This is a 3-minute excerpt from the third talk of the "Discourse on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness" series where Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh shared his favorite Jataka tale on February 19, 1998, New Hamlet, Plum Village France, in the Winter Retreat 1997-1998.

🔔 Video transcript

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"Among the Jātaka tales, or 'Former Birth stories,' of the Shakyamuni Buddha, there was a tale about one of his previous births that Thay came upon when Thay was young. It moved Thay very deeply.

"Long long ago, Shakyamuni Buddha was a demon, living in Hell—because he had done evil in the past. That day, in Hell, he was being tortured by a bunch of Ox-Heads and Horse-Faces.

"In that moment, while the former manifestation of Shakyamuni Buddha was being subject to a lot of suffering and agonies in Hell, he saw an Ox-Head torturing another person. Suddenly, in his heart, there grew this feeling of compassion and empathy for the pain caused by that cruelty. "

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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 original title: "Truyện tiền thân của Đức Phật: Phát tâm Bồ đề thoát cảnh địa ngục"

✩ Excerpt's originally posted by TCT Phượng Trần (Sakura-Lotus Sangha) on Jan 23, 2024

✩ Excerpt's length: 3 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 🙏