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A Day of Mindfulness for Vietnamese People at Kim Son Monastery
This morning, the Dharma talk began with the story of an annual Day of Mindfulness retreat held by the Sangha in Oakland (9am–5pm), during which Mayor Jerry Brown proclaimed a “Day of Mindfulness” for the entire city. In the Dharma talk, Thay analyzed the three karmas—Right Thinking, Right Speech, and Right Action—with the following main points:
- Right Thinking: cultivate thoughts of compassion, avoid hatred and anger; in international thinking, recognize that the security of humanity is interconnected.
- Right Speech: our words should be loving and harmonious, avoiding blame, letting go of harsh words in order to create harmony.
- Right Action: in all our daily activities—eating, consuming, family life—we need to practice mindfulness and compassion, not causing suffering to ourselves or others.
The afternoon was devoted to a question-and-answer session about difficulties in family and personal life, with the following prominent issues:
• Difficulties between parents and children in Western culture—methods of cultural exchange, building shared joy, maintaining warm family moments;
• Resolving marital conflict through “deep listening” and “loving speech,” sincerely acknowledging faults, apologizing, and making a promise to change, or using a “code word” (such as “I remember there’s a burnt cake in the fridge”) to stop conflict in its tracks;
• Balancing compassion and inner peace by regulating our exposure to suffering and practicing the nourishment of happiness (breathing, walking meditation, enjoying the scenery, mindful conversation);
• Bringing mindfulness into daily life—driving, waiting for the bus, making phone calls—by practicing “breathing and smiling,” so that the monastery does not remain only a place of rest and retreat.
