Free Buddha Dharma ebook
Seeing Through
A Guide to Insight Meditation
By Bhikkhu Katukurunde Nanananda
Free download available:
https://www.lotuslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2015-seeing-through_Nanananda.pdf
===
Seeing Through
A Guide to Insight Meditation
By Bhikkhu Katukurunde Nanananda
Free download available:
https://www.lotuslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2015-seeing-through_Nanananda.pdf
===
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Free Buddha Dharma ebook
Seeing Through
A Guide to Insight Meditation
By Bhikkhu Katukurunde Nanananda
Insight meditation paves the way to that penetrative wisdom which delivers the mind from bondage to Samsāra. This bondage often baffles the thinker because there is a 'catch' in the tools he has to take up to break it. Percepts are subtly elusive and concepts are tacitly delusive. So the insight worker has to forge his own tools to break this bondage, going the Buddha's Middle Way.
The present sermon, based on a verse from the 'Section on the Wise' in the Dhammapada, might drop some helpful hints for the insight meditator climbing the steep path of meditative attention alone, apart, untiring. The original sermon in Sinhala was cassetted at the request of Venerable Navagamuve Sugunasära Thera during my stay at Meetirigala Nissarana Vanaya. It touches upon the progressive stages in Insight Meditation and the last four of the 16 steps in Änāpānasati meditation, while drawing upon the implications of the Dhammapada verse.
This sermon has now been published in Sinhala under the noscript 'Vidasun Upades' at the instance of Mr. U. Mapa, the Public Trustee, under the auspices of the 'Bhikkhu Kasyapa' Trust' in memory of the late Venerable Kassapa Thera of Vajirārāma, Bambalapitiya.
Free download available:
https://www.lotuslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2015-seeing-through_Nanananda.pdf
===
Seeing Through
A Guide to Insight Meditation
By Bhikkhu Katukurunde Nanananda
Insight meditation paves the way to that penetrative wisdom which delivers the mind from bondage to Samsāra. This bondage often baffles the thinker because there is a 'catch' in the tools he has to take up to break it. Percepts are subtly elusive and concepts are tacitly delusive. So the insight worker has to forge his own tools to break this bondage, going the Buddha's Middle Way.
The present sermon, based on a verse from the 'Section on the Wise' in the Dhammapada, might drop some helpful hints for the insight meditator climbing the steep path of meditative attention alone, apart, untiring. The original sermon in Sinhala was cassetted at the request of Venerable Navagamuve Sugunasära Thera during my stay at Meetirigala Nissarana Vanaya. It touches upon the progressive stages in Insight Meditation and the last four of the 16 steps in Änāpānasati meditation, while drawing upon the implications of the Dhammapada verse.
This sermon has now been published in Sinhala under the noscript 'Vidasun Upades' at the instance of Mr. U. Mapa, the Public Trustee, under the auspices of the 'Bhikkhu Kasyapa' Trust' in memory of the late Venerable Kassapa Thera of Vajirārāma, Bambalapitiya.
Free download available:
https://www.lotuslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2015-seeing-through_Nanananda.pdf
===
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Forwarded from Buddha
Enlightenments, Not Enlightenment
Awakening is not the same for everyone—even spiritual masters manifest their wisdom differently and took various paths to get there.
By Jack Kornfield
Part 3 of 3
Expressions of Enlightenment
Whatever our gate to enlightenment, the first real taste, stream-entry, is followed by many more tastes as we learn to stabilize, deepen, and embody this wisdom in our own unique life. What does it look like? The facets of enlightenment express themselves marvelously in our teachers. Each manifests enlightenment with his or her own flavors.
Dipa Ma, a wonderful grandmother in Calcutta, was one of the great masters of our tradition. A tiny person with a powerfully trained mind, Dipa Ma expressed enlightenment as love. She devotedly instructed her students in mindfulness and lovingkindness and then she hugged them—putting her hands on their head, face, and shoulders, whispering metta phrases. They got drunk on love. Like Dipa Ma, Ammachi, a Hindu teacher from South India, manifests enlightenment as the “hugging guru.” She goes into a trance, and all night long she holds people; she might take as many as 2,000 people onto her lap and hug them. This is enlightenment as love.
For Zen Master Suzuki Roshi, enlightenment was expressed by being just where you are. A woman told Suzuki Roshi she found it difficult to mix Zen practice with the demands of being a householder: “I feel I am trying to climb a ladder, but for every step upward I slip backward two steps.” “Forget the ladder,” Suzuki Roshi told her. “When you awaken, everything is right here on the ground.” He explained how the desire to gain anything means you miss the reality of the present. “When you realize the truth that everything changes and find your composure in it, there you find yourself in nirvana.” Asked further about enlightenment, Suzuki Roshi said, “Strictly speaking there are no enlightened beings; there is only enlightened activity.” If you think you are enlightened, that is not it. The goal is to let go of being anyone special and meet each moment with beginner’s mind.
Mahasi Sayadaw, the Burmese master, expressed enlightenment as emptiness. Watching him on his visits to America, we saw that he rarely laughed or judged. Instead, he exuded a quiet equanimity. Events and conversations would happen around him while he remained still. He was like space—transparent, nobody there. This is enlightenment as emptiness.
For Ajahn Jumnien, a Thai forest master, awakening is not only empty; it’s full. His robe is covered in hundreds of sacred medallions, and he employs dozens of skillful means to teach—guided meditations, sacred chants, mantras, chakra and energy practices, forest medicines, animal stories, and shamanic rituals. His dharma is all-hours, nonstop, full of life and joy. There’s a sense of abundance in him, and happiness just pours out like a fountain. He expresses enlightenment as fullness.
Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh expresses enlightenment as mindfulness. When he comes to teach at Spirit Rock, 3,000 people sit meditatively on the hillside and eat their apples mindfully in preparation for his arrival. A bell is rung, and he walks slowly and deliberately up the road—so mindfully that everyone sighs, “Ahhh.” The consciousness of 3,000 people is transformed just seeing this man walk, each step the whole universe. As we watch, we drop into the reality of the eternal present. This is where we awaken. Enlightenment as mindfulness.
The Dalai Lama expresses enlightenment as compassionate blessing. For instance, once at the end of his stay at a San Francisco hotel, he asked the management to bring out all the employees. This meant the people who chop vegetables in the kitchen, who clean the carpets late at night, who make the beds. The big circular driveway filled with all those who made this hotel work but who were usually unrecognized. One by one, he looked at each one with full presence, took each person’s hand, and said, “Thank you,” moving unhurriedly just to make sure that he connected with each one fully.
Awakening is not the same for everyone—even spiritual masters manifest their wisdom differently and took various paths to get there.
By Jack Kornfield
Part 3 of 3
Expressions of Enlightenment
Whatever our gate to enlightenment, the first real taste, stream-entry, is followed by many more tastes as we learn to stabilize, deepen, and embody this wisdom in our own unique life. What does it look like? The facets of enlightenment express themselves marvelously in our teachers. Each manifests enlightenment with his or her own flavors.
Dipa Ma, a wonderful grandmother in Calcutta, was one of the great masters of our tradition. A tiny person with a powerfully trained mind, Dipa Ma expressed enlightenment as love. She devotedly instructed her students in mindfulness and lovingkindness and then she hugged them—putting her hands on their head, face, and shoulders, whispering metta phrases. They got drunk on love. Like Dipa Ma, Ammachi, a Hindu teacher from South India, manifests enlightenment as the “hugging guru.” She goes into a trance, and all night long she holds people; she might take as many as 2,000 people onto her lap and hug them. This is enlightenment as love.
For Zen Master Suzuki Roshi, enlightenment was expressed by being just where you are. A woman told Suzuki Roshi she found it difficult to mix Zen practice with the demands of being a householder: “I feel I am trying to climb a ladder, but for every step upward I slip backward two steps.” “Forget the ladder,” Suzuki Roshi told her. “When you awaken, everything is right here on the ground.” He explained how the desire to gain anything means you miss the reality of the present. “When you realize the truth that everything changes and find your composure in it, there you find yourself in nirvana.” Asked further about enlightenment, Suzuki Roshi said, “Strictly speaking there are no enlightened beings; there is only enlightened activity.” If you think you are enlightened, that is not it. The goal is to let go of being anyone special and meet each moment with beginner’s mind.
Mahasi Sayadaw, the Burmese master, expressed enlightenment as emptiness. Watching him on his visits to America, we saw that he rarely laughed or judged. Instead, he exuded a quiet equanimity. Events and conversations would happen around him while he remained still. He was like space—transparent, nobody there. This is enlightenment as emptiness.
For Ajahn Jumnien, a Thai forest master, awakening is not only empty; it’s full. His robe is covered in hundreds of sacred medallions, and he employs dozens of skillful means to teach—guided meditations, sacred chants, mantras, chakra and energy practices, forest medicines, animal stories, and shamanic rituals. His dharma is all-hours, nonstop, full of life and joy. There’s a sense of abundance in him, and happiness just pours out like a fountain. He expresses enlightenment as fullness.
Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh expresses enlightenment as mindfulness. When he comes to teach at Spirit Rock, 3,000 people sit meditatively on the hillside and eat their apples mindfully in preparation for his arrival. A bell is rung, and he walks slowly and deliberately up the road—so mindfully that everyone sighs, “Ahhh.” The consciousness of 3,000 people is transformed just seeing this man walk, each step the whole universe. As we watch, we drop into the reality of the eternal present. This is where we awaken. Enlightenment as mindfulness.
The Dalai Lama expresses enlightenment as compassionate blessing. For instance, once at the end of his stay at a San Francisco hotel, he asked the management to bring out all the employees. This meant the people who chop vegetables in the kitchen, who clean the carpets late at night, who make the beds. The big circular driveway filled with all those who made this hotel work but who were usually unrecognized. One by one, he looked at each one with full presence, took each person’s hand, and said, “Thank you,” moving unhurriedly just to make sure that he connected with each one fully.
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Forwarded from Buddha
The Dalai Lama personifies enlightenment as compassionate blessing.
Ajahn Chah’s manifestation was the laughter of wisdom. Whether with generals or ministers, farmers or cooks, he would say, “When I see how much people are struggling, I look at them with great sympathy and ask, ‘Are you suffering? Ahhh, you must be very attached. Why not let go?’” His teachings were deep and straight to the point. He’d say, “If you let go a little, you’ll be a little happy. If you let go a lot, you’ll be a lot happy. If you let go completely, you’ll be completely happy.” He saw suffering, its cause, and that freedom is possible in any moment. He expressed enlightenment as wisdom.
When people read these stories, they might ask, “How do they relate to me? I want these enlightenments. How do I get them? What should I do?” The jewel of enlightenment invites us to awaken through many skillful means. Mahasi Sayadaw would say, “To find emptiness, note every single moment until what you think to be the world dissolves, and you will come to know freedom.” Ajahn Chah would say, “Just let go, and become the awareness, be the one who knows.” Dipa Ma would say, “Love no matter what.” Thich Nhat Hanh would say, “Rest in mindfulness, this moment, the eternal present.” Ajahn Jumnien would say, “Be happy for no cause.” Suzuki Roshi would say, “Just be exactly where you are. Instead of waiting for the bus, realize you are on the bus.”
So, is enlightenment a myth? No. It is not far away. It is freedom here and now, to be tasted whenever you open to it. In my role as a teacher, I have the privilege of seeing the blessing of enlightenments awaken in so many meditators who come to dharma practice and become transformed through its many expressions. As their initial tension and struggle with life, doubt, and distress subsides, I watch their bodies ease, their faces soften, their dharma vision open, their hearts blossom. Some touch what the Thai philosopher Buddhadasa called “everyday nirvana.” Others come to know a deep purity of mind and to experience a taste of liberation directly.
The Buddha declares, “If it were not possible to free the heart from entanglement, I would not teach you to do so. Just because it is possible to free the heart, there arise the teachings of the dharma of liberation, offered open-handedly for the welfare of all beings.”
Aim for nothing less.
===
Part 1 of 3:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/wordsofbuddha/4743
Part 2 of 3:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/dhammapadas/3408
Part 3 of 3:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/lorddivinebuddha/3870
===
Buddha dharma teachings channel:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/lorddivinebuddha
===
Ajahn Chah’s manifestation was the laughter of wisdom. Whether with generals or ministers, farmers or cooks, he would say, “When I see how much people are struggling, I look at them with great sympathy and ask, ‘Are you suffering? Ahhh, you must be very attached. Why not let go?’” His teachings were deep and straight to the point. He’d say, “If you let go a little, you’ll be a little happy. If you let go a lot, you’ll be a lot happy. If you let go completely, you’ll be completely happy.” He saw suffering, its cause, and that freedom is possible in any moment. He expressed enlightenment as wisdom.
When people read these stories, they might ask, “How do they relate to me? I want these enlightenments. How do I get them? What should I do?” The jewel of enlightenment invites us to awaken through many skillful means. Mahasi Sayadaw would say, “To find emptiness, note every single moment until what you think to be the world dissolves, and you will come to know freedom.” Ajahn Chah would say, “Just let go, and become the awareness, be the one who knows.” Dipa Ma would say, “Love no matter what.” Thich Nhat Hanh would say, “Rest in mindfulness, this moment, the eternal present.” Ajahn Jumnien would say, “Be happy for no cause.” Suzuki Roshi would say, “Just be exactly where you are. Instead of waiting for the bus, realize you are on the bus.”
So, is enlightenment a myth? No. It is not far away. It is freedom here and now, to be tasted whenever you open to it. In my role as a teacher, I have the privilege of seeing the blessing of enlightenments awaken in so many meditators who come to dharma practice and become transformed through its many expressions. As their initial tension and struggle with life, doubt, and distress subsides, I watch their bodies ease, their faces soften, their dharma vision open, their hearts blossom. Some touch what the Thai philosopher Buddhadasa called “everyday nirvana.” Others come to know a deep purity of mind and to experience a taste of liberation directly.
The Buddha declares, “If it were not possible to free the heart from entanglement, I would not teach you to do so. Just because it is possible to free the heart, there arise the teachings of the dharma of liberation, offered open-handedly for the welfare of all beings.”
Aim for nothing less.
===
Part 1 of 3:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/wordsofbuddha/4743
Part 2 of 3:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/dhammapadas/3408
Part 3 of 3:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/lorddivinebuddha/3870
===
Buddha dharma teachings channel:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/lorddivinebuddha
===
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Buddha dharma teachings from the suttas and commentaries
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4. Pàpo' pi passati bhadram
yàva pàpam na paccati
Yadà ca paccati pàpam
atha pàpo pàpàni passati. 119.
5. Bhadro' pi passati pàpam
yàva bhadram na paccati
Yadà ca paccati bhadram
atha bhadro bhadràni passati. 120.
BY ITS EFFECTS EVIL IS KNOWN
BY ITS EFFECTS GOOD IS KNOWN
4. Even an evil-doer sees good as long as evil ripens not; but when it bears fruit, then he sees the evil results. 4 119.
5. Even a good person sees evil so long as good ripens not; but when it bears fruit then the good one sees the good results. 5 120.
Story
Anàthapiudika very generously supported the Sangha and lost the greater part of his fortune. He was criticised for his extravagant almsgiving. But ignoring all criticism, he continued his generous acts. Appreciating his generosity, the Buddha uttered these verses to show the results of both good and bad.
===
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yàva pàpam na paccati
Yadà ca paccati pàpam
atha pàpo pàpàni passati. 119.
5. Bhadro' pi passati pàpam
yàva bhadram na paccati
Yadà ca paccati bhadram
atha bhadro bhadràni passati. 120.
BY ITS EFFECTS EVIL IS KNOWN
BY ITS EFFECTS GOOD IS KNOWN
4. Even an evil-doer sees good as long as evil ripens not; but when it bears fruit, then he sees the evil results. 4 119.
5. Even a good person sees evil so long as good ripens not; but when it bears fruit then the good one sees the good results. 5 120.
Story
Anàthapiudika very generously supported the Sangha and lost the greater part of his fortune. He was criticised for his extravagant almsgiving. But ignoring all criticism, he continued his generous acts. Appreciating his generosity, the Buddha uttered these verses to show the results of both good and bad.
===
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Forwarded from Buddha
Misty morning at Rattanakosin Buddha, Wat Nong Hoi Buddhist temple, Lamphun, Thailand.
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“And what is the origin of suffering? In dependence on the eye & forms, eye-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, feeling comes to be; with feeling as condition, craving. This is the origin of suffering.
“In dependence on the ear & sounds …[the nose & odours, the tongue & tastes, the body & tactile objects, the mind & mental phenomena], mind-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, feeling comes to be; with feeling as condition, craving. This is the origin of suffering.
“And what , is the passing away of suffering? With the remainderless fading away & cessation of that same craving comes cessation of clinging; with the cessation of clinging, cessation of existence; with the cessation of existence, cessation of birth; with the cessation of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, & despair cease. This is the passing away of suffering.
Partial excerpts from SN 12.43: Dukkhasutta
“In dependence on the ear & sounds …[the nose & odours, the tongue & tastes, the body & tactile objects, the mind & mental phenomena], mind-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, feeling comes to be; with feeling as condition, craving. This is the origin of suffering.
“And what , is the passing away of suffering? With the remainderless fading away & cessation of that same craving comes cessation of clinging; with the cessation of clinging, cessation of existence; with the cessation of existence, cessation of birth; with the cessation of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, & despair cease. This is the passing away of suffering.
Partial excerpts from SN 12.43: Dukkhasutta
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6. Màvamaññetha 6 pàpassa
na mam tam àgamissati.
Udabindunipàtena
udakumbho' pi purati
Purati bàlo pàpassa
thokathokam pi àcinam. 121.
THINK NOT LIGHTLY OF EVIL
6. Do not disregard evil, saying, "It will not come nigh unto me"; by the falling of drops even a water-jar is filled; likewise the fool, gathering little by little, fills himself with evil. 121.
Story
A monk was indifferent to a slight wrong which he was continually doing. As he would not give heed to the advice of the other monks the matter was reported to the Buddha. In the presence of the Buddha too he remarked that one should not be so much concerned with such a slight wrong. The Buddha advised him not to disregard even a slight wrong.
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na mam tam àgamissati.
Udabindunipàtena
udakumbho' pi purati
Purati bàlo pàpassa
thokathokam pi àcinam. 121.
THINK NOT LIGHTLY OF EVIL
6. Do not disregard evil, saying, "It will not come nigh unto me"; by the falling of drops even a water-jar is filled; likewise the fool, gathering little by little, fills himself with evil. 121.
Story
A monk was indifferent to a slight wrong which he was continually doing. As he would not give heed to the advice of the other monks the matter was reported to the Buddha. In the presence of the Buddha too he remarked that one should not be so much concerned with such a slight wrong. The Buddha advised him not to disregard even a slight wrong.
===
Buddha dharma teachings channel:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/lorddivinebuddha
===
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Forwarded from Buddha
Free Buddha Dharma ebook
Good Heart, Good Mind
The Practice of the Ten Perfections
By Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Free download here:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/GoodHeart200902.pdf
===
Good Heart, Good Mind
The Practice of the Ten Perfections
By Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Free download here:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/GoodHeart200902.pdf
===
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Forwarded from Buddha
Free Buddha Dharma ebook
Good Heart, Good Mind
The Practice of the Ten Perfections
By Thanissaro Bhikkhu
The ten perfections are a list of teachings that provide focus for living everyday life in a way that has meaning and purpose, at the same time developing the path to awakening. This emphasis on purpose is in line with the nature of the mind itself, which is purposeful. To be happy, the mind requires a good purpose. The perfections pose questions that force you to respect on what kind of purpose you already live for, and whether you might do better to aim at something higher.
Free download here:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/GoodHeart200902.pdf
===
Good Heart, Good Mind
The Practice of the Ten Perfections
By Thanissaro Bhikkhu
The ten perfections are a list of teachings that provide focus for living everyday life in a way that has meaning and purpose, at the same time developing the path to awakening. This emphasis on purpose is in line with the nature of the mind itself, which is purposeful. To be happy, the mind requires a good purpose. The perfections pose questions that force you to respect on what kind of purpose you already live for, and whether you might do better to aim at something higher.
Free download here:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/GoodHeart200902.pdf
===
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“Mendicants, in some past lives the Realized One was reborn as a human being. ... Due to performing those deeds he was reborn in a heavenly realm. When he came back to this place he obtained this mark: he is golden colored; his skin shines like lustrous gold.
On this it is said:
“Fixated on good will, he gave gifts. In an earlier life he poured forth cloth fine and soft to touch, like a god pouring rain on this broad earth.
So doing he passed from here to heaven, where he enjoyed the fruits of deeds well done. Here he wins a figure shining like honey-yellow gold, like Indra, the finest of gods.
If that man stays in the house, not wishing to go forth, he conquers and rules this vast, broad earth. He obtains abundant excellent cloth, so fine and soft to touch.
He receives robes, cloth, and the finest garments. if he chooses the life gone forth. For he still partakes of past deed’s fruit; what’s been done is never lost.”
Partial excerpts from DN 30 : Pathikavagga
On this it is said:
“Fixated on good will, he gave gifts. In an earlier life he poured forth cloth fine and soft to touch, like a god pouring rain on this broad earth.
So doing he passed from here to heaven, where he enjoyed the fruits of deeds well done. Here he wins a figure shining like honey-yellow gold, like Indra, the finest of gods.
If that man stays in the house, not wishing to go forth, he conquers and rules this vast, broad earth. He obtains abundant excellent cloth, so fine and soft to touch.
He receives robes, cloth, and the finest garments. if he chooses the life gone forth. For he still partakes of past deed’s fruit; what’s been done is never lost.”
Partial excerpts from DN 30 : Pathikavagga
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7. Màvamaññetha puññassa
na mam tam àgamissati.
Udabindunipàtena
udakumbho' pi purati
Purati dhãro puññassa
thokathokam pi àcinam. 122.
THINK NOT LIGHTLY OF GOOD
7. Do not disregard merit, saying "It will not come nigh unto me"; by the falling of drops even a water-jar is filled; likewise the wise man, gathering little by little, fills himself with good. 122.
Story
A wise man, hearing the Buddha preach on the giving of alms, induced a whole village to give alms to the Buddha and the Sangha according to their means. When he went collecting provisions a rich man, misconstruing his motive, contributed a very small amount. While thanks were being offered to the various donors the rich man went there with the object of killing the wise man if he should speak disparagingly of him. The wise man on the contrary thanked all equally and wished them a great reward. The rich man felt remorse and sought his pardon.
Hearing the story, the Buddha discoursed on the value of even a small gift.
===
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===
na mam tam àgamissati.
Udabindunipàtena
udakumbho' pi purati
Purati dhãro puññassa
thokathokam pi àcinam. 122.
THINK NOT LIGHTLY OF GOOD
7. Do not disregard merit, saying "It will not come nigh unto me"; by the falling of drops even a water-jar is filled; likewise the wise man, gathering little by little, fills himself with good. 122.
Story
A wise man, hearing the Buddha preach on the giving of alms, induced a whole village to give alms to the Buddha and the Sangha according to their means. When he went collecting provisions a rich man, misconstruing his motive, contributed a very small amount. While thanks were being offered to the various donors the rich man went there with the object of killing the wise man if he should speak disparagingly of him. The wise man on the contrary thanked all equally and wished them a great reward. The rich man felt remorse and sought his pardon.
Hearing the story, the Buddha discoursed on the value of even a small gift.
===
Vajrayana Tantrayana Buddhism channel:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/tantrayanabuddhism
Tibetan Buddhism - Vajrayana, Tantrayana and esoteric Buddhism channel:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/tibetanbuddha
===
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Buddha teachings from the Vajrayana, esoteric, secret or Tantrayana vehicle
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Forwarded from Words of the Buddha
Listening to Our Ancestors
Three practices for listening mindfully—to ourselves and others
Thich Nhat Hanh
Part 1 of 2
Listening deeply to another is a form of meditation. We follow our breathing and practice concentration, and we learn things about the other person that we never knew before. When we practice deep listening, we can help the person we’re listening to remove the perceptions that are making them suffer. We can restore harmony in our partnerships, our friendships, our family, our community, our nation, and between nations. It is that powerful.
Before we can listen to another person well, we need to spend time listening to ourselves. Sometimes when we attempt to listen to someone else, we can’t hear what they are saying at all because our own strong emotions and thoughts are too loud in us, crying out for our attention. We should be able to sit with ourselves, come home to ourselves, and listen to what emotions are rising up without judging or interrupting them. We can listen to whatever thoughts come up as well and then let them pass without holding on to them. When we’ve spent some time listening to ourselves, we can listen to those around us.
When we listen deeply to ourselves, we can understand ourselves, accept ourselves, love ourselves, and start to touch peace. Perhaps we have not yet accepted ourselves because we don’t understand who we are; we don’t know how to listen to our own suffering. So, we must first of all practice listening to our own suffering. We must be with it, feel it, and embrace it in order to understand it and allow it to gradually transform. Perhaps our own suffering carries within it the suffering of our father, our mother, the whole line of our ancestors, or a whole country. Listening to ourselves, we can understand our suffering—the suffering of our ancestors, our father, and our mother—and we feel a sense of release.
When we’ve spent some time listening to ourselves, we can listen to those around us.
When we stop the busyness of the mind and come back to ourselves, our suffering can seem very intense. This is because we are so used to ignoring it and distracting ourselves from the pain. With distractions, we may succeed in numbing ourselves for a little while, but the suffering inside wants our attention, and it will fester and churn away until it gets it. That’s why the first practice is to stop running, come home to our bodies, and recognize our feelings of suffering—our anger, our anxiety, our fear. Suffering is one energy. Mindfulness is another energy that we can call on to embrace the suffering. The function of mindfulness is first to recognize the suffering and then to embrace it.
The practice is not to fight or suppress the feeling but rather to cradle it with tenderness.
When a mother embraces her child—even if she doesn’t understand at first why the child is suffering—that energy of tenderness can already bring relief. If we can recognize and cradle the suffering while we breathe mindfully, there is relief already.
Your suffering is trying to get your attention, to tell you something, and now you can take the opportunity to listen.
Three Practices for Listening
Listening to the Bell
Sometimes we need a sound to remind us to return to our conscious breathing. We call these sounds “bells of mindfulness.” In Plum Village and the other practice centers in my tradition, we stop and listen whenever we hear the telephone ringing, the clock chiming, or the monastery bell sounding. These are our bells of mindfulness. When we hear the sound of the bell, we stop talking and stop moving. We relax our body and become aware of our breathing. We do it naturally, with enjoyment, and without solemnity or stiffness. When we stop to breathe and restore our calm and our peace, we become free, our work becomes more enjoyable, and the friend in front of us becomes more real.
Sometimes our bodies may be home, but we’re not truly home. Our mind is elsewhere.
Three practices for listening mindfully—to ourselves and others
Thich Nhat Hanh
Part 1 of 2
Listening deeply to another is a form of meditation. We follow our breathing and practice concentration, and we learn things about the other person that we never knew before. When we practice deep listening, we can help the person we’re listening to remove the perceptions that are making them suffer. We can restore harmony in our partnerships, our friendships, our family, our community, our nation, and between nations. It is that powerful.
Before we can listen to another person well, we need to spend time listening to ourselves. Sometimes when we attempt to listen to someone else, we can’t hear what they are saying at all because our own strong emotions and thoughts are too loud in us, crying out for our attention. We should be able to sit with ourselves, come home to ourselves, and listen to what emotions are rising up without judging or interrupting them. We can listen to whatever thoughts come up as well and then let them pass without holding on to them. When we’ve spent some time listening to ourselves, we can listen to those around us.
When we listen deeply to ourselves, we can understand ourselves, accept ourselves, love ourselves, and start to touch peace. Perhaps we have not yet accepted ourselves because we don’t understand who we are; we don’t know how to listen to our own suffering. So, we must first of all practice listening to our own suffering. We must be with it, feel it, and embrace it in order to understand it and allow it to gradually transform. Perhaps our own suffering carries within it the suffering of our father, our mother, the whole line of our ancestors, or a whole country. Listening to ourselves, we can understand our suffering—the suffering of our ancestors, our father, and our mother—and we feel a sense of release.
When we’ve spent some time listening to ourselves, we can listen to those around us.
When we stop the busyness of the mind and come back to ourselves, our suffering can seem very intense. This is because we are so used to ignoring it and distracting ourselves from the pain. With distractions, we may succeed in numbing ourselves for a little while, but the suffering inside wants our attention, and it will fester and churn away until it gets it. That’s why the first practice is to stop running, come home to our bodies, and recognize our feelings of suffering—our anger, our anxiety, our fear. Suffering is one energy. Mindfulness is another energy that we can call on to embrace the suffering. The function of mindfulness is first to recognize the suffering and then to embrace it.
The practice is not to fight or suppress the feeling but rather to cradle it with tenderness.
When a mother embraces her child—even if she doesn’t understand at first why the child is suffering—that energy of tenderness can already bring relief. If we can recognize and cradle the suffering while we breathe mindfully, there is relief already.
Your suffering is trying to get your attention, to tell you something, and now you can take the opportunity to listen.
Three Practices for Listening
Listening to the Bell
Sometimes we need a sound to remind us to return to our conscious breathing. We call these sounds “bells of mindfulness.” In Plum Village and the other practice centers in my tradition, we stop and listen whenever we hear the telephone ringing, the clock chiming, or the monastery bell sounding. These are our bells of mindfulness. When we hear the sound of the bell, we stop talking and stop moving. We relax our body and become aware of our breathing. We do it naturally, with enjoyment, and without solemnity or stiffness. When we stop to breathe and restore our calm and our peace, we become free, our work becomes more enjoyable, and the friend in front of us becomes more real.
Sometimes our bodies may be home, but we’re not truly home. Our mind is elsewhere.
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Words of the Buddha
Daily teachings of Buddha Dharma
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