Thay shares about the roots of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing, in the sutras and the suffering during the Vietnam war. Thay elaborates on the Mindfulness Trainings in the light of the Noble Eightfold Path. Thay highlights Right View as the foundation of all precepts, and attachment to views as the ground of a lot of suffering. The Dharma should be received as a skillful means and we should not to get caught in it as a view. Thay comments on a talk by president Obama and encourages us to support him by practicing peace and reconciliation in our every day lives.
Thay teaches how we can practice to heal past suffering of the inner child with Right Mindfulness, establishing ourselves in the here and now. Everything we are looking for is here, in the present moment. If we don´t have a problem now, we don´t have a problem at all.

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

Thầy discusses the importance of cultivating mindfulness and practicing in harmony as a Sangha. Thầy emphasizes collective mindfulness, compassion, and understanding, practices that guide us toward liberation and joy. The Buddha’s teachings on mindfulness, awareness, and liberation from suffering are highlighted, stressing the importance of non-attachment to views and doctrines. The Buddha’s eyes symbolize clarity and perception of ultimate reality, transcending notions and concepts. The teachings caution against rigid beliefs and attachments, advocating openness, humility, and liberating the mind. The essence of Buddhist practice is freeing oneself from fixed perspectives, leading to true happiness and Nirvana.

This is the sixth talk in a series of fifteen given during The Eyes of The Buddha, twenty-one-day retreat in the year 2000. Thầy offered this talk at the New Hamlet, Plum Village. France.

The Ethics of Actions and Their Consequence: An Exploration

Thay discusses the Four Noble Truths and how Buddhist teachings differ from several other philosophies in regards to defining right actions, right thoughts, and right speech. Some of the other philosophies Thay uses as comparisons include the divine command theory, consequentialism (a term coined by Elizabeth Anscombe), and utilitarianism as written by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Thay also discusses how suffering and happiness inter-are and the importance of promoting correction over punishment, especially when working with inmates in the United States. He ends with sharing the practice of oil pulling for detoxification in order to increase well-being.

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