Climbing a Mountain

June 19, 2012. 117-minute dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh from Upper Hamlet in Plum Village during the 21-Day Retreat with the theme The Science of the Buddha. The talk is given in English and this is the thirteenth dharma talk (of 15).

Thay announced the names of apprentice Dharma Teachers for the coming year. There will about 50 from the monastic Sunflower family and about 15 lay students (Belgium, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, and USA).  We are reminded that a dharma teacher can create happiness for those around them and can handle a painful/unpleasant feeling. Even with some suffering, dharma teachers can discover this is a happy moment.

Climbing a mountain, arriving with every step. Illustrated from a story of traveling China with the sangha.

Five Universal Mental Formations.

Always present and always together. A neural pathway that can lead to happiness or suffering. Creates a habit. We don’t need to focus on our suffering. Create a habit of happiness.

1. Contact – eyes, ears, etc.
2. Feeling
3. Attention – To be able to select the object of your attention. This is good practice. Appropriate attention.
4. Perception / Conception
5. Volition

Five Particular Mental Formations

1. Desire / Intention
2. Resolution / Determination
3. Mindfulness
4. Concentration
5. Insight

Types of Consciousness

1. Eye
2. Ear
3. Nose
4. Tongue
5. Body
6. Mind (this consciousness can instruct manas – the work of meditation)
7. Manas (the ground the first six lean upon – wrong view; seeks pleasure)
8. Store (everything manifests from here – all the seeds)