This is an 11-minute excerpt from one of the Dharma talks on the "Discourse on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness" given by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh on February 12, 1998, New Hamlet, Plum Village France, during the Winter Retreat 1997-1998.
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🔔 Video transcript
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"As a practitioner, in each bodily action, we should be fully aware, we should be fully mindful, whether it’s going forward or backward, looking in front or looking behind, bending down or standing up.
"When you work in the kitchen, even if you work alone, you still practice exactly that. When you turn on the faucet, you turn it on in mindfulness. When you pick up a carrot, you pick it up in awareness. When you hold a knife, you hold it with full awareness. And when you peel the carrot, you peel it mindfully.
"The same with using the toilet. When one goes into the toilet, the toilet is also a place to practice, a practice center. When we wash our face, when we wash our feet, when we shower, when we scrub our body, or when we defecate, we have to practice being mindful the same.
"Every action and every position of the body must be put under the light of mindfulness the same. Whether we succeed in our practice or not depends on this. Because once we take hold of the body, we can begin to take hold of the mind."
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✩ Full talk's original title: "Bốn Lĩnh Vực Quán Niệm 01[CPNĐSNC 22] | TS Thích Nhất Hạnh(12-02-1998, Làng Mai)"
✩ Full talk originally posted by Làng Mai (Plum Village's Vietnamese YouTube Channel) on Jun 17, 2023
✩ Full talk given: on February 12, 1998, New Hamlet, Plum Village France, in the Winter Retreat 1997-1998
✩ Excerpt's length: 10 minutes 37 seconds (excluding the 20 seconds introducing the sutra passage at the intro)
✩ Watch the full talk with English subtitles and transcript
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REFERENCES (Resources used to translate this Dharma talk): Please kindly visit the video transcript link to see the full list.
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Republished on the Plum Village App with kind permission of Thich Nhat Hanh's Talks channel 🙏