A]
  • 56:23 - 56:25
    That is how I remember it, sorry.
  • 56:25 - 56:29
    I just remember the three doors,
    "ss", remember.
  • 56:29 - 56:33
    Emptiness, signlessness, aimlessness.
  • 56:34 - 56:37
    And this helps us in our practice.
  • 56:39 - 56:42
    When you make a thing out of it,
  • 56:43 - 56:48
    it's no longer very related
    to other things, right?
  • 56:50 - 56:53
    And we become caught by it.
  • 56:57 - 57:01
    "Sign" here also represents
    words, concepts.
  • 57:08 - 57:11
    There is one word that challenges people.
  • 57:11 - 57:18
    When we do the morning recitation,
    before the nuns and monks chant,
  • 57:18 - 57:25
    we say, "Remove your inferiority complex,
    superiority complex
  • 57:25 - 57:28
    and your equality complex."
  • 57:29 - 57:34
    When Thay first came out with that text,
    and we had to tour the US,
  • 57:34 - 57:40
    many people asked this question,
    "What's wrong with equality?,
  • 57:40 - 57:42
    How is that a complex?"
  • 57:46 - 57:50
    The word "equality"
    or the idea of equality
  • 57:51 - 57:53
    can be a thing.
  • 57:56 - 57:59
    Who has a thing about equality?
  • 58:00 - 58:02
    How come the monks
    are sitting at one side,
  • 58:02 - 58:05
    at the non-monks and
    the nuns sitting at the other side?
  • 58:07 - 58:11
    Or, how come the nuns have smaller bowls
    and the monks have bigger bowls?
  • 58:12 - 58:17
    Or, how come the bell is always
    on that side?, or, what else?
  • 58:18 - 58:20
    There are so many.
  • 58:20 - 58:22
    How come the grass
    is greener on this side?
  • 58:22 - 58:24
    (Laughter)
  • 58:26 - 58:29
    There are some good ones, eh?
  • 58:29 - 58:31
    I used to have a -
    We should make a catalog
  • 58:32 - 58:35
    of equality as a thing.
  • 58:40 - 58:42
    It is a complex. Equality is good,
  • 58:44 - 58:49
    and getting people to -
    Injustice causes suffering.
  • 58:50 - 58:54
    Inequality can cause suffering.
  • 58:55 - 58:57
    So it's not to deny
  • 58:57 - 59:01
    that that is happening
    in our world as well.
  • 59:02 - 59:05
    But just don't make a thing out of it.
  • 59:06 - 59:09
    Going everywhere to always look for -
  • 59:13 - 59:16
    This is not to be caught by dualism.
  • 59:17 - 59:21
    It is all skillful means.
  • 59:21 - 59:23
    We wear this just for
  • 59:24 - 59:30
    a way to skillfully do something,
    to manifest something.
  • 59:31 - 59:36
    When Thay was in Vietnam,
    or in America touring,
  • 59:36 - 59:39
    a reporter asked him,
  • 59:39 - 59:42
    "Are you from the North
    or from the South?"
  • 59:42 - 59:45
    Do you know that story?
  • 59:45 - 59:48
    And Thay says,
    "I am from the Center."
  • 59:49 - 59:52
    He is from the center.
  • 59:53 - 59:56
    From Hue, or something like that.
  • 59:57 - 60:01
    He is from the center.
    And we love that story, I love that story.
  • 60:06 - 60:11
    If we are not careful, we can
    make the "center" become a thing.
  • 60:11 - 60:14
    And I've seen that,
    living in the monastery.
  • 60:14 - 60:17
    You don't want to choose left or right,
    then you choose the middle.
  • 60:17 - 60:22
    And you are always choosing the middle.
    You make a "thing" out of centralness.
  • 60:36 - 60:38
    You are-
  • 60:44 - 60:48
    We get caught, so the idea of centralness
  • 60:48 - 60:51
    is to help the reporter in that situation.
  • 60:53 - 60:56
    To take away his idea
  • 60:56 - 60:59
    that there is just North and South.
  • 61:00 - 61:02
    So that is the means.
  • 61:02 - 61:08
    Thay uses that answer to help
    that reporter in that moment
  • 61:09 - 61:12
    to let go of his North and South.
  • 61:13 - 61:16
    But us, when we hear the story,
    we love it
  • 61:17 - 61:19
    and then we hang on to centralness.
  • 61:21 - 61:24
    And we go around being careful.
  • 61:24 - 61:28
    "No, I'm not choosing! No!"
  • 61:29 - 61:31
    And that becomes an obstacle.
  • 61:33 - 61:37
    We become like relative, liberal,
  • 61:37 - 61:40
    not always - Let's see.
  • 61:41 - 61:46
    It seems like I'm open,
    but actually I'm very tight.
  • 61:46 - 61:49
    That is stuckness.
  • 61:53 - 61:58
    This is from my own suffering
    of practicing with that.
  • 61:59 - 62:01
    Of always avoiding each team
  • 62:01 - 62:04
    to the point where -
  • 62:05 - 62:08
    You know what is the right thing to do.
  • 62:14 - 62:16
    There is also -
  • 62:17 - 62:19
    The idea here is
  • 62:20 - 62:23
    when it is true to the Dharma,
  • 62:26 - 62:30
    is to not be caught by the word
    by the sign.
  • 62:31 - 62:34
    Therefore, you don't grasp.
  • 62:34 - 62:36
    That is the aimlessness.
  • 62:36 - 62:40
    You need a little freedom from that.
  • 62:40 - 62:42
    These are all -
  • 62:42 - 62:45
    These three, three,
  • 62:46 - 62:51
    are - Thay would say concentrations,
    they help us.
  • 62:51 - 62:56
    You may choose a week
    to contemplate signlessness.
  • 62:59 - 63:03
    To look and to see
    where you are caught with signs
  • 63:03 - 63:06
    and to test for yourself.
  • 63:07 - 63:09
    Or aimlessness.
  • 63:09 - 63:13
    In a way, they are like
    Plum Village's koans,
  • 63:13 - 63:20
    something that you can hold here like
    a mother carrying her child around.
  • 63:21 - 63:24
    And you begin to look like that.
  • 63:24 - 63:30
    You look and you discern
    when you are being not aimless.
  • 63:31 - 63:36
    You want something,
    so you come back to your steps.
  • 63:38 - 63:44
    The tea will still be there,
    the hot water will still be there,
  • 63:47 - 63:50
    so you slow yourself down.
  • 63:50 - 63:55
    So these practices, these ideas here
    are for us to practice.
  • 63:56 - 63:59
    What I share with you is -
  • 64:00 - 64:03
    Watch when you are not being aimless.
  • 64:04 - 64:08
    But how to touch aimlessness
    while we walk?
  • 64:09 - 64:12
    You make a step, a left step,
  • 64:14 - 64:16
    a right step.
  • 64:19 - 64:22
    Or aimlessness when you eat.
  • 64:22 - 64:25
    When you put a morsel in your mouth,
  • 64:25 - 64:28
    you put the spoon down.
  • 64:29 - 64:31
    And you chew.
  • 64:31 - 64:34
    And you put a hundred per cent
    in the act of chewing.
  • 64:35 - 64:41
    Savoring the food, contemplation
    with nature and Mother Earth, the sun,
  • 64:42 - 64:47
    before you take the next spoon.
    I remember having to train this.
  • 64:48 - 64:50
    When I'm chewing,
    I'm preparing for the next one.
  • 64:53 - 64:56
    It's a big habit I had to remove.
  • 64:58 - 65:01
    The same thing with our walking.
  • 65:01 - 65:04
    These two are very trainable.
  • 65:06 - 65:10
    But they can help us also
    when we have ideas and concepts.
  • 65:12 - 65:18
    When we practice the trainings, and
    we will learn more these coming weeks,
  • 65:20 - 65:26
    they speak of a truth, of a way,
  • 65:27 - 65:30
    but we need to know when to apply it,
  • 65:32 - 65:35
    so that it is appropriate
    for the situation with the people,
  • 65:36 - 65:40
    and if it is appropriate to the Dharma,
  • 65:40 - 65:47
    to the guiding spirit
    of the Buddhist teachings.
  • 65:49 - 65:52
    I think Thay has shared -
  • 65:54 - 65:58
    To prepare to operate on someone
  • 65:58 - 66:00
    they need to be healthy.
  • 66:03 - 66:05
    You prepare and you -
  • 66:06 - 66:08
    That's kind of -
  • 66:08 - 66:10
    That is tough, eh?
  • 66:11 - 66:14
    But sometimes it's like that, I think
  • 66:16 - 66:18
    Thay's method, I sensed that.
  • 66:19 - 66:23
    When we first come in the community
    Thay is very gentle with us.
  • 66:24 - 66:26
    He nurtures us.
  • 66:26 - 66:30
    Everything, he flower-waters us.
  • 66:30 - 66:33
    He pushes it.
  • 66:33 - 66:37
    And then, when we have enough
    strong roots, Thay starts to trim.
  • 66:37 - 66:39
    (Laughter)
  • 66:40 - 66:42
    Have you been trimmed by Thay before?
  • 66:43 - 66:45
    You're lucky.
  • 66:45 - 66:47
    Because it is painful.
  • 66:47 - 66:48
    (Laughter)
  • 66:48 - 66:50
    Operation.
  • 66:50 - 66:54
    Because you have something
    you're holding on to.
  • 67:01 - 67:02
    And -
  • 67:03 - 67:05
    (Laughter)
  • 67:05 - 67:08
    And one mourns.
  • 67:09 - 67:11
    It touches your ego.
  • 67:12 - 67:18
    So there is not enough liberation.
    You had an idea about it.
  • 67:19 - 67:23
    Something, whatever that is
    you're holding on too tightly.
  • 67:24 - 67:27
    In the sangha building
    it is very important
  • 67:28 - 67:31
    that we get this one done.
  • 67:32 - 67:36
    Because we sometimes bring the stuff
    that has not ripened,
  • 67:36 - 67:38
    has not let go yet,
  • 67:38 - 67:41
    and we start to sangha-build,
  • 67:41 - 67:45
    we make sangha become a thing
  • 67:46 - 67:48
    and so on.
  • 67:48 - 67:51
    But inside of us it
    is not fully, still, fully -
  • 67:52 - 67:54
    There are certain things still -
  • 67:54 - 67:57
    And that can come and bite you.
  • 67:58 - 68:01
    The Buddhist teaching is not for us to do
  • 68:01 - 68:02
    (Vietnamese).
  • 68:03 - 68:07
    It's to help us relieve our suffering
    and in doing so we -
  • 68:08 - 68:11
    inter-be with the world.
  • 68:11 - 68:13
    And how we do it?
  • 68:14 - 68:18
    You can see this in today's society.
  • 68:19 - 68:23
    People build up, fame, power.
  • 68:23 - 68:26
    After ten, twenty years,
    what happens?
  • 68:26 - 68:29
    They did not ripen.
  • 68:30 - 68:34
    Sexual scandals,
    political scandals, corruption.
  • 68:35 - 68:39
    There is a movement going on
    that is so beautiful in society.
  • 68:39 - 68:42
    It is like the rain washing
  • 68:42 - 68:45
    and revealing.
  • 68:48 - 68:53
    Other things are going on
    underneath of that fame, power, wealth.
  • 68:54 - 68:56
    Political and-
  • 68:57 - 69:00
    In the political world,
    in the corporate world
  • 69:00 - 69:03
    as well as in the entertainment world.
  • 69:03 - 69:09
    This is because the person
    did not do the homework.
  • 69:09 - 69:12
    Did not care for the ripening inside.
  • 69:12 - 69:18
    But they were tempted
    with external achievements, success.
  • 69:20 - 69:24
    This is where direct experience,
    direct liberation,
  • 69:25 - 69:29
    direct touching of peace, happiness.
  • 69:30 - 69:32
    When you do this,
  • 69:32 - 69:36
    you become
    more appropriate, more skillful.
  • 69:40 - 69:43
    We are moving to skillfulness in here.
  • 69:44 - 69:46
    In Vietnamese,
  • 70:03 - 70:05
    is "phủỏng tiện".
  • 70:06 - 70:10
    [Phủỏng tiện]
  • 70:18 - 70:21
    These are the methods and practices
  • 70:22 - 70:24
    to help us teach,
  • 70:25 - 70:28
    to guide and to apply
    the Buddhist teachings.
  • 70:28 - 70:31
    These are the ways we do it.
  • 70:35 - 70:37
    Skillfulness here
  • 70:42 - 70:44
    can be seen as a means,
  • 70:45 - 70:47
    skillful means.
  • 70:47 - 70:49
    [s. means]
  • 70:53 - 70:54
    I think it is
  • 70:55 - 70:59
    very fundamental in the Buddhist teachings
  • 70:59 - 71:02
    and it has great examples.
  • 71:02 - 71:04
    The raft,
  • 71:04 - 71:08
    when you get to a river
    and you see you need to cross,
  • 71:08 - 71:10
    and you build yourself a raft.
  • 71:10 - 71:13
    It helps you cross the river.
  • 71:15 - 71:19
    And you get attached
    because the raft is so cool.
  • 71:19 - 71:23
    You did it by yourself, by hand
    and you start carrying the raft around
  • 71:25 - 71:28
    even though you don't need it anymore.
  • 71:28 - 71:32
    And the Buddha says, "It is a wise thing
    to do, brothers and sisters?
  • 71:35 - 71:37
    To carry a raft around?"
  • 71:38 - 71:42
    And, of course, the students
    reply obediently,
  • 71:42 - 71:45
    "No, no, it's not a skillful thing to do.
  • 71:45 - 71:48
    You should leave it there
    and share it with others,
  • 71:48 - 71:51
    be generous because they might need it."
  • 71:52 - 71:54
    But we have to ask ourselves,
    do we do that?
  • 72:00 - 72:02
    So there are skillful means.
  • 72:05 - 72:08
    It's very easy to get caught
  • 72:12 - 72:14
    by the raft.
  • 72:22 - 72:26
    So appropriateness and skillfulness.
  • 72:26 - 72:30
    I think those are areas where we
  • 72:33 - 72:36
    learn a lot from living in the sangha.
  • 72:37 - 72:39
    We make mistakes and we adjust.
  • 72:41 - 72:45
    They allow us to be creative,
    allow us to -
  • 72:48 - 72:53
    It's not a perfection in our rhythm
    and there is no manual.
  • 72:54 - 72:59
    So we can always continue to be
    more appropriate, more skillful.
  • 73:01 - 73:04
    I'll read you a text
  • 73:06 - 73:11
    from the book, Interbeing book,
    Thay wrote:
  • 73:12 - 73:19
    "The spirit of non-attachment to views
    and the spirit of direct experimentation
  • 73:20 - 73:28
    lead to open-mindedness and compassion,
    both in the realm of perception of reality
  • 73:29 - 73:32
    and in the area of relationships."
  • 73:35 - 73:39
    So openness and direct experimentation,
  • 73:40 - 73:45
    it keeps us open to experiencing life,
    experiencing,
  • 73:46 - 73:49
    being alive, interacting.
  • 73:49 - 73:52
    And there is the word compassion in it.
  • 73:52 - 73:55
    It helps us be compassionate.
    Very important.
  • 73:55 - 73:59
    So it's not to experiment
    to be open like a scientist,
  • 74:01 - 74:05
    but in the Buddhist tradition
  • 74:06 - 74:08
    it is based on compassion.
  • 74:09 - 74:15
    It is to relieve suffering, it's not just
    to describe reality and the world,
  • 74:16 - 74:18
    or how the mind works and so on.
  • 74:19 - 74:20
    But just enough
  • 74:21 - 74:24
    so that there is compassion in the world,
  • 74:25 - 74:28
    in society, in our families, in ourselves.
  • 74:29 - 74:34
    This is a distinction
    from the scientific endeavor,
  • 74:35 - 74:40
    which is to try to figure out
    how this thing works,
  • 74:40 - 74:42
    where do we come from, and so on.
  • 74:43 - 74:47
    Sometimes interacting with
    scientists and the sciences,
  • 74:48 - 74:53
    if we are not careful, we can also lose
    a little bit of the "khế Lý",
  • 74:55 - 75:00
    the primary reason for
    the Buddha's finding the teachings
  • 75:00 - 75:03
    and the practices
    to help relieve suffering.
  • 75:03 - 75:09
    It is not to come up with a new theory
    about the world or about our minds
  • 75:09 - 75:11
    and how things work.
  • 75:15 - 75:18
    "The spirit of appropriateness
    and skillful means
  • 75:18 - 75:23
    lead to the capacity to be creative
    and to reconcile,
  • 75:24 - 75:29
    both of which are necessary for the
    development and the effective realization
  • 75:29 - 75:32
    of the idea of serving living beings."
  • 75:33 - 75:36
    This is very Mahayana.
  • 75:37 - 75:40
    Save the world!
  • 75:41 - 75:45
    "Reconcile" here can be
    incorporate, to integrate.
  • 75:46 - 75:51
    So appropriateness and skillful means
    help us be in touch
  • 75:51 - 75:54
    with what is happening in our world.
  • 75:55 - 75:59
    And to find ways
    to help relieve the suffering.
  • 76:01 - 76:04
    I think most of you know,
    who are here,
  • 76:04 - 76:09
    that one of the primary sufferings
    in the world now is climate change.
  • 76:12 - 76:16
    You can hear it already
    in weather reports.
  • 76:16 - 76:19
    It seems like they are from movies,
  • 76:21 - 76:23
    but they are not-
  • 76:23 - 76:27
    Climate change isn't going
    to come anymore, it is here.
  • 76:28 - 76:34
    And many of us may have families
    in some parts of the world.
  • 76:34 - 76:38
    Indonesia recently,
    I think two days ago,
  • 76:38 - 76:40
    had a big tsunami.
  • 76:40 - 76:46
    This will, scientists predict, will occur
    more regular and more regularly.
  • 76:46 - 76:50
    That means displacement of population.
  • 76:51 - 76:53
    So we have to prepare us so,
  • 76:53 - 76:56
    not to be in despair,
  • 76:57 - 77:02
    to be aware, to be mindful
    of the present moment.
  • 77:03 - 77:07
    And adjust. We have suffering,
    we have some healing to do,
  • 77:07 - 77:10
    we have some transformation.
  • 77:11 - 77:14
    That is why Thay has dedicated
    his whole life to building the sangha,
  • 77:14 - 77:16
    to building a refuge.
  • 77:17 - 77:19
    So climate change,
  • 77:25 - 77:30
    alienation, loneliness,
    despair, depression,
  • 77:32 - 77:36
    suicide, these numbers are on the rise.
  • 77:37 - 77:41
    Because of urbanization
    and the breakdown of families.
  • 77:41 - 77:44
    Whatever in your field you're working on.
  • 77:46 - 77:51
    These are real issues of our society
    and they are not happening out there.
  • 77:52 - 77:54
    They are very connected
  • 77:55 - 77:58
    to how we are in the world now.
  • 77:59 - 78:02
    Young people having no direction,
  • 78:04 - 78:08
    being restless
    because of the media industry.
  • 78:09 - 78:12
    These are all thought about and mastered.
  • 78:14 - 78:20
    It is not coincidental,
    the mechanism that drives capitalism
  • 78:22 - 78:25
    while we are so like -
  • 78:25 - 78:28
    My niece, it is hard for her
  • 78:28 - 78:33
    to put down the gadget, the screen.
  • 78:34 - 78:36
    This is not -
  • 78:38 - 78:43
    We have, we do have
    some contribution to make.
  • 78:44 - 78:46
    It's not to say just -
  • 78:46 - 78:50
    And this is what I love about Thay's work.
    We don't wait until we are liberated,
  • 78:51 - 78:55
    or find peace and then do the good work.
  • 78:55 - 79:00
    Actually, interbeing is
    we transform ourselves
  • 79:01 - 79:04
    and we help transform the world.
  • 79:04 - 79:09
    Whatever scope your are in.
    It can be on your individual level,
  • 79:09 - 79:14
    because so much suffering
    you cannot be involved,
  • 79:15 - 79:19
    and you take care of yourself.
    Make yourself less grumpy,
  • 79:19 - 79:26
    less obnoxious, less whatever,
    less provoking, reactive.
  • 79:27 - 79:29
    Personal level.
  • 79:29 - 79:32
    Or group level, family.
  • 79:32 - 79:34
    Work on the family level,
  • 79:35 - 79:39
    work on your neighborhood,
    what can you do for your neighborhood?
  • 79:40 - 79:46
    How can you help build a sangha to be a
    refuge in your city for the neighborhood?
  • 79:48 - 79:53
    Because you see young people no longer
    going to church, going to temples.
  • 79:53 - 79:57
    And they are looking for
    a spiritual direction.
  • 79:57 - 80:00
    Building sangha, Thay has shared,
    is the most noble task,
  • 80:01 - 80:05
    because they are refugee camps,
    they are like refugee camps.
  • 80:07 - 80:11
    Refugees in the media are lot lately.
  • 80:11 - 80:15
    And there is a refugee going on now.
  • 80:15 - 80:19
    People coming to monasteries
    retreat centers, finding refuge
  • 80:21 - 80:25
    because of the war going on
    a war on restlessness,
  • 80:27 - 80:29
    discrimination,
  • 80:30 - 80:36
    or no break from rushing energy.
  • 80:37 - 80:40
    So there is another war going on.
  • 80:41 - 80:44
    In Thay's time, it was the war in Vietnam.
  • 80:45 - 80:47
    In our time, what is the war?
  • 80:49 - 80:51
    Or what is the peace?
  • 80:52 - 80:55
    This is something for us to reflect on
  • 80:56 - 81:00
    as we engage and build
    the Order of Interbeing.
  • 81:02 - 81:07
    It's very tempting to do the outer work.
  • 81:10 - 81:13
    (Vietnamese)
  • 81:15 - 81:19
    Buddhism goes into society.
  • 81:19 - 81:26
    This goes hand in hand with
    Buddhism that goes inside in our heart.
  • 81:26 - 81:29
    (Vietnamese)
  • 81:29 - 81:34
    Thay has a saying,
    "The way out is in."
  • 81:36 - 81:41
    It's not surprising
    that it's a very visited calligraphy
  • 81:43 - 81:45
    of Thay, to remind us,
  • 81:48 - 81:51
    "Don't forget to do your homework".
  • 81:51 - 81:55
    Because building sangha
    and doing the great things
  • 81:57 - 82:01
    is very glamorous.
  • 82:02 - 82:06
    People prays you, there is result.
  • 82:07 - 82:09
    It gets -
  • 82:10 - 82:12
    But if we don't do our homework,
  • 82:12 - 82:15
    when the time comes -
  • 82:15 - 82:18
    Very unstable. Your emotion will come up.
  • 82:19 - 82:22
    You won't let go.
  • 82:23 - 82:26
    That is why the sangha is very important.
  • 82:27 - 82:29
    They are a protection
  • 82:29 - 82:31
    and they help prevent us from going -
  • 82:31 - 82:34
    And holding on too tightly.
  • 82:35 - 82:39
    The vision of Thay,
    the Buddha as a sangha,
  • 82:40 - 82:42
    is doable.
  • 82:43 - 82:47
    We don't all have to be the Buddha,
    which is needed is to be part time.
  • 82:47 - 82:49
    And we take turns.
  • 82:50 - 82:52
    I mean, it's OK.
  • 82:54 - 82:59
    So it's our protection
    from becoming dogmatic and so on.
  • 83:03 - 83:10
    My gratefulness to Thay
    to emphasizing building sangha
  • 83:12 - 83:17
    as a way to keep us
    in line with the spirit.
  • 83:18 - 83:20
    That is why in the Charter of Interbeing
  • 83:20 - 83:27
    it's very important that when you become
    an OI member, you grow from the sangha.
  • 83:28 - 83:30
    But now lately there is a trend
  • 83:30 - 83:34
    that the people want to receive
    the OI membership or become an OI member
  • 83:35 - 83:37
    like the world, it's very worldly.
  • 83:38 - 83:41
    It is like, "Oh! I want to be an OI!
    How do I become an OI?"
  • 83:41 - 83:44
    It's like very isolated.
  • 83:45 - 83:49
    An OI member or a person
    who grows in the Dharma
  • 83:50 - 83:52
    grows from the sangha.
  • 83:53 - 83:57
    That is why you cannot become
    an OI member out of thin air,
  • 83:58 - 84:00
    it comes from the sangha.
  • 84:00 - 84:03
    I mean, I guess you can.
    I don't want to be dogmatic about it.
  • 84:03 - 84:06
    Maybe in Alaska or somewhere
    there is no sangha.
  • 84:06 - 84:09
    You can become OI member.
  • 84:09 - 84:13
    But the intention there is
    that you come from a culture.
  • 84:14 - 84:17
    You have support,
    you have brothers and sisters
  • 84:17 - 84:21
    that know you.
    They know you very well.
  • 84:23 - 84:26
    They are your protection.
    They understand you,
  • 84:26 - 84:29
    they know your weaknesses,
    they know your strengths.
  • 84:30 - 84:32
    It is very easy to just -
  • 84:33 - 84:39
    Be by yourself and operating on your own.
  • 84:40 - 84:44
    Because it's very hard
    to live with those who know you.
  • 84:44 - 84:46
    (Laughter)
  • 84:48 - 84:52
    Sangha is all nice. Plum Village
    is all nice. Wait until you live here.
  • 84:52 - 84:53
    (Laughter)
  • 84:54 - 84:56
    It's very easy
  • 84:57 - 85:00
    but difficult, because
    your brothers know you.
  • 85:02 - 85:04
    It's easier to live as a tourist.
  • 85:05 - 85:08
    Ah! Nice! So beautiful!
  • 85:09 - 85:13
    Everything is so wonderful!
    Plum Village is so nice for one week!
  • 85:14 - 85:16
    (Laughter)
  • 85:17 - 85:22
    You stay here and we get to know you
    and we let you grow some roots,
  • 85:22 - 85:24
    and then we start trimming.
  • 85:25 - 85:26
    (Laughter)
  • 85:27 - 85:29
    "You don't show up on time.
  • 85:30 - 85:32
    Why is that?
  • 85:32 - 85:34
    Look at your room!
  • 85:34 - 85:36
    How do you live inside your room?"
  • 85:37 - 85:39
    You look very good,
  • 85:39 - 85:43
    when you see the monks
    walking around, all like that.
  • 85:43 - 85:48
    But take a look at your room,
    how do you live inside your room?
  • 85:50 - 85:52
    That's the in.
  • 85:52 - 85:55
    The way outside needs to be inside.
  • 85:55 - 85:58
    If you cannot do the little work,
  • 85:59 - 86:01
    when the tsunami comes,
  • 86:02 - 86:04
    no foundation.
  • 86:05 - 86:09
    So in our sangha building,
    please do your homework.
  • 86:11 - 86:15
    That wasn't too intense?
    I did shining light
  • 86:16 - 86:20
    too intense sometimes, so I apologize.
  • 86:20 - 86:24
    But this is me speaking to myself,
    so I need to be careful.
  • 86:25 - 86:28
    Thank you, sangha
    for being here with us.
  • 86:30 - 86:33
    Please enjoy breathing
  • 86:33 - 86:36
    and let go of everything I say.
  • 86:38 - 86:41
    Please, dong hang on to it. OK?
  • 86:42 - 86:45
    Oh, it's quite -
    Throw it away.
  • 86:45 - 86:47
    (Laughter)
  • 86:48 - 86:50
    (Bell)
  • 86:50 - 86:56
    (Bell)
  • 87:18 - 87:24
    (Bell)
  • 87:42 - 87:47
    (Bell)
  • 88:08 - 88:10
    (Bell)
Title:
2018 09 30 4 Principles| DT by br Phap Dung
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
01:28:15

English subtitles

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