Recorded live at a five-day retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh, sponsored by the Community of Mindful Living, September 1st through the 6th, 1997, in Santa Barbara, California. Tape number TNG-3, Touching the Earth, Part One, with Sister Chong Kung. Deep relaxation is a wonderful method to help you to stop all the agitation, all the anxiety, all the agitation. When you have strong emotion, when you have a great pain, from my own experience, when

[01:03]

I have great pain, I practice a lot of deep relaxation. I will offer to you a number of exercises, and maybe at the third exercise, or the fourth exercise, you feel so relaxed that when you go slowly into the sleep, that's fine. Because if you can sleep, a very deep sleep, without agitation in the dream, you can wake up a quiet, clear mind, and you look into your problem with a new insight, and you may see a new solution, a clear, more lucid solution.

[02:05]

You all know that the basic teaching of the Buddha is, the first part is to restore the peace in you. The first part of Buddhist teaching is Samatha. Samatha is stopping all the agitation of your mind. When you are very angry, when you are very fearful, when you are very jealous, when you are really stirred by strong emotion, your mind is not serene, it's not lucid, and you may speak, you may act in an inappropriate way, and after that you regret. So the Buddha advised that when you have a lot of pain, a lot of agitation, a lot of anger, you practice Samatha to stop all this agitation.

[03:12]

And the second part of Buddhist meditation is looking deeply, called Vipasyana. Vipasyana is you try to look deeper, what part your body has to do with that event who caused you a lot of trouble. Maybe your body has a number of difficulties, and you look deeply into your mind to see what part your mind has contributed in that event, and then you look deeply into the body and the mind of the person who caused trouble to you. When you understand yourself, body and mind, you understand the others, body and mind, you may understand deeper, and maybe your anger is relieved. So deep relaxation is a wonderful way to help you to practice Samatha, it means to stop

[04:13]

the agitation. So my advice, when you feel not very restful, find a place to lie down. Please don't use a high pillow, because in order to release all the tension, your head must be on the same line as your spine. So use a low cushion, low pillow. Or if you use high, you have to put the pillow on your back, so that the whole body is lifted in the same time, so your spine and your head must be on the same line. And I will offer a number of exercises, some students, I propose that some students between two exams try to find a place, lie down on the lawn, on the green lawn, and practice

[05:20]

one or two or three exercises. And after that, five or ten minutes is very helpful. And then they can stand up and go to another exam, it will be helpful. When you are at work, at noontime, after lunch, you try to lie down also for ten, fifteen minutes, it will be very helpful. The first exercise of deep relaxation. Breathing in, I bring all my attention to my in-breath.

[06:22]

Breathing out, I bring all my attention to my out-breath. In, aware of my in-breath. Out, aware of my out-breath. Totally with my out-breath, totally with my in-breath. In, aware of my in-breath.

[07:31]

Second exercise. When I breathe in, I have noticed that my abdomen is rising, inflating. When I breathe out, my abdomen is falling. Now, I breathe in and out, paying all my attention on the movement of my abdomen. Abdomen rising, abdomen falling. Abdomen rising, abdomen falling. In, aware of my in-breath. Out, aware of my in-breath.

[08:47]

Abdomen rising, abdomen falling. Abdomen rising, abdomen falling. Now, I send my love to my two shoulders. Breathing in, I calm every cell along of my two shoulders. Breathing out, I release all tensions along of my two shoulders. Calming, releasing tension.

[10:15]

Now, I send my love to my two arms and my two hands. Breathing in, I calm every cell along of my two arms, from my shoulders to the tip of my fingers. Breathing out, I release all tensions along of my two arms and my two hands. Calming, releasing tension. Now, I send my love to my two legs and my two feet.

[12:22]

Breathing in, I calm every cell along of my two legs and my two feet. Breathing out, I release all tensions along of my two legs and my two feet. Breathing in, calming, releasing tensions. Now, I send my love to my two eyes.

[13:26]

Breathing in, I calm every cell on my eyes' lids. And deep inside of my two eyes, breathing out, I release all tensions on my two eyes. Now, I send my love to my heart. Breathing in, I calm every part of my heart. Breathing out, I release all tensions in my heart.

[14:33]

Breathing in, I calm every part of my heart. Calming, releasing tensions. My eyes are a real treasure for me. I only need to open my eyes and I can see a paradise of form and color. My heart is a treasure. It works 24 hours per day for my well-being. Yet, I forget the wonderful presence of my heart. Thank you, my little heart. I will remember to take good care of you because your happiness is my happiness.

[15:41]

If you are in trouble, I will lose my happiness too. My liver is also a great treasure for me. Breathing in, I send my love to my liver. Breathing out, I smile to my liver with thanks. My liver works so hard for my well-being. Yet, I forget the wonderful presence of my liver. I ate unmindfully. I drank unmindfully. It caused a hard time for my liver. Thank you, my little liver.

[16:49]

I will remember to take good care of you. Now I send my love to my intestine. You are a wonderful treasure for me too. I will remember how to eat mindfully not to cause trouble to my intestine. My kidneys, my lungs, all are wonderful treasure for me. The whole world is full of treasures. A round of gold, silver, and precious gems.

[17:55]

The whole world is full of treasures. The cosmos is full of treasures. This week, I would like to offer to you a lot of treasures. A round of gold, silver, and precious gems. The whole world is full of treasures. Every minute that we are alive is a treasure. To be alive is a wonderful thing.

[18:56]

It's more precious than treasure. We only need to be aware of the fact that we are alive. And then you can see many wonderful things. The whole world is full of treasures. I would like to offer to you a lot of treasures. A round of gold, silver, and precious gems. The whole world is full of treasures. Every minute that we are alive is a treasure. To be alive is a wonderful thing. The whole world is full of treasures.

[20:00]

We only need to be aware of the fact that we are alive. And then you can see many wonderful things. The whole world is full of treasures. The whole world is full of treasures. To see flowers blooming is a miracle. The fact that I can still hear the concert of sound is a miracle.

[21:04]

The fact that I can see the wonderful smile of my beloved one is a treasure. Oh, the richest man in the world, Please forgive me for my bad words. Let's go to the moon together To receive the gold. You who are the wealthiest person on earth, Wealthy with all these treasures, Please don't behave like a poor beggar, Beggar of happiness. Let's give each other happiness, Gold, silver, and precious gems.

[22:13]

Let's let go of the sorrow About the sun shining on my hand. Oh, the richest man in the world, I bring the gold to you. I bring the gold to you. I bring the gold to you. The cosmos is full of treasures. I would like to offer to you a lot, a lot of treasures. Your hands, still in good condition, are a treasure. Your legs, which are still in good condition, are a treasure.

[23:21]

You can run, you can do what you want with your legs. Your heart is in good condition. Your kidneys, your lungs, your eyes, all are a treasure. Thank you. I offer my heart and soul to you. I offer a smile to you.

[24:26]

I offer my heart and soul to you. I offer my heart and soul to you. I offer my heart and soul to you. Why is the road so narrow? The door does not open.

[25:46]

Why is the road so narrow? The door does not open. Ah... The rain falls gently on the sky. Ah... I listen to the sound of the water. My heart is full of tears.

[26:56]

My heart is full of tears. Ah... Ah... Let me go. You used to be far away. Ah... Ah... Early in the morning, the flowers wither. Ah... My heart is full of tears. Ah...

[28:08]

Ah... The rain falls gently on the sky. Ah... The rain falls gently on the sky. Ah... The rain falls gently on the sky. Ah... Ah... We smile at each other. I smile to the star that still shines in the sky.

[29:22]

To the sun that slowly rises out of the night. To the day that begins to the enchanting birth. I smile to the world and the world smiles to me. I smile to the child that crosses my way. I remember also on those who are hungry. Those who live in misery all over the planet. Who have to face a war. Who lost their mother. If sometime my smile is moistened by tears.

[30:26]

When I see the great pain that spreads over the world. I shall still be smiling with tears in my eyes. Smiling to life. Smiling to death. And one day will come when it is bitterly cold. When even my footsteps will not leave any mark. The never ending current of life's energy will carry me along. And I will not look back. The fear will no longer block my way.

[31:32]

My heart finally opens very wide. Then I will become the smile of the earth. Of the flower, of the rain, of the sun and the wind. And one day, perhaps in a very small child. I will open my eyes to the wonders of life. And a little more loving and a little more smiling. I will continue this wonderful way.

[32:34]

I smile to the star that still shines in the sky. To the sun that slowly rises out of the night. To the day that begins to the enchanting birth. I smile to the world and the world smiles to me. I smile to the child that crosses my way. I remember also all those who are hungry. Those who live in misery all over the planet. Who have to face the war, who lost their mother. If sometime my smile is moistened by tears.

[33:46]

When I see the great pain that spreads over the world. I shall still be smiling with tears in my eyes. Smiling to life, smiling to death. And one day will come when it is bitterly cold. When even my footsteps will not leave any mark. The never ending current of life energy will carry me along. And I will not look back. The fear will no longer block my way. My heart finally opens very wide.

[34:55]

Then I will become the smile of the earth. Of the flower, of the rain, of the sun and the wind. And one day perhaps in a very small childhood. I will open my eyes to the wonders of life. And a little more loving and a little more smiling. I will continue this wonderful way. And one day perhaps in a very small childhood. I will open my eyes to the wonders of life.

[35:59]

And a little more loving and a little more smiling. I will continue this wonderful way. It's the end of deep relaxation. You can slowly sit up. If you can sleep and you did not hear anything, I think it's great, too.

[37:12]

Usually when I cannot sleep, I practice other thoughts, exercises, and then I can enter into sleep. Because when you focus your attention on your abdomen, you allow your mind to rest. And when your mind rests, then you can sleep. So when you feel angry, you feel painful, breathe with your abdomen. Only pay attention to the rising and the falling of your abdomen. It will be very helpful. Now I would like to invite you to stand up to do some stretching before we start. Another practice is also very deep. You have learned the mindful movement already. I don't need to explain, but I do some movements.

[38:19]

Not all ten movements. Now please sit down. I'm going to share to you a very deep practice. It's born from our great suffering. Thay Nhat Hanh, Thich Nhat Hanh, you may know. If he can share to you a number of methods of overcoming your pain, it's not from the book, not even in the sutra written by the Buddha. Of course, he learned a number of teachings of the Buddha, but he suffered like all of us.

[39:23]

And when we have a big pain like that, he looked deeply and he tried to overcome. So there are moments where we feel totally lost. The war ended abruptly in Vietnam. Many friends who had done good work went to jail. A number of projects we started. In the midst of war, we tried to reconcile, to bring both sides together, to reconcile, to bring peace. And those who murdered our friends, because during the war, Thich Nhat Hanh led the movement of youth for social service. We had many thousands of people who went into the war zone, trying to rescue people. In the war zone, in the peace zone, we tried to develop the poor area to have a lot of good work. But by doing so, both sides thought that we belonged to the other side. And they threw grenades, they murdered us.

[40:24]

At the dock, like that, they threw grenades. And then the day after, two of our friends died. This side said that, oh, the communists killed you. The other side said that the CIA killed you. We are in a very difficult situation. But we try to live non-violently. We say that those who murdered our friends are also future Buddhas. We know that they killed us, they killed our friends, because they killed a wrong image of ourselves. But if they know who we are, they will love us. So after each murder, we make a declaration that we don't hate those who killed our friends. But we hate their misunderstanding only. And we wish that by this declaration, that we are ready to cooperate with them, that they will support us. And we know that they could be very good friends of us. And the second time, they also threw grenades,

[41:27]

and they kidnapped five, and they shot five dead. And they said that we are extremely sorry, but we have to kill you. So five of our friends were shot on the riverbank, but one survived. And thanks to survival, we know that before killing us, they did say that we are sorry. So at the meeting of the funeral, we said that thank you for saying that you are sorry. It's proof that you already understood us, but in the situation of war, you may be killed if you refuse the order from your superior. So we wish that you continue to support us in any way you can help. And from that day, there is no murder. We have support everywhere. And from a group of 300 persons, we became more than 8,000 social workers.

[42:28]

We have done a lot of work like that, but then the war ended abruptly. A lot of boat people escaped the country, drowned in the sea, and Thich Nhat Hanh felt very lost. So one day, it's the historical point of this touching of the earth, one day he woke up very fresh, and he said, you know, last night I had a good dream. I slept in the ancestor house. Because in Vietnam, every house, every family has an ancestor house. So you put the generation of your great-great-great grandpa, first generation, second generation, third generation, and Thay, his ancestor house, he has 17 generations of ancestors. So he said, I wake up, I feel very solid, very deep, and very strong. And then, at the beginning, he couldn't understand why, he had very deep, good sleep. And then he realized,

[43:32]

because I feel that my ancestors and myself are one stream of life, like that. And I am only the continuation of this big stream of ancestors. And I have all their back, their support. And he can face many miseries, many difficulties, without fear. And he knows that he is only the continuation of that great stream of life. So from that day, he preached that each of us is a tree, and a tree has many roots, and two main roots of our trees are the blood family, the blood family is one root, and the spiritual family is another root. So, when you look at the tree in the storm, if you look at the top of the tree, you have the impression that the tree will be broken.

[44:34]

But if you look at the trunk of the tree, you feel that the trunk is agitated a little bit, not too much. But if you look at the root of the tree, you see that the tree is very firm. So this practice is you try to root yourself into your two main roots. The first root is your blood ancestors. I know that a number of you have difficulties of our parents. Our parents are the youngest ancestors. And the position of touching the earth is you have two positions. When you stand up like a tree, if you join your palms, don't think that it is a ritual Buddhist act, but you feel that you are making a flower on your chest. Your tree is about to bloom. Your tree is about to give birth to a flower. So you feel that you are a tree deeply rooted.

[45:36]

And then, even you have difficulty with your father or mother, or grandpa or grandma, but looking deeply into every of your cells, every of our cells you have a kernel, and there are many strings called chromosomes, and in each chromosome there are many knots you call genes. And these genes, if you look through an electronic microscope, you will see a bank of genes. And your genes are from many thousands of years of ancestors. It's not just the genes of your parents. So you can feel the energy. The standing position is the good positive energy of your ancestors. So if you have problems with your father and mother, keep it there. You think of your grandpa, grandma,

[46:37]

you think of the ancestors of the nation where you come from. Because, like I tell you, at the electronic microscope, you can see all the genes from many thousands of years, so you have many links from that person, other person. If you are a Jew, you can see your genes in Moses too, the Moses genes, genes of Moses, of many great prophets. If you are a Christian, you never know, maybe the genes of Jesus Christ in you. And that is the blood family from the nation where you come from. But the second root is the spiritual root. When you are very distressed, in a distressed situation, you are very angry, you want to do something very violent. But if there is a friend who sits next to you,

[47:37]

take your hand. Oh, my poor darling, tell me, tell me. Then you pour out all your anger, and then after that you feel relief. And then she may give you a book and you read, and after that you feel, you became another person. So, the author of the book, your friend, and she may or he may bring you to a group of friends, and after being with that group of friends, you change, you become another person. So these people belong to your spiritual family. And also, via this friend you feel that you are very close to the belief of that person. Because if that person is a Buddhist monk, so you say, oh, maybe Buddha is something true, because he said that I am also a Buddha to be. So he is a Buddha to be, or he is very close to a Buddha,

[48:41]

so I could be like him too. So you believe that you could be that source of peace, of love called Buddha. Or if he is a Christian, you feel that, oh, God is something true, I can touch via his goodness, via his loving. And then when you touch the earth, when you touch the earth, you pull all the negative energy from your blood family, it means all the bad character of your parents, you put them, and so you stay with the earth. You know that when you pour on earth milk, perfume, or urine, stool, after three months, you have a wonderful green lawn. You have a wonderful forest. So you don't have to worry, all the bad character of your parents will go to the earth,

[49:43]

and you will have a beautiful meadow full of flowers. And there are people who practice, and I myself also practice a lot, and there is a day when I feel very, very strong, because when I am successful to suck all the energy of the great people that I admire, on the standing position, and when I lie down on earth, I try to pull, I leave, I stay there, when I am very angry at somebody, I lie down very long, until I feel my anger is gone with the earth, then I stand up. And then at the second root, also the same, I feel the energy of my first teacher, my second teacher, the sangha around that teacher, good teacher, good friend, good environment, and then I feel the energy of Buddha, of God, of all the great beings that I admire, and so I feel so great.

[50:44]

And then when I touch the earth, I feel the earthman multiply the good energy of these great beings in me. And then the third root is me who invented, because I feel that in mindfulness, when I eat something, I eat a piece of bread, I feel that the skillfulness of somebody who thinks how to transform the wheat into the flour and makes so wonderful bread, especially if you eat whole wheat bread, newly baked, it's wonderful, and you see that really all the wisdom of people like that, so I feel the energy of all these ancestors who think how to make bread, how to make this house for me, how to make a bridge for me, how to make a school for me, a hospital for me, but also I feel that the liberty we enjoy in this country,

[51:46]

I cannot take it for granted. There are many countries where people suffer a lot of dictatorship. They just speak out a few words against the local authority, they go to jail. In Vietnam, at the time where I invented the touching of the earth, my friend had to ask permission to go from one place to ten miles from their home. They need permission. And I see that all the liberty, Medicaid, Medicare, all these things, stem food, you will not have it without the work of a lot of ancestors. So all the freedom, the human rights, respect, all these things are the fruit of a lot of land ancestors. So I feel, when I stand up, I feel the good energy of those who transform this wild land into wonderful land for me to live, liberty and many other things.

[52:48]

When I touch the earth, I remember those who are very naughty, who discriminate against immigrants, who want to put in jail all those who try to go into the United States, and so on. So I say that I put all these discriminating things into the earth, because in myself, I see that I have also this seed of racism too, in form of seed, not in form of act yet. But discrimination also exists in me, fear, jealousy, I have all the bad seeds as well as the good seeds. So I try to transform all these negative things. When I touch the earth, I put down on earth. And then, after that, the fourth touching of the earth, I send the good energy I just received from my three roots to the person I love the most. And the fifth touching of the earth

[53:49]

is the most difficult. You send energy to the person you hate, the person who causes a lot of trouble to you. Because as soon as you think of him or her, you feel that you have a headache, you want to vomit, you have so many difficulties. But because of that, you never have peace. And there are a number of you who came to me saying that, Oh, sister, you can ask me to do everything except to send good energy to that person. But I say that, if you decide to send good energy to him or to her, I'm not sure that they receive it, but you receive it right away. Your heart will release all the anger, irritation, and then many diseases in you will disappear. Because you live peacefully, you decide to release all the irritation, all the anger, all the stress.

[54:52]

So, it's just theory. Now I invite you to stand up, to practice to be a tree. I am a tree standing very firm on my deep root, confronting storm and distress with a serene mind. I think of my first root, my blood family. Mother, I feel running in my vein your vitality. You, that young woman of 20 years old, full of energy, full of love, full of care. Father, I feel your vitality reborn in me. You, this talented young man,

[55:54]

full of creative energy. Grandpa, Grandmother, I feel your presence in me. You, this young man and woman full of talents, loving, understanding, and creative energy. You are really reborn in me. Very alive in me. I know that wherever are the children and grandchildren, the parents, the grandparents, the great-grandparents, the ancestors are there with them. Now I touch the earth. Please lie down on your abdomen. You touch the earth like the Tibetan way. You lie completely on your abdomen. I touch the earth.

[56:57]

I am one with this strong and deep earth. I pour on earth your sorrow, your pain, Mommy. Mommy, I pour on earth your block of anger, Father. I pour on earth your severe judgment, your lack of responsibility. I pour on earth all that negative energy which unfortunately appears from time to time in me. The earth will absorb them all, will transform them into green forests.

[58:05]

The earth will absorb your pain, your severe judgment. Your violent abuse into solid mountains, into sweet meadows flooded with beautiful flowers. Please stand up. At home you can stay longer if you don't feel that all your irritations against your parents are not gone yet. So you can stay longer. Breathing in, I feel fresh.

[59:09]

Breathing out, I relax. In breath, fresh. Out breath, relax. Fresh. Relax. I am now a new person. I am the continuation of these ancestors, but different ancestors, because I am more loving, more understanding, fresh and new, with all their positive energy and without their negative energy. Now I focus my attention on my second root. I think of you, friend, who listened to me when I was in distress. I feel running in me your loving energy.

[60:15]

I think of you, my second friend and spiritual teacher. Your energy running in me gives me more confidence in myself. I feel safer having your energy in me. I feel running in all my being your peaceful vitality. You have taught me how to touch life deeply, how to live my day with a compassionate feel. Your understanding and loving energy is developing in me every day, and slowly I am approaching that source of light,

[61:20]

of love, of goodness, of deep understanding, that some people call God, other people call Buddha. I touch you. Please touch here. Lying down on your abdomen, like you are sleeping on your belly, I touch you. I touch the earth. I am one with this fresh planet. I am the center of the universe. I am one with the universe. I am one with this rich and deep earth.

[62:28]

The energy I just received from my spiritual family, the energy of my spiritual teacher, of the Buddha, of the Bodhisattva, of Buddha, of God, of Moses, of Jesus Christ, will be multiplied into one hundred times, thanks to the richness of the earth. The energy I receive from my spiritual ancestors will be multiplied into one thousand, one million times with the earth. My vitality and my energy are one with this solid and peaceful earth.

[63:30]

I feel so peaceful, so fresh, so light, so stable. Thank you. I am one with the source of light, of peace, of great understanding that some people call Buddha, other people call God. I am one with that wonderful source of peace,

[64:35]

of stability, of loving, of great understanding. Thank you. Please stand up. Breathing in, I feel calm. Breathing out, I feel fresh, calming, so fresh. Breathing in, I feel so wonderful. Breathing out, I feel so light. Now I touch my third root, the ancestor of this corner of the planet,

[65:37]

those who have transformed this corner of the planet available to me with all its beauty. I feel protected by your vitality, you, all these known or unknown men and women who have poured your sweat, your energy on this land to build this roof, this floor, this wall, this road, this bridge, this hospital for me to use. I feel running in my vein your caring and loving energy, you, ancestors who have spent your youth for working for more respect of human dignity. You, these unknown men and women who risk to be imprisoned,

[66:40]

to be tortured for working for more respect of human rights, for transforming this land into the shelter land for millions of men and women coming from different corners of the planet. I feel that you are really reborn in me very alive in me. Ancestors of this land who taught me to live in harmony with nature, animals, plants and minerals and to protect mountains and rivers. I touch the earth. I touch the earth.

[67:44]

I am one with the earth. I pour on earth all the unscathed act, the violence, the discrimination of you, a number of ancestors of this land I pour on earth all the seeds of discrimination, of violence, all the acts of violence and discrimination of a number of you, my land ancestors. Looking deeply, I see in myself there are also these seeds of violence and discrimination. I know that the negative energy still exists in form of sleeping seed in me

[68:50]

and in the collective consciousness of this society, in the collective consciousness of this society there are still many sleeping seeds of discrimination, of violence, of injustice. The earth will absorb and neutralize all these poisons. The earth will absorb all the poisons in me and in you, my land ancestors and will transform them into green forests, solid and fresh mountains. The earth will absorb all these poisons and transform them into wonderful meadows

[69:51]

so that the future generation living in this corner of the planet will have more peace and more security. I stand up. Breathing in, I feel fresh. Breathing out, I feel renewed. Fresh. Renewed. Fresh. Wonderful. Now, please think of the person you love the most. But maybe before sending your good energy to your beloved one,

[70:52]

maybe send first your good energy to the little child in you. With this tall body in you, it exists still a little child, a little girl, a little boy, full of anger, jealousies, deeply wounded by adults. I think of this little girl or this little boy in me. With this tall body, I am still this little child, very fragile, deeply hurt, who still cries of jealousies. Of fear. Of wounds. My poor little dear,

[71:54]

I am enveloping you with the wonderful source of light and peace I just received from my spiritual family, from my blood family. I send to you the great energy of my ancestors. That source of light and peace I received from my ancestors is enveloping you, neutralizing your pain. You are now one with that boundless source of joy, of peace. Of stability. Of freedom. Coming from my three sources of energy. Please touch the earth.

[72:58]

I am one with that wonderful planet. I am one with this wonderful source of peace. I send my good energy, newly obtained to you, my mother, who needs desperately my help to transform your pain, your fear, your jealousy. I send the good energy I just received from my ancestors to you, father, who need my support. I send my good energy to you, sister, who are sick, brother. I send my good energy to you.

[74:11]

I send my good energy to these young friends who live in confusion and ignorance. I send my good energy to my son, my daughter, my husband. The earth will multiply my energy into hundreds times. The earth is enveloping you with love and care. You will be able to transform your pain. Please stand up. Please stand up.

[75:14]

Now is the most difficult touching of the earth. First, you restore your peace. Breathing in, I feel fresh. Breathing out, I feel light, fresh, alive, fresh. I am no longer this little girl, little boy, full of fear, full of jealousy. I am no longer this little child, little boy, full of hurt. I am now the boundless source of peace and light I just received from Jesus Christ, from Moses, from the Buddha, from God.

[76:19]

I am no longer this little child, full of wounds. I am the boundless source of love from Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, from God. I send this source of peace, of beauty, of goodness to you, you who have destroyed my life. You have been so unfair to me, so cruel to me, and to many persons I love. I know that you did that because you have a wrong perception on me, you have a wrong image on me. You thought that I am a snake, but in fact

[77:22]

I am only a rope. You have a wrong image of me, and you are so cruel to me. I know that you behave in such a way because you too, you suffer a lot. Sometimes you pretend that you are okay, but I know that deep inside you suffer, but you hide your suffering. You suffer because of your wrong view, and you spit out all your suffering around you. I am no longer this little child, vulnerable, easily hurt by you. I am

[78:23]

the source of peace. I just received from Bodhisattva of compassion. My compassion can envelop you, neutralize your poison. I am this source of goodness of beauty, of love I received from God, from own Bodhisattva. That source of light is penetrating you and neutralizes your poison. It is transforming your poison into nectar. I touched you. I touched you.

[79:34]

I am one with that source of light. I am one with that. I am one with this rich and strong earth. The stability, the solidity of the earth is supporting me. The freshness of the earth is neutralizing your poison. The earth and that source of light, of goodness, of beauty in me form a deep unity which is transforming your wrong view, neutralize your cruelty and wash away your violence.

[80:38]

This illimited light is in me. It's like the ocean which is wiping away your dirt, like solid mountains which are absorbing your violence into rich green forests, like the light transforming your cruelty into flowers. I am one with this great, thick, wonderful earth. The earth with its stability is absorbing your violence, your cruelty, and will transform them into green forests

[81:40]

into wonderful meadows. The earth is like the ocean wiping away your dirt, transforming your cruelty into solid mountains. I am one with this wonderful earth, so rich, so profound, so peaceful. I am one with that source of light, of peace coming from Ancestor, this source of love and compassion

[82:42]

will neutralize your poison, and you and me will become green, lone, fresh forests. Please stand up. Sit down, please. Sit down, not lying down, sit down. Just a few words to tell you that the first time you practice this, it seems a little bit strange. You have to make your own text at home.

[83:47]

Take a paper, you write down all the negative energy, all the positive energy of your blood ancestor. You make your own text, and then you make your own text about spiritual family. And when you practice, it's your whole being involved, it's not intellectual. And so you practice to be strongly supported by the three streams of Ancestor, very strong, and if you have, you can suck all the energy of good, good energy of your blood family, spiritual family, land family, and then all this dirt, all this cruelty will be very little. Or you can face, you can transform. There are many people who practice that

[84:50]

and report to me wonderful transformation. One man who hate, who have been a good father in the past, but then after that he had a lot of problems with his son and daughter, grown-up son and daughter, to the extent that one day he wanted to buy a gun and kill them all, and kill himself. And the son and daughter thought that he was crazy, so almost sent him to the hospital, psychiatrist hospital. So finally he came to Plum Village. I tried to explain Thay, good teaching, a lot of things. And he seems, okay, okay, but he's still very angry at his son and daughter. To the day where I shared five touching of the earth. And he cried at the first time. And then he came to me with the tape recorder. Sister, can you repeat again? I tape. And then after that he go every night,

[85:50]

every morning, he touch the earth, write medicine, write medicine for me. And then after three months he said that, I no longer need the fifth touching of the earth. Now it's gone. Now I feel that my daughter are me, my son are me. And he feel completely transformed. And he can come back to his city and become the spiritual teacher for all the daughter and the son. They love him. And they admire him a lot. And in my trip to China, to Taiwan, to Korea, to Japan, in this country everybody touch the earth. They call prostration. But they do it in a very, not in deep way, not in mindful way. So sometimes when they have a lot of pain

[86:51]

they touch the earth 108 times and 10 times per day. In Korea there is a retreat where you touch the earth 1080 times per day. But you do not touch in that way. You just touch the earth like a gymnastic movement. So it helps to relieve your pain. But because you don't understand so you cannot transform. So after the retreat with Thay, and I only did touching of the earth, two of them came and among them a great Zen master in Japan who came to me saying that such a gift, such a gift. I have been a Zen master. I taught people a lot of sitting meditation. But I still have a big pain when I think of my father. But now it's gone. After five days of retreat in China

[87:56]

who also has been bhikkhu for 25 years and he still has a big pain in him. Also with his father. I don't know why the father has a lot of problems with the son. So he said being a bhikkhu I teach people to release but still every time I think of my father in China it was seven days of retreat it's gone. And I know that the teaching of Thay is very profound but the involvement of all my body goes with the touching of the earth. I wish that you can make good use of this practice. If you don't feel comfortable this time it's because it's something you do not you are not well prepared you are not comfortable and if you can do it

[88:59]

every morning and in the evening it will be very helpful. I do it every morning and every evening it gives me a lot of energy especially in the morning. Now it's time for sitting meditation maybe do you want to go out for a walk? Maybe walking meditation is better. And then hand the little bell. It turns the bell.

[89:53]

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