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Deep Listening and the Six Paramitas
Communication is very important; if it is still there, the situation is not too bad. To keep communication alive, we must learn the practice of deep listening. You have to open your heart, get rid of your preconceived ideas, and listen with patience and compassion. This is the practice of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, who listens deeply to the sound of the world. One hour of listening like that can be very helpful.
To heal difficulties with our parents, two exercises are offered. The first is: Breathing in, I see myself as a five-year-old boy. Breathing out, I smile to that boy with compassion. The second is: Breathing in, I see my father as a five-year-old boy. Breathing out, I smile to that five-year-old boy who was my father. This practice helps us to see our parents as wounded children, allowing compassion to flow from our hearts. Meditation is to look deeply in order to discover things we have not seen. Understanding brings compassion and forgiveness. The talk also includes personal stories from the monks and nuns of Plum Village about their lives and practice.
The Six Paramitas, six practices that can carry us from the shore of suffering to the shore of well-being, are also taught:
- Đàn Ba La Mật (Dāna Pāramitā): The practice of giving.
- Tuệ Ba La Mật (Prajñāpāramitā): The practice of understanding. To love someone, you must understand their suffering.
- Thiền Ba La Mật (Dhyāna Pāramitā): The practice of meditation, which includes Chỉ (stopping, calming, concentrating) and Quán (looking deeply).
- Giới Ba La Mật (Śīla Pāramitā): The practice of the precepts, such as the Five Mindfulness Trainings, which protect ourselves and our families.
- Nhẫn Ba La Mật (Kṣānti Pāramitā): The practice of inclusiveness, the capacity to receive and transform, not suppress. It is about making our heart large like a river or the great earth.
- Tấn Ba La Mật (Vīrya Pāramitā): The practice of diligence or continuous energy. This involves not watering the negative seeds in us and watering the positive seeds every day.