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My Home is Here and Now
In this talk, Thay taught us the importance of understanding our suffering, and how to use mindfulness to take care of our suffering. He taught us various Plum Village practices to help generate energy of mindfulness, and help us come back to our true home, where we can heal and transform ourselves. Starting with the meaning of chanting Avalokiteshvara, the name of Bodhisattva of Compassion, it is not to pray for supernatural power, but to help the energy of compassion to arise and heal. When we practice together, it creates a powerful energy that heals and transforms everyone. It releases tension in the body and reduces pain. The monastics chanted Avalokiteshvara, and we are invited to open our hearts and let the energy of the sangha penetrate and embrace. The sound of the bell reminds us to go home for ourselves. Often, we are caught in our worries and fears for the future, regret and sorrow of the past, or caught up with projects, and our mind is not with the body, so we are not truly alive. In Plum Village, we are reminded to stop and breathe in and out three times when we hear the sound of the bell. It helps us to come back to the present moment right away. When 1000 people do it together, the healing and transformation are very powerful. It is important that we enjoy and focus on our in and out-breath; it is healing and nourishing. It just takes 2-3 seconds, and it can bring us home to our mind and body. When our body is with our mind, we are truly alive.
Thay also taught us how to walk. Walking meditation is a practice we can do all day long. Focusing attention on our steps, we take the time, enjoy every step, and stop talking. “I am not running anymore, my destination is the here and the now.” Thay shared the gatha “I’ve arrived, I’ve arrived, I’ve arrived.” If each step brings joy and pleasure, effortlessly, we are doing the correct practice. All these practices help us to come back to the present moment. “I’ve arrived, I’m a free person, free from the past, free from worries about the future.” The future is only made of one substance, the present. If we can take care of the present, surely we will have a good future.
Chanting, listening to the sound of the bell, walking meditation, mindful breathing, all these practices help to generate the energy of mindfulness. These practices can be done anywhere and help us heal and make peace, joy, and happiness possible.
Understanding suffering is very important, and we can use the energy of mindfulness to take care of our suffering. This is the heart of the Buddhist teaching. The first noble truth is there is suffering. The monks and the nuns will practice chanting this morning, saying the name of Avalokiteshvara. They are getting in touch with the suffering. As meditation practitioners, we should know how to generate peace, happiness, and joy. We can do this while walking, sitting, eating, drinking, etc. We can train ourselves. Listening to the bell is a reminder. Being alive in the present moment only takes 2-3 seconds to bring mind and body together. If you know how to handle the present moment, then we are taking care of the future. “I have arrived. I am home.”
This is the first Dharma talk of the first week of the Summer Opening Retreat, held in Dharma Cloud Temple of Plum Village in the Dordogne, France, on Monday, the 8th of July, 2013.
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