This is an excerpt of a Dharma talk given by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh on November 06, 2005 in Upper Hamlet, Plum Village France.

🔔 Video transcript

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"[S]ometimes we want to go to the other person and establish good communication with the other person, wanting to be in touch with the miracles of the cosmos, wanting to search for what’s true, good, and beautiful, but we’re not successful in this endeavor. The harder we try to go forward, the more we fail. Every one of us must have experienced this before. 'Going back' here means going back to the person within ourselves. We have to go back and rely on the island within ourselves first. We have to take refuge in the Three Gems before we can truly be our true person. If we're not yet our true person, the more forward we try to go the more we fail. And for that reason, we have to go back to ourselves so that we can restore the true person in ourselves. Only when we are our true person, can we succeed at going forward."

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Link to the Vietnamese Dharma talk in full

Original Vietnamese title: “Quay Về Hải Đảo Tự Thân Để Chăm Sóc Chính Mình [Thực Tập Căn Bản Làng Mai] TS Nhất Hạnh” Originally posted by: Làng Mai (Plum Village Vietnamese YouTube channel)

Talk given: November 06, 2005, Upper Hamlet, Plum Village France Length: 15 minutes 20 seconds

REFERENCES (Resources used to translate this Dharma talk):

1. Wikipedia, Humanism

2. Wikipedia, Luminous mind

3. Wikipedia, Lotus Sutra

4. Plum Village, Discourse on the Better Way to Live Alone

5. Shawna (2022), “We Absolutely Insist on Enjoying Life”, Still Water Mindfulness Practice Center

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Republished on the Plum Village App with kind permission of Thich Nhat Hanh's Talks channel 🙏