Thich Nhat Hanh Dharma Talks

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Geese Flying South Mar 02, 2016

Show notes

Our talk today is from 16-years ago and begins with a reading, first in English by a nun, and then in Vietnamese by Thich Nhat Hanh. It is 23 January 2000 and the sangha has gathered in the Upper Hamlet of Plum Village for a dharma talk during the winter retreat. The talk is in English. The main talk begins with Thay sharing an article from a magazine about geese flying south. This story is used to illustrate the wisdom of the animal kingdom and they know about how important sangha is for the individual. There are things that are difficult to do alone but will be easier with the sangha. Why is important to eat with the sangha? Why is important to walk with the sangha? How does your sitting with the sangha help both you and the sangha? We learn more about sitting meditation, the miracle of walking with the Buddha, and living in community within the monastery. Living in these 24-hours. Even how to enjoy brushing our teeth. Below is a general outline of the topics covered in this talk. 0:00 English Reading 7:44 Vietnamese Reading 15:00 Geese Flying South and Sangha 26:00 Walking with the Buddha 37:08 Sitting in the Meditation Hall 40:48 The Miracle of the Orange 52:07 Everything is the Practice 56:40 How to Sit 1:05:43 Listening to the Bell If you appreciate this teaching, please consider making a donation to support the ongoing efforts of the online monastery. Please make a note with your donation that it was because of this talk.

How to Sit Feb 27, 2016

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In this short audio clip from 2000, Thay instructs us how to sit. We will be posting the complete talk in a few days. Or, simply wait a few days. Enjoy the weekend.

Because I Like It! Jan 22, 2016

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With Thay's gentle and compassionate humor, we discover the teaching of Right Diligence. This is the eighth talk during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme Path of the Buddha. The date is June 11, 2009 and we are at the Lower Hamlet of Plum Village. The Four Noble Truths are an exact science - there is right view and wrong view. For the Fourth Noble Truth, the Path and well being, we have Right View. For the Second, ill being, we have Wrong View. They are opposites. Thay reviews Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood in the context of well being and ill being. In this talk we continue with a teaching on Right Diligence. What is the difference between diligence and effort? Intensive versus regularity. Why is diligence better (easier) than effort? How does Right Diligence bring well being? What is Wrong Diligence and why does it bring ill being? Practical tips for practice are offered. The story of Frederick, a businessman, and his wife Claudia and their son Phillip. The story concludes with a wonderful teaching on walking and carrying peace in every step. True Diligence Source: The Mindfulness Bell, Summer 2008 True Diligence is often described in four steps. First, the unbeneficial seeds are in us. Be skillful to not let these seeds arise in us. Thay teaches on consciousness - store and mental consciousness. We can practice to lullaby these seeds of suffering to sleep. Second, if by chance that seed of suffering has manifested then we need to do something to let it go back to store consciousness. Don't allow it to stay too long. Not suppressing but helping it to go back. This is appropriate attention. Third, we invite the beneficial seeds to come up. Like a good friend who you have not seen in a long time. Send an invitation to dissipate the darkness. Joy and happiness are always possible and give them a chance to manifest. How? One method is a sangha. Fourth, when those beneficial seeds are present then we try to keep them present as long as possible. Help them to be strong. Again, what is a method for practicing this step? Generosity We continue the talk with a teaching on the second mindfulness training and how we consider the revision. The second mindfulness training is about generosity. How does it relate to right diligence? What is practicing generosity? Stealing? Is it possible to have no more desire? Are you aware of your conditions of happiness? The talk concludes with a short teaching on the Sutra of the White Clad Disciple. If you appreciate this teaching, please consider making a donation to support the ongoing efforts of the online monastery. Please make a note with your donation that it was because of this talk.

We Only Need to Look in the Present Moment Dec 13, 2015

Show notes

In June, 2009, a 21-day retreat was offered at Plum Village on the theme "The Path of the Buddha" and this recording is the first talk of the retreat (June 2, 2009). This was also in the first year of Obama being president of the United States. Thay teaches about the sangha as it relates to the president. Now, many years later, Obama is in the last year of his term and we have the opportunity to reflect on how we did with Thay’s instructions. We begin with a story of meeting MLK to build the idea of the beloved community and sangha building. What is the sangha and why do we need one? Thay teaches that even President Obama needs a sangha in a very compassionate and loving way. The 21-Day Retreat is an opportunity to perceive the sangha visibly. We should build and preserve the sangha. We have been planting seeds of brotherhood, sisterhood, peace, nonviolence. We have produced our politicians. Our politicians need a strong sangha, even though it is not a Buddhist one. And we have a role in that sangha too. Obama is not an individual, he is a part of the sangha. Without the sangha, we cannot go far. The 21-day retreat is a time to strengthen our sangha and open the way for the world. The sangha includes the Buddha and the dharma. It contains the the path of understanding and love. The 21st century is like a hill and we are climbing this hill together as a sangha. Can we climb beautifully? Each step should be love, healing, forgiveness. With a sangha, this becomes easy. What are we looking for? Our joy. Our success. Our transformation. Our happiness. Our emancipation. Our freedom. Whatever we are looking for, we have to look for it in the present moment. How do we do we go home to the present moment to discover the power to nourish and to heal? What is the path of the Buddha? We are going to explore a global spiritual ethic. The five mindfulness trainings represent this ethic. All the other precepts - 10 novice precepts, 14 mindfulness trainings - also represent this ethic. We will explore this during our retreat together. If you appreciate this teaching, please consider making a donation to support the ongoing efforts of the online monastery. Please make a note with your donation that it was because of this talk. Enjoy the talk.

Cultivating Peace Nov 04, 2015

Show notes

In this 2007 dharma talk, we go back to the Vietnam trip (February 21 to May 9) that focused on the Great Requiem Ceremonies across the country. The purpose of this trip was to to heal the last wounds of the war. The date of this recording is May 7, 2007 and it is the last talk of the Vietnam tour. It is possible to cultivate peace as individuals, as families, and as nations. We need to begin with understanding and love - this is the foundation of peace. Our peace begins with our in-breath as we bring our mind back to our body. The breathing is the bridge connecting our mind and body. Do we know our conditions of happiness to live happily in the present moment? There is also the wisdom of non-discrimination in Buddhism. Four elements of true love - maitri, karuna, mudita, and upeksha. The wisdom of non-discrimination (29:45) - a topic that is very crucial for our own peace and for peace in the world - a very important element of true love. The Three Kinds of Powers (49:55). We need to discover that the Buddha was a human being. The source of wisdom in Buddhism can help us overcome our despair. Spiritual power can be attained through our daily practice. The first is to cut-off. For example, to cut off from our craving, our anger, our despair. We do this by looking at the nature of suffering. The Buddha did this and you can to. The second power is insight. We cultivate this through our meditation. The third kind of power to cultivate is the power to love, to forgive. The practice of mindful breathing and mindful walking allows us to be present in the here and now. When you practice like this, each breath and step can bring you to the pure land of the Buddha and touch the wonders of life. Thay responded to a series of questions from the audience. How do you practice offering love to someone who does not want that? (55:02) Can you teach us how family can practice beginning anew? The practice of deep listening and loving speech. Practicing peace. (58:02) A question about impermanence. Is nirvana achievable and is it permanent? (1:11:52) A question about anger. Working with children in the classroom caused me to lose my temper often because I couldn't control the class. (1:23:52) How do we help people to live in peace when they live in poor environments. (1:29:27) What is the difference between “non-discrimination” and “forgiveness” when defining the fourth element of true love (upeksha)? (1:39:07) At the conclusion of the questions (1:41:42), Thay shares a little bit about the prayer ceremonies that were organized during this tour for those who died in the war and for those who died at sea. There were three ceremonies - one in the south, one in central, and one in the north of Vietnam where we practiced sitting meditation, reciting the sutras, and doing charity work. We transferred the merit of our practice to the dead people. The sharing concludes with an English translation of the readings used during the ceremonies.

Love and Happiness Mar 25, 2015

Show notes

It was Thanksgiving Day in Plum Village on November 25, 2004. The sangha gathered in Lower Hamlet, Plum Village during the Fall Retreat and Thay gave a 45-minute dharma talk on the topic of love and happiness. https://youtu.be/QtPqonJJP_o The telephone line should be called the "compassionate line." We hope this line can be established everywhere so that young people in their suffering, despair, and strong emotions can have someone to talk with. Suicide is a real issue and young people they feel lonely and suffer so much. Who can they talk with? Someone who has the capacity to listen. Each of us can make a vow to be that person who has the capacity to listen. Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of deep listening. Compassionate listening. We have to cultivate this capacity and transform ourselves in this bodhisattva. Without the capacity of listening deeply, we cannot understand. According to the teachings of the Buddha, love is born from the ground of understanding. We can apply this in our relationships and our families. Understanding is not something that happens “just like that” - it takes time and we have to give our ideas, our views, our prejudices, our judgment. Understanding what? The difficulties and suffering of the other person. The deep hope and desire the person has. The kind of obstacles the person is experiencing. We can ask the other person, "do you think I understand you enough?” Once you understand, you can stop doing and saying things that cause the other person to suffer. Then you have True Love. This is the practice of love. Do we understand ourselves? The nature of our own suffering? Everyone has an idea of happiness and we may strive for that idea. But, can we see that happiness can come from any direction? Joy comes from letting go and the first thing we can let go of is our idea of happiness. In the Buddhist teaching of love, there are four elements. The first is maitri - friendship, brotherhood, loving-kindness. And the second is karuna - capacity to understand the suffering and help remove and transform it - compassion. Mudita is the third element - joy - your joy is her joy, her joy is our joy. The last element is upeksha - nondiscrimination. This is a higher form of love. The four qualities have no limits - infinite love - these elements are also call the Four Unlimited Minds. The bodhisattva of love is in you.

Fresh Opportunities of Abundance Mar 01, 2015

Show notes

As we continue to send Thay our lovely energy of healing, we look back to a dharma talk he gave on January 26, 2003 from the Dharma Nectar Temple, Lower Hamlet, Plum Village. The sangha is in the middle of the Winter Retreat and the lunar new year is approaching. This short dharma talk (48-minutes) begins with a monastic chant in Vietnamese. The Buddha teaches we should try to make our practice pleasant, joyful, and nourishing. There are several different types of joy. Mindfulness is the key to exploring. How should a practice center be organized? Are we creating the right conditions? The two sentences for the coming lunar year (2003) are part of the practice - All misfortunes entirely away. Fresh Opportunities seen in abundance. - we post these in order to remind us of our practice. We have many opportunities to practice all around us. Can you write down all the opportunities available to you? Mindfulness will help us touch these opportunities. Other kinds of joy. Sangha building. Helping our brothers or sisters in the community can bring both a lot of joy. This is based on understanding and love. There may also be a kind of joy based upon craving. Craving for recognition and praise. Can you learn to operate as a sangha? How? You don't need to be #1 to be happy. The teaching is a teaching of no-self. Inferiority. Superiority. Equality. How can we take care of our ups and our downs? We cannot hide our suffering. How to ask for help? The 51-mental formations in the boat of self. We have the five universal and five particulars - these are travelers in the boat of ourselves. They can also form a team and work together. Mindfulness and concentration. We have to learn to live in harmony with the sangha of self. Smile and breathe. Enjoy the gem.

Evolutive Dharma Jan 30, 2015

Show notes

From the archives, this talk by Thich Nhat Hanh was given during the 2002-2003 Winter Retreat (January 19, 2003) from the Upper Hamlet of Plum Village. The one-hour talk begins with a short chant in English by the monks and nuns. The living Buddha. How do we get in touch with the living Buddha? When we think of the Buddha, we have a notion. We think of Shakyamuni. If we are caught by the notion of the historical Buddha we cannot be in touch with the living Buddha. The practice of signlessness. With the eyes of signlessness, we can recognize the cloud in the tea or the ice cream. This is not something metaphysical or abstract. We see people and things in their new forms with the eyes of signlessness. We can be free from our ignorance. Impermanence makes life possible. It allows the Buddha to grow beyond his 80-year lifespan. The living Dharma. The living dharma is something you can see for yourself, something that grows. The dharma needs to be offered in an intelligent way: it must be the right teaching for the right person, it must be flexible, and it must be able to grow. The notion of the evolutive dharma. The nature of Interbeing can help us touch our true nature. Buddhism is only made of nonbuddhist elements. Buddhism has no fixed identity and is evolving. It's like a Bodhi tree remains the same tree even as it grows in different directions. The living dharma is alive, moving, and growing. And the living Sangha has the living Buddha and living dharma inside. Practice in an intelligent way and don't be caught in fundamentalism. Even in the Buddha's lifetime, the Dharma and Sangha were evolving. Fundamentalism is our enemy. Thanks to our practice and our enlightenment, Mahayana Buddhism can grow. Different types of concentrations - impermanence, nirvana, no self - will help us grow in the practice.

Francophone Educators’ Retreat Nov 15, 2014

Show notes

Dear listeners. As you know, Thay is in the hospital recovering from a brain hemorrhage. This fall, Thay has been able to given one dharma talk and that was for the Francophone Educators' Retreat in Upper Hamlet on October 27, 2014. The talk is 30-minutes long, available in audio only, and is given in French (without translation). Though we may not all understand the words, please enjoy the talk.

The Practice of True Presence Sep 30, 2014

Show notes

This is the second dharma talk of the “The Mind of Love Transforms All Difficulties" retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh at the New Hamlet of Plum Village in France. The talk is given in English with consecutive translation into Italian. In this very short talk on August 29, 2014, Thay teaches on the elements of love and the four mantras. Both the audio and the video are available below. Mind of love - bodhicitta. Why not the heart? Bodhi is to wake up. It begins with understanding the suffering in ourselves and then we can begin to see the suffering in the other person. Then we can help him or her to suffer less. What is love? Love me to be there. The practice of mindful breathing and mindful walking can help us to be there for ourselves and for our loved ones. What are the elements of true presence? Am I a true lover? You can answer this question yourself by looking to see if you have these four elements. The four mantras of Plum Village. http://youtu.be/Kjkk3M7YfOU

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