A Concrete Recommendation of Practice

Thầy first guides us in a meditation on gratitude and joy for what we have and then invites us to recall the fifth of the Five Mantras (treated in the previous talk): This moment is a happy moment. He then reviews the Three Jewels of Buddhism as represented by the “kāyas” or “bodies” that we all possess: the Buddhakāya, our compassion and understanding; the Dharmakāya, our practice; and the Sanghakāya, “the best kind of environment” in which the first two will flourish.

Thầy’s primary purpose in this talk “is a very concrete recommendation of practice” for each of the first three days of the new year. It consists of three components each day:

1. Preparation for that day’s Beginning Anew practice though loving-kindness meditation.
2. Beginning Anew, which is one of Thầy’s models for guided “loving kindness” (maitrī or mettā) meditation (see below for details).
3. Touching the Earth, Thầy’s modern version of a traditional meditation-prostration practice of honoring and thanking our ancestors and teachers, all living beings, Mother Earth (and letting go of our separateness), the gift of being alive, and our freedom in the present moment.

In the course of the talk, Thầy specifies each of the three day’s practices:

Day One:

1. The preparation is focused upon one’s self, because “the practice of love should be directed to oneself first.” I “reconcile with myself.” I work with my “mental formations,” identifying and understanding the wholesome and the unwholesome seeds within myself. I vow to stop watering the seeds of anger, hatred, jealousy, etc., and to water seeds such as kindness, compassion, and gratitude.

2. The focus of the Beginning Anew practice is myself. We say, “May I be. . . .” I offer myself peace, happiness, safety, etc.

3. Touching the Earth focuses on my gratitude to everyone and all conditions that have given me life, belonging, love, and freedom.

Day Two:

1. The preparation is for “love extended to another person,” whether ancestor or living loved one, whether a beloved one to whom we are deeply grateful—a celebration—or a loved one with whom we have had misunderstandings or conflict, moving toward forgiveness or resolution. If the latter, this also is an occasion to focus upon one’s own unwholesome mental formations—faulty projections or assumptions—as well as upon the other’s positive sides. Thầy gives specific guidance for preparing and delivering a letter or phone call to an unreconciled loved one.

2. In the Beginning Anew practice, we say, “May he/she/they be. . .” (or call the recipient’s name).

3. Touching the Earth follows its protocol, which emphasizes one’s non-separation from all beings, including those with whom we have had previous disagreement.

Day Three:

1. The preparation is for expanding our circle of gratitude and compassion to all living beings, including those who we believe have injured us or acted as enemies (alternately or additionally, I can “address loving kindness to the person I used to consider as an enemy”). This could mean continuing work on my own unwholesome mental formations and assumptions or building deep understanding of their suffering and essential humanness.

2. In the Beginning Anew practice, we say, “May all beings. . . .”

3. Touching the Earth follows its protocol, setting the intention to open our heart to all without exception.

In closing this talk, Thầy shifts to focus upon time, given the convention of thinking that the last day of a year is different from the first day of another. Units of time are “invented by the human mind.” Thầy distinguishes between the “historical dimension,” in which we assume that everything has a beginning and an end, and, looking more deeply, the “ultimate dimension,” in which there is “no birth and no death,” only continuation. With deep enough practice, we can see that there is “no death and no birth”—“You enter into timelessness.” This insight is “the ultimate aim of the practice.” “This moment is a wonderful moment,” if one can see that.

Beginning Anew Guided Meditation:

1. May I be peaceful, happy, and light in body and in mind.
2. May I be safe, and free from accidents.
3. May I be free from anger, unwholesome states of mind, fear, and worries.
4. May I know how to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and compassion.
5. May I be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in myself.
6. May I learn how to nourish myself with joy each day.
7. May I be able to live fresh, solid, and free.
8. May I not fall into a state of indifference or be caught in the extremes of attachment and aversion.

Then repeat saying “May he/she/they. . .” and then, again, saying “May all being. . . .”

This talk was offered on New Year’s Eve during the Christmas and New Year Retreat in the year 2009. Thầy offered this talk at the Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France.