This is an excerpt from the Dharma talk given by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh on March 18, 2003 in Tu Nghiem Temple, New Hamlet, Plum Village France.
-------
🔔 Video transcript
-------
"In the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha said the first noble truth is suffering, i.e. ill-being. If we contemplate deeply the heart of ill-being, of suffering, we find the meaning and purpose in life. Which is the fourth noble truth, i.e. the noble (eightfold) path.
"Suffering and pain can open our eyes, helping us find the meaning and purpose in life. Otherwise, suffering has no use. It just outpours. The ocean of suffering just drowns us in its vastness.
"In Buddhism, we've already learned that suffering is the substance that makes understanding and insights. Just like mud is the substance that makes lotus. Without suffering and pain, there will be neither right understanding nor true love.
"But we don't need to create more suffering. We've already had more than enough suffering for this purpose. We should not create more suffering."
-------
✩ Full talk's original title: "Khoảng Không Trong Tâm Hồn | TS Thích Nhất Hạnh(18-05-2003, Xóm Mới, Làng Mai)"
✩ Full talk's originally posted by Làng Mai (Plum Village's Vietnamese YouTube channel) on Jul 15, 2023
✩ Full talk given: May 18, 2003, Tu Nghiem (Loving-kindness) Temple, New Hamlet, Plum Village France
✩ Excerpt's length: 14 minutes 21 seconds
✩ Watch the full talk with English subtitles and transcript here
✩ Video's notes from the Plum Village Editorial team:
"Dear friends! This Dharma talk's audio quality is pretty poor, resulting in some parts of the talk being particularly difficult to follow, especially for Vietnamese-speaking friends. The parts that are especially very hard to listen to have been Vietnamese-subtitled by the monastics. We hope for your kind understanding. ~ Plum Village Editorial team."
-------
🍁 SPECIAL THANKS The translation of this Dharma talk will never be possible without the valuable help from Dharma Teacher Chân Cơ (Maple Village Sangha, Canada).
-------
REFERENCES (Resources used to translate this Dharma talk): Please kindly visit the video transcript link for the full list.
-------
Republished on the Plum Village App with kind permission of Thich Nhat Hanh's Talks channel 🙏