The Heart Of The Buddha's Teaching - Episode 4

This is a live recording from episode four of BookClub with Sarah Sati. During this session, Sarah reads and discusses chapters 12-14 of Thich Nhat Hanh's 'Heart of the Buddha's Teaching' before guiding a contemplation exercise. At the end of the session, Sarah offers a journaling practice for the week ahead to help you deepen your ability to take the teachings of the Buddha to heart.

Transcript

If you're just joining,

If you've never joined before,

I'm Sarah Satieff and this is Book Club.

We come together once a week and I read a little bit out of a book.

This first installment of Book Club,

Let me get this incense set,

This first installment of Book Club we are reading out of The Heart of the Buddha's Teachings by Thich Nhat Hanh and we have been covering some various stuff already.

Our first few sessions dealt with the Four Noble Truths and talking about suffering,

Recognizing suffering,

Acknowledging suffering,

So how to take the teachings of the Four Noble Truths and how to put them to work for us and how to use those teachings to help us in our own lives.

And now we have moved to the next stage which is the Noble Eightfold Path and so we can think about this.

We started reading about the Noble Eightfold Path last week.

We can think about this,

The first stage,

The Four Noble Truths,

This is recognizing that suffering exists,

Recognizing that often we are the cause of our own suffering and then believing that if we can see there's a cause for suffering,

There's also a cure for suffering and that if there's a cure for suffering,

What is it?

And the Buddha said the cure for suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path.

And so last week we read three of the steps on the path.

Hopefully you can hear me okay here.

Three of the steps on the path and those three steps were out of order so there is an order but I want to remind you that it's not hierarchical,

It's not linear,

This is just an order and Thich Nhat Hanh has rearranged it slightly so,

Excuse me,

Last week we talked about right view,

Right thinking and right mindfulness.

Those are the three chapters that we read from.

We read chapters nine through 11 last week.

This week we will read chapters 12 through 15 so we will get a little bit deeper into these eight steps,

Reading about three more of the steps.

If you joined me last week or maybe you watched or listened online,

Hopefully you were able to do some of the homework.

This is starting to,

The homework I gave last week was starting to bring this concept of mindfulness into our lives,

This idea of right view and right thinking and to on a regular daily basis remind ourselves like a bell ringing that,

Remind ourselves where are we right now,

What are we doing right now,

Could we possibly be wrong,

What habits are present and regardless of what we see,

Are we continuing to be compassionate toward ourself.

And so you don't have to have joined before,

You don't have to have listened before.

I think every session that we have together is unique and it's something that you can learn from so it's okay if you have not attended before but of course you can always go back and listen or watch the recordings from past sessions if you find that you're interested in doing so.

So let's get started.

As I said I'm going to read from chapters 12 through 15,

A little bit shorter reading today but a little bit longer meditation.

So just a reminder if you weren't here for our first few sessions,

The Buddha's teachings are meant to be listened to in a very gentle way so wherever you are right now,

Whatever you're doing,

Just allow yourself to relax into the experience.

Don't try too hard,

Don't strive to understand,

Just allow the words to come to you in a very natural,

Very easy way and trust that the most important concepts are going to present themselves to your heart and that those concepts may not blossom today,

It may take days,

Weeks,

Months,

But that we are planting a seed and as long as you continue to water that seed one day it will bloom.

So relax wherever you are,

Maybe you're out for a walk in nature or you're sitting somewhere comfortable and just allow yourself to absorb.

We'll begin with chapter 12 so if you are reading along of course you're welcome to join me.

Chapter 12 is Right Speech,

I have to say this one really rings a bell for me.

Right Speech.

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others,

I am committed to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering.

Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering,

I am determined to speak truthfully with words that inspire self-confidence,

Joy and hope.

I will not spread news that I do not know to be certain and I will not criticize or condemn things of which I am not sure.

I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord or that can cause the family or the community to break.

I am determined to make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts,

However small.

This is the fourth mindfulness training and it offers a very good description of right speech.

In our time communication technologies have become very sophisticated.

It takes no time at all to send news to the other side of the planet.

But at the same time communication between individuals has become very difficult.

Fathers cannot talk to sons and daughters,

Husbands cannot talk to wives,

Nor partners to partners.

Communication is blocked.

We are in a very difficult situation,

Not only between countries but person to person.

Practicing the fourth mindfulness training is very important.

The classical explanation of right speech is one,

Speaking truthfully.

When something is green we say it is green and not purple.

Two,

Not speaking with a forked tongue.

We don't say one thing to one person and something else to another.

Of course we can describe the truth in different ways to help different listeners understand our meaning but we must always be loyal to the truth.

Three,

Not speaking cruelly.

We don't shout,

Slander,

Curse,

Encourage suffering or create hatred.

Even those who have a good heart and don't want to hurt others sometimes allow toxic words to escape from their lips.

Maybe this sounds familiar.

In our minds are seeds of Buddha and also many fetters or internal formations.

When we say something poisonous it is usually because of our habit energies.

Our words are very powerful.

They can give someone a complex,

Take away their purpose in life or even drive them to suicide.

We must not forget this.

Four,

Exaggerating or embellishing.

We don't dramatize unnecessarily,

Making things sound better,

Worse or more extreme than they actually are.

If someone is a little irritated we don't say that he is furious.

The practice of right speech is to try to change our habits so that our speech arises from the seed of Buddha that is in us and not from our unresolved,

Unwholesome seeds.

Right speech is based on right thinking.

Speech is the way for our thinking to express itself out loud.

Our thoughts are no longer our private possessions.

We give earphones to others and allow them to hear the audio tape that is playing in our mind.

Of course,

There are things we think but do not want to say and one part of our consciousness has to play the role of editor.

If there is something we think we will be criticized for saying,

The editor will censor it.

Sometimes when a friend or therapist asks us an unexpected question,

We are provoked into telling the truth we wanted to hide.

Sometimes when there are blocks of suffering in us,

They may manifest as speech or actions without going through the medium of thought.

Our suffering has built up and can no longer be repressed,

Especially when we have not been practicing right mindfulness.

Expressing our suffering can harm us and other people as well,

But when we don't practice right mindfulness,

We may not know what is building up inside of us.

Then we say or write things we did not want to say and we don't know where our words came from.

We had no intention of saying something that could hurt others,

Yet we say such words.

We have every intention of saying only words that bring about reconciliation and forgiveness,

But then we say something very unkind.

To water seeds of peace in ourselves,

We have to practice right mindfulness while walking,

Sitting,

Standing,

And so on.

With right mindfulness,

We see clearly all of our thoughts and feelings and know whether this or that thought is harming or helping us.

When our thoughts leave our mind in the form of speech,

If right mindfulness continues to accompany them,

We know what we are saying and whether it is useful or creating problems.

Deep listening is at the foundation of right speech.

If we cannot listen mindfully,

We cannot practice right speech no matter what we say.

It will not be mindful because we will be speaking only our own ideas and not in response to the other person.

In the Lotus Sutra,

We are advised to look and listen with the eyes of compassion.

Compassionate listening brings about healing.

When someone listens to us this way,

We feel some relief right away.

A good therapist always practices deep,

Compassionate listening.

We have to learn to do the same in order to heal the people we love and restore communication with them.

When communication is cut off,

We all suffer.

When no one listens to us or understands us,

We become like a bomb ready to explode.

Restoring communication is an urgent task.

Sometimes only 10 minutes of deep listening can transform us and bring a smile back to our lips.

The Bodhisattva Kuan Yin is the one who hears the cries of the world.

She has the quality of listening deeply without judging or reacting.

When we listen with our whole being,

We can diffuse a lot of bombs.

If the other person feels that we are critical of what they are saying,

Their suffering will not be relieved.

When psychotherapists practice right listening,

Their patients have the courage to say things they have never been able to tell anyone before.

Deep listening nourishes both speaker and listener.

Many of us have lost our capacity for listening and using loving speech in our families.

It may be that no one is capable of listening to anyone else,

So we feel very lonely even within our own families.

That is why we have to go to a therapist,

Hoping that she is able to listen to us.

But many therapists also have deep suffering within.

Sometimes they cannot listen as deeply as they would like.

So if you really love someone,

Train yourself to be a listener.

Be a therapist.

You may be the best therapist for the person you love.

If you know how to train yourself in the art of deep,

Compassionate listening,

You must also use loving speech.

We have lost our capacity to say things calmly.

We get irritated too easily.

Every time we open our mouths,

Our speech becomes sour or bitter.

We know it's true.

We have lost our capacity for speaking with kindness.

This is the fourth mindfulness training.

This is so crucial to restoring peaceful and loving relationships.

If you fail in this training,

You cannot succeed in restoring harmony,

Love,

And happiness.

That is why practicing the fourth mindfulness training is a great gift.

So many families,

Couples,

And relationships have been broken because we have lost the capacity of listening to each other with calmness and compassion.

We have lost the capacity of using calm and loving speech.

The fourth mindfulness training is very important to restore communication between us.

Practicing the fourth training on the art of listening and the art of loving speech is a great gift.

For example,

A family member may suffer very much.

No one in the family has been able to sit quietly and listen to him or her.

If there is someone capable of sitting calmly and listening with his or her heart for one hour,

The other person will feel a great relief from his suffering.

If you suffer so much and no one has been able to listen to your suffering,

Your suffering will remain there.

But if someone is able to listen to you and understand you,

You will feel relief after one hour of being together.

In Buddhism,

We speak of the Bodhisattva Avilo Kishavara,

Kuan Yin,

A person who has a great capacity of listening with compassion and true presence.

Kuan Yin means the one who can listen and understand the sound of the world,

The cries of suffering.

Psychotherapists try to practice the same.

They sit very quietly with a lot of compassion and they listen to you.

Listening like that is not to judge,

Criticize,

Condemn or evaluate,

But to listen with the single purpose of helping the other person suffer less.

If they are able to listen like that to you for one hour,

You will feel much better.

But psychotherapists have to practice so that they can always maintain compassion,

Concentration and deep listening.

Otherwise their quality of listening will be very poor and you will not feel better after one hour of listening.

You have to practice breathing mindfully,

In and out so that compassion always stays with you.

I'm listening to him not only because I want to know what is inside of him or to give him advice,

I'm listening to him just because I want to relieve his suffering.

This is called compassionate listening.

You have to listen in such a way that compassion remains with you the whole time you are listening.

That is the art.

If halfway through listening,

Irritation or anger comes up,

Then you cannot continue to listen.

You have to practice in such a way that every time the energy of irritation and anger comes up,

You can breathe in and out mindfully and continue to hold compassion within you.

It is with compassion that you can listen to another.

No matter what he says,

Even if there is a lot of wrong information and injustice in his way of seeing things,

Even if he condemns or blames you,

Continue to sit very quietly,

Breathing in and out.

Maintain your compassion within you for one hour.

That is called compassionate listening.

If you can listen like that for one hour,

The other person will feel much better.

If you don't feel that you can continue to listen in this way,

Ask your friend,

Dear one,

Can we continue in a few days?

I need to renew myself.

I need to practice so I can listen to you in the best way I can.

If you are not in good shape,

You are not going to listen the best way you can.

You need to practice more walking meditation,

More mindful breathing,

More sitting meditation in order to restore your capacity for compassionate listening.

That is the practice of the fourth mindfulness training.

Training oneself to listen with compassion.

That is very important,

A great gift.

Sometimes we speak clumsily and create internal knots in others.

Then we say,

I was just telling the truth.

It may be the truth,

But if our way of speaking causes unnecessary suffering,

It is not right speech.

The truth must be presented in ways that others can accept.

Words that damage or destroy are not right speech.

Before you speak,

Understand the person you are speaking to.

Consider each word carefully before you say anything so that your speech is right in both form and content.

The fourth mindfulness training also has to do with loving speech.

You have the right to tell another person everything in your heart with the condition that you use only loving speech.

If you are not able to speak calmly,

Then don't speak that day.

Sorry,

My dear,

Allow me to tell you tomorrow or the next day.

I'm not at my best today.

I'm afraid I'll say things that are unkind.

Allow me to tell you about this another day.

Open your mouth and speak only when you are sure you can use calm and loving speech.

You have to train yourself to be able to do so.

In the Lotus Sutra,

A bodhisattva named Wondrous Sound,

I love that name,

Wondrous Sound,

Was able to speak to each person in his or her own language.

For someone who needed the language of music,

He used music.

For those who understood the language of drugs,

He spoke in terms of drugs.

Every word the bodhisattva Wondrous Sound said opened up communication and helped others transform.

We can do the same,

But it takes determination and skillfulness.

When two people are not getting along,

We can go to one and speak in a positive way about the other,

And then go to the other and speak constructively about the first.

When person A knows that person B is suffering,

A has a much better chance of understanding and appreciating B.

The art of right speech needs right view,

Right thought,

And also correct practice.

Letter writing is a form of speech.

A letter can sometimes be safer than speaking because there is time for you to read what you have written before sending it.

As you read your words,

You can visualize the other person receiving your letter and decide if what you have written is skillful and appropriate.

Your letter has to water the seeds of transformation in the other person and stir something in his heart if it is to be called right speech.

If any phrase can be misunderstood or upsetting,

Rewrite it.

Right mindfulness tells you whether you are expressing the truth in the most skillful way.

Once you have mailed your letter,

You cannot get it back,

So read it over carefully several times before sending it.

Such a letter will benefit both of you.

Of course you have suffered,

But the other person has suffered also.

That is why writing is a very good practice.

Writing is a practice of looking deeply.

You send the letter only when you are sure that you have looked deeply.

You don't need to blame anyone.

You don't need to show that you have a deeper understanding.

It is true that the other person suffers,

And that alone is worth your compassion.

When you begin to understand the suffering of the other person,

Compassion will arise in you,

And the language you use will have the power of healing.

Compassion is the only energy that can help us connect with another person.

The person who has no compassion in him can never be happy.

When you practice looking at the person to whom you are going to write a letter,

If you can begin to see his suffering,

Compassion will be born.

The moment compassion is born in you,

You feel better already,

Even before you finish the letter.

After sending the letter,

You feel even better because you know the other person will also feel better after reading your letter.

Everyone needs understanding and acceptance,

And now you have understanding to offer.

By writing a letter like this,

You restore communication.

Writing a book or an article can be done in the same way.

Writing is a deep practice.

Even before we begin writing,

During whatever we are doing,

Gardening or sweeping the floor,

Our book or essay is being written deep in our consciousness.

To write a book,

We must write with our whole life,

Not just during the moments we are sitting at our desk.

When writing a book or an article,

We know that our words will affect many other people.

We do not have the right to express our own suffering if it brings suffering to others.

Many books,

Poems and songs take away our faith in life.

Young people today curl up in bed with their walkmen and listen to unwholesome music,

Songs that water seeds of great sadness and agitation in them.

When we practice right view and right thinking,

We will put all of our tapes and CDs that water only seeds of anguish into a box and not listen to them anymore.

Filmmakers,

Musicians and writers need to practice right speech to help our society move again in the direction of peace,

Joy and faith in the future.

Telephone meditation is another practice that can help us cultivate right speech.

Words can travel thousands of miles.

May my words create mutual understanding and love.

May they be as beautiful as gems,

As lovely as flowers.

You may like to write this gata on a piece of paper and tape it near your telephone.

Then every time you are about to make a phone call,

Place your hand on the phone and recite these words.

This gata expresses the determination to practice right speech.

Even as you say the words,

Your mind already becomes more peaceful and your insight more clear.

The person you are calling will hear the freshness in your voice and your words will bring her great happiness and not cause suffering.

As our meditation practice deepens,

We are much less caught in words.

Capable of practicing silence,

We are free as a bird,

In touch with the essence of things.

The founder of one of the schools of Vietnamese Zen Buddhism wrote,

Don't ask me anything else.

My essence is wordless.

To practice mindfulness of speech,

Sometimes we have to practice silence.

Then we can look deeply to see what our views are and what internal knots give rise to our thinking.

Silence is a time for looking deeply.

There are times when silence is truth and that is called thundering silence.

Confucius said,

The heavens do not say anything.

That also means the heavens tell us so much,

But we don't know how to listen to them.

If we listen out of the silence of our mind,

Every bird song and every whistling of the pine trees in the wind will speak to us.

In the Sukkavati Sutra,

It is said that every time the wind blows through the jeweled trees,

A miracle is produced.

If we listen carefully to that sound,

We will hear the Buddha teaching the four noble truths and the noble eightfold path.

Right mindfulness helps us slow down and listen to each word from the birds,

The trees and our own mind and speech.

Whether we say something kind or respond too hastily,

We hear what we are saying.

Words and thoughts can kill.

We cannot support acts of killing in our thinking or in our speech.

If you have a job in which telling the truth is impossible,

You may have to change jobs.

If you have a job that allows you to speak the truth,

Please be grateful.

To practice social justice and non-exploitation,

We have to use right speech.

So as I said,

This one really speaks to me.

Right speech really speaks to me because I think across my life I have many examples of times that I have used words,

Gossiped,

Talked negatively about other people and in those ways caused not just myself harm,

But other people harm.

And then we come to a place perhaps where we really want to cultivate talking positively and saying good things about other people and our environment begins to really matter.

If we have these habit energies and a lot of the work that we have been doing so far is about talking about what habit energies we have.

If we have these habit energies of speaking negatively and then we get in an environment where we have committed to speak positively,

But all of the people around us are continuing to speak negatively,

They haven't made that commitment to themselves,

It can make it very hard for us to uphold our commitment.

And so I think in this chapter Thich Nhat Hanh really talks about a lot of things.

When he talks about our commitment to ourselves,

Making this commitment,

Surrounding ourselves with people who have also made this commitment and can uphold us.

And then he takes right speech and he breaks it down.

He says right speech is actually a product of all the other eight steps on the path or the other seven steps on the path.

And in addition,

It's infused with mindfulness and I think that's something we're going to find again and again in our practice this afternoon or today will be about this,

About mindfulness a little bit more about the five mindfulness trainings.

But he talks about mindfulness in every step.

And so here he really says without mindfulness,

If you're not paying attention to what you're saying,

Then you are not going to say things in a way that is loving and compassionate if your habit energies are already in the opposite direction.

The tongue is like a snake.

We have to become a snake charmer.

We have to watch it diligently and when we have a wrong thought,

We have to be with that wrong thought so it does not translate into wrong speech.

And over time we begin to break those habit energies.

And this is also infused with the concept of silence.

And so maybe you use silence in your life already,

But silence is a beautiful practice to work with right speech.

You can commit for just one day to say,

Today I'm going to really try to say as little as possible,

Only what needs to be said.

And then you may find you break that again and again and again.

Maybe you try over and over again.

Just notice how silence then can infuse your life with more joy and give you space to practice right speech so that eventually these habit energies change.

Right speech isn't just for us.

It isn't just for the person we're talking to.

It's a tool to uplift all of humanity.

Chapter 13,

Reading from the heart of the Buddhist teachings by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Right action.

Right action means right action of the body.

It is the practice of touching love and preventing harm.

The practice of nonviolence toward ourselves and others.

The basis of right action is to do everything in mindfulness.

Right action is closely linked with four,

The first,

Second,

Third,

And fifth of the mindfulness trainings.

The first training is about reverence for life.

Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life,

I am committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people,

Animals,

Plants,

And minerals.

I am determined not to kill,

Not to let others kill,

And not to support any act of killing in the world in my thinking and in my way of life.

We may be killing every day by the way we eat,

Drink,

And use the land,

Air,

And water.

We think that we don't kill,

But we do.

Mindfulness of action helps us be aware so we can stop the killing and begin saving and helping.

The second mindfulness training is about generosity.

Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation,

Social injustice,

Stealing,

And oppression,

I am committed to cultivating loving kindness and learning ways to work for the well-being of people,

Animals,

Plants,

And minerals.

I will practice generosity by sharing my time,

Energy,

And material resources with those who are in real need.

I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others.

I will respect the property of others,

But I will prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on earth.

This training tells us not just to refrain from taking what is not ours or exploiting others,

It also exhorts us to live in a way that brings about justice and well-being in society.

We have to learn how to live simply so that we do not take more than our share.

When we do something to promote social justice,

That is right action.

The third mindfulness training is about sexual responsibility.

Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct,

I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals,

Couples,

Families,

And society.

I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without love and a long-term commitment.

To preserve the happiness of myself and others,

I am determined to respect my commitments and the commitments of others.

I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct.

Loneliness cannot be alleviated just by the coming together of two bodies unless there is also good communication,

Understanding,

And loving kindness.

Right mindfulness helps us protect ourselves and others,

Including children,

From further suffering.

Sexual misbehavior creates so much suffering to protect the integrity of families and individuals.

We do our best to behave responsibly and encourage others to do the same.

Practicing this training,

We not only protect ourselves and those dear to us,

But we protect the whole human species,

Including children.

When right mindfulness shines its light on our daily life,

We are able to keep this training steadily.

Sexual misbehavior has broken so many families.

There has been so much suffering because people do not practice sexual responsibility.

A child who is sexually abused will suffer his or her whole life.

Those who have been sexually abused have the capacity to become bodhisattvas,

Helping many children.

Your mind of love can transform your own grief and pain,

And you can share your insight with others.

This is right action,

And it frees you and those around you.

When you practice to help others around you at the same time you are helping yourself,

The fifth mindfulness training encourages mindful eating,

Drinking,

And consuming.

This is linked to the Four Noble Truths and all of the elements of the Noble Eightfold Path,

But especially right action.

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption,

I am committed to cultivating good health,

Both physical and mental,

For myself,

My family,

And my society,

By practicing mindful eating,

Drinking,

And consuming.

I will ingest only items that preserve peace,

Well-being,

And joy in my body,

In my consciousness,

And in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society.

I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant,

Or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins,

Such as certain TV programs,

Magazines,

Books,

Films,

And conversations.

I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors,

My parents,

My society,

And future generations.

I will work to transform violence,

Fear,

Anger,

And confusion in myself and in society by practicing a diet for myself and for society.

I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self-transformation and for the transformation of society.

Right action means bringing into our body and mind only the kinds of food that are safe and healthy.

We practice mindful eating,

Mindful drinking,

Not eating things that create toxins in our body,

Not using alcohol or drugs for ourselves,

Our family,

And our society.

We consume mindfully so that life will be possible for all of us.

We practice mindful consumption to protect our body and our consciousness from ingesting toxins.

Certain television programs,

Books,

Magazines,

And conversations can bring into our consciousness violence,

Fear,

And despair.

We have to practice mindful consumption to protect our body and consciousness and the collective body and consciousness of our family and our society.

When we practice not drinking alcohol,

We protect ourselves and we are also protecting our family and society.

A woman in London told me,

I've been drinking two glasses of wine every week for the last 20 years and it has done me no harm at all.

Why should I give it up?

I said,

It's true that two glasses of wine do not harm you,

But are you sure they do not harm your children?

You may not have the seed of alcoholism in you,

But who knows whether the seed of alcoholism is in your children.

If you give up wine,

You'll be doing it not only for yourself,

But also for your children and for your society.

She understood and the next morning she formally received the five mindfulness trainings.

That is the work of a Bodhisattva,

Doing it not for herself alone,

But for everyone.

The Ministry of Health in France advises people not to drink too much.

They advertise on television,

One glass is okay,

But three glasses invite destruction.

They want you to be moderate in drinking,

But if the first glass were not there,

How could there be a third glass?

Not having the first glass of wine is the highest form of protection.

If you refrain from having a first glass,

You are protecting not only yourself,

But all of us at the same time.

When we consume mindfully,

We protect our body,

Our consciousness,

And the body and consciousness of our family and society.

Without the fifth training,

How can we transform the difficult situation of our society?

The more we consume,

The more we suffer,

And the more we make our society suffer.

Critical consumption seems to be the only way out of this current situation,

The only way to stop the course of destruction for our body,

Our consciousness,

And the collective body and consciousness of our society.

Looking deeply,

We can see the interbeing nature of the five mindfulness trainings and the eightfold path.

We apply right mindfulness to see whether our eating,

Drinking,

Consuming,

If they are right action,

Right view,

Right thinking,

And right speech,

And if they are all present when we put the fifth mindfulness training into practice.

The five mindfulness trainings are interpenetrated by the elements of the noble eightfold path,

Especially right action.

Right action is based on right view,

Right thinking,

And right speech,

And is very much linked to right livelihood.

Those who earn their living by manufacturing weapons,

Depriving others of their chance to live,

Destroying the environment,

Exploiting nature and people,

Or producing items that bring us toxins may earn a lot of money,

But they are practicing wrong livelihood.

We have to be mindful to protect ourselves from their wrong action.

If we don't have right view,

Right thought,

And are not practicing right speech and right livelihood,

Even if we feel we are trying to go in the direction of peace and enlightenment,

Our effort may be wrong action.

A good teacher only needs to observe a student walking or inviting the bell to sound to know how long he has been in the practice.

You look at his right action and see all of the things that are contained in it.

Looking this way into any of the elements of the path,

You can measure the realization of that person as far as the whole path is concerned.

There are so many things we can do to practice right action.

We can protect life,

Practice generosity,

Behave responsibly,

And consume mindfully.

The basis of right action is right mindfulness.

So Thich Nhat Hanh starts talking about the five mindfulness trainings more in depth in this chapter,

And actually that's the practice we're going to do in our meditation after this next chapter.

But I want to again talk about the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Buddha's teachings are said to,

You know that it's a Buddha's teaching.

You know it's a teaching from the Buddha if you can see that all other teachings of the Buddha are contained within it.

And when we begin to break down the Noble Eightfold Path,

What you can see is that each step on the path contains all other steps.

They're not,

They're interconnected.

They are interbeing,

And that's a core element of the Buddha's teachings.

At the end of the next chapter,

Then I'm going to read the five mindfulness trainings for you,

So you'll have all five of them,

And you can write them down if you want.

And we'll do a short meditation practice on it.

I want to remind you also that the Four Noble Truths are like the preliminary work,

And the Noble Eightfold Path,

This is like taking medicine from the doctor.

We can actually imagine that the Buddha is a doctor,

And we go to him with our illness,

And he prescribes this path for us.

So it may be the case that one step on the path rings more true or more deeply for you than another.

You may say,

Oh,

You know,

I think my view is right.

I think my thinking is right.

My speech maybe isn't so right.

So then you know where the work needs to be done.

As we read,

Start listening not just to my words,

But to your body.

Listen to the feelings that come up in your body,

Not the thoughts in your mind,

But the feelings and where they emanate from.

Perhaps you're getting a feeling in your stomach or in your lower regions,

In your pelvis.

Maybe your heart starts to feel something.

Pay attention to those feelings that come up,

And allow a message to emerge from whatever you're feeling as we read through these steps on the Noble Eightfold Path.

So let's read.

I will say the four of the five mindfulness trainings in this chapter that Thich Nhat Hanh touched on.

So the first,

It's not all five mindfulness trainings that he says that right action is related to.

He says just four of them,

And those being a commitment to cultivating compassion and upholding and protecting life,

The next generosity and the development of loving kindness and a commitment to doing good work in the world for the benefit of humanity.

He talks about sexuality and sexual responsibility and a commitment to protecting ourselves and others against exploitation.

This is such an important one.

Think about the prevalence of pornography in the world.

Many men that I've met or worked with think,

Oh,

It's no big deal.

Also women,

Oh,

It's no big deal,

Pornography.

But so much of pornography is infused with violence and aggression.

Whatever we take in,

Whatever we consume begins to color our perceptions,

Our thoughts,

And our actions,

Our speech.

All of those things are interconnected.

So we cannot say,

I watch horror movies and it doesn't affect me.

It's no big deal.

That's actually scientifically not true.

And so even if we go beyond the Buddhist teachings and we just look at what science says,

Neuroscience says about the brain,

We know that everything that we consume has an impact on how the brain is working.

So if you consume pornography,

Especially violent pornography,

But any kind of sexual exploitation,

If you consume a lot of horror movies or shows that create suspicion in you,

That is coloring your outlook on the world.

And you may not want to hear that message.

You may actually be like,

Sarah's wrong,

I don't even want to hear this,

But it's absolutely true.

And so notice if you feel resistance to these words and then use that resistance not as something that you want to push back against,

But something that you want to explore more deeply.

I can definitely read a little slower.

And also I record these,

Just a reminder so that you can go back and re-listen if you feel as though you're getting something meaningful and you want to dive a little more deeply into it.

Okay,

The last chapter for today before we'll do a practice on the five mindfulness trainings.

The last chapter,

Right diligence for today.

Right diligence or right effort is the kind of energy that helps us realize the noble eightfold path.

If we are diligent for possessions,

Sex or food,

That is wrong diligence.

If we work round the clock for profit or fame or to run away from our suffering,

That is wrong diligence also.

From outside it may appear that we are diligent,

But it is not right diligence.

The same can be true of our meditation practice.

We may appear diligent in our practice,

But if it takes us farther from reality or from those we love,

It is wrong diligence.

When we practice sitting and walking meditation in ways that cause our body and mind to suffer,

Our effort is not right diligence and is not based on right view.

Our practice should be intelligent,

Based on right understanding of the teaching.

It is not because we practice hard that we can say we are practicing right diligence.

There was a monk in Tang Dynasty,

China who was practicing sitting meditation very hard,

Day and night.

He thought he was practicing harder than anyone else and he was very proud of this.

He sat like a rock day and night,

But his suffering was not transformed.

One day a teacher asked him,

Why are you sitting so hard?

And the monk replied,

To become a Buddha.

The teacher picked up a tile and began polishing it and the monk asked,

Teacher what are you doing?

His master replied,

I'm making a mirror.

The monk asked,

How can you make a tile into a mirror?

And his teacher replied,

How can you become a Buddha by sitting?

The four practices usually associated with right diligence are one,

Preventing unwholesome seeds in our store consciousness that have not yet arisen from arising.

These are the four practices of right diligence.

One,

Preventing unwholesome seeds in our store consciousness that have not yet arisen from arising.

Two,

Helping the unwholesome seeds that have already arisen to return to our store consciousness.

Three,

Finding ways to water the wholesome seeds in our store consciousness that have not yet arisen and asking our friends to do the same.

And four,

Nourishing the wholesome seeds that have already arisen so that they will stay present in our mind consciousness and grow stronger.

This is called the fourfold right diligence.

Unwholesome means not conducive to liberation or the path.

In our store consciousness,

There are many seeds that are not beneficial for our transformation.

And if those seeds are watered,

They will grow stronger.

When greed,

Hatred,

Ignorance,

And wrong view arise,

If we embrace them with right mindfulness,

Sooner or later they will lose their strength and return to our store consciousness.

When wholesome seeds have not yet arisen,

We can water them and help them come into our conscious mind.

These seeds of happiness,

Love,

And loyalty,

And reconciliation need watering every day.

If we water them,

We will feel joyful,

And this will encourage them to stay longer.

Keeping wholesome mental formations in our mind consciousness is the fourth practice of right diligence.

The fourfold right diligence is nourished by joy and interest.

If your practice does not bring you joy,

You are not practicing correctly.

The Buddha asked the monk Sona,

Is it true that before you became a monk,

You were a musician?

Sona replied that it was so.

The Buddha asked,

What happens if the string of your instrument is too loose?

When you pluck it,

There will be no sound,

Sona replied.

What happens when the string is too taut?

It will break.

The practice of the way is the same.

Excuse me,

My incense is going a little crazy right now.

Dampen it out,

Sorry.

The practice of the way is the same.

The Buddha said,

Maintain your health,

Be joyful,

Do not force yourself to do things that you cannot do.

We need to know our physical and psychological limits.

We shouldn't force ourselves to do ascetic practices or lose ourselves in sensual pleasures.

Right diligence lies in the middle way between the extremes of austerity and sensual indulgence.

The teachings of the seven factors of awakening are also part of the practice of right diligence.

Joy is a factor of awakening and it is at the heart of right diligence.

Ease,

Another factor of awakening,

Is also essential for right diligence.

In fact,

Not only right diligence,

But also right mindfulness and right concentration need joy and ease.

Right diligence does not mean to force ourselves.

If we have joy,

Ease,

And interest,

Our effort will become natural.

When we hear the bell inviting us for walking or sitting meditation,

We will have the energy to participate if we find meditation joyful and interesting.

If we do not have the energy to practice sitting or walking meditation,

It is because these practices do not bring us joy or transform us or we do not yet see their benefit.

When I wanted to become a novice monk,

My family thought that a monk's life would be too difficult for me,

But I knew it was the only way I could be happy and I persisted.

Once I became a novice,

I felt as happy and free as a bird in the sky.

When it came time for chanting sutras,

I felt as though I had been invited to a concert.

Sometimes on moonlit nights,

When the monks were chanting the sutras standing by the crescent pond,

I thought I was in paradise listening to angels.

When I could not attend morning chanting because I had another task,

Just hearing the words of the Sharangama Sutra coming from the Buddha Hall brought me happiness.

Everyone at Tuh-Hup-Godha practiced with interest,

Joy,

And diligence.

There was no forced effort,

Just the love and support of our teacher and brothers in the practice.

At Plum Village,

Children participate in sitting and walking meditation and silent meals.

At first,

They do it just to be with their friends who are already practicing,

But after they taste the peace and joy of meditation,

They continue on their own because they want to.

Sometimes it takes adults four or five years of practicing the outer form before they taste the true joy of practice.

Master Guishan said,

Time flies like an arrow.

If we do not live deeply,

We waste our life.

Someone who can devote her life to the practice,

Who has a chance to be near her teacher and her friends in the practice,

Has a wonderful opportunity that can bring her great happiness.

If we lack right diligence,

It is because we have not found a way to practice that is true for us or have not felt deeply the need to practice.

A mindful life can be wonderful.

Waking up this morning,

I smile.

Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.

I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.

Reciting this Gata can give us energy to live the day well.

Twenty-four hours are a treasure chest of jewels.

If we waste these hours,

We waste our life.

The practice is to smile as soon as we wake up,

Recognizing this day as an opportunity for practicing.

It is up to us not to waste it.

When we look at all beings with eyes of love and compassion,

We feel wonderful.

With the energy of mindfulness,

Washing the dishes,

Sweeping the floor,

Or practicing sitting or walking meditation are all the more precious.

Suffering can propel us to practice.

When we are anxious or sad and see that these practices bring us relief,

We will want to continue.

It takes energy to look into suffering and to see what has brought about that suffering.

But this insight will lead us to see how to end our suffering and the path needed to do so.

When we embrace our suffering,

We see its origins and we see that it can end because there is a path.

Our suffering is at the center.

When we look into the compost,

We see the flowers.

When we look into the sea of fire,

We see a lotus.

The path that does not run away from,

But embraces our suffering is the path that will lead us to liberation.

It is not always necessary for us to deal directly with our suffering.

Sometimes we can just allow it to lie dormant in our store consciousness and we use the opportunity to touch the refreshing and healing elements within us and around us with our mindfulness.

They will take care of our pain,

Like antibodies taking care of the foreign bodies that have entered our bloodstream.

When unwholesome seeds have arisen,

We have to take care of them.

When unwholesome seeds are dormant,

Our job is to help them sleep peacefully and be transformed at the base.

With Right View,

We see the way we need to go and our seeing gives us faith and energy.

If we feel better after practicing walking meditation for an hour,

We will have the determination to continue the practice.

When we see how walking meditation brings peace to others,

We will have even more faith in practice.

With patience,

We can discover the joys of life that are all around us and we will have more energy,

Interest and diligence.

The practice of mindful living should be joyful and pleasant.

If you breathe in and out and feel joy and peace,

That is right diligence.

If you suppress yourself,

If you are suffering during your practice,

It is probably not right diligence.

Examine your practice.

See what brings you joy and happiness of a sustained kind.

Try to spend time with a Sangha,

Communities of brothers and sisters who are creating a field of mindful energy that can make your practice easy.

Work together with a teacher and with a friend to transform your suffering into compassion,

Peace and understanding and do it with joy and ease.

That is right diligence.

Okay,

So I think in this chapter,

It can sometimes feel confusing,

Right diligence,

Because on the one hand,

Thich Nhat Hanh is saying,

The Buddha says,

Right diligence means to practice in the right way,

So not to be too forceful,

Not to try too hard.

And on the other hand,

Thich Nhat Hanh expresses that sometimes for an adult in the practice,

It can take four or five years for that ease and joy to manifest.

And so how do we practice in a soft,

Kind way,

If it can take four to five years to even feel that sort of joy and ease of practicing?

And this is a point that I think needs clarification.

Essentially what Thich Nhat Hanh is saying is that you continue to practice every day,

Regardless of the effect,

Regardless of the results.

And inside of your practice,

You cultivate a gentleness,

A compassion with yourself.

So you may not feel comfortable,

It may not feel easy.

I wonder if you can think of a time where you knew something was good for you and yet you resisted doing it anyways.

I'm sure all of us have examples like that.

Even still,

You sit,

You smile to yourself,

You explore the essence of your suffering and you don't become rigid.

Unlike one of the examples he gave in a previous chapter,

Thich Nhat Hanh gave in a previous chapter,

You don't sit and try to force yourself to be thinking,

Thinking,

Thinking,

Or letting go of thought,

Thought,

Thought.

You don't try to force anything.

You don't try to tame your mind like a wrestler trying to beat his opponent.

Instead,

You just sit with your mind and you observe it.

You don't resist anything.

You let everything come in.

You don't push anything away.

And in that way,

You start to cultivate love and respect for all aspects of the mind.

Thinking is the natural way of the mind.

Let the thoughts come and let the thoughts go.

And when a good thought comes,

When a good perspective comes,

And I don't mean good like morally good,

You know,

Not like religious good or bad,

Not like a value in that way,

But something that definitely leads to more upliftment inside of yourself or others,

Then in that way,

You begin to water those.

And when something negative comes,

It's also no big deal.

It's no problem.

You just don't water it.

You let it go and you focus your mind more on the things that come forward from your store consciousness that are positive and wholesome.

So I'm going to do a seated meditation with you as usual.

This meditation is a little bit different.

I'm actually going to read the five mindfulness trainings from Thich Nhat Hanh.

So I'd like you to imagine wherever you are right now,

Sitting up or lying down,

Let yourself relax,

Because we're going to do this practice together.

And I want you to imagine that you're taking these trainings.

So you can even visualize yourself as a monk or as a lay person sitting at the feet even of Thich Nhat Hanh,

And you're taking these trainings directly from him.

I'm going to read the commitments to you,

The five mindfulness training commitments.

And as I read them,

You don't have to repeat them to yourself.

I want you to manifest a feeling as though you are accepting these trainings.

Now,

This is where the real work comes in.

You may not want to accept all of these trainings.

When I read these trainings to you,

You may feel resistance.

You may feel pushback.

You may think,

Oh,

I don't agree to that.

I'm not going to,

No,

No,

No,

That's not me.

Great.

If you have that experience,

Then the practice is going well for you.

It doesn't mean it's not going well if you don't have that experience.

But if you have resistance,

This is a clue into what you need to explore further inside of your body and mind.

So as I read these,

I encourage you to breathe mindfully.

Eyes open,

Eyes closed,

Does not matter.

Just allow yourself to absorb the words as though you are accepting these commitments,

As though you are sitting at the feet of a teacher and you are taking these five mindfulness trainings as your own commitments and notice what pushback you feel and let that be a clue to the work that needs to be done.

So wherever you are,

Let's begin.

Sit up straight or lie down in such a way that the spine is long and open.

Eyes closed or eyes open.

Allow your vision to relax.

Notice yourself breathing in and breathing out.

And for a few moments in silence,

As you allow the mind to settle,

Bringing your energy,

Your attention,

Your awareness into the sensations of the physical body,

Just simply be with the experience of the natural breath.

Feeling it as it comes in and feeling it as it goes out.

I'm going to read the five mindfulness trainings to you and as I said,

I want you to visualize yourself at the seat of a teacher listening and absorbing and accepting these trainings as commitments in your own life.

Recognize any points of resistance and don't push them away.

Allow everything,

Every sensation,

Every experience to be okay exactly as it is.

Perhaps now you begin to visualize yourself sitting with some teacher,

Maybe Thich Nhat Hanh or another teacher that you have or even just imagining the Buddha sitting in front of you as you take these five trainings.

Reverence for life,

Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life.

I am committed to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people,

Animals,

Plants and minerals.

I am determined not to kill,

Not to let others kill and not to support any act of killing in the world,

In my thinking or in my way of life.

Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger,

Fear,

Greed and intolerance,

Which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking,

I will cultivate openness,

Non-discrimination and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence,

Fanaticism and dogmatism in myself and in the world.

I am committed to cultivating compassion and protecting all lives.

Let the words mingle with your mind.

Aware of all sensations.

True happiness.

Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation,

Social injustice,

Stealing and oppression.

I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking,

Speaking and acting.

I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others and I will share my time,

Energy and material resources with those who are in need.

I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering.

To see that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion and that running after wealth,

Fame,

Power and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair.

I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions.

I am aware that I can live happily in the present moment by simply remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy.

I am committed to practicing right livelihood so that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on earth and stop contributing to climate change.

I am committed to consuming mindfully.

Let the words mingle with your mind,

Aware of all sensations.

True love,

Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct.

I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals,

Couples,

Families and society.

Understanding that sexual desire is not love and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others.

I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep long-term commitment made known to my family and friends.

I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct.

Seeing that body and mind are one,

I am committed to learning appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and cultivating loving kindness,

Compassion,

Joy and inclusiveness which are the four basic elements of true love.

I do this for my greater happiness and the greater happiness of others.

Practicing true love,

We know that we will continue beautifully into the future.

Let the words mingle.

Prepare of all sensations.

Loving speech and deep listening.

Prepare of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others.

I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people,

Ethnic and religious groups and nations.

Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering,

I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence,

Joy and hope.

When anger is manifesting in me,

I am determined not to speak.

I will practice mindful breathing,

Mindful walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger.

I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person.

I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations.

I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord.

I will practice right diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding,

Love,

Joy and inclusiveness and gradually transform anger,

Violence and fear that lie deep in my consciousness.

Let the words mingle,

Aware of all sensations,

Nourishment and healing,

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption.

I am committed to cultivating good health,

Both physical and mental for myself,

My family and my society by practicing mindful eating,

Drinking and consuming.

I will practice looking deeply into how I consume the four kinds of nutriments,

Namely edible foods,

Sense impressions,

Volition and consciousness.

I am determined not to gamble or to use alcohol,

Drugs or any other products which contain toxins such as certain websites,

Electronic games,

TV programs,

Films,

Magazines,

Books and conversations.

I will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing,

Healing and nourishing elements in me and around me,

Not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor letting anxieties,

Fear or craving pull me out of the present moment.

I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness,

Anxiety or other suffering by losing myself in consumption.

I will contemplate interbeing and consume in a way that preserves peace,

Joy and well-being in my body and consciousness and in the collective body and consciousness of my family,

My society and earth.

Let the words mingle.

Aware of all sensations.

Bring your hands over your heart.

Take a deep,

Slow,

Loving breath in.

Feel your heart expand.

Take a long,

Relaxed,

Compassionate breath out and feel your heart relax.

Stay with it,

Inhaling as you feel your heart expand,

Loving,

Exhaling as you feel your heart relax,

Compassion.

You single-handedly have the power to transform humanity.

All you have to do is recognize this power that exists within you right now.

Inhale,

The heart expands,

Loving.

Exhale,

The heart relaxes,

Compassion.

You commit in this moment to doing your part,

To unearthing your suffering because you know that your suffering that has not been dealt with causes others to suffer.

Inhale,

Heart expands,

Loving,

Exhale,

Heart relaxes,

Compassion.

You are committed to doing good on this planet,

Not just for the benefit of yourself but for the benefit of others.

That means exploring what hurts.

Don't run and hide.

You are brave,

Strong,

And powerful,

And we need you.

Inhale,

Expand,

Love.

Exhale,

Relax,

Compassion.

We went a little longer than I anticipated.

If you're still with me,

Thank you.

I have a homework assignment for this week just like every week.

This week's activity is a journaling activity.

This week,

I really want you to explore your wholesome seeds and your unwholesome seeds.

What exists inside of your conscious mind that needs to be relaxed,

That needs to go dormant again,

That needs to be allowed to fall asleep because it is interfering with your life?

What are the things in your consciousness that need to be watered,

That are bringing more joy into your life?

We need to explore these things for ourselves so that we can begin to see clearly how can we then go about watering the seeds that need to be watered,

That are bringing joy to our lives and others,

And how can we go about allowing the seeds that are causing us pain,

Causing others pain to relax?

These are questions that I would like you to take time this week to answer thoughtfully in a journal or some other place.

Question one,

What unwholesome seed or seeds are most active inside of you?

Question one,

What unwholesome seed or seeds are most active inside of you?

For instance,

Maybe anger is a big problem in your life,

Maybe jealousy,

Greed.

Think deeply on what are the unwholesome seeds that are most active for you.

Don't hide from them.

Maybe you don't want to admit jealousy is a big problem in your life,

But if you don't admit it,

It will continue to rule you.

So the work is admit what hurts.

Go right there.

Look right at it.

So question one,

What unwholesome seed or seeds are awakened and most active in you?

Question two,

What wholesome seeds are most active inside you?

What about your character is the most beautiful,

The most blooming,

Doing the most good for the world?

Don't just look at what's negative.

Look at what's positive also.

Maybe you're great with forgiveness or self-love,

Compassion,

Patience,

Generosity.

Really look deeply.

So the question number two is what wholesome seeds are most active inside of you?

The third question,

What are three ways you could begin to relax the unwholesome seeds?

What are three ways you could begin to relax the unwholesome seeds?

And of course,

In question number four,

What are three ways you could water the wholesome seeds?

So we're looking at things,

Good ideas that you might have.

For instance,

Maybe anger is one of your unwholesome seeds.

Maybe that's the one you choose to focus on.

And maybe you come up with three ways that you can begin to work with your anger.

So of course,

The number one way is to practice mindfulness and that's coming,

Right?

That's a practice.

It's ongoing.

It's a constant practice.

So you watch.

You see the anger manifest.

What are three ways that you can hold that anger with love so that instead of going out,

It resolves back in and goes back to sleep,

Relaxing that anger?

And then what are three ways that you can water these good seeds?

Maybe you are somebody who is very generous and there are things that you could do to even increase that amount of generosity.

Maybe by calling a friend who you know needs a listening ear and really sitting with that person.

So the four questions again are what are the seed or seeds that are unwholesome that are most active in you?

What are the seed or seeds that are wholesome that are most active in you?

And three things you can do to either relax unwholesome seeds or to water wholesome seeds.

What we're doing is we're cultivating an inner garden.

And we only have in relative truth,

We only have so much space in the garden of our mind.

So if we're diligent,

If we're always watchful and we pull out the poisonous weeds regularly and we constantly plant and water the wholesome seeds,

The fruitful seeds,

The ones that feed us well,

Then eventually that garden won't have space for unwholesome seeds anymore.

So in ultimate truth,

You know those seeds will always be there.

It's part of the big picture of reality.

But in relative truth,

We can create a garden that actually no longer has seeds for them to be blooming anymore.

And that's what we're looking for because these unwholesome seeds don't just hurt us.

Don't lie to yourself.

Don't tell yourself that.

These ways that we interact with ourselves,

This is what we're doing to other people,

Other things,

Other places.

And when we work to change ourselves on this level,

Then we help uplift and uphold humanity to its highest.

And that's the work that needs to be done right now.

We need you.

The world needs you.

Thank you for joining me.

I'm so sorry to go long.

I'm also sorry that my dogs were barking so much today.

Hopefully it wasn't too much for you and that it didn't cause too much distraction.

I also had this fan going I forgot to turn off.

So we can't be perfect.

So we just relax into what is and what we are.

Thank you for spending your Sunday morning with me.

So happy Sunday.

Thank you for your presence.

Thank you for your work.

Thank you for your commitment to yourself.

You're so valuable in this world and I appreciate you so much.

Reviews

Thank you for this blessing.💕

Sarah, thank you so much for taking the time to lead this book club. This is so helpful. I look forward to listening each week.

Please please please consider recording this meditation as a separate track.