(Class #39) Teaching Tenets 39 and 40 of Plum Village

This is a weekly class from Deer Park Monastery on the topic "The 40 Tenets of Plum Village" and it is based on a book called Plum Village Looks at Vulture's Peak written by Thich Nhat Hanh. The book describes the essential characteristics of Plum Village practice and teachings.

For an English translation of the tenets themselves, follow this link.

In this class, Brother Phap Luu discusses the 39th and 40th tenets:

"Conditions, feelings, skandhas, āyatanas, dhātus, vijñāna, etc. are different ways of presenting the teachings. These different ways of presenting the teachings are not in opposition to each other." (39)

The teachings on impermanence, non-self, interdependence, emptiness, signlessness, aimlessness, mindfulness, concentration, insight, etc. constitute the heart of the Buddhist wisdom. They can go together with the spirit of science, they can be used in dialogue with science and offer suggestions and be a support for scientific research. Modern science should try to overcome the tendency of double grasping and scientists should train themselves to develop their capacity for intuition. (40)