Talk offered on January 27, 2011 in the Upper Hamlet of Plum Village, France. Thay speaks on neural pathways that are formed during the practice of mindfulness. Also, he talks about the popular Vietnamese tradition of Ong Tao and the Kitchen God.

This talk was offered by Thay in the New Hamlet of Plum Village, France, on Sunday, January 23rd, 2011, and it is the thirteenth in a series of talks offered during the Winter Retreat of 2010-11 on translations of the Dharmapada and Udanavarga from the Chinese Canon.

Note that, as in most of the talks from this retreat, Thay speaks in Vietnamese. The English translation is on the right channel; if you have trouble hearing the translator, turn the balance on your computer to the right, or listen only to the right earphone.

"Sitting in this meditation hall, we perceive that the clouds are floating high in the sky. But in reality we are surrounded by clouds; there is water vapor all around us. When we have fog we see this clearly. We also have vapor in our body in the form of water. So we interare with the cloud. Science shows us this; Buddhism can also show us this."

"According to our practice, mindfulness, concentration and insight are a source of happiness. And we as practitioners need to generate this energy. Breathing in mindfulness you generate the energy of mindfulness; we get in touch with the wonders of life that are all around us."

"The tour this year will have the theme, 'Now is the time: this is it.'"

English translation of today's verses:

28. There is existence because of the conditions offered by food
Sadness and joy also come from food.
If you want to uproot suffering,
you must stop its sources of nutriment.

29. Nothing can survive without food.
What can last without nourishment?
There must be food first,
after that there is the path.

30. If earth, water, fire are not,
then how does the wind blow?
If the light doesn't shine
then it would be impossible to see the source of light.

31. Without the moon there is no light.
Without the sun there is no sunshine.
Study this noble teaching and contemplate this object,
then you will see Nirvana as a reality.

This talk was offered by Thay in the New Hamlet of Plum Village, France, on Sunday, January 23rd, 2011, and it is the thirteenth in a series of talks offered during the Winter Retreat of 2010-11 on translations of the Dharmapada and Udanavarga from the Chinese Canon.

Note that, as in most of the talks from this retreat, Thay speaks in Vietnamese. The English translation is on the right channel; if you have trouble hearing the translator, turn the balance on your computer to the right, or listen only to the right earphone.

"Sitting in this meditation hall, we perceive that the clouds are floating high in the sky. But in reality we are surrounded by clouds; there is water vapor all around us. When we have fog we see this clearly. We also have vapor in our body in the form of water. So we interare with the cloud. Science shows us this; Buddhism can also show us this."

"According to our practice, mindfulness, concentration and insight are a source of happiness. And we as practitioners need to generate this energy. Breathing in mindfulness you generate the energy of mindfulness; we get in touch with the wonders of life that are all around us."

"The tour this year will have the theme, 'Now is the time: this is it.'"

English translation of today's verses:

28. There is existence because of the conditions offered by food
Sadness and joy also come from food.
If you want to uproot suffering,
you must stop its sources of nutriment.

29. Nothing can survive without food.
What can last without nourishment?
There must be food first,
after that there is the path.

30. If earth, water, fire are not,
then how does the wind blow?
If the light doesn't shine
then it would be impossible to see the source of light.

31. Without the moon there is no light.
Without the sun there is no sunshine.
Study this noble teaching and contemplate this object,
then you will see Nirvana as a reality.

In this talk, given on Sunday, January 9th, 2011 in the Lower Hamlet of Plum Village, Thay speaks on the nature of feeling in Buddhism.

"If you are a good practitioner you can easily handle your difficulties; the transformation is quicker. There are many kinds of feelings: painful feelings, pleasant feelings, and neutral feelings. In the process of practicing we discover that the neutral feelings are very interesting. As when we sit, there is a sensation that is neutral. When we bring mindfulness to the neutral feeling, you find that it is quite nice. You see that you already have enough conditions for happiness with a neutral feeling. If you look deeply at the neutral feeling you see that it is wonderful. When you see your feelings passing by like a river, you see that 80% of your neutral feelings are quite pleasant. With mindfulness, our neutral feeling is transformed into happiness."

Today Thay is speaking in Vietnamese. To listen only in English, listen only to your right earphone, or adjust the balance on your speakers to the right.

Hôm nay Thầy nói tiếng Việt, với bản dịch tiếng Anh trên kênh phải. Để chỉ nghe tiếng Việt, xin điều chỉnh sự cân bằng trên loa của bạn sang trái.

Aujourd'hui Thay parle en vietnamien, avec traduction en anglais. Pour écouter uniquement l'anglais, écouter uniquement à votre écouteur droite, ou de régler la balance des haut-parleurs sur votre ordinateur vers la droite.

In the talk, Thay speaks in Vietnamese. To listen to the English translation by Sister Chan Khong, listen to only the right earphone, or adjust the balance of your speakers toward the right.

"On the moon, now, there is no flower, no oak tree, no cloud. On our planet we have all these things. Every time I go out for walking meditation, I feel so happy to step on the oak leaves, to see the tiny stream by my hermitage. Everything is so beautiful. We can see that in the entire universe there is not another planet so beautiful. We are so lucky. Every day, though, we live on this planet, but we don't realize how lucky we are. I wonder if the fish in the pond can see that beauty, the bird flying in the beautiful empty space, the deer in the field browsing. Do they know? But we, we know. Human beings, before, we were apes. We walked with four limbs. Then, at a certain moment, we stood up. Instead of having an ape's name, we then had the name "Homo erectus". We could use our two limbs in order to do things. Eventually we became "Homo sapiens", humans who know. When we are mindful, we can call ourselves "Homo conscius." We enjoy the manifestation of all these gifts in nature. This is mindfulness: being aware of what is going on. When we get in touch with what is beautiful, we transform the anguish in us into joy, happiness, and love."