This talk from Thay was given on Friday, September 10th 2010 on the third day of the Singapore retreat "The Art of Living Happily in the Here and Now"
Made possible by the Plum Village International Online Monastery team and the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery
Topic: Peaceful Mind Open Heart - The Art of Living Happily in the Here and Now
Key notes:- Dharma body, fa sheng means our practice
- may still be weak causing us inability to cope with daily lives
- we all have dharma body, with strong dharma body, we can help ourselves and others eliminate suffering
- bring your dharma body wherever you go
- Living Dharma means practical ways brought by right mindfulness even when walking
- you produce your living dharma by your practice
- ask ourselves if our living dharma is strong
- if strong no fear about difficulties
- right mindfulness will help strengthen our dharma body
- best way is to practise with the sangha
- true sangha is community that has synergy
- sangha can include the laypeople
- can produce right mindfulness, concentration and wisdom
- thus produce the living dharma, which produces the living buddha
- the place to look for buddha is the sangha
- if we have dharma body, we have buddha in us
- in fact, we all have
- by increasing the dharma body, we increase the buddha nature in us
- a good practisioner can produce right mindfulness, concentration and wisdom
- right breathing, walking help bring us to present
- then we can appreciate more around us
- in touch with nature, heaven etc purify us
- with good energy mind, we can see our greed, fear and anger
- we can use right mindfulness to counter them
- realise we have so many happy conditions now
- we don't need to chase after future, so we have more time to care for ourselves and our beloved ones
- the best gift to our beloved one is the gift of present
- when mind and body are together, you are in the now
- you are free in the present to be with the loved ones - just take one breathe to do that
- be mindful, be fully present, whether walking or breathing a few times
- simple as that
- being here, now is the mantra
- and we can all be happy
- 2nd mantra is 'I know you're there and I'm happy'
- have practice, you have conditions to recognise the presence of the other person
- a true lover, must also practice this 2nd mantra
- you must first be able to practice the first one
- for eg, darling I know I'm now present here, and I know you're present there and I'm happy- these 2 mantras are based on mindfulness, ie mindful breathing and mindful walking
- mindful body release sorrow, anxiety and fear of future
- so mindfulness can set you free and be able to be fully present
- without mindfulness, being present is difficult
- 3rd mantra is 'Help the loved ones that suffer'
- say 'Dear, I know you're suffering'
- wat you're offering is your true presence
- you can only do that when you're fully present
- hence, you must practice mindfulness to be fully present
- anything can practice mindful eg. drinking tea deeply, walking without thinking about past or future
- every step can heal, bring joy, happiness and freedom
- walking meditation at present moment, see wonder of life
- PureLand is not future, it's now
- can touch Amitaba Buddha in yourself
- you don't have to die to go to PureLand
- It's available here and now
- Amitaba is our true nature and PureLand is in our heart
- mindfulness and concentration help us get in touch with our own amitaba and own PureLand
- Put them in the right place to be here and now
- in the Western countries, more people don't believe in God anymore because they don't put God in right place
- nature of Amitaba is no birth and no death
- a wave doesn't need to find water anymore because she is water
- if she knows, she will have no fear
- so we don't have to look for God or Buddha outside us
- since Buddha nature is no birth and no death, that means no need to look outside of us for it
- PureLand is in our heart, and if we let go of our fear, greed, anger etc, our PureLand will appear
- true nature is in us, therefore even God is here and now
- it may be too late if need to wait till death to see God
- we need to be truly alive and..(haha) the Kingdom of God is now or never..(jokingly)
- practising mindful walking everywhere, I touch my PureLand
- it's portable PureLand in daily life.. in touch with wonders of life
- PureLand in the West is only a way of practice
- the true one is available here, now in us
- with good practice, we can restore our spiritual values
- in modern countries, people have money, but have higher young people suicide cases
- Buddhist Teaching can show a way
- right mindfulness, concentration and wisdom - 5 Precepts new version bring out the 4 Noble Truths and 8 Right ways
- intervene can deal with dualistic
- when bow to Buddha, I am empty, and Buddha is empty too- we're made of components that are empty
- eg. soil, gardener, rain, sunlight are all non-flower elements of flower
- all made of cosmic elements
- thus I am made of non-me elements in me
- have my food, water, ancestors etc except me
- so I am empty, so is the Buddha
- therefore Buddha is in me
- so I can't be stand alone
- I must intervene with you Buddha
- so you Buddha too must be in me
- so our communication can be deep
- duality tends to see things outside us
- it's inside, so think of intervene - xiang ji - ie non-duality
- this new version of 5 Precepts can serve as global ethnic basic
- can be understood in different cultures, languages
- we suffer as we don't have a spiritual path to practise
- if we have a spiritual path, we won't have fear
- 5 Mindfulness make our Dharma body stronger and produce real love & happiness
- capable of overcoming daily life difficulties
- 5 Precepts bring forward the Eightfold Path
- intervene, compassion and undertaming
- Eightfold Path has right thinking includes Right Understanding
- understand our own suffering and then undertame others' suffering
- bring forgiveness and compassion
- we cover up our suffering by using, spending, consuming and entertainment
- we know it's inside us, but need courage
- so look deep inside us
- mindful walking, breathing with practice will allow us courage to understand our own suffering
- once 2nd Noble Truth is settled, 4th Noble Truth will appear before us
- when we begin we're weak in mindfulness and compassion to embrace our sorrow etc
- therefore we need the sangha - people who have enough energy of mindfulness and compassion to help us embrace our suffering
- brotherhood and sisterhood, hence with sangha, we can understand, practice and face our suffering
- when you can understand your suffering, you can understand others' suffering and help them by the living Dharma they could practice
- produce right thoughts will carry compassion and wisdom
- then will produce healing for ourselves and the world
- if you produce hate, you destroy yourself and also the world
- a good practioner can always produce the right thoughts
- same for right speech - say several times a day
- will have good effect on our health and others
- same for right action
- will help protect oneself and the world
- 5 mindfulness training bring real fortune and love
- able to perform an action in the body in the line of compassion, to protect to save you're practising like the Buddha
5 Mindfulness Training
- explain true happiness true love
- take a look at the latest version of the 5 Mindfulness Training
- 250 ppl taking the 3 Refuge and Mindfulness Training on 12 Sep 2010 morning
- Loving speech & Deep Listening will be touched on
- Let us enjoy the breathing, listening & smile
- song 'The Smile' by Venerable Sister Chan Khong
- I believe all those who are still hungry on this planet
- I will continue this wonderful way
Q&A session on 12 Sep 2010
9am in Singapore
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