January 2, 2011. 81-minute Dharma Talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh, from the Stillwater Meditation Hall of the Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France.
“We know how to embrace suffering. We see immediately that the other person suffers too. You understand him or her. We see the other person with the eye of compassion. The eye of compassion exists within us. We see that the other person is a victim of his own suffering. He or she makes others suffer. And when we see that, we have no more anger.
“Let us listen to each other. Let us be there for each other. This is applied Buddhism.”
Listen deeply. Consumption. First noble truth. Accepting our suffering. No mud. No lotus. When we embrace our suffering, we suffer less. We can look with the eyes of compassion.
This practice of deep listening can be applied between political groups, in society, in the classroom, in the family.
Let’s listen to each other. That’s the slogan for the new year.
Let’s be there for each other. The second part of the slogan.
The talk was given in French with English translation and is available below (original French and Vietnamese audio are also available, as well as video version).