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"Understanding, Love, and Mindfulness: The Journey of Self-Awareness and Happiness"

Thich Nhat Hanh · August 29, 1996 · New Hamlet, Plum Village, France
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In the practice records concerning oneself and one’s fellow practitioners, we need to ask ourselves how we have taken responsibility for the happiness or suffering of that person. When the other person is more at ease and light, it is the result of our sincere words, gestures, and actions, as well as those of the Sangha. When we see another person suffering, we contemplate our own contribution, immediately stop any reactions that nourish suffering, and actively do more to increase joy. Recording in detail the methods of practice—such as observing, speaking, and responding—and applying them for a few days helps us to see their effectiveness, make adjustments, and nourish inner happiness as we would care for a tree in the garden.

Anger and delusion are cycles of samsāra that need to be recognized and ended with mindful breathing. Just one in-breath and out-breath, and recognizing the emotion, is already the first victory. When the mind is at peace, we do not respond with “arrows of anger,” but instead generate non-anger, sending loving eyes and words to the other person. Everyday scenarios, such as the story of asking for vegetables between the Lower Hamlet and Upper Hamlet, are collected into at least ten scenarios to be reenacted in Dharma plays, helping the Sangha to learn from one another. In addition, practicing the contemplation of non-self through the Three Prostrations is a wonderful Dharma door that helps us overcome fear and let go of the notion of a separate self.

The main steps of practice:

  1. Record daily the methods used and the results achieved
  2. Practice mindful breathing as soon as anger arises to recognize and transform it
  3. Enact at least ten everyday scenarios to deepen insight into non-self
  4. Contemplate non-self through the Three Prostrations:
    1. Let go of the body, feel the stream of life beyond birth and death
    2. Recognize oneself as both sage and one who suffers
    3. Completely release the notion that the body is the self
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Previous Talk August 25, 1996
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The Four Kinds of People and the Art of Cultivating Loving Kindness

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