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| Public Talk in Mexico City |
This morning, we go to the Explanada de
la Plaza Jardin Hidalgo for a public event in the open air. About 400
people have come. During the 30mn silent sitting meditation, we
co-create an island of peace and mindfulness in the midst of the
hustle and bustle of Mexico City. Intrigued passersby stop to look.
Some take pictures. Brother Phap Lieu then offers a 1-hour Dharma
talk, beginning by reminding us of the traditional Christian custom
of stopping when listening to the bell to offer a prayer of adoration
to God. ‘We have to rediscover this ancient practice of stopping
and come back to what is most essential. In our tradition, we use our
mindful breathing to go back to ourselves, to touch the peace and
happiness, which is God inside of us. In our modern world, we have
created many types of connection: 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi…but we have
forgotten the most important one, which is connection to oneself and
to life.” After sharing more about mindful breathing and living in
the present, Brother Phap Lieu presents the 4 Noble Truths and Noble
Eightfold Path as the foundation of Buddhist practice and tells us
about how to use mindfulness and the wisdom of non-discrimination to
deal with social situations in a non-violent and peaceful way.
Throughout the talk, many curious passersby stop to listen so that at
the end, we count almost 700 people listening! Brother Joaquin then
reads the 1st mindfulness training, shares about his own
practice and about the importance of a Sangha as an indispensable
presence on our path. We conclude by singing Alone again (‘man
is not our enemy’) and other songs, including the typical Mexican
‘canta y no llores’ and announcing about the already existing lay
Sanghas in Mexico D.F.
