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Making Each Other Happy — Stop the TV - Samatha, Two People — Vipasyana, Suffering - Origin
How to establish understanding, reduce anxiety, apply meditation practice in daily life, and maintain family happiness. During the trip to India with a delegation of about thirty people, five books were published, including Old Path White Clouds. At a meeting with the Vice President of India, three concrete measures were proposed to improve the atmosphere of the parliament:
- Read a text reminding everyone of the capacity for listening and loving speech at every opening.
- Use the bell of mindfulness so that everyone becomes silent, stops all words, and breathes when the atmosphere becomes heated.
- The Chairperson has the right to stop anyone using harsh language and ask them to practice breathing until they can speak gently.
The family is also a kind of parliament; if communication is blocked, happiness cannot be present. Pain and suffering crystallize into what are called internal formations, turning love into hatred and causing people to turn to the television to avoid looking at each other. To practice, we need to turn off the TV, breathe gently, and ask: “Are we happy? If not, for what reasons?” We must look deeply into the first truth, which is suffering, to find the second truth, which is the cause; from there, we see the third truth, which is happiness, and the fourth truth, which is the path to liberation from suffering. The practice of loving speech goes together with listening with compassion, just as the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara listens to the cries of suffering in the world.
Suffering is never one-sided; this is because that is; parents and children are both responsible for each other. We need to practice Beginning Anew to commit to not repeating mistakes. When irritated, practice walking meditation, taking leisurely steps to see that the miracle is to walk on the earth. Happiness is available in the present moment (dwelling happily in the present moment) through conditions such as clear eyes or a normally functioning heart. Practice the mantra: “Darling, I know you are there alive for me, and I am very happy,” or embrace your parents to nourish mindfulness.
