Questions & Answers 2

from the Seminar „Peace in daily life“ with Thay Phap Nhat

Q: You say that it is not possible to suffer in the present moment. I understand that a big part of our suffering is coming from the past. But I also often experience a strong feeling of happiness in the moment I am reminded of happy situations from the past. Does this mean that this happiness connected to the past isn't true either? Does it mean it isn't real?

A: We remember a happy situation from the past, and we feel happy. We conclude that this happiness is coming from the past. But actually this feeling of happiness is taking place in the present moment. With the suffering it is the same. If we identify ourselves with our emotions, then we will lose ourselves, and we can no longer be in the Here and Now. 

In order not to lose ourselves, we need to develop the energy of mindfulness and awareness. Then we can recognize clearly whatever is happening inside of us, without losing ourselves. We don't identify with our emotion, with our sadness or our anger. The more we become an observer of what is happening, the bigger will be the gap between us and the situation. In this way we develop the capacity to choose freely with which attitude we want to act in that situation.

Questions & Answers 1 - Thay Phap Nhat

from the Seminar „Peace in daily life“ with Thay Phap Nhat

Question: How can I be peaceful in the moment there is a person in front of me who is angry and wants to harm me?

Answer: Imagine there is a well in front of you, and you want to take some water out of that well. If in that well there is no water, it is not possible to take some out. If in our heart there is no anger, and someone is saying something unkind to us, can we then become angry? The energy of anger is like the water in the well. The other person is just a kind of trigger for the anger that is already inside of us.

But there is still something we can do when another person is waking up the anger in us. In the buddhist psychology we speak about seeds that are lying in our store consciousness. Everyone of us has many different kinds of seeds: the seeds of love, compassion, happiness and joy. But there are also the seeds of sadness, anger, frustration and fear lying in our store consciousness. If we know how to water the seeds of happiness and joy in our daily life, then these seeds will grow and become strong trees in the garden of our heart. If instead we water the seeds of frustration, anger and worry, then these seeds will become stronger and they will grow. If we can see this clearly, we are able to choose which kind of seeds we want to water in our consciousness. We can just choose the seeds that will make us happy.

All the people in our environment are like a mirror, reflecting what we have inside of us. We have the right to choose with what kind of attitude we want to face the situations in our life. If we are not strong in the pracitice yet, we will need a community, we need friends who nourish only the good seeds in our heart. Once we become stronger, we will have enough inner calmness in order to deal with difficult situations.

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