To Connect

Summary

This talk, delivered on the final day of the retreat “Happiness is the Way,” presents a detailed teaching on Buddhist practice, especially the relationship between mindfulness, emptiness, interbeing, and liberation from fear and discrimination. The speaker explains that true connection cannot be achieved through external means alone, such as a telephone, because genuine communication requires mutual understanding and insight into the nature of self and other. This principle is extended to relationships with other people, one’s parents, the Buddha, and even God. The central claim is that all things, including the self, are empty of a separate, independent existence and are made only of “non-self” elements. Because of this, one can see oneself in the other and the other in oneself. A major example used throughout the talk is the sheet of paper. The speaker invites listeners to look deeply into a sheet of paper and see the trees, clouds, sunshine, earth, loggers, paper mill workers, and even consciousness itself within it. The paper is described as containing the whole cosmos, yet being empty of a separate self. This illustration is used to clarify the Buddhist teaching of emptiness and interbeing: nothing exists alone, and everything depends on everything else. The same insight is applied to flowers, roses, the Buddha, one’s father, and one’s mother. The speaker emphasizes that anger toward a parent is ultimately anger toward oneself, because parent and child continue each other. This insight is presented as a way to dissolve discrimination and reduce anger and fear. The talk then turns to the Three Concentrations, or three samadhis, which are described as the doors of liberation: emptiness, signlessness, and aimlessness. Emptiness means seeing the empty nature of all phenomena. Signlessness helps practitioners stop clinging to appearances and thereby transform grief, fear, and despair. The speaker uses the image of a cloud to show that what appears to die is only transformed into rain, snow, fog, or ice; nothing truly passes into nothingness. Aimlessness, or apranihita, is explained as the practice of not chasing after an object outside oneself, whether that object is God, the Buddha, Nirvana, the Pure Land, or happiness. The teaching insists that what one seeks is already available in the present moment. A rose does not search for beauty because it is beauty itself; a wave does not search for water because it is water. Mindfulness is presented as the foundation for concentration and insight. The speaker describes mindfulness as bringing the mind home to the body so that one can live deeply in the present moment. From mindfulness arises concentration, and from concentration arises right view. Right view is the basis of the Noble Eightfold Path and is defined as insight that transcends the notions of being and non-being, birth and death. The speaker explains that ordinary thinking divides life into a beginning at birth and an end at death, but Buddhist insight sees these as only manifestations of continuation. The cloud, the paper, and the body all undergo transformation rather than annihilation. This teaching is linked to the idea of karma: thought, speech, and action continue beyond the disintegration of the body and shape future continuation. The talk also connects these teachings to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, which are described as a concrete expression of the Noble Eightfold Path. Right thinking, right speech, right action, right livelihood, and right diligence are all grounded in right view. Right thinking is non-discriminatory and compassionate; right speech is loving and healing; right action protects and rescues; and the overall purpose is to heal oneself and the world. The speaker stresses that thoughts, words, and actions are never lost and that practitioners should cultivate understanding and compassion because these energies heal body, mind, and society. A significant narrative section recounts the death of Anathapindika, a wealthy lay supporter of the Buddha in Shravasti. The speaker describes how Sariputra and Ananda visited him and guided him through a meditation on the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and on the body as a collection of changing elements. This helped Anathapindika recognize the teaching of no birth and no death and die peacefully. The story is used to show that profound Buddhist teachings are not only for monastics but also for lay practitioners who have the time and capacity to practice deeply. The talk concludes with a practical encouragement to the audience, especially those in Hong Kong, to continue mindful breathing and mindful walking in daily life, from home to the bus or MTR station and onward to work. The speaker urges them to build a local sangha, keep the light of the Buddha alive in daily life, and maintain connection through practice. The overall message is that happiness, liberation, and true connection are available here and now through mindfulness, insight, compassion, and the realization of interbeing.