Welcome to episode 66 of The Way Out Is In: The Zen Art of Living, a podcast series mirroring Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s deep teachings of Buddhist philosophy: a simple yet profound methodology for dealing with our suffering, and for creating more happiness and joy in our lives.

This time, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and leadership coach/journalist Jo Confino talk about the practice of gratitude and its power to shine a light in even the darkest circumstances. Their conversation touches on many aspects of gratitude, from the way it has been viewed in Buddhism since the days of the Buddha, to gratitude for life, gratitude as a gift and a rebalancer, and gratitude even when things don’t go well.  

Brother Phap Huu further talks about nourishing our deep connection to interbeing; opening our hearts to suffering; loneliness in the monastic community;  gratitude for the Earth, all living beings, and (even) minerals; the feeling of ‘enough’; the Cong Phu Sheet; and more. And why is gratitude a such a difficult practice, even when there are many opportunities to apply it?

Jo delves into daily practices of gratitude; coming back into balance; Christmas presents and meaninglessness; approaches to economic development in Bhutan; and more. 

The episode ends with a short meditation on gratitude guided by Brother Phap Huu.

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Co-produced by the Plum Village App:
https://plumvillage.app/

And Global Optimism:
https://globaloptimism.com/ 

With support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation:
https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/

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List of resources 

The Way Out Is In live recording
https://wakeuplondon.org/thewayoutisin/ 

Bodhicitta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhicitta 

Old Path White Clouds
https://plumvillage.org/books/old-path-white-clouds-2 

Ananda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80nanda 

Shariputra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Śāriputra 

Interbeing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbeing 

Bhutan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan 

The Alchemist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alchemist_(novel) 

Dharma Talks: ‘The Three Doors of Liberation or the Three Dharma Seals’ 
https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-three-doors-of-liberation-or-the-three-dharma-seals-sr-chan-duc-italian-retreat-2018-05-04

‘Cong Phi Journal – Everything You Need to Know About the Practice Notebook’ 
https://plumvillage.app/cong-phu-journal-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-practice-notebook/

Maudgalyayana
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maudgalyayana 

‘A Teacher Looking for His Student’
https://plumvillage.org/poems 

Brother Bao Tang (Brother Treasure)
https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/brother-bao-tang

Gratitude for the Four Elements (short audio meditation by Brother Phap Dung) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWQlmyXF7fc

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Quotes

“When we really touch the present moment with the deep insight that ‘what I have here is enough’, we start to touch freedom. But a lot of us are afraid to come home to ourselves. And the whole art of meditation is learning to come home.”

“Gratitude is a practice and a muscle that we need to develop. Because if we have a practice of gratitude, then being grateful is going to flow much more easily.”

“There is a lot of suffering today, but if we focus solely on that suffering, we may also lose the light. Therefore, gratitude becomes a light that we want to protect, to give us hope, to help us know why we are doing what we’re doing, for the activists to know what they are protecting, for the people who are calling out injustice to be grateful that, as human beings, we can use our voices to speak about suffering.”