The Heart Of The Buddha's Teaching Episode 2

Great,

Good morning,

Good morning.

Let's see.

I'm Sarah Satie.

If you haven't sat with me before,

Just generally introduce myself.

Today we are going to light a little incense and then move on to the second part of our reading.

Remember we're reading From the Heart of the Heart is Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh.

You don't have to own the book because I'm going to be doing the reading.

Last week we started the first section which is about the Four Noble Truths and this week we will finish that.

We'll be working with chapters 6,

7,

And 8.

I'll read a chapter,

I'll talk very briefly about it,

And then I'll read the next chapter until we finish the reading and then we'll sit for a brief contemplation together.

And then just like last week,

I will leave you with some questions to contemplate for the week ahead.

So again,

You know,

I really thought about this.

I thought,

What's the best way for someone to participate?

Hi Mary.

I think the best way for someone to participate in this experience,

In my ideal mind I was thinking to go for a walk in nature,

To have your headphones in,

To be walking mindfully,

To be breathing mindfully,

And just to be listening.

If you were here with me last week,

Thich Nhat Hanh talked about how should we listen to the Buddha's teachings,

What is the best way to do that?

And he spoke of the best way is with an easy mind.

So we shouldn't be striving,

We shouldn't be trying to force the experience.

I really encourage you to just be breathing,

Listening,

Letting the words come to you,

Not working too hard to understand them,

Not even working too hard to listen,

Just being present for the experience and trusting that the most important concepts will make their way into your heart.

I think it's really important for us to remember that although we're reading about this,

We're reading about the Buddha's teachings,

In truth,

The teachings are not about reading,

They're not about talking,

They're about experiencing.

And that's something we'll dive more deeply into today,

How can we take these teachings and put them into practice for ourselves?

So we want to remember that our main goal in life is to experience more well-being and less suffering,

And the Buddha's words,

The Buddha's teachings are an attempt at giving us the skill sets to do just that.

So I'm going to go ahead and begin with the reading now,

If you're following along,

We'll start with chapter 6.

Stopping,

Calming,

Resting,

Healing.

Buddhist meditation has two aspects,

Shamatha and vipassana.

We tend to stress the importance of vipassana,

Looking deeply,

Because it can bring us insight and liberate us from suffering and afflictions,

But the practice of shamatha,

Stopping,

Is fundamental.

If we cannot stop,

We cannot have insight.

Here is a story in Zen circles about a man and a horse.

The horse is galloping quickly,

And it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important.

Another man standing alongside the road shouts,

Where are you going?

And the first man replies,

I don't know,

Ask the horse.

This is also our story.

We are riding a horse,

We don't know where we are going and we can't seem to stop.

The horse is our habit energy pulling us along and we are powerless.

We are always running and it has become a habit.

We struggle all the time,

Even during our sleep.

We are at war within ourselves and we can easily start a war with others.

We have to learn the art of stopping,

Stopping our thinking,

Our habit energies,

Our forgetfulness,

The strong emotions that rule us.

When an emotion rushes through us like a storm,

We have no peace.

We turn on the TV and then we turn it off.

We pick up a book and then we put it down.

How can we stop this state of agitation?

How can we stop our fear,

Despair,

Anger and craving?

We can stop by practicing mindful breathing,

Mindful walking,

Mindful smiling and deep looking in order to understand.

When we are mindful,

Touching deeply the present moment,

The fruits are always understanding,

Acceptance,

Joy and the desire to relieve suffering and bring joy.

But our habit energies are often stronger than our volition,

Our intention.

We say and do things we don't want to and afterwards we regret it.

We make ourselves and others suffer and we bring about a lot of damage.

We may vow not to do it again,

But we do it again.

Why?

Because of our habit energies.

These push us.

We need the energy of mindfulness to recognize and be present with our habit energies in order to stop this course of destruction.

With mindfulness,

We have the capacity to recognize the habit energy every time it manifests.

Hello,

My habit energy.

I know you are there.

If we just smile to it,

It will lose much of its strength.

Mindfulness is the energy that allows us to recognize our habit energy and prevent it from dominating us.

Forgetfulness is the opposite.

We drink a cup of tea,

But we do not know we are drinking a cup of tea.

We sit with the person we love,

But we don't know that she is there.

We walk,

But we're not really walking.

We are someplace else thinking about the past or the future.

The horse of our habit energy is carrying us along and we are its captive.

We need to stop our horse and reclaim our liberty.

We need to shine the light of mindfulness on everything that we do so the darkness of forgetfulness will disappear.

The first function of meditation,

Shamata,

Is to stop.

The second function of Shamata is calming.

When we have a strong emotion,

We know it can be dangerous to act,

But we don't have the strength or clarity to refrain.

We have to learn the art of breathing in and out,

Stopping our activities and calming our emotions.

We have to learn to become solid and stable like an oak tree and not be blown from side to side by the storm.

The Buddha taught many techniques to help us calm our body and mind and look deeply at them.

They can be summarized in five stages.

We'll talk more about this.

Recognition.

If we are angry,

We say,

I know that anger is in me.

Two,

Acceptance.

When we are angry,

We do not deny it.

We accept what is present.

Three,

Embracing.

We hold our anger in our two arms like a mother holding her crying baby.

Our mindfulness embraces our emotion and this alone can calm our anger and ourselves.

Four,

Looking deeply.

When we are calm enough,

We can look deeply to understand what has brought this anger to be.

What is causing our baby's discomfort and five insight.

The fruit of looking deeply is understanding the many causes and conditions,

Primary and secondary that have brought about our anger that are causing our baby to cry.

Perhaps our baby is hungry,

Perhaps his diaper pin is piercing his skin.

Our anger was triggered when our friends spoke to us meanly and suddenly we remember that he was not at his best today because his father is dying.

We reflect like this until we have some insights into what has caused our suffering.

With insight,

We know what to do and what not to do to change the situation.

After calming,

The third function of Shamata is resting.

Suppose someone standing alongside a river throws a pebble in the air and it falls down into the river.

The pebble allows itself to sink slowly and reach the riverbed without any effort.

Once the pebble is at the bottom,

It continues to rest,

Allowing the water to pass by.

When we practice sitting meditation,

We can allow ourselves to rest just like that pebble.

We can allow ourselves to sink naturally into the position of sitting,

Resting without effort.

We have to learn the art of resting,

Allowing our body and mind to rest.

If we have wounds in our body or our mind,

We have to rest so that they can heal themselves.

Calming allows us to rest and resting is a precondition for healing.

When animals in the forest get wounded,

They find a place to lie down and they rest completely for many days.

They don't think about food or anything else.

They just rest and they get the healing they need.

When we humans get sick,

We just worry.

We look for doctors and medicine,

But we don't stop.

Even when we go to the beach or the mountains for a vacation,

We don't rest and we come back more tired than before.

We have to learn to rest.

Lying down is not the only position for resting.

During sitting or walking meditation,

We can rest very well.

Meditation does not have to be hard labor.

Just allow your body and mind to rest like an animal in the forest.

Don't struggle.

There is no need to attain anything.

I'm writing a book,

But I'm not struggling.

I'm resting also.

Please read in a joyful yet restful way.

The Buddha said,

My Dharma is the practice of nonpractice.

Practice in a way that does not tire you out,

But gives your body emotions and consciousness a chance to rest.

Our body and mind have the capacity to heal themselves if we allow them to rest.

Stopping,

Calming and resting are preconditions for healing.

If we cannot stop,

The course of our destruction will just continue.

The world needs healing.

Individuals,

Communities and nations need healing.

So in this chapter,

I think this is so important for the Western world.

You know,

Thich Nhat Hanh is talking about the difference between Shamatha and Vipassana.

And in the Western world,

We're always at the end before we are at the beginning.

So we see we have to start,

But then immediately our mind goes to where we need to finish.

And Thich Nhat Hanh is saying,

You can't get there like that.

Actually,

If you try to go to the end first,

It will be too stressful.

It will be too much of a struggle.

And so here he's saying the precondition is to practice Shamatha.

And this is the practice,

Right?

So you have to ask yourself,

Am I restful?

Am I calm?

Am I able to stop?

Most people in the Western world,

It's like go,

Go,

Go,

Go,

Go.

But when we practice stopping,

When we practice resting,

When we practice calming,

What Thich Nhat Hanh is saying,

What the Buddha's teachings are telling us is that insight and wisdom will naturally blossom.

And if we can't do those things,

We actually hold ourselves back from the proper space needed for insight to develop.

Chapter seven is a little bit longer,

So I encourage you to rest and just allow yourself,

Like I said earlier,

To listen.

No stress.

Touching our suffering.

In the Pali version of the discourse on turning the wheel of the Dharma,

The Buddha told the five monks,

As long as the insight and the understanding of these four noble truths in their three stages and 12 aspects,

Just as they are,

Had not been fully realized.

I could not say that in this world,

With its gods,

Maras,

Brahmas,

Recluses,

Brahmins and men,

Someone had realized the highest awakening.

Monks,

As soon as the insight and understanding of the four noble truths in their three stages and 12 aspects,

Just as they are,

Had been realized,

I could say that in this world,

With its gods,

Maras,

Brahmas,

Recluses,

Brahmins and men,

Someone had realized the highest awakening.

In the Chinese version of the sutra,

The Buddha said,

Monks,

The experience of the three turnings of the wheel with regard to each of the four truths gives rise to eyes of awakened understanding.

And therefore I declare before gods,

Spirits,

Shramans and Brahmins of all times that I have destroyed all afflictions and reached full awakening.

The wheel of the Dharma was put in motion 12 times,

Three for each of the four noble truths.

To understand the four noble truths,

Not just intellectually,

But experientially,

We have to practice the 12 turnings of the wheel.

The first turning is called recognition.

We sense that something is wrong,

But we're not able to say exactly what it is.

We make some effort to escape,

But we cannot.

We try to deny our suffering,

But it persists.

The Buddha said that to suffer and not know that we are suffering is more painful than the burden endured by a mule carrying an unimaginably heavy load.

We must,

First of all,

Recognize that we are suffering and then determine whether its basis is physical,

Physiological or psychological.

Our suffering needs to be identified.

Recognizing and identifying our suffering is like the work of a doctor diagnosing an illness.

He or she says,

If I press here,

Does it hurt?

And we say,

Yes,

This is my suffering.

This has come to be.

The wounds in our heart become the object of our meditation.

We show them to our doctor and we show them to the Buddha,

Which means we show them to ourselves.

Our suffering is us and we need to treat it with kindness and nonviolence.

We need to embrace our fear,

Hatred,

Anguish and anger.

My dear suffering,

I know you are there.

I am here for you and I will take care of you.

We stopped running from our pain with all our courage and tenderness.

We recognize,

Acknowledge and identify it.

The second turning of the wheel is called encouragement.

After recognizing and identifying our pain,

We take the time to look deeply into it in order to understand its true nature,

Which means its causes.

After observing our symptoms,

The doctor says,

I will look deeply into it.

This illness can be understood and it may take him a week to conduct tests and inquire about what we've been eating or a month or two months,

Our attitudes,

How we spend our time and so on.

But he is determined to understand our illness.

Our suffering,

Depression,

Illness,

A difficult relationship or fear needs to be understood.

And like a doctor,

We are determined to understand it.

We practice sitting and walking meditation and we ask for guidance and support from our friends and if we have one,

Our teacher.

As we do this,

We see that the causes of our suffering are knowable and we make every effort to get to the bottom of it.

At this stage,

Our practice can still be set back.

The third turning of the wheel is called realization and can be expressed as this suffering has been understood.

We realize the efforts begun during the second turning.

The doctor tells us the name and all the characteristics of our illness.

After studying,

Reflecting upon and practicing the first noble truth,

We realize that we've stopped running away from our pain.

We can now call our suffering by its specific name and identify all of its characteristics.

This alone brings us happiness and joy without setbacks.

Still,

After we have successfully diagnosed our ailment,

For a time we continue to create suffering for ourselves.

We pour gasoline on the fire through our words,

Thoughts and deeds and often don't even realize it.

The first turning of the wheel of the second noble truth is the recognition.

I am continuing to create suffering.

The Buddha said,

When something has come to be,

We have to acknowledge its presence and look deeply into its nature.

When we look deeply,

We will discover the kinds of nutriments that have helped it come to be and that continue to feed it.

He then elaborated four kinds of nutriments that can lead to our happiness or our suffering.

And these are edible food,

Sense impressions,

Intention and consciousness.

Intention also often referred to as volition.

The first nutriment is edible food.

What we eat or drink can bring about mental or physical suffering.

We must be able to distinguish between what is healthful and what is harmful.

We need to practice right view when we shop,

Cook and eat.

The Buddha offered this example.

A young couple and their two year old child were trying to cross the desert and they ran out of food.

After deep reflection,

The parents realized that in order to survive,

They had to kill their son and eat his flesh.

They calculated that if they ate such and such a proportion of their baby's flesh each day and carried the rest on their shoulders to dry,

It would last the rest of the journey.

But with every morsel of their baby's flesh they ate,

The young couple cried and cried.

After he told the story,

The Buddha asked,

Dear friends,

Do you think the young man and woman enjoyed eating their son's flesh?

No,

Lord,

It would be impossible for them to enjoy eating their son's flesh.

The Buddha said,

Yet many people eat the flesh of their parents,

Their children and their grandchildren and do not know it.

Much of our suffering comes from not eating mindfully.

We have to learn ways to eat that preserve the health and well being of our body and our spirit.

When we smoke,

Drink or consume toxins,

We are eating our own lungs,

Liver and heart.

If we have children and we do these things,

We are eating our children's flesh.

Our children need us to be healthy and strong.

We have to look deeply to see how we grow our food so we can eat in ways that preserve our collective well being,

Minimize our suffering and the suffering of other species and allow the earth to continue to be a source of life for all of us.

If while we eat,

We destroy living beings or the environment,

We are eating the flesh of our own sons and daughters.

We need to look deeply together and discuss how to eat,

What to eat and what to resist.

This will be a real Dharma discussion.

The second kind of nutriment is sense impressions.

Our six sense organs,

Eyes,

Ears,

Nose,

Tongue,

Body and mind are in constant contact with sense objects and these contacts become food for our consciousness.

When we drive through a city,

Our eyes see so many billboards and these images enter our consciousness.

When we pick up a magazine,

The articles and advertisements are food for our consciousness.

Advertisements that stimulate our craving for possessions,

Sex and food can be toxic.

If after reading the newspaper,

Hearing the news or being in a conversation,

We feel anxious or worn out,

We know we have been in contact with toxins.

Movies are food for our eyes,

Ears and minds.

When we watch TV,

The program is our food.

Children who spend five hours a day watching television are ingesting images that water the negative seeds of craving,

Fear,

Anger and violence in them.

We are exposed to so many forms,

Colors,

Sounds,

Smells,

Tastes,

Objects of touch and ideas that are toxic and rob our body and consciousness of their wellbeing.

When you feel despair,

Fear or depression,

It may be because you've ingested too many toxins through your sense impressions.

Not only children need to be protected from violent and unwholesome films,

TV programs,

Books,

Magazines and games,

We too can be destroyed by these media.

If we are mindful,

We will know whether we are ingesting the toxins of fear,

Hatred and violence or eating foods that encourage understanding,

Compassion and the determination to help others.

With the practice of mindfulness,

We will know that hearing this,

Looking at that or touching this,

We feel light and peaceful.

While hearing that,

Looking at this or touching that,

We feel anxious,

Sad or depressed.

As a result,

We will know what to be in contact with and what to avoid.

Our skin protects us from bacteria.

Antibodies protect us from internal invaders.

We have to use the equivalent aspects of our consciousness to protect us from unwholesome sense objects that can poison us.

The Buddha offered this drastic image.

There is a cow with such a terrible skin disease that her skin is almost no longer there.

When you bring her close to an ancient wall or old tree,

All the living creatures in the bark of the tree come out,

Cling to the cow's body and suck.

When we bring her into the water,

The same thing happens.

Even when she is just exposed to the air,

Tiny insects come and suck.

Then the Buddha said,

This is our situation also.

We are exposed to invasions of all kinds,

Images,

Sounds,

Smells,

Touch,

Ideas,

And many of these feed the craving,

Violence,

Fear and despair inside of us.

The Buddha advised us to post a sentinel,

Namely mindfulness,

At each of our sense doors to protect ourselves.

Use your Buddha eyes to look at each nutriment you are about to ingest.

If you see that it is toxic,

Refuse to look at it,

Listen to it,

Taste it or touch it.

Ingest only what you are certain is safe.

The five mindfulness trainings can help very much.

We must come together as individuals,

Families,

Cities,

And a nation to discuss strategies of self-protection and survival.

To get out of the dangerous situation we are in,

The practice of mindfulness has to be collective.

The third kind of nutriment is volition,

Intention,

Or will.

The desire in us to obtain whatever it is that we want.

Volition is the ground of all of our actions.

If we think that the way for us to be happy is to become president of a large corporation,

Everything we do or say will be directed toward realizing that goal.

Even when we sleep,

Our consciousness will continue to work on it.

Or suppose we believe that all of our suffering and the suffering of our family has been brought about by someone who wronged us in the past.

We believe we will only be happy if we inflict harm on that person,

And our life is motivated solely by the desire for revenge.

And everything we say,

Everything we plan is to punish that person.

At night we dream of revenge and we think this will liberate us from our anger and hatred.

Everyone wants to be happy and there is a strong energy in us pushing us towards what we think will make us happy.

But we may suffer a lot because of this.

We need the insight that position,

Revenge,

Wealth,

Fame,

Or possessions are,

More often than not,

Obstacles to our happiness.

We need to cultivate the wish to be free of these things so that we can enjoy the wonders of life that are always available.

The blue sky,

The trees,

Our beautiful children.

After three months or six months of mindful sitting,

Mindful walking and mindful looking,

A deep vision of reality arises in us and the capacity of being there,

Enjoying life in the present moment,

Liberates us from all impulses and brings us real happiness.

One day after the Buddha and a group of monks finished eating lunch mindfully together,

A farmer,

Very agitated,

Came by and asked,

Monks,

Have you seen my cows?

I don't think I can survive so much misfortune.

The Buddha asked him what happened and the man said,

Monks,

This morning all 12 of my cows ran away and this year my whole crop of sesame plants was eaten by insects.

The Buddha said,

Sir,

We have not seen your cows.

Perhaps they have gone in the other direction.

After the farmer went off in that direction,

The Buddha turned to his Sangha and said,

Dear friends,

Do you know that you are the happiest people on earth?

You have no cows or sesame plants to lose.

We always try to accumulate more and more and we think these cows are essential for our existence.

In fact,

They may be the obstacles that prevent us from being happy.

Release your cows and become a free person.

Release your cows so that you can be truly happy.

The Buddha presented another drastic image.

Two strong men are dragging a third man along in order to throw him into a fire pit.

He cannot resist and finally they throw him into the glowing embers.

These strong men,

The Buddha said,

Are our own volition.

We don't want to suffer,

But our deep seated habit energies drag us into the fire of suffering.

The Buddha advised us to look deeply into the nature of our volition to see whether it is pushing us in the direction of liberation,

Peace and compassion or in the direction of suffering and unhappiness.

We need to be able to see the kinds of intention food that we are consuming.

The food of consciousness is the fourth of the four kinds of food.

There are two kinds of consciousness,

The collective and the individual.

The food of consciousness means that we consume consciousness.

There are different kinds of consciousness food.

Some are healthy and nutritive and some are toxic.

In the collective consciousness,

There are many toxic foods such as anger and despair.

If we allow ourselves to consume that kind of food,

We shall be poisoned.

So we should not spend time close to or in a community that has a great deal of hatred and despair.

We need to find a collective consciousness to be with that is not filled with hatred and despair.

We're all day long the people who live there just think about compassion and helping others.

The individual consciousness also has toxins.

The hells,

Hungry ghosts and animal realms are in us.

If we want them to appear,

They can appear right away.

We only need to press a button and a Pandora's box will open.

If we sit there and allow the negative thinking connected to past experiences to come up,

We are eating the toxic matter of consciousness.

Many of us sit and think and the more we think,

The more angry,

Upset and in despair we become.

Nevertheless,

In our consciousness,

Beside the seeds of the gods,

The assurance,

The hell realms,

The hungry ghosts and the animals are the seeds of here.

Disciples self achieved buddhas,

Bodhisattvas and the fully enlightened enlightened buddhas.

We have as many channels in our consciousness as a 10 channel television.

Why do we not push the button of the Buddha or Bodhisattva channel?

Sitting alone,

We push on the hungry ghost or animal channel and we eat the food they produce just like the ruminants chew the cud.

In the past,

We have experienced hatred.

We have been abused and maltreated.

All these events have been buried in our consciousness and we have not been able to transform them.

We chew the cut of our own suffering,

Our despair like the cows chew the regurgitated grass.

Every time we think about being abused,

We're abused once again,

But actually that is not happening now.

It's all over.

Thinking like this,

We can be abused every day.

Even though our childhood may have had a great deal of happiness and sweet moments,

We ruminate on our hatred,

Suffering and despair and this is not healthy food.

Our mindful breathing and steps are able to pull us out of thinking and help us be in touch with the wonderful things of the present moment,

Nourishing us and bringing back the joy of being alive.

We are happy as we walk,

Happy as we sit and happy as we eat when we know how to stay in the present moment and stop the thinking.

The Buddha offered another dramatic image to illustrate this.

A dangerous murderer was captured and brought before the king and the king sentenced him to death by stabbing.

Take him to the courtyard and plunge 300 sharp knives through him.

At noon,

A guard reported,

Majesty,

He is still alive and the king declared,

Stab him 300 more times.

In the evening,

The guard again said to the king,

Majesty,

He's not yet dead.

So the king gave the third order,

Plunge the 300 sharpest knives in the kingdom through him.

Then the Buddha said,

This is how we usually deal with our consciousness.

Every time we ruminate on the past,

It is like stabbing ourselves with a sharp knife.

We suffer and our suffering spills out to those around us.

When we practice the first turning of the first noble truth,

We recognize suffering as suffering.

If we are in a difficult relationship,

We recognize this is a difficult relationship.

Our practice is to be with our suffering and take good care of it.

When we practice the first turning of the second noble truth,

We look deeply into the nature of our suffering to see what kinds of nutriments we've been feeding it.

How have we lived in the last few years,

In the last few months that has contributed to our suffering?

We need to recognize and identify the nutriments we ingest and observe.

When I think like this,

Speak like that,

Listen like this or act like that,

My suffering increases.

Until we begin to practice the second noble truth,

We tend to blame others for our unhappiness.

Looking deeply requires courage.

You can use a pencil and paper if you like.

During sitting meditation,

If you see clearly a symptom of your suffering,

Write it down.

Then ask yourself what kinds of nutriments have I been ingesting that have fed and sustained the suffering?

When you begin to realize the kinds of nutriments you've been ingesting,

You may cry.

Use the energy of mindfulness all day long to be truly present,

To embrace your suffering like a mother holding her baby.

As long as mindfulness is there,

You can stay with the difficulty.

Practice does not mean using only your own mindfulness,

Concentration and wisdom.

You also have to benefit from the mindfulness,

Concentration and wisdom of friends on the path and your teacher.

There are things that even a child can see,

But we ourselves cannot see because we are imprisoned by our own notions.

Bring what you have written to a friend and ask for his or her observations and insights.

If you sit with a friend and speak openly,

Determined to discover the roots of your suffering,

Eventually you will see them clearly.

But if you keep your suffering to yourself,

It might grow bigger every day.

Just seeing the causes of your suffering lessens your burden.

Shri Putra,

One of the Buddha's great disciples said,

When something takes place,

If we look at it deeply in the heart of reality,

Seeing its source and the food that nourishes it,

We are already on the path of liberation.

When we are able to identify our suffering and see its causes,

We will have more peace and joy and we are already on the path to liberation.

In the second stage of the second noble truth,

Encouragement,

We see clearly that real happiness is possible if we can stop ingesting the nutriments that cause us to suffer.

If we know that our body is suffering because of the way we eat,

Sleep or work,

We vow to eat,

Sleep or work in ways that are healthier.

We encourage ourselves to put an end to the causes of our suffering.

Only by a strong intention not to do things in the same way can we keep the wheel in motion.

Mindfulness is the energy that can help us stop.

We investigate the kinds of nutriments we now ingest and decide which ones to continue to eat and which to resist.

We sit and look together with our friends,

With our family.

And as a community,

Mindfulness of ingestion,

Protecting our body and mind,

Protecting our families,

Society,

Excuse me,

And the environment are important topics for us to discuss.

When we direct our attention toward our suffering,

We see our potential for happiness.

We see the nature of suffering and the way out.

That is why the Buddha called suffering a holy truth.

When we use the word suffering in Buddhism,

We mean the kind of suffering that can show us the way out.

There are many practices that can help us face our suffering,

Including mindful walking,

Mindful breathing,

Mindful sitting,

Mindful eating,

Mindful looking and mindful listening.

One mindful step can take us deep into the realization of beauty and joy in us and around us.

Tran Thi Thong,

A great meditation master of 13th century Vietnam,

Said,

With every step you touch the ground of reality.

If you practice mindful walking and deep listening all day long,

That is the four noble truths in action.

When the cause of suffering has been seen,

Healing is possible.

We vow to refrain from ingesting foods that make us suffer,

And we also vow to ingest foods that are healthy and wholesome.

In the third turning of the wheel of the second noble truth,

Realization,

We not only vow,

But we actually stop ingesting the nutriments that create our suffering.

Some people think that to end suffering,

You have to stop everything body feelings,

Perceptions,

Mental formations and consciousness,

But that is not correct.

The third stage of the second noble truth can be described as when hungry,

I eat when tired,

I sleep.

When someone has realized the stage,

She has a certain lightness and freedom.

What she wants to do is fully in accord with the mindfulness trainings and she does nothing to cause herself or others harm.

Confucius said at 30 I was able to stand on my own feet.

At 40 I had no more doubts.

At 50 I knew the mandate of earth and sky.

At 60 I could do what I wanted without going against the path.

The last of the 10 ox herding pictures in the Zen tradition is called entering the marketplace with open hands.

You are free to come and go as you please.

This is the action of non action.

Suffering no longer arises.

This stage is not something you can imitate.

You have to reach the stage of realization within yourself.

At the end of the 19th century in Vietnam,

Master Nhat Dinh asked the king for permission to retire from being abbot of a national temple so that he could live in a mountain hut and take care of his aging mother.

Many officials made offerings to the master and begged him to found another temple,

But he preferred to live simply in great peace and joy.

One day his mother fell ill and needed fish to eat.

He went down to the marketplace,

Asked some vendors for a fish and carried it back up the mountain.

Onlookers asked,

What is a Buddhist monk doing with a fish?

But someone of Master Nhat Dinh's realization could do as he pleased without going against the precepts.

At the third stage of the second noble truth,

You only have to be yourself.

The form is not important,

But be careful.

First there has to be genuine insight,

Genuine freedom.

So in the first chapter we read in chapter 6,

This whole section is dealing with the four noble truths.

That there is suffering,

There's a cause of suffering,

If there's a cause of suffering,

There's an end of suffering,

And that there's a particular path one can take to end their suffering.

That's our conceptual mind,

Understanding what was the Buddha talking about.

And now Thich Nhat Hanh is really getting into what are the practices we need in order to put the four noble truths into effect in our life.

What I want to back up and say is that these are happening for us already whether we're practicing Buddhism or not.

You can think of a time in your life where you were suffering,

Something you were doing in your life was wrong,

Maybe you were eating poorly and you went to the doctor and the doctor said you have high cholesterol and because you knew you had high cholesterol you went home and you researched it and then you stopped eating in this certain way and your cholesterol started to get better.

We are already acting out the four noble truths in our lives,

But we're often not doing some of the preliminary stages that would immediately allow us greater access to the insight that comes from the four noble truths.

And that's what Thich Nhat Hanh was talking about in chapter six.

We need to stop,

We need to calm ourselves,

And we need to find rest.

Once we've done that,

Then we can start working more deeply with these four noble truths.

So this chapter really dealt with the first and the second noble truth and these three aspects to those.

And so the three aspects to each noble truth they are recognizing,

Encouraging,

And realizing.

And so each noble truth has a turning of the dharma wheel,

That's basically what he's talking about.

And he focuses on that if we want to find peace,

The first thing we really need is to bring mindfulness into every area of our life.

And what often happens in the West,

I feel like my experience working with people in my own mind from my own experience,

Has been that we right away want to just stop our thinking.

We want to go to a place of,

Okay,

No thought,

I don't have to look at my suffering,

I don't have to deal with anything,

And we think that's meditation.

And what Thich Nhat Hanh is saying is that actually meditation is first looking closely at what is causing us to suffer.

And once we look closely at what is causing us to suffer,

Then from there we're able to start noticing that we can actually see those causes,

We see that our suffering exists,

We see what the causes are,

And that's the moment in time that a flower blooms and we can feel inspired.

We can say,

I don't have to feel shame and guilt for causing my own suffering,

Instead I can feel that this is the path to my freedom.

I see that I've caused my own suffering,

So I see that I can stop causing my own suffering.

And when you work in that way,

You can start to move towards the third and fourth noble truth,

Which is to step onto the path of well-being.

And so that's the last chapter.

And of course,

He's also talking a lot about our habit energies.

What we say we want to do and what we actually do are often in a misalignment.

And we have to look at these ways that we're feeding ourselves.

What are our intentions in life?

What do we value?

What is our own moral code that we stand by?

We need to have clarity in those things.

How do we feed ourselves in the ways we feed ourselves through our sense organs?

What kind of movies,

TVs do we watch?

What kind of food do we eat?

These are all questions that we need to look deeply at.

And that in itself is a practice of the four noble truths.

Chapter eight.

This is a shorter chapter.

It's our last chapter today.

So I'll get started.

Realizing well-being.

When we have a toothache,

We know that not having a toothache is happiness.

But later,

When we don't have a toothache,

We don't treasure our non-toothache.

This is so true.

Practicing mindfulness helps us learn to appreciate the well-being that is already there.

With mindfulness,

We treasure our happiness and can make it last longer.

I always ask psychotherapists,

Why do you only talk to your clients about suffering?

Why not help them touch the seeds of happiness that are also there?

Psychotherapists need to help their patients be in touch with the third noble truth,

The cessation of suffering.

I encourage them to practice walking meditation and tea meditation with their patients in order to water the seeds of joy in them.

Please ask yourself,

What nourishes joy in me?

What nourishes joy in others?

Do I nourish joy in myself and others enough?

These are questions about the third noble truth,

The cessation of suffering.

Well-being is available if you know how to enjoy the precious jewels you already have.

You have eyes that can see,

Lungs that can breathe,

Legs that can walk,

And lips that can smile.

When you are suffering,

Look deeply at your situation and find the conditions for happiness that are already there,

Already available.

When we begin the first stage of the third noble truth,

We already have some happiness,

But we are not exactly aware of it.

We are free,

But we don't know that we are free.

When we are young,

We are strong and healthy,

But we don't appreciate it.

Even if someone tries to tell us,

We cannot realize what we have.

Only when we have difficulty walking do we realize how wonderful it was to have two healthy legs.

The first turning of the third noble truth is the recognition of the possibility of the absence of suffering and the presence of peace.

If we do not have peace and joy at this moment,

We can at least remember some peace and joy we experienced in the past or observe the peace and joy of others.

We see that well-being is possible.

The second turning is to encourage ourselves to find peace and joy.

If you want to garden,

You have to bend down and touch the soil.

Gardening is a practice,

Not an idea.

To practice the four noble truths,

You yourself have to touch deeply the things that bring you peace and joy.

When you do,

You realize that walking on the earth is a miracle.

Washing the dishes is a miracle and practicing with a community of friends is a miracle.

The greatest miracle is to be alive.

We can put an end to our suffering just by realizing that our suffering is not worth suffering for.

How many people kill themselves because of rage or despair?

In that moment,

They do not see the vast happiness that is available.

Mindfulness puts an end to such a limited perspective.

The Buddha faced his own suffering directly and discovered the path of liberation.

Don't run away from things that are unpleasant in order to embrace things that are pleasant.

Put your hands in the earth.

Face the difficulties that grow new happiness and grow new happiness.

One student told me,

When I go to parties,

People seem to be enjoying themselves.

But when I look beneath the surface,

I see so much anxiety and suffering there.

At first,

Your joy is limited,

Especially the kind of joy that is just covering up suffering.

Embrace your suffering,

Smile to it,

And discover the source of happiness that is right there within it.

Buddhas and bodhisattvas suffer too.

The difference between them and us is that they know how to transform their suffering into joy and compassion.

Like good organic gardeners,

They do not discriminate in favor of the flowers or against the garbage.

They know how to transform garbage into flowers.

Don't throw away your suffering.

Touch your suffering,

Face it directly,

And your joy will become deeper.

You know that suffering and joy are both impermanent.

Learn the art of cultivating joy.

Practice like this,

And you come to the third turning of the third noble truth,

The realization that suffering and happiness are not two.

When you reach this stage,

Your joy is no longer fragile.

It is true joy.

The fourth noble truth is the way out of suffering.

First,

The doctor looks deeply into the nature of our suffering.

Then she confirms that the removal of our pain is possible,

And she prescribes a way out.

Practicing the first turning of the wheel of the fourth noble truth,

We recognize that the eightfold path—right view,

Right thinking,

Right speech,

Right action,

Right livelihood,

Right diligence,

Right mindfulness,

And right concentration—can lead us out of suffering,

But we do not yet know how to practice it.

In the second turning,

We encourage ourselves to practice this path.

This is realized by learning,

Reflecting,

And practicing.

As we learn,

Whether by reading,

Listening,

Or discussing,

We need to be open so we can see ways to put what we learn into practice.

If learning is not followed by reflecting and practicing,

It is not true learning.

In this stage,

We see that the path has everything to do with our real difficulties in life.

A practice that does not concern our real suffering is not a path we need.

Many people are awakened during a difficult period in their lives,

When they see that living irresponsibly has been the cause of their suffering,

And that by transforming their lifestyle,

They can bring an end to their suffering.

Transformation is gradual,

But once we see clearly the causes of our suffering,

We can make the effort to change our behavior and bring our suffering to an end.

If we are aware that our heart is not working well,

And that alcohol,

Cigarettes,

And cholesterol are causes of this,

We try to stop ingesting these.

In the second stage of the path,

There is an increase in freedom every day.

The path becomes real as we put it into practice,

What we have learned.

The Buddha advised us to identify the kinds of nutriments that have been feeding our pain,

And then simply to stop ingesting them.

We do our best,

And we ask our brothers and sisters to help us.

We can't expect our difficulties to go away by themselves.

We have to do certain things and not do other things.

The moment we resolve to stop feeding our suffering,

A path appears in front of us,

Which is the Noble Eightfold Path to Well-Being.

The Buddha is a physician.

That is why he invited us to bring our suffering to him.

We are also physicians.

We must be determined to transform our difficulties to confirm that well-being is possible.

The Buddha identified the Noble Eightfold Path to Well-Being and urged us to follow it.

The third turning of the wheel of the fourth Noble Truth is the realization that we are practicing this path.

When you are assigned a Koam by your meditation instructor,

Such as,

What is the sound of one hand clapping or why did the Bodhidharma come from the West?

You have to ask yourself,

What does this have to do with my real suffering,

My depression,

My fear,

Or my anger?

If it doesn't have anything to do with these real problems,

It may not be the path you need.

It may be just an escape.

Practice your Koam in a way that your suffering is transformed.

This is suffering.

This suffering needs to be seen clearly.

The roots of the suffering need to be clearly understood.

I have seen the suffering.

I have seen how it manifests.

I have seen its content and its attributes.

These are practices,

Not mere proclamations.

Understanding things as they are,

Emerges from our life and our practice.

When the monk Gavampati heard his fellow monks say,

Whoever sees suffering,

Sees the making of suffering,

The ending of suffering,

And the path.

He added,

With my own ears,

I have heard the Buddha say,

Bhikkhus,

Whoever sees suffering,

Sees the making of suffering,

The ending of suffering,

And the path that leads to the end of suffering.

Whoever sees the making of suffering,

Sees suffering,

The end of suffering,

And the path.

Whoever sees the ending of suffering,

Sees suffering,

The making of suffering,

And the path.

Whoever sees the path that leads to the end of suffering,

Sees suffering,

The making of suffering,

And the ending of suffering.

Interbeing is an important characteristic of all of the Buddha's teachings.

When you touch one,

You touch all.

It is important to understand the interbeing nature of the Four Noble Truths.

When we look deeply into any one of the Four Truths,

We see the other three.

When we look deeply into the Truth of Suffering,

We see how that suffering came to be.

When we look deeply into the Truth of Suffering,

We see how to end that suffering and touch well-being.

When we look deeply into the Truth of Suffering,

We see the efficacy of the path.

Looking into the First Holy Truth,

We see in it the Second,

Third,

And Fourth Truths.

The Four Noble Truths are one.

We need suffering in order to see the path.

The origin of suffering,

The cessation of suffering,

And the path leading to the cessation of suffering are all found in the heart of suffering.

If we are afraid to touch our suffering,

We will not be able to realize the path of peace,

Joy,

And liberation.

Don't run away.

Touch your suffering and embrace it.

Make peace with it.

The Buddha said,

The moment you know how your suffering came to be,

You are already on the path of release from it.

If you know what has come to be and how it has come to be,

You are already on the way to emancipation.

Let us reframe the Four Noble Truths.

Cessation,

The Third Noble Truth,

Means the absence of suffering,

Which is the presence of well-being.

Instead of saying cessation,

We can simply say well-being.

If we do that,

We can call the Fourth Noble Truth,

The Noble Eightfold Path that leads to well-being.

Then,

Instead of just calling the Second Noble Truth the origin of suffering,

We can say that there is an ignoble Eightfold Path that leads to suffering,

A path of eight wrong practices,

Wrong view,

Wrong thinking,

Wrong speech,

Wrong action,

Wrong livelihood,

Wrong diligence,

Wrong mindfulness,

And wrong concentration.

We might like to renumber the Four Noble Truths as follows for the benefit of the people of our time.

One,

Well-being.

This is traditionally number three,

The cessation of suffering.

Two,

The Noble Eightfold Path that leads to well-being,

Traditionally number four.

Three,

Suffering,

Traditionally number one.

And four,

The Noble Eightfold Path that leads to suffering,

Traditionally number two,

Arising of suffering.

If we live according to the Noble Eightfold Path,

We cultivate well-being and our life will be filled with joy,

Ease,

And wonder.

But if our path is not noble,

If there is craving,

Hatred,

Ignorance,

And fear in the way we live our daily life,

If we practice the ignoble Eightfold Path,

Suffering will naturally be the outcome.

The practice is to face our suffering and transform it in order to bring about well-being.

We need to study the Noble Eightfold Path and learn ways to put it into practice in our daily lives.

And that's what comes next.

We'll be studying the Noble Eightfold Path from here forward.

So chapter eight really dealt with the third and the fourth Noble Truth.

And I want to elaborate on it and I also don't want to elaborate on it because my experience tells me that most of us aren't ready for the third and fourth Noble Truth until we have really built up the courage to face our suffering.

I want to also say that facing our suffering,

Although scary,

Although terrifying in some cases,

Is that path to liberation.

But it's not something you can conceptualize.

You have to practice it for yourself.

But in order to face our suffering in healthy ways,

Because it may bring about tears,

Anxiety,

Feelings of depression,

The body may respond in a stressed out physiological way.

This is why the preliminary stages are to find out how to stop,

How to rest,

And how to calm ourselves.

When we can do that,

As we touch our suffering,

As we move towards our suffering rather than away from it,

We have the capacity to remain in this restful space even though we may be crying,

Even though we may feel fear,

Even though negative memories may be coming to the surface.

And the second thing to do from that is to learn that it's not about reliving.

It's about letting go of the past.

So I love this story about forgiveness.

It's like we don't want to just forgive somebody because forgiving somebody is to hold on to what it is they did to us in the first place.

We actually want to forget we were harmed at all.

And that doesn't mean we forget the lessons we were learned from the harm.

It just means we stop replaying that harm over and over and over again.

Just a reminder that I'm recording these teachings.

I'm putting them on Insight Timer as audios and I'm also putting them on YouTube on our Mindful Island YouTube channel.

So if you didn't hear the first one,

You can go to the first one and re-listen to it.

And then of course this is number two.

But before we go any further,

Because I don't like to take this much longer than an hour,

I want to make sure we do a short contemplation together and then after that I will give you some questions that I would offer for you to sit with for the week to begin to put these practices into effect inside of our own hearts.

That's the purpose of this work we're doing here together.

We're coming together as a community,

As a Sangha,

And we're helping each other stoke the fire of walking this path of opening our hearts to the Buddhist teachings.

And it isn't easy.

The suffering that we have to touch,

I've done it myself in so many ways.

It can be very very scary.

I was just talking to my family about this before this moment in time about an experience in my life where I was suffering deeply and I wasn't just suffering.

Because of my suffering,

I was causing everyone to suffer.

And so when we are able to look at that without fear,

It's okay.

It's okay that I suffered and it's okay that I hurt other people if I'm able to look at it authentically and honestly.

Then I can authentically love myself regardless and I can authentically apologize to the people that I hurt.

And in that way,

I begin to lift the suffering.

Tears may still come,

That's okay.

That's part of it.

But I feel lighter as a result of the tears rather than heavier and this is what I wish for all of us.

Let's sit wherever you are.

Walking,

Lying down,

Sitting.

Either close your eyes or keep them open but allow your vision to soften and even feel as though you turn from outside inside like the eyes themselves flip around and you're no longer looking out but you're beginning the process of looking in.

For just a few breath cycles,

Allow yourself to fully experience this moment in its entirety.

Noticing any sounds around you,

Noticing temperature,

Anything you may see internally or externally.

Don't push anything away.

Feel the rhythm of your breath and be fully present for each next inhale and each next exhale.

Not as your sole focus but as one piece of the greater reality.

The anchor that holds you in this moment.

Begin to scan your body from the crown of your head down to the tips of your toes.

Notice any pains you may feel.

Notice any areas of relaxation or joy that may exist and notice any neutral feelings or numbness that may be present.

Scanning yourself from the crown of your head down to the tips of your toes to the tips of your fingers.

Try to expand your mind like a flashlight broadening and broadening as you begin to bring every part of yourself into view.

Regardless of what you see,

Begin to relax.

Notice where there is tension and spend time exploring that area of your body as you work to soften from the skin inwards,

Relaxing the muscles of the face,

Noticing tension in the neck and releasing it,

Letting the shoulders soften and moving your mind across your body as you encourage every area to let go of its grip,

To let go of its tension and in this way to release your physical body of striving for anything more than what is right now.

Whatever happens is okay.

Maybe parts of your body relax and maybe parts resist rather than creating more tension,

More stress by worrying about the lack of letting go.

Simply allow everything to be okay as you continue to practice relaxing your body,

Your eyes,

Your face,

Even your mind is an area to be relaxed and softened.

Feel the beat of your heart.

Feel the movement of your lungs.

Notice how when you stop doing,

You're finally able to recognize that life is happening to you,

That things are being done.

Look at your thoughts with gentleness.

Touch your emotions with kindness.

Do not push anything away.

Imagine that you are able to extend your heart outward.

Work to cultivate this feeling that everything is welcome here.

Everything is okay in this moment.

You are safe.

You have stopped and in that way you are able to accept things exactly as they are and then continue to relax,

Continue to let go.

If you feel lonely,

Remember we are here with you.

We are practicing with you.

Do not be afraid to open yourself to the art of allowing things to be as they are.

You are not alone.

Deepen your breath.

Breathe deeply,

Slowly,

Quietly.

Acknowledge what a blessing each next breath is.

As you breathe,

Notice what hurts.

Notice what is challenging.

Don't look away from anything.

Ask yourself what is wrong in your life right now.

What are you suffering from?

Be real with yourself.

Be honest in this next relaxed moment and allow your mind to rest here as you breathe deeply and slowly and quietly.

Everything is okay.

You are a perfect human being.

You are valuable and lovable.

You are a gift to this planet.

It is okay to feel pain.

It is okay to have suffered.

Let go of these expectations of yourself to be perfect,

To have experienced no pain.

Look into the very heart of what hurts like a loving mother looks at her beautiful newborn child.

Hold your suffering with those arms,

The arms of open,

Compassionate,

Unconditional,

Endless love.

Let go of the experience.

Now we're in this next moment.

The eyes,

Maybe they blink open and you come back to this space we share to end quickly and suddenly,

Even though that feels maybe perhaps rushed.

I definitely don't want to keep you on this beautiful Sunday.

I'm in California right now,

This beautiful Sunday,

So sunny.

Let me leave you with some practices for the week.

The first practice,

I of course left you with some practices last week.

I hope that you had an opportunity to do them.

If you weren't with me last week,

Again,

You can find these recordings and you can do those practices.

Very helpful in our lives to have this opportunity to reflect.

You can use a journal.

For this week,

I would like you to write down all of the ways that you are feeding yourself,

That you are feeding yourself that could be causing your suffering.

I want you to be really specific.

The TV programs that you watch,

What you listen to,

The podcasts you listen to,

The audio books you listen to,

The meditations you listen to,

The music you listen to.

But go deeper.

What do you look at?

What are you reading?

The emotions you continue to play in your mind.

What is the story you're telling yourself on a regular basis?

The intentions you have for your life?

What do you value?

What does a good life mean to you?

And one of these things is likely causing you more harm than it is allowing you to heal.

So do this investigation in a mindful way.

Be curious without judgment.

Rather than seeing yourself as bad for these things,

I really want you to frame it as seeing this as freeing information.

This is actually required information to get to that next level.

We have to look deeply at what we are doing to cause our own suffering.

And once you know what you're doing to cause your own pain,

Then you have the chance to transform.

And maybe you don't believe that yet,

But if you're here with me now,

We're practicing.

We're not pretending like we already know.

We're practicing and we're looking to see,

Did this have a positive effect or not?

So this week,

The practice is to write down every way you are feeding yourself in every direction that could be causing you to suffer.

And if you want to look more into it,

It's called the four nutriments.

You can read about it online,

What the four nutriments are,

And then really,

Nutriment by nutriment,

How are you feeding yourself that could be causing your own suffering?

After you've done this,

The second practice for the week that I'd like you to do is I would like you to go to a very trusted friend,

Family member,

Or teacher and take them what you have written down and share this with them.

And listen to their feedback.

So this is a way for us to expand outside of ourselves.

In the West,

We're so isolated,

We're so lonely,

And we have to be able to expand into a community that supports our upliftment and our healing.

So seek out a teacher,

Maybe it's a psychologist or a therapist,

Or some other person in your life who you respect,

Whose opinion you value,

And go to them with what you have written down and ask them for their feedback.

And so that is practice number two.

So practice number one,

Look into the four nutriments,

Really be specific.

How are you feeding your own suffering potentially?

Even how are you feeding yourself in total?

And then how may some of those things be contributing to your suffering?

Don't look away,

Cry if you need to.

And then number two,

Take that to someone,

Take that to someone that you trust and love.

But Sarah,

What if I have nobody that I trust and love?

This is the moment in time.

And I love this practice.

I wish I had learned a bit earlier in my own self healing journey.

The practice of sitting down and visualizing a community of people meditating with you,

Sit down and see the Buddha,

The Sangha,

See everyone that you can imagine because you aren't alone.

Even if you may not have someone right next to you.

There are people all over the world holding these teachings in their heart and meditating along with you.

So you can sit with yourself,

You can sit with what you've written,

And you can visualize yourself reaching out to those people and telling them and listen in to what they may have to say.

So it doesn't have to be a real person.

It can even be a pet,

Honestly.

Okay,

So those are the two practices again,

Looking at the four nutriments,

How you're feeding yourself,

How that may be causing your own suffering,

And then taking it to someone real or imagined and consulting in what you have written.

Again,

That was chapters six through eight in the heart of the Buddha's teachings.

I think it shows backwards when I show it,

But by Thich Nhat Hanh,

Next week we dive,

We start diving into the Noble Eightfold Path.

So if we really want to step on this path,

If we really want to eliminate our suffering for good for the rest of our lives,

Then this Noble Eightfold Path are the practices we need to start putting into place.

So we will begin to investigate those deeply.

I'm Sarah Satie.

I really appreciate your time.

I really appreciate spending these moments with you.

This is as much for me as it is for you and me building a sense of community and stopping the feeling of isolation.

So I really appreciate you being present with me.

Again,

You can find these recordings on YouTube,

Mindful Island,

YouTube channel,

Or on my Insight Timer page,

Sarah Satie on Insight Timer.

Thank you so much.

I hope you have a beautiful Sunday and I hope that you are able to touch the heart of your own suffering.

Yes,

The Four Nutriments,

Martin,

Consult or visualize with your community.

Yes,

Beautiful.

Thank you so much.

So many blessings to you.

Until next time,

Live mindfully,

Be well.