Thich Nhat Hanh Dharma Talks

Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from the Upper Hamlet of Plum Village is dated Thursday, February 6, 2014 and is the twenty third talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. This is an English translation, available below, by Sr. Tue Nghiem. In this teaching we have a great review of basic practices that bring joy and peace followed by a teaching on 3 verses from the 30-verses of Vasubandhu text. 0:00 Chanting 7:18 Vitality 27:50 The Three Energies 41:30 Walking Meditation 55:00 Eating Meditation 1:06:33 Thirty Verses Study There is a mental formation called vitality.  Life. In Theravada tradition there are two types of life. The name and the form (material aspect). Even with the fetus, there is already the form and the vitality of the fetus is intermingled with the vitality of the mother. They are not two separate things. The child and mother are one. We can see vitality even in an inanimate object, such as a grain of rice. Quantum physics see this now in the subatomic particles

Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from the Lower Hamlet of Plum Village is dated Thursday, January 30, 2014 and is the twenty second talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. We are on the eve on Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. This is an English translation, available below, by Sr. Tue Nghiem. The time is 3:00pm on Vietnamese New Year's Eve (Tet) and it is an occasion to connect with our ancestors. Without our roots then we cannot survive. In Asian culture we try to connect with the other realms. The world of nine sources. In Vietnam we have a tradition of worshiping our ancestors. Every family has an altar in their home. Every day people offer a stick of incense to their ancestors to help connect to their heritage. It only takes a minute and it is a sacred and scientific act. Connect with our roots. It is good mental health. It is a way to express our love and loyalty. Thay shares a little about the Rose Ceremony. Here in Plum Village, as we study Buddhist teachings, we can see th

Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from the Lower Hamlet of Plum Village is dated Sunday, January 26, 2014 and is the twenty first talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Tue Nghiem. The first 45-minutes of the talk focus on connecting our body and mind through our practice of returning. The second half returns to the sutra study and the characteristics of seeds. Every time we have difficulties with another person, what can we do? Why do we have these difficulties? Why can we not communicate? Do we blame the other person or are we able to see that both sides have difficulties? We have to look at ourselves. The most basic difficulty is that we can’t communicate or understand ourselves. It’s so easy to just run away from ourselves through reading novels, watching television, go on the internet, etc. But, there may be loneliness, grief, sadness, anger, and emptiness that we cannot bear. We are not at peace with ourselves. Therefore, we

Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from the Upper Hamlet of Plum Village is dated Thursday, January 23, 2014 and is the twentieth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Tue Nghiem. A great teaching today that includes a story of Mara and the Buddha followed by the tradition of earth cake making in Vietnam. The second half returns to our sutra study on subject/object and store consciousness. 0:00-9:30 Chanting 9:30-46:18 Mara and the Buddha 46:18-1:02:05 Tet and Earth Cakes 1:03:00-1:18:38 Subject and Object 1:18:38-1:28:40 Christian Theology and Ultimate Reality 1:28:40-end Characteristics of Seeds After the Buddha became enlightened, he continued to practice. Sitting. Walking. Solo retreats. Why did he continue to practice after he became enlightened? If we don't continue to nourish, then we can lose our happiness. Everything is impermanent. It's called conditioning. There is a priest in New York, Father Daniel Berrigan. Thay ha

Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from the Upper Hamlet of Plum Village is dated Sunday, January 19, 2014 and is the nineteenth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Tue Nghiem. We begin with a teaching on the art of happiness and the art of suffering and how the body and mind work together. The second half of the talk returns to our sutra study by looking at perception and reality. 0:00-9:07 Chanting 9:28-29:36 Art of Generating Happiness 29:36-37:54 Art of Suffering 37:55- 50:25 Mindfulness of Body 50:25-1:07:11 Direct Perception 1:07:11-1:20:25 Representative Perception - Manas 1:20:25-1:32:52 Mind consciousness in Dispersion 1:32:52-end Reality as Form If we know how to use our time, we can learn a lot in only a week at Plum Village and when we return home we can continue our practice. Mindfulness helps us generate peace, joy, and happiness. This can realized in every breath and step. We can use mindfulness, concentration, a

Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from Plum Village is dated Thursday, January 16, 2014 and is the eighteenth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Tue Nghiem.  In this talk we learn about emptiness along with the continued theme of the winter retreat on consciousness, perception, and manas. 0:00-19:56 What is Emptiness? 19:56-30:40 Science and Consciousness 30:40-42:30 Suffering and Happiness 42:32-56:58 Mode of Perception 56:58-1:13:50 Manas 1:13:50-1:25:10 Subject and Object of Consciousness Today we chanted the heart sutra. The most important word in this chant is emptiness; sometimes mistaken for nothingness. Emptiness is Sunyata in Sanskrit. Being as the opposite of non-being. Emptiness has no opposite. Right View is one of the elements of the noble eightfold path. The highest view of right view is to transcend the idea of being and non-being. These are two extremes and just notions that don't describe reality. Right view

Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from Lower Hamlet, Plum Village is dated Sunday, January 12, 2014 and is the seventeenth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Tue Nghiem. Our talk today continues looking at the morning chant and evening chant in addition to a deeper look at store consciousness, the body, and manas. 0:00-8:04 Two Chants from Monastics 8:04-28:40 Walking and Breathing 28:40-1:06:46 Store Consciousness 1:06:46-1:27:25 The Body and the Environment 1:27:25-end Manas and Freud Continuing on the morning chant verse from the last dharma talk.  The dharma body is our practice. The second line of the verse is sitting still my mind is at peace and I smile. The mind is the second action of karma and the smile is part of our speech. These three karma - body, mind, speech - must calm down. The night is divided into five parts - the fifth part is the early morning and the door of the dharma has opened. In the evening verse,

Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from Upper Hamlet, Plum Village is dated Thursday, January 9, 2014 and is the sixteenth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Tue Nghiem.  Today we learn about the dharma body and the practices of letting go, concentration, and insight. 0:00-10:00 Two Chants from Monastics 10:18-20:40 What is Dharma Body? 20:40-34:40 Nourishing our Dharma Body 34:40-56:25 Joy and Happiness - Letting Go 56:25-1:06:36 Joy and Happiness - Concentration 1:06:36-1:19:25 Joy and Happiness - Insight 1:19:25-1:22:30 Walking Meditation The dharma body is bringing morning light - this is part of the morning chant offered each day. What is this "dharma body" that shines brilliantly in the morning light? It is the teaching body. There are two kinds: the living dharma and the dharma that is written or recorded. Whenever we breathe peacefully, walk in meditation then this is the living dharma. Another meaning is our own pract

Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from Upper Hamlet, Plum Village is dated Sunday, January 5, 2014 and is the fifteenth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Tue Nghiem. After a brief sharing on the value of being together, the majority of the talk looks deeply at liberation, brotherhood and sisterhood, and happiness as illustrated through the Five Contemplations read before a meal. The last 35-minutes of the talk return to our winter retreat theme on alaya consciousness. 0:00-10:30 Monastics Chanting 10:54-19:55 The Value of Being Together 19:55-49:15 The Five Contemplations 49:05-1:03:25 Collective Energy of the Sangha 1:02:15-1:38:56 Alaya Consciousness Where is the year 2013 now? Every day we created action in our thinking and our speech. Karma. In the coming year we will harvest the fruit of last year. We should practice this year with the flavor of right thinking to plant good seeds. Will our speech carry the language of l

This talk by Thich Nhat Hanh is from the Lower Hamlet of Plum Village on Tuesday, December 31, 2013 on the occasion of New Years Eve. It is the fourteenth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. This talk is in English. The talk begins with a lovely guided meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh followed by a teaching on compassion to help us listen to the monastics chanting. The second half of the talk focuses on love and healing our suffering. 00:00-10:15 Guided Meditation 10:15-24:45 Generating Compassion to Relieve Suffering 25:23-44:45 Chanting the Name of Avalokite?vara 46:00-51:40 Standing and Breathing 51:40-1:12:30 Self Love and the New Year 1:12:30-1:29:50 The Second Arrow 1:29:50-end Three Energies A few months ago we visited Stanford University on the topic of compassion. Many of us do not know how to take the mud to make the lotus. Compassion can be used to embrace and understand suffering. Without suffering, no compassion is possible. We shouldn't run away from our own suffering. How do we do that? We ca

This talk by Thich Nhat Hanh is from the Upper Hamlet of Plum Village on Sunday, December 29, 2013. It is the thirteenth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. This talk is in English and is available below as an audio download or online video. In this talk we are preparing for the end of the year 2013 and the teaching is on no birth, no death, and coming home to our island of self. 00:00-14:35 The Year Ending and the Year Coming 14:35-25:09 No Birth. No Death. 25:09-49:10 Coming Home and the Island of Self 49:10-56:30 Sangha 56:30-1:06:10 The Practice in an Organization or Company 1:10:30-1:23:15 Taking Refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha When we focus on our breathing, we can really be there. Breathing mindfully we can know that we are alive and that we have a body. Just breath in and out and we can touch the wonders of life. With mindfulness we can be in touch and that can help nourish and heal us. This comes from walking, sitting, breathing, doing everyday things. Is the year 2013 going to die and g

This talk is taken out of order as there was a little difficulty in getting the English translation to share with you. In this talk, Thich Nhat Hanh focuses on the theme of volition as it relates to our relationships and to being a monastic followed by a teaching on the functions of alaya consciousness. It was originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai,  the talk from New Hamlet, Plum Village is dated Thursday, December 19, 2013 and is the tenth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Chan Duc. 00:00-10:30 Volition Food 10:30- 14:40 The Mind of Love - Bodhicitta 14:40-21:00 Volition and Marriage 21:00-28:48 The Path and Realizing the Dream 28:48-57:47 The Functions of Alaya 57:47-end Ripening and Impermanence Last time we learned the alaya consciousness are tied to the five universal mental formations. What does alaya want to realize? In the teachings we talk of the four nutriments and the third is volition. Alaya wants to live  the good of volitio

This talk by Thich Nhat Hanh is from the Upper Hamlet of Plum Village on the occasion of Christmas Eve (Tuesday, December 24, 2013). It is the twelfth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. In this talk we learning about our True Home and Sangha. Christmas is always an opportunity to meditate on our true home. The Buddha  did not have a home when he was young; he was unhappy even with all the material conditions. And Jesus Christ was born a refugee and was also trying to find a home. But both the Buddha and the Christ practiced and they found a True Home. Have I got a true home? A place of comfort and ease. When you come to Plum Village you are offered a practice to help you find a home. And home is not located in space and time. Our first fruit of the practice is "I have arrived. I am home." Our true home is in the here and the now in every breath and every step. The practice of mindful breathing brings our mind in touch with our body. Our body may be our first home. Are you in conflict with your body? Do

This talk by Thich Nhat Hanh is from the Lower Hamlet of Plum Village and is dated Sunday, December 22, 2013. It is the eleventh talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. In this talk we use the practice of walking meditation to explore themes of enlightenment, secularization of mindfulness, technology, schools, and the corporation. Both the audio recording and the video are available in this post. 02:22-12:18 Chanting 16:38-28:50 The practice of walking meditation 28:50-32:30 Enlightenment 32:30-40:01 Reflection on our Life in 2013 40:01-53:50 Coming Home to Ourselves and the Corporation 53:50-61:01 Secularization of Mindfulness and Being #1 1:01-1:06 Making Good Use of Technology 1:07-1:15 Intentions for Year 2014 - Walking Meditation 1:15-1:19 Mindfulness and a Sangha 1:19-1:32 UNESCO, Wake Up Schools, and Politics Today during our Touching the Earth practice, we promised to the Buddha that we would enjoy the practice of walking meditation in our daily life. Every breath and step can generate a feeling of jo

Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from Upper Hamlet, Plum Village is dated Sunday, December 15, 2013 and is the ninth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Tue Nghiem. 00:00-10:00 Chanting 10:35-25:42 UNESCO and Violence in Schools 25:42-44:30 The Seed on the Inside and the Seed on the Outside 44:30-55:40 The Seed of Pure/Impure 55:40-end Different Schools of Thought on Store Consciousness In 2006, Thay gave at a talk at UNESCO in Paris where he suggested that UNESCO organize retreats for teachers from across the globe so that teachers can bring the practice of nonviolence into their classrooms. At the time, the manager at UNESCO was very supportive because in that year there had been 88,000 acts of violence in classrooms in France in 2006. The energy of violence is there is our young people and many parents and children don’t have methods for dealing with the anger in themselves. In our practice, we begin with generating peace

In this talk we take a deep look at dualistic thinking, the theology and challenges of seeing the world as pure and impure, and more about the seeds. Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from Upper Hamlet, Plum Village is dated Thursday, December 12, 2013 and is the eighth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Tue Nghiem. 00:00-09:50 Chanting 09:50-30:50 Synchronization of Breathing 30:50-48:00 Dualistic Thinking 48:00-1:02 Theology 1:03-1:23 Seeds 1:23-1:48 Pure and Impure Hearing the sound of the bell, we stop thinking. We breath gently and pay attention our breathing. Simple and easy. An important habit energy. If we do this together, we are a collective and not a separate individuals. This is synchronization. It's like when water becomes ice - the molecules come together.  Like the photons of a laser beam. The bell is the stimulation to help us stop thinking. In our body there are cells - all the cells work together in synchro

The sangha held a monastic ordination ceremony on this day and so Thich Nhat Hanh spent some time talking about being a monastic. The second part of his talk is fantastic and touches deeply on his revolutionary nature and how Buddhism must be progressive and change. We conclude the talk with the winter retreat by learning more about the characteristics of the seeds. Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from Upper Hamlet, Plum Village is dated Sunday, December 8, 2013 and is the seventh talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Tue Nghiem. 00:00-06:40 Chanting 06:40-13:45 New Monastics Introduced 13:45-34:30 Being a Monastic 34:30-54:28 Renewing Buddhism 54:28-1:06 Poetry and Walking 1:06-1:41 Sutra Study Thay introduces the verses for the new year. New year, new me. Joy within, joy all around. Being a Monastic Purpose of the new monastic family. A new life. When we become a monastic, we let go of everything. The accomplishments and d

In this 2-hour dharma talk, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches how and why we can live our lives deeply and provides methods such as gatha practice. We also continue the theme of the winter retreat by learning more about the characteristics of the seeds. Originally given in Vietnamese, available from Lang Mai, the talk from New Hamlet, Plum Village is dated Thursday, December 5, 2013 and is the sixth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. English translation, available below, is by Sr. Tue Nghiem. 00:00-14:30 What is the purpose of human life? 14:30-23:00 Practice gathas 23:00-41:35 Spirituality and Plum Village practice 41:35-end Store consciousness and characteristics of seeds Some trees live thousands of years and certain turtles can live hundreds of years. A human span is about a 100-years. What is the purpose of this human life? We should live deeply so the time here doesn't go to waste. We should not wait to answer this question. The quality of life; not just living it to pass the days. The quality depends on ho

December 1, 2013. 93-minute dharma talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet of Plum Village. This is the fifth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. We begin with two chants from the monastics. The talk was given in Vietnamese and this is an English translation by Sr. Tue Nghiem. An issue in Christianity has been the question whether God a human or not a human. Theologians have said, though God is not a person but God is not less than a person.  In Buddhism, there is the idea of sentient beings that suffer and Buddha's who have enlightenment. But when we become a Buddha, we continue to be a sentient being. I'm Mahayana Buddhism, these two are not separate. Sentient beings and Buddha's are not different but two pairs of opposite. One cannot be without the other. Humans are composed of non-human elements. This is a non-dualistic insight. Interdependent co-arising. Everything is impermanent, including enlightenment and Buddha. We must continue to cultivate happiness and insight. Can the Buddha be recogn

November 28, 2013. 140-minute dharma talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh from New Hamlet of Plum Village. This is the fourth talk of the 2013-2014 Winter Retreat. We begin with two chants from the monastics. The talk was given in Vietnamese and this is an English translation by Sr. Tue Nghiem. Today we continue studying the Five Universal Mental Formations - they happen in a split of a second. It is everywhere, anytime. This is why they are universal. The first is contact - we spend most of the teaching on this mental formation. It's a vibration in our sense organs. It's a modification of the organ when it comes together with the object and consciousness and prepares for the arrival of feeling. This is the traditional definition. Contact is the base for feeling or impression. How can consciousness occur without organs? The second universal is attention. There is appropriate and inappropriate attention. This is followed by feeling, perception. What is the function of perception? What are the options in terms of vo