What is Man?

Summary

This talk presents a Buddhist view of human life as action, responsibility, and transformation, contrasting it with Jean-Paul Sartre’s idea that a person is the sum total of his actions. The speaker explains that in Buddhist teaching, karma means action, and that action is not limited to physical deeds. Thought itself is already action, and therefore the quality of one’s thinking matters deeply. Thoughts filled with anger, fear, discrimination, or despair are described as harmful forms of action that can damage both the thinker and the world. By contrast, right thinking is characterized by non-discrimination, understanding, and compassion, and such thoughts are said to heal the individual and help heal society. The talk then extends the same ethical framework to speech and bodily action. Speech can wound, divide, or even drive someone toward suicide, so right speech must be grounded in compassion, forgiveness, and understanding. Likewise, bodily action includes not only obvious acts such as helping or harming, but also everyday behaviors like eating, drinking, working, and consuming. These too must be practiced as right action. The speaker emphasizes that a person is the totality of thought, speech, and action, and that these three dimensions constitute one’s continuation. Because thoughts and actions leave an energetic trace, mindfulness is needed to examine whether one’s daily life is producing wholesome or unwholesome continuation. A major theme of the talk is mindfulness as a practical energy that illuminates thought, speech, and action. Walking meditation is presented as a central method for integrating body, speech, and mind. In Plum Village, practitioners are encouraged to walk mindfully, breathing in and taking one step while silently affirming, “I have arrived.” This is not treated as a mere phrase but as a realization: the practitioner should be fully present in the here and now. The speaker insists that one must stop running—both literally and psychologically—because people are habitually pulled by longing, regret, fear, and future-oriented striving. The present moment alone contains life, and the practice of mindful walking is a way to return home to it. The talk also develops a teaching on happiness and peace. The speaker argues that many people overlook the abundant conditions of happiness already available to them. By recognizing what is already present—such as water, health, family, and basic stability—one can generate joy immediately. Mindful walking becomes a way to touch these conditions of happiness and to cultivate peace, joy, and freedom. The repeated phrases “I have arrived” and “I am home” express the experience of being fully established in the present moment, where one’s true home is found. The speaker links this to peace on earth, suggesting that each mindful step leaves a footprint of peace, joy, and healing. Another important section expands the notion of the self into a cosmic dimension. The speaker explains that the physical body is not the only body one has; there is also a cosmic body made of the sun, earth, air, water, and the wider universe. Using the imagery of waves and clouds, the talk teaches that forms are impermanent while their deeper nature continues. This leads to reflections on the ultimate, identified with Nirvana, God, and the nature of no birth and no death. By walking mindfully, practitioners can touch this ultimate dimension and become free from fear of birth, death, and annihilation. The talk concludes by emphasizing collective practice. Walking with the Sangha generates a shared energy of mindfulness, peace, and joy that supports each individual. In Plum Village and New Hamlet, practitioners are encouraged to walk like a Buddha, arriving at every step and inspiring others by their presence. The speaker recommends mindful walking even over short distances and suggests that such practice can transform daily life within a week. The final message is that stopping, arriving, and living deeply in the present moment are essential to true peace and happiness, and that the community can help one another sustain this practice.