Vipassana is the art of living. Not the art of escaping.
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I forgot somehow how the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, passed down to those he trained at Plum Village, loaded with the Practical Wisdom of Zen Buddhism, were so beautuful!!!
In an address to a younger audience (Thich Nhat Hanh's aspiration, I heard many times, was to bring mindfulness to the younger population where mind was not yet heavy with opposing habit tendencies or resistance). Brother Phap Huu spoke of Vipassana and the two wings of Mindfulness: Vipassana and Samatha.(Though he did not use that terminolgy.) It centered around this idea that we were all three things: Meditators, artists, and warriors.
We all have the ability to be still and look deeply into our inner worlds (our home) so we experience insight. (Vipassana and Samatha).
Meditators, and Mindfulness Practitioners
The first step is coming home into the space and stillness of who we are....stopping in the face of our nonstop thinking and falling back into the moment, the body, the breath.
We all have the seed of enlightenment in us, the seed to understand.
Our spiritual home is in our breath, in our steps and in the way we look after one another.
The first wing of meditation is having the capacity to take a pause and notice what the body is experiencing...to feel
When you are able to feel, it is being able to be alive
He explained how this is not always easy because many of us have seeds of resistance in us and a habit tendency of running away from pain. These seeds, of course, do not have the potential to enrich the more wholesome and skillful qualities in us. Most of us, spend our lives looking for that sense of love, acceptance, belonging to end our inner feelings of lonliness and of not being enough. We attempt to create appearances of being solid and stable when witin us we actually have the space of vulnerability that we may be running from. This is what we are conditioned to avoid by main stream society...it is almost normal but it isn't healthy. We may recognize parents and ancestors in our habit tendencies...they may have been transmitted to us.
Warriors
The warrior part of us is that which couragously attempts to get past our conditioning, and to look deeply into these painful feelings and vulnerbility. Warriors recognize they are the continuation of their ancestors and attempt to honor their journey and what was transmitted to them, while also creating and developing a new understanding.
Coming home is befriending self, feelings, emotions etc
Mindfulness is to be present to stop and to identify what is there
The mechanism of avoiding grief...of avoiding pain is very strong
When you come home to the body be compassionate as you look deeply.
Relaxation is an art...gifting self the time to release, take refuge in mother earth. Learn to relax for ancestors and others
Need to put away our expectations of others and Life...the story
It is okay to feel, to rely on others for help or support when we tap into our vulnerbaility, our grief, and our insecurities. We all have them.
Somewhat paraphrased.
Artists
Brother Phap Huu tells us we are artists of teh present moment.
We are all artists...artists of this present moment. Are we able to highlight what is bringing us joy right now?
The present moment is only made by the past and it is the infra structure of the future
We define joy and happiness and discover it is in the present moment but we also need to recognize there is also pain and suffering within us. Recognizing our pain is a wonderful healing step taht can bring joy.
After becoming aware of capacity for joy and happiness in these breath exercises...we tap into our suffering
We recognize inwholesome seeds like pride and shift it into something more wholesome. We see the interbeingness of our accomplishments. Though it is okay to feel good when we do good , it is even more important to turn it into gratitude.
We call this "Sharing the merit".
We can do things here like breathing with our inferiority complex
We need to be aware of first and second arrows.
The inferiority complex is just a perception, not even a reality. We pierce our selves with second arrows with our thinking...growing own suffering...
We need to be aware of the painful feeling, where it is in the body, name it, than cognitively deconstruct it...tramsmute it into something more wholesome and life affirming.
Calming it with seeing the value of it...cognitive reconstruction
Anger is connected to love and compassion
We have a lot of mud in us
Painful emotions are a part of and when we express them we can find joy and healing.
We also need to recognize the story around that feeling.
Where is the story here and what story am I holding onto?
Is there a new story I can generate?
As an artist of the present moment, we are all drawing a new past for today... creating a new infra structure for the future
So, as BR Phap Huu shares with his young audience, we are meditators, artists of the present moment, and warriors with the courage to feel.
All is well
Plum Village/ Br. Phap Huu ( October, 2024) Who Are You Meant to Be? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73qcaaI747E
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