Saturday, March 19, 2016

Thich Nhat Hanh & Plum Village (1)

Enjoy watching the following videos and important messages:

(vol.1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_nkax0EJrs


Dear friends, when you hear the bell, our practice is to stop the thinking. You stop the thinking and begin to breathe in mindfully. (by Thay)

It is possible to suffer less if you have the time to listen to your own suffering and the suffering of the world. When you look deeply into your own suffering, you will find out the causes of your suffering. And they are causes within yourself. So, to have the time to look deeply, and listen to your suffering, you come to understand the nature of your suffering. Understanding will help you to suffer less, to have compassion for yourself. (by Thay) 

Mindfulness is the kind of energy that you generate by the practice of sitting, of walking, of breathing. The energy of mindfulness will help you to be in the here and the now, bringing your mind home to your body. If you are in the present moment, you may notice that there are many wonders of life. There are many conditions of happiness that are available to you so that you can be happy right here and right now. And you don't have to run into the future to look for conditions of happiness. So, the Buddha confirmed that it is already possible to be happy in the here and the now. (by Thay)

To meditate means to have the time to look back at yourself, and to look back at your situation. We have to go home to ourselves and try to understand our own suffering. And that is the only way to suffer less. And if you do not suffer less, you cannot help another person to suffer less. (by Thay)

The cause of war is fear and anger. With fear and anger, you go on with the war forever. And there is a lot of wrong perceptions. (by Thay)

We happen to be here as human beings. He (the Buddha) wanted to find a way to transform his own sufferings, so that he can help other people to suffer less, and to increase their joy of living. That was the desire of the Buddha to practice in order to suffer less, to enjoy more the life of human beings and to help other species, including human to suffer less, and to enjoy more life. (by Thay)

Wherever people need us, we are ready to come and help. Everywhere people suffer. And it is a joy to share your life, to share your happiness and to share your way of practice. (by Thay)

(vol.2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkH7dIiXXXQ


Living in a cosmopolitan city, Brother Phap Dung witnessed the modern life. Through with wealth and power, people are not happy. ... The business of the Buddha is to spread understanding and love, to help people be free. (by Brother Phap Dung)

We know that alone, you cannot do much. As a drop of water, you will evaporate. So, you can only arrive at the sea as a river. So, if you want to change the world, to help the world, you need to be a community. (by Thay)

When this body is no longer there, I continue always through them. (by Thay) 

Building a Sangha is very important because a Sangha is a group of people who practice in order to suffer less, to have more peace, happiness, harmony and brotherhood. (by Thay) 

If you do not renew Buddhism, Buddhism will die, because the younger generation will not accept that kind of Buddhism. Too old! That is why this kind of work to renew Buddhism, to come up with a new kind of language that can convey better the teaching of the Buddha, to come up with a new kind of practice that helps people to recognize that it is a practice that is needed for their time, a kind of teaching and practice that can respond to the suffering of the modern time. (by Thay)

As a teacher, Thay's role as a teacher, is to plant seeds in his students, which means he plants his dream and his work into every student. ... She said, very calmly said, "Yes, as long as you are happy, I'm happy." Because that's what a mother wants from her children. (by Brother Phap Huu)

(Commentary)
Non-thinking is the key for the practice of right mindfulness. And mindful breathing, mindful sitting, mindful walking and all mindful actions will help us (ego) stop thinking. The purpose of non-thinking is to revive awareness (awakened consciousness) because awareness can touch the wonders of life and the true nature of reality. When awareness touches the wonders of life, joy and happiness will be generated and we (awareness) begin to enjoy our life. This is called mindfulness and leads us to concentration and insight for the full enlightenment, or the full-time Buddha. So, mindfulness is just the first step which enables us to become the part-time Buddha. In short, mindfulness is to transform ourselves from ego (separate self, fake self) to awareness (non-separate self, true self). And this self-transformation is essential to understand the ultimate truth to throw away all notions, ideas and perceptions. When we attain the extinction of all notions, ideas and perceptions, we will be fully awakened as the full-time Buddha.

(Cf.) http://www.slideshare.net/compassion5151/self-transformation-44490452

Plum Village