(bell) (bell) How do I stay in the present moment
when it feels unbearable? Because in Plum Village we always say that "Let us not get caught in
the past and the future" "Let us go back to the
present moment" And this is a question about "How can
I stay in the present moment when the present moment
feels unbearable?" That's a good question. (Laughter) Anyone who knows the
practice of mindfulness knows that you have to
go home to the present moment. When you go home to the present
moment, you can find... two kinds of situations: The first kind of
situation is there are so many conditions
of happiness available in the here and the now When you breathe in and bring
your mind home to your body you establish in the
present moment. And you notice there are so many
refreshing and healing elements available in the present moment. There are also many conditions of
happiness available in the present moment. And with that awareness, to generate the feeling of joy
and happiness is very easy. That you can do in order
to nourish yourself. To nourish yourself with
joy and happiness. So, that is the first thing you encounter
when you go back to the present moment. The second situation is that when you go
back to the present moment you might encounter a
feeling of pain, a feeling of a
painful emotion, that is in you. In fact a painful feeling,
a painful emotion, manifests from time to time. But when it begins to manifest,
you don't like to be there. So you try to run away, pretending that it's not there. So no one is there in order to take care of
the painful feeling or the painful emotion. So, going back to the present moment
here, is no longer to recognize the elements of joy and happiness, but to have a chance to take care
of the pain in ourselves. And to transform it. So, even if the present moment
is unbearable, to go back to that moment
is the only chance for us to do something in order
to calm it down and to transform it. Most of the people
don't do that because they're afraid that
when they come home to themselves, and touch their pain inside, they will be overwhelmed
by the suffering and that is why their practice
is to run away, imagine something about the
future to forget go back to the past
to forget but the past and the future,
they are like images. Not reality. Only the present
moment is real. Many people try to cover
up the pain inside not only by going back to the past
or running to the future, to imagine that there will
be some hope, some end of suffering
in the future but that cannot last long And most people try to cover
up the suffering inside by the practice of consumption. We read magazines and
watch television we try and find something to eat we listen to the music, we pick
up the phone to talk, everything we do, we do because
we hope by doing these things, we don't have to confront the
suffering in us. And we allow that pain to
continue to grow in us. So the practice of mindfulness helps us
to go home to the present moment. Even if the moment is not pleasant, but it is in that very moment, that we can understand the suffering, and that we can find a way
in order to calm it down. And to transform it. So, next time when you find the present
moment not pleasant, don't think that running away
from it is the best way. No, it may be a chance. So, stay in that moment. Look deeply
into the nature of your suffering. If you know how to practice
mindful breathing, or mindful walking, you're generating the energy
of mindfulness and then that energy of
mindfulness generated by the practice helps you to be strong enough to recognize and counter
the pain and embrace it tenderly. And embracing your pain
tenderly in a few minutes,
you can calm it down And... if there are practitioners practicing
with you and then you can profit from
their energy of mindfulness and compassion. Getting in touch with the
suffering, brings about understanding
of suffering. And... the energy of compassion -
understanding and compassion - has the power to heal. To heal you and to heal the people
who happen to be around you at that time. And if there is a group of
people practicing, together, embracing the suffering
with tenderness, they will experience that collective
energy of compassion that will heal them. And when they suffer less, they are
in the situation to help other people to do the same. There is a Bodhisattva whose name
is Kṣitigarbha [?] the vow of Kṣitigarbha [?] is to
go to the places where there's a lot of suffering in order to have a chance
to serve, to help. And there are many doctors, nurses, social
workers, they are doing the same they volunteer to go to painful spots
of Mother Earth in order to help the people so Bodhisattvas Kṣitigarbha -
they are real, they are not just images. Very young people are serving as
Bodhisattvas Kṣitigarbha. They are not afraid
of suffering. Because they know that
they can bring relief And Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha has a
strong power or source of energy that is the aspiration the third kind of nutriment,
volition You know you are there - alive And you want to do
something with your life You want your life
to be useful, meaningful. So, you make a strong vow to
go to help people who suffer. So, you are not afraid of going
to the situations of suffering. And these Bodhisattvas should
be supported by us. You want to support them so they do not
lose their aspiration after a few years of service. We have to send them our energy
of encouragement They need nourishment
and healing So, after six months of working in a very
difficult situation, they go home and they have us
taking care of them, time to heal, so they will go out again
the second time and the third time Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha needs help also. So, we're there to help young
Kṣitigarbhas to continue their work in the world. So, if you have compassion, you don't mind being in a
difficult, suffering situation. And if you have enough
compassion then you are protected. You will not be
overwhelmed by the collective energy of suffering emitted by the
people around. And Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha knows that
they, that he needs a Sangha in order to continue
for a long time. So, the practice should not
only be individual the practice should be
collective also. So, let us try to convince people in
our family to join the practice. And the best way to do it is to become
more and more pleasant, every day. More smiling, more sweet...
sweeter and they'll believe that the practice
will work for them also. So, when your family, your community,
enjoy more harmony, health, brotherhood, sisterhood, and then your aspiration can be more
easily realized. Without a Sangha, without a group
of people our dream cannot come true. So, not only we try as a person, but we know that operating as
a group of people, as a Sangha, it is always much better. (bell) Subtitles by the Amara.org community
I needed to hear this this morning. Thank you.