Make Yourself Available

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August 10, 2011. 22-minute dharma talk with Thich Nhat Hanh from War Memorial Gym at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. The sangha is on the North American Tour and this talk is the first dharma talk for the children.

Thay speaks about how to be truly present for our parents, and how to ask our parents to be truly present for us, using the four mantras. The first one: “I am here for you.” “In order for the mantra to work, you have to be there. ‘I am here’ is not a declaration; it is a practice.’ Sometimes your body is there, but your mind is not there: you are not really there.” “You may like to pat your father on the shoulder and ask, ‘Is anybody home?'” The second mantra: “I know you are there, and I am happy.” The third mantra: “Darling, I know you suffer. That is why I am here for you.”

The talk is available below. There is a video version available too.

By Chan Niem Hy

Dharma Teacher.

2 comments

  1. Thank you for these talks.
    I am trying to get the video version of the children’s talk “Make yourself available” from August 10, 2011 to share with my sangha. I know it exists but when I click on “video version” it takes a while and then times out and an error message appears. This is on my iPhone.
    Can you help me access the video?
    Thank you,
    Madelyn D.

  2. Looks like that particular recording is no longer available. I just checked the Plum Village YouTube channel and they don’t have it posted. These types of events, in theaters, are usually hard to get.

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