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Drawing on the story of a Zen student asking his teacher for his most advanced teaching, Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh shares his own experiences on how to take care of sadness, anger, loss, injustice, and how to transform the seeds of suffering we have inherited from past generations. Using examples and often humorous stories, this classic talk offers concrete practices and contains the teachings found in his best-selling books Transformation and Healing, Anger, and Interbeing.

We begin with two chants from the monastics. Mindfulness practice of the sequoia tree, the sky. Thich Nhat Hahn speaks of an Albert Camus’ book called The Stranger. Here, too, the prisoner talks about truly seeing the sky. This is awakening. Camus called this a moment of consciousness. Many people are living as if we are dead. The blue sky is a wonder of life. Awakening. Can we wake up? Mindful breathing. Resurrection. From forgetfulness to mindfulness. The miracle of the resurrection. This is not dogma. When we wake up, then we can get in touch with the wonders of life.

In the Buddhist teaching of love, there are four elements. The first is maitri - friendship, brotherhood, loving-kindness. And the second is karuna - capacity to understand the suffering and help remove and transform it - compassion. Mudita is the third element - joy - your joy is her joy, her joy is our joy. The last element is upeksha - nondiscrimination. This is a higher form of love. The four qualities have no limits - infinite love - these elements are also called the four unlimited minds.

Thich Nhat Hanh encourages us to practice metta mediation in the first three days of the new year. On the first day we practice for ourselves. On the second day we practice for the other person we love. On the third day we practice for the other person (or institution) that makes us suffer. Concrete practices are described for the coming year.

On August 2, 2013, a dharma talk was given by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet of Plum Village during the 2013 Summer Opening. This is the 16th talk of the summer and the final talk for the summer. The day begins a 17-minute teaching for the children on no coming, no going and no sameness, no otherness. He uses a picture of himself as a teenager to illustrate sameness and otherness. Is it the same person as a picture of him today?

Looking Deeply (Digitally Remastered) is a selection of talks by Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh offered during meditation retreats throughout North America. In these lectures, Thay, as his followers call him, talks about mindfulness within the context of the social and political issues of our time. Although these talks were recorded in 1987, the messages they bring us are still highly relevant today.