Thầy opens with the wisdom of non-discrimination—nirvikalpajñāna—observed in the way the right hand naturally tends to the left hand’s pain without any sense of separate self. Like bees in a hive or ants in a hill, he teaches, practitioners can function as an organism rather than as individuals — cooking, cleaning, or speaking for the community with the energy and hand of the Sangha.

He then explores three complexes rooted in the notion of self—superiority, inferiority, and equality—and how freedom comes from transcending all three. In the ultimate dimension, Thầy reminds us, the past and future are present in the now: when one walks mindfully or smiles in awareness, all ancestors and future generations smile and walk within every cell of the body.

The talk then turns to the several bodies of the Buddha—available, Thầy teaches, to every practitioner:

• Dharmakāya (Dharma body): Illustrated through the story of the monk Vakkali, who was attached to the physical beauty of the Buddha rather than his Dharma body. Thầy explores three of the Dharma’s characteristics: saṃdṛṣṭika—addressing the present moment directly; akālika—transcending time; and ehipaśyika—an invitation to come and see for oneself.
• Saṅghakāya (Sangha body): Thầy recalls King Prasenajit’s declaration that seeing the Buddha’s Sangha gave him complete confidence in the Buddha — the Sangha body, he teaches, is how the teacher is truly seen.
• Nirmāṇakāya (Transformation body): Thầy shares the story from the Lotus Sūtra of the stūpa appearing in the sky, the voice of the ancient Buddha Prabhūtaratna congratulating Śākyamuni, and the transformation bodies called back from every corner of the cosmos — revealing to the disciples the true vastness of their teacher. He then gently parodies the Tibetan tulku tradition — imagining disciples searching America for a little boy who reaches for oolong tea — to show how attachment to form prevents us from recognising the transformation body already present everywhere.
• Saṃbhogakāya (Enjoyment body): Introduced briefly, to be explored in the next talk.

This is the third talk in a series of fifteen given during The Eyes of the Buddha, twenty-one-day retreat in the year 2000. Thầy offered this talk at the Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France.