The Art of Stopping

Thầy explains the importance of collective meditation in fostering love and compassion in the twenty-first century, emphasizing the Sangha body (community) alongside the Buddha body. Practicing mindfulness, concentration, and deep looking nurtures the Buddha and Dharma bodies within us. Taking refuge in the Sangha is essential for spiritual practice, embodying the Buddha’s teachings. Mindfulness helps overcome forgetfulness and habitual actions, reclaiming liberty and presence.

Thầy emphasises the importance of practicing śamatha (stopping), and the shares the relationship between stopping, calming, resting and healing. Learning to rest deeply, akin to animals, is vital for healing. Meditation involves resting the mind and body, fostering wisdom and enlightenment. Walking meditation and mindful breathing are integral daily practices, emphasizing non-practice practice. Through resting and mindfulness, healing from depression and suffering is possible. Practicing mindfulness collectively, such as through yoga meditation, supports healing and transformation.

This is the first talk in a series of twelve given during The Heart of the Buddha, twenty-one-day retreat in the year 1996. Thầy offered this talk at the Lower Hamlet, Plum Village, France.