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Touching the nature of inter-being
In this 95-minute talk, offered on August 14, 2007 during the Stonehill College retreat in the U.S. Tour, we learn how to sit, how to practice with the love mantras, and how to practice insight in order to transform our suffering. The retreat theme is Mindfulness, Fearlessness, and Togetherness, and this is the second dharma talk of the retreat. It begins with the monastics chanting The Four Recollections.
Thay leads a short guided meditation: to be alive is the greatest of all miracles; please sit like a Buddha. He teaches the lotus (or half-lotus) position—sitting solid and stable like a mountain—because the solidity of the body influences the solidity of the mind. He shares a story of visiting a prison in Maryland where inmates learned to sit like a Buddha on a lotus flower, keep the back upright, release tension, and practice a mindful meal; this visit later became the book “Be Free Where You Are.”
We describe the Buddha as an artist. Sitting on the lotus flower, the Buddha is not a God but a human who became free, happy, enlightened; “Buddha” is a title, and anyone can become a Buddha. Thay recalls Nelson Mandela saying the thing he most wanted was “to sit down, to rest,” emphasizing that training is needed to sit well and allow freshness, solidity, and peace to manifest in us.
When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your Buddhahood—your beautiful presence. In Buddhism we practice mantras to help transform a situation: “Darling, I am here for you,” and “Darling, I know you are there and it makes me happy.” To be loved is to be recognized. Happiness does not come from a million dollars but from mindfulness. With mindfulness, concentration, and insight we are not caught in difficult situations. We come to retreat to learn how to do everything with mindfulness, creating love, understanding, and insight—the gift of the Buddha.
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