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Public Talk in Pasadena
Memorizing about fifty short poems, or gathas, in classical Chinese was basic training: wash your hands, light a candle, bow to the Buddha—all with mindful breathing and chanting. Before bowing the longer poem reminds us that “the one who bows and the one who is bowed to, the nature of both is empty,” meaning empty of separate existence. Through signlessness (animitta) Thay shows how a cloud becomes rain, a grain of corn becomes a plant, the son continues the father, and the Buddha is a human being whose seeds of mindfulness, concentration, and insight lie within us.
Every person has seeds of suffering—fear, anger, despair, hate—and seeds of healing—compassion, understanding, forgiveness, joy—to be nourished. We are gardens with flowers and garbage: a good practitioner turns garbage into compost to grow flowers. True love in Buddhism is made of four elements:
- loving-kindness, the capacity to offer happiness
- compassion, the capacity to remove pain and sorrow
- joy
- equanimity, non-discrimination
Mindful breathing and walking bring us home to the here and now—“peace is every step, the kingdom is every step.” Right thinking, speech, and action spring from right view—seeing non-discrimination and impermanence—and each thought or act of compassion has a healing effect on self and world.
