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The Way Out Is In

Are You Sure? (Episode #86)

The Way Out Is In

Plum Village

Education, Religion & Spirituality, Buddhism, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

0.00 Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2025

⏱️ 82 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

🎟 Get tickets to the live podcast episode in London. Welcome to episode 86 of The Way Out Is In: The Zen Art of Living, a podcast series mirroring Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s deep teachings of Buddhist philosophy: a simple yet profound methodology for dealing with our suffering, and for creating more happiness and joy in our lives. In this installment, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and leadership coach/journalist Jo Confino discuss Thich Nhat Hanh’s calligraphic work ‘Are You Sure?’. Together, the presenters discuss how this simple question encourages us to examine our perceptions, assumptions, and certainties about ourselves and  the world around us as a path to greater understanding and well-being. The conversation further explores the importance of cultivating an open, curious, and reflective mindset, rather than clinging to rigid beliefs or opinions; being present, listening deeply to ourselves and others; the value of community, friendship, and feedback in helping us to see our blind spots and to grow; the interplay between the historical and ultimate dimensions of life, and how holding multiple perspectives can allow us to respond with wisdom and compassion; and more.  The episode concludes with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu.Enjoy!  Co-produced by the Plum Village App:https://plumvillage.app/   And Global Optimism:https://globaloptimism.com/ With support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation:https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/ List of resources Interbeinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbeing   Koanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koan  Cong Phu Journal – Everything You Need to Know About the Practice Notebookhttps://plumvillage.app/cong-phu-journal-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-practice-notebook Plum Village podcast: ‘With Each and Every Brushstroke: When Art and Meditation Come Together’https://plumvillage.org/library/meditation/with-each-and-every-brushstroke-when-art-meditation-come-together The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainingshttps://plumvillage.org/mindfulness/the-14-mindfulness-trainings  Sister Peacehttps://www.sfzc.org/teachers/sister-peace Brother Phap Khoihttps://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/brother-phap-khoi The Way Out Is In: ‘Shining Light (Episode #63)’https://plumvillage.org/podcast/shining-light-episode-63   The Way Out Is In: ‘Bringing the Ultimate Dimension Down to Earth (Episode #40)’https://plumvillage.org/podcast/bringing-the-ultimate-dimension-down-to-earth-episode-40  Joanna Macyhttps://www.joannamacy.net/  The Way Out Is In: ‘Active Hope: The Wisdom of Joanna Macy (Episode #25)’https://plumvillage.org/podcast/active-hope-the-wisdom-of-joanna-macy-episode-25  The Way Out Is In: ‘Grief and Joy on a Planet in Crisis: Joanna Macy on the Best Time to Be Alive (Episode #12)’https://plumvillage.org/podcast/grief-and-joy-on-a-planet-in-crisis-joanna-macy-on-the-best-time-to-be-alive-episode-12  Quotes “‘Are you sure?’ is a question that directs towards our mind consciousness and particularly towards our perceptions. So we are always creating perceptions, from what we see, what we hear, what we have observed. And a lot of the time we believe our perceptions. And because of our habitual energy of self, there is pride connected to it, there is certainty connected to it, and there is a righteous energy that we all carry in our way of being.”  “The Buddha would say that 98% of our perceptions are wrong. And the other two percent should be our way of double-checking.” “Reflecting is double-checking. It is to look more deeply, to see the roots, the source of the perception that we have created. This is an ongoing practice. In some of our locations in the monastery, we have ‘Are you sure?’ literally framed, because a lot of the time we can be very sure about our own self, about our own practice, about our own gro

Transcript

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0:00.0

Dear friends, welcome to this latest episode of the podcast series The Way Out is In.

0:28.1

I am Joe Confino working working at the intersection of personal development and systems transformation.

0:34.9

And I'm Brother Faphu, a Zen Buddhist monk student of Zen master Tignathan in the Plum Village tradition.

0:43.6

And Brother Fapu, today we have chosen to talk about one of Ticknet Hanz's most well-known calligraphies,

0:47.6

which is very short and very profound. And the calligraphy is, are you sure? Hello, dear friends. I am Joe Confino.

1:18.8

And I am Brother Fabhu.

1:20.5

And brother, today we're going to talk about Ticknut Hans calligraphy.

1:24.9

Are you sure?

1:27.0

And Ticknet Hans calligraphies are very powerful and profound

1:30.8

because in just a few simple words, he asks us to go very deeply into the meaning of what it is

1:41.2

to live a good life, actually, and how to and and it takes us into the sort of all the

1:48.0

area around you know our suffering our happiness and what we find is actually in one

1:54.0

sentence we can find all of his teachings so brother are you sure? No, absolutely not. Correct answer. So, brother, why is this,

2:06.6

why is this an important thing to contemplate on? Are you sure is a question that directs towards

2:16.2

our mind consciousness and particularly our perceptions.

2:22.3

So we are always curating perceptions.

2:26.3

Our perceptions are formed through what we see, what we hear, what we have observed.

2:32.3

And a lot of the times we believe our perceptions.

2:36.0

And because of our habitual energy of self,

2:42.0

which is like there is pride that is connected to it,

2:46.0

there is certainty that is connected to it,

2:49.0

there is a righteousness energy that we all carry in our way of being.

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