This is an excerpt of a Dharma talk given by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh on January 16, 1997 in New Hamlet, Plum Village France.
🔔 Video transcript
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"It’s clear that in life, there are sufferings. When we see a tiger biting a fawn’s neck, the fawn is very gentle, very beautiful, we feel a lot of compassion in our heart. However, we know that this lion or this tiger has no choice other than biting the fawn’s neck because it also needs to live. If we have understanding, not only do we have compassion for the fate of that gentle and beautiful fawn, we also have compassion for the tiger because it’s forced to kill this fawn to eat and survive. These animals, these fierce animals, they have to hunt. But they have something different than humans, which is they only hunt when they’re hungry. But humans hunt even when they’re not hungry. They hunt for fun. Even if we have already had enough money to feed ourselves and our family, we still hunt."
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Original Vietnamese title: “Được Ăn Chay Là Một Hạnh Phúc Lớn [Thực Tập Căn Bản Làng Mai] TS Nhất Hạnh”
Originally posted by: Làng Mai (Plum Village's Vietnamese YouTube channel)
Talk given: January 16, 1997, New Hamlet, Plum Village France Length: 7 minutes 30 seconds
REFERENCES (Resources used to translate this Dharma talk):
1. Wikipedia, Throat clamp
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Republished on the Plum Village App with kind permission of Thich Nhat Hanh's Talks channel 🙏