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Hong Kong Liêu Tri Tự DT Thay

Thich Nhat Hanh · November 10, 2001 · Hong Kong · Audio Only
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In the sitting position, the body is totally relaxed without fighting. Attention is brought to the in-breath to feel alive, and the out-breath to smile to life. There are about three hundred muscles on the face that become tense due to worries, and smiling helps these muscles and the nervous system relax. Breathing in brings the mind home to the body, realizing the oneness of body and mind in just five or seven seconds. While the mind often wanders to the past, future, or projects, the here and the now is the address of life. The first exercise is simply feeling alive while breathing in and smiling to life while breathing out, a practice applicable while driving, cooking, or brushing teeth.

Walking meditation involves walking peacefully like a Buddha, kissing the earth with the feet to heal oneself and the earth. Buddhist meditation consists of two elements: stopping and looking deeply. Stopping allows one to touch the wonders of the present moment, while looking deeply leads to understanding the true nature of reality and liberating oneself from suffering. Meditation is a process of self-understanding, as the true person is made of five elements called five skandhas:

  1. Form
  2. Feelings
  3. Perceptions
  4. Mental formations
  5. Consciousness

Mindfulness has at least two functions: to help get in touch with the positive elements of life for nourishment and healing, and to recognize and embrace pain and sorrow to calm and transform them. The body has a natural capacity for self-healing, similar to an injured animal in the forest that rests to recover, yet humans often lose this capacity by running and not allowing the body to rest. A farmer opening a bag of seeds recognizes a mung bean, a kidney bean, and a green bean; similarly, the practitioner scans the body to recognize its thirty-six parts. The practice of mindful walking utilizes specific verses to stop thinking and dwell in the Pure Land or the Kingdom of God here and now:

  • I have arrived, I am home (In the here, in the now)
  • I am solid, I am free (Solid means the past and future cannot pull one away; Free means not being a slave to the past or future)
  • In the Pure Land, I dwell
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