The Art of Mindful Living

Thich Nhat Hanh — Winter Retreat 2013–2014 (public talk, in English) Assembly of Stars Meditation Hall, Dharma Nectar Temple, Lower Hamlet, Plum Village · 22 December 2013 · talk 11 of 24

Illuminates: mindfulness as healing / as enlightenment itself · walking & sitting “because I like it” · Buddhism as an art of living · running away from ourselves · mindfulness in the corporate world (Google, Facebook) and the question of “right” mindfulness · the Sangha (incl. the online Sangha) · loving speech & deep listening · Wake Up Schools / UNESCO.

---

[Opening: the chant of the Heart of Perfect Understanding (Heart Sutra).]

Good morning, dear Sangha. Today is the 22nd of December, 2013, and we are in the Assembly of Stars Meditation Hall of the Dharma Nectar Temple, Lower Hamlet, Plum Village.

Walking and sitting — because I like it

This morning in the Upper Hamlet, after sitting meditation, we practiced Touching the Earth, and we made a promise to the Buddha that we would enjoy walking meditation in our daily life — because many of us are in a hurry and do not enjoy the steps we make. Each time we focus attention on the breath and the step, we can produce a feeling of joy and peace, and get in touch with the wonders of life. Our body is a wonder, like a flower. There are so many wonders of life around us and inside us that we cannot touch, because we are always in a hurry, looking for some happiness. So we walk like sleepwalkers; we do not enjoy our steps.

When we come to Plum Village, we practice walking meditation with the Sangha. If someone asks, “What is the use of walking meditation? Why do you practice it?” — you can give several answers, but for me the best answer is: because I like it. I enjoy every step; every step makes me happy. There is no use in doing walking meditation if you do not enjoy every step — that would be a waste of time. The same is true of sitting meditation. What is the use of sitting for hours? The best answer is: because I like it — because sitting can bring peace and joy. If you cannot produce joy and peace in sitting, then sitting is of no use, even if you sit ten hours a day. So we have to learn to sit so that we can produce peace and joy, and to walk so that we can enjoy every step. That has to do with the quality of walking and sitting — and mindfulness and concentration bring quality into our steps, our breath, our sitting.

This morning we did mindful movements together. If someone asks, “What is the use of these movements?” — the answer might be the same: because I like it. I do not do it for the sake of better health. Many of the monks of my generation have passed away; some are in wheelchairs and can no longer do it. So I do it for them — and when I breathe in and move like this, I see it is wonderful that I am still able to do it, and because of that awareness I enjoy every movement. You are alive. You are still alive. That is mindfulness: it tells us we are alive and our body is strong enough to move, to walk — and walking on the planet Earth is a wonderful thing. Scientists who spend six months in a sky-lab are so happy when they return to Earth, because up there people cannot do this; they make steps and recognize the grass, the bushes, the flowers, the squirrel, the birds. Perhaps the first ten days are wonderful, and then they get used to it; a year later they may not feel as happy. But mindfulness reminds us that to be alive and walking on Earth is a wonderful thing — so even those scientists, to keep being happy, would need mindfulness.

Mindfulness is enlightenment itself

Everyone can practice mindfulness of breathing. You breathe in and you are aware that you are breathing in — it is not difficult, and it can be very pleasant. Breathing in with mindfulness, you are aware that you have a body, that you are nourishing it, that you are alive. So mindfulness is enlightenment itself. Buddhism speaks of enlightenment, but you don’t need ten years to get it — you need a few seconds. Enlightenment is always enlightenment about something: you are aware that you are alive — that is already enlightenment; aware that you have a body — already enlightenment; aware that your feet are strong enough to enjoy walking — also enlightenment. Enlightenment can come in series; it makes you free and helps you produce the energy of joy, happiness, and peace.

Buddhism is not exactly a religion but a way of life, an art of living, because mindfulness is at the heart of the practice — and you don’t need to be a Buddhist to practice it. When you brush your teeth, you can choose to do it in mindfulness: not thinking of other things, just focused on brushing. In those two or three minutes a good practitioner can produce the energy of joy and happiness. When you go to the toilet, it is also possible to enjoy the time. Mindfulness can change everything; it helps you to be there and enjoy whatever you are doing.

Many of us have spent our lives searching for material and emotional comforts, and many do have a lot of comfort but are not happy — we may have enough money, and someone who loves and understands us, and yet we are not happy. Those of us who do not have much money, but who practice mindfulness, cherish and treasure our time, because time is very precious. When you wake up in the morning, the first thing is to breathe and be aware that you have twenty-four brand-new hours to live — the gift of life. After I was ordained as a novice, I had to memorize many short verses to practice mindfulness, and the first is:

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand-new hours are before me. I vow to live them deeply, and to look at all beings with the eyes of compassion.

The first line is for the in-breath, the second for the out-breath, the third for the in-breath, the fourth for the out-breath. There are more than fifty such verses a novice memorizes — for brushing the teeth, for putting on the robe — so that the practice of mindfulness is to be aware of everything we do, and where mindfulness and concentration are, insight will be, and we can enjoy every moment and not waste our life.

The old year ends in eight days. The ending of the year may help us think about how we live. 2013 — how did we spend it? Did we enjoy it? Perhaps we wasted many days in anger, fear, and jealousy, and did not make the best of the time given us. We may have spent thirty, forty, fifty years already — what have we done with our life? Is it possible to live so that we have more peace, more joy, more happiness, and can help others suffer less? The answer is yes: if you take up mindfulness, you enjoy more the time given you, and with more joy you can help others suffer less.

Mindfulness in the corporate world

This year we had the opportunity to go to Google headquarters to offer the practice to its employees — the second time we spent a whole day there. They are young, intelligent, very creative people; many of our monks and nuns came, and we spent the whole day in sitting meditation, walking meditation, and eating in mindfulness, just like a Day of Mindfulness. They practiced wholeheartedly, because they suffer: they work very hard, and a company like that always wants to be number one, so they invest a great deal of energy and do not have time to take care of their body, feelings, emotions, and families. That is why they feel they need a spiritual practice.

After the dharma talk and questions, I led a walking meditation; all joined, and after fifteen minutes we sat quietly, doing nothing, just breathing. I held a cup of tea and enjoyed it while everyone sat and breathed. Other employees arriving late saw something entirely new — many people sitting, doing nothing, just breathing, so quiet. Time is no longer money; time is peace, time is life. In the afternoon we spent two hours with those responsible for the company’s direction, discussing how to feel better, suffer less, and help others suffer less.

In our modern time everyone works very hard and has no time to take care of body, feelings, and emotions; we do not have enough peace, and even with time we don’t know how to handle ourselves. There is suffering inside, conflict, loneliness — and most of us do not want to go home to ourselves, fearing we will be overwhelmed by the blocks of pain inside. So the tendency is to run away from ourselves — that is a characteristic of our civilization. And if we cannot take care of ourselves, how can we take care of the people we love? So we run from ourselves, and also from our families and friends, and we do not have time to go back to nature, to Mother Earth, who has the capacity to nourish and heal. We are running away from her, and with new technology we create electronic gadgets that help us run away — from ourselves, our families, and nature. We get alienated from self, family, and nature.

Many corporations carry a guilt complex, because they are exploiting the resources of the earth and have no occasion to care for the environment, so they spend some money on charity to ease that guilt — as in Asia we go to the temple and offer something. But to spend some of the money you earn on charity is not enough, because you and your employees continue to suffer; you have no time to take care of yourselves or your families, because you want a strong workforce to be number one. So mental health is decreasing in every corporation, and stress and mental illness are increasing — which is why many corporations are eager to learn ways to deal with it.

Our Sangha has sat with directors of corporations in California to think deeply: should we sacrifice our happiness and well-being for the success of our company? You want to be number one and to be happy — but to be number one you have to devote all your time to work, sacrificing family and self. What is the use of being number one without happiness? So we must ask: what do we really want — happiness, or to be number one? Everyone says, “I want happiness, but I also want to be number one.” That is the dilemma. There are people who are victims of their success, but no one is a victim of his happiness. And it is possible that pursuing the path of happiness, you also succeed — because if you are happier and more peaceful, your work may be better. But you have to decide that happiness is the first success, and it may bring the second.

People worry that mindfulness is being used to do things that are not good — “Can you use mindfulness to make money?” At a retreat for psychotherapists offered by Harvard Medical School, someone asked: there are people who teach mindfulness but do not practice it — learning it with the intellect, knowing much about it, teaching it to others, while not practicing it themselves, so that mindfulness becomes something that is not mindfulness at all. My answer is: don’t worry — because mindfulness is a practice, not a theory. True mindfulness never causes harm, because it always brings peace, joy, happiness, and compassion. If a practice does not bring peace, joy, and compassion, it is not mindfulness. So the practice you offer should be true mindfulness — and the moment you begin to apply it, peace, joy, and compassion can be born right away. Those who teach mindfulness without practicing it can only give ideas about mindfulness, and that does not help.

Five monks and nuns spent two hours with the young engineers, and we proposed they think about a website to help people learn the practice — to release tension in the body, take care of painful feelings and emotions, walk so that every step brings relaxation, and speak and listen so as to restore communication. Such a website could benefit their own employees first, and then others. They could also invent gadgets that help us go home to ourselves instead of running away — imagine a telephone with the practice built in: someone calls, and it answers, “Dear friend, I am breathing in and out with the sound of the phone; breathing in, I feel I am alive; breathing out, I smile to life — please practice with me.” Or a sensor that recognizes when you walk un-mindfully and invites you to enjoy each step; or at 3:30 the phone reminds you, “Have you practiced? Have you phoned home and practiced the second mantra: Darling, I know you are there, and I am so happy?” These things are possible — we planted the seeds in their minds. You don’t have to throw away technology; you can make good use of it to help people go home and take care of themselves, their families, and nature. Many of our monastic brothers and sisters also visited Facebook and had a fruitful discussion on working together to help people suffer less.

Deepening the practice — and the Sangha

So from now to the end of the year we can do walking and sitting meditation and reflect on this. Suppose you make a promise that, beginning with 2014, you will always practice walking meditation from the parking lot to your office — instead of walking quickly to arrive, you arrange to enjoy every step, releasing the tension in your body and touching the wonders of life within and around you.

Earlier this year we held a retreat in Hong Kong for about 1,300 people (the YMCA camp could take no more). On the last day I proposed that, from their home to the train or bus station, they practice walking meditation each morning — since in Hong Kong most people use public transport. And I said: Dear friends, when I was a young monk I did not want disciples; I thought it was enough to teach the disciples of other teachers, and I kept that idea even when I came to Europe and America. People were joyful during retreats, but a few months later many abandoned the practice — partly because there was no lasting teacher–student relationship. Only after some time did I begin to accept disciples, monastic and lay, transmitting the Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, and ordaining monks and nuns — and that connection helps maintain the practice for a long time.

I also told them that for the last two decades I have not used a telephone — in fact I do not have one — yet I do not feel disconnected from my friends and students. It is not the telephone that connects us. So I told the people in Hong Kong: if you want to be connected with me, your teacher, then each morning, from your home to the bus station, do walking meditation — because I always do that. While walking, know that your teacher is doing the same in France; so you get the connection with Thay and the energy of Thay at the same time. You are not alone; you are walking with your teacher and the Sangha. “How many of you want to do that?” — and everyone raised a hand. That is something concrete: you make a commitment and walk so that every step brings joy and peace, and you feel connected with the Sangha.

Mindfulness practice is not difficult — mindful breathing, walking, sitting, toothbrushing — and you can get the joy, peace, and happiness. Of course, when you are surrounded by others who practice, you are reminded to practice — that is why we need a Sangha. Those of us not near a Sangha can get in touch with the online Sangha; many came to Plum Village after reading the books and visiting the website. We can change our life and improve the quality of our daily life with the practice of mindful breathing and walking — and if we do it well enough, we can handle the painful feelings and emotions in us, because the practice both creates joy and peace and helps us hold our pain. Then we can go further: with mindfulness we can listen to others with compassion, because we have learned to listen to ourselves with compassion.

Loving speech, and Wake Up Schools

We can use the kind of speech that restores communication — loving speech — and that is the practice of the Fourth Mindfulness Training: compassionate listening and loving speech. When you have mastered mindful breathing and walking, you will be able to listen with compassion and use loving speech, and restore communication easily.

In 2006 I was invited by UNESCO to speak during the Vesak celebration in Paris, and I proposed that UNESCO set up an institution to train school teachers from many countries in this practice — taking care of the body, releasing tension, mindful breathing, producing joy and peace, holding painful feelings, and using loving speech and deep listening — because they would bring it into their schools and help young people deal with the energy of violence in themselves. In 2006 there were recorded 88,000 incidents of violence in one year in French schools — between students, and between students and teachers; it may be worse now, seven years later. Plum Village volunteered to train such teachers, using ordinary, non-Buddhist language. The director of UNESCO then, Federico Mayor of Spain, liked the idea and recommended we produce materials; so we asked our dharma teachers to sit together, and we produced two sets of documents, later published as the books Anger (published in America one week before September 11th) and Creating True Peace — the editors asking us to include stories so readers could enjoy the teaching more.

In the last four or five years, dharma teachers from Plum Village have trained school teachers in many countries — Bhutan, Thailand, India, America, England — offering retreats and this kind of support. Federico Mayor resigned shortly after, so he could not continue at UNESCO; so the other day I sat with Brother [Pháp Dung] and other monastics and suggested we reconnect with UNESCO to continue the project, perhaps establishing a center in Paris — and while waiting, we can train teachers at Plum Village, as we already do. If you are a school teacher and have not heard of this work — Wake Up Schools — please inquire about it. We believe happy teachers can change the world, helping the young generation practice nonviolence.

The practice is very concrete: how to create joy and peace in body and mind, how to handle painful feelings and emotions, how to listen and speak with compassion to restore communication. So 2014 can be a year when we invest more time and energy in this — improving the quality of life in our family, company, school, and workplace. If you are a doctor or nurse, you might transform the hospital into a place of practice, where people listen and speak with compassion and know how to hold painful feelings — that energy is very healing — and the same is true of a school, a company, even a city council. While in India, giving a talk to members of parliament, we also suggested that mindfulness be taken up in the parliament, so everyone can listen to everyone else with compassion and the place becomes one where all ideas can be offered, and we can make laws that establish more peace and harmony in the country.

There is some sunshine now — let’s do walking meditation.