This is a 26-minute excerpt from the third talk of the "Discourse on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness" series, given by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh on February 19, 1998, New Hamlet, Plum Village France, in the Winter Retreat 1997-1998.

🔔 Video transcript

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"When we have a pleasant feeling, or a painful feeling, or a neutral feeling, we have to use the energy of mindfulness to shine upon that painful feeling, or that pleasant feeling, or that neutral feeling, to see in better light the true nature of that painful, or neutral, or pleasant feeling. Because when there's mindfulness, the feeling is embraced. Once we can embrace a feeling with mindfulness, we can see into that feeling.

"The sutra said one has to look into a feeling to see where it comes from. Does it come from the body, or does it come from the mind? Whether it's painful, pleasant, or neutral, a feeling has its base. It has either physical/physiological base, psychological base, or social base. When we see into a feeling, we have to see its base. Is it psychological, physical/ physiological, or social?

"Looking into it even more deeply, we can see the conditions that have given rise to that feeling. Certainly, it can be physically or physiologically originated, psychologically originated, or socially originated. If there were not favorable conditions for it to manifest, it wouldn't have already manifested. With that, we look into the nature called 'interdependent co-arising' of a feeling.

"We mindfully observe that feeling in connection with all its near and far conditions, in the physical/physiological context of the body, in the psychological context, and in the social context. That's called "observation of the feelings from within or from without.'"

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✩ Full talk's original title: "Bốn Lĩnh Vực Quán Niệm 03 [CPNĐSNC 24] | TS Thích Nhất Hạnh(19-02-1998, Xóm Mới, Làng Mai)"

✩ Full talk originally posted by Làng Mai (Plum Village's Vietnamese YouTube Channel), on Jun 23, 2023

✩ Full talk given: on February 19, 1998, New Hamlet, Plum Village France, in the Winter Retreat 1997-1998

✩ Excerpt's length: 25 minutes 42 minutes

✩ Watch the full talk with English subtitles and transcript here

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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 🙏