Transcription
Hello everyone, I wish you always have lots of peaceful energy and your heart is always full of love. [Music] Love is the survival instinct and the self-defense instinct, but because we do not have enough internal energy to think, our awareness is no longer sharp and accurate. As a result, we react unnecessarily, even extremely sensitively. Every day, we live in that negative energy. We rarely realize that we often think of afflictions as sadness and melancholy, like when you're angry, lonely, lost, competitive, or when you hate someone. Those are afflictions, but the truth is, afflictions also cover the desire for things that require our desires. Any concept in our mind is born with the nature of making us uneasy, tired, stressed, and even miserable. Those are all afflictions, but we rarely consider them as such. We don't understand anything about our afflictions at all or know only a little. Usually, when we fail, lose, or are angered by others who blame us, only then do we begin to sit down and look back at ourselves. We see very clearly the pain and suffering inside ourselves. We see the awkward reactions and inappropriate behaviors.
I'm cute, but because I don't understand the technical things, there needs to be a technique and a certain method so that we can see the faces of our afflictions. It's not easy to see them, so even if we look back, we won't be able to see them. We only see it on the surface, or sometimes it's not true at all. We're just guessing. Even if we can identify the affliction or not, we can't call it by its correct name, or we can't observe it. It still continues to operate in its own way, continues to influence the quality of our lives, and continues to make us uncomfortable, frustrated, and miserable.
Let's think about it. If we grasp this and that, we will achieve our ambitions. We complete our projects successfully. We have many things, but are we happy? When our mind is always insecure, always full of suspicion, full of fear, and always lonely, if we can't share it with anyone, no one can understand us, then the things we have don't mean anything anymore. We are miscalculating our lives. Buddha said that it's because we spend it. If we spend a lot of time making our mind peaceful and solving the afflictions in our mind, we do the paradox that we try to accumulate as much as possible, regardless of what our mind has fluctuated or damaged. As a result, we have many things that we are not happy about. We cannot be happy not because we do not have this or that; we have a lot, but we are not happy because we do not have the feeling.
If you want to see an object that makes you happy, then you must have a feeling. For example, when you eat and it feels delicious, then you can see that food is a condition of happiness. You sit next to your loved one and feel warm and peaceful, protecting you and feeling like that; then your loved one is a condition for happiness. But now our feeling mechanism no longer works well; it is frozen like a hoe handle, so it can't feel anything. There are many things that can't be felt. That's our common situation right now. We complain. We don't have happiness, not because we lack the conditions for happiness, but because we lack the ability to feel the conditions we want to feel.
Our mind must relax; it must be relaxed, it must reside in the present, it must be at peace. But our mind is always agitated, always restless, always sudden, always full of depression. How can we feel when we are worried? So it seems like we are going in the wrong direction. We ignore what happens in our souls or consciously realize it. We are not strong enough to make a big decision to turn inside to save ourselves. We are still very patient. I really believe that when I complete this project, I will be happy. I have conquered that object, then that's it. Even if we are happy, we also have happiness, but it is very short-lived. Immediately after that, there are sorrows, worries, and fears.
We often think that we have no problem at all. We are very, very fine until an incident occurs, an accident strikes. When we are surrounded by adversity, we know that we are not okay at all. We are so overwhelmed with panic and even directionlessness that our stability is based on favorable conditions because the situation is okay. Everyone around is okay, work is okay, and the beloved is conditionally okay. When one of those conditions is unstable, the job is no longer favorable, and the beloved no longer cares enough for me, then I am also unstable. Often, when we are betrayed by others or lose business, when we fail, we know we are unstable. There's really almost no point to hang on. We panic, not understanding why. Before, we were very stable, but it only took one big blow to see.
When the meditators come to the meditation center for the first few days, they find that they are very good. They like it very much because before that, they lived in a very tiring condition. The situation was very disturbing, so they went to a quiet place, being separated from the outside world, picking up the phone, and being in contact with a gentle and lovely person who practices mindfulness and awareness. They really like it, but if it comes to Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, they can't stay another day. Moreover, they find that they are very unstable and don't know where they are. There is a lot of sadness in their hearts, a lot of painful pasts flooding back, and a lot of bad future prospects coming up. They are starting to have to face the real things in their minds. They are afflictions: greed, anger, ignorance. It has to wait until Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to start getting angry. It waits for the moment when you can no longer use your will.
Because we often use our will—the will to comfort ourselves and remind ourselves to oppress ourselves—until we are no longer able to enjoy the magical values around us anymore. Then the afflictions come out, and we feel uncomfortable. Doubtful people don't understand why because they are within themselves. There are such strange things, very dark thoughts, very quick and sensitive reactions, and actions that are very clumsy and childish. All of those things we have created in our everyday lives, but we don't have the opportunity to see them. They are still hiding there, constantly influencing us. But because of our mind, it has an object to grasp, an attractive object there. The outside world lets it rely on us, so we think we don't have a problem.
There are so many compliments, congratulations, words of love, and pleasant feelings on the outside. As long as it is an opportunity for us to face ourselves, to see clearly our own reality, how much do we keep it? When you take all of those things out, put your job aside and your loved one aside, temporarily put everything aside, and come back to face yourself, it's not okay at all. It's even extremely unstable. There are many things. They had to spend a month in the monastery before they knew it was them suffering from very severe psychological trauma, even having symptoms similar to depression. Psychologists in the West say that we all suffer from depression, either severe or mild. So is it true? In fact, we don't have much knowledge about depression, so we can understand that depression is something very terrible.
Of course, depression is also divided into many different levels, and maybe we don't fall into too severe cases, but it still doesn't mean we don't have any psychological problems. Psychological deviations that Buddha once called "yin diseases." Those who don't have mental illness say they have mental illness; it sounds softer and easier to accept. Feeling a bit scary means there is a period when we tolerate our afflictions. We ignore it; we let it show our emotions; we let it act comfortably and leave it alone for too long a time, and we always live in that negative energy. Thinking is also negative, speaking is also negative, acting is also negative, and then we accept that it is a part of who we are by default. We make allowances for the situation in this person or that person to come out.
So even though we find ourselves having erratic reactions and some very strange reactions, we don't have the courage to go to a doctor to ask for help to get those toxic energies out. Those who decide to go to a meditation center to face themselves, to clearly see the wounds in their hearts, I think that person must be very courageous to be able to do it. Even if they only come for 3 days, 7 days, or 10 days, it is better than staying outside. All we use is to find a way to forget. We rush into work to forget our sufferings, our pain. We try to find someone to love or someone to love us to have pleasant, comfortable feelings to forget the wound in our hearts.
Going to a charity center, putting work aside, leaving our loved ones aside, and facing ourselves directly is not an easy decision at all, but it is a very right and bitter decision. When we interact with the people around us and see that they have emotional problems, sudden changes in happiness and sadness, constantly being vulnerable, easily angry, and not wanting to connect with anyone, they are also suspicious and dangerous objects. I see something very abnormal in them that we can't name. They don't know what's wrong with them. It's so much that we think it's normal because everyone is the same. Even we are the same, so we feel depressed. Feeling sick is normal.
We have to wait until a stroke of heaven or a lucky accident to wake up and see how dangerous our condition is. Then we will have the courage to go see a doctor, looking for an environment to cure us. We live with afflictions every day, not just every day, but every hour. Even though we don't suffer from severe depression, we rarely do anything, say something, or think about something without being bothered by it. It's all because, as I said, affliction is not just anger, explosive reactions, hatred, or sadness, but what makes you insecure is affliction. It comes from inside; all you need is a want. You want something, no matter how small. Wanting it still makes you tense, uncomfortable, and insecure. That is still affliction. Whatever makes us uneasy and comes from within us is affliction.
We live with afflictions for so long, and we identify with them. We think that it's normal; everyone has afflictions, so we must have afflictions too. There's no need to treat it; there's no need for it. We have to deal with it and get to the point where we accept suffering as normal. Everyone suffers; no one living in this life doesn't suffer, so we don't need to solve our suffering. While if you take the trouble to observe, even in life, there are people who have the ability to escape suffering. They have the ability to control their emotions, negative energies, and afflictions. There are people who live without being controlled by afflictions, and the Buddha is a representative of the birth of virtue.
Buddha gives us a belief that we can completely live outside of the control of afflictions, to go beyond afflictions and not be controlled by them. Buddha used the word "liberation." Liberation does not mean being born into a realm. Liberation means not being restrained by afflictions. To be or be free, that state is very wonderful. Buddha said it is a hundred thousand times more wonderful than the objects that we grasp because when we grasp the objects, we are chained right to them. In object binding, to love something is to want to possess, to want chains, to want to bind. While humans can completely achieve one ability, which is freedom, which is liberation right now. The Buddha wants us all to achieve those abilities. Then you will see how beautiful this life is when we are not controlled by afflictions.
In fact, even if we do not practice anything, there are still times when we are lucky enough to achieve a few moments without afflictions, controlling without greed, anger, or ignorance. We see that this life is beautiful; everyone is so cute. We want to love everyone; we want to live deeply, in a valuable and useful way for life. We want to let go of all anger, all stubbornness, and forgive all those who have made us suffer. [Music] But when troubles are present, we find life boring. Everyone has problems, and we want to find a world of our own. We begin to have joy, believing that there is a place where we are filled with people.
Sadness, I ask you, suppose there is such a place, can you be sure that you will enjoy happiness? Because as we said, no matter how our mind is, we will look up at reality. If your mind is still troubled, that world, no matter how beautiful it is, how sparkling it is, no matter how magical it is, will be very miserable. But on the contrary, Buddha said we don't need to search anywhere, right here, right here, now, at this moment. If you can let go of your afflictions, if you can let go of your afflictions. Of course, the word "if" is so vast that if you can let go of it, then this place is Nirvana; this place is paradise.
This is just a grave, so the Buddha told you to stop trying to change others. Even if you could do that, you still wouldn't be happy because we can't change everyone. Without this person, others will also do something against our will. If it's not this person, it's also someone else who brings contradictory things to us. Don't try to change the situation. Don't blame the situation. Don't ignore the situation. Go back and change yourself. Change your view of things. Another way is to change our afflictions and transform our afflictions. Only when we have that belief, that Right View, will we have enough motivation to turn inside to transform.
If we still believe that happiness is due to circumstances, that happiness is brought by others, and that suffering also comes from the suffering situation and from the people, then we still do not have enough ability to find ourselves to clean up the trash inside. So do we have that Right View? I myself have been practicing meditation for over 15 years, but there are still times when I am controlled by afflictions. Usually, those are times when I have to deal with too many problems and consume a lot of energy. Your energy and mindfulness are not strong enough for it to recognize its own situation.
Another way is to turn inward. Its frequency is lower than turning outward to chase success or failure, but luckily because I have been practicing goodness for many years, inside of me, it has an automatic mechanism that alerts me to know what is wrong with me. Although that alarm does not clearly indicate what is wrong with me, it warns that there is an instability in the practice of having something very unstable and needs to stop and turn inside to find out what it is. Even when I can't forgive someone, I know I have to forgive, but if I can't forgive, then what? My practice of more than 15 years has helped me with one thing: this problem is mine, not that person's.
My internal strength at this time is not strong enough. My heart is not old enough for it to embrace its difficulties. That person and I still have enough faith that if we practice carefully and give ourselves enough time to go back inside with all our energy and restore our open heart, we will accept the object of our embrace. Instead of blaming that person, I alone am responsible for my practice. I believe that if the practice changes, my view will change. Changing at least doing so will definitely bring troubles and troubles. That's why I think that there is trouble, so I react like that because I remember that there were times when I didn't have trouble. I was very cute, and I didn't see that person either.
It was too difficult to continue getting close to connect or working together or loving. I don't think it's difficult, and now I look back and see that person is the same. They still maintain the level of not being too cute but not too difficult either. Despite that, why can't I accept that I want to eliminate myself? If I want to avoid it, is it because of me? I have a problem that is controlling my afflictions. Even though at that time I looked at myself, I didn't see any afflictions at all, but when I withdraw for a day, after two or three days of withdrawing completely, stopping all work and all objects I come into contact with, I see very clearly.
Therefore, when I make decisions, I am disturbed by it. For example, I do not accept that person; there is an alarm mechanism inside. It's wrong, it's wrong, and when I know it's wrong, I don't dare say or act. Or if I accidentally let go, I have to reconsider and give myself enough time to reconsider. Because when we make the right decision, our mind is at peace, it's comfortable, it's sweet, and it has a lot of love there. When it makes the wrong decision, it's restless and restless. That's morality. That is the practice of cultivation. Buddha said there are many ways for us to handle our afflictions; each person can find some way.
But according to the Buddha's experience, afflictions are very difficult to handle, very difficult, very severe, very heavy. But I don't know how to face it. It can swallow me up. It can push me into it. For example, when we get angry, when we get angry, most people without any spiritual practice will find a way to retaliate against the person who they think made them angry. This means they still absolutely believe that it was that person who made them angry. There was a person who cultivated. I said a person who cultivated, not as a person who studies Buddhism. A person who practices cultivation can also react and retaliate a little, but immediately after that, there will be an alarm mechanism to let them know that this is the case.
So there is no true affliction that is yours. Anger is yours. If you have no afflictions and no seeds of anger, then no one can make you angry. It's not someone else putting the anger inside you. They just activate it. They're just the agent; they play the role of it. We are the authors; we are the owners of those negative energies. At least we have to see it like that, then we can be called cultivators. But if at this time we still think completely it's all about the situation and it's about the subject who hasn't practiced anything yet and hasn't absorbed the soy sauce yet, even though we are still angry, we still react. But at least we are responsible for that.
We want to be responsible for our anger. We want to turn inside to solve our anger instead of just looking outward to find a way to come up with a plan to launch a general attack. Stopping and turning inside to resolve your situation is a pretty big step, not a simple one. But most people can do it all the time. It's a practice. You can't do it even if you want to. You have to practice to be able to do it. But turning inward doesn't mean you can solve it. It's just better looking outward. What's the point of going inside?
Our next mistake is that when we go inside, we attack the anger. We want to immediately eliminate our anger. We want the anger to go away. We immediately learn to walk, and we use an angry attitude to respond. To deal with the temptation, we use an attitude of constant dissatisfaction, anger, self-blame, a negative energy to deal with a negative energy. Two negative things that overlap each other become negative. When you achieve a positive result, you become a great negative, meaning that troubles pile up on more troubles. We cannot solve the problem; we need to make the problem worse.
Here, the Buddha emphasized a weak point. An extremely important factor when we turn inside is attitude. We have to know how to treat our anger or sadness in order for it to disappear and not control us anymore. If we don't have the right attitude, just follow your instincts. If you see something you don't like or are dissatisfied with, having to immediately get rid of it won't help much. The right attitude here is to treat the urge to harbor anger with kindness, peace with anger, and even love for people but not be identified with the anger.
Because we should have the tendency to love someone and identify with that object. Be careful that we love our anger for a while, and then we will also identify with the anger. What does identification mean? You become one. When your anger appears, when the affliction appears, we are often identified with that anger or affliction. We become an angry person, an affliction instead of affliction. Affliction is affliction, and we are a whole. Most of us still have understanding, love, tolerance, and generosity, right? When that affliction appears, all those wonderful values disappear, and only one remains: anger leaves only afflictions. That is called unity.
Now we learn an art: when afflictions appear, we take a step back to observe the afflictions. Without stopping, they are there, billions of Americans since their appearance formed and ended without being the most crowded with. It's very difficult. This is part of the correct attitude when we deal with afflictions. The Buddha said that only by doing so can we have hope of transforming afflictions. If we continue to oppress them, continue to suppress them, eliminate, continue to avoid, continue to be indifferent, if you continue to identify with afflictions, there will be no way to handle them, no way to transform them.
If you want to observe something as cruel as afflictions, then we must have some other skills. So when we come to a meditation center, people don't teach us to observe our afflictions right away. They teach us to observe other easier things, like observing our breathing, observing our footsteps, observing our movements while walking. I go and observe the way I walk when I sit and observe the board I sit on when I eat, when I observe my hands and my posture while I sit and eat, even the way I chew my food.
Then deeper steps include observing pleasant and unpleasant sensations passing by you. You have to practice like that for a long enough time for you to form a habit of observing yourself at all times and places. Observing without being consistent is like placing a camera and recording everything that passes by your camera, but you don't want to adjust it, don't want to stick your nose into the object to change it. Just let the object appear naturally and observe as it is.
So what Buddha means by observing with an awakened energy is knowing what I am observing. I focus all my energy to observe that object. Then affliction is a very strong, formidable energy that must be faced with the same energy of awareness. Very strong and very formidable, we have created these two energies that begin to oppose each other. If the affliction still encroaches on the energy of observing your awakening energy, then it will see that your effort is not strong enough. We have to go back to continue practicing on the subjects, on other easier objects such as footsteps, breathing, or streams of feeling until the energy is strong enough.
Then the Buddha will suggest that we face afflictions and need to be angry when the awakened energy is equal to or slightly superior to the afflicted energy. Then the afflicted energy is forced to weaken, wither, wither, and disappear. So many times, every time the affliction appears, you have installed the awakening energy on the surface of consciousness to promptly detect the appearance of afflictions. Our job is to note and stand aside to note the process of afflictions occurring without paying attention, intervention, or adjusting so that it appears naturally but under the supervision of conscious energy.
You must have conscious energy; if you don't have conscious energy, you watch, enter the affliction, grasp the affliction, observe the affliction, and it will knock you down. You can never be in contact with it for too long. Buddha said that is the way to transform afflictions. Actually, Buddha said when mindfulness is present, when awareness is present, when you have truly turned inside, if the inside is strong enough, the afflictions will no longer have a chance to arise. The afflictions will arise because the ego needs food, needs love, needs attention, needs recognition, and needs respect.
And when you turn around, if you go inside, you have created food for the ego, and that's enough. There is food, so it no longer needs anything from the outside. When you have truly turned inside and settled in peace, your internal force is stable. You will rarely want to look outside; you will have less hope, waiting for someone. You have little demand for hoping for something to make it according to your wishes. Your acceptance at that time is very big, very big. Even though that person is still in difficulty, that person is still uncomfortable, even though the situation is still disturbing, there are many obstacles, but you have no objections. There are no more struggles; you are calm. You understand why you can accept it. You even want to find a way to help, want to support.
Instead of before, you wanted to punish and eliminate. Now you want to help. We want to love, and when we possess a mind with few afflictions, I say fewer afflictions, but if we have no afflictions, we will attain sainthood; we will become Buddhas. Then we will have a mind with few afflictions. For example, it only comes a couple of times an hour, each time after a few minutes. That person is a happy person, right? Because when you look closely at your current situation, it seems like there is no moment of peace, no moment of trouble, no presence, no worries about this. I'm also afraid of the other. If I don't want this, I also want that.
The mind of letting go only happens when and only when you turn inside, and it's enough. But when you don't have anything inside that you want to let go of, the outside is just the result of a strong will. But it doesn't last long. You just try to brace yourself to let go of something. You let go of all the ego's food on the outside, and you haven't had time to create food on the inside. However, that letting go cannot last long. But when you turn inside and make your soul peaceful enough, the mind of letting go will naturally appear. It must be the result of the process. If you go inside enough, you will see that everyone is cute.
It's also pitiful; you will see that this life has no problems. The problem is inside of us. Then you will want to make this life better and make the people living around you have peace and happiness. Instead of being bored, we are angry, we blame ourselves, and we need to live a conscious life with fewer troubles. This is what the Buddha wanted to remind us. We have so many things; why do we have to worry about them? Keep drowning us in constant suffering. And when we spend a lot of time and energy to establish an awakened life, a balanced life, a life with depth, then we have a lot of time and a lot of opportunities to live happily. Happiness is a real problem that can happen immediately.
Now, if we can truly let go of our afflictions and control our afflictions, we invite everyone to listen to a bell, and we will begin to sit and breathe a little to let our afflictions fall away a little. [Music] When we [music] pay attention to the observed breath, the breath does not create vibrations. That is, your mind is enough to settle in your breath. So to speak, if you can cling to the breath and connect with yourself, then at that moment, afflictions will not arise. That is the moment of freedom. Although it is freedom, there is still a condition that you have to borrow an object, but at least this object is harmless. It does not have to be expensive. It is inside you, and you need it to be present and virtuous.
Buddha said that we really need to practice like this before we pass through a more difficult exercise. This exercise will only solve your afflictions. The practice of focusing on the breath will only help you make the affliction process temporarily stop, but it will still happen if you have not been transformed. The more difficult exercise is that you must learn the art of observing your afflictions wherever you are, which is usually when we leave the meditation package. When we are no longer in the meditation package, if the conditions are safe and quiet for meditating, there will be new afflictions.
Actually, while meditating, we also feel trouble appearing, but it's not as much, not as strong as when we stand up, we work, we touch, we collide, we face each other. When faced with the difficulties of life, then there will be more afflictions. At that time, if we can observe afflictions like observing the breath, that is a golden opportunity for afflictions to be destroyed. But usually, we can't do it right away; we have to go through a stage. The intermediate is learning how to observe the breath skillfully and quickly until we begin to observe the afflictions. It is very easy, but we still fail. The afflictions are fierce.
It's very sophisticated, so we have to take into account the time it takes, which means we have to accept our level. Even if we haven't practiced at all, we have to learn to accept the overwhelming amount of affliction that we have. It is simply necessary to step on the path of transformation. But if we do not accept that we hate ourselves, that we want to blame or punish ourselves, that we are tired of our afflictions, we will never be able to transform afflictions. Because if you want to transform afflictions, you need to have a very good cooperation with afflictions, and afflictions will only let you cooperate when you have to be really kind to them.
When you are kind to them, it sees that you are not its enemy. Then you can meet it for a long time to understand it and go through it. So sitting and breathing in and out, concentrating on the breath is necessary but not enough to transform afflictions. We must learn to observe afflictions in the mind anytime, anywhere. Today, we can only share this much and have deeper techniques on how to nurture the energy of awareness, how to face afflictions in these different situations, and how we can not be afflicted by identifying with it. We need other sharing sessions, or we have to go to meditation centers to get more complete and specific instructions. Thank you, everyone.
Yes, sir. I have a question. Have I heard of it? Is it true that meditation can be used for psychological therapy? I have a question: For some people, memories of the past haunt them, and they can't overcome them. I heard it is recommended to practice meditation to relieve it, but I don't understand how to do it. Yes, in order for them to overcome the phobias and no longer have them, I hope you can help me explain. Thank you, teacher.
Sorry, your question is not very clear. That means you don't understand what meditation is like. Can you help people avoid suffering from the past? Yes, I heard that there are people who have suffered from a painful trauma in the past. They are haunted forever, and they cannot get out of that pain. They are instructed to practice meditation to relieve tension. Do you not know what that mechanism is like?
According to my understanding, this understanding is based on both my own experience and the experience of previous masters. When a person has these psychological fluctuations, suffering, and depression, there are three conditions to be able to help this person heal without having to use medication. The first is how to separate the victim from the patient. Understand the environment in which they live and where they will be stressed. Continuously working on their wounds through contact, through work, or through people living around them and seeing that puts them in a safe environment with lots of healing energy. Specifically, they are exposed to how they can love nature. For example, they can grow vegetables, they can camp in the forest, they can swim, they can sit for hours outdoors as they like.
Because when they enjoy it, the energy of heaven and earth that can be enjoyed with nature is the first energy. The amount of heaven and earth is very good and can help them heal the second wound. The second is that their minds temporarily forget their memories and their sublime pasts. Because we often suffer because we remember the past, but rarely does it happen at the present time that it makes us suffer. That is, suffering usually comes from the past, not in the present, but because we remember it, we cannot recognize it. That's why I can think of myself with those sad memories. If we are suffering, then the way to cure it is to separate that thought from that past.
The first way is to make them connect with reality, a very benign environment. The second condition is how to help them come into contact with benign people. For example, meditation centers have many people meditating there. There are spiritual teachers or meditators who show very peaceful energies. They can listen to and share on their behalf because the people at home can only demand or blame but cannot help the patient. The third and more important condition is that if the patient is still able to meditate, there is a chance of being cured.
Very valuable because when you meditate, for example, in that breathing exercise, when you breathe, you only pay attention to the breath. In addition to paying attention and breathing out, you go to the center where they teach you. You also pay attention to many other objects, most of which are benign objects present in the present. For example, if you look at a flower blooming at that time, when we were in Cu Chi, our group also helped some people who were depressed when they could not meditate. This person was being controlled by his emotions, and I saw him going out into the garden. He was touching some jackfruit in the garden to see if it was ripe to pick.
Every time he was controlled by his emotions, he went to touch a new fruit. Second, he went to pick the vegetables he wanted. So from then on, every time this person couldn't meditate, I told him to go touch the jackfruit because the jackfruit is a very nice and cute object. When you touch it, you pay attention to each thorn, each salt, then your mind is not thinking about the past. When you do not think about the wound, the wound is not provided with food; it will be weak and angry. If the level that you separate the longer you stay away from the wound, the better your chances of healing. Not only that, while meditating, you can still exude energy such as relaxation, peace, and joy. These are extremely important drugs that Western medicine or any outside drug cannot do. Yes, and it has the property of healing the wounds in the heart.
Thank you, teacher. Thank you. I would like to ask you a question. Where is it up here? Please give us the address so we can have it. Maybe go there and learn specifically what it's like so that we can solve the problem, which is the same as what you just said. It's psychological issues. It's unstable and depression like that because I remember about 30 years ago, there was a man. The doctor said that everyone suffers from mental illness, but some have mild cases and some have severe cases. But in this era, people are so advanced that life has become of each person. It has its own feelings that are very heavy, but people just don't dare to express them.
Today, the teacher explained very specifically to help me relieve a certain affliction, but in order to learn this, I have to Is there a specific address and what kind of teacher is that? I want to ask for the teacher's specific address. Yes, including the teacher's specific address, like the teachers around District 10. Teacher, including the seventh graders around district 10. Or the teacher's address is also better to see how convenient it is for someone to consider or how the teacher will show what positions you can consider achieving the most effective one with the shortest time.
The question is starting to go wrong. Teacher's address is meow Binh Ut. Actually, saying that, it also has sadness inside, not any happiness. Where you, that is, the teacher, has also created a good environment quite cute in Vietnam, Bao Loc, Lam Dong. In the past, the teachers borrowed help from Cu Chi in Ho Chi Minh City, then there was a Bao Loc center in Lam Dong. But because we haven't found the method yet, the best reason for me to be able to operate is because this is related to health, related to education. The reason is that we also train psychotherapists, so it is temporary. It's not working. It's a pity at that time.
Since the teacher lives in Hoa Dao village, every week we can guess that some friends with depression problems come there to take refuge. Many times, the teacher doesn't give any advice. When you go there, you just need to follow the crowd. To live, meditate, work, pick vegetables, plant trees, swim, go to the forest to collect firewood, but you can heal yourself just by leaving an environment that has too many toxins to come to an environment with lots of vitamins. Causes people to become depressed. Not too severe, they can still regain balance very easily. Of course, severe cases need longer time, need more intervention from you, need more help from you, and other cases. If it's so severe that they can't follow any of your instructions, then in such cases, it can't be helped.
Back to your question, at the moment, I'm sorry I don't have a center specifically in Vietnam to help. Hopefully, in the soon future, I have it. Now to introduce a meditation center, I think in Vietnam we currently have a number of quality meditation centers that I know are in Thu Duc or in Long Thanh or not. Even in Cu Chi, there are many vipassana meditation centers because I practice vipassana meditation, so I only know how to focus on vipassana. I have a very strong belief that Bana is a Dharma practice that can help you recover. Energy recovery is very fast and curable; it can heal many things.
However, if we talk more carefully, I especially believe in vipassana, the stream of mind observation called mind contemplation or mind mindfulness. This tradition helps you always observe. If I can understand my psychological phenomena, they are valuable opportunities for me to be able to contact my afflictions. I honestly don't know where I can find such meditations on the Mind in Vietnam. Anyone who specializes in such lines is also in the electrical department. In Myanmar, there are all kinds of contemplations on the body, contemplations on feelings, contemplations on the mind, contemplations on the mind, and contemplations on the Dharma, all of which are available in the temple. But it's very embarrassing for me to introduce Vietnamese people to foreign countries for treatment.
If you have to go through electricity or go through Australia, it sounds very strange, so please try to find out if there is any Thien center that can do this. Dear teacher. Dear public. I have a question: I have depression, and I also tried to commit suicide, but it didn't work. Now I'm in the process of being treated. I also go to the gym and listen to the Dharma more and go see a doctor. The doctor prescribes medicine. But I'm very allergic to medicine and start from yesterday after taking the drug, I was drunk and felt very uncomfortable when taking the drug.
In the case of depression, since I have observed my mind more, now the two biggest things I have are two things: I don't like communication. Yeah, I don't like talking to people. And the second one, what's more, is always thinking. It means that no matter what problem you encounter, you can think of the negative and not see the positive. Those are the two biggest things that I don't know how to escape. I also listen to the Dharma teachings and all that, but in normal times, I'm still doing the methods that the teacher told me to do, which is fun. But when problems start to arise, I can't control myself, and a lot of things happen. Negative thinking happens, and it feels out of control.
I have feelings. The first question is how do I get out of such situations? The second question is whether I should use Western medicine or not. Thank you, teacher. I have severe depression. That's it. I found out that there are many people with severe depression that have not yet been detected, and I think the chance that you may not have been treated yet is still high. Because when you talk and I hear your voice, it's still healthy. As for Linh Loi, the important thing is that you have admitted that you are depressed. That is an important step. The rest is for us to find a solution.
In my opinion, you should not use medication because the medication only helps you. It helps your brain to release some hormones, only calms the nerves, and makes you pain-free or tired. It slows down the process of your depression a little, but it can never be completely cured. When we suffer from depression, we suffer from psychological fluctuations. We lose the subject of our soul from that point, from that place. So wherever we lose something, we have to find it there, not lose it outside. Don't rely on the outside of other people's circumstances or medicine; it's all external. You have to return to your inner self to adjust.
Even if you listen to the Dharma, even if you understand a few ways, it's best that you have to go to the hospital. And this hospital is not a normal hospital, but this one is the Zen monastery, the meditation center. You have to find a meditation center where there are spiritual masters who are willing to support you, meaning they will closely follow your psychological progress and your practice process. In order for them to promptly provide appropriate exercises, I think you have to put everything aside. Toan Tam, put 100 minutes of your focus on treatment first because if it's time and you won't get treatment, then everything I do, I say, I think, it all carries the aura of a person with a broken mind.
So I think you should make a strong decision. First, you must go and visit which meditation centers you feel are suitable. I can't wait any longer. Thank you. I hope you soon find a suitable place to take Linh home to love you. Dear Master, there are times when I practice meditation. It takes quite a long time, about 5 years, but when I meditate, what is directly pointed out when you meditate is that I get lost in a deep hole where the center is very deep. Sometimes I don't know where I am. But the more I practice, the more I sometimes panic and can't return to my own body and mind. Sometimes I'm very stressed, so when meditating like that, I don't know how to let go when I let go so that I'm no longer entangled in that deep hole.
Please let me know. The first question is, what method and type of meditation do you follow? Yes, I just sit on my right leg. Sorry to name the Zen sect you are practicing. I just follow Buddha Shakyamuni, and I practice Buddhism. There are many different traditions. Yes, I really do. Just practice normally. Do you know the name of the meditation sect you're teaching? Are you currently learning? No. Where are you learning from? Yes, I just go to the temple regularly and practice according to the teachers' instructions. That means you're only learning one general way or being guided directly by one teacher.
Usually, I practice meditation now. Now I practice with the Venerable Thich Tue Giac of Dai Dang Zen Monastery, Truc Lam Yen Zen Sect. That is of Truc Lam Zen Sect. Then at least you have to know the origin of that Zen lineage so that I know what they can practice in that Zen lineage. Only then can I give you advice. When you study with that teacher, I would like to ask more. How long have you been studying, and have you taken any courses? During the day, I was in that monastery. Did I have the opportunity to directly consult with that teacher many times? My work is very busy, so when I get to go to the temple, I really look forward to when the teachers come to teach. When I teach, I always come to practice, and practice, and sometimes when I go home, I go to practice.
When I have free time, I read books. When I practice, I don't do anything; I just meditate. Buddha and visualize your breath. It encounters a situation. Okay, first of all, if you want to practice meditation in depth, you must study very carefully, master meditation techniques very carefully, and you must have successful practice teachers who have a lot of experience to sponsor you. Because of the process of doing good, you can't do what you want; you do it in your own way. It has its own disciplines. It has its own principles. It has its rules, and if you slip out there, maybe you will suffer immeasurable consequences. That is something you cannot control.
If you use your mind to train, you must consider very carefully when it. If it's a mistake that can't be fixed, I'm not threatening you, but I just want to warn you that if you only practice meditation to relieve stress, to relax, to calm your mind so that your mind doesn't have wandering thoughts, it is to overcome certain emotions. Of course, you have reading from books or listening to tapes or learning a little from a teacher is enough to practice. But if you want to go further, if you want to transform your afflictions, if you want to have wisdom and so on, you must learn very carefully and seriously from a successful teacher and have to rely on him for at least a few years.
Because during the process of doing good, we can easily make mistakes. The mistake is called the wrong meditation attitude. Despite the technique, we understand it very well, but our attitude when we bring it to practice is that we do it our way, but our way is not suitable to achieve the result. That is the first thing. The second reason is why you feel like you're falling into deep holes because you concentrate too much but you don't have much real insight. Because mindfulness means you pay too much attention to one point at a time. Meditating means you keep paying attention to one point. Usually, those points are above the part of your face, for example, from the nose up there.
If you pay attention to any point from the nose up, it will easily give you the feeling of falling into some deep area without anything. If you can go out, my advice is that you should meet a meditation teacher to guide you in learning how to develop mindfulness, learn how to observe your psychological developments, especially the fear of the mind. If you cling to yourself, it will balance again. But respect your teacher; there are many times when we are Buddhists, there are still many problems. Maybe there is no actual practice in the way of meditation, but what should we do, and how should we do it in the time that we calm down in just a few minutes?
Like today, I have come to consider the afflictions and be aware, even if it is only for 5 minutes. But what must those ways be like so that every day we sit in silence? My mind goes back about 5 or 10 minutes to the middle of the book meditation mind. OK, other questions are welcome. Sir, I have two questions I would like to ask you. Yes, on top of that, I would like to ask you the first question: if a person comes to the Vipassana course for 10 days but they don't have enough concentrated mind, does not have enough strength to overcome the second or third day, is there any way for them to return to the 10 of your friends who you know come to Bana?
After 10 days, the benefits are great, but that person, I consider that person to be in great need of Vipassana but can't get through the second or third day. Is there a way for that person to get it? Is it possible to go back and continue with Bana's method? Does that mean she's about to run away? Yes, I think it's because Bana is in America, and maybe it's the culture. And what I don't understand the most is the sessions. I think it's okay to discuss the method. I think having TH means you don't understand or it's something like that, and maybe you can't overcome the five precepts.
Yes, I think it's easy. Yes, in my case, but I think that person probably has some scars. His psychological wounds are more serious than your question. Yes. I have a second question: Can vegetarianism help in the meditation process? Because I also want to be a complete vegetarian. Thank you. There may be many flavors here. I know a lot about the Vipassana course. As far as I know, in the past 10 years or so, the Vipassana meditation line has begun to grow in popularity again in Vietnam. It has grown in popularity again because it existed before, but then it disappeared.
It has now come to life, and thanks to the efforts of Zen masters in other countries such as Sri Lanka or some other countries who have come to share, Vipassana, as I said, has many different lineages that gather together. The middle is when we practice Vipassana, namely for 10-day meditation courses. The conditions are quite strict. Firstly, we will be silent for 10 days, not using the phone, not talking, not even making eye contact or smiling. No matter what, each person has to return to himself and face himself. Because when we talk, when we look outward, our mind is immediately shaken, so we have to prioritize the whole time to turn inward.
Further, the time of practice meditation is very strict: one hour of sitting meditation, one hour of walking meditation, one hour of sitting meditation, one hour of walking. One day, you can meditate for 10 hours. The advantage of it is that if you can accept that, you can catch that rhythm. If you feel it is suitable, you can quickly concentrate your mind. Your mind is rushing around and has no support. Then, if you take a Vipassana course that specializes in concentration, for example, you will have it right away. A fulcrum that is yourself turning back to yourself very quickly because of the power of the crowd. You have a lot of excitement, even though you are lazy, but thanks to the diligence of the people around you, it does not pull you to the meditation package.
It's too difficult. However, its disadvantage is that it is an environment that is too opposite to the previous environment. You are living; your mind is very restless, very restless, capturing this, capturing that. Suddenly, you push it into an environment that is too strict to sit still in one place, focus on one point; it has to react. So if you have strong internal force, your internal force is just enough to use, then you can last until the 10th day. Not to mention the sixth day, you start to feel so sad that you want to go back dozens of times and even ask the monks to have a very good reason for you to go home. But the monks and nuns were not compassionate because they knew they were being deceived by their delusions.
What about people whose internal strength is not strong enough? That is, it's too weak or it's too used to living in free conditions to do whatever it wants. But suddenly going into such a harsh environment, the reaction is very strong. Even for people who are not used to it, endure anything. When you see something that is a little uncomfortable, a little binding, you want to step out immediately. If you want to break it right away, there's no way you can follow it for 10 days. Or people who are psychologically in a panic, but they can't help it. They have the opportunity to grasp the meditation methods there. If they identify completely with the feelings in their hearts, then of course they can't stay for a day or more.
So a person who can't stay in a meditation course like that has nothing. Is it good or bad? It's just the psychological state of each person at every moment is different. This time it doesn't work; it doesn't work another time. And I have one more suggestion that before we enter a meditation course after 10 days like that, we should go through meditation courses shorter than one day or two days or three days or four days, whatever. Let it get used to it. Let it get used to a quiet life, life turning inside, life without using the phone, without taking pictures of this and that for you. Once you get used to it, go into the real 10-day crocodile-fried course.
The second question is whether vegetarianism supports meditation or not. The answer is yes, but vegetarianism also has to be done in the right way. If you follow the vegetarian diet, it's like I don't have any knowledge about vegetarianism, so I just eat foods that are not healthy. Even if I am a vegetarian, I still use foods that are not healthy. For example, I use frozen foods, use too much sugar, use too much seasoning powder, and use too much seasoning. Too much salt or if we use foods that have a lot of chemicals, fried, stir-fried, etc., left overnight, it all affects our body. We know that body and mind are one. The unified block, whatever happens to the body happens to the mind.
When our body reacts to food, it gets tired, it hurts, and our mind will also be affected. So I'm just saying that we should consider when using food to create good energy, which is very supportive for the practice of meditation to turn inward. Yes, please, C. Ask me more. Yes, Namo. Origin Master Shakyamuni Buddha. Yes, teacher, let me ask a person who sometimes sits alone and recites the Dharma saying, "I'm so bored," or "Life is like this." Have I started to see depression? Is there any way for me to help my loved ones handle their troubles while they themselves are not willing to open up to receive new energies?
Because of my own awareness, I understand that those eyes are in the same situation, but thanks to me knowing how to practice, I know how to block out bad energies, and I know how to be satisfied with my reality. Knowing how to manipulate the energy of peace within me makes me feel very good. It's gentle, but my friend, maybe because his ego is too big, I also guided him to go to the temple and attended one-day peaceful retreats. But later, I discovered it myself, and it was him. Going with my child is just to make me happy, not to find my own peace.
So going to the temple for me is considered the most wonderful thing, but let me tell you. I see that it seems like a constraint, so I will later, without coercion, I also learn to love, allowing the person who loves me to live the way he likes. But I see that he is still stuck in that suffering, and that suffering can only be resolved by self-cultivation. I can only decide for myself. I once said to practice, "If I could practice for you, I would have practiced." And considered that the fruits that after practicing practice have all blossomed, but you still do not guide me to be accepted by her husband and children so that she can change and be accepted.
Yes, I ask you, besides the method of true love that I want to help my husband, is there a method that I can help him change his perception and return to the path of Buddhism? Happiness or not? Yes, all your wishes are very legitimate, but they are a bit big. Your strength is so happy that you stand up here. It's easier to talk to you. Yes, I really appreciate your efforts, but there is maybe my Binh An energy is not enough. Yes, but it's not there yet, or it's not there continuously. When I talk to that person for the first 5 minutes, the peaceful energy is still there, but the way that person reacts, the way they respond, the way they express themselves.
That person just moves to a temporary level that is average, but the next minute it can be different without me observing the whole process to see that my energy is also dissolved. Being loved by impermanence is the same. Many times we love, but the ability of my love is not strong enough. The reason is that in my love, there is still compulsion; it is not enough. Understanding is not sympathetic enough; my love still has conditions, so it is not strong enough. I think I have love a lot, but it's not done properly, so it can't help the other party. Even if I have strong enough peace energy and love strong enough, I'm not sure I can help the other party.
Because you have to remember that you can never change a person. Never. I can only contribute to change. Change must be them, and my contributions are never meaningless. They still accept it; it still goes into them more or less, but the person in question has to accumulate other conditions. Sometimes they have to be more bruised than ups and downs than right. Or they have to be heard and come into contact with people who are more enlightened than those who have all the right things. The power makes them more willing to listen and follow, then they will change.
When they can change, that is our contribution, not just that if we practice, we will have peace. We can create the energy of peace; if we have love, the other person will be able to change themselves. It's the same with the teacher himself. The teacher himself can never change anyone completely. That person changes; they say they owe it to you, but in reality, you only contribute to the final cause and condition. Before that, they have already done it, accumulating many other causes and conditions like that made her feel like they didn't exist.
I regret what I have contributed to my loved ones and still continue to be a thief. I have already extended my arm to support, so don't take it back. If I change, I will only change my attitude. Instead of wanting that person to change immediately, we have to wait patiently in love. Patience is evidence and a clear expression of true love. When we truly love someone, we have enough patience. Patiently waiting for that person to change, I don't have any pressure. Besides that, I have to ask for the support of other conditions from the masters of Cao Minh things. They have enough strength to make my loved one listen and change, but if I or my lover do not have enough fate to find those teachers, one has to sit and wait for karma to come.
It could be a favorable fate. It could also be an unfavorable fate that makes that person begin to realize the importance of practice. Thank you, and best wishes.
Dear sir, dear everyone, dear sir. Teacher, let me ask you, in situations where suffering actually comes from physical problems such as a tired body or a body that hurts the most because of a health problem, and that pain is constantly affecting and making that person have to constantly face it 24 hours a day, even if they are treated, they will still have times when the pain is relieved and times when they still have pain. They will always be troubled and feel hopeless during those times. How do we need to contemplate our body to maintain an awakened energy and help reduce our afflictions? Thank you, Teacher.
At that time, it won't be enough time. We have to do it first before it happens. When it doesn't hurt too much, when your mind is relatively stable, don't let your mind think wildly. It grasps this object or that object. You have to practice and immediately turn to observe your body. When it's not hurting me, practice loving it. I practice practicing to give me a habit where I pay attention to each part of my body, and wherever I pay attention, I also send love.
There, it's best for you to lie down. Lie on the floor or in bed and relax completely. We call it the meditation of letting go, and you start like scanning your body. That is, letting the machine show your body. This machine is your attention. You start to pay attention, and it, along with love, you pay attention to your feet and feel them. Your feet relax; your feet, then you love your feet. You are aware of the values that your feet have brought to you, from your feet, then your legs, then your calves, then your arms, your hands, your fingers, then your feet, the shoulders, and then the face, every muscle on the face.
The reason why I suggest going from the bottom up is that wherever you pay attention, that part of the body will begin to soften. It tends to be a pleasant energy that appears to make you feel at ease, falling asleep. If you do it from the top down, you fall asleep immediately. From the top down, you fall asleep completely, then you can't let the rest of your body start learning the habit of observing and loving your body. You have to believe that in your body, there are healthy areas; there are still healthy areas.
When you pay attention to those healthy areas, you can read your voice talking. You show its gratitude, and then you turn to the most painful area. Although at that time, the most painful pain does not really affect you, it is still hidden inside. For example, if your shoulders are very painful, you should stop at those areas. Shoulder for a relatively long time. For example, 5 minutes or 10 minutes to dialogue with your shoulder. You dialogue with all the love and affection, and when you have visited healthy areas, then when you visit the painful area, at best, you can connect the energy from the healthy areas with the most painful areas through your attention.
Then the good energy from the healthy areas will flow to it and embrace those areas. The most painful thing is the most painful thing. It will be soothed and cured if you practice like this continuously throughout the day. Your body will always be in a soft and relaxed state until the most pain occurs. The softness calms it down; it is still somewhere in your being. The reaction to fight pain is very low. The reason why pain appears and tortures you is because it appears in the situation you are in. If you are not prepared, suddenly you don't have the energy of awareness, you don't have the energy of peace, you don't have the energy of relaxation, and you have the energy that is very consuming or very violent.
So when the pain appears, pain should be just pain, but you add an attitude of non-acceptance. You want to eliminate it; you want to push it aside, but you can't do it. So the pain doubles. Then the pain comes suddenly, and you cannot avoid it. But with your attitude, you can avoid it. You can reduce the pain by half through your reactive attitude. If you want to have a reactive attitude, yes, you have to practice a lot beforehand. Meaning if possible, you should practice meditation. It helps you to always be alert, always return to yourself, always observe the condition of at least your body or your feelings.
Then when the pain comes, when you are meditating and awake, you will handle it differently. When you are not paying attention to yourself, you focus your attention outside. Not to mention when you run out of energy, you react. Your reaction is so intense; it is the reaction that causes the pain to increase many times, not just twice. So when you have an energy of peace and awareness to receive that pain, the pain is greatly reduced. And it is even below the energy of your awareness and peace. If not, it is above, and it will torture you. Then, of course, for that pain, you have to take medicine; you have to ask a doctor; you have to use many methods to intervene.
But when you meditate, when you return to yourself long enough, when you create the energy, the amount of awareness itself can heal the pain in your body. On the one hand, it does not create the ability to resist; on the other hand, it can accept that pain and apply magic and cure it. To heal that pain, you should spend a lot of time building your information capacity. Thank you, C. Namo, Original Master Shakyamuni Buddha.
Dear teacher, dear everyone, the topic to share today is dealing with troubles in the brain with conscious energy. I have a question and hope you can help me. Let us conclude that there are a few steps to handle afflictions with the energy of awareness so that we can practice immediately after this sharing session. Yes, teacher, as I heard earlier, it's like the first step is to let yourself focus on your breathing or your walking, standing, lying, and sitting position. Then you can step back to observe the afflictions that are in you, and then move on.
There are some steps to deepen the deep. What we practice is really to see that there is peace in our minds, to practice noting without interfering. That is important: to relax and accept whatever is happening, whatever happens. Every experience that takes place in the mind is recorded without any expectation that it must be like this or that. So that if one can do that, the chance to specialize in afflictions is very high. For example, a while ago, there was an uncle sitting here with his phone. Uncle Ren was shocked. I guess he probably thought he remembered I turned it off, but why is it still on? Ren's phone is not the problem. My panicked attitude, I'm afraid it will affect the public. I have to be out of control. I'm confused; I'm confused. That's the problem.
A very simple example to show that we should try to be right, become good, become free of afflictions. It's more important that we learn to accept things. What is going on and taking responsibility for it? Of course, accepting is taking responsibility. Learning how to observe to understand a problem is more important than stopping it temporarily. Thank you. [Music]