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Questions Under the Dharma Pines: Noble Silence and Mindful Living
Four pine trees were planted by Thay about twenty-eight years ago to form today’s Dharma Hall, where more than one thousand of us—children (three or four questions), teenagers, then adults—take turns asking questions after three collective breaths at the bell.
Among the questions and answers:
- Waking early: monks and nuns choose pure-air, starry, quiet hours for breathing, walking, and sitting meditation, and go to bed early so rising is easy.
- Loving without attachment: attachment robs freedom; to love deeply yet remain free, learn the Buddha’s way of love.
- The tree in the Dharma Hall: it represents Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; bowing to it reveals all three.
- Sibling conflict: practice deep listening—“when I talk, don’t interrupt me; let me finish.”
- Famous life: “Pour être heureux, vivons cachés.”
- Baby Buddha growth: nurture the capacity to understand, love, and be peaceful by deep listening, loving-kindness, and daily check-ups.
Mindful silence and speech:
– Noble Silence means noticing mental responses, writing down unspoken reactions, and reviewing them—then choosing not to speak.
– True silence also calms thinking: “to be, not to think,” enjoying breath, sounds, sights.
– Even nonverbal responses (facial expressions, looks) must be peaceful.
Consumption, ego, and inter-being:
– Five Mindfulness Trainings, especially mindful consumption, call us to use science’s helpful technologies without feeding craving. Bring the Sangha home or meet weekly to support each other.
– Vegetarians allow others’ choices, set a tolerant example, offer delicious vegetarian dishes, or reduce meat by 50 percent (UN recommendation).
– Ego arises from habit-energy seeds of love and anger; humans alone can practice mindfulness to “selectively water” seeds, transcend self, and realize non-self and inter-being.
Staying present amid intense emotions: invest 100 percent in each action (walking, toothbrushing), generate mindfulness and concentration to “be there” for irritation rather than react, and respond with understanding and compassion.
Sangha building: identify like-minded friends, practice together, and expand your island of peace as the Buddha did at Deer Park.
Part of the following collection
Nourishing the Inner Buddha – From the Three Jewels to the Noble Eightfold Path