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Four Mantras, Three Seals – The Art of Loving and of Liberation

Thich Nhat Hanh · April 21, 1999 · Plum Village, France · Audio Only
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Today, four mantras to learn to love again:

  1. Darling, I am here for you. (true presence)
  2. Darling, I know you are there, alive, and I am very happy. (loving recognition)
  3. Darling, I know you suffer, and that is why I am here for you. (support in suffering)
  4. Darling, I suffer deeply: I need you to help me, to explain to me why you said/did this. (asking for help to remove the obstacle of pride)
    After a few minutes of mindful breathing or walking meditation, body and mind united, each of these mantras becomes a sacred formula capable of opening the heart of the other, just as a flower blossoms under the light of full attention and gratitude.

Then, the three Dharma seals to touch ultimate reality and transform suffering:

  1. Impermanence (anicca): nothing is fixed; life is born from constant transformation, and it is this that makes everything possible.
  2. Non-self (anattā): the flower is full of the cosmos and empty of a separate self; recognizing the absence of a separate self reveals our interbeing and dispels isolation.
  3. Nirvāṇa: extinction of dualistic notions (birth/death, being/non-being); touching here and now the freedom from all ideas in order to taste true peace.
    The meditation of Apranihita (aimlessness), combined with deep looking (vipashyana) and concentration (shamatha), allows us to use these keys—not making them into idols—to cross the river of suffering and establish ourselves in joy and non-fear.
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1h 34m

The Liberating Breath

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