In this retreat Dharma talk, our teacher explores the healing power of taking refuge in our body, feelings, perceptions, and mental formations. He offers many concrete practices that heal: looking deeply, understanding our ignorance, trusting our body, mindful breathing, stopping and resting, fasting, embracing the present moment, offering gratitude to our body, enjoying our practice, sitting meditation, walking meditation, acknowledging the wonders of life, quieting the mind.

This is the second talk in a series given during “The Path of Emancipation,” twenty-one-day retreat in the year 1998. Thay offered this talk at St. Michael’s College, Burlington, Vermont, in the United States.

Thay continues on The Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, c. 20 BCE)–Mindfulness of body, Mindfulness of feelings, Mindfulness of mind (mental formations), and Mindfulness of dharmas (or objects of mind)–drawing also upon the “16 Exercises on the Full Awareness of Breathing” in The Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing (Ānāpānasati Sutta). Thay recommences with how to work with the three categories of feelings–pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant—and how they in turn often are preconditioned by our body and by our mental formations.—All are interconnected. We tend to overemphasize what we do not like—the unpleasant, our suffering—often failing to appreciate all that is neutral or going well. Thay then turns to the Four Nutriments, in particular what we eat as food; what we consume via sense impressions, such as through media; and what we tell ourselves (or are told by culture) that motivates us, our volitions. His teaching is that we often mindlessly consume and fail to recognize how what we consume determines our ill-being or our well-being. He prescribes recognizing what we consume that brings us ill-being, practicing mindfulness of our mental formations, and choosing the volitions of loving kindness and compassion. Thay counsels us to go to our true home, sit with our avoidance of self-knowing, and take care of our wounded and unattended child, which is our sorrow, our sense of failure, our depression, etc. Thay closes the talk with practical meditation guidelines for how to work with mindfulness to take care of recurring mental formations and embrace those that feed us with well-being and joy.

This is the third talk in a series given during The Path of Emancipation, twenty-one-day retreat in the year 1998. Thay offered this talk at St. Michael’s College, Burlington, Vermont, in the United States.

Thầy presents the tenth exercise, Gladdening the Mind, from the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing. He explores selective watering: cultivating positive seeds and avoiding watering negative seeds. Thầy then moves to the eleventh exercise, Concentrating our Mind, offering teachings on mindfulness, making a peace treaty with ourselves and our beloveds, the practice of beginning anew and embracing our suffering in order to transform it.

This is the sixth talk in a series given during The Path of Emancipation, twenty-one-day retreat in the year 1998. Thầy offered this talk at St. Michael’s College, Burlington, Vermont, in the United States.

Thầy focuses on the eleventh exercise —concentrating the mind—and the twelfth exercise—liberating the mind—of the Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing.
He begins with the beautiful, simple, and iconic Plum Village meditation which is based on the Ānāpānasati Sutta:
In, Out. Deep, Slow. Calm, Ease. Smile, Release. Present Moment, Wonderful Moment.

Thầy analyzes each line in detail, encouraging us to use the meditation in our daily lives because it teaches us how to be truly alive; fully present—body and mind connected. The meditation, which he asks us to “learn my heart,” helps us “set up the conditions for happiness.“ Thầy then describes true happiness, including the happiness of just sitting and enjoying our breathing.

Thầy explains that the goal of practice is not merely to find temporary relief, but to achieve transformation at the base (āśraya-parāvṛtti). This deep emancipation is only possible when we obtain insight through the two wings of meditation: śamatha (stopping, calming, and concentrating) and vipaśyanā (deep looking). Thầy suggests a practical exercise of placing a “stop” sign in our home to remind us to stand still and practice mindful breathing until we truly realize the art of stopping.

Thầy clarifies that this transformation can be achieved in two ways:

1. Directly, by inviting a seed of suffering to manifest so it can be embraced by mindfulness and transformed through deep looking and the light of insight.
2. Indirectly, by watering the seeds of an opposite nature, such as joy, compassion, and peace, within ourselves and others.

These practices can be undertaken individually or with the support of a Sangha to help seeds of affliction disintegrate naturally.

Thầy says, “We all have received positive seeds from our parents, our ancestors, but we also have received negative seeds from our ancestors, our parents. And we have to practice.” He then details the importance of reconciliation and describes how to reconcile. He says, “Peace is only possible with that knowledge and with that reconciliation.”

Because the community will enjoy Formal Lunch together after the Dharma talk, Thầy ends with a discussion on mindful eating.

This is the seventh talk in a series given during The Path of Emancipation, twenty-one-day retreat in the year 1998. Thay offered this talk at St. Michael’s College, Burlington, Vermont, in the United States.

Thay explores interbeing and non-discrimination, looking at the four notions to let go of: self, human beings, living beings and life span, from the Diamond Sutra. He then goes onto the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, focusing on the objects of desire and craving, as a path to suffering instead of happiness. Thay shares a wonderful story about a young stream and her journey to the ocean.

This is the penultimate talk in a series given during The Path of Emancipation, twenty-one-day retreat in the year 1998. Thay offered this talk at St. Michael’s College, Burlington, Vermont, in the United States.

Thay explores the Six Pāramitās: generosity (dāna; 布施), diligence ( vīrya; 精進), the Mindfulness Trainings (śīla; 持戒), inclusiveness (kṣānti; 忍辱), meditation (dhyāna; 禪定) and insight (prajñā; 般若), as ways of crossing over to the other shore, the shore of well-being. He then advises practices to do in daily life when returning home from a retreat, such as creating a breathing room, practicing at work, encouraging children to participate, building sangha and more.

This is the last talk in a series given during The Path of Emancipation, twenty-one-day retreat in the year 1998. Thay offered this talk at St. Michael’s College, Burlington, Vermont, in the United States.