The Way Out Is In

Welcome to a short bonus episode 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. On the eve of the anniversary of Thay’s passing, the presenters – Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino – recorded this episode from his former residence, the Sitting Still Hut in Upper Hamlet. Here, they mark this memorial day by recollecting the events of the past year – “a year of deep interbeing”. Together, they share how life unfolded for the monastic and lay communities around the world after the passing of the Zen Master, and discuss the transmission of the practice; the true continuation of  Thay’s legacy and vision; the significance of the spreading of Thay’s ashes by the Fourfold Sangha, and the many fully-booked retreats with lay practitioners; and the challenges, lessons, and blessings along the path. There are also heartfelt sharings by Brother Phap Huu from his time as Thay’s attendant. And a special dream full of hope. The episode ends with Brother Phap Huu reading a deeply personal appreciation of Thay on behalf of the entire community. 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 The Way Out Is In: ‘A Cloud Never Dies: The Passing of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’https://plumvillage.org/podcast/the-passing-of-zen-master-thich-nhat-hanh-a-cloud-never-dies/  The Way Out Is In: ‘Deep Reflection: The Calligraphy of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’https://plumvillage.org/podcast/deep-reflection-the-calligraphy-of-zen-master-thich-nhat-hanh-episode-23/  Memorial Practice Resourceshttps://plumvillage.org/memorial-practice-resources/ How To: ‘Begin Anew’https://plumvillage.org/articles/begin-anew/  Koanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koan Bodhicittahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhicitta Stupahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupa  Find a local group (or sangha)https://plumvillage.org/community/international-sangha-directory/ Quotes “Our theme last year was, ‘Now I have a path, there’s nothing to fear.’ And it’s just to remember that the transmission that we receive from Thay is profound, and if practiced, can really lead us to inner peace and transformation.” “There’s always this fear, when a spiritual leader passes, of a period of chaos or of diminishment where things start to go wrong. But I know from my perspective and from watching this community and being part of this community, that the opposite has happened. Rather than vacuums of power and ‘who’s in charge’, Thay built a very, very strong community that is based on common wisdom, common understanding, and coming to decisions as a collective. And what I’ve seen is more people coming to Plum Village, more sisterhood and brotherhood and, actually, no diminishment at all.”  “I don’t think Thay expects all of us to be him. He never wanted us to be him. He wanted us to learn from him and to have our own experience, our own insight in our practice. But he has been so generous in sharing profoundly and putting together the dharma, the teachings, the practice, which is so easy to understand.” “Thay wanted to help spread the seeds of mindfulness in the world, so that all of us can wake up and be the change that we want to see in the world, be the peace that we want to have for our planet, and ourselves, and our future generations. Thay once said, ‘If I have to let go of Buddhism for world peace, I will, because I’m not attached.’ His deepest wish was for us to continuously build communities, [to build] collective awakening.”  “Thay always taught us, if you want to become a good elder brother, you first of all have to know how to be a good younger brother. And if you want to be a good elder sister, you also have to be a good younger sister. So he’s always teaching us about interbeing. And very naturally, leaders will appear in the Sangha, and we’d like to see that all the leaders in the Sangha are still a part of this forest, and that is what keeps us safe and keeps us humble.”  “In our modern time, one Sangha is not enough. One Buddha is not enough anymore. We need a collective awakening so that all of us can have inner peace, can accept our suffering, can transform our suffering, and can build a society that is compassionate and that has the ability to transform suffering and take care of happiness.”

Welcome to episode 44 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 the first podcast recording of 2023, the presenters – Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino – discuss habits, both the positive ones that help us lead better lives, but also those that can cause us harm and make our lives difficult. Both presenters share negative and positive habits, and the difficulties of transformation.  Can you guess the negative habit both presenters have in common? And how can we transform our negative habits and bring more positive habits into our lives? Is it possible to truly transform at the base? How important is friendship in facing our habits? Also, what is ‘shining the light’ and how can this Plum Village practice help us?  Brother Phap Huu shares on the topic of the most recent practice of shining the light during the annual Rains Retreat; rushing energy; generosity; dealing with inferiority complexes and accepting ourselves; folding clothes; mirroring each other’s transformation of habits; the interbeing of the community; and collective awakening through individuals’ positive habits. And what did Thich Nhat Hanh mean by “happiness is a habit”? Jo delves into sharing the light for lay practitioners; seeing the best in people and watering people’s positive flowers; cultivating awareness; speed, chasing deadlines, and rushing as a way of life; inherited habits; fear of humiliation; and the interbeing of complexes. And what happens when you look deeply at just one bad habit?   The episode ends with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu. 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 ‘Shining the Light’https://www.parallax.org/mindfulnessbell/article/shining-the-light/How to Take Care of the Habit Energy of Worrying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jANxd6YGdAA  ‘Home Practices for the Rains Retreat’https://plumvillage.org/articles/home-practices-for-the-rains-retreat/  The Four Noble Truthshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy-RI3FrdGA   ‘The Five Mindfulness Trainings’https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness/the-5-mindfulness-trainings/  The Seven Factors of Awakeninghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Factors_of_Awakening  Beginning Anew: Four Steps to Restoring Communicationhttps://plumvillage.org/books/beginning-anew/  The Way Out Is In: ‘Deep Reflection: The Calligraphy of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’https://plumvillage.org/podcast/deep-reflection-the-calligraphy-of-zen-master-thich-nhat-hanh-episode-23/  The Way Out Is In: ‘Free from Views in a Polarized Wold’ https://plumvillage.org/podcast/free-from-views-in-a-polarized-world-episode-36/ Quotes “Happiness is a habit.” “Thay always says suffering and happiness go together, so don’t be so blinded by suffering without recognizing happiness. And don’t be so confident about happiness that we forget that if we don’t take care of our happiness, suffering will come.”  “It’s a beautiful meditation to look into our habits, because you can go into the history of it and know yourself more.”  “Happiness is a habit in this particular practice; knowing the goodness in the here and now.” “When we enter the monastery for a retreat, there’s one habit that we invite everyone to practice, and it’s probably very new to someone who has never had any introduction to Buddhism or spirituality: stopping when you hear the sound of the bell. This is a habit that we have introduced to hundreds of thousands of people. And this habit brings out awareness in us. So, in my training, before reviewing and transforming my negative habits, I try to cultivate good habits first.”  “If you do a lot of good things, you don’t have time to do bad things.” “Underneath our greatest problem is our greatest gift.” “Meditation is a habit. Meditation is not sitting in a temple, meditation is having moments where you connect to yourself. You allow yourself to be in stillness, you allow your mind to have a break. Bring it to oneness with an action. Walking, sitting, mindful breathing, enjoying a cup of tea, enjoying a cup of coffee; these snippet-moments can be wonderful habits that we can all create for ourselves.”  “None of us is 100% perfect, but collectively we are forests that have leaves. Some trees offer flowers, some trees offer fruits. And all of us offer shade together. A sangha, sometimes we call it a forest. So don’t be so focused on just one tree. One tree may not be so strong and may not change the world, but one whole forest is a different story.” “With our thoughts, we create the world.” “Understanding the causes of my suffering has given me a route out of it. And if I had not gone into my suffering, I could never have found happiness.”  “A real friend is someone with the courage to point out your shortcomings.” “Offering guidance to another is offering guidance to ourselves.” “Once there is seeing, there must be action. Otherwise, what’s the use of seeing?”

Welcome to episode 43 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 the last podcast recording of 2022, the presenters – Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino – are joined by Zen Buddhist nun Sister Jina (the special guest in episode 14, ‘I Have Arrived, I Am Home; What a Blessing’). Together, they discuss loneliness, and how the Buddha’s teachings and Plum Village practices and exercises can help us come back to ourselves, and feel connected and part of life. The three also share moments of loneliness from different points in their lives.  Sister Jina (Sister Dieu Nghiem, translated as Sister True Wonder) further shares about coming home to oneself; creating self-compassion; people’s fears about looking inside themselves for answers; and learning from our mistakes. Brother Phap Huu shares about Thich Nhat Hanh’s view of happiness, gratitude, and on identifying the goodness in life; ignoring our suffering; connecting to our true self; the temptation to retell stories of our suffering; the void and taking care of our wellness; learning to forgive; learning to be flexible; the practice of touching the earth; tree hugging; and silence. Jo shares about feeling worthless and lonely in front of 400 people; reaching out to others when suffering from loneliness; learning to love oneself; gifting presence to ourselves and others; and interbeing.  The episode ends with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu. “We send our hearts out to you and hope that this conversation has brought some balm to your lives, and that over this period of days and weeks you find a sense of peace, a sense of calm, a sense of rootedness, and a sense of love and gratitude for yourself.”See you in the new year!  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 Sister Jinahttps://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/sr-dieu-nghiem/The Way Out Is In: ‘I Have Arrived, I Am Home; What a Blessing’https://plumvillage.org/podcast/i-have-arrived-i-am-home-what-a-blessing-episode-14/ Dharma Talks: ‘Interbeing and Store Consciousness’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/interbeing-and-store-consciousness/  Climate Weekhttps://www.climateweeknyc.org/  Sutras: ‘Discourse on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone’https://plumvillage.org/library/sutras/discourse-on-knowing-the-better-way-to-live-alone/Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone https://www.parallax.org/product/our-appointment-with-life-sutra-on-knowing-the-better-way-to-live-alone/  Tom Rivett-Carnac https://www.globaloptimism.com/tom-rivett-carnac Christiana Figuereshttp://christianafigueres.com/#/  Thich Nhat Hanh: Live Our Life Whole: The Surface and the Depth of Our Being (4 February, 1993) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bUNFiPBIsw ‘The Five Earth Touchings’ https://plumvillage.org/key-practice-texts/the-five-earth-touchings/ Quotes “As a young man, rather than true friendship, I was looking to get people to pay attention to me, almost to prove that I was alive and worthy to be alive. And it created an imbalance in my life: rather than thinking I had something to give and offer because I felt strong in myself, I was always looking for other people to mirror my existence.” “Sometimes when you’re suffering from real loneliness, reach out and be vulnerable and share and allow the love and support of other people to come in.”  “We’re in a time of what’s supposed to be great connection; we’re all connected, but that connection is very often [on the] surface and is leading to more disconnection.” “In my orientation, I always guide and I always invite people at the retreat to learn to be a friend with their breath, because that breath accompanies you to the west, to the east, to the north, to the south, inside, outside. As long as you are there, that breath will be with you. And the more you are connected to the breath, the more you learn to guide your mind home to your body, then you have a chance to cultivate your mind.”  “We have the view that being together is [only about] being with humans. But in our practice, we start to learn that being together is also [being] with nature, it’s also [being] with the conditions around you. Thay would teach us every morning to be grateful for one thing: ‘When you wake up and you see the sunrise; be grateful for that.’ You’re not alone. The sunrise is there for you.” “Happiness is a very big word, but in the Zen tradition and in Plum Village, Thay talked about happiness as something as simple as having a cup of tea: feeling the warmth, seeing companions, seeing I’m not alone, and starting to train the mind [to see] that I have goodness inside of me, I have happiness inside of me, I have joy inside of me, I have peace inside of me. I can touch that, even though it’s not long-lasting. But peace is available. So the first steps, and the first attention and awareness that we are taught to identify, is the goodness in life, inside of us and around us. And what’s interesting is that it is very easy to have gratitude for things outside of us. [But] it takes a little bit more effort to have gratitude for oneself.”  “Sometimes we get so lost in our practice or in that present moment, and Thay had a very funny, quirky side, so he would ask one of his students, ‘What moment is this?’ And the right answer would be, ‘This is a happy moment.’ Sometimes we just need to be reminded to show up for ourselves; only when we show up for ourselves we can truly show up for others.”  “We also have to forgive ourselves. This forgiving is a journey, because when we forgive ourselves, we may also be forgiving our ancestors or our parents, who inflicted suffering to us, our society that inflicted suffering on us. And so this forgiving oneself has another layer that is unseen: learning to meet the other conditions, and forgiving, and recognizing them, embracing and transforming them, and letting them go. And when we say let go, it doesn’t mean they are not there anymore, but we’re not attached to them anymore because we, as practitioners, want to learn to be more free, because freedom is an element of self-love.” “I am as I am because of causes and conditions. And who am I to judge other people? What are their dreams? What are their hopes? What are their fears? And so I think the issue is not the other people; it’s inside of me – and that’s good because I can do something about it.”

Welcome to episode 42 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, the presenters – Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino – discuss generosity. Together, they consider how to cultivate generosity in our ways of thinking, speaking, and acting, by looking at Buddhist teachings, Plum Village mindfulness trainings, and Thich Nhat Hanh’s applied wisdom.  And: what’s the best way to practice generosity? Does generosity come from intimacy or from proximity? What is nondiscriminatory generosity? Can we feel generosity for all the elements making up the Earth? Brother Phap Huu shares the general meaning and importance of generosity in Buddhism, and in the Plum Village tradition in particular, and addresses gratitude for the simple things in life; the practice of non-self; generosity as a perpetual mindfulness training; generosity as presence; ever-growing love and compassion; mastering the practice of the smile; and community living as a lesson in generosity.  Jo shares a recent show of generosity from listeners of the podcast, and on the subjects of generosity in an individualistic culture; fake generosity; not knowing how to receive generosity; unconscious behaviors in parents; and connection and intimacy as essential aspects of generosity. The episode ends with a short meditation on generosity guided by Brother Phap Huu.  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  Dharma Talks: ‘Manas Consciousness, Teachings on Buddhist Psychology Retreat, 1997’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/manas-consciousness-thich-nhat-hanh-teachings-on-buddhist-psychology-retreat-1997/  Dharma Talks: ‘The Face of Manas Revealed: Understanding a Hidden Aspect of Our Consciousness’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/live-dharma-talk-by-sister-tue-nghiem-2020-11-29-plum-village/‘The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings’https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness/the-14-mindfulness-trainings/Bhikkhuhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhikkhu Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddhahttps://plumvillage.org/books/1987-duong-xua-may-trang-old-path-white-clouds/  Six Paramitas: Practices to Cross to the Other Shore (short teaching video by Thich Nhat Hanh)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8dEkNM7SA0 Mahayana Buddhismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MahayanaEmma Thompsonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_ThompsonThe Way Out Is In: ‘Slow Down, Rest, and Heal: The Spirit of the Rains Retreat (Episode #7)’https://plumvillage.org/podcast/slow-down-rest-and-heal-the-spirit-of-the-rains-retreat/‘The Five Mindfulness Trainings’https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness/the-5-mindfulness-trainings/  Quotes “No self means that we cannot exist by ourselves. If we remove all of the elements that are present in us, from the most fundamental – our parents, then our ancestors, then our spiritual ancestors, and then our conditions of life, which are food, sunshine, the blue sky, the rain, the air that we breathe – [then we see that] everything that is present supports us.” “Manas is a layer in our consciousness which allows us to want to grasp, want to move on, and want to do, and is always looking for something outside of itself, never feeling fulfilled. And it creates many, many habits. Manas forgets that we cannot exist by ourselves. And it forgets that we have to rely on others.”  “In the practice of Buddhism, a true practitioner would actually become more caring for others, more caring for our environment, more caring for even the simplest things. Even the door of your house: you would want to open and close it mindfully so you can have gratitude for the simple things in life.”  “In the practice of Buddhism – which Thay taught in Plum Village with the language and the direction of applied Buddhism, engaged Buddhism – generosity is not only within the material wealth that we have or the material possessions that we’re able to give to others, but generosity is also learning to be present for those you love.”  “Generosity is a practice of openness, by seeing others outside of you as you. And that’s a very deep and profound practice.” “Each day, a smile is a gift that we can offer.” “Learn to smile to your past.” “I think generosity is all about connection and intimacy; sitting here with you, I feel love and warmth towards you. Whereas if I’d never met you and we were doing this on the phone the most significant element would be missing.”  “Generosity is a practice, it’s not just giving, giving, giving. We can give, give, give, but that can become a habit and can become fake in the moment. And so, not losing oneself is also a practice of generosity.”  “Sometimes we have to learn to say no. It may be the most difficult thing, because there are so many requests coming in, and every request is to provide a spiritual practice, is to provide stability: teachings that can help people. But if you don’t know your limit, then you will not know how to love yourself. And you will also lose yourself in this, and therefore not become generous of oneself. So, in our generosity, there’s also a limit. We have to know our limit. We have to know how much we can give, as well as how much we want to give, so we can work towards that in order to be able to offer [it].” 

Discover the transformative power of laziness redefined as a path to mindfulness and joy. Explore the concept of 'Lazy Days' in Plum Village and their impact on creativity and personal growth. Delve into the importance of rest as an act of self-care and generosity. Listen as Brother Phap Huu shares insights on intentional laziness and its connection to well-being. Jo Confino contrasts the frantic energy of urban life with the need for stillness, highlighting how mindfulness can foster deeper connections and happiness.

Welcome to episode 40 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, the presenters, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino, are joined by a returning guest, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Linh (Brother Spirit) – who is also the composer of the podcast’s theme music. Together, they talk about how to stay centered in difficult and dark times by looking at a particular deep teaching within Buddhist philosophy: the two dimensions – the ultimate dimension and the historical dimension – and helping us to meaningfully integrate them into the present day.   They further explore how feelings of grief and joy don’t have to be in conflict with each other; challenges to touching the ultimate dimensions, and (finally) touching the ultimate peace and freedom; the terror of nothingness; true presence; letting go of the four notions (of self, man/human, living beings, and lifespan); cultivating good energies; how the ultimate transforms the historical – and more! 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 resourcesBrother Phap Linh (Brother Spirit) https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/brother-phap-linh/ Enjoying the Ultimate Dimension: The Nirvana Chapter of the Dharmapadahttps://plumvillage.shop/products/study/books-for-monastic-practice/enjoying-the-ultimate-dimension/  Classes: ‘In the Ultimate Dimension, Every Dharma Is an Unconditioned Dharma’https://plumvillage.org/library/classes/class-2-in-the-ultimate-dimension-every-dharma-is-an-unconditioned-dharma/  Dharma Talks: ‘The Nature of No Birth and No Death’ (Neuroscience Retreat)https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-nature-of-no-birth-and-no-death-neuroscience-retreat-br-phap-dung-2019-06-20/     Dharma Talks: ‘Free from Notions: The Diamond Sutra’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/free-from-notions-the-diamond-sutra/ Dharma Talks: ‘The Diamond Sutra’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-diamond-sutra-sr-dang-nghiem-2020-2-27-deer-park-monastery/   Deep ecologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_ecology  Mahāyānahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana  Dharma Talks: ‘Freeing Ourselves from Notions’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/freeing-ourselves-from-notions/  The Way Out Is In: ‘From Extraction to Regeneration: Healing Ourselves, Healing Society (Episode #16)’https://plumvillage.org/podcast/from-extraction-to-regeneration-healing-ourselves-healing-society-episode-16/  Quotes “In the historical dimension, we understand that there is time: time is passing; we are in the present moment; the future hasn’t yet come; the past is already gone; and things are outside of each other. I’m sitting over here, you’re sitting over there, Phap Huu is over there; we are apparently separate. I’m separate from my father, from my mother, from the world. I am myself. There are things outside of me, you could say.  Thay once said that, in that world, the cow is outside of the ice cream. That’s the historical dimension. Things are made up of other things. Things are composed of parts; that’s what we learn in science. Everything is made up of atoms and molecules, and beyond the atomic to the subatomic, to the quarks, the gluons, all that other stuff. It seems to be made up of ever smaller things. And that can all be ultimately teased apart and separated and identified. That’s the historical.” “The ultimate is this sense in which – poets and artists and meditators all touch on this – everything is interconnected. The all is in the one. You look into an oak leaf, you see the tree. And not only the tree, but the whole forest. You see the whole Earth. You see the sun, the moon, the stars, time, space, consciousness. It’s all there, somehow implicit in whatever you look at, whether it’s a leaf or a block of concrete. It’s like everything is in everything else. And that’s in the realm of space, but also in time. So in this present moment, from the point of view of the ultimate, we can see that the whole past history of the cosmos has brought about this moment. So, in a sense, all of that past is in this moment. This is the interbeing of the past and the present. And then the interbeing of the present and the future gives birth to the entire future of the cosmos, according to what we do, how we speak, how we think, how we act in this moment. So the future is also present in this moment. It’s the interbeing of the three times: past, present, and future. You look deeply into it, you see the whole of eternity in the present moment.”  “Getting in touch with the ultimate dimension doesn’t mean a kind of spiritual bypass. Learning to touch these wonderful states of bliss in your sitting meditation doesn’t mean you can then ignore all of the terrible things going on in the world and still feel fine. That is not touching the ultimate; that is spiritual bypassing. Touching the ultimate means that you are able to contact this deeper level of meaning, of significance – of love, ultimately – in your life, and in the world. And that nourishes you, gives you energy, gives you peace, and [allows you] to come back and stay in the game: to do daily things but with the freshness and the freedom of the ultimate dimension.” “In meditation practice, when we really start to still our minds, you can do it just by following your breath. [Even] the very basic teaching goes all the way; it’s the whole thing. You sit in stillness and start to follow your breath. And if you are sufficiently determined – or maybe stubborn – and you manage to stick with the sensations of the breath, the whole of the inbreath, the whole of the outbreath, then every time your mind gets pulled away into thinking and distraction and fantasizing, or worrying, regretting or whatever, you can gently bring it back, over and over and over again. If you’re lucky, maybe it becomes completely still and you reach an effortless concentration and your mind just stays there. And if you continue, a fear comes up: the fear of abandoning our inner monologue. The part of us that we tend to unconsciously identify with is the little voice, the nonstop thinking radio that’s narrating our experience to ourselves. It’s very natural, it’s part of the human condition. There’s part of us which is anxious; the part of us which worries about our social standing: are we liked? Are we good enough? Do we have what we want? Do we want something else? It’s always pushing us out of stillness into wanting to get something else, wanting some other experience.” “Zen is all about transcending language. It’s difficult; you have to be quite stubborn, quite determined.” “When we use language to understand the world, we start to believe the separateness of things, because the words are separate. Things have separate names: ‘leaf’ is not ‘table’, ‘table’ is not ‘chair’, ‘egg’ is not ‘chicken’. They seem to be separate because they have different names. If we are perceiving the world through language alone, we start to think those separations are real. And that gives rise to so much suffering, stress, and confusion because it includes us: we think that we humans are different, separate, cut off, maybe even lonely. And we experience species-loneliness or -superiority: ‘We’re better than all the rest, we’re the master race.’ That’s also stressful and lonely – but it’s just an artifact of language and [a result] of the way language dominates our perceptions.”  “We want to touch the ultimate, not to escape but because we want to do everything we can to transform the historical dimension, to make it a more beautiful place, a more loving place, a place where there’s less stress and anxiety. So there’s a reason to do all this.”

Welcome to episode 39 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. For the first time, the presenters, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino, haven’t picked a topic – instead, they are responding to questions from you, the listeners!  In the spirit of Plum Village and its Zen tradition of public Q and A sessions, the two presenters encounter a wide range of topics, from light-hearted ones, like an appreciation of Vietnamese soup, watching the World Cup in the monastery, and other joyful moments in the community, to heavier ones such as anger; honoring grief; transformation; vulnerability; the fear of losing somebody precious and the preciousness of time; changing the narrative about happiness; interbeing; practicing mindfulness in schools; and the aspiration of love.  Their responses include practical examples and draw on both personal experiences and wisdom from the Buddhist Sutras and Thay’s teachings, like the Five Remembrances and the Four Noble Truths.   To give you a taste of this episode, here are some of the questions covered: How do monks and nuns remain mindful while taking care of many children during the summer retreat? How can we cope with people we find difficult? How can we practice forgiveness when we have been badly hurt? Does anger have a purpose? Do Zen monks engage in any forms of entertainment, or is life a big stage with lay people as the entertainment? How can we be compassionate, forgiving, and open to people while also protecting ourselves?  Oh, and any ideas why monastics shave their hair? The episode ends with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu. 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 The Happy Farmhttps://thehappyfarm.org/  The Plum Village hamletshttps://plumvillage.org/about/plum-village/hamlet/  Sister Chan Khonghttps://plumvillage.org/about/sister-chan-khong/  Rains Retreathttps://plumvillage.org/retreats/info/rains-retreat-2022/  Karuṇāhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karu%E1%B9%87%C4%81  Sutras: ‘Discourse on the 5 Ways of Putting an End to Anger’https://plumvillage.org/library/sutras/discourse-on-the-five-ways-of-putting-an-end-to-anger/  The Way Out Is In: ‘Meditating on Death (Episode #26)’https://plumvillage.org/podcast/meditating-on-death-episode-26/  Śāriputrahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9A%C4%81riputra  Dharma Talks: ‘True Love and the Four Noble Truths’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/true-love-and-the-four-noble-truths/  Quotes “Present moment, precious moment.”  “The very fact of awareness is the start of change.”  “Be mindful of your capacity. How much can you love? How much suffering can you handle? And how ready are you to face that difficulty? And it’s not about neglecting, it’s about identifying and then making sure that we are developing our stability to continue to generate the energy of love and compassion. So the beauty that I hear in all of these questions is the aspiration to love.”  “We have to be mindful of our grief. Grief is an expression of vulnerability also. And what I’ve learned from the passing of my own teacher is that vulnerability and grief is also an expression of love. We feel loss, and we feel empty, and we feel such sadness because there was true love in that relationship.” “Whenever I’m with the children, I have to shift gears; I have to tap into their energy and tap into who they are. And that is your practice. Your mindfulness is the mindfulness of the children. So remove your expectation that they have to sit in stillness.” “Compassion is a very powerful energy. But to have compassion, we have to have understanding. So we have to see the person suffering and understand why they behave in such a way, even though it is so, so bitter.”  “I want to recognize the suffering, see the root of the suffering, and then transform the suffering. And that clarity can offer kindness. So anger is an emotion that, in Buddhism, we see as a hindrance to our liberation; it’s not just negative, but that energy provides more wrong action than right action.” “If we recognize – and I love this in the teachings about this continuation – that, actually, our life doesn’t end when life ends, that the people we love are still in us, that their actions in their life, their kindness, what they’ve developed, what they’ve built, what they’ve cared about, are still with us. And to recognize that it doesn’t end; it continues and the reverberations of one person’s life go forward in so many ways. We can see and embrace that.”  “I see you’re angry; let’s look at that anger. Can we identify why we’re angry? And then can we work on that situation, rather than working on that anger? Because sometimes when we’re angry, we don’t even know why. And so mindfulness is to become aware of the source of our anger and then to work at the source.”  “We know that everything is impermanent. So our face will change, our skin tones will change. Our bodily form will also change. But what we can always keep alive is the love that we have, the freshness that we generate, the stability that we can offer to ourselves and to the ones that we love, as well as our calmness and stillness. And that is a beauty that you cannot buy. That’s a beauty that you can only generate through practice.”  “The moment of meditation is actually giving us a chance to stop, feel our body, feel what is happening. Maybe we can even say we feel the emotions from all of our thinking, from all of our procrastination. And it’s different from looking deeply.”

Welcome to episode 38 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.The presenters, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino, are back after a short hiatus with an episode covering their own stories from a summer which has been equally joyful and unsettling. Get ready for an eclectic mix of topics, from the first post-pandemic (and sold out!) summer retreats at Plum Village, weddings, and family reunions, to collective awakening, interbeing, and civilizational collapse; what they’ve learned, and how the practice of mindfulness helped them through the ups and downs.   Brother Phap Huu talks about taking the pulse of the world via visiting lay practitioners; dharma families; deep sharing; the importance of practice during a special event for his blood family; learning to rest and knowing the limits as an essential practice; dealing with inferiority complexes; and the seed of parenting within all of us. And, yes: walking meditation can have a part in a wedding. Jo reflects on civilizational collapse after attending a convention of experts about the polycrisis which combines multiple intersecting emergencies; the accumulation of presence; fast-paced society and its ‘instant results’; recognizing jealousy; stability in dark moments; the historical dimension and the ultimate dimensions; and interbeing, the limits of coming back to our true self, and the potential of coming back to life.The episode ends with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu. 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 Plum Village Retreatshttps://plumvillage.org/retreats/visiting-us/  Wake Up Humanity 2022https://plumvillage.org/retreats/info/international-wake-up-retreat-2022/  Rains Retreat 2022https://plumvillage.org/retreats/info/rains-retreat-2022/  Bodhicittahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhicitta  The European Institute of Applied Buddhism (EIAB)https://plumvillage.org/practice-centre/eiab/  Parallax Presshttps://www.parallax.org/  Letters: ‘New Designs for Monastic Robes’https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/letters/monastic-fashion/  Classes: ‘In the Ultimate Dimension, Every Dharma Is an Unconditioned Dharma’https://plumvillage.org/library/classes/class-2-in-the-ultimate-dimension-every-dharma-is-an-unconditioned-dharma/  Quotes “It is such a practice to slow down and to give yourself permission to not look at the emails and to smile at them and say, ‘I don’t have to answer this right away. Who said I have to answer this right away?’ We have created a culture where everything needs to be immediate. Everything needs to be done right here, right now. This is the opposite of living happily in the present moment.”  “Walking meditation can be applied anywhere. And I really encourage all of us to invest in this practice, because it is formless and nobody needs to know that we are practicing it. But it is there all the time.” “Now more than ever, we need this inner stability for us to face suffering, or else we are going to lose ourselves, we’re going to panic, we’re going to get overwhelmed. […] Those emotions are not being recognized and cared for. And that is why, for me, this has to go into education; this has to go into the mainstream of well-being. It’s not Buddhism; Buddhism is one of the beautiful manifestations of our diversity, but well-being and a sense of community in taking care of each other’s suffering needs to be highlighted more.” “Why is it that I can’t drop everything and sit here and be completely happy in this moment? We are not alone in this. I think it’s a symptom of this society that we live in, which is always [about] the opportunity to do more.”  “Mindfulness also means to recollect, to remind yourself. And the body is always your teacher. That was a new discovery for me, and I am very grateful for that. […] I hope that all of us can tune into our bodies. And that’s why the first foundation of mindfulness is the body, because your body is an indicator of where there’s tension, where you’re carrying weight, suffering, anxiety, stress, etc.”  “I know for certain that the practice is not a one-time thing; it’s a continuous journey, and it’s never too late or too early to start the practice, because we see the practice as a growing and a living life energy for us.” “The practice is like the meditations, the slowing down, the listening to the bell, giving yourself permission to stop. When you’re eating, do you cultivate gratitude? All of these little things that we do, the in-between that we think doesn’t have an impact is the bricks that you create for your foundation.” “Listening to the perspectives of people who’ve looked at past collapses of civilizations, the main constituents have often been inequality and overuse of resources and other elements. And all those conditions are present in our current society. […] Collapse doesn’t happen in a day; it can happen over time in many different forms.”  “In the ultimate dimension, we know that everything is impermanent, everything arises, everything falls apart. In a few billion years, the Earth will get too close to the sun and explode and all the matter in our Earth will spread out into the universe and may create life elsewhere. So everything comes and goes. But I have this life and so I have this narrow prism of looking out. And I want to protect it; I want everything to be okay. But, in the great arc of history, this era will pass and there’ll be another. [So it is good to] not to be so attached, and [to have] the ability to hold two truths. So I’m deeply attached, in a sense: I want my children; my family; my friends; my community, Plum Village; the world, to do well and to prosper. But I recognize that it’s not in me to control that. And that allows me to commit to seeking change, to give my full self to the change without attachment to a certain way or to the idea that there is a right outcome, because I don’t know what it is.”  “It’s to see the darkness and the light, how they support each other. Just like our night and our day: our night helps us to sleep, to rest, and our day allows us to have action. So the collapse, the suffering, can be a big motivator for us to change our habits or change our ways.”  “Interbeing is an insight that can liberate us. And when we say liberate, we always have to ask, ‘What are we liberating [ourselves] from?’ So this particular question is about the self, but the self is also the foundation for a lot of ignorance, because the self is so one-dimensional. It’s ‘Me, me, me, me.’ And that allows us to be so greedy, so angry, so selfish. And a lot of the suffering of today is because of this view, that ‘I am the most important person, my family’s the most important, and anything to do with me is important.’ But we break free from that by seeing the non-me in all of this.”

Welcome to episode 37 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, the presenters, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino, are joined in conversation by Tom Rivett-Carnac. Together, they discuss the power that deep spiritual grounding has to support change in the world, as well as how to bring presence and insight into our daily lives and the global challenges we face; how to cultivate inner peace; and taking steps to make mindfulness a tool for individual and collective awakening.  Tom Rivett-Carnac is a political strategist, author, and podcaster who has spent more than 20 years working to address the climate and ecological crises. He is also a Founding Partner of Global Optimism, co-presenter of the well-known climate podcast Outrage + Optimism, and co-author of bestselling book The Future We Choose.  Tom also talks about his early-life experience as a Buddhist monk; spiritual development; coming together without egoic attachment to find collective solutions; and integrating practice and activism.   Brother Phap Huu talks about practices for collective awakening and how to not lose track of mindfulness in society’s busyness; training for the hard times; communities as support for the practice; touching enlightenment in daily life; finding peace in silence; being the change we want to see; and how Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings can serve people in times of crises.  Jo delves into the power of presence; letting go of views; and why ‘showing up fully at work’ may not work. The episode ends with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu. 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 Tom Rivett-Carnachttps://www.globaloptimism.com/tom-rivett-carnac The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist’s Guide to the Climate Crisishttps://www.globaloptimism.com/the-future-we-choose  S.N. Goenkahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._N._Goenka  Sagaing, Myanmar/Burmahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagaing  Christiana Figuereshttp://christianafigueres.com/#/  The Way Out Is In: ‘The Three Doors of Liberation’ (episode 18)https://plumvillage.org/podcast/the-three-doors-of-liberation-episode-18/  The Way Out Is In: ‘Free from Views in a Polarized World’ (episode 36)https://plumvillage.org/podcast/free-from-views-in-a-polarized-world-episode-36/  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OECD  Ajahn Chahhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajahn_Chah  Quotes “I’ve done things in the last two days that I haven’t done for 20 years. Like just sit on a log and watch the wind in the poplars for 15 minutes. And how deeply satisfying that present moment can be. I feel very grateful to find that again. And the strange thing, of course, is it was always there. I was allowing myself to develop this sense of melancholy and regret, like it was this difficult thing that I’d achieved and forgotten. And then, coming back here, it actually seemed simple.”  “Spirituality, for us, is the refuge within that needs to always be cultivated.” “When we speak about coming back to oneself in Buddhism, it’s not about taking care of the ego but finding all of the beautiful conditions that we want to cultivate outside, inside of us. Then we will have the ingredients to offer to the world, to the workplace, to our families, to our loved ones.”  “The necessary step that we all need to take is moving mindfulness away from being something that happens in isolation from the world, to something that happens while we are in the world and that the world can become a tool for.”  “The only way in which we have a sense of collective purpose is in the unity of how we direct our attention towards the present moment, towards the world that we’re living in, that we’re all working to protect, but which the busyness of that activity is preventing us from seeing.”  “I feel like I’ve spent half my adult life focusing primarily on presence and spiritual development, and the other half on raising a family, the problems of the world, and climate change – and now I feel like the interesting work is at the intersection of those two. I don’t feel like we can really advance unless we’re able to bring those two different elements together in ourselves, in our work, because we’re not really doing it at the moment.”“The systems and the institutions that we have relied upon to see us through this great crisis don’t look capable of delivering what we want. So where’s the edge that we need to dwell with in order to move forward? I believe it’s the integration of how we’re living our lives, how we’re bringing presence and insight to our moment, to the moments of our life and the great challenges of our generation.”  “What we need is a collective awakening. Our teacher has said, ‘One Buddha is not enough anymore for our times, for our suffering, for the situations that we are facing. We need multitudes of bodhisattvas, of those who are selfless, those who know how to see the benefit of others as their own benefits, the well-being of the planet as their well-being.’” “Even though what is being shared is so painful, instead of drowning and being overwhelmed by the sorrow, my breathing becomes my foundation. I’m still present with the suffering, but I can guide the suffering. And this inner work, we believe [it] is so necessary for everyone today, because what we are facing will bring up a lot of emotions and feelings and even a sense of despair. And we all need a place of refuge and we need communities. I truly believe that community is the way forward; we cannot do it by ourselves. There’s no superman that can change the situation. We really need a collective movement, a collective awakening, a collective practice.”  “It would be very easy to say, ‘I’ve spent ten years following my spiritual pursuits and 15 years working in the climate movement. Now I want to integrate them, I need to go away and think up a plan and come up with an ideology and a view that is one of integration.’ But all we will have done is add to the number of ideologies and views out there. So it has to be about creating an intentionality and a presence and a space from which something can emerge. And that process can probably neither be hurried nor slowed down, but [it also] can’t be born unless it has space to breathe.” “The first thing that I feel will be important for me in returning to my life is the acceptance that normal life is different, and that I can’t expect perfection from myself. That in itself creates a relaxation. The best that we can do is bring more presence and more intentionality, and move in a direction that has that infused in it, and be able to let go of the things that distract us, the ideas that trap us – but that’s going to be a process.”

Welcome to episode 36 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, the presenters, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino, discuss views and perceptions, and how to move beyond them to find deeper meaning and truth in life. Together, they provide the context for the Buddhist concept of right view, deconstruct ‘view’ and perceptions, including giving examples. They also share zen stories and practices (such as the Five Mindfulness Trainings – with a special focus on the first three) which can help us let go of views that bring suffering, while embracing the ones that can bring happiness. Brother Phap Huu explains the Buddhist perception of view and the updated Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings for monastic and lay practitioners. He further discusses fanaticism; “seeing the world beyond our world”; the practice of compassionate listening and deep looking; true communication; freedom of thought and openness to learning; and collective awakening. And what is it about aligning with a particular viewpoint that makes people feel safe and secure?Jo delves into the “terror of nothingness”; the sacred nature of things, and the fear of the sacred; the importance of connecting with and understanding our roots; holding more than one truth; and the accumulation of intellectual knowledge. The episode ends with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu. 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 resourcesDharma Talks: ‘The Noble Eightfold Path’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-noble-eightfold-path/Dharma Talks: ‘The Ground of Right View’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-ground-of-right-view/  Sister Chan Khonghttps://plumvillage.org/about/sister-chan-khong/  The Beginner’s Mindhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin  The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainingshttps://plumvillage.org/mindfulness/the-14-mindfulness-trainings/  Mahāyānahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana  Buddhahoodhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhahood  Leaders’ Questhttps://leadersquest.org/  Lindsay Levinhttps://leadersquest.org/who-we-are/people/lindsay-levin/  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/  Old Path White Cloudshttps://plumvillage.org/books/old-path-white-clouds-2/  Dharma Talks: ‘The Four Immeasurable Minds – The Four Elements of True Love’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-four-immeasurable-minds-the-four-elements-of-true-love-sr-dieu-nghiem-sr-jina-2018-07-26/  Quotes “The Buddha once said that 95% of our perceptions are wrong; we are so quick in our judgment that we see things as we want to, but not as they are.”  “Thay said, ‘I would never want to bring my students, my children, to a place where there is no suffering. In such a place, my children would never have an opportunity to grow, because they will not learn from suffering. And we know that life has a lot of teachings, and suffering is one of the teachings.’” “Thay had told us a mantra should be, ‘You are partially right.’” “We have to experience everything in life, not in concept.” “Freedom of thought: aware of the suffering brought about when we impose our views on others, we are determined not to force others – even our children – by any means whatsoever, such as authority, threat, money, propaganda, or indoctrination to adopt our views. We are committed to respecting the rights of others to be different, to choose what to believe and how to decide. We will, however, learn to help others let go and transform fanaticism and narrowness, through loving speech and compassionate dialog.” “Embrace your view, give it space, allow it to be, but don’t feed it. Don’t feed it and give it extra food, but question it and challenge it.” “I always remember the Dalai Lama saying, ‘If you have a spiritual epiphany, let it go, because a spiritual epiphany can be an imprisonment that you spend your life going back to. And that’s where you get stuck.’” “I wish everybody had the conditions to see the world beyond their world. When we are so attached to our views, it is because we haven’t yet allowed ourselves to be open.” “One time, someone asked Thay, ‘What would you choose, Buddhism or peace?’ And he said, ‘Of course, peace. Because the essence of Buddhism is to have inner peace and outer peace. I’m ready to let go of Buddhism. If peace is there, then Buddhism is not needed, because Buddhism is also just a view.’” “Thay was very, very clear that if you come to Plum Village and you become interested in Buddhist teachings and practices, do not let go of your own religious or spiritual traditions. Buddhism doesn’t [need to] take over from that; it can add something. But he has constantly talked about the importance of connecting to your own roots, of being aware of your own roots, of not distancing yourself. Because our roots are important and they help us to understand ourselves, they help us to understand what our views are. Even if they are views that we want to let go of, we can only understand them in the context of our past.” “There is no one truth; there are many truths.” “Aware of the suffering created by attachment to views and wrong perceptions, we are determined to avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. We are committed to learning and practicing non-attachment to views and being open to others’ experiences and insights, in order to benefit from collective wisdom. We are aware that the knowledge we presently possess is not changeless, absolute truth. Insight is revealed through the practice of compassionate listening, deep looking, and letting go of notions, rather than through the accumulation of intellectual knowledge. Truth is found in life, and we will observe life within and around us in every moment, ready to learn throughout our lives.” “Life is always changing. Are we the same as we were yesterday, or different? The answer is, we are neither the same nor different, because we are always changing. We are the present moment, but we are also of the past, because everything that we have experienced is here. But we are not just that past, because we’re living in this moment, which we are organically changing.” “The raft is not the shore. When you arrive at the shore, the shore which resembles liberation, we have to let go of the raft.”  “If people are not deeply listening to each other, not incorporating ideas, not seeing a constellation or system of change, then actually people are just defending themselves.” “When we want to teach something, we have to learn to walk the talk.”