Một nắm muối bỏ vào bát nước làm nước mặn không thể uống được, còn ném xuống sông thì dòng sông mênh mông vẫn trong sạch; trái tim nhỏ hẹp dễ đau khổ còn trái tim lớn rộng như biển cả thì những xúc chạm của cuộc đời không đủ làm khổ mình. Trái tim ở đây chính là tình thương, có thể được nuôi lớn dần qua sự tu tập Tứ Vô Lượng Tâm, tức bốn tâm không biên giới, hay gọi chung là Vô Lượng Tâm. Những tổ chức như Médecins Sans Frontières (Hội y sĩ không biên giới), Hiệp hội luật sư không biên giới… là những ví dụ sống động về tình thương mở rộng không phân biệt biên giới địa lý hay tôn giáo.

Khi gặp người làm khổ mình, ba bước thực tập cụ thể giúp trái tim mau rộng lớn hơn:

1. Nhìn thẳng khổ đau của người ấy và phát khởi lòng muốn giúp họ bớt khổ thay vì trách móc.
2. Dùng ái ngữ nói rõ mình đang khổ, mình đã cố gắng tu tập nhưng còn thất bại, và tha thiết nhờ họ giúp đỡ.
3. Lắng nghe với tâm từ bi (bi thính), để cho họ có cơ hội trải hết lòng mình dù lời nói có sai lệch hay trách móc đi nữa.
   Thực hành ba bước này không chỉ giúp người kia nhẹ bớt khổ mà ngay lập tức làm trái tim mình rộng thêm, rút ngắn con đường tu thành Phật.

Chùa xóm Trung được đặt tên là Pháp Mai (Pháp vì nước Pháp, Mai vì Làng Mai), gọi đầy đủ là Diệu Pháp Mai Hoa Kinh. Khuôn viên sẽ chuyển thành chùa Việt Nam với cơm bún hàng ngày, một vườn rau đủ loại (rau thơm, ngò, tía tô, kinh giới…), trụ trì tương lai sẽ do tăng ni dễ thương được mời về.

Khi vợ chồng, cha mẹ—con cái gặp khổ đau, thường đổ lỗi cho “người kia không dễ thương”, nhưng chính mình cũng góp phần làm khổ nhau. Đức Phật dạy rằng để thay đổi người kia phải bắt đầu từ tự chuyển hóa nỗi khổ của chính mình. Trong các khóa tu năm ngày, thiền sinh thực tập:

• ngồi thiền, đi thiền hành để nhận diện khổ đau của mình và người thân
• thở lắng nghe, tưới tẩm hạt giống hiểu và thương
• luyện “ái ngữ” qua lời khen, lời cảm ơn, lời xin lỗi
• thực hành gọi điện thoại hòa giải (đến 12 giờ khuya nếu cần)
  Kết quả: chỉ năm ngày có thể hóa giải mâu thuẫn lâu năm, mở lại cửa tim, dìu nhau từ “địa ngục khổ đau” về “thiên đường hạnh phúc”. Trẻ em cũng nhờ vậy tìm được thực phẩm tâm linh thay cho trò chơi vô bổ. Trong đời sống gia đình, tu tập tam quy, ngũ giới giúp giữ vững ân tình, tránh những dông bão ly tan.

Thay answers the questions posed by retreatants in the retreat at Nottingham in August of 2010.

A talk transmitted live on the Internet from Plum Village on the 1st of August, 2010, during the fourth week of the Summer Opening.

Note: this description was automatically sourced from existing YouTube descriptions and other sources. Please ‘Suggest Edit’ if it’s incorrect.

Over the last three weeks we’ve alternated teachings for children and adults on topics such as:

1. the eight exercises on mindful breathing, perception, deep listening and loving speech;
2. the Noble Eightfold Path and the Five Mindfulness Trainings as discovered by teenagers;
3. pebbles meditation, retribution, two diligences, Four Elements of True Love;
4. the first five mantras and the four nutriments; plus Dharma talks in French, English, Spanish, German and Vietnamese.

True spiritual practice brings a spiritual dimension into every moment through mindfulness and concentration. We each have:

1. a physical body;
2. a Dharma body (our practice, nourished by daily tasks);
3. a Buddha body (the seed of awakening in us);
4. a Sangha body (the living Dharma we generate together).

By simple acts—breathing, walking, drinking tea, brushing teeth, closing a door—done mindfully and with gathas, we generate the living Dharma, support our Dharma body, and allow insight to liberate suffering. In walking meditation each step, when accompanied by “I have arrived. I am home,” brings us fully into the here and now, where true peace, solidity, freedom, and joy arise.

In 2010, in Upper Hamlet’s Still Water Meditation Hall, Thay rose each winter-retreat morning to make tea in his hut, walk mindfully by starlight to the hall, and sit with us—breathing in the fresh, healing air, breathing out tension, and simply enjoying in-and-out breaths without effort. He called it “Still Water” because, like clear water, sitting still lets us see things as they are and reflect without distortion.

We have learned five mantras:

1. Darling, I am here for you.
2. Darling, I know you are there, and I am very happy.
3. Darling, I know you suffer. That is why I am here for you.
4. Darling, I suffer. Please help.
5. Dear friends, this moment is a happy moment.

The fifth mantra (“this moment is a happy moment”) invites us to notice conditions of happiness—having parents alive, a home, fresh air or water, a healthy heart—and to practice it whenever we feel lucky. The fourth mantra is most difficult: when we believe the one we love most has caused our suffering, pride makes us refuse help. Thay told the tragic sixteenth-century tale of Mr. Trương and his wife of Nam Xương to show how a single wrong perception can destroy love, and urged us instead to go to each other and say: “Darling, I suffer. I want you to know it. I am doing my best. Please help me.”

The first two of the Buddha’s four nutriments guide our consumption:
• Edible food (đoàn thực), which we should choose and eat “mindfully so as not to feel we’re eating our own son’s flesh,” preserving compassion, reducing harm, and nourishing body, mind, and world.
• Sensory impressions (xúc thực), which include everything we see, hear, read, or hear talked about; we must refuse poisonous inputs—violence, hate, fear—and adopt a family- or Sangha-wide policy of Right Consumption.

Every child is “a flower in the garden of humanity,” complete with a “flower face,” “flower eyes,” “five-petaled” hands and feet. Losing our “flowerness” through anger or sorrow makes us unhappy, so the practice is to preserve our peace, calm and freshness. When we love someone, the most valuable offering is our own presence—fresh, loving, smiling and compassionate—rather than any material gift.

In Plum Village we use five mantras to restore flowerness, of which the first two are:

1. Darling, I am here for you.
2. Darling, I know you are there and I am very happy.
   A mantra becomes effective only when body, speech and mind are perfectly united. Mindful breathing, walking and smiling bring us back to the here-and-now, so that our presence truly becomes the gift we offer.

In reviewing two weeks of practice, Thay introduced the three doors of liberation—emptiness (śūnyatā), signlessness (animitta) and aimlessness (apraṇihitā). Aimlessness means stopping all searching—realizing we are already in the kingdom of God, here and now. Every mindful breath and every step is both destination and arrival, a direct path to peace, freedom and joy.

Every time we hear the bell—temple bell, church bell, or clock bell—we stop thinking, stop talking, listen deeply, and breathe in and out peacefully three times. This basic Plum Village practice generates a powerful collective energy of peace that nourishes body and mind. “To make peace, you have to be peace,” beginning with going home to yourself: stop thinking, stop talking, and breathe mindfully to calm your body.

From conception you were a “tiny seed” in your mother’s womb—loved, nourished, and carried with care. That original love is the foundation of life, and when it’s covered by suffering it can be restored through the Buddha’s teaching. Today’s ceremony of gratitude to father and mother invites each of us to say: “I’m very glad that you are alive with us. Thank you for being there.”

Right Diligence, one element of the Noble Eightfold Path, works with the two layers of mind consciousness and store consciousness, where bīja (seeds) of anger, love, peace, and hate reside. Fifty-one categories of seeds give birth to fifty-one mental formations. To cultivate the wholesome and tame the unwholesome, practice diligence in four aspects:

1. Learn the art of not watering unwholesome seeds (jealousy, anger) in yourself or your partner by making a mutual commitment and reminding each other.
2. When a negative seed has manifested, help it go home by embracing it mindfully and inviting a wholesome seed—mindfulness, understanding—to replace it.
3. Give wholesome seeds a chance to manifest through “Flower Watering,” selectively recognizing and praising each other’s positive values so they can bloom immediately.
4. Once a wholesome mental formation arises, keep it present as long as possible so it can grow at the base of consciousness, fortifying peace, joy, and compassion.

Today a grain of corn is offered to each child and adult—seventy children and about seven hundred men and women—to plant mindfully in a pot, water daily, and after a week or ten days visit the young plant. In front of the two‐ or three‐leafed plant you ask, “My dear young plant of corn, do you remember the time you were a tiny seed of corn?” and listen with your heart as you help the plant recognize its origin from the ear of corn and the larger plant that came before.

We humans are like that plant of corn: at conception we were a very tiny seed in our mother’s womb, containing our father and mother, our grandparents, and all our ancestors. Through meditation we can see that our parents and ancestors are alive in us—when we walk they walk with us, when we smile they smile with us—and learn to be grateful. In Vietnam we say uống nước nhớ nguồn: when you drink water from the river, you remember its source.

In the Sutra on Mindful Breathing the Buddha proposes methods to produce joy and happiness:

1. Letting go—release what holds you back, like leaving a crowded city to taste the countryside.
2. Mindfulness—recognize conditions of happiness in the present moment, for example:
   • Breathing in, I am aware of my in‐breath.
   • Breathing out, I am aware of my out‐breath.
   • Breathing in, I am aware of my heart. Breathing out, I smile to my heart.

Plum Village was born in 1982 and this year marks the 28th Summer Opening. In 2012 it will celebrate its 30th anniversary – “bien établi à l’âge de trente ans” – and you’re invited to propose songs, poems, theater pieces, big cakes for 3 000 people, books or other creative offerings. From 170 practitioners at the first opening, Plum Village has grown worldwide: daughter Sanghas in Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, and many ordained teenage monastics (aged 12–14), five or six of whom are now Dharma teachers.

The practice of the bell uses a mini-bell with its “inviter” rather than a stick. Children (and adults) learn to bow to the bell as a Bodhisattva, hold it mindfully, breathe in–out twice and recite the four-line gatha:

1. “Body, speech, and mind in perfect oneness.”
2. “I send my heart along with the sound of this bell.”
3. “May those who listen to me awake from forgetfulness.”
4. “And transcend the path of anxiety and sorrow.”
   Next comes a half-sound to give six to eight seconds’ pause, then a full sound followed by three in- and out-breaths. A second full sound ushers in the two-line gatha “I listen, I listen, this wonderful sound brings me back to my true home,” with three breaths, and a third sound with three more breaths before replacing the bell and bowing in gratitude.

Beyond physical form, every practitioner cultivates:
• a Dharma body through mindfulness, concentration, and insight;
• a Buddha body—the buddhahood already alive in us;
• and a Sangha body—the collective energy of peace, joy, and compassion that supports and transports our practice.
Mindful breathing and walking bring you “home” to the kingdom of God or Pure Land here and now, as swiftly as any tele-transportation.

Today’s session began with questions from children, teens, then adults, each ringing the bell and breathing three times before speaking.

1. How do plants grow? Sit close, breathe, observe—biologists do this work.
2. Why don’t monastics fall in love? Monks and nuns practice celibacy so they can devote their time to practice, love without suffering, and help others.
3. How did you decide to become a monk/Buddhist? Thay’s family was already Buddhist; at school five friends discussed their futures—four became Buddhist monks, one a Catholic monk. To be a Buddhist means having compassion, understanding, openness; ideas and labels aren’t required.

Noble silence and laughter support each other if we remain fully aware. A non-dualistic view sees suffering and happiness “inter-are”: like lotus and mud, one nourishes the other. Feelings are impermanent; strong emotions are “storms” in our “store consciousness.” To handle them, practice belly breathing—focus 100 % on the rise and fall of your abdomen until the storm passes.

Five skandhas:
• form
• feelings
• perceptions
• mental formations
• consciousness

Each emotion is one of fifty-one mental formations; we are much more than any single emotion.

Salle de méditation Eau Tranquille
Quand l’eau est calme, elle reflète les choses telles qu’elles sont. La méditation Eau Tranquille repose sur :

1. J’inspire, je me vois comme eau tranquille.
2. J’expire, je reflète les choses sans déformation.

Bhava : devenir et impermanence
– Bhava (B H A V A) se traduit mieux par “devenir” que par “être” : tout change à chaque kṣaṇa (fraction de seconde).
– L’“identité” est une continuation : graines, plantes, ancêtres et talents circulent de génération en génération.

Karma : l’action en trois aspects

1. Pensée juste
   • Libre de discrimination et de dualisme (père/fils, lotus/soleil/boue)
2. Parole aimante
   • Soutient, inspire confiance, réconciliation
3. Acte physique juste
   • Consommation, alimentation et métiers qui réduisent la souffrance et préservent la planète

Quatre pratiques des graines

1. Ne pas arroser les graines négatives (colère, jalousie, désespoir)
2. Ramener tôt à la position originelle toute graine négative manifestée
3. Arroser les bonnes graines chez soi et chez l’autre pour déclencher un état d’âme positif
4. Retenir le plus longtemps possible chaque bonne graine pour qu’elle grandisse

Le Noble Sentier Octuple

1. Vue juste
2. Pensée juste
3. Parole juste
4. Acte juste
5. Moyen d’existence juste
6. Diligence juste
7. Pleine conscience
8. Concentration

Ce chemin mène à la cessation de la souffrance, au bonheur et à la liberté dans le pays de l’instant présent.

*Le mot inter-être n’existe pas encore dans le dictionnaire, mais l’idée est que « rien ne peut être par soi-même » :

1. gauche et droite (inter-sont), haut et bas ;
2. fleur de lotus et boue, nuage, soleil ;
3. thé et nuage, thé et Dharma ;
4. père et fils, souffrance et bonheur ;
5. mains droite et gauche, baguettes dans le four.
   En voyant en profondeur, on perçoit toujours ce qui permet à l’autre d’exister, et la vision de l’inter-être fait disparaître séparation, peur et discrimination.

*Quatre éléments constituent l’amour véritable :

1. maitrī (amitié, capacité d’offrir le bonheur, fondée sur la compréhension de sa propre souffrance)
2. karuṇā (compassion, élan pour transformer la souffrance, exigeant de comprendre la souffrance de soi-même et de l’autre)
3. muditā (joie pure, produire des moments de joie grâce à la pleine conscience, la concentration et la vision profonde)
4. upekṣā (non-discrimination, inclusivité, équanimité, « amour sans frontières » permettant d’aimer tout être).

Thay poursuit son enseignement sur les cinq mantras. Les cinq mantras aident à exprimer l’amour et la compassion pour soulager la souffrance et générer le bonheur dans une relation avec une autre personne. Mais il faut d’abord pratiquer la pleine conscience afin de ressentir l’amour et la compréhension envers soi-même si l’on veut pouvoir aimer et comprendre autrui. Thay rappelle : “Chérie, je suis là pour toi.” “Chérie, je sais que tu es là et je suis très heureux.” “Chérie, je sais que tu souffres, c’est pourquoi je suis là pour toi.” “Ce moment est un moment de bonheur.”

Thay aborde les Trois Portes de la Libération, enseignement essentiel dans le bouddhisme. La première porte de la libération est la porte du vide (sunyata). Thay explique, à partir de l’exemple de la fleur de lotus, qu’elle est pleine du cosmos mais vide d’existence séparée. Cette démonstration signifie que rien ne peut exister par soi-même, tout inter-est. La deuxième porte est la porte de la non-apparence : il ne faut pas se laisser tromper par le caractère illusoire des perceptions. Thay invite à voir la continuité d’un nuage dans la pluie ou le papier dans la fumée, et à transcender l’être et le non-être, naître et mourir. La troisième porte est la porte de la non-poursuite. Il n’y a pas de sacrifice du chemin au profit du but. Chaque pas, chaque respiration, chaque instant de la pratique fait avec la concentration, avec la pleine conscience, mène à l’éveil, à l’illumination authentique.

Cet enseignement a été donné par Thich Nhat Hanh le 23 juillet 2010 au Village des Pruniers, pendant la troisième semaine de la retraite d’été.

Thay explique la méditation des cailloux. Par la suite, il parle du karma et de ses fruits : le sujet et l’environnement. Il mentionne ainsi la fondation du Village des Pruniers, issu du karma collectif. Il aborde également la question de la continuation, les notions de non-naissance, non-mort et d’inter-être. Il souligne enfin l’importance du Noble Sentier Octuple vers la cessation de la souffrance, l’importance de la pratique au quotidien et du soutien de la Sangha.

Cet enseignement a été donné le 16 juillet 2010 au cours de la Retraite d’été du Village des Pruniers, dans la salle Eau tranquille du Hameau du Haut.

La méditation, c’est la vie vécue en profondeur avec joie, paix et amour :
– Respirer, marcher, s’asseoir, prendre son petit-déjeuner avec calme et sourire, c’est déjà de la méditation.
– Le regard profond révèle dans un morceau de pain le champ de blé, le soleil, la pluie, les nuages ; dans la fleur de lotus la boue, le soleil, les nuages ; dans une graine de maïs minuscule la connaissance, le talent et l’expérience de générations.

La perception est toujours une co-naissance du sujet et de l’objet, d’une flamme après l’autre ou d’une image après l’autre. Là où il y a perception, il y a illusion :
– croire que le ciel est bleu, que la mer a sa couleur, que le soleil là-maintenant est celui-là, c’est se tromper.
– Le marchand, persuadé que son fils brûlé était mort, refusa d’ouvrir la porte lorsque l’enfant revenait : la perception erronée le prive de la vérité.

*Transformer la souffrance et la division commence par la pratique du regard profond et de la parole aimante, avec trois phrases-clés :

1. « Je souffre et je veux que tu le saches. »
2. « Je fais de mon mieux, je pratique. »
3. « Aide-moi, s’il te plaît. »
   Écouter profondément sans juger, aider à reconnaître et corriger les perceptions erronées prévient la haine, la violence et le terrorisme.*

Grâce à la pratique de la pleine conscience et de la concentration, on peut se télétransporter vers le Royaume de Dieu, la Terre Pure de Bouddha, en une demi-seconde ; c’est le pays où tout est pur, où règnent l’amour, la compréhension, la joie, où il n’y a pas de violence, de haine, de colère. Une inspiration en pleine conscience, le son de la cloche, la marche méditative, nous libèrent de la souffrance du passé ou de la peur du futur et nous ramènent au moment présent (“MP”), le seul moment où l’on peut entrer en contact avec les merveilles de la vie. Avec un pas dans la pleine conscience, on ramène l’esprit vers le corps ; c’est la clé pour entrer dans le Royaume de Dieu.
Dans le christianisme, il y a l’enseignement sur la Trinité : le Père, le Fils, le Saint Esprit, et dans le Bouddhisme il y a l’enseignement sur les Trois Joyaux : le Bouddha, le Dharma, la Sangha. C’est la même chose. Nous avons en nous-même l’Esprit Saint ; nous avons la nature de Bouddha, c’est-à-dire des graines de la pleine conscience, de la concentration et de la vision profonde.

Un vrai pratiquant est quelqu’un qui peut générer à chaque moment de sa vie cinq sortes d’énergie : l’énergie de la pleine conscience, smrti ; l’énergie de la concentration, samadhi ; l’énergie de la vision profonde, prajña ; l’énergie de la confiance ; l’énergie de la diligence.
La souffrance appartient aussi au Royaume de Dieu, tout comme le lotus ne peut pousser sans la boue : c’est la vue juste, non duelle, sans discrimination. Regarder en profondeur dans la nature de notre souffrance va nous indiquer le chemin de la transformation et de la guérison et nourrir en nous la compréhension, l’amour et le bonheur. Thay expose les Quatre Nobles Vérités : le mal-être, la souffrance, dukkha ; la cause, la nature du mal-être ; la cessation du mal-être, le bien-être ; le chemin qui conduit à la cessation du mal-être, au bien-être.

Cet enseignement a été offert le 9 juillet 2010 au Hameau du Haut du Village des Pruniers pendant la Retraite d’été.

Lors d’une retraite en Italie, Thay a demandé à chaque personne de planter une graine de maïs, de l’arroser et de lui poser une question quand la plante a deux ou trois feuilles : “ma chère plante de maïs, est-ce que tu te souviens du moment où tu étais une graine de maïs ?” Il faut bien l’écouter, lui confirmer qu’elle est bien la continuation de la graine, même si elle ne reconnaît pas immédiatement ses origines. Cette méditation nous invite à reconnaître que, comme la plante est la continuation de la graine, nous sommes la continuation de notre maman et de notre papa : la graine n’est pas morte, elle vit toujours dans la plante, et nos ancêtres sont présents dans chacune de nos cellules. La plante et la graine ne sont ni identiques ni différentes, la vérité se trouve au milieu : c’est ce qu’on appelle la Voie du Milieu dans le bouddhisme. Thay prend ensuite l’exemple de deux flammes pour expliquer la vérité de la non-identification et de la non-différenciation. Si on regarde encore plus profondément, on peut voir que avant la graine, avant notre naissance et même notre conception, il y a quelque chose : nous ne venons pas de la non-existence.

Thay explique que le mal-être est là en nous et autour de nous et c’est la Première Vérité Noble. Mais le bien-être est possible. Le secret, c’est de regarder en profondeur dans la nature de la souffrance pour en identifier la cause. Cette compréhension va nous montrer le chemin du bien-être, de la cessation du mal-être, qui est la Troisième Vérité Noble.

Le Bouddha nous a enseigné comment ramener la paix dans le corps, les sensations , les émotions. Avec l’énergie de la pleine conscience, tout au long de notre vie quotidienne, en pratiquant la marche, en respirant, en se brossant les dents, etc nous nous établissons dans le moment présent pour nous libérer du passé, du futur, des afflictions, ramener l’esprit vers le corps, nous éveiller.

Dans le christianisme, on parle de la Trinité : Dieu le Père, Dieu le Fils et l’Esprit Saint, qui est l’équivalent de la pleine conscience dans le bouddhisme. Et quand nous sommes habités par l’Esprit Saint, nous sommes vraiment vivants, présents pour les merveilles de la vie, comme Meursault, le personnage de “L’étranger” d’Albert Camus, qui voit profondément le ciel bleu pour la première fois. Il cesse de vivre comme un mort.

Comme pratiquant authentique, quand on est de retour chez soi, il faut pouvoir créer l’atmosphère, l’énergie, que l’on trouve au Village des Pruniers, construire une Sangha qui va nous soutenir dans notre pratique, être un refuge pour nos amis et nos enfants, rendre possibles la paix, la joie, le bien-être.

Thay a offert cet enseignement le 3 août 2009 au Hameau du Bas du Village des Pruniers, pendant la Retraite d’été.

Après une courte méditation guidée, Thay lit et commente le poème chinois de Giả Đảo qui parle d’un moine parti cueillir des plantes médicinales. Il dresse ensuite un parallèle avec l’expérience fondatrice de sa jeunesse, la recherche de ermite dans la montagne.
Thay explique que les Cinq Entraînements à la Pleine Conscience répondent au besoin d’établir une éthique globale pour le monde, basée sur la vue juste. Ce faisant, il répond à une question importante : la différence entre la vue juste, qui est une expérience directe de la réalité découlant de la pleine conscience et de la concentration, et la pensée juste, qui ne peut que tenter d’exprimer la vue juste, sans la remplacer. La vue juste mène à la vision de l’inter-être, au-delà des notions de naissance et de mort.

Cet enseignement a été donné le 30 juillet 2009 lors de la Retraite d’été au Village des Pruniers, en France.

Four pine trees were planted twenty-eight years ago to become today’s Upper Hamlet Dharma Hall. During the Summer Opening—now in its fourth week—over one hundred children, teenagers, and adults have practiced sitting and walking meditation together. Sitting meditation is simply enjoying each in-breath and out-breath and the peaceful presence of others; walking meditation is fully aware, one-step-one-breath, no thinking, no talking, celebrating life’s wonder on “this beautiful planet called Earth.” Holding a child’s hand, Thay offers stability and peace, and in return is nourished by their freshness and innocence.

True love, Thay teaches, must include non-discrimination and equanimity, as illustrated by the harmony of the right and left hands, which never fight, never compare, and care for each other’s suffering. From that true love emerges shared happiness and shared suffering. To prevent unmindful mistakes—like hammering a finger—mindfulness and concentration must underpin every action.

Three kinds of complexes

1. complex of superiority
2. complex of inferiority
3. complex of equality

Four exercises in mindful breathing

1. identify in-breath as in-breath, out-breath as out-breath
2. follow the in-breath and out-breath all the way through
3. become aware of the whole body while breathing in
4. release tension in the body while breathing out

Three energies generated by Buddhist meditation
• smṛti (mindfulness)
• samādhi (concentration)
• prajñā (insight)

Aujourd’hui, la corde ombilicale relie d’abord le bébé à sa mère pendant neuf mois :

1. la mère respire et l’oxygène « entre dans le corps du bébé à travers la corde ombilicale » ;
2. elle mange et les nutriments « entrent dans le corps du bébé par la corde ombilicale » ;
3. chaque joie maternelle ou paternelle pénètre également le bébé, tout comme l’amour qu’il lui rend déjà ;
4. après la naissance, cette corde invisible perdure entre l’enfant, la mère, le père, puis s’étend à la forêt, aux nuages et aux rivières, révélant « une multitude de cordes ombilicales qui nous relient tous ensemble ».

L’amour véritable est une pratique à cultiver en soi d’abord, avant de s’adresser aux autres :

1. Maitrī (bonté aimante) – capacité d’apporter le bonheur ;
2. Karuṇā (compassion) – capacité de soulager la souffrance ;
3. Muditā (joie) – capacité d’engendrer la joie ;
4. Upekṣā (inclusivité) – amour sans discrimination, sans frontières.

La vie et la continuité après la mort sont conçues comme la production de graines : pensées, paroles, actes forment le karma, « action » ; chaque pensée juste, chaque parole et chaque acte juste sont autant de semences qui assurent un beau futur.

Four pine trees were planted by Thay about twenty-eight years ago to form today’s Dharma Hall, where more than one thousand of us—children (three or four questions), teenagers, then adults—take turns asking questions after three collective breaths at the bell.

Among the questions and answers:

1. Waking early: monks and nuns choose pure-air, starry, quiet hours for breathing, walking, and sitting meditation, and go to bed early so rising is easy.
2. Loving without attachment: attachment robs freedom; to love deeply yet remain free, learn the Buddha’s way of love.
3. The tree in the Dharma Hall: it represents Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; bowing to it reveals all three.
4. Sibling conflict: practice deep listening—“when I talk, don’t interrupt me; let me finish.”
5. Famous life: “Pour être heureux, vivons cachés.”
6. Baby Buddha growth: nurture the capacity to understand, love, and be peaceful by deep listening, loving-kindness, and daily check-ups.

Mindful silence and speech:
– Noble Silence means noticing mental responses, writing down unspoken reactions, and reviewing them—then choosing not to speak.
– True silence also calms thinking: “to be, not to think,” enjoying breath, sounds, sights.
– Even nonverbal responses (facial expressions, looks) must be peaceful.

Consumption, ego, and inter-being:
– Five Mindfulness Trainings, especially mindful consumption, call us to use science’s helpful technologies without feeding craving. Bring the Sangha home or meet weekly to support each other.
– Vegetarians allow others’ choices, set a tolerant example, offer delicious vegetarian dishes, or reduce meat by 50 percent (UN recommendation).
– Ego arises from habit-energy seeds of love and anger; humans alone can practice mindfulness to “selectively water” seeds, transcend self, and realize non-self and inter-being.

Staying present amid intense emotions: invest 100 percent in each action (walking, toothbrushing), generate mindfulness and concentration to “be there” for irritation rather than react, and respond with understanding and compassion.

Sangha building: identify like-minded friends, practice together, and expand your island of peace as the Buddha did at Deer Park.

Trois joyaux

1. Le Bouddha : capacité de comprendre la souffrance et d’aimer, présent en chaque personne comme un « petit Bouddha » qu’on soigne par la méditation assise et la marche consciente.
2. Le Dharma : enseignement du Bouddha sous trois formes – écrit, parlé et vivant – qui nous guide pour transformer la souffrance en paix, amour et compréhension.
3. La Sangha : communauté authentique qui pratique le Dharma, rayonnant paix, fraternité et soutien mutuel.

Chaque joyau porte les deux autres et se manifeste par l’interdépendance : « le Bouddha ne peut pas être sans le Dharma », etc.

Le Noble Sentier Octuple

1. Pensée juste – en direction de la compréhension et de l’amour
2. Parole juste – pleine de compréhension et d’amour
3. Action juste – protéger, soutenir, secourir
4. Moyen d’existence juste – préserver la planète et vivre sobrement
5. Effort juste – arroser les « bonnes » graines intérieures
6. Pleine conscience juste – revenir à l’instant présent, célébrer la vie
7. Concentration juste – percer la réalité pour la libération
8. Vue juste – vision profonde de l’inter-être, fondement de l’éthique globale

Learn to sit like a Buddha—upright, relaxed, smiling—in lotus or half-lotus so you feel “light, peaceful, free,” as if on a lotus flower. Practice Sitting Meditation to cultivate peace and joy, and create Noble Silence together: a powerful, nourishing “thundering silence” that feeds both mother and baby in the Dharma Hall with two kinds of milk—mother’s milk and Dharma milk.

Happiness is possible right here and now—dṛṣṭadharma-sukha-vihāra, dwelling happily in the present moment. Bring the mind back to the body with mindful breathing or walking (“I have arrived. I am home.”) to stop running toward future conditions. All afflictions need food to survive; to uproot them see the Second Noble Truth in terms of four kinds of nutriment:

1. edible food
2. sensory impression
3. volition
4. consciousness
   Mindful consumption of wholesome nutriments leads to the cessation of ill-being and opens the path of liberation.

Learn to sit like a Buddha: upright, relaxed, smiling, as if on a lotus flower—light, peaceful, free. In Plum Village’s Dharma hall nearly a thousand people create Noble Silence, an alive, nourishing silence. A baby there receives two kinds of food at once:

1. mother’s milk
2. Noble Silence (Dharma milk)

Mindful breathing and walking bring us home to the present moment. In walking meditation, breathe in for two steps and out for three, saying “I have arrived. I am home.” This practice stops mental chatter and cultivates mindfulness and concentration (samādhi), leading to deep insight (vipassanā).

Suffering has roots in four kinds of nutriment:

1. edible food
2. sensory impression
3. volition
4. consciousness

By practicing mindful consumption (the fifth of the Five Mindfulness Trainings) and the rest of the Noble Eightfold Path, we learn to dwell happily in the present moment (dṛṣṭadharmasukhavihāra), transform suffering, and end ill-being.

Orientation in Plum Village begins with “How to Enjoy Your Time in Plum Village,” teaching you again and again even if you know how to sit, breathe, walk, listen to the bell, eat, play, hug, and enjoy breakfast and Dharma discussion. Monks, nuns, and lay people take joy in every activity—washing dishes, gardening, driving—always smiling and breathing, learning to play and have fun together. A 15–20-minute film is planned to guide late arrivals through sitting, breathing, walking, and enjoying Plum Village, with Sister Dedication helping to produce it.

Walking meditation is practiced “in such a way that every step brings us pleasure and joy,” as if in “the kingdom of God, in the pure land of the Buddha.” Children often use two words only:

1. Breathing in and making a step, say “Yes,”
2. Breathing out and making a step, say “Thanks.”
   You may match one, two, or three steps to “Yes,” and two, three, four or five steps to “Thanks,” always extending the out-breath longer than the in-breath to nourish lungs and spirit. Steps become solid, free, healing, and allow you to touch “the wonders of life” inside and outside, profiting from the freshness and innocence of children’s presence.

In the sutra on mindful breathing the Buddha gives sixteen exercises of mindful breathing. The first four are:

1. Be aware of your in-breath and out-breath, identifying each.
2. Follow your in-breath and out-breath all the way through.
3. Be aware that your body is there.
4. Release the tension in your body.

Mindfulness (Smṛti) carries concentration (Samādhi) and together they bring insight (Prajñā), liberating us from fear, anger, hate, doubt, and despair and enabling us to help others as bodhisattvas.

Today children learned how to invite and use a mini bell as bell masters in a forty-five-minute Dharma talk. At home they may set up a tiny meditation hall with a few cushions, a bell, and maybe a pot of flower. Each morning and evening they invite the bell three times, each sound followed by three in-breaths and three out-breaths:

1. Breathing in, I enjoy breathing in. Breathing out, I smile.
2. Breathing in, I am aware of my body. Breathing out, I release the tension in my body.
   That’s nine in-breaths and nine out-breaths per session.

Thay’s four Dharma talks for the children were on teletransportation; a grain of corn (matter contains knowledge, talent, consciousness; exercise: plant a seed of corn and ask it in silent corn language to remember); and a very funny story about a man who believed he is a grain of corn. Teenagers heard a fifth talk and were invited to stay.

A visiting English high-school science professor, Mike Bell (True Sword of Understanding), used a three-step inquiry mirroring the First, Second and Fourth Noble Truths—What makes you suffer? Why? What do you propose to stop it?—and discovered thirteen- to fifteen-year-olds proposed preventive measures essentially identical to the Five Mindfulness Trainings without ever seeing them. Thay then explained mindfulness sees two things—wonders of life and what you don’t like—and generates two desires: to foster the good and to stop suffering. He noted thirty to thirty-three young people commit suicide every day in France, tens of thousands in Japan, underscoring the urgent need for mindful breathing, walking, and the practice of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.