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The Way Out Is In

The Eight Realizations of Great Beings – Part Two (Episode #83)

The Way Out Is In

Plum Village

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

0.00 Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2025

⏱️ 118 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

🎟 Get tickets to the live podcast episode in London. Welcome to episode 83 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. This installment sees Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and leadership coach/journalist Jo Confino joined by Zen Buddhist nun Sister True Dedication to discuss the Eight Realizations of Great Beings. This ancient Buddhist sutra provides guidance on overcoming suffering, putting an end to misunderstandings and difficulties, and making progress towards or even attaining enlightenment: “leaving behind the world of birth and death, [and] dwelling forever in peace”.In this, the second of two parts, the three contributors explore the last four realizations, which provide a manual for seeing the world with the wisdom needed to deal with suffering and act with clarity. The realizations covered include the awareness that ignorance is the cause of the endless cycle of birth and death, and how bodhisattvas develop their understanding and skillful means; the awareness that poverty (but not only poverty!) can create hatred and anger, and how to practice generosity equally towards friends and enemies; living simply to ‘practice the way’, and the great vow to help all beings and guide them to joy; and more.  The discussion emphasizes the importance of grounding Buddhist teachings in real-world realities, cultivating compassion and understanding even for those causing harm, simplifying one’s life, and committing to the bodhisattva path of alleviating the suffering of all beings. 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 resourcesInterbeinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbeing   Sister Hien Nghiem (Sister True Dedication)https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/sister-hien-nghiem  Sutrashttps://plumvillage.org/genre/sutras  The Eight Realizations of Great Beings https://www.parallax.org/product/the-eight-realizations-of-great-beings Dharma Talks: ‘Manas Consciousness, Teachings on Buddhist Psychology Retreat, 1997’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/manas-consciousness-thich-nhat-hanh-teachings-on-buddhist-psychology-retreat-1997 Mahayanahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana  Bodhisattvahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva  Sister Chan Khonghttps://plumvillage.org/about/sister-chan-khong Martin Luther King Jr.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.  Pema Chödrönhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pema_Ch%C3%B6dr%C3%B6n  ‘Recommendation’https://plumvillage.org/articles/recommendation Viktor Franklhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl The Eight Realizations of Great Beings: Essential Buddhist Wisdom for Realizing Your Full Potentialhttps://plumvillage.shop/products/highlighted/new-books/the-eight-realizations-of-great-beings/  Being with Busyness: Zen Ways to Transform Overwhelm and Burnout https://www.parallax.org/product/being-with-busyness Quotes “If love is limitless and love and understanding go together, then understanding must also be limitless.” “Lower your ego, be open, change your attitude in order to receive.”  “Where there is life, there is death. Where there is death, there is life.”  “A very deep teaching from Thay and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. about the idea of the beloved community, which, in their few brief meetings, they discussed at length: in the ideal beloved community of Dr. King, your enemies are included. Your enemies are included. The ones currently persecuting you are included. This was an important spiritual faith and pract

Transcript

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0:00.0

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

0:28.4

I am Joe Comfino, working at the intersection of personal transformation and systems evolution.

0:34.3

And I'm Brother Phaphu, a Zen Buddhist monk student of Zen Master Tickhenghahn in the Plum Village tradition.

0:38.8

And today, dear listeners, we're going to be recording the second part of our two-part series on the Sutra, the Eight Realizations of Great Beings. And in a sense, this is a

0:48.0

manual for how to see the world with the eyes of wisdom that will allow us to deal better with our sufferings

0:57.0

and also to act with clarity in the world.

1:01.0

A la la la la Hello, the way Joe Confino.

1:33.0

I'm Brother Papu.

1:34.3

And I am Sister True Dedication.

1:36.6

Yes, so dear listeners, Sister True Dedication is back in the hut.

1:41.4

So we are sitting in ties, Ticknet Hands, sitting still hut in Upper Hamlet, in Pl hut. So we are sitting in Tis, Ticknet Hounds, sitting still hut in Upper Hamlet,

1:47.0

in Plum Village Monastery in south-west France. And it's very cozy. We're sitting,

1:55.0

it's the sort of late autumn and it's starting to get a little bit chill and there leaves everywhere

2:00.0

and it's very, very beautiful little bit chill and there leaves everywhere and it's very

2:00.8

very beautiful. So as we've said to you, the listeners in the past, having sister true

2:07.0

dedication here is a great joy and honour and privilege and she makes the two of us look good. So

2:15.9

she is always welcome here because the sort of level, we have to,

2:20.7

we have to rise the occasion when she's here. Isn't that true? Perhaps that is, that is absolutely

2:26.0

true. She raises our game. So we're all, we're on edge and the truth education is looking

2:32.2

very relaxed. Very true, very true. So, as I said, we're on edge and Sister True dedication is looking very relaxed. Very true, very true.

2:42.7

So, as I said, we did the first four realisations last time.

2:48.4

And of course, given their great realisations of great beings, you can't rush these.

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