Touching Nirvāṇa and the Art of Transforming Anger

Thầy explores the depth of store consciousness, the transformative power of the Three Dharma Seals, and concrete, non-dual methods for working with difficult emotions in daily life. Thầy examines the four indeterminate mental formations—regret (hối), sleepiness, initial thinking (vitarka), and applied thinking (vicāra)—showing how their wholesome or unwholesome nature depends entirely on the presence of mindfulness.

Expanding on store consciousness (ālayavijñāna), he shares that physical form itself, including our bodies, cells, mountains, and rivers, manifests directly from our collective consciousness. Thầy offers the classic Zen insight on the evolution of perception: “Before practice, rivers are rivers; during practice, rivers cease to be rivers; after practice, rivers are rivers again.”

He explores impermanence, nonself and nirvāṇa as active keys to unlock reality rather than static doctrines. Using the ocean and wave analogy to illustrate phenomena and noumena, Thầy shows how touching our water nature frees us from the fear of birth, death, high, and low self-esteem.

In daily life, mindfulness allows us to embrace anger and pain non-dually without judgment or suppression, like a mother holding a crying child or hot air warming a cold room. Thầy cautions against practices like pillow beating, explaining how venting expresses anger while secretly watering and strengthening its seed at the base.

He offers practical guidance on drinking whiskey with mindfulness to uncover root causes of escape, and explains how mindfulness transforms neutral conditions—such as a healthy heart or a non-toothache—into immediate, nourishing joy.

The talk concludes with the concrete protocol of the Peace Treaty, detailing the 24-hour rule, writing a peace note, scheduling Friday evening resolutions, and practicing Flower Watering to cultivate understanding and true love.

This the fourth talk in a series of five given during the Peace is Every Step retreat in the year 1992. Thầy offered this talk at Haus Tao, Wolfhalden, Switzerland.