Thầy opens with an account from Berlin, where he addressed some four thousand people at the Kirchentag—the first joint national gathering of German Catholics and Protestants. Sitting afterward with a group of bishops, he had made the case that the Church should teach and demonstrate the Kingdom of God in the here and now, so that teachers themselves become living proof that fame, profit, power, and sex don’t need to be chased for happiness. He shares one bishop’s reply—that he still wanted “another Kingdom of God outside of here”—and reflects gently on how hard it is to release a belief we’ve loved for a long time, however clearly we understand it isn’t needed.

Thầy then turns to the Pure Land, distinguishing popular Buddhism from deep Buddhism, and shares the Buddha’s own image for the teaching: a beach you can wade into gradually, at whatever depth you’re ready for.

From there, Thầy traces how the Buddha came to be given three bodies. He describes the Mahāsāṃghika’s protest, roughly a hundred and twenty years after the Buddha’s death, against a teaching grown repetitive and small—“Your Buddha is too small”—and shows how that protest grew into the doctrine of nirmāṇakāya, sambhogakāya, and dharmakāya. He traces its roots back further still, to the dying Venerable Vakkali and his attachment to the Buddha’s physical presence.

Thầy closes by drawing Jesus and the Buddha back into their human, historical forms—the Son of Man rather than the Son of God, Śākyamuni rather than Vairocana—pointing to the teacher in flesh and bone, rather than an idealised figure held at a distance, as where the deepest liberation can be reached. Buddhism, he says, has to stay a living organism, renewed through contact with other traditions and other people, rather than something admired and kept still, like a mummy in a museum.

This talk is from a series given during the Ninety-Day Fall Retreat in the year 2004. Thầy offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

Dwelling happily in the present moment means to live peacefully and at ease right in the here and now: “present” is what is happening, “dharma” is the teachings, “dwelling happily” is to live happily and at ease. Through the Upāsaka Sūtra, the Buddha taught the lay friend Anāthapiṇḍika and about 500 merchants to practice the Three Refuges and the Four Recollections (recollection of the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and the Precepts) so that each step and each breath brings joy and peace. The practice is not to wait for happiness in the future, but to enjoy joy right in every moment: when washing the dishes, cooking rice, sweeping the house… we need to have full mindfulness so that the mind is not caught in worries and anxieties.

The Buddhadharma is a living body that has gone through three periods (early, middle, and late) and is transformed according to cultural context. In forty-five years of teaching, the World-Honored One skillfully “transformed” the prevailing ideas of the time (rebirth, the Four Immeasurable Minds…) into distinctive teachings, and left behind the essence:

1. The Four Noble Truths;
2. The Noble Eightfold Path – the path of right practice;
3. The Three Dharma Seals – impermanence, non-self, Nirvāṇa;
4. The Three Doors of Liberation – Emptiness, Signlessness, Aimlessness;
5. The teaching of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination (some sutras mention 6, 9, or 12 links).
   The Buddhadharma continued as the Mahāyāna through the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, and so on, about 300–400 years after the Buddha’s passing, and then entered Tibet, Thailand, China, and Japan by harmonizing with local cultures. Today, monks and lay friends are invited to continue “turning the Dharma wheel” with wisdom and insight, digesting new cultural elements so that the Dharma is always alive, serving the suffering of society, and deeply integrating into the present moment.

Every morning, sit in meditation for at least 5–20 minutes before the scheduled time, keeping your body upright, relaxed, making no noise, and sitting inside so as not to disturb those who come later. Each Dharma talk of 1–2 minutes serves as a compass for the whole day—breathing in is to return to the present moment and to feel ease and peace, and that peace is not only for ourselves but also radiates to our parents and ancestors. The practice of mindfulness can be applied at any time and in any place—walking, standing, sitting, lying down, washing 200 dishes, sweeping the meditation hall—every action is an opportunity to stop and find happiness right in the present moment.

The essence of meditation is stopping (samatha): “stopping” to end the wandering of the mind, placing ourselves in the Pure Land, touching the wonders of life and our ancestors; when we stop, we have already “become a Buddha,” there is nothing more to attain. If a tradition does not bring joy, it is useless, and if we do not renew the way we present, the language and the forms to suit the times, the Dharma will become a “mummy”—the meditation hall now does not need pillars and the temple must be as flexible as the Buddha, who always adapted the teachings to respond to the suffering and questions of his time.

Studying the history of the original Sangha is not for accumulating knowledge as in taking exams, but for contemplating the present, seeing clearly our own path of practice, determining what needs to be continued or abandoned, and making a firm commitment to practice what the future requires. While listening to the Dharma, we need to reflect on our own position, recognize suffering inside and outside, and from there apply the teachings to resolve those sufferings.

The diversification of schools in Buddhism is healthy because it brings a diversity of insight. From the split into the Sthavira and Mahāsāṃghika schools 140 years after the Buddha’s Parinirvana, to about twenty schools after several hundred years, there was a “hundred flowers blooming” without conflict. For twenty-two years, Plum Village has been both conservative in preserving the essence and progressive in renewing, offering practical fruits:

• The Earth Touching Practice responds to the aspiration for repentance of both monastics and laypeople
• The Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Ten Novice Precepts are presented clearly, practically, in non-religious language
• Prostration meditation and the second body renew the methods of practice
• The novice monastic code textbook has been compiled to replace the 400-year-old version
• The Vietnamese Chanting Book continues the tradition, carrying the essence of the Dharma

The tenth day of the three-month retreat, with 80 days left to cherish each moment of dwelling peacefully in the practice. Shamatha and Vipashyana meditation are inherently inseparable: shamatha brings concentration, vipashyana gives rise to insight, and concentration and insight are interwoven in a single moment of stopping. Practicing walking meditation in Plum Village is to take each step in mindfulness, refraining from conversation to hold firmly the “reins” of our steps; each in-breath and out-breath is an opportunity to stop the wandering of the mind, to connect with our father, mother, ancestors, and to encounter the “Pure Land” right in the present moment. When eating, dressing, or sitting, doing only one thing at a time, dwelling fully in the present, is to find peace, nirvana, and freedom.

From 450 BCE (the Buddha’s Parinirvana) to the early stages of Original Buddhism: the Buddha was born around 530 BCE, and for the next 100 years the Sangha continued the transmission until 350 BCE; about 140 years after the Buddha’s passing, the Mahasanghika and Sthavira schools formed, and in the following 255 years, many Hinayana schools emerged. From the first century BCE to the third century CE, the Prajnaparamita Sutras marked the beginning of the Mahayana; Master Nagarjuna systematized “Emptiness” and Maitreya expounded on the Yogacara teachings, and finally Asanga and Vasubandhu completed the Consciousness-Only school. King Ashoka (third century BCE) erected stone pillars and supported the Dharma, expanding Buddhism, blending the Buddha’s teachings with culture, from the Jataka–Avadana tradition to the ancestor worship customs of Vietnam, creating a path of practice for both monastics and laypeople.

[In this talk, Thay teaches the practice of Touching the Earth, focusing on using the practice to gain insight rather than for devotion. He elaborates on nirvana, non-duality and interbeing, and explains the concept of non-self and our misconceptions.
The talk was given during the Ninety-Day Fall Retreat on 30 September 2004 at the Dharma Nectar Temple in the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.]

Thầy teaches Touching the Earth as yoga—the practice of connecting, of reunifying. Touching the Earth is sometimes seen as devotion: someone who is lost turns to another for protection and support. In Plum Village, it has become a practice of insight, touching our nature of nonself and interbeing, and that insight can free us from fear, loneliness, and despair.

Thầy describes the practice itself: joining the palms with mind, heart, and body together, then the five limbs touching the earth in an act of surrender, completely open. Seeing that our talents come from our ancestors and that we are made of the whole cosmos, we can let go of the complexes of superiority, inferiority, and even equality. “You are not a lotus flower, you are a chrysanthemum. But you are a wonder.”

From the person sitting opposite us on the subway to the way we pray, Thầy shows how we may touch only our notions rather than reality. He shares the Buddha’s words about something that has no beginning and no end, offers a correction to Paul Tillich’s “ground of being,” and asks why we spend so much time discussing whether God exists. A wave that realizes she is water does not need to turn to the left and to the right to seek for water.

Thầy speaks of two levels of Touching the Earth: devotion, which can bring relief, and the insight that the one who bows and the one who is bowed to are both empty. He reflects on Śāriputra, our eldest brother in the Dharma, and on Mañjuśrī, who need not be a historical person to be very real. He tells newly ordained monastics how to let people pay respect to the Three Jewels through them. He also speaks of the Asian dream of great togetherness, and of the qualities we now bow to as deities—liberty, great understanding, great compassion, love—to be touched as reality, not as concept.

In closing, Thầy responds to a question from a mother, showing how we can touch a loved one in the here and the now.

This talk is from a series given during the Ninety-Day Fall Retreat in the year 2004. Thầy offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

Keep each step solid, relaxed, and filled with happiness by nourishing mindfulness, concentration, and insight with every step of walking meditation. Each step is an opportunity to return to the present moment, to dwell solidly like a green mountain, to be at ease like a white cloud, and to manifest sovereignty over body and mind, so that we “become the king, the emperor of ourselves.” Using verses such as

“I have arrived, I am home, dwelling in the here and now, solid as a green mountain, free as a white cloud; thus the door of the unborn opens, just with one step, calm and unmoving”
helps maintain mindfulness, so that the Pure Land, the Kingdom of God is right in the present moment.

The early teachings of the Theravada tradition include the 37 factors of enlightenment, among which are the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of spiritual power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of awakening, and the Noble Eightfold Path. In the beginning, there was only the Ninefold Teaching (Nava Anga), later developed into the Twelvefold Teaching (Dvadasa), which includes:

1. Sutra (Discourses)
2. Geya (Repetitions)
3. Gatha (Verses)
4. Itivrittaka (Stories of This Is What Happened)
5. Jataka (Stories of Former Lives)
6. Adbhutadharma (Marvelous Dharma)
7. Avadana (Illustrative Stories)
8. Upadesa (Instructions)
9. Udana (Inspired Utterances)
10. Nidana (Causes and Conditions)
11. Vaipulya (Extensive Teachings)
12. Viakarana (Prophecies)
    The two literary forms, Jataka and Avadana, became a great body of literature, contributing to the widespread dissemination of Buddhism throughout India during the period of the early schools.

Maitrī, that is, friendship, is the root of all love – not only romantic love between man and woman, but also the love between father and child, mother and child, siblings, friends, descendants, homeland, humanity, and the environment. In the Buddha’s teaching, there are three other words alongside maitrī:

• karuṇā (compassion)
• muditā (joy)
• upekṣā (equanimity)

The monastic life and the sangha require the cultivation of brotherhood through the practice of mindfulness. The four elements that nourish oneself and the sangha, as mentioned in the morning meditation, are:

• freshness
• solidity
• calmness
• freedom

Every day, we should ask ourselves, “Today, what have I generated to nourish myself and to nourish the sangha?” so that we do not starve ourselves or our companions.

The upcoming three-month trip to Vietnam is a historic adventure, requiring each person to be diligent in purifying body and mind, to practice repentance, and to offer wholeheartedly their clarity and sincerity. Those of you who remain at home also need to offer your support through daily mindfulness, ensuring that the atmosphere both inside and outside the country is solid, so that the mission may be accomplished.

King Trần Thái Tông, though holding the throne, practiced diligently and once sought to leave home and ordain at Yên Tử Mountain, until Zen Master Viên Chứng advised him that “practice is not only on the mountain or in the temple,” but right in the palace, “while governing the country, the king can still study the Buddha’s teachings and practice the true Dharma.” He walked steadily in meditation with the mantra “each step touches the earth of reality,” every footstep touching “the ground of truth,” and transmitted this method to future generations. The Pure Land, according to the profound teachings of the Buddha, is not something to wait for after death or in the Western direction, but is “the Pure Land of the mind” present here and now – “the Pure Land in our hands” –, where each breath, each step with mindfulness and concentration brings us back to the present moment and to “the wonders of life” such as the blue sky, white clouds, birds singing, pines whispering, and flowers blooming.

During the period of the Lesser Vehicle after the Buddha’s passing, about twenty schools arose, among which the three main schools were:

1. Theravāda (School of the Elders)
2. Mahāsaṅghika (Great Assembly School)
3. Sarvāstivāda–Vibhajyavāda (School of All Exists–Distinctionists)

Sarvāstivāda and Mahāsaṅghika were pioneers in developing the Avadāna literature (Stories of Deeds) and Jātaka (stories of previous lives) – where the Bodhisattva ideal of the Lesser Vehicle was early revealed. Sarvāstivāda also added “emptiness” to the three Dharma seals (suffering, impermanence, non-self) to form the four Dharma seals, and deeply analyzed the five aggregates, the twelve sense bases, the Four Noble Truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path – heritages that the Mahāyāna later received and developed.

Thầy invites us to go home to the little boy or little girl in us—still alive, often deeply wounded, and calling for our attention. As four- or five-year-olds, we may not have understood why our parents fought, but, as Thầy says, “Maybe we did not understand, but we felt. We felt everything.”

Thầy describes a child with nowhere to take refuge: no garden or neighbor’s house to run to, only a small apartment and a locked restroom door. Even as adults, with a house, a family, and a job, we may not feel at ease, because the child inside continues to suffer and no one is taking care of him or her.

Thầy offers a practice of recognizing and embracing the child with mindfulness and compassion: breathing, smiling, and speaking to the little one directly. He names what happens if we don’t practice—we do the same thing to our own children—and suggests inviting the child to join us through the day, watering the vegetable garden, listening to music, driving, or cooking dinner together.

Thầy shares a morning in the hermitage when he told his father, “Papa, we have succeeded,” and explores how our father and mother, as five-year-old children, have been transmitted to us, so that in healing ourselves we can liberate them too. He suggests taking a photo of a parent at five from the family album into our meditation, and points to understanding as the source of compassion, which can let anger toward a parent give way.

The talk closes with Thầy’s poem “Looking for Each Other,” read in Vietnamese and then chanted by the monastic Sangha.

This talk is from a series given during the Ninety-Day Fall Retreat in the year 2004. Thầy offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

Today is the twentieth day of the retreat; there are still seventy days left to fully dwell in the practice. The retreat requires that “both feet are inside, not one foot in and one foot out,” in order to realize collective happiness. Observing nature gives us vivid lessons about the spirit of community and communication—bees, ants, termites, and the brain all operate as harmonious communities, without a master, relying only on the Dharma and the Vinaya. The energy of diligence (virya)—one of the five important sources of energy—not only protects the individual but also protects the whole. These five sources of energy are:

1. Faith
2. Diligence
3. Mindfulness
4. Concentration
5. Insight

Buddhism has gone through three main periods:
• 350 – 100 BC (Early Theravada)
• 100 BC – 300 AD (Sectarian Theravada)
• From 100 BC – 300 AD (Origin of Mahayana)

Among these, King Ashoka spread the Dharma throughout India by erecting stone pillars inscribed with Brahmi script. Mahayana expanded the ideal from Arhat to Bodhisattva with the path of the Three Vehicles (Śrāvaka, Pratyekabuddha, Bodhisattva), developing the “Bodhi mind” and the six Paramitas:

1. Generosity
2. Precepts
3. Patience
4. Diligence
5. Meditation
6. Wisdom

The key doctrines of Mahayana include the Three Bodies of the Buddha (the physical body, the Dharma body, the reward body), the theory of emptiness (śūnyatā), the store consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), and skillful means, aiming to combine great wisdom and great compassion to liberate all beings.

Happiness is not a strictly individual possession: it is built together with the happiness of others. In the family as in society, we all have both the duty and the right to be happy; this right is born from our capacity to recognize the suffering around us and to act, even for just a few moments each day, to relieve a parent, a neighbor, or anyone in distress. This compassionate action connects us to others, gives meaning to our life, and produces within us a deep joy, independent of wealth, fame, or power.

Living happily here and now is possible thanks to mindfulness: by walking, breathing, and touching the wonders of life (the sky, the flowers, the fresh air), we cultivate the inner freedom that liberates us from fear, anger, and craving. For this, three practices are central:

1. Recognizing the suffering in ourselves and around us
2. Understanding its deep roots through meditative looking
3. Transforming suffering into compassion, the seed of true happiness
   By thus applying the Four Noble Truths—the reality of suffering, its origin, the possibility of its cessation, and the path leading to it—each moment becomes an opportunity to sow calm, freedom, and joy.

*The two original schools of Buddhism are the Theravada (Thượng Tọa Bộ) and the Maha Sanghika (Đại Chúng Bộ), from which the remaining 18–21 schools emerged. The main sources include:

1. Kathāvatthu (Points of Controversy) of the Theravada school
2. Dipavamsa – a 4th-century Theravada chronicle from Sri Lanka
3. The Śāriputra Inquiry Sutra (T 1465) of the Maha Sanghika, compiled in the Taisho Tripitaka
4. Treatise on the Schools (Dị Bộ Tông Luân Luận) – Xuanzang’s Chinese translation and Thích Trí Quang’s Vietnamese version
5. The Mañjuśrī Inquiry Sutra (T 468) – translated by Thích Già Bà La
6. The list of 21 schools recorded by Bhaviveka and Taranatha, in which the Vibhajyavāda is divided into four groups: Mahīśāsaka, Kāśyapīya, Dharmaguptaka, and Tāmraśāṭīya (present-day Theravada).

*The concept of the Buddha’s body developed from the two bodies (the physical body and the Dharma body) in the Early Buddhist tradition to the three bodies (the transformation body, the enjoyment body, and the Dharma body) in the Mahayana, emphasizing that the Buddha is one who is free from afflictions, transcending birth and death, “with one voice teaches all Dharma.” Every word, every action, and even his silence is a teaching. In the retreat, there are also collective activities with mindfulness songs:
“Come let us practice… We can sit down and breathe in and smile like Buddha smiles,”
and the melody “Happy birthday to you… Everyday we are born. Everyday we are free,” depicting the joy of mindfulness and being reborn in every moment.

This talk details the path to enlightenment, emphasizing mindfulness and practice leading to liberation. It’s believed seven lives are typically needed, but diligent practice can shorten this to three, four, or even this very life. By nurturing inner holiness, one can cultivate freedom and peace without seeking it elsewhere. Progressing leads to becoming a stream enterer, returner, non-returner, or arahant, achieving total freedom from afflictions. Buddhism teaches eight types of holy people, each embodying varying levels of freedom. Embrace suffering with respect and tenderness to transform it into wisdom and compassion. Live mindfully, finding holiness in everyday tasks like drinking tea, brushing teeth, or sweeping, embodying freedom and peace in daily life.

Deep listening is the most precious gift we can offer to the person we love: without the capacity to listen with compassion, we remain deaf to their suffering, we lose our calm, and communication breaks down, opening the door to pain, to anger, even to ultimate despair. To develop this quality, we train ourselves to:

1. practice mindful breathing to calm ourselves and bring body and mind together,
2. engage in deep looking, total presence in the here and now,
3. address the other with loving speech, without reproach, offering a safe space for them to express their pain.

This path of compassionate listening echoes Avalokiteśvara (Quan The Am), the bodhisattva of compassion: only compassion, nourished every day, protects us from anger and allows us to hear the “cries of suffering in the world.” At the same time, the Four Noble Truths offer the framework:

• to recognize suffering,
• to identify its causes (unwholesome nutriments, prejudices, ignorance),
• to take refuge in the possibility of transformation,
• to follow the Noble Path (right view, loving speech, mindfulness of body and mind, mindful walking and eating) in order to cultivate well-being and restore communication.

Thầy begins with a line from an old Irish song—“All the praties, they are small over here, and we eat skin and all”—that carries the fear of hunger our ancestors have passed down to us. From there, he invites us to eat, sit, and breathe not only for ourselves but for those who have not had the opportunity: grandparents who lived through hard times, and people today who have no food, or no time to sit.

Thầy shares his memory of the famine in Hanoi in 1944, when, as a young student, he went from house to house asking for a little rice for the hungry. He explores how a meal eaten in mindfulness touches three seeds in us at once—fear, happiness, and compassion—and why true happiness is made of non-happiness elements. Eating for the grandmother and mother within us, we become a bodhisattva: “To be a bodhisattva is what you can do right here, right now, while you eat your piece of bread.”

Thầy points to sitting for our ancestors as the greatest kind of filial piety, and to what the world really needs: not more goods, but more compassion and freedom, generated even while watering the vegetables. He closes with Nelson Mandela’s wish to just sit down and do nothing, and reflects on why those of us lucky enough to have time to sit and walk might practice for those who cannot.

This talk is from a series given during the Ninety-Day Fall Retreat in the year 2004. Thầy offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

The practice of Touching the Earth is the reverse process of filling up with gas; it is an opportunity to faire le vide, to make oneself empty by letting go of knowledge, fame, degrees, and even complexes. When the five parts of the body touch the earth and the hands are open, the practitioner lets go of the self to become a Dharma instrument of wonder, no longer caught in reverence or material gain. Happiness in the Sangha depends on the capacity to entrust one’s life like a drop of water merging into the river, instead of holding onto personal demands or the seeds of resentment from the past.

The theses from 42 to 48 in the Samayabhedoparacanacakra affirm that the nature of the mind is originally pure and luminous, and afflictions are only guests. Latent tendencies are blocks of afflictions lying asleep, which are neither mind nor mental formations and have no object, unlike entanglements which are bindings and drives which are propulsions. Phenomena are divided into five categories:

1. Form phenomena
2. Mind phenomena
3. Mental formation phenomena
4. Phenomena not associated with the mind
5. Unconditioned phenomena

Regarding cognition, the 12 bases include:

1. Eye base
2. Ear base
3. Nose base
4. Tongue base
5. Body base
6. Mind base
7. Form base
8. Sound base
9. Smell base
10. Taste base
11. Touch base
12. Dharma base

Among them, the dharma base is not an object that consciousness can apprehend. The past and the future do not have a true entity, at the same time there is no existence of an intermediate body, and a person who has attained the fruit of stream-entry has the capacity to attain the power of concentration.

On the 34th day of the autumn retreat, the monastic regulations are very strict: morning sitting meditation begins at 6 o’clock, and everyone must arrive at least 5 minutes early; once the door is closed, no one is allowed to enter, and those who are late are invited to practice walking meditation outdoors or go to the library. The orientation for newcomers, held on the afternoon of their arrival, includes the regulations, walking meditation, sitting meditation, and attending Dharma talks to help them integrate and practice correctly, avoiding incidents like this morning. The memorial ceremony for Ancestor Tang Hoi will be held on the 28th, in collaboration with the Tu Hieu and Plum Village sanghas; Tang Hoi was ordained at the age of 10, established the Luy Lau center, and then went to China to found Kien So temple, marking the beginning of Chinese Buddhism.

Walking meditation is a wonderful Dharma door that helps us “stop with each step,” not thinking about the future; each solid, leisurely step is a sign of happiness and supports our friends in the practice. Relaxing the body and calming the breath brings two main benefits: (1) ease and peace, allowing us to deeply touch the present moment; (2) creating the conditions for the body to heal itself. Currently, in the United States, more than 220 hospitals and care centers are applying this method in the spirit of Buddhism.

Regarding the teachings, the Bahuśrutīya school originated from the Mahāsāṃghika, emphasizing “hearing much – learning much,” and advocated five transcendent teachings: impermanence, suffering, emptiness, non-self, and the stillness of nirvana, opening the way to complete liberation. The most complete Three Dharma Seals are impermanence, non-self, and nirvana, in which nirvana is the ground of all phenomena (like waves relying on water). Suffering is not the nature of things, but arises from delusion and attachment; when we deeply penetrate impermanence and non-self, we touch nirvana right in the midst of birth and death.

This talk details the importance of mindful communication and consumption, emphasizing timing and environment to prevent misunderstandings and promote healing. Mindful consumption extends beyond food to include art, media, and conversations, avoiding negativity that harms well-being. Creating and consuming responsibly nurtures compassion and reduces suffering. Mindfulness in all endeavors, from growing vegetables to writing, nurtures seeds of compassion. Laypeople and monastics should collaborate to deepen practice collectively, fostering an inclusive community. Historical examples like King Ashoka illustrate the power of compassionate governance. Mindfulness, compassion, and responsible consumption are key to healing ourselves and the world.

The American Dream of wealth and freedom is not enough to bring true happiness, as many successful people still live in anxiety, violence, and hatred. In the United States, the number of people in prison is greater than the number of full-time farmers. Instead, the dream of brotherhood and compassion is the path that helps people live without fear, embracing all species and the Earth. The three mottos of France, including liberty, equality, and fraternity, also reflect this ideal. This practice is based on the four elements of the Four Immeasurable Minds:

1. Maitri (Loving-kindness): bringing joy and happiness to others.
2. Karuna (Compassion): helping others overcome suffering.
3. Mudita (Joy): rejoicing and being happy with the joy of others.
4. Upeksha (Equanimity): having no discrimination.

Unifying people’s hearts through brotherhood is an art that was successfully practiced by kings such as Ashoka, Ly Thai To, and Tran Nhan Tong. King Tran Nhan Tong, after passing the throne to Tran Anh Tong, became a monastic, studied under Tue Trung Thuong Si, and traveled to encourage the people to practice the teachings of the Ten Wholesome Actions, while also marrying Princess Huyen Tran to King Che Man to build peace. In daily life, building a Sangha and generating brotherhood through actions such as walking, standing, speaking, smiling, cooking, or washing the dishes are opportunities to nourish happiness and eradicate corruption and the collapse of ideals.

Sectarian history records that in the year 140 after nirvana, Buddhism divided into the Sthaviravada and the Mahasanghika schools. Around the year 200 after nirvana, the Vātsīputrīya or Sammatiya school appeared, advocating for a self called Pudgala. Among the 254,000 monastics in India during the time of Master Xuanzang, up to 66,000 followed this school because their reasoning about a subject of practice and receiver of karmic retribution was very sharp. They used the image of fire and wood (the burning and the burnable) to explain that the self is neither identical to nor separate from the skandhas (not the skandhas, but also not non-skandhas), while quoting the Buddha’s words: “O bhikkhus, there is one person whose appearance in the world brings benefit to countless others in humanity. Who is that person? That person is the World-Honored Buddha.” This view was later refuted by great minds like Master Nagarjuna in the Mulamadhyamakakarika and Master Vasubandhu in the Abhidharmakosha. To prove the existence of the person, the Vātsīputrīya school relied on:

• The Five Skandhas: form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness.
• The Twelve Ayatanas: the six sense organs and the six sense objects.
• The Eighteen Dhatus: the six sense organs, the six sense objects, and the six consciousnesses.
• The Eight Types of Noble Persons: path of Stream-Entry, fruit of Stream-Entry, path of Once-Returning, fruit of Once-Returning, path of Non-Returning, fruit of Non-Returning, path of Arhatship, and fruit of Arhatship.

We are in the Upper Hamlet during the Autumn Retreat, day 42 (November 2, 2004). Thay begins with the image of the oak tree and the century plant producing seeds for continuation, comparing it to monastics generating seeds of mindfulness, concentration, and insight to transmit to the future, emphasizing the spirit of nonself and the common career of the Sangha.

We begin with questions from the community:

1. Thay teaches that practicing is practicing for one’s whole family and lineage, but how should we understand the saying “whoever practices attains, whoever eats gets full”?
2. How can a Sister let go of her anger when I have tried to reconcile and asked for help, but she still rejects my friendly gestures?
3. How should we live in accordance with the spirit of the elder brothers, and how should the sisters down there live in accordance with the spirit of the younger ones, so that later we can live in greater harmony and closeness?
4. What about the phenomenon where I sleep very well at night, but people in the room say I scream, laugh, and cry, and does it affect my health?
5. How do I practice letting go of my own views and accepting the insight of others to work together without dominating or taking away the space of a younger sibling when I have more experience and want to help?
6. How can Elder Brothers and Sisters work harmoniously and play with the younger ones while still maintaining respect, without being seen as bossy or losing their dignity, and is a hierarchy needed to maintain that respect?
7. What are the regulations regarding younger siblings visiting a Bhikshu who has left the community and is living at a lay friend’s house near the Village, and regarding organizing a party when that teacher comes to visit while the community is observing the retreat boundaries?
8. What is true hope, given that hope is usually based on an image of the future, and when hope is lost, people fall into despair?
9. Since the trip to Vietnam could not happen, does Thay plan to extend the retreat by another 3 months to make it a 6-month autumn retreat so we can learn more?
10. What is the boundary between joking and speaking ill when talking about a brother or sister who is not present, even if there is no negative intention?
11. How can one perceive the compassion of a monastic who does not have a good appearance or compassionate features, and whose daily gestures are very unpleasant?

Thầy offers a simple question to ask the person we love: “Darling, do I deprive you of your freedom?” Answering a question left over from an earlier session, he shares how nonattachment is not carelessness, and how we can love in a way that keeps both people free.

Speaking the day after the 2004 US presidential election, Thầy begins by applying interbeing to politics: Mr. Bush contains Mr. Kerry. He encourages us to keep sharing our insight and hope, trusting that in time they can penetrate the other side.

Asked how to open the door to the practice for others, Thầy points to being a living Dharma talk, and to Sangha building, which he calls the most noble task we may undertake: “If you don’t know what to do with your life, build a Sangha.” He tells of the Buddha going to look for the five friends he had practiced with, and of the king of Kosala, both men now eighty, seeing the Buddha in his Sangha. Thầy offers the image of a rock and a boat for what it means to take refuge in the Sangha.

A final question asks why difficult feelings can surface when we come to a practice center. Thầy describes mind consciousness as a living room we usually keep busy, and shares how mindfulness, supported by the Sangha when needed, can greet and embrace what arises. He closes with cutting wood in summer for the winter, and a poem by the Vietnamese poet Mai Thảo on manufacturing our own sunshine.

This talk is from a series given during the Ninety-Day Fall Retreat in the year 2004. Thầy offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

The Four Basic Breaths are to focus entirely on the breath, not interfering but simply observing and dwelling in the present moment:

1. Recognizing the breath – knowing this is an in-breath or an out-breath.
2. Following the breath – knowing whether it is long or short, in or out, staying with it from beginning to end (following the breath).
3. Calming the breath – allowing the breath to become long and light, creating peace and ease (calming/soothing).
4. Enjoying the breath – breathing as a source of joy, enjoying the happiness in each breath (enjoying my in-breath, I breathe in).

When practicing more deeply, the breath becomes a bridge between body and mind:

1. Recognizing the whole body – embracing the breath and the body in the present moment (sabbakāya).
2. Calming the whole body – letting go, relaxing completely.
3. Experiencing joy and ease throughout the body – deep joy and ease, like soaking in a warm bath, nourishing and healing areas of tension.

The Discourse on Mindful Breathing has been present in Vietnam since the early third century (around the years 200–210) through the An Ban Thủ Ý translation by Master An Thế Cao (of Parthian origin) in Lạc Dương, who transmitted it to Master Tăng Hội in Giao Châu. Tăng Hội wrote a commentary and a preface, recorded in the Tripitaka, before bringing the sutra to Eastern Wu. The original name, Annapānasati: “Annapāna” means in-breath and out-breath, “sati” means mindfulness; An Ban Thủ Ý means “using awareness to hold the breath,” keeping the mind at ease and dwelling peacefully. Both the Northern (Chinese) and Southern (Pali) traditions have preserved this teaching in its entirety, allowing for comparison and parallel exploration.

The practice of Mindful Breathing guides us through four domains:

1. the body,
2. feelings,
3. mental formations,
4. perceptions.
   Each domain is practiced in four steps: recognizing → embracing → calming → happiness. The An Ban Thủ Ý Sutra teaches a total of sixteen breaths, of which the first two breaths manifest joy (mirth) and happiness (ease), which can be expanded into eight breaths to deeply cultivate joy. The Buddha emphasized that we must first nourish joy and then happiness, because only with true joy born from letting go (detachment), mindfulness, concentration, and insight, can we have enough energy to transform suffering and build lasting happiness.

According to the seventh principle of the Sarvāstivāda School in the Four Noble Truths:

1. The three truths of suffering, origination, and path are all conditioned dharmas—“having birth, having death, having remaining, having loss.”
2. Only cessation (Nirvana) is unconditioned—“not born, not dying, not remaining, not lost.”
   This clearly distinguishes between conditioned and unconditioned dharmas, affirming that Nirvana is the unchanging truth amidst the impermanence of life.

Looking deeply into the non-discrimination between conditioned and unconditioned:
– Like Waves and Water: waves arise and cease but their nature is water, and water is unconditioned.
– Paul Tillich calls God the “ground of being,” approaching the harmony of creator and creation.
– In the Lotus Sutra, the Manifestation Gate (conditioned) and the Original Gate (unconditioned) are not separate, expressed through the image of the Precious Stupa of Buddha Prabhūtaratna and Shakyamuni Buddha sitting together, demonstrating the truth of non-duality: all conditioned dharmas contain the unconditioned nature of Nirvana.

I write to the one who will be born in one hundred or five hundred years to say: freedom is possible, the prison of the ego can be destroyed. You are not a separate entity, you are our continuation; what we think, say, and do today determines the quality of your existence. We are sorry for having produced unjust thoughts, words, and actions that have created suffering and division. Here and now, we commit ourselves to change, to see the nature of interbeing: the other is not our enemy, but a manifestation of the same source, and our peace depends on theirs.

To build this beautiful continuation, deep looking and conscious breathing are essential. Through mindfulness of the breath:

1. I breathe in, bringing my full attention to the in-breath,
2. I breathe out, bringing my full attention to the out-breath,

I let go of worries, anger, and hatred to rediscover life here and now. This practice:

• brings immediate relief and contact with the wonders of life (the flower, the eye, the heart…),
• brings the mind back to the body and embodies the living dharma,
• opens to the ultimate dimension – nirvana or God – beyond the notions of birth, death, being, and non-being, just as the manifested wave and the unconditioned water are inseparable.

Each step, each breath, each look thus becomes a love letter to the future: an invitation to touch freedom in the heart of the present moment.

Plum Village, with more than 23 years of formation, has become a vibrant cultural and social reality in the West, not only limited to Upper Hamlet or Lower Hamlet but spreading throughout the world through books translated into more than 35 languages. Currently, there are about 30–38 sanghas in England (nearly 10 in London), and thousands of sanghas worldwide regularly gather to practice walking meditation, listen to Dharma talks, eat silent meals, and nourish their hearts through the practice of mindfulness and true brotherhood.

To maintain this tradition, it is necessary to build core groups—each consisting of four or five people living in harmony, relying on the precepts and a shared commitment; at the same time, continuously adapting the Dharma doors to the times by learning from neuroscience, the art of drama, folk music, and modern technology. Maintaining true brotherhood is the very guarantee for the future of the sangha and for Plum Village to remain a source of happiness for many generations.

• regularly meet, discuss the present and future, and uphold the precepts
• form groups of 4–5 people as a solid “core,” with multiple core groups supporting each other
• flexibly transform the teachings, embracing science, art, and new technology
• practice non-self, let go of competition, and nurture the collective ideal and joy

There are three main sources of energy to preserve—sexual, breath (speech), and spirit (thinking)—and we learn to economize each by

1. refraining from unnecessary talk, thinking, sexual activity, or strenuous physical movement;
2. getting enough sleep or, when sleep is elusive, practicing deep relaxation, non-thinking exercises (walking meditation, mindful breathing, contemplation), and nourishing positive “seeds” from our store consciousness (pleasant memories, sights, sounds);
3. pausing demanding work when energy is low, saving concentration for what truly matters.

When deep sorrow or despair arises, don’t force vipassana; instead, embrace your suffering through in-breath and out-breath, the beauty of sky and trees, or the collective energy of Sangha. Throw yourself into the Sangha’s peace and joy—“like a drop becoming the river”—and rely on brothers and sisters to support you in recognizing and smiling to habit energies before they push you into destructive words or deeds.

True pleasure and joy fuel our spiritual path, but we must look deeply at what we consume—air, tea, coffee, or wine—to see if it sustains long-term happiness or harms ourselves and others. Practice the Fifth Mindfulness Training out of Mahāyāna compassion (protecting children, society), and carry that same spiritual dimension into every arena—even politics—so that loving-kindness becomes the guiding force in our personal lives, our Sangha, and our world.

While walking or at any moment when restlessness, agitation, and unease (one of the fifty-one mental formations) arise, take hold of your breath and your steps: breathing in, take three steps; breathing out, take three steps; each step is “stepping into the Pure Land,” each look is seeing the Dharma body. When we are aware of restlessness, the energies of shame (knowing one’s own shortcomings) and embarrassment (feeling shy before others) naturally arise, bringing us back to mindfulness. Reciting phrases such as “I have arrived, I am home, I have arrived” or using a breathing gatha like “Breathing in, I smile in mindfulness, dwelling happily in the present moment…” can, in just a few seconds, transform the mind from agitation to calm without any need for suppression. Sitting meditation is the same: breathing in, know you are breathing in; breathing out, know you are breathing out; regulating the breath leads to deep dwelling, the body upright, shoulders relaxed, mouth smiling, nourishing the joy of the Dharma in the present moment.

In the history of Buddhism, there are two great attractions that we need to recognize:

1. The tendency to turn the Buddha’s path into a religion—creating objects of devotion (the immutable Dharma body, the transformation body, and the reward body) to worship.
2. The establishment of metaphysical foundations (such as the store consciousness, Mūla-vijñāna, Śūnyatā…) as a basis for karma, retribution, and attainment.

But the original spirit reminds us: everything is impermanent, non-self; true liberation arises from self-practice through mindful breathing, recollecting Buddha–Dharma–Sangha–Precepts, and mindfulness in the present moment.

The Dien brothers lived together in harmony until the third brother began to feel afraid of being at a disadvantage, and immediately asked to divide the family property and live separately. The three brothers decided to cut down the ancient tree to split it into three parts, but the next night the tree had withered and died. The tree stopped living because it “hurt in its heart” at the intention of separation, just like the pain of brotherhood being divided. Realizing this, the third brother was moved, asked to live together as before, and from then on the three brothers lived in harmony for the rest of their lives.

The sound of the bell signals the lesson on brotherhood in the sangha: fear, jealousy, and the thought of “wanting to be number one” are like the third wife, destroying the spirit of unity. To build a strong sangha, we need to

• recognize and transform the “enemy within” (fear, jealousy)
• encourage many “nuclei” (small groups) to function naturally on the basis of brotherhood
• continuously learn, create, and adapt to new circumstances without clinging to old forms

Training and ordination must also apply this principle: elders (senior brothers, sisters, teachers…) place brotherhood and the responsibility of guidance above authority, caring for and regularly communicating with the novices so that they may progress day by day. When brotherhood is strong, the sangha will have faith, happiness, and enduring vitality.

Setting Up a Compassionate Line for Loving Communication.

Thầy returns to the need to set up a telephone line to serve as a source of help for young people in emotional crisis. This would be called the “compassionate line,” and he urges each of us to practice so we can be the person at the end of that line who can help someone who’s suffering.

To do this, Thầy teaches, we must become bodhisattvas of deep listening, and that can only happen through practice. Understanding is the foundation of true love, and we can understand by listening deeply—without our prejudices and judgment coloring what we hear. Thầy invites us to listen deeply to the people in our daily life—our parents, our children, our friends, our partner—and to ask them, “Darling, do you think I understand you enough?”

To truly understand another, Thầy shows, we must begin by honestly understanding ourselves. Through a young nun’s letter about seeing our situation from a faraway place, he points to gaining perspective and freeing ourselves from illusions, especially the illusion of what we believe will make us happy. When we have freedom, happiness can come from every direction, at every moment.

Thầy then talks about the four elements of true love and happiness—maitrī, karuṇā, muditā, and upekṣā—with images such as a doctor who doesn’t have to suffer together with the patient. These elements have no limits, and so love can be without frontiers. Through practice, we can enlarge our heart so our love is unlimited and we can accept everything, like the river in the Buddha’s image of a handful of salt. When we have this kind of love, we have a compassionate line to everyone, through which we can bring them happiness and freedom.

The talk ends with Sister Chân Không singing a song first in French and then in English about smiling to everything in life and even in death.

This talk is from a series given during the Ninety-Day Fall Retreat in the year 2004. Thầy offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

This à la carte Dharma talk, given in French with simultaneous interpretation into English, begins with several members of the Sangha asking their questions of Thầy. Among the questions raised:

• Is the absolute, or the unconditioned, the same as God, and does it play a role in our lives?
• After a difficult time in noble silence, how can we offer ourselves the love and solidity we are able to offer others?
• Having been raised with the idea of heaven, how can we find happiness in the here and now?
• What is the well-being of an arhat, and how is it shared?

Thầy then addresses those questions—which have to do with enhancing group communication, noble silence, absolute and relative truth, watering positive seeds in ourselves and in others, and the Pure Land.

Thầy shares that communication among members of a group is facilitated by doing group relaxation or practice together. He explores how noble silence can lead to an awareness of mindful, intentional thought and speech, turning Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” on its head and suggesting a little notepad for the things we feel the urge to say. He also speaks of watering the positive seeds in others and in ourselves, and why the latter can seem harder.

Thầy notes that there’s a continuum between relative and absolute truth. A wave may be seen as representing relative (temporary, historical) truth, whereas the water comprising the wave may be seen as ultimate truth, which is beyond our ability to describe. He speaks of nirvāṇa and God in this light.

He points out that the unconditioned exists in all conditioned phenomena. A wave (conditioned phenomenon) can’t be separated from water (unconditioned). For this reason, he teaches, there’s no birth and no death; there’s only transformation. If a wave can recognise the presence of water in herself, all her fear will disappear.

Thầy states that he doesn’t want to go to a place where there’s no suffering, because in such a place there’s no understanding or compassion—understanding and compassion are born from suffering. He reflects on the lotus that can’t grow on marble, notes that even in the Pure Land Sutra people practise walking meditation, and closes with a few words on arhats and bodhisattvas.

Turning to the Pure Land and the Kingdom of God, Thầy explains why he would not want to go to a place where there’s no suffering. He reflects on the lotus that cannot grow on marble, and notes that in the Pure Land Sutra, those who arrive still practise walking meditation. He closes with a few words on arhats and bodhisattvas.

This talk is from a series given during the Ninety-Day Fall Retreat in the year 2004. Thầy offered this talk at the Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

The 71st day of the retreat at Upper Hamlet, Phap Van Temple, with 19 days left until the end. The term monastics is translated as those who have left home, the ordained community. The Ceremony of Invitation for Admonition (Tự Tứ) will be held on the 15th so that the uncles and teachers from Tu Hieu can attend. In the list of apprentice Dharma teachers, three names were missing and have now been added:

1. Brother Phap Nhuan
2. Brother Phap Tu
3. Sister Hanh Lien

The issue of the telephone line was raised urgently: the bicycle tire was flat so the teacher could not guide meditation, and there was no compassionate line to call for help. The teacher reminded everyone to practice the First Mantra—Darling, I’m here for you—by being present 24 hours a day for anyone who calls, even while cooking, gardening, or taking turns in each hamlet, using the telephone as a symbol of love and being ready to share with each other the plan of service.

Caring for retreatants and Sangha facilities still has many shortcomings: lack of restrooms in Lower Hamlet and New Hamlet, lack of a common room for visits, tea and snacks; classrooms and meditation rooms are often noisy. The teacher called on each hamlet to:

• establish their own residence rules, with the Dean of Students responsible for maintaining purity
• form a “retreatant care team” to make up for the lack of facilities with kindness and attentiveness
• improve the internal switchboard system, transferring calls after office hours to the “Activity Bell” team to be on duty for the phone

Thầy begins this talk by pointing out that each of us is building our past in every moment—a past that lies in front of us, not behind—which is why he stresses Right Thinking, Right Speech, and Right Action.

He then asks, “What prevents us from producing good thoughts, from saying good things, and from doing good things?” Thầy teaches that we all have the seeds of understanding, compassion, and forgiveness within us, and that the Buddha and God are “in every cell of our body.”

Thầy describes Dharma talks at retreats as a rain that waters these seeds, and relates the story of four men at a retreat in Oldenburg, Germany, who reached out by telephone to reconcile with their fathers. Using loving speech, he says, is a revolutionary act—but not one we can force.

Thầy also tells of a young woman who could not bring herself to speak kindly to her mother. With Sister Chân Không’s advice, she trained herself, and one day she tried. Her mother’s happiness took her completely by surprise.

Thầy then turns to Right View as the ground of Right Thinking, Speech, and Action, and to the practice of looking deeply that makes it possible.

Thầy concludes the talk by asking everyone in the Sangha to speak to one person with whom they have difficulty using loving speech. If they find this isn’t possible, they must look deeper to find compassion for that person’s suffering.

This talk is from a series given during the 90-Day Fall Retreat in the year 2004. Thầy offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.

This talk details joyful news of an upcoming visit starting January 11, 2005, focusing on teachings of full consciousness through walking, sitting, and breathing practices. The Pope’s rare discussion of his work is highlighted as a once-in-a-century event. Thay’s books are officially published in Vietnam, marking a positive development. The teachings emphasize mindful breathing for calm, recognizing and managing emotions, cultivating joy and happiness, understanding mental formations and seeds, and addressing habit energies. Buddhist meditation practices aim to manage subconscious patterns influencing actions. Concentration practices like impermanence, non-self, and compassion are crucial for handling suffering and fostering happiness. The Sangha community provides vital support for overcoming challenges, offering mindfulness practices to nurture joy, happiness, and self-confidence.

During the autumn retreat at Upper Hamlet, everyone practices shining light on each other, and each person will receive a shining light letter at the end of the retreat. Thay encourages compassion and loving speech, especially among laypeople and Buddhists. During the retreat, everyone learns about breathing, taking care of the body and emotions through various breathing exercises. The teachings contain common principles applied for transformative healing, which, although progressing slowly, are beneficial. Thich Nhat Hanh lectures on the history of Buddhism, the division of sects, and the teaching of the three bodies. He emphasizes that Buddhism is not just a religion but a practice of transforming body and mind, avoiding religious needs and fixed entities. He explains the law of cause and effect, reincarnation, and continuity in Buddhism. Schools such as the Sarvastivada, Sautrantika, and Vibhajyavada all contribute to the development of Buddhism, each with its own characteristics. He warns that if the teaching of non-self is not correctly understood, the sacred value of Buddhism will be lost.

Two seductive objects are raised:

1. The need to have an object to love, worship, and venerate leads to making the World-Honored One into a deity, while the work Old Path White Clouds restores Him as a human being, as a teacher.
2. The desire to prove the existence of an unchanging entity, as the subject for karma and realization, gives rise to the notion of an unchanging “self.”

The early Buddhist schools all endeavored to seek an “unchanging foundation” for the phenomenal world of impermanence:

• The Vātsīputrīya school: acknowledged the Pudgala (transcendent entity) as a necessary condition for action and realization.
• The Saṃmitīya school.
• The Sarvāstivāda school: developed the concepts of attainment, life faculty, and continuity, along with santati (subtle consciousness) and bhavanga (the continuous stream of life).
• The Theravāda school: emphasized sukṣma mana vijñāna (subtle consciousness) and bhavanga.
• The Mahāsaṅghika, Mahīśāsaka schools…

Mahayana Buddhism responds to both of these needs with the doctrine of the Three Bodies of the Buddha (the Reward Body, the Transformation Body, and the Dharma Body), and develops two main streams:

• Yogācāra (Consciousness-Only School): bases itself on consciousness (vijñāna), advocating “only manifestation” (vijñapti-mātratā).
• Madhyamaka (School of Emptiness Wisdom): penetrates the nature of emptiness (śūnyatā), affirming that not only the self is empty but phenomena are also empty; truth transcends both being and non-being.

Along with the original Three Dharma Seals — impermanence, non-self, and nirvana — Mahayana further develops the concept of Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha Nature), the “embryo of the Buddha” latent in every sentient being, while also nurturing faith through objects such as Akṣobhya Buddha, Amitābha Buddha, Avalokiteśvara, thereby combining self-power and other-power, guiding practitioners to Nirvana — the foundational reality of “no birth, no death,” transcending both being and non-being.

The nine cinnamon trees at Upper Hamlet celebrate their first birthday during the Autumn Retreat, symbolizing a year of practice and growth for the sangha. In the next three days, there will be a grand first-year ceremony with cake and tea meditation as offerings, encouraging, “Just say one sentence, my child, don’t say too much,” to practice simple and sincere communication.

1. The Mahayana tradition emphasizes insight—the Dharma body present everywhere—and the power of others—sharing the merit for all beings.
2. Sharing the merit (as in the Samantabhadra’s Aspiration Prayer) does not diminish insight but rather increases it, manifesting great compassion and skillful means, creatively bringing forth new teachings.

In Vajrayana, the world is the direct manifestation of the Buddhas (Dharma body), with the five principal Buddhas being Vairocana, Akṣobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi. Body, speech, and mind are unified through yogic posture, mantra, and contemplation to awaken the energies of yin and yang (Kundalini and Shiva/Durga). Tantra is divided into two schools: the right-hand path (keeping precepts, transforming negative energies) and the left-hand path (rituals involving killing and sexual acts), of which only the right-hand path has endured due to its integration and preservation of the root of insight.

We are at Lower Hamlet on the 14th day of the 12th lunar month, 2004, preparing for the Pavarana ceremony to end the Autumn Retreat. Thay compares this year’s retreat with last year’s at Deer Park, shares a story about washing forgotten bowls with love and nonself, and prepares the spirit for the upcoming trip to Vietnam.

1. Report on the status of articles for the “Plum Village Newsletter” and how articles are selected based on quality?
2. What is the situation regarding practice and study, the harmony of Upper Hamlet, and the preparation of personnel for the Vietnam trip?
3. The combination of energy between the sisters of New Hamlet and Lower Hamlet during the past retreat, and the reorganization of personnel when the New Hamlet sisters return?
4. How to face the feeling of emptiness and not knowing what to expect or contribute to the upcoming Vietnam trip when everything seems like a fog?
5. The mood of the sisters when having to part with Lower Hamlet to return to New Hamlet, and the spirit of the new caretaking team?
6. Can you speak precisely and clearly about the seven Buddhas of the past?
7. Why don’t New Hamlet and Lower Hamlet stay together after the delegation leaves so that traveling during winter consumes less energy?
8. How can an elder sister teach the younger ones when seeing irresponsible acts like leaving leftover food or not cleaning up, so that the situation improves without nourishing irritation?
9. Is it possible to continue practicing with the Sangha after disrobing and returning to one’s family?
10. How to maintain the practice while staying at home and requesting supporting energy from the delegation in Vietnam?
11. How to distinguish between contributing true insight and wisdom versus being meddlesome in meetings, and are thoughts in history true realization or just theory?
12. Why can’t there be a model like “Farm Zen” for brothers who feel tired of interacting with retreatants, so they can retreat to do manual labor while still contributing to the Sangha?
13. When sitting in meditation and the breath becomes so deep and light that it seems like breathing has stopped, should one just maintain that awareness or continue following the breath?
14. How to handle the emotion of wanting to go with the Sangha to Vietnam while having to practice dwelling happily in the present moment here?
15. Is it possible to send recordings of Dharma talks and the atmosphere of practice from Vietnam back to the brothers and sisters at home to provide more energy?