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The Way Out Is In

War and Peace (Episode #24)

The Way Out Is In

Plum Village

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

0.00 Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2022

⏱️ 76 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Welcome to episode 24 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 episode, the presenters, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino, talk about how to find peace in ourselves and to encourage peace in the world during times of war. They remember Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, who himself  lived through a conflict – the Vietnam War – yet found a way to peace, and to become an activist for transformation. They also discuss inherited war traumas; the importance of maintaining compassion and balance during these times; the limits of compassion; going beyond our ‘roles’ and ‘labels’; chanelling anger; practicing when we feel ‘on the edge’; racism and discrimination; coming back to our humanity; cultivating love, peace, and nonviolence,  every day. And: can we bear arms without hatred?  Brother Phap Huu shares his own family’s experience of the war in Vietnam and, subsequently, as refugees; Thay’s creation of a nonviolent movement in wartime; and surprising insights from a retreat for Palestinians and Israelis in Plum Village.He also delves into recognizing the thoughts that manifest during wartime; taking refuge in the energy and wisdom of the practice; coming back to our human nature during hard times; nonviolence as a way, not a tool; grounding and moderation; becoming a refuge for those who are suffering; teaching the awareness of interbeing; and how to not drown in our own despair. Jo considers the difficulty of transforming our feelings about the war through practice (such as not becoming consumed by the news, not taking sides, being equanimous); inherited war trauma; the transformational power of vulnerability; and the perils of hierarchies. The episode ends with a chant on peace recited by Brother Phap Huu. 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  ‘The Five Earth Touchings’https://plumvillage.org/key-practice-texts/the-five-earth-touchings/Thich Nhat Hanh On…: ‘Peace between Palestinians and Israelis’https://plumvillage.org/articles/peace-between-palestinians-and-israelis/Sister Chan Khonghttps://plumvillage.org/about/sister-chan-khong/  Avalokiteśvarahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokite%C5%9Bvara  Martin Luther King Jr.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.  Countdown Summithttps://countdown.ted.com/events  Sutras: ‘Discourse on the 5 Ways of Putting an End to Anger’https://plumvillage.org/library/sutras/discourse-on-the-five-ways-of-putting-an-end-to-anger/ Quotes “When there’s war, we have to face the beast of war, and that is violence, that is hatred, discrimination, greed, and death.” “Wherever there is darkness, light is also there. And this is the deep teaching in Buddhism: nonduality. It’s very easy to get caught in the right and the left, the above and the below, the good and the bad, the dark and the light. It doesn’t mean that we ignore it, but we know that if there is the right, there is also the left. If there is war, there is peace somewhere.” “Man is not our enemy. It is ignorance, it is fear, it is destruction.” “Nonviolence is not a tool. Nonviolence is a way.” “We believe in using deep listening and compassionate speech for reconciliation, as a way forward instead of using the army; the army, the guns, the bombs, it doesn’t bring peace.”  “You have to have the peace inside of you in order for the peace outside to manifest.” “Grounding is very important at this time. You can be a refuge for the ones who are suffering

Transcript

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0:00.0

Dear friends, welcome back to this latest episode of the podcast series The Way Out

0:07.7

is In. I am Joe Konfino working at the intersection of personal transformation and systems evolution.

0:28.8

And I am Brother Fabhoo, a Zen Buddhist monk student of Zen master Technichhan in the Plum Village community.

0:35.0

And today we are going to be talking about war and peace.

0:39.0

So with the fighting raging between Russia and Ukraine is bringing up for I think everybody a

0:46.3

deep sense of pain suffering recognition of how can this be happening in this present day and how do we cope with all the

0:56.1

feelings that are coming up so this is what we're going to explore today how to find

1:00.4

peace in ourself and encourage peace in the skin.

1:17.0

out of the way out is in. Welcome everyone. I am Joe Confino and I am Brother Fab Who. So brother is a very difficult topic today.

1:42.1

War and and if any today. War.

1:43.0

And if anyone can guide us in this, it will be

1:48.0

Zen Master Tiknethahn, who lived through a war

1:51.0

and found a way to find peace and yet also be an activist for transformation.

1:59.6

So brother, can I just start off by saying how I'm feeling.

2:05.0

So I'm feeling a bit lost and what I'm realizing is the practice of mindfulness, the teachings of Tignatan. It's very easy to

2:18.7

connect to those when I'm feeling reasonably well, even if I'm going through a

2:22.2

bit of suffering I can come back to myself

2:25.1

I can observe what's going on I can relate to it and and sometimes transform it

2:31.5

but I'm being stirred up a lot around this conflict because I think

2:39.0

when things are very, very difficult and very, very painful.

2:44.5

It's hard to connect the practice in a way

2:47.6

that alleviates what's going on,

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