(Join us for the annual New Year’s Eve Dharma talk of Thay, scheduled at 3pm France (9 am New York/Eastern) in the Lower Hamlet of Plum Village.)((Can this sentence be taken out as it is repeated in the next sentence.)) This talk by Thich Nhat Hanh is from the Lower Hamlet of Plum Village on Tuesday, December 31, 2013, on the occasion of New Year’s Eve. It is the fourteenth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. This talk is in English.

The talk begins with a lovely guided meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh followed by a teaching on compassion to help us listen to the monastics chanting. The second half of the talk focuses on love and healing our suffering. A few months ago, we visited Stanford University where the topic of compassion was discussed. Many of us do not know how to take the mud to make the lotus. Compassion can be used to embrace and understand suffering. Without suffering, no compassion is possible. We shouldn’t run away from our own suffering. How do we do that? We can use mindful walking, mindful breathing, then we can generate the energy of mindfulness and we won’t feel overwhelmed. We can take care of the suffering inside.

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, we have a great being capable of overcoming great suffering and helping other people. This is the Bodhisattva of Compassionate Listening, Avalokitesvara. The monastics will chant her name today to help us all generate the energy of compassion. We can stop the thinking and just listen to the chant. Thay gives us instructions on how to best listen to the chant - we practice as a drop of water in a river and allow it to embrace us.

We have been discussing home and the new year. The first element is our body. Learning how to breathe, to walk, and to build our home. The second element is our feelings and emotions. We have to learn to take care of this as well in order to have a true home. The third element is our perceptions. We should always be asking, are you sure of your perceptions?

Do we know how to love ourselves and how to take care of ourselves? If we can love and take care of ourselves, then we’ll know how to take care of someone else. Self-love is the foundation. We have been discussing the new year. The year is made of time, speech, and action. The year 2013 will continue from our action. The fruit of our action will stay. Nothing is lost. This is retribution. This coming year we have the sentence “New Year. New Me.” To liberate us. We should renew ourselves. To create a feeling of joy, happiness, and compassion. This is the practice of mindfulness.

Have you been able to enjoy the Kingdom of God, the Pure Land? The new year is your chance to enjoy it and practice. In Plum Village, we have the time to walk together. We can challenge ourselves to walk in mindfulness. Every step. Happiness is possible. Mindfulness is being aware…aware of our steps. The practice of mindfulness is the practice of happiness.

Suffering is part of life. The Buddha spoke about the second arrow. It is a teaching to help us suffer much less. If we allow fear and anger to grow, then we are allowing the second arrow. But don’t be afraid of suffering, especially if we know how to practice. Being aware of the painful feeling and calming the painful feeling. The first step is to suffer less. The second is to make good use of our suffering. Our true home is in every step and in every breath.

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Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has been practising meditation and mindfulness for 70 years and radiates an extraordinary sense of calm and peace. This is a man who on a fundamental level walks his talk, and whom Buddhists revere as a Bodhisattva; seeking the highest level of being in order to help others.
Ever since being caught up in the horrors of the Vietnam war, the 86-year-old monk has committed his life to reconciling conflict and in 1967 Martin Luther King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying “his ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity.”

So it seems only natural that in recent years he has turned his attention towards not only addressing peoples’ disharmonious relationships with each other, but also with the planet on which all our lives depend.

Thay, as he is known to his many thousands of followers, sees the lack of meaning and connection in peoples’ lives as being the cause of our addiction to consumerism and that it is vital we recognise and respond to the stress we are putting on Earth if civilisation is to survive.

What Buddhism offers, he says, is the recognition that we all suffer and the way to overcome that pain is to directly confront it, rather than seeking to hide or bypass it through our obsession with shopping, entertainment, work or the beautification of our bodies. The craving for fame, wealth, power and sex serves to create only the illusion of happiness and ends up exacerbating feelings of disconnection and emptiness.
Thay refers to a billionaire chief executive of one of America’s largest companies, who came to one of his meditation courses and talked of his suffering, worries and doubts, of thinking everyone was coming to take advantage of him and that he had no friends.
In an interview at his home and retreat centre in Plum Village, near Bordeaux, Thay outlines how a spiritual revolution is needed if we are going to confront the multitude of environmental challenges.
While many experts point to the enormous complexity and difficulty in addressing issues ranging from the destruction of ecosystems to the loss of millions of species, Thay sees a Gordian Knot that needs slicing through with a single strike of a sharp blade.

Move beyond concept of the “environment”
He believes we need to move beyond talking about the environment, as this leads people to experience themselves and Earth as two separate entities and to see the planet in terms only of what it can do for them.
Change is possible only if there is a recognition that people and planet are ultimately one and the same.

“You carry Mother Earth within you,” says Thay. “She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment.

“In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer. In that kind of relationship you have enough love, strength and awakening in order to change your life.
“Changing is not just changing the things outside of us. First of all we need the right view that transcends all notions including of being and non-being, creator and creature, mind and spirit. That kind of insight is crucial for transformation and healing.
“Fear, separation, hate and anger come from the wrong view that you and the earth are two separate entities, the Earth is only the environment. You are in the centre and you want to do something for the Earth in order for you to survive. That is a dualistic way of seeing.
“So to breathe in and be aware of your body and look deeply into it and realise you are the Earth and your consciousness is also the consciousness of the earth. Not to cut the tree not to pollute the water, that is not enough.”

Putting an economic value on nature is not enough
Thay, who will this spring be in the UK to lead a five-day retreat as well as a mindfulness in education conference, says the current vogue in economic and business circles that the best way to protect the planet is by putting an economic value on nature is akin to putting a plaster on a gaping wound.
“I don’t think it will work,” he says. “We need a real awakening, enlightenment, to change our way of thinking and seeing things.”
Rather than placing a price tag of our forests and coral reefs, Thay says change will happen on a fundamental level only if we fall back in love with the planet: “The Earth cannot be described either by the notion of matter or mind, which are just ideas, two faces of the same reality. That pine tree is not just matter as it possesses a sense of knowing. A dust particle is not just matter since each of its atoms has intelligence and is a living reality.
“When we recognise the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us, some kind of connection, love is born.
“We want to be connected. That is the meaning of love, to be at one. When you love someone you want to say I need you, I take refuge in you. You do anything for the benefit of the Earth and the Earth will do anything for your wellbeing.”
In the world of business, Thay gives the example of Yvon Chouinard, founder and owner of outdoor clothing company Patagonia, who combined developing a successful business with the practice of mindfulness and compassion: “It’s possible to make money in a way that is not destructive, that promotes more social justice and more understanding and lessens the suffering that exists all around us,” says Thay.
“Looking deeply, we see that it’s possible to work in the corporate world in a way that brings a lot of happiness both to other people and to us … our work has meaning.”
Thay, who has written more than 100 books, suggests that the lost connection with Earth’s natural rhythm is behind many modern sicknesses and that, in a similar way to our psychological pattern of blaming our mother and father for our unhappiness, there is an even more hidden unconscious dynamic of blaming Mother Earth.
In a new essay, Intimate Conversation with Mother Earth, he writes: “Some of us resent you for giving birth to them, causing them to endure suffering, because they are not yet able to understand and appreciate you.”

How mindfulness can reconnect people to Mother Earth
He points to increasing evidence that mindfulness can help people to reconnect by slowing down and appreciating all the gifts that the earth can offer.
“Many people suffer deeply and they do not know they suffer,” he says. “They try to cover up the suffering by being busy. Many people get sick today because they get alienated from Mother Earth.
“The practice of mindfulness helps us to touch Mother Earth inside of the body and this practice can help heal people. So the healing of the people should go together with the healing of the Earth and this is the insight and it is possible for anyone to practice.
“This kind of enlightenment is very crucial to a collective awakening. In Buddhism we talk of meditation as an act of awakening, to be awake to the fact that the earth is in danger and living species are in danger.”
Thay gives the example of something as simple and ordinary as drinking a cup of tea. This can help transform a person’s life if he or she were truly to devote their attention to it.
“When I am mindful, I enjoy more my tea,” says Thay as he pours himself a cup and slowly savours the first sip. “I am fully present in the here and now, not carried away by my sorrow, my fear, my projects, the past and the future. I am here available to life.
“When I drink tea this is a wonderful moment. You do not need a lot of power or fame or money to be happy. Mindfulness can help you to be happy in the here and now. Every moment can be a happy moment. Set an example and help people to do the same. Take a few minutes in order to experiment to see the truth.”

Need to deal with ones own anger to be an effective social activist
Thay has over many years developed the notion of applied Buddhism underpinned by a set of ethical practices known as the five mindfulness trainings, which are very clear on the importance of tackling social injustice.
However, if social and environmental activists are to be effective, Thay says they must first deal with their own anger. Only if people discover compassion for themselves will they be able to confront those they hold accountable for polluting our seas and cutting down our forests.
“In Buddhism we speak of collective action,” he says. “Sometimes something wrong is going on in the world and we think it is the other people who are doing it and we are not doing it.
“But you are part of the wrongdoing by the way you live your life. If you are able to understand that, not only you suffer but the other person suffers, that is also an insight.
“When you see the other person suffer you will not want to punish or blame but help that person to suffer less. If you are burdened with anger, fear, ignorance and you suffer too much, you cannot help another person. If you suffer less you are lighter more smiling, pleasant to be with, and in a position to help the person.
“Activists have to have a spiritual practice in order to help them to suffer less, to nourish the happiness and to handle the suffering so they will be effective in helping the world. With anger and frustration you cannot do much.”

Touching the “ultimate dimension”
Key to Thay’s teaching is the importance of understanding that while we need to live and operate in a dualistic world, it is also vital to understand that our peace and happiness lie in the recognition of the ultimate dimension: “If we are able to touch deeply the historical dimension – through a leaf, a flower, a pebble, a beam of light, a mountain, a river, a bird, or our own body – we touch at the same time the ultimate dimension. The ultimate dimension cannot be described as personal or impersonal, material or spiritual, object or subject of cognition – we say only that it is always shining, and shining on itself.
“Touching the ultimate dimension, we feel happy and comfortable, like the birds enjoying the blue sky, or the deer enjoying the green fields. We know that we do not have to look for the ultimate outside of ourselves – it is available within us, in this very moment.”
While Thay believes there is a way of creating a more harmonious relationship between humanity and the planet, he also recognises that there is a very real risk that we will continue on our destructive path and that civilisation may collapse.
He says all we need to do is see how nature has responded to other species that have got out of control: “When the need to survive is replaced with greed and pride, there is violence, which always brings about unnecessary devastation.
“We have learned the lesson that when we perpetrate violence towards our own and other species, we are violent towards ourselves; and when we know how to protect all beings, we are protecting ourselves.”

Remaining optimistic despite risk of impending catastrophe
In Greek mythology, when Pandora opened the gift of a box, all the evils were released into the world. The one remaining item was “hope”.
Thay is clear that maintaining optimism is essential if we are to find a way of avoiding devastating climate change and the enormous social upheavals that will result.
However, he is not naïve and recognises that powerful forces are steadily pushing us further towards the edge of the precipice.
In his best-selling book on the environment, The World we Have, he writes: “We have constructed a system we can’t control. It imposes itself on us, and we become its slaves and victims.
“We have created a society in which the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, and in which we are so caught up in our own immediate problems that we cannot afford to be aware of what is going on with the rest of the human family or our planet Earth.
“In my mind I see a group of chickens in a cage disputing over a few seeds of grain, unaware that in a few hours they will all be killed.”

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Thich Nhat Hanh addresses a gathering at the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, hosted by Action for Happiness. He speaks on the necessity of generating love and compassion to heal suffering, particularly for the younger generation, and introduces the practice of mindful breathing and the insight of interbeing to transform suffering into happiness.

1. How can a business based on financial desire be helped to be less desirous and more happy without being considered unsuccessful?
2. How can those driving transformational change balance awakening themselves with helping others, and is a collective awakening possible in time to avoid environmental and social collapse despite government resistance?
3. How can a young person addicted to drugs or alcohol find love for themselves when their actions cause self-hatred?
4. What advice is there for politicians and educators on how best to spread mindfulness and motivate children to learn its benefits?
5. How can the difference between consciousness and observing consciousness within the five aggregates of clinging be explained?
6. How can humans overcome the fear of the future lived through the past when previous love, compassion, and reconciliation have been betrayed?
7. How can teachers and children come to recognize each other’s suffering without causing extreme embarrassment?
8. What exactly is meant by the instruction to understand our suffering?
9. Given the negative signs regarding the environment and leadership, what will trigger a spiritual revolution and the understanding that change is necessary?
10. What is the place of competition in this philosophy and belief?
11. Is there a compassionate way to help trigger awareness in those who are suffering but are unwilling to begin the journey or talk about their pain?
12. Could the famous bell in this building be used to help the noisier members come back to themselves and practice loving speech?

Communication. We trust to much in our instruments of communication – mobile phone, email Skype, etc. Behind the instruments is our mind, and the question to ask is whether you can communicate with yourself. Many of us are angry or don’t respect ourselves. It is a mess inside. In that situation, how can we communicate with another person?

In Plum Village, we try to teach you how to come back to yourself. We learn to breath in mindfulness. We learn to eat in mindfulness. We learn to walk in mindfulness. We connect with our body and our mind. We need to let go our thinking – the practice of non-thinking.

Related to our suffering and being connected to our body is our consumption. We read a book, listen to music, drive the car, etc. We look to consumption to help us forget the pain their ourselves. Again, learning mindful breathing and walking we can gain the energy of mindfulness and be able to look at the pain and the sorrow. If you have mindfulness, you are no longer afraid.

Mindfulness is generated from your practice. And when we are together, we can generate collective mindfulness.

This talk was given in English, with a second part in Vietnamese (linked below). Includes 10 minutes of silent sitting & chanting before the talk.

Buddha, Sangha, Dharma Are Your True Home

Thầy invites us to return to the simple miracle of mindful breathing and the supportive presence of community. When we breathe, walk, and sit together, we touch the wonders of life available in each moment. From this ground of mindfulness, he reflects on time, impermanence, and how our practice shapes the quality of our days. A year becomes truly new only when we renew ourselves—learning to generate joy, care for suffering, and transform anger into understanding.

Nothing truly disappears—not a year, not our childhood, not our ancestors. Like clouds becoming rain, everything continues in new forms. Through this insight of interbeing, Thầy encourages us to touch the Earth, recognize our shared destiny, and look deeply into the suffering of those who hurt us. This is the heart of mindful living: returning home to our body, feelings, and mind, and taking gentle care of what we find there.

Our true home is an inner refuge built through mindfulness and compassion. When each of us cultivates this home, we help create a collective home, a Sangha where peace and understanding are generated together. Such a community becomes a refuge not only for its members but for all who come near it. In this way, the living Dharma is found in the way we breathe, speak, listen, and walk alongside one another.

This talk was offered during the Christmas and New Year Retreat in the year 2013. Thầy offered this talk at the Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

“There is No Way to Nirvāṇa—Nirvāṇa is the Way”_

Thầy teaches that nirvāṇa means cooling down in order to find peace, joy, and healing; it means extinguishing the fires within—the fire of anger, the fire of fear, the fire of afflictions and wrong perceptions.

The talk explores how to take refuge in the island within—the true home in the here and the now that is within ourselves where we can find healing and nourishment. Here, the power of mindfulness helps us get in touch with the wonders of life. We are invited to practice mindfulness in order to be fully alive in moments like brushing our teeth, taking a shower, and doing the dishes. Our teacher adds that when you walk mindfully, “You might be aware that Mother Earth is not only beneath, but inside you.” Living in mindfulness, he says, is the art of living.

A detailed explanation follows each element of the Noble Eightfold Path, showing how they are interrelated and interconnected—how they inter-are. To conclude, Thầy explains how we can better understand the teachings of Buddhism—and Christianity—by letting go of our dualistic thinking.

So what kind of resolution would Thầy make before the coming of the New Year?
I am determined not to waste my life, not to waste my time. I dare to live the life that I want to live. And I want every step I make on this planet bring joy, happiness to me and to the people. I want every step I make on this planet is a step I made in the Kingdom of God, in touching nirvāṇa because it’s my conviction—the path and nirvāṇa, the path and the Kingdom are the same. You cannot remove the Kingdom from the path. You cannot remove nirvāṇa from the path. You cannot remove the path from the Kingdom or nirvāṇa.
“There is no way to nirvāṇa—nirvāṇa is the way.”

This talk was offered on New Year’s Eve during the Christmas and New Year Retreat in the year 2012. Thầy offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

Thầy shares the practice of going home in the Buddhist tradition: “The most wonderful Dharma talk that has ever been offered in Plum Village is, ‘I have arrived, I am home.’” Every mindful step and breath brings you home. Walking meditation and mindfulness has the power to heal and to nourish and helps us get in touch with everything: Mother Earth, Father Sun, our body, feelings, consciousness, our ancestors and the wonders of life. We are not lonely or separate. We are a river, a continuation. Loneliness is an illusion, a wrong perception. You have all your ancestors with you, and all of life.

Thầy reflects on the insights of no-birth, no-death; no being no non-being, and interbeing as our true nature. He speaks of the living Jesus and the living Buddha as having this nature of no-birth and no-death. Jesus and the Buddha continue and manifest in different forms. Our Sangha is a continuation of the Buddha. The way we walk and the way we breathe with the energy of mindfulness, concentration, peace and joy shows that the Buddha is here.

This talk was offered on Christmas Eve during the Christmas and New Year Retreat in the year 2013. Thầy offered this talk at the Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

In Plum Village, our practice is to always go back to the present moment. We do this in many ways, like mindful breathing and mindful walking. Simple, but very important practices. We have the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing is one of the most important sutras. In this talk we review the first six exercises.

When going through a difficult situation can be supported with these practices. It can be your second body. That is the Buddha.

Thay briefly discusses the Abidhamma literature – super dharma. Stick to the sutras and what they stay and don’t venture into metaphysical speculation.

Though past, present, and future look different, they are actually the same.
They are ideas. Notions. This is Interbeing.

Nothing is born. From nothing you cannot create something. This removes the notion of creation. This is something stated by science. This is the product of the intellect and is equivant to our idea of no birth and no death. Nothing has a separate existence.

“Breathing In” is not just for beginners. It is the most wonderful thing to do.

This is a Day of Mindfulness. We begin with chanting.

When you set up a practice center, you have to think of the sangha. A sangha is a group of people who practice together and the environment is good, nourishing, and healthy. When people arrive at a practice center, she should feel the energy right away.

We practice mindfulness as manifested from the Five Mindfulness Trainings. These generate a healthy environment. This is what the Buddha did right away and we too can create such a practice center.

Suffering is part of life and with mindfulness we can make good use of our suffering. We can produce joy, happiness, and compassion. The law of Interbeing is suffering and happiness. The mud and the lotus.

The holy is made of non-holy elements. We can generate holiness if we understand suffering and allow compassion to arise in us and we don’t suffer anymore. The Five Mindfulness Trainings can help cultivate this holiness.

Being a monastic. We have 10-precepts. It is a holy life. Training as a monastic, you also need a sangha. You cultivate the mind of love. Boddhichita.

The Buddha has spoken about Mother Earth as patience and equanimity, the two great virtues of the planet. Our society is very sick and many of us need healing; our body and mind contain many poisons. Mother Earth can heal herself and help us if we know how to take refuge in her. When we walk we can be aware that the earth is holding our steps; Mother Earth is also inside us. Walking meditation allows the earth to be in us and around us. We are the earth. Healing begins when you are not trying anything: the practice of non-practice.

There is a dimension of reality called the historical dimension, in which we see things as separate. Classical science, represented by Newton, operates here. A deeper science such as quantum physics reveals another truth that seems to contradict the historical dimension. In meditation there are also two kinds of truth: conventional truth and ultimate truth. The Buddha taught, “This is because that is.” Using a sheet of paper we can illustrate co-arising / inter-arising, the path that leads from the historical to the ultimate.

In the ultimate dimension we use words like Emptiness, the absence of notions and concepts, equivalent to God. The teaching of interbeing shows that nothing can exist by itself. Rebirth, karma, and retribution are possible without a self; believing a self is required is a deluded view influenced by pre-Buddhist teachings. The deep teaching is no-self.

The classical presentation of the Twelve Nidanas explains the chain of samsara:
Avidya (delusion); Sanskara (impulses, actions, dispositions); Vijñana (consciousness); Namarupa (body and mind); Sadayatana (six sense organs and objects); Sparsa (contact); Vedana (feelings); Trsna (craving, attachment); Upadana (grasping); Bhava (existence); Jati (birth); Jara-marana (old age and death). The first two links belong to the past, the next eight belong to this life, the present.

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May 27, 2012. 65-minute recording given at New Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is a Day of Mindfulness. We learn who the Buddha is through the teachings of the Buddha. When we bow to the Buddha, we should see our true connection. Interbeing. The Buddha is enlightened with deep understanding and compassion. How can we produce it? The first step is awareness of suffering. The four noble truths. The Buddha is a human being. He is not a god. The Buddha is made of non-Buddha elements. Thay then makes the connection to the planet and science. The Buddha can be a sub-atomic particle. We hear two questions from the audience. How can we handle our habit energy in daily life? How can I heal violence around me? Thay reminds us the 21-day retreat begins in a few days. This will be part of our 30-year anniversary. For each dharma talk during the retreat, we will sit together in silence for 8-minutes. Stop our thinking and feel the presence of ourselves and others. There should be no noise during this time. Thay also wrote an intimate letter to a young scientist in preparation for retreat.

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Thầy explains how each act in our daily lives can become a spiritual practice when done with mindfulness, whether drinking tea or eating a tangerine and truly being present for the experience. He invites us to invest in every breath and every step, cultivating greater peace and concentration.

He goes on to share how happy teachers can change the world by bringing the three powers into their lives and classrooms: the power of understanding, the power of love, and the power to let go. In this way, the classroom can become a second chance for a suffering child to experience care, stability, and transformation.

This is the third in a series of three talks given during the Educators’ Retreat: An Exploration of Mindful Education, on the UK and Ireland Tour in the year 2013. Thầy offered this talk at The American School in London, England.

April 19, 2012. A 65-minute Dharma talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh in Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, during a Day of Mindfulness after the sangha’s return from the UK and Ireland Tour. The session begins with chanting and moves into a teaching on the first two verses of the Discourse on Happiness. Thay explores well-being, saying, “Spring is a messenger,” and speaks about dreaming, having a path, and making tofu.

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Nirvāṇa is Available in Each Sound of the Bell

Thầy organizes the talk in two sections, the first one addressed to the families and, at times, especially to the children and the second addressed foremost to the adults. Section one focuses on the practices and practicalities of listening to and inviting the meditation bell, and section two provides an overview of a series of interconnected concepts that are foundational to Buddhism.

Thầy opens and closes the bell section with encouragement of families to bring the bell into their home and to use it for facilitating mutual respect, love, and harmony in the household, especially when unhappiness or disagreement arises. Thầy empowers the children, as well as the adults, to initiate use of the bell and to serve as bell masters in the home. He recommends a family “treaty” concerning use of the bell and regular inviting of the bell at agreed upon times each day. He then provides a tutorial in bell practices: “waking” the bell with a “half sound”; the bell-waking gāthā; synchronizing gāthās with in-breaths and out-breaths; and, “inviting” the “full sound” of the bell three times, interspersed with the bell-inviting gāthā and synchronized breathing. Thầy coaches the children on their breathing and on the specifics of inviting the big bell. In closing this section, Thầy encourages families to create a small meditation space in the home, a “breathing room.”

Thầy opens the second section with a short history of karma and reincarnation prior to the emergence of Buddhism in ancient India, concluding that those doctrines are “not at the heart of the Buddhist teaching,” because they rely upon the concept of a separate, autonomous self. Thầy shows us how the Buddhist concept of “non-self” emerged from a deeper understanding of the true nature of impermanence and interdependent origination. Accordingly, all selves consist of non-self elements, “continuation” is a more accurate description than “rebirth,” and karma, rather than being formulaic award or reparation, is the ongoing ramifications of our thoughts, speech, and actions that constitute our continuation.

Thầy then turns to showing how these understandings issue from the bedrock teachings of the Buddha, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths. In short, the first of the Eightfold Path, Right View, is the true nature of reality as expressed by non-self, impermanence, and inter-being. Thầy shares as good news that non-self means that there is no birth and no death; no sameness and otherness; no coming and going; no being and non-being. Thus, nirvāṇa is available in this life, in this body, in the here and in the now; that is the only place it is available. Happiness is available—literally, physically—in every step.

This is the ninth of thirteen talks given during the Summer Opening in the year 2013. Thầy offered this talk at the New Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

In Upper Hamlet, the practice of breathing in—breathing out with the phrases “Breathing in, I feel alive” and “Breathing out, I smile to life in me and around me” helps us to touch deeply the wonders of life, but is often accompanied by the fear of death. Instead of avoiding this fear, we are encouraged to contemplate it directly: “I have the nature to die; I cannot escape death,” so that this fear becomes a motivation to live more fully.

The practice of contemplating death consists of four parts:

1. Aging – recognizing the fear of growing old, smiling to it, and facing it directly.
2. Sickness – facing our pain and weakness so that they no longer have power over us.
3. Death – accepting the certainty of death with a calm and peaceful mind.
4. Letting go – learning to leave behind our position, fame, possessions, and loved ones, carrying only our actions with us.

Looking deeply into impermanence and the interbeing nature of birth and death, we see that there is no true birth, no true death—there is only transformation, as Lavoisier said, “rien ne se crée, rien ne se perd, tout se transforme.” When we understand “no birth, no death,” our fear of dying calms down, our joy of living becomes complete, and Nirvana—the nature of no birth and no death—manifests right in each breath.

Details of this Dharma Talk took place on November 18, 2012, at the Full Moon Meditation Hall, Thien Nghiem Temple, New Hamlet during the Winter Retreat 2012-2013. In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path are not the central teachings, contrary to Brahmanism where Brahma and Atma represent the universal soul and the individual soul. In Buddhism, samsara represents the cycle of rebirth but without a fixed soul. Thich Nhat Hanh taught that Buddhism changes the concept of karma to reflect the philosophy of impermanence and that each person is responsible for their individual and collective actions. He provided a profound analysis of the concepts of self-nature, interbeing, and the connection between suffering and happiness. He also emphasized that understanding the causes of suffering leads to happiness through the practice of the path. He explained that everything is interdependent and that peace and tranquility should be found within. In today’s walking meditation, he encouraged everyone to practice unity and convey the message in Vietnamese, English, and French.

*On the last day of the lunar year, when “three thirty in the afternoon” strikes, the poetry recitation invites us to pause, to let go of our worries and sorrows in order to reflect on the “glowing hearth”—not simply a kitchen, but a state of mind that is warm, gathered, and filled with love. The image of carrying water on New Year’s Eve, with jars and urns brimming full, symbolizes material comfort, but it is also a sacred symbol of sharing, equality, and trust in life. If we are unable to kindle the flame of love in our own hearts, it will be difficult to understand and love ourselves, and only then can we hope to light up the hearts of others. The temple, Plum Village, and the retreats are places where that flame is cultivated, transforming suffering and despair into smiles and bright eyes—so that each person may bring it home to continue warming their community.

*The music of Pham Duy is introduced as a stream of love and peace, especially through three unfinished musical epics:

1. Con Đường Cái Quan – realistic music, a symbol of the road of national unity.
2. Mẹ Việt Nam – symbolic music with images of motherland, mother river, mother sea, and the longing to overcome separation.
3. Trường Ca Trường Sơn – allegorical music, not following conventional rhythms, expressing spiritual heights.

Together with “Tâm Ca,” a collection of ten anti-war songs and the aspiration for peace, his music affirms that love, not violence, is the most powerful weapon for building true happiness.

The details of this discussion show that mindfulness is essential for managing emotions such as anger and fear, by welcoming them with tenderness and non-violence. Cultivating positive seeds like compassion and avoiding nourishing negative seeds is crucial for transforming suffering into peace. Mindfulness, practiced through conscious breathing and walking meditation, helps to recognize and embrace disturbing emotions, thus allowing for inner healing. By practicing right diligence, one quickly brings disturbing mental formations back to their initial state. Cooperation and mutual support in a practice community strengthen this collective energy to recognize and transform suffering. Cultivating the wisdom of non-discrimination and deep listening leads to compassion and reconciliation, reducing suffering for all. Meditation and mindfulness allow for the transformation of the mind and the cultivation of true happiness by understanding interbeing.

The details of this discussion include mindfulness meditation practiced at New Mountain, the interconnection between happiness and suffering, and the importance of recognizing suffering to achieve happiness. The deep understanding of this interdependence is based on the Buddha’s teachings and the Four Noble Truths: suffering, its causes, the cessation of suffering, and the path to well-being. Cultivating mindfulness and concentration allows us to transform suffering and touch our true nature. Meditation reveals that birth and death are illusory notions, and understanding this leads to inner peace. Right thinking, speech, and action shape our karma, which is essential for harmonious continuation. Cultivating positive thoughts and avoiding watering negative seeds is crucial for happiness. By practicing right diligence, we create an environment conducive to peace and joy, following the Noble Eightfold Path to live each day fully.

This archive is used for the teaching of the 2021 Rain Retreat. Thay’s teaching during the 2011 Francophone Retreat.

On May 4, 2012, Thay offered a very comprehensive final teaching, summarizing the essence of the Buddha’s teachings in a simple, humorous, and applicable way for daily life. He revisited the teaching of the Four Noble Truths in terms of consumption, emphasizing that societal suffering stems from improper consumption. Understanding suffering is essential to understanding happiness, and this path of understanding is noble because there is holiness within us, which the Five Mindfulness Trainings help to develop.

Thay then reviewed the Exercises of Conscious Breathing (Anapanasati Sutta) and invited us to redefine Nirvana to free ourselves from notions and touch the ultimate dimension of reality: “Nirvana is a word from the peasant vocabulary meaning the extinction of the fire; it is not a place or a country, but the extinction of notions.” He also offered a meditation on Being and Non-Being, using a matchbox to illustrate the release of notions of being, non-being, coming, and going.

He continued with the teaching of the Three Doors of Liberation: Emptiness, Signlessness, and Aimlessness, concluding that “if you want happiness, mindfulness, joy, then everything is already available in the present moment; there is no need to run.” Finally, he shared the story of the death of the generous layperson Anatapindika, illustrating that laypeople can also receive and practice the teachings on Non-birth, Non-death, Non-being, and Non-non-being, applying them in daily life to liberate from the fear of death and help those at the end of life to die peacefully.

A complete, dense, and profound teaching that is also light, joyful, and accessible, this is a final gem offered for our 2012 Francophone Retreat, a piece of art to fill our lives with true energy and wisdom.

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

Thay addresses:

• the meditation of the 4 pebbles
• the benefits of the practice
• the 4 mantras of love.

In this session of questions and answers the following questions were asked:

By the children:

• How can I feel less sad about my dog passing away?
• What can I do when the atmosphere at home is unhappy?
• How can I stay calm when I am annoyed, for example, when someone steals my idea?
• What does it mean to guess?

By the teens and young adults:

• How do I stop conversations with friends from turning into gossip or judgment?
• How do you change people’s perception of you and ignore the reputation you already have?
• Why does Thầy give these teachings and what does it bring Thầy?
• Any tips on how I can help people in my future profession in science and environment?

By the adults:

• How can I tell patients in an economic crisis to find happiness in the present?
• How do I love myself when I struggle to believe I deserve love?
• How can I better take refuge in the Sangha if I feel more comfortable alone?

Written questions:

• How can I heal from childhood sexual abuse and be truly happy?

This the second of four Question and Answer sessions organised during the Summer Opening in the year 2014. Thay offered this session at the Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

Thầy reminds us that meditating means to take the time to be calm and to look deeply into oneself and the world. He then describes “hand meditation,” in which we gaze at our hand and are able to see the hands of our parents. Through this practice, we find consolation if we are far from our parents or they have passed away.

Thầy advises that we must practice the second mantra with our parents and our loved ones while they’re still alive. This brings immediate happiness to us and those we love. We can also use the second mantra to connect with our ancestors, which can be life-changing and joyous. We can connect with our ancestors and our spiritual teachers through touch. Our hands embody non-discrimination—the right hand feels no superiority over the left hand.

The First Mindfulness Training is about protecting life. A human is made of non-human elements, and, therefore, to protect the environment and other species is to protect ourselves. This is deep ecology and a deep practice. The Second Mindfulness Training is about true happiness and its relationship to interbeing. The Third Mindfulness Training is about true love, which has four elements: kindness, compassion, joy, and non-discrimination. Only with true love can we reduce suffering, and true love is always expansive. The Fourth Mindfulness Training is about deep listening and loving speech, which can heal deep divisions between people and groups, recognizing that everyone has suffered. The Fifth Mindfulness Training is about mindful consumption.

By practicing the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we can become better Christians and avoid any discrimination, thus strengthening our Christian roots.

This is the third talk in a series of four given during the Mindful Living Today, family retreat in the year 2012. Thầy offered this talk at The Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland.

Practicing breathing, walking, and sitting with the Buddha
At the Hall of a Thousand Stars, the gatha inviting “the Buddha to breathe, the Buddha to walk” transforms each breath, each step into a source of joy and peace. The second gatha invites the Buddha to sit with our own back, so that our back is upright and our mind relaxed; the third gatha contemplates that “the Buddha is the breathing, the Buddha is the sitting; I am also the breathing, I am also the sitting,” for only the Buddha breathes and sits with such noble quality. The story “There is the printing but there is no printer” reminds us of non-self: there is only the phenomenon of printing, there is no printer behind it, just as the breath and the sitting are the Buddha, not a separate “self.”

Contemplating non-self and acceptance
All dharmas rely on each other (interbeing, interdependent co-arising). When we contemplate the five skandhas —

1. form (body)
2. feelings (sensations)
3. perceptions
4. mental formations
5. consciousness
   — we see there is no permanent self, only a river of impermanence flowing on. Attachment to self gives rise to suffering, so recognizing and accepting ourselves as a “continuation stream” opens the way to peace. The mantra “You are only partly right” helps us respond to praise and blame with balance, maintaining insight, not letting arrogance or inferiority dominate. When we deeply understand non-self and practice complete acceptance, we create happiness for ourselves and for the community.

“I am here for you” is the first mantra among the six mantras of Plum Village, reminding us that when we love someone, we must truly be present with both body and mind at ease, not allowing our own suffering to harm others. This solid presence requires diligent practice of “I am a flower, I am freshness,” mindful breathing, walking meditation, and sitting meditation to find freshness and stability in body and mind, so that we have something to offer—peace, freedom, and joy—to others. First, we must love, accept, and let go of our own suffering, making use of the energy of the Sangha to heal the emptiness of loneliness, and only then can we offer true freedom and love without attachment.

The work “Contemplation on Conditions” consists of eight gathas with explanations, in which the fifth gatha is missing, and the original text will be read to preserve the spirit of this sastra. The treatise explains the four conditions in Buddhism:

1. Primary cause (Pratiyaya) – the cause, the seed
2. Contributory condition – supporting condition for the seed to grow
3. Object condition (Alambana Pratiyaya) – the object of perception
4. Immediate condition (Adhipati Pratiyaya) – uninterrupted continuity
   Among these, the “extremely small particle” (the smallest dust particle) is only a condition, not an object condition, because we cannot directly perceive it, and all forms we see are merely phenomena dependent on conditions, without a fixed self-nature.

This is the second Dharma talk offered by Thay during the first week of the Summer Opening Retreat, scheduled for 9:30 AM on Tuesday, July 9th, 2013, in the Dharma Cloud Temple, Plum Village.

After a teaching dedicated to children, Thay addresses:

• The establishments of Mindfulness: the first 8 exercises of Conscious Breathing
• The 5 Universal Mental Formations.

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

In Buddhism, each person has many kinds of mothers: genetic mother, godmother, foster mother, stepmother, and even surrogate mother. The biological mother of the Buddha was Maha Maya, but she passed away early; her younger sister, Maha Prajapati (the foremost nun Mahapajapati Gotami), raised him. In Buddhist literature, the mother of all Buddhas is called Prajna Paramita—Perfection of Wisdom—wisdom personified as the Mother of Buddhas. The Earth is also honored as Bodhisattva Cooling Earth, the mother of the Buddha and countless bodhisattvas, symbolizing the sacred origin of life and enlightenment.

The story in the Avatamsaka Sutra about Sudhana (Shantideva) and Maha Maya illustrates the path of approaching the source of Buddha-nature:

1. Sudhana sits quietly on the earth, practicing meditation on touching the earth—feeling the connection with Mother Earth.
2. Seeing a thousand-petaled lotus rising from the earth, Sudhana and Maya both sit on two petals of the lotus, symbolizing the encounter with profound wisdom.
3. Realizing there is no need to go far to seek the Buddha, because the mother of the Buddha is the image within each person, the inherent potential for enlightenment.

Meditation and mindfulness in our relationship with Mother Earth help generate love, release suffering, and realize the reality that transcends the discrimination of being and non-being. Each mindful step, each breath, each cup of tea, or the contemplation of a yellow leaf is a contact with the sacred mother—a bodhisattva of infinite patience, embracing all beings, animate and inanimate.

Sutra on Mindful Breathing: Exercises 1—8

Thầy offers teachings on the first eight steps of the Sutra on Mindful Breathing, including belly breathing and awareness of the rising and falling of the abdomen. He reminds us that we are much more than one emotion, and that this practice allows us to recognize and care for our feelings.

Thầy shares about the practices of loving speech and deep listening, particularly in the context of family relationships and education. He reflects on how these practices can help relieve suffering and be transmitted to students. The talk concludes with teachings on how death can be truly understood and approached with wisdom.

This talk was given during the Applied Ethics and Teachers Retreat in the year 2012. Thầy offered this talk in the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

Mother Earth is recognized as a Bodhisattva with great wisdom, great compassion, and beauty—the source from which the Buddha Shakyamuni, the Bodhisattvas, and all beings are born. The Bodhisattva Cooling Great Earth is an object of reverence, not an inanimate material thing, but one who embodies wisdom and compassion, manifesting as clouds turning into rain, as the undercurrent in a cup of tea, or in each mindful step of walking meditation. The Thanksgiving Ceremony during the Winter Retreat is not merely to thank a distant deity, but to offer our gratitude to Mother Earth, who gives us squash, oranges, pomelos, grapes, air, water, and sunlight—gifts that nourish both body and mind.

Healing body and mind begins with deep contact with our breath and our physical form, then extends to our consciousness through the four breathing exercises in the Anapanasati Sutra and the Sutra on Mindful Breathing. Samatha (stopping, calming) has three essential meanings:

1. to stop so that the mind does not wander
2. to calm and soothe the suffering in body and mind
3. to concentrate and sustain mindfulness on the breath or the body
   Practicing breathing in—“I am aware that I have a body”—helps us connect with our body, embrace our pain—“Breathing in, I recognize my pain; breathing out, I embrace my pain”—and nourish joy—“Breathing in, I recognize the happiness within me.” From mindful breathing to walking meditation, mindful eating, and bowing to the Great Earth, each present moment is an opportunity for awakening, liberation, and peace.