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The Collective Nature of Emptiness

Thich Nhat Hanh · November 7, 2008 · Plum Village, France · Audio Only
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We are stars. To think is already to act:

• “Karma hetu” (action-cause) and “karma-phala” (action-fruit/retribution); thought-energy produces effects within us and in the world.
• It is important to cultivate right thoughts, speech, and actions every day in order to transform both individual and collective karma (Plum Village is a “collective product” of this practice).
• Every manifestation (flower, body, society) is born from a “multitude of causes and conditions”; to touch one thing is to touch the entire cosmos.

Three doors of liberation are offered:

  1. Emptiness (no separate self)
  2. Signlessness (beyond forms, signs, appearances)
  3. Aimlessness (happiness, the Kingdom of God, or the Pure Land are available here and now)

Each door requires mindfulness and concentration to transform fear, despair, and the mad pursuit into freedom, joy, and brotherhood.

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