Finding a Spiritual Path (Episode #72)
The Way Out Is In
Navigating Spiritual Paths
This chapter explores the challenges of finding a meaningful spiritual practice in a world rich with options. It highlights the importance of personal experiences and significant life events in shaping one’s spiritual journey, particularly through the lens of Buddhism and community support.
Welcome to episode 72 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.
In this installment, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and leadership coach/journalist Jo Confino discuss finding a spiritual path and the conditions that need to exist for someone to feel at home with a spiritual practice. And what is it to find a spiritual practice and truly rest in it and develop it over time? How do we know if we’ve found a practice that works for us, and what is it to go deeply into one way of seeing the world?
The conversation touches upon many other ideas and topics such as bringing the sacred into the everyday; to be in service to the past and/or the future; Buddhist practices for people from different religious backgrounds; Dharma sharing and trust; and many more.
Brother Phap Huu also shares stories of many spiritual paths that are being told at the current Plum Village retreat.
The episode ends with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu.
Thank you for listening, and enjoy!
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/
List of resources
Interbeing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbeing
The Sun My Heart
https://www.parallax.org/product/the-sun-my-heart/
Understanding Our Mind https://www.parallax.org/product/understanding-our-mind/
‘The Five Mindfulness Trainings’
https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness/the-5-mindfulness-trainings
‘The Four Dharma Seals of Plum Village’
https://plumvillage.org/articles/the-four-dharma-seals-of-plum-village
Quotes
“To find a practice, a spiritual practice, Thay says that’s a treasure in life. And this is why we always have to practice gratitude. I’m very grateful every day that I have a community, I have a practice, and that I’m still part of the practice.”
“When we say ‘I take refuge in the Buddha’, it means ‘I take refuge in the seed of awakening inside of me’.”
“What I like about Plum Village is that there are very strong guidelines about sharing: to deeply listen with love; to speak only from the heart; not to cross-talk or answer back. And not to give people advice, but just be present for them, to offer a safe space into which they can pour their pain and let it be released but not to have to justify it, not have to answer questions about it – just know that people are present for them.”
“Buddhist practices are not in conflict with any religion; they actually coexist alongside very beautifully.”
“When we lose our sense of being, we don’t touch interbeing, which is the deep connection that comes from us all being interrelated.”
“Buddha means awakening.”
“When we don’t know how to take care of our pain, we go and consume. We are ready to create more pain for other people, because we don’t know how to cope with our pain. We don’t know how to transform our pain.”
“We don’t have the ability to sit with nothing, to sit with the sense of pain in us. Or, sometimes, we don’t have the ability to be there and do nothing.”
“Don’t just do something, sit there.”
“For those who would really like to be Buddhist, they can be Buddhist. And those who would like to keep their tradition but also be Buddhist and practice mindfulness, go ahead.”
“The first wing of meditation: stop. Know what you have. Check in. Where are you in your life?”
“This idea that when you practice, you don’t suffer; we have to review that idea. We have to give a new language to that.”
“Sometimes, joy and happiness can coexist at the same time as suffering.”
“My mantra has been, ‘There are other wonderful human beings on this Earth.’ And we can even coexist also with humans who are not awakened and who have very dangerous and dogmatic views – to reawaken the seeds of goodness that are available in the present moment.”
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