Thầy explores the gāthā “In-Out, Deep-Slow, Calm-Ease, Smile-Release, Present Moment-Wonderful Moment”—a sequence of mindful breathing exercises adaptable to any posture and any need. The practice should always be pleasant: we do not force the breath, but embrace it with mindfulness, as we might hold a suffering cat until it calms.

Using a sheet of paper held between two hands, Thầy illustrates how mindful breathing bridges body and mind, returning us to the present moment where life is truly available. He introduces the two dimensions of Buddhist meditation—śamatha, stopping and calming, and vipaśyanā, looking deeply—with mindfulness as the energy that makes both possible.

Thay shares about how a visit to India’s Ambedkar Buddhist community revealed how generations of struggle embed themselves as habit energy; And how Meursault in Camus’s The Stranger, experienced “le moment de conscience” or enlightenment after seeing the blue sky clearly for the first time.

Thầy also introduces hugging meditation—a practice he himself developed—and eating meditation, in which even a piece of carrot is received as a gift from the whole cosmos. The talk closes with the miracle of walking on Earth and an invitation to let every step of the retreat be an act of mindful arrival.

This is the first of three talks offered during a retreat on the Israeli Tour in the year 1997. Thầy offered this talk at Kibbutz Harel, near Latrun, in Israel.