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The Sixteen Breaths of Engaged Buddhism in Daily Life

Thich Nhat Hanh · December 28, 2008 · Plum Village, France · Audio Only
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Engaged Buddhism, “is that kind of Buddhism which is there with you all the time.”
When you brush your teeth, “Buddhism must be there… so that joy and freedom are possible during the brushing.”
When you walk, “Buddhism must be there… so that your steps become more solid, more free, and so that you can come into contact with the wonders of life.”
When you go to the supermarket, “Buddhism must be there so that you know exactly what you should buy, and especially what you should not buy.”

Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in. And when I bring my attention to my in-breath, “I come into contact with myself, right away.”
“While you follow your in-breath… you become one, one with the in-breath.”
“To bring your attention to your in-breath is to go in a good direction to find, to rediscover yourself.”
“When your breath becomes calmer, deeper, more harmonious, the pleasure grows.”

From the twelfth to the sixteenth exercises.
In the twelfth exercise: Liberating the mind, Thay describes the ten fetters (saṃyojana)…
In the thirteenth exercise: Contemplating impermanence
In the fourteenth exercise: Contemplating the absence of desire
In the fifteenth exercise: Contemplating the absence of birth, the absence of death
In the sixteenth exercise: Letting go of notions

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