Thay explains the meaning of Engaged and Applied Buddhism and the range of courses offered in the newly opened European Institute of Applied Buddhism (EIAB), with the benefits of staying in this residential community that embodies the practice. Thay encourages us to support the Institute and to put Applied Buddhism in the forefront of our practice, reducing suffering in ourselves and in the world.

In the second part of the talk, Thay elucidates the Buddhist teaching of right view of the nature of consciousness, its cinematographic nature and its relationship to impermanence and non-self. Thay explores the concepts of rebirth and reincarnation and teaches us not to fall into the traps of eternalism or annihilationism. Individual and collective Karma (our thoughts, speech and actions) is the dynamic force that underlies everything. Thay shares how our actions can transform the world, and that they are our continuation. Thay also teaches that subject and object inter-are as they arise from consciousness at the same time—the nature of reality is interbeing. This means that we are within all things and all things are within us, and so to preserve other species is to preserve ourselves.

This is the last talk in a series of thirteen given during The Path of the Buddha, twenty-one-day retreat in the year 2009. Thay offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet in Plum Village, France.

The Interbeing Nature of the Three Times: Past Present and Future

Thầy shares that we must practice breathing, walking, and everything in our life in a way that brings us more freedom. We do this by living in the present moment. If we have freedom, we can build a beautiful future and a beautiful past. Thầy describes time as a circle, using the analogy of a slide projector. The past, present, and future are all contained in the present moment. Any thought that we produce in the present moment has an immediate effect on our body and our mind, and it has the power to heal our body and mind and the bodies and minds of others. Thầy points out that all our thoughts, speech, and actions are contained in our store consciousness. What’s in our store consciousness is alive and continues to change and mature to become something different. Collective karma is powerful and can create change. Mindful breathing allows us to realize that we’re alive in the here and the now, and we’re free. Our practice of mindfulness allows us to build a beautiful past so a beautiful future is possible.

This talk was given on a Day of Mindfulness during the spring retreat in 2012. Thầy offered this talk at the New Hamlet, Plum Village, France.