Using our Breath brings Mindfulness

Summary

This Dharma talk, delivered on the sixth day of a retreat on understanding emotions, presents mindfulness as a practical, universal discipline that does not require one to identify as Buddhist. The speaker explains that mindfulness can be integrated into ordinary daily actions through short memorized verses, or gathas, used while waking up, washing, sitting down, riding a bicycle, turning on a light, using a computer, and performing other routine activities. These verses help practitioners remember that they have 24 new hours to live, to live deeply, and to look at others with compassion rather than anger. The talk emphasizes that mindfulness is not merely a mental state but an energy that allows a person to be present, aware of what is happening, and to cultivate concentration and insight at the same time. A major theme is the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, especially as taught in the Sutra on Mindful Breathing. The speaker outlines the four exercises related to the body: awareness of the in-breath and out-breath, following the breath from beginning to end, awareness of the whole body, and releasing tension in the body. He then extends the discussion to feelings, explaining how mindfulness helps one recognize pleasant and unpleasant feelings, understand their roots, and avoid using consumption or alcohol to cover suffering. The talk continues with the mind and mental formations, describing the mind as a river of changing formations such as mindfulness, concentration, insight, loving kindness, compassion, joy, fear, anger, despair, discrimination, and jealousy. Practitioners are encouraged to recognize these formations by name, greet them without fear, and care for them skillfully. The practice of “shining light” in Plum Village is presented as a communal method in which a group helps one person see both strengths and weaknesses with honesty, love, and brotherhood. The speaker also stresses the importance of compassionate listening, especially in relationships, families, and communities. He gives an example of a woman from England who carried deep trauma and suffering, and describes how repeated sessions of collective mindfulness and compassion eventually helped her express her pain and begin healing. This method is presented not only as a monastic practice but as something useful for couples, business leaders, and school communities. The underlying principle is that mutual understanding and trust grow when people listen deeply and help water the good seeds in one another while refraining from feeding negative tendencies. Another central section of the talk explores the fourth foundation of mindfulness: the objects of mind and the nature of reality. Using examples such as a cloud, tea, a family photograph, and a flame, the speaker explains the Buddhist teaching of no birth and no death, no coming and no going, and no being and no non-being. He argues that phenomena do not arise from nothing and do not disappear into nothing; rather, they transform when conditions change. A cloud becomes rain, snow, or tea; a flame manifests when conditions are sufficient and ceases manifesting when they are not. This line of reasoning is used to help listeners overcome fear, grief, and despair, especially the fear of death and non-being. The talk connects this insight to the middle path and to a phenomenological understanding that consciousness is always consciousness of something. The final part of the talk turns to the story of Anathapindika, also known as Sudatta, a generous lay follower who offered the Jeta Grove in Shravasti to the Buddha and cared for the poor. On his deathbed, Sariputra and Ananda guided him through meditation on the Three Jewels and the four foundations of mindfulness. Through this practice, he was able to balance pain with joy, realize that he was more than his body, and touch the insight of no birth and no death. Moved by the teaching, he asked that such profound Dharma be made available to lay practitioners as well, not only monastics. The talk concludes by inviting the community to sing “No Coming, No Going” and to remain for announcements, ending on a note of shared practice, gratitude, and peaceful continuation.