August 14, 2012. 100-minute dharma talk given in English, with consecutive translation into Dutch (though the Dutch is muted in this recording), with Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the third Dharma talk offered by Thay in the Dutch Retreat on the theme Body and Mind Are One at the European Institute of Applied Buddhism in Waldbröl, Germany. Freshness and beauty are in you. If you know how to breath and how to walk then freshness and beauty can come out. we can also help others do the same because we a...
Aug 18, 2012•1 hr 40 min
August 13, 2012. 122-minute dharma talk given in English, with consecutive translation into Dutch (though the Dutch is muted in this recording), with Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the second Dharma talk offered by Thay in the Dutch Retreat on the theme Body and Mind Are One at the European Institute of Applied Buddhism in Waldbröl, Germany. Teaching on the seed of corn and teaches the children about being a seed in the womb of your mother. We can use pebble meditation to learn how to breath again. To...
Aug 16, 2012•2 hr 2 min
August 12, 2012. 90-minute dharma talk given in English, with consecutive translation into Dutch, with Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the first Dharma talk offered by Thay in the Dutch Retreat on the theme Body and Mind Are One at the European Institute of Applied Buddhism in Waldbröl, Germany. Can the body be without the mind? Can you take the body out of the mind? And the mind out of the body? If we meditate on the question, we can discover the answer. The same inquiry can be applied to father and s...
Aug 15, 2012•1 hr 31 min
August 2, 2012. 92-minute recording given at New Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the twentieth dharma talk of the Summer Opening. The talk was originally given in French and this is an English translation. We begin with a meditation on the birth of the flame. Does “nothing” exist? What is the existence of nothing? What is our nature? Are we caught in the notions of birth, death, being, and non-being? These are the foundation of our fear and anxiety. In Buddhism, Right Thinking i...
Aug 14, 2012•1 hr 32 min
August 1, 2012. 87-minute recording given at Lower Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the nineteenth dharma talk of the Summer Opening and this is a session of questions and answers. Editor’s note, we have skipped the talks from July 29 & 31 here on this site; it may appear later. Children Why is my brother always so nasty to me? Why does Thay do hand symbols (mudra) during chanting? Why do Buddhist shave their head? What should we do if we begin to hate someone we love? Adults...
Aug 12, 2012•1 hr 27 min
July 28, 2012. 93-minute recording given at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the sixteenth dharma talk of the Summer Opening and we are beginning the fourth and final week of the retreat. Please note, we have skipped the talk from July 26 here on this site; it may appear later. Understanding of suffering. Compassionate listening. Embracing suffering brings relief. What are the monastics doing when they are chanting the name Avalokiteshvara? Chanting begins at 18-m into reco...
Aug 11, 2012•1 hr 33 min
July 24, 2012. 80-minute recording given at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the fourteenth dharma talk of the Summer Opening and this is a session of questions and answers. Children How can you make new friends after moving to a new school? If there is no such thing as death, then why is it wrong to kill? I suffer a lot from my father. I don’t want to see him anymore. Can I stop trying to change him? Why did you become a monk? Adults I am the last child in my family linage...
Aug 09, 2012•1 hr 20 min
July 22, 2012. 97-minute recording given at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the twelfth dharma talk of the Summer Opening and the talk was originally given in French. This is an English translation. We start with a 22-minute talk for the children. How we can share meditation with our friends when we go back home from Plum Village? What does it mean to love? Freshness of a flower. We can offer this and using pebble meditation to teach us about freshness. We also have mantra...
Aug 07, 2012•1 hr 38 min
July 21, 2012. 98-minute recording given at Lower Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the eleventh dharma talk of the Summer Opening and this is the first day of the third week. Listening to the chant. We suffer and we often turn to consumption to relieve our suffering. The teaching of the Buddha, using mindfulness and concentration, can help use embrace our sorrow with tenderness. We can have relieve. Listen to the chanting and allow the sound to penetrate into our body. To stop ou...
Aug 05, 2012•1 hr 44 min
July 19, 2012. 119-minute recording given at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the tenth dharma talk of the Summer Opening and the talk was originally given in French. This is an English translation. We begin with chanting and a short guided meditation getting in touch with our parents. The teaching on “nothing is born and nothing dies” for the children. How do we live with happiness? At 34-minutes, Sister Chan Khong introduces Alexandra from L’Express magazine who is prepar...
Aug 04, 2012•1 hr 59 min
July 18, 2012. 88-minute recording given at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the ninth dharma talk of the Summer Opening and this is a session of questions and answers. Children How does it feel when you are dead? Sometimes I feel nobody loves us and I’m all alone. A game the children are playing has something about killing. Is this okay? Help me understand. Teens and Adults People seem afraid of silence. Is it because they are afraid of being with themselves? I experience ...
Aug 02, 2012•1 hr 29 min
July 16, 2012. 91-minute recording given at New Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the eighth dharma talk of the Summer Opening and we begin with seven minutes of chanting. Last week the children also learned pepple meditation. When you practice this, you become more stable, fresh, and calm. Story of the rich businessman who doesn’t have enough time to spend with his family. All the little boy wanted was his father to be truly present. Also told the story of the German businessman ...
Jul 30, 2012•1 hr 32 min
July 15, 2012. 121-minute recording given at Lower Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the seventh dharma talk of the Summer Opening and the talk was originally given in French. This is an English translation. We begin with a talk for the children. What is the Buddha? How can we make use of suffering? What can we do with anger? What is loving speech? The story of the corn plant. The method of meditation called Signlessness. Uses the birth of a child to illustrate. Following the talk...
Jul 30, 2012•2 hr 2 min
July 14, 2012. 111-minute recording given at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the sixth dharma talk of the Summer Opening and the beginning of the second week. We begin with instructions on listening to the chant, followed by listening to the name Avaloketeshvara. The main talk begins about 40-minutes into the recording. The third exercise of mindful breathing is about our body. Getting in touch with your body. True life is only possible with concentration and mindfulness. ...
Jul 28, 2012•1 hr 52 min
July 12, 2012. 84-minute recording given at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the fifth dharma talk of the Summer Opening . We begin with chanting and the talk was originally given in French. This is an English translation. With many questions about anger in yesterday’s questions and answers session, Thay offers a lovely 25-minute lesson for the children (and everyone of course!) on helping our friends who may have anger. What can we tell our friends about meditation? Medita...
Jul 27, 2012•1 hr 25 min
July 11, 2012. 115-minute recording given at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the fourth dharma talk of the Summer Opening. We begin with chanting and this is a session of Questions and Answers. Children’s Questions How are you? Why is everyone against him? Why do I sometimes cry for no reason? How can we let go of anger? (question from Oprah magazine) What do you do when your teacher makes fun of you and everyone laughs? Why do I sometimes feel a heavy ball on my heart? Te...
Jul 26, 2012•1 hr 55 min
July 9, 2012. 94-minute recording given at New Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the third dharma talk of the Summer Opening. We begin with chanting and the talk begins at 15-minutes into the recording. Bowing. Buddhahood. A lotus for you, a Buddha to be. The seed of Buddhahood. Stories of being in Paris during the war. Supporting peace and practicing being together. Teaching on kingdom of God and the pure land. It is now or never. This is the teaching of Plum Village. We can do e...
Jul 24, 2012•1 hr 34 min
July 8, 2012. 68-minute recording given at Lower Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the second dharma talk of the Summer Opening and it was originally given in French. This is an English translation. Peace. Freshness. Solidity. We all have these elements in the form of seeds. We can learn how to water these seeds. We all have a Buddha-nature in us. With meditation, we can offer this to ourselves and others. We can use pebble meditation and inviting the bell. Discovering conditions ...
Jul 22, 2012•1 hr 9 min
July 7, 2012. 87-minute recording given at Lower Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is the first dharma talk of the Summer Opening . The sangha is celebrating the 30th Summer Opening. The talk begins with instruction on how to listen to the chant followed by Avalokiteshvara chant. The main talk begins at 40-minutes into the recording. We hear stories from the Avatamsaka Sutra (Flower Garland Sutra). The mother of the Buddha and how the friends came to see Siddhartta while still in the...
Jul 19, 2012•1 hr 27 min
July 1, 2012. 50-minute recording given at Lower Hamlet, Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is a Day of Mindfulness. We begin with chanting. When you set up a practice center, you have to think of the sangha. A sangha is a group of people who practice together and the environment is good, nourishing, and healthy. When people arrive at a practice center, she should feel the energy right away. We practice mindfulness as manifested from the Five Mindfulness Trainings. These generate a healthy en...
Jul 17, 2012•51 min
June 20, 2012. 79-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha . The talk is given in English and this is the fifteenth dharma talk (of 15). No chanting. This is the final dharma talk of the retreat. Topics We are all cells in the sangha body. Sangha building. Suffering and happiness. The mind of non-discrimination. Four pairs of opposites Birth/Death Being/Non-being Coming/Going Sameness:Otherness Scie...
Jul 16, 2012•1 hr 20 min
June 20, 2012. 70-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from New Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha . The talk is given in English and this is the fourteenth dharma talk (of 15). No chanting, but began with some mindful movements. True Happiness comes from understanding and compassion. I am capable of understanding. The seeds of Buddhahood are there. Right Thinking is the kind of thinking that can produce compassion. One in-breath can create...
Jul 16, 2012•1 hr 10 min
June 19, 2012. 117-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha . The talk is given in English and this is the thirteenth dharma talk (of 15). Thay announced the names of apprentice Dharma Teachers for the coming year. There will about 50 from the monastic Sunflower family and about 15 lay students (Belgium, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, and USA). We are reminded that a dharma teacher can create happin...
Jul 16, 2012•1 hr 58 min
June 17, 2012. 93-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha . The talk is given in English and this is the twelfth dharma talk (of 15). This talk is a session of Questions and Answers. Questions I want to go home because cooking materials needed for my special diet is being stolen from my tent in Lower Hamlet. I feel unsafe here. What should I do? How do we handle training people in mindfulness to ad...
Jul 13, 2012•1 hr 34 min
June 16, 2012. 99-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha . The talk is given in English and this is the eleventh dharma talk (of 15). Four (six) Mantras of Love (45-minutes) Darling, I am here for you. Darling, I know you are there and it makes me happy. Darling, I know you suffer. Darling, I suffer, please help. (This is a Happy Moment.) (Darling, you are partly right.) The last one is new and fo...
Jul 13, 2012•1 hr 39 min
June 14, 2012. 86-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha . The talk is given in English and this is the tenth dharma talk (of 15). The Four Recollections Joy and happiness with the three kinds of energies: mindfulness, concentration, and insight. When we focus on our breath, we are only our breath. We are not our sorrow or our regret. Joy while breathing Happiness while sitting Joy is the breathin...
Jul 07, 2012•1 hr 26 min
June 13, 2012. 124-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from New Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha . The talk is given in English and this is the ninth dharma talk (of 15). Investigation of the phenomenonal and noumenal worlds. We use our mind of discrimination to investigate the conventional truth . If we use the practice to look more deeply, we can see the ultimate truth of the same object. We use the mind of non-discrimination for the u...
Jul 07, 2012•2 hr 4 min
June 12, 2012. 111-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha . The talk is given in English and this is the eighth dharma talk (of 15). Seven Factors of Enlightenment (relaxation, joy, investigation, etc) Separate investigation of phenomena and noumenal We should not mixup the two dimensions of conventional and ultimate. When considering the Four Noble Truths, the first two must be investigated in th...
Jul 07, 2012•1 hr 41 min
June 10, 2012. 102-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Lower Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha . The talk is given in English and this is the seventh dharma talk (of 15). We begin with two chants: Les Vision Profond (French) and Hien Tien Thanh Tinh (We are Truly Present). Interbeing of the entire cosmos. The flower is interacting with the entire cosmos. Topics Suffering and happiness Being and non-being Fourth Mindfulness Training –...
Jul 05, 2012•1 hr 42 min
June 9, 2012. 127-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Lower Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha . The talk is given in English and this is the sixth dharma talk (of 15). Just prior to this session, those attending the retreat received a 86-page booklet with sutras and a Letter to a Young Scientist . Three energies of practice Mindfulness Concentration Insight The practice of looking deeply along with a discussion of zen history. Tang H...
Jul 03, 2012•2 hr 7 min
