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Summer Opening 1994: First Talk — Learning How to Stop to Touch the Wonders of Life
This title has been reviewed for accuracy.
Thầy reflects on the joy of practicing with children, who naturally embody presence, openness, and mindfulness. Through simple practices like hugging, pebble meditation, and “lemonade meditation,” children show how to live fully in the moment without being trapped by the past or future.
Thầy teaches interbeing—the insight that everything exists through connection—and emphasizes the importance of “arriving” in the here and now through stopping, breathing, walking, and eating mindfully. True peace and happiness, come from dwelling deeply in the present.
The Sangha, or community, is essential for sustaining this practice, providing collective energy and support for transformation. By practicing together, we can touch the wonders of life, reclaim our freedom, and glimpse the ultimate dimension beyond birth and death. The guiding mantra is: “I have arrived, I am home. In the here and the now. I am solid, I am free. In the ultimate, I dwell.”
The talk closes with Sister Chân Không leading the singing of “I Have Arrived, I am Home” in Vietnamese, French and English.
This the first talk in a series of seventeen given during the Summer Opening in the year 1994. Thầy offered this talk at the Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France.
Part of the following collection
Regensburg 3