December 31, 2011. 97-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet, Plum Village. The sangha is in the 2011-2012 Winter Retreat and this is talk was given in English on New Year’s Eve.
Let’s visualize the new year coming as a giant bird; coming from the far east and traveling west. We are going somewhere; where are we going? When mindfulness and concentration are present, then we can gain insight to not be carried away by afflictions. The practice of mindfulness can help us enjoy life deeply and also help us to handle difficult emotions and feelings.
The Four Noble Truths and Right View for the transformation of suffering. The science of no birth and no death. The energy of thought and action.
The earth as bodhisattva. Freshness. This year we have an opportunity to continue our experiments, experiments with our insight, particularly as it relates to science. In 2012, we can lay the foundation for a cosmic religion (Einstein reference). The scientists and us can do this together.
There is no soul. No self. There are only the five Skandhas (aggregates) – body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, conciousness. But these do continue in other forms.
Editors Note: some periods of silence exist in audio, but the listener is not missing any part of the talk.