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Breathing in I Know I Am Alive
October 8, 2011. 109-minute dharma talk with Thich Nhat Hanh from Blue Cliff Monastery in Pine Bush, NY. The sangha is on the North American Tour and this is the third dharma talk for the Stepping Into Freedom, Savoring Life Retreat. The Buddha is a teacher of love. At the time of the Buddha, the people of India were followers of Brahma and Brahma was love. So the Buddha taught about love and gave us the Four Elements of True Love - the Four Brahmaviharas.
The first element is maitri, which many people translate into lovingkindness. Loving oneself is the foundation of loving someone else. The Buddha made himself happy and then he helped other people be happy. When you have freedom and calmness, then it is easy to help other people be happy. The second element of true love is karuna, usually translated as compassion, which is to remove suffering, to transform suffering. The third element is mudita, which is joy, the sign of true love. The fourth element is upeksa, often translated as equanimity, but Thay shares the real meaning is non-discrimination. In true love, there is no place for discrimination.
The wisdom of non-discrimination is part of the teaching of the Noble Eightfold Path, where the Buddha speaks of Right View. Right View is the type of insight that is free from discrimination and is usually mentioned as the first element of the Noble Eightfold Path, but it also comes from Right Concentration and Right Mindfulness. From Right View, we can produce Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, and Right Diligence. The focus is on the practice of Right View and Right Concentration, which are part of the eight elements of the path proposed by the Buddha, the Path of True Love. The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent this path.
The teaching of no-birth and no-death, being and non-being, relates to the practice of emptiness, one of the three doors of liberation. Sahabhu, meaning co-being, signifies that we cannot exist by ourselves. Thay also speaks of our ideas and notions, including the notion of impermanence. Action has three aspects: thinking, speaking, and body. This is our product, our continuation, and anything we produce will bear our signature, which is karma. We are our action. With this path, we can create happiness, true understanding, and compassion.
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