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Dharma Talk August
Buddhist studies is not merely the accumulation of knowledge, but a lifelong path of practice, with a personal thesis aimed at transforming suffering in body and mind and building harmonious happiness within the Sangha. The term “Buddhist studies” was translated in 1935 in Hue as Société d’Études et d’Exercices du Bouddhisme to emphasize both the methods of study and practice. In the Dharma talk on May 2, 1996, addressed to young monastics, the highest purpose is to transform suffering and establish harmony in the Sangha, not to chase ambitions of becoming an abbot, a high monk, or a Buddhist scholar.
The method of practice includes recognizing suffering and happiness through one’s personal dossier, with the help of the Sangha and six good friends for reflection, and also extends to four main dossiers within the monastery. Practicing the Four Immeasurable Minds—loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity—is the great thesis of the practitioner, nourished and renewed each day through contemplation and mutual support in the Sangha. Only when the Sangha is stable can our faith in the Buddha and the Dharma remain alive, and only then do we have the strength to join hands in spreading the Dharma and benefiting living beings.
- The dossier on oneself: recognizing one’s own suffering and wholesome seeds
- The dossier on the dearest person in the Sangha: illuminating happiness and hidden jewels
- The dossier on the person who makes us suffer: recording all unwholesome seeds in order to transform them
- The dossier on the neutral person: from those in the monastery to all beings outside the Dharma realm, nurturing boundless love