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Dharma Talk and Memorial Ceremony for the Summer Ancestors '91 (July 30)
Peace is the stillness, the calm, the absence of storms— the fundamental condition for happiness. Joy is true happiness, true delight in the heart. Without peace, there can be no joy; storms within the heart, the family, or society are all forms of unrest, obstacles to peace and happiness. To practice is to make oneself and one’s life better, more stable and secure; to practice the true Dharma must bring about peace and happiness.
The practice to attain peace and happiness consists of two main aspects:
- Stopping (samatha): calming, stopping the psychological storms such as anger by nonviolent methods— for example, holding a baby, using the breath to calm anger, creating a balance between painful and gentle energies.
- Looking deeply (vipassanā): looking deeply to see clearly the roots and causes of suffering, emotions, and the seeds in the store consciousness, so that transformation can take place at the root.
Mindfulness is the most precious seed in the store consciousness, with the breath as its foundation— breathing in, knowing you are breathing in; breathing out, knowing you are breathing out; breathing in, knowing you are angry— to embrace and understand each moment. Practicing eating, drinking tea, walking in mindfulness helps reunite body and mind, nourishing peace and happiness in every moment.