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
The Practice of Letting Go
This title has been reviewed for accuracy.
Thầy explores the first eight exercises on body and feelings from the Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing (Ānāpānasati Sutta). Thầy focuses on the realm of feelings and shares that without joy and happiness we cannot go very far as practitioners. Thầy then addresses the question that naturally arises: how do we do that? He offers four sources through which a feeling of joy and happiness can be generated: letting go, mindfulness, concentration, and insight.
Thầy also explores the two hemispheres of the brain, sharing how the practice of mindful breathing invites the left hemisphere—the seat of thinking, analyzing, and discrimination—to rest, and allows the right hemisphere, with its capacity for feeling and direct intuition, to come alive. He then connects this to the six elements—water, fire, soil, air, space, and consciousness—showing how getting in touch with each element within the body naturally opens us to that same element in the world around us, and leads us to touch the nature of no-self.
This is final talk in a series of three given during the Peaceful Mind and Open Heart retreat in the year 2010. Thầy offered this talk at the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery, Singapore.