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Hoe Oefenen We Juiste Zienswijze

Thich Nhat Hanh · June 17, 2010 · EAIB, Germany · Audio Only
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The Five Mindfulness Trainings are the path of love and happiness, reflecting the teaching of the Buddha. They are described as the Noble Path, the fourth of the Four Noble Truths leading to the cessation of suffering. Happiness cannot exist without suffering; without the mud, no lotus flower can grow. The first noble truth is the presence of ill-being, the mud, while the second noble truth is the ignoble path that leads to this ill-being. Looking deeply into the nature of suffering reveals its roots, allowing understanding and compassion to be born. This is the non-dualistic way of looking at reality; mud and lotus inter-are, just as the left and right sides of a marker inter-are.

Nobility comes from noble living, specifically the practice of the Five Mindfulness Trainings, and not from birth. This relies on the wisdom of non-discrimination, Nirvikalpajnana. Like the right hand caring for the left hand without pride or a demand for justice, true happiness arises when there is no discrimination between the helper and the helped. The Noble Path begins with Right View, which is primarily the absence of all views. Buddhism is made only of non-Buddhist elements, just as a rose is made of non-rose elements like clouds, sunshine, minerals, and consciousness. To be is to inter-be.

Right View transcends the notions of sameness and otherness, birth and death, and being and non-being. A cloud does not come from nothing and cannot die; it only changes form. Similarly, a human being is a continuation. Karma is the triple action produced every day:

  1. Thinking
  2. Speaking
  3. Acting

These three aspects ensure a beautiful continuation beyond the disintegration of the body. The Five Mindfulness Trainings are concrete methods to cultivate understanding and love, offering the Kingdom of God in the here and now.

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