[One sound of the bell.]

Dear Thầy, dear Sangha, at the beginning of our practice session each morning here in Plum Village and also last year during the US tour, we were invited to transform the delusive self and to transform our inferiority, superiority and equality complexes. Friends in America have a great deal of confusion and consternation about the phrase equality complex. In our country, equality is not only legally mandated, but it is also a sort of buzzword for the human rights movement. I wondered if you could give me and my friends more information of how to practice and hold these complexes.

The complex of equality can bring a lot of suffering also. Equality will not bring suffering, but the complex of equality will bring suffering. And we have to understand really the meaning of the word equality. And in Buddhism we have the word equanimity. So in France we speak of liberté, égalité.

So you have to think a little bit about equality as a virtue. We know that the complex of superiority is causing suffering to us and to the other person. The complex of inferiority, low self-esteem can be the root of many mental illness. And we believe that equality is the solution and the right to be equal. But when you practice the teaching of the Buddha, you go very deep. You suffer because you compare one self with other selves: "I am better than him."—That's the complex of superiority. "I am worse, I cannot catch up with him."—The complex of inferiority. "I am his equal."—That is also a complex. So you try to be equal, and you try to argue that: "I am equal." So you still suffer. But in the teaching of Buddhism, there is no self. So there is no comparison. So the happiness is perfect. The happiness is perfect. You don't compare anymore.

And you see that, "Darling, you are me and I am you. Your suffering is my suffering. Your happiness is my happiness." It's much deeper. And that is why the insight of interbeing is very important. When you meditate and you see that we only inter-are, you cannot be by yourself alone. You have to interbe with the other person. And that is why in Plum Village we say, "You are, therefore I am."

We inter-are. And that is why we don't see an individual who suffers alone and who is happy alone. We see a couple living in harmony and considering the happiness of the other person as his happiness, the suffering of the other person as her suffering. So harmony is the base of peace and happiness, and that harmony has the insight of interbeing as the base. So in the practice of mindfulness, not only we try to remove the complex of superiority, the complex of inferiority, but also the complex of equality: "I am as good as him. I claim the right to be as good as him." And so on.

So there is still a self and therefore there is always a comparison. As far as you continue to compare, you suffer. But with the insight of interbeing, you don't compare anymore because you are him and he is you and there is harmony and peace and happiness. And I think that is simple enough for our friends to understand. Good luck.