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Dai Giac Quang Chan Pagoda - Dharma Talk

Thich Nhat Hanh · November 1, 2002 · China · Audio Only
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The practice of meditation is likened to gardening, where every monastic is an orange tree expected to produce flowers and fruits. These flowers and fruits are the capacity of understanding and compassion. One does not need to become a Buddha to offer these; even a novice practicing for a few days can generate them by listening deeply and not allowing prejudices to block understanding. If a brother is unkind, looking deeply reveals he may be suffering physically or emotionally, leading to compassion rather than anger. Daily practice involves waking up with the intention to produce these flowers, and reviewing the day before sleep to see if one has succeeded. A monk or nun becomes beautiful through the application of mindful manners, sitting like the Buddha at the foot of the bodhi tree, and walking with attention on every step.

The orange represents the human person, divided into five sections corresponding to the five skandhas. The first section is Form, the body (rupa). The Sutra on Mindful Breathing offers sixteen exercises, the first four of which concern the body. The third exercise is being aware of the body (niệm thân), embracing it with the energy of mindfulness. The fourth exercise is calming and relaxing the body, allowing it to recover and heal. The second section of the orange represents Feelings. There are three kinds of feelings: painful (Khổ thọ), pleasant (Lạc thọ), and neutral (Xả thọ). The next set of breathing exercises concerns feelings:

  1. Generating a feeling of joy.
  2. Generating a feeling of happiness.
  3. Becoming aware of any feeling present, whether pleasant or unpleasant.
  4. Embracing and calming the unpleasant feeling.

Joy and happiness are necessary food for the practitioner. When negative emotions like anger arise, the energy of mindfulness is generated to embrace and transform them. The fourth section of the orange represents Mental Formations (samskara). There are fifty-one mental formations in total, including feeling and perception; the remaining forty-nine are represented by this section. The fifth section is Consciousness, the ground of all manifestation, containing the seeds of all fifty-one mental formations. When a seed, such as anger, manifests from Store Consciousness into Mind Consciousness, the seed of mindfulness is invited up to embrace it. The body contains the mind and the mind contains the body; every cell contains the presence of all ancestors and the store consciousness.

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