Thầy teaches that a deep desire, an aspiration, is a kind of food: “Without a deep desire, a person is not very much alive.” Not every desire brings suffering, he explains. The wish to transform our suffering and help others can only bring happiness. He recalls the deep desire that led him to become a monk at the age of sixteen and points out that most of the bodhisattvas helping the world today are laypeople.

How do we keep such an aspiration alive? Thầy presents the Four Nutriments in an order for the spiritual life: not beginning with edible food, as they are usually listed, but with volition, followed by the collective energy of a Sangha, which keeps our aspiration from being eroded. He speaks of how, with a strong aspiration, walking meditation becomes a nutriment. He also proposes that those receiving the Five Mindfulness Trainings first make a formal request to receive these trainings, which are a real path of a bodhisattva.

Thầy offers a way of looking with compassion at Sangha members who are still having difficulties. Touching the Earth, he explains, is a meditation rather than an act of devotion: we see ourselves as a continuation of our ancestors and, therefore, have nothing to be proud of. The insight of no-self frees us from both superiority and inferiority. He recalls being taught as a young monk to visualize the one who bows and the one who is bowed to as both empty.

A newly ordained novice can already contribute to the Sangha by practicing mindfulness with every step. Thầy speaks of a Dharma teacher who has trained thousands of police officers to truly be “peace officers.” Turning to the pāramitās, Thầy shows how understanding and giving can bring us to the other shore right away. He closes with the pāramitā of patience: bearing what comes from outside and from within, not as passive acceptance, and the Dharma patience it takes to touch our true nature of no-birth and no-death.

This talk is from a series given during the Fall Retreat in the year 2009. Thầy offered this talk at the New Hamlet, Plum Village, France.