We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track. If this problem persists help us by reporting it so we can investigate it.
Watch this talk
Login or create a free account to watch this talk and discover other teachings from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Log in or create an account
Cultivating the Mind-Ground: 51 Mental Formations for a Living Mindfulness
The Buddhist practice is a mental cultivation (bhāvanā): the mind is “soil” and the seeds (seeds of happiness, peace, brotherhood) come from the vijñāna (consciousness-knowledge) preserved in the depths (store consciousness). Mental formations (saṃskāra) are impermanent; we distinguish 51 categories that we must learn to recognize and name—positive, negative, or neutral—in order to observe their arising and their passing away with mindfulness.
Mindfulness (the 51st particular formation) generates concentration (samādhi), and together, they give rise to deep looking (prajñā). At the same time, five universal mental formations (biṃd-vyavahāra) are always active:
- contact
- attention (the task of orienting the consciousness)
- feeling (pleasant, unpleasant, neutral)
- perception
- volition
Each moment of daily life (walking, eating, washing the dishes, brushing your teeth, urinating…) thus becomes an opportunity to return to the present moment, to cultivate joy and freedom, and to nourish the Earth by stepping out of “auto-pilot.”
