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The First Seven Steps of the Buddha
Discovering Spaciousness and Freedom within Ourselves
Thầy begins by relating the story of how the first thing that the Buddha did immediately after being born was to take seven steps. He then tells the story of Sudhana, a disciple of Mañjuśrī, who was sent by one of his teachers to find the Buddha’s mother, Mahāmāyā, to receive teachings from her. He searched for her unsuccessfully, and it wasn’t until he sat quietly and focused on his breath that she appeared sitting on the petal of a lotus flower that he also shared. She told him of her happiness in carrying Siddhārtha in her womb as well as accommodating many bodhisattvas inside her. Thầy points out that we all have this spaciousness inside of us. This capacity to hold many beings within us is the source of our freedom and therefore our happiness.
Siddhārtha’s great desire to walk on the Earth the moment he was reborn there reminds us that our life on this planet is a miracle, our body is a miracle, and walking on this planet is a miracle. By walking mindfully together, we create a collective energy of joy and mindfulness. There is nowhere for us to go, to run to, because everything we need is in the here and the now. We can be in the Kingdom of God, in the Pure Land, simply by breathing in and out mindfully, by walking mindfully.
This the first talk in a series of sixteen given during the Summer Opening in the year 2014. Thầy offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.