December 2, 2012. 82-minute dharma talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh from New Hamlet at Plum Village. The sangha is in the 90-day Rains Retreat (Winter Retreat). This is the eighth dharma talk of the retreat with the theme Are You The Soulmate of the Buddha? The talk was originally given in Vietnamese and this English translation is provided by Sister Chan Khong.
Walking. Using the power and concentration of walking meditation. Not thinking. Entrust your problems to your store conciousness. There is a lot of wisdom there from all the generations before you. What is collective consciousness? Store conciousness? How so you feed your conciousness?
At 23-minutes, we begin the sutra commentary. Enjoying the Space Outer Space. Touching the freedom in the present moment, this is the outer space. Also, it is sometimes called the sutra of Nirvana. Gatha #13. Formation is conditioned things. Condition and conditioned. The act and actor. According to the wisdom of the Buddha, you can see that you can’t have the action without the actor.
What is the view that transcends all notions? This isn’t nihilism.
July 16, 2012. 91-minute recording given at New Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the eighth dharma talk of the Summer Opening and we begin with seven minutes of chanting.
Last week the children also learned pepple meditation. When you practice this, you become more stable, fresh, and calm.
Story of the rich businessman who doesn’t have enough time to spend with his family. All the little boy wanted was his father to be truly present. Also told the story of the German businessman who thought he was indispensable to his business.
The first mantra is, “Darling, I am here for you.” We can learn this mantra by using pepple meditation. Thay wants you to learn both. Then, we have the second mantra. “Darling, I know you are there and it makes me happy.”
Product of our action. Our karma. It I out environment. Retribution. We have been living in such a way that we’ve destroyed our environment. We are our environment. Thought, speech, and action are energies that cannot be destroyed. We are talking about the noble eightfold path.
Thay continues fromm yeaterday by giving a teaching on Right Livelihood and Right Diligence. Includes a teaching on store and mind consciousnesses.
June 19, 2012. 117-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha. The talk is given in English and this is the thirteenth dharma talk (of 15).
Thay announced the names of apprentice Dharma Teachers for the coming year. There will about 50 from the monastic Sunflower family and about 15 lay students (Belgium, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, and USA). We are reminded that a dharma teacher can create happiness for those around them and can handle a painful/unpleasant feeling. Even with some suffering, dharma teachers can discover this is a happy moment.
Climbing a mountain, arriving with every step. Illustrated from a story of traveling China with the sangha.
Five Universal Mental Formations.
Always present and always together. A neural pathway that can lead to happiness or suffering. Creates a habit. We don’t need to focus on our suffering. Create a habit of happiness.
Contact – eyes, ears, etc.
Feeling
Attention - To be able to select the object of your attention. This is good practice. Appropriate attention.
Perception / Conception
Volition
Five Particular Mental Formations
Desire / Intention
Resolution / Determination
Mindfulness
Concentration
Insight
Types of Consciousness
Eye
Ear
Nose
Tongue
Body
Mind (this consciousness can instruct manas – the work of meditation)
Manas (the ground the first six lean upon – wrong view; seeks pleasure)
Store (everything manifests from here – all the seeds)
June 16, 2012. 99-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha. The talk is given in English and this is the eleventh dharma talk (of 15).
Four (six) Mantras of Love (45-minutes)
Darling, I am here for you.
Darling, I know you are there and it makes me happy.
Darling, I know you suffer.
Darling, I suffer, please help.
(This is a Happy Moment.)
(Darling, you are partly right.)
The last one is new and for when someone congratulates or criticizes you.
–
Perception and our mind. Subject of cognition and object of mind. The mind can be both the observed and the observer.
Three parts acting together. The notion of superposition. Three but one.
The observer
The observed
Consciousness
The third part is the base, the foundation, for the observed. Thay has used the example of a piece of paper. The first two are the right and left side and the third is the paste (the paper itself). The third part has many names – different types of consciousnesses. For example, store consciousness.
June 7, 2012. 99-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from New Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha. The talk is given in English and this is the fifth dharma talk (of 15).
This is an excellent session of questions and answers.
Questions
What is the difference between feelings and mental formations?
Is euthanasia okay? Is it Right Action? Can we relieve physical Pain?
How do I practice with the teaching of inferiority and equality complexes?
How can we support out dharma teacher when s/he is not so skillful?
How do I practice with the last four exercises from the sutra on the full awareness of breathing?
Question on consciousness and impermanence.
What happens to the mind after the body dies?
How can you take refuge in the sangha if you don’t trust? How can we build trust?
Severe mental illness, such as bipolar, requires medicine to balance emotion. Can you clarify this as it relates to the practice?
June 6, 2012. 114-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha. The talk is given in English and this is the fourth dharma talk (of 15).
We begin with chanting followed by the main talk about 10-minutes into the recording.
June 4, 2012. 185-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha. The talk is given in English and this is the third dharma talk (of 15).
We begin with 10-minutes of chanting followed by the main dharma talk by Thay. After some mindful movements, we continue (at 2:10 into recording) with University of Virginia Astrophysicist Professor Trinh Xuan Thuan interviewing Thay.
Topics of the Talk
Obstacles of Buddhist Practice
Knowledge
Afflictions
Four Foundations of Mindfulness
Body
Feelings
Mind (51 mental formations)
Objects of Mind (‘nature’ for the scientist)
From the objects of mind we have “double grasping” and the “perceived and perceiver” – entanglement.
Two Realities
Ultimate
Historical
A=A?B (science)
A?A=A (Buddhism)
Interview
Question 1: Buddhism says that one has to get rid of all previous knowledge, to have a clear mind. I think in science one has to know things that were done before, but keep a clear and open mind. Does Thay agree with this?
Question 2: You said something about inanimate matter has intelligence. I’m not sure this is the current scientific view now. Even if you claim that an electron has consciousness, then I say that we have to say there are varying degrees of consciousness. I would say that an electron is very different from a human being. An electron has mass, its electric charge, and its spin, that’s it. Once you’ve seen an electron, you’ve seen them all. Also, a flower. Chimpanzees have some human notion, so close to us in genes. I think there are different degrees of consciousness, and we cannot put everything on the same level. What is your response to that?
Question 3: What is the concept of time in Buddhism? We have the impression that time passes, from the past to the present to the future. In science we learn that past, present and future are always there, and time is not the same for everyone, depending on the movement of the observer. Although there is a psychological time that seems to be there. That is the physical conception of time. So what is the Buddhist concept of time?
Question 4: I like Buddhism not only because I was raised in it, but because it is very logical. It has the spirit of experimentation that a scientist would accept. The mind is the instrument. Objective and subjective reality, that’s something true. As a scientist I realize that an observer is very important as part of what he sees. If you say that there is no objective reality independent of the mind, do you think, for example, that if you do not look at the moon, the moon does not exist? Do you really believe that an alternate universe without consciousness would not exist, if no one could be conscious of it?
May 2, 2012. 94-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 12th annual Francophone Retreat. The talk is given in French with English translation. This is the third dharma talk.
Continuing with the idea of practice as the cultivation of our mind. We need to now how our mind operates to practice well. In Buddhist psychology we talk about seeds in our consciousness. We learn of our store consciousness and our mind consciousness.
The first role of mindfulness is simple recognition. If it is anger arising, we recognize the manifestation of anger. Secondly, we embrace the emotion non-violently.
Right Diligence. There are four aspects of right diligence. First, we organize things so the negative seeds don’t have the opportunity to be watered. Second, if negative seeds do arise then do something right away to invite good seeds to manifest. The third aspect is helping the good seeds to manifest. And the fourth is to try keeping good seeds present as long as possible.
February 12, 2012. 79-minute dharma talk from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village, France. The sangha is in the 2011-2012 Winter Retreat. The talk is given in Vietnamese with English translation. A French translation is also available.
Learning to connect with oneself. In Plum Village, our practice is simple. First, we learn how to breathe. We can start to connect with ourselves through the in-breath. The in breath is us. If you practice, the quality will improve. More gentle. More light. We use a gatha: In. Out. Deep. Slow. Calm. Ease. Smile. Release. Present moment. Wonderful moment.
Working with feelings through our breath is also possible. This is taught in the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing. Practicing means taking care of our body and our mind. We have the five Skandhas. There is still suffering alongside the well being, but we can be harmony with ourselves. Make peace with ourselves. We don’t need to commit suicide.
At 21-minutes we resume the sutra study of “Alambanapariksha and Vrtti” with gatha #7. Last time we talked of the image of perception. The subject and the object take refuge in each other; like the right and the left. We call this Interbeing (in science this is called Entanglement). They must manifest at the same time and serve as conditions to each other. Thay then teaches the six characteristics of bija (seeds).
July 27, 2011. 93-minute dharma talk with Thich Nhat Hanh, translated from the French by Sr. Pine, from Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France. The sangha is in the annual Summer Opening Retreat
Thay teaches four mantras that can help us resolve difficult situations with our loved ones: 1) I am here for you; 2) I know you are there, and I am happy; 3) I know you suffer, and I want you to know that I am here for you; 4) I suffer, please help.
Thay also teaches the story of Mr. Truong and Nam Xuong, who lose their love, and her life, due to actions based on a wrong perception. “In our society we have a fear of suffering, but to understand the suffering in ourselves and in the other person is very important. When we are able to understand the suffering inside, we suffer less. And we can see more easily the suffering in the other person; we can understand them.” To go deeper into how we nourish the seeds of anger inside,
Thay explains the teaching on the Four Nutriments: 1) edible food, 2) sense impressions, 3) volition, 4) consciousness.
The talk was given in French and the English translation is available below. There is a video version available too.