Recorded live at a five-day retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh, sponsored by the Community of Mindful Living, September 1st through the 6th, 1997, in Santa Barbara, California. Tape number TNG-2, A Dharma Talk with Thich Nhat Hanh. Thich Nhat Hanh, Satsang with Thich Nhat Hanh, Thich Nhat Hanh, Satsang with Thich Nhat Hanh, Thich Nhat Hanh, Satsang with Thich Nhat Hanh,

[01:24]

Thich Nhat Hanh, Satsang with Thich Nhat Hanh, Breathing in, I know that I am alive. Breathing out, I smile to life. Breathing in, I know that I have arrived.

[02:36]

Breathing in, breathing out, I feel at home in the here and the now. Arrive at home. Breathing in, I allow myself to be in the here and the now.

[03:40]

Breathing out, I don't need any more striving. Here and now. Stopping all striving. Stopping all striving.

[04:47]

Breathing in, I know that I am alive in the present moment. Breathing out, I know this is a wonderful moment. Present moment, wonderful moment. Present moment, wonderful moment.

[06:21]

Good morning, everyone. This is the mini Dharma talk for the children. I would like you to take a sheet of paper and draw for me four things. The first thing is a flower. Any kind of flower, just draw a flower. And I want you to draw the flower while breathing in and breathing out. Draw any kind of flower, but enjoy doing so while breathing in and breathing out. The second thing I would like you to draw is a mountain. You draw a mountain. Maybe you need only two lines in order to make a mountain.

[07:33]

Also, breathing in and breathing out, smile when you draw the mountain. The third thing I would like you to draw is water. You draw water. A lake or something like that with water, still water. Because still water can reflect the sky, the clouds, the mountains, and so on. The fourth thing I would like you to draw is space. How can we draw space? But I think you can. Space. Space. Maybe you would like to draw the sky representing space. Four things. Flower represents freshness.

[08:35]

The flower is within you because you are able to be fresh. All of us have the capacity of being fresh. If we have lost our freshness, then we can practice breathing in and out and restore our freshness. So flower has flowerness within it. You also are a flower and you have your flowerness. We are pleasant, we are beautiful every time we restore our flowerness. Mountain represents solidity, stability. There is a mountain within yourself. Because when you practice sitting and walking, you can develop the capacity of being solid, stable.

[09:42]

Solidity and stability is very important for our happiness. And we know that we have the capacity to be stable, to be solid. And if we know how to practice walking mindfully, or sitting mindfully, or breathing mindfully, we cultivate our solidity, our stability. So that is the mountain within us. We practice in order to restore the flower within. We practice in order to restore the mountain within. And then still water is wonderful. When the water is still, it can reflect things as they are. It does not distort things. We don't have wrong views, misunderstandings about things inside and outside of us.

[10:44]

That is why to learn how to breathe in and breathe out mindfully, we can still ourselves, we can calm ourselves, and we make the still water apparent within us. So still water is within you. And finally, space. Space is within you. The people who do not have space inside are not happy people. That is why we have to practice in such a way that we bring a lot of space within. It is very important. Look at the table. You think that the table is made of wood, but in fact there is a lot of space within the table. So matter is just a little bit. Most of the table is space.

[11:47]

Our body, our consciousness are also like that. And that is why we have to breathe in and out and recognize that there is a lot of space within. And touching the space within, you become free, and you become happy. And therefore manage to draw space, because there is space within us. This is a wonderful meditation. I'd like you to have a bag, a small bag like mine. Inside I have four pebbles. So today after having drawn four things, you go and search for four pebbles, because you are going to practice pebble meditation. Last night I spoke about the pebble.

[12:50]

And if the adults like, they also can go and find four pebbles. And I have a little beautiful bag in order to store my four pebbles. One of them represents a flower. The second one represents a mountain. The third one represents still water. And the fourth represents space. And children can practice sitting meditation together in a circle. And you bring your pebbles in. And after having breathed in and out with the bell, you take out your four pebbles, and you put it on your right. And one of you will be the leader of sitting meditation. You invite the bell one time for people to breathe in and out.

[13:55]

Allow themselves the time to breathe in and out three times. And after having practiced three sounds of the bell, you begin your pebble meditation. With two fingers, you pick up one of the pebbles, and you look at it. This is the flower. And you put the first pebble on the palm of your left hand. And you put your left hand above your right hand, and you begin to practice the first pebble. Breathing in, I see myself as a flower. Breathing out, I feel fresh. Three times. And while you practice flower fresh, you recuperate, you restore the flowerness in you, you become fresh. And after three breathings like that,

[14:58]

you use your two fingers, pick up the first pebble, look at it, smile to it, and you put it on your right. And now you pick up the second one. Look at it. This represents a mountain. You put it on your left hand, your left hand on your right hand, and you begin to practice mountain. Breathing in, I see myself as a mountain. You have a mountain within. Breathing in, you are capable of being solid, of being stable. And you practice three times. Breathing in, I see myself as a mountain. Breathing out, I feel solid. Three times. And then you pick it up, you put it on your right. It's a lot of fun practicing meditation. The third pebble represents still water.

[16:06]

You look at it. Still water is within you. When the water in you is still, you are calm, you are serene. You see things clearly as they are. You do not distort things. You do not have wrong perceptions. It's wonderful. Breathing in, I see myself as still water. Still water is one of the most beautiful things I have seen. Still water reflects the sky as it exactly is. It reflects the clouds, the mountains, exactly as they are. No distortion at all. Breathing in, I see myself as still water.

[17:08]

Breathing out, I reflect things as they truly are. Three times. And then you pick it up and you put it on your right. Now, the fourth pebble. You look at it, you smile to it. This represents space. Remember, people without space within cannot be happy. People without space around them cannot be happy. Be like the moon traveling in the beautiful sky. It has a lot of space. Freedom is what we want. And space is inside. We have to touch the space inside in order to feel free. Without freedom, no one can be truly happy. Breathing in, I see myself as space.

[18:14]

Breathing out, I feel free. Three times. And then you pick it up and you put it on your right. And now you have finished your pebble meditation. Now you only have to wait for three sounds of the bell to conclude your sitting meditation. Today, please do that for us. You practice for us. Use a sheet of paper, draw the four things, and then go and look for four pebbles, wash them carefully, dry them, and put them into your pocket. If you have the time to manufacture a small bag, that would be wonderful. And you come together for your first sitting meditation in a circle. And please report to us tomorrow how you practiced today. But before you go out and do so,

[19:19]

I would like to ask you to sing with me the song of the practice in which there is a flower, there is a mountain, there is still water, and there is space. Let us sing together. Breathing in, breathing out. Breathing in, breathing out. I am blooming out of the flower. I am brushed as the dew. I am solid as the mountain. I am firm as the earth.

[20:27]

I am free. Breathing in, breathing out. Breathing in, breathing out. I am water reflecting. What is real, what is true. And I feel the space deep inside of me. I am free, I am free, I am free. Once more please. Breathing in, breathing out.

[21:35]

Breathing in, breathing out. I am blooming out of the flower. I am brushed as the dew. I am solid as the mountain. I am firm as the earth. I am free. Breathing in, breathing out. Breathing in, breathing out. I am water reflecting.

[22:41]

What is real, what is true. And I feel the space deep inside of me. I am free, I am free, I am free. Thank you. Okay, now when the young people hear the sound of the little bell, they may like to stand up and bow to the sangha before they go out and continue the practice. And remember to go in the style of walking meditation. Turn around and bow to the sangha.

[23:51]

Have a good day of practice. You go in this direction of... I want to be sure that all of you hear me. Those who hear me, please raise up your hand. Wonderful. [...]

[25:00]

Wow. Listening to a Dharma talk is also a practice. We have to learn how to do it properly because we are used to be in a classroom and we listen with our intellect. Listening to a Dharma talk, we should not use our intellect alone. In fact, we may allow our intellect to have a vacation. According to the practice,

[26:03]

to the teaching of the Buddha, our consciousness is like a field preserving a lot of seeds. There are seeds of suffering, there are seeds of happiness. The seed of understanding, the seed of awakening, the seed of joy and peace are there deep in our consciousness. If we are not actually happy, that is not because we do not have the capacity of being happy, but because the seed of happiness in us lies very deep into our consciousness and is covered up by many layers of pain and suffering. We all have the seed of happiness,

[27:05]

love, compassion, joy, forgiveness, and so on. And we do have the seed of awakening, understanding, and liberation within us. So the Dharma talk is like a rain, and if you only allow the rain to penetrate the soil of your consciousness, then these wonderful seeds will have a chance. If the rain penetrates into the soil of your consciousness, it will reach the wholesome seeds within you, and there is a chance that these seeds will sprout and become flowers, the flowers of understanding, of awakening, of compassion, of joy, of emancipation. Our intellect is like a nylon sheet

[28:08]

we try to use in order to collect the raindrop, and that is why it prevents the rain from getting into the soil. So learning how not to use the intellect is wonderful. Do not judge, do not compare, do not use your intellect like doing gymnastics with ideas, just allow yourself to be open for the Dharma rain to enter deeply into the soil of your consciousness. It's better to be sleepy while listening to Dharma talk than to use your intellect to analyze, to compare, to react. No reaction should be taken,

[29:09]

no judgment should be used. We have to give the Dharma talk a chance. Listening to a Dharma talk, we should not use our preconceived ideas in order to compare with what we consider to be new ideas. Just open the soil of your heart and allow the Dharma talk to fall in. During the time of the Buddha, many people got enlightened just by listening to a Dharma talk. And sometimes the Buddha saw it, and he saw the eyes of the people suddenly get very bright, and he knew something happened in these people. Even if you are sleepy, the Dharma talk still has a chance to sneak in. And if you use your intellect,

[30:12]

there's no chance. That is why we have to try the new method, not using our intellect, because the deeper level of our consciousness is not the intellect. Is it possible for us to be happy even if we still have pains within ourselves? Suppose someone has several blocks of pain within herself, and she believes that happiness is not possible for her. And she believes strongly that happiness may be for other people, but not for her,

[31:13]

because she notices that the presence of these blocks of pain are so real, tangible within her. The answer of the Buddha is yes, even if you have blocks of pain within you, you can still be happy, because you are more than your pain. The seeds of suffering, the seeds of stress, fear, despair in you might have been watered a lot in the past many years. They have grown strong when you suffer. But that does not mean that the seed of compassion, the seed of joy, the seed of peace, the seed of understanding in you have disappeared.

[32:15]

No, they still are there, deep in your consciousness. So if there are favorable conditions for you to water these seeds, happiness will be possible also with a good teacher, with a good Sangha, with good brothers and sisters in the Dharma, you have a chance that these wholesome seeds within your consciousness will be watered, and the flower of peace, of understanding, of joy will bloom. When we throw a rock into a river, it's true that the rock will have to sink into the bottom of the river. But we know that if we have a boat, we can put hundreds of kilograms of rocks

[33:20]

on the boat, and yet the boat does not sink. There is such a boat within us. And if we can manage, we can transport our pain and suffering, and we can still float on the river of life. You have to learn how to make use of your Sangha, of your teacher, of your brothers and sisters in the Dharma. You should know how to make use of the Dharma, the teaching of the Buddha, the methods of practice. And you should know how to make use of your capacity of being awake, of understanding, of being compassionate within you, because it is confirmed that these positive seeds of yours are still there in the deeper level of your consciousness. Try to recognize them,

[34:20]

allow them the chance to be touched, to be watered, and then happiness will be possible. So we can conclude that even if we have blocks of pain within ourselves, it is still possible for us to enjoy a beautiful sunset. It is still possible for us to enjoy drinking a glass of juice and to hold a baby within our arms. You have a beautiful garden. This morning you might notice that there are a few trees in your garden that are dying, three or maybe four or five. That is a fact. But if you look at other trees, you still see them strong, refreshing, alive. It is not because you have three or four trees that are dying in the garden that you have to cry all the time

[35:21]

and you neglect the presence of these trees that are still vigorous, refreshing, and beautiful. You are more than your suffering. We are offered paradise and hell at the same time. What I would like to say is that paradise would not be recognized if we don't know how to recognize hell. In the Buddhist teaching, paradise is made with non-paradise elements, including hell. If you have not tasted the taste of hell, how can you recognize paradise as it is? So the fact that you have suffered

[36:22]

is a very positive element for you to be able to recognize paradise every time it manifests itself. It is like hunger. If you don't know what is hunger, you cannot experience the happiness of having something to eat. It is like cold. If you do not know what is cold, if you have not experienced cold, then you cannot enjoy warmth. Things inter-are. We need hell in order for us to recognize paradise. Don't be naive. Don't think that paradise is possible without hell.

[37:24]

So we have been offered both paradise and hell. And our practice is how to handle our paradise and how to handle our hell. And the practice of meditation will help you to do that, to handle our paradise and to handle our hell. When you look at a flower, you see the flower is fresh, fragrant, pleasant. And if you look deeply into the flower, you see that a flower is made only of non-flower elements. The sunshine is there in the flower. The cloud is there in the flower. If you return the element sunshine to the sun,

[38:35]

there will be no flower. If you return the element cloud to the sky, there will be no flower. And the element earth, the element gardener, it seems that everything in the cosmos has come together in order to make the flower manifest. And deep looking reveals to us that a flower is made only of non-flower elements. And among these non-flower elements, we identify what we call garbage. With the garbage, a gardener can make compost. And the compost is very essential to the manifestation of a flower. So touching deeply the flower, you touch the compost inside.

[39:36]

And if you return the element compost to the garbage, there will be no flower available. Hell is like that. Hell is made of paradise, and paradise is made of hell, like yin and yang. Inside of the yin, there is yang, and inside the yang, there is yin. So you have to realize that everything is interrelated to everything else. The Buddha said it very simply and very clearly, this is because that is. If you ask, what is the teaching of the Buddha concerning the origination of the world,

[40:39]

how the world comes to be, and then his answer is very plain, very simple, and yet very deep. This is because that is. This is not because that is not. That is the nature of interbeing of things. Nothing can be by itself alone, including the flower. Everything is to interbe within everything else. The flower has to interbe with the sunshine, with the cloud, with the minerals, with the earth, with time, with space. A flower cannot be by herself alone. It has to interbe with everything else in the cosmos. So the paradise we are talking about is also like that. And looking deeply into the nature of paradise,

[41:45]

we know how to handle our paradise. Last night I was talking about the paradise of forms and colors. And that paradise really exists. And because you have eyes still in good condition, that is why that paradise is available to you. You need only to open your eyes. You need only to sit on the grass and open your eyes and make yourself available in the here and the now. And suddenly the paradise of forms and colors becomes available to you. And you can be very happy. A person that has lost his eyesight would not be able to profit from the paradise of forms and colors. And she believes

[42:46]

that if a good doctor can restore to her her capacity of seeing things, then she will be brought back into paradise again. That is true. She will be very happy to be back in the paradise of forms and colors. For those of us who still have eyes in good condition, the paradise is still available at any time. But if we are lost in our worries, our pain, our suffering, that paradise is not real to us. We deny our own paradise. We have been given paradise, but we don't know how to manage our paradise. We don't know how to take care of our paradise. We don't know how to handle our paradise.

[43:50]

The kingdom of God is available. The kingdom of God is at the very foundation of your being. You are looking for it. You are searching for it. But it is right there. If you are not able to touch the kingdom of God, that is because you don't know how to handle the kingdom of God that has been given to you already. So by going back to the present moment, mind and body together, you have a chance to recognize the presence of paradise and you can profit from it. There are those of us who are capable of walking in the kingdom of God. And other people, while they walk with us, they still are walking in hell. They are walking on burning charcoal.

[44:52]

Whether it is the paradise that you tread or the hell that you tread, it depends on the way you walk. If you bring yourself back to the present moment, body and mind united, if you know how to touch the wonders of life in the present moment, then the kingdom of God is available. You can enjoy it. And the more you touch that ground of your being, the more you get rid of your worries and anger. And the more you cultivate your stability, your solidity, your peace, and your non-fear. Last night we talked about a wave capable of touching the water within her. And when a wave recognizes that she is water,

[45:59]

she will lose all her fear. A wave can live the life of a wave, but she can also at the same time live the life of water. The essential practice is that the wave realizes that she is water. And when she is able to realize herself as water, she will have lost all her fear. And that non-fear is the base of all her true happiness. So my dear friends,

[47:11]

please do not think like this. I still have a lot of pain and suffering within myself. I cannot enjoy these wonderful things you talk about. Unless you help me remove all the pain within me, I cannot enjoy all the good things of life. Please don't think that way. Even if you still have blocks of pain within you, it is still possible that you touch the wonders of life in order to nourish yourself, to heal yourself. There are those of us who do not do anything about the suffering. They just practice touching the refreshing and healing elements in them and around them, and they get the transformation. If you are a psychotherapist,

[48:12]

you might try this method. Instead of asking your client what is wrong, and have her talk about what is wrong within her, you ask her to try to identify what is not wrong with her. And both of you are trying to touch the positive aspects within your client. Why don't you invite your client for a walking meditation session and help her to touch the blue sky, to touch the fresh air, to touch the luxurious vegetation. Help her to smile at the wonders of life. Help her to identify and recognize what is not wrong in her and around her. It's like walking in our garden. We notice that there are a few trees that are dying,

[49:17]

but we also know that there are other trees that are still vigorous and beautiful. You are more than your pain. We are more than our suffering. That is what we have to remember. And with a good teacher, with a good Sangha, with good Dharma brothers and sisters, we'll be able to awaken ourselves to that fact. We are more than our suffering. Don't allow the pain within yourself to overwhelm you. Don't believe that you cannot be happy before you remove that pain from you. There are two aspects to the practice, of the practice.

[50:23]

The first aspect is to get in touch with what is refreshing and healing. And that we have to do in our daily life. The second aspect is to embrace our pain when it manifests itself. If our pain accepts to sleep down there in the bottom of our consciousness, we allow it to sleep there. We have a song in Plum Village to lullaby our pain to sleep. So that we have a chance to get in touch with the wonderful refreshing and healing elements. It's very important. If there is a chance that your pain accepts to lay still for some time, that is very good. We have to profit from these moments in order to get in touch with the positive elements within and around. And if you have good Dharma brothers, Dharma sisters,

[51:28]

they will help you to do that every day. Because if you touch the good elements every day, they will grow and they will take care somehow of the negative elements. You know in 1966, I had to get out of my country and to call for peace. To plead with the warring parties, to plead with the world to help stopping the war in my country. And as a result of that kind of action, I was not allowed to go home. The warring parties in Vietnam, the communist, the anti-communist, both sides did not want me to go home. So I had to be in exile. I suffered. All my friends were there. All my work was there.

[52:30]

All my students were there. And I was left alone in the West. But I already had my practice. I practiced walking, breathing, sitting, and get in touch with these wonderful, refreshing and healing in Europe and in America. Things were very different over here. You don't have the same kind of trees, the same kind of birds, the same kind of people, the same kind of language, the same kind of culture. So you are allowed to go home. And you may think that unless you go home, you cannot be happy. So I tried to play with French children, talk to German children, talk to Protestant ministers and Catholic priests instead of Buddhist monks. And I was able to touch the wonders of life in Europe and in America.

[53:31]

I got new friends. I began to enjoy walking to build up a relationship. I shared the practice. So the joy became more and more substantial. In the first year or two of my being in exile, I used to dream of going home. In my dream, I saw a beautiful hill, very green. And I was so happy to climb up the hill. It is my paradise, my country, my homeland, my youth, my happiness, represented by that beautiful hill. But halfway climbing down the hill, I always woke up and found myself in exile again.

[54:34]

There was a moment when I traveled around the world and speak for peace. It was very difficult. That night when I woke up and I did not know in what city I was and in what direction the door is. And yet I continued the practice. And finally the dream stopped coming back because I have accepted this whole planet as my home. I was able to enjoy life in the here and the now. I do not put forth a condition. I can only be happy if I am able to go back to Vietnam. So it is very important that you practice touching the wonders of life within and without you in order to get the healing and the nourishment.

[55:35]

And that healing and nourishment will take care by themselves the block of pain and suffering within you. It is like the antibodies within you. Every time there is a foreign body intruding into your organism, your organism knows how to create antibodies in order to take care of it and to transform these foreign bodies into kinds of proteins that are helpful to your organism. So if you know how to water the positive seeds in you, if you know how to help the positive seeds in you to grow and to sprout, then the blocks of pain in you will be well taken care of even if you don't do anything to transform them.

[56:38]

Because the transformation of the bees may be done just on the level of the unconscious. You have to have faith. Because as I said yesterday, our consciousness knows how to heal itself if it allows the chance to do so. Sometimes the pain does not consent to lay still. It tries to emerge. And now you have to learn the way how to embrace it. Embrace your pain. It is a very wonderful practice. Don't be afraid of your pain. Practice so that you are able to cultivate the energy of mindfulness. And it is exactly with the energy of mindfulness

[57:42]

that you can embrace your pain like a mother embracing her baby. In psychotherapy we know that we should not deny the presence of our pain. We have to acknowledge our pain. We have to touch our pain, to be aware of our pain. Yes, that is correct. But the question remains, what is the agent that is doing the work of recognizing, touching, embracing? If you do not have any kind of energy within you to do the work of touching, embracing, calming, then the pain in you may overwhelm you and only create hell in you.

[58:45]

In the teaching of Buddhism it is very clear that it is the energy of mindfulness that does the work of recognizing, touching, embracing. And therefore we should train ourselves to cultivate the energy of mindfulness. Walking mindfully. Mindful walking is to generate the energy of mindfulness. Mindful breathing is to generate the energy of mindfulness. Mindful eating is to cultivate the energy of mindfulness. It is that energy that will do the healing and the transformation. And that is why when we come together we don't do anything except to generate the energy of mindfulness. Mindfulness is the energy that helps us

[59:50]

to be fully present in the here and the now. Mindfulness allows us to be aware of what is going on in the present moment. Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know I am breathing out. Walking, I know I am walking. Sitting, I know I am sitting. Holding my baby, I know I am holding my baby. I always do these things with 100% of myself. And that is the only way to cultivate the energy of mindfulness. OM When you practice mindfulness

[61:00]

while embracing something healing and refreshing it is very pleasant. Because mindfulness allows yourself to be fully present and to make what is there fully manifested. Suppose you drink a glass of orange juice or you contemplate the beautiful sunrise. Because you are really there to 100% The glass of juice is there also 100%. The beautiful sunrise is there also 100%. Mindfulness makes real everything. And if you are there truly, if the beautiful sunrise is there truly, then life is real at that moment. And contemplating a beautiful sunrise is your practice.

[62:02]

And it is very pleasant. The same thing is true when you practice sitting. If you are there, and if you are aware that you are sitting and breathing, the quality of sitting and breathing will increase. And you realize that to be alive and to be breathing in is a very wonderful thing. You have seen a dead person lying on the bed. No matter what you do, you cannot revive that person, you cannot make her breathe again and smile again. So to breathe in and breathe out and realize that you are alive, that you are breathing in, that's wonderful. Breathe. Breathe mindfully. Enjoy breathing because you are alive.

[63:04]

In my homage, I make the calligraphy of that line, Respire, Tu es vivant. Breathe, you are alive. So the fact that you sit there and you enjoy breathing in is already a miracle. You don't have to do more than that. And every practice of meditation should be like that. There should be pleasure, enjoyment. And if you suffer during your practice of sitting or walking, you are not doing it correctly. Why do I have to suffer? Life is already... There is a lot of suffering already. Why do I have to add to that suffering by practicing meditation? So enjoy your breakfast. And the ground for that enjoyment is your true presence

[64:05]

and your capacity of recognizing that each moment of your being alive is absolutely precious. Each minute of our life is a gem, is a jewel. And do not let us not waste any moment, minute, any second of our life. Walking is performing a miracle. Having your breakfast is performing a miracle. Sitting there and breathing in and out is performing a miracle. Looking at the blue sky and smile is performing a miracle. You know you can do that. But with the Sangha around you, it's much easier. That is why we always talk about Sangha building. In the Buddhist tradition, we take refuge in the Buddha, of course. Because the Buddha guides us,

[65:08]

shows us the way. And the Buddha is mindfulness. We take refuge in the Dharma, of course, because the Dharma is the way of healing and transformation. But we also take refuge in the Sangha. The Sangha is the community of practice. Because the Sangha is made of elements that are practicing. Everyone in the Sangha is practicing the same. Walking mindfully, sitting mindfully, eating mindfully, smiling, enjoying every minute of our life. And being in the Sangha is so easy to practice because everyone is supporting us. There are people who think that a serious retreat should only have less than 30 people. But I do not think like that. I think if a big Sangha,

[66:11]

in a big Sangha, in a big community, if everyone is able to generate the power of mindfulness, the energy of mindfulness, so the collective energy of mindfulness generated by a big Sangha is powerful. And if we allow ourselves to be penetrated by that powerful energy of mindfulness, we will be empowered. And we can do things that alone we cannot do. Remember when you were in your living room trying to practice sitting meditation, you were alone. And after a few moments of sitting, you wanted to give up. But over here, when you are surrounded by so many people practicing walking and sitting like that, you feel it is so easy to do the same. So the energy, the collective energy of the Sangha is very helpful.

[67:12]

In my tradition we say, when a tiger left his mountain and go to the lowland, the tiger will be caught by humans and killed. When a practitioner left his or her Sangha, she will abandon her practice after a few months. That is true. In order to practice, in order to continue our practice of transformation and healing, we need a Sangha. With a Sangha, it is much easier to practice. That is why I always take refuge in my Sangha. Taking refuge in the Sangha is not a matter of faith. It is a matter of practice. Sound of the bell

[68:22]

I hear that some of you cannot hear well. Right? Why don't you stand up and move to where you can hear better? Sound of the bell It may happen, it may happen that intellectually you know that the blue sky is beautiful, that the flower is fresh, that there are wonders within you and around you, but you cannot touch them

[69:46]

because the pain in you is so big and it stands unaware between you and these wonders of life. Dear Thay, I agree with you that the blue sky is beautiful, the flower is beautiful, but I just cannot touch it. I am not able to touch the flower, I am not able to touch the blue sky because my pain is standing on the way. It is exactly here that the Sangha can intervene. With members of the Sangha close to you, you'll be able to touch the flower again, to touch the blue sky again for your healing and nourishment.

[70:52]

There may be moments when you have the impression that you cannot continue. You are going to to crack. You feel the situation is dangerous. You cannot continue by yourself alone. It is too much. Alone, you are not going to make it. Suddenly, you realize that you have a friend who lives far away, maybe in Tokyo. You have the impression that now if that friend of yours sits close to you, you may be able to survive

[72:00]

because in that person there is enough energy to hold you both. That person is like a boat that can help the block of stone in her and in you to float. And that is why you want her to come and sit close to you. Or you want to buy a ticket and to go to her in order for you not to sink. You know this is a matter of life and death. You have to decide quickly. Without that person you cannot survive, you cannot continue. And in fact, it is true that with that person sitting beside you,

[73:01]

living beside you, you are capable to restore some balance and you can survive. You buy a ticket, you go to her, and when you arrive, sitting close to her, you feel that you can breathe now and you can touch the flower now. You enjoy a few weeks with her. It is so pleasant. She is the boat. She can carry both of you. But you still worry because you cannot stay with her forever. You have to go back to your place and you will be plunged into the same situation again. You have to do it in such a way that you become your own boat. And that is why you are advised to make use of the few weeks

[74:02]

you spend with her to practice. With that friend present beside you, you are capable of touching the flower, of touching the blue sky, profit from her presence and do intense practice, touching the blue sky, touching the flower, touching everything that is wholesome inside and outside of you in order to restore the balance because tomorrow you have to be on your own. This is an example about Sangha. Every one of us needs a Sangha. A Sangha is a group of people who know the practice, who have enough energy in order to be a boat to sustain us, to transport us,

[75:02]

to prevent us from sinking in difficult moments. That is why in every retreat I offer, I always urge my friends to do Sangha building. We have to do it right away. It is very important to have a group of people in our area practicing together. We need each other. And taking refuge in a Sangha is really a matter of practice and not a matter of faith. Touching the positive, refreshing, healing, embracing our pain to transform it are the two aspects of our practice. In this retreat we are going to deepen our understanding of these two aspects. Sound of the bell

[76:26]

Sound of the bell Mindful breathing is a wonderful practice. Walking meditation is a wonderful practice and both are very pleasant. I tell you something, sitting meditation alone is not enough to get the transformation. Even if you sit 5, 6, 7 hours a day. That is my experience. You have to practice 24 hours a day. That is why walking meditation is a wonderful practice. Because you have to move

[77:26]

from one place to another place many times a day. And every time you need to move from one place to another place, always practice walking meditation. It is a wonderful way to learn how to live deeply the present moment, to be yourself, body and mind united. That is very effective in dealing with your habit energy. Your habit energy is to lose yourself, to get caught in the past, or to worry, to be afraid about the future, to get caught in our projects. And these things do not allow us to be fully present for life in the present moment. And that is why when we talk about meditation we talk about stopping. Stopping is our practice.

[78:28]

Stopping the running, stopping the being caught in these afflictions. The word stop that you encounter when you drive it is exactly the word to describe meditation. Unless you know the art of stopping you cannot be fully alive. Every time I see the sign stop I enjoy breathing in and breathing out. Every time I see the red light I smile, that is the Buddha reminding me to go back to the present moment. And that is my gift to you. Every time you see the red light, smile, recognize the red light as a Bodhisattva, a Buddha smiling to you and asking you

[79:31]

to go back to the present moment and smile while you are driving or you just sit in your car. You can practice. I have visited China, both Taiwan and the mainland to offer retreats and walking meditation. I also saw several times the sign stop in Chinese. And every time I saw the Chinese word ji, stop, I always practiced breathing, smiling, stopping. So the sangha is everywhere. You can recognize my elements, my sangha everywhere. The red light, the sign stop, the bell of the church, the temple bell, all are for you to have an opportunity

[80:32]

to go back to the present moment, breathing in, breathing out, and smile. You know the habit energy in us is ruining our life. It's stronger than our volition. It's stronger than our volition.

[81:34]

There are things that we did not want to say. There are things that we did not want to do. And yet, we have said it, we have done it. And after we have done it, after we have said it, we regret. We have done a lot of damage in our relationship. We have made ourselves suffer. We have made the people we love suffer. And that repeats itself again and again. Why I do not want to do it, and yet I did it? Why I didn't want to say it, and yet I said it? Because that is the energy, the habit energy in me pushed me to do it, pushed me to say it. And after having made the mistake,

[82:35]

I suffer and I promise that next time I will not do it again, I will not say it again. And yet, next time when it happens, I do it again, I say it again. That is the habit energy, vasana, in us. Unless you have the energy of mindfulness to recognize the habit energy, there is no other way to be yourself and to stop this course of destruction. Cultivating the energy of mindfulness you have the capacity of recognizing the habit energy every time it manifests itself. Hello, my habit energy, I know you are there. And you just smile to it, and then it will lose its strength

[83:36]

and you will not do it, you will not say it. And next time when it manifests itself, you continue, you do the same. Hello there, my habit energy, you are my old friend, I know you very well. And that is why it is so crucial that you cultivate the energy of mindfulness. It is the only kind of energy that enables us to recognize our habit energy, to smile to it, to prevent it from taking over. That is why, my friends, the only thing I urge you to do is to enjoy walking, to enjoy breathing, to enjoy sitting, to enjoy doing everything in mindfulness in order to generate that precious energy I call mindfulness. Mindfulness is the Buddha, and you can touch the Buddha at any time,

[84:37]

you can give the Buddha in you a chance to manifest. The energy of mindfulness is the energy that can embrace all mental formations, our fear, our despair, our depression, our anger, in order to help transform them When mindfulness embraces the positive things, they help these things to grow. When mindfulness embraces the negative things, they help calm and transform them. It is like the sunshine. If the sunshine helps the vegetation to grow, if every kind of vegetation is photosensitive, sensitive to the sunshine, all mental formations are sensitive to mindfulness. That is why we have to generate

[85:39]

that energy in order to embrace our mental formations. Formation is a technical term in Buddhism. Everything that is made of everything else is a formation, like a flower. A flower is a formation. Our anger is a formation, but it is a mental formation. Mindfulness is a mental formation, and that mental formation is wonderful because when it embraces any other mental formations, it provokes a change, a transformation. That is why in the Buddhist practice we consider, we recognize the energy of mindfulness to be the energy of the Buddha. To me, it is the Holy Spirit. We talk about holiness.

[86:42]

We think that there are only a few people that can be called holy, like the Pope or the Dalai Lama. But what is really the substance of holiness, to me, that is the energy of mindfulness, that is the equal or the same with the Holy Spirit. Where mindfulness is, there is life. Where mindfulness is, there is understanding. Where mindfulness is, there is a concentration, there is forgiveness, there is compassion. That is why holiness is mindfulness. The substance of holiness is there within yourself. When you drink a glass of water mindfully,

[87:43]

you produce holiness. When you practice walking meditation mindfully, you produce holiness. And it is that kind of energy that will save our life and save the life of our society. Sound of the bell [...]

[88:46]

Sound of the bell Sound of the bell When we hear the small bell, we massage our feet mindfully. We enjoy doing so. Sound of the bell [...]

[89:41]

@Text_v004
@Score_JI