We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track. If this problem persists help us by reporting it so we can investigate it.
Watch this talk
Login or create a free account to watch this talk and discover other teachings from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Log in or create an account
Returning to the Five Skandhas
The Nursery Garden is a spiritual image that evokes the spirit of patience and caring for the young shoots of the Dharma, so that they may be planted everywhere. The European retreat has about 700 people, including babies as young as four months old who are invited to attend with their parents; in Indonesia, near Jakarta, there are nearly 900 participants, with more than 300 young men and women. In Europe, there is also a five-year monastic program:
- 3 years as a novice monk or nun
-
2 years as a fully ordained monk or nun
It is predicted that at least 50% of the trainees will continue as monastics. The program is spreading strongly in the West and will be expanded in Vietnam and other Asian countries.
The Ānāpānasati meditation teaches eight breaths:
1–2: Breathing in and out long or short to recognize the breath
3: Mindfulness of the body (form aggregate) and phassa to see pain and tension
4: Releasing and relaxing the body, letting go of all pressure
5: Joy and 6: Happiness to transform neutral feelings into pleasant feelings
7: Mind formations touching suffering
8: Embracing, soothing, and healing suffering
Among these, the five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness—are both the source of suffering and the doorway leading to nirvana, the Pure Land, and the unborn, right in the present moment.