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
Stowbridge Retreat 3rd Day - Dharma Talk
The second pebble is understanding (prajñā), the capacity to understand being the basis of love. When one looks deeply to understand the underlying causes of another’s behavior, such as a fever causing irritability, anger vanishes and is replaced by forgiveness. The third pebble is meditation (dhyana), which means to stop, concentrate, and look deeply, allowing for the solution to problems to reveal itself. The fourth pebble is embracing, or the unlimited heart. Like a river that remains drinkable even after receiving a handful of salt, a vast heart can accept and transform injustice and unpleasantness without suffering.
The Kingdom of God exists within the heart as a seed. Through the parable of the physician in the Lotus Sutra and the analogy of the wave and water, reality is perceived through two dimensions: the historical dimension characterized by birth and death, and the ultimate dimension of no birth and no death. Nirvana is the extinction of all notions, including being, non-being, and specific ideas of happiness. Consciousness (mūla vijñāna) acts as a storehouse for all seeds (bīja), and mental formations manifest from these seeds. There are fifty-one categories of mental formations, and the practice involves the selective watering of positive seeds to cultivate joy and transformation.
Internal formations (samyojana) are blocks of pain or knots created in relationships when mindfulness is absent. Rather than repressing suffering or venting anger, the practice is to invite pain into the living room of consciousness and embrace it with the energy of mindfulness, much like a mother holding a crying baby or sunshine penetrating a flower. Deep, compassionate listening, akin to the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, relieves the suffering of others. By turning off distractions and facing the truth of ill-being, one can transform anger into compassion with the support of a Sangha.
