Thay presents the practices of mindful breathing and listening to the bell to young kids before delving into the topic of the eight consciousnesses. It emphasises the key role of store consciousness as the basic or root consciousness from which the other seven evolving consciousnesses arise. Thay teaches that store consciousness contains both wisdom and ignorance, and that the practice of mindfulness can help us reprogram our store consciousness. By so doing, we do not run on autopilot any longer, getting lost in the past or the future, continuously dreaming. Thay highlights how to practice mindfulness when doing daily activities like walking, tooth brushing, drinking, and eating so that we can truly live our life, experiencing joy and freedom in the present.

This is the first talk in a series of four given during the Scientists in the Field of Consciousness retreat in the year 2006. Thay offered this talk at the New Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

Thay details the interconnectedness of mindfulness, consciousness, and karma in Buddhism, emphasizing the transformative power of mindful breathing and appropriate attention. A Winnie-the-Pooh story illustrates enlightenment and interconnectedness, akin to astrophysicist Sir Arthur Eddington’s “footprints analogy.”

Thay reminds us that the Buddha’s main concern in teaching is understanding suffering and its transformation. This requires the practice of deep looking into the four domains of mindfulness as described in the Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness, the most basic sutra on meditation.

The three objects or realms of consciousness are outlined: the realm of mere images, the realm of representation, and the realm of things in themselves. Consciousness flows continuously, influenced by wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral actions. Appropriate attention, yoniso manaskāra, is described as the art of living, arranging our lives to direct our minds toward peace, siblinghood, healing, and reconciliation.

Thay finally implores us to remember that we are not only our body, but also our environment. The Buddha’s teaching on retribution shows that a beautiful future can be assured by taking care of our thoughts, speech, and bodily actions.

This is the second talk in a series of five given during the Scientists in the Field of Consciousness retreat in the year 2006. Thay offered this talk at the New Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

The World We Perceive Manifests From Store Consciousness

Thay shares that to realize the truth, one must practice humility, openness, and non-attachment to fixed views. In Buddhism, this means letting go of all concepts so the truth can be revealed. Thay presents the concept of emptiness as the absence of a separate self, everything is interconnected. Through deep meditation, one realizes that a single element contains the entire cosmos.

In the center part of the talk, Thay explains that the ultimate reality is accessed through the mind, which can be obstructed by attachment to what we already know and by afflictions such as fear and anger. Thay presents store consciousness as the ground from which both the knower and the known arise. Everything — mind, body, world - manifests from it.

At the end of the talk, Thay introduces the concentration (samādhi) of signlessness, which teaches us to not be trapped by appearances. This practice helps us transcend fear and understand the interdependence of all things.

This is the third talk in a series of five given during the Scientists in the Field of Consciousness retreat, in the year 2006. Thay offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

Thay emphasizes that something cannot arise from nothing, being cannot arise from non-being. Buddhist tradition prefers “manifestation” over “being,” akin to a flame appearing when conditions are right. Reality transcends notions of being and non-being crafted by the mind. Quantum physics aligns with Buddhist insights on interconnectedness and non-locality. Buddhism teaches unity of relative and absolute truths, transcending extremes like birth and death. Thay says that scientists have discovered non-self and interbeing and are on the cusp of deeper insights.

This is the fourth talk in a series of five given during the Scientists in the Field of Consciousness retreat in the year 2006. Thay offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

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Thay elaborates on the teachings of the Eight Consciousnesses, covering three modes of cognition (direct, inference, and fallacy) and three objects of cognition (suchness, representations, and perceptions). Thay explains the layers of reality, the moral nature of cognition (wholesome, unwholesome and indeterminate), and the Buddhist concept of plasticity. The first five consciousnesses being sensory consciousnesses. The eighth consciousness (store) accesses both phenomenal and noumenal realms, embodying wisdom, while the seventh consciousness (manas) is self-centered and creates illusions of self. The practice involves freeing the store consciousness, which preserves wisdom. Understanding consciousness links biology and quantum physics, revealing unity through mindfulness and collective practice. The retreat emphasizes practice over intellectual understanding, urging openness to growth and mindfulness in daily life.

This is the fifth talk in a series of five given during the Scientists in the Field of Consciousness retreat in the year 2006.. Thay offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet in Plum Village, France.