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The Way Out Is In

Zen: Meaning in Simplicity (Episode #85)

The Way Out Is In

Plum Village

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

4.91.6K Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2025

⏱️ 97 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

🎟 Get tickets to the live podcast episode in London. Welcome to episode 85 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 the true meaning of Zen, finding beauty and meaning in simplicity, and how to practice so in everyday life. Also, what does it mean to be part of a Zen tradition? And how do we practice Zen? How do we see the world ‘through the eyes of Zen’? The conversation also touches upon the cultivation of mindfulness, concentration, and insight; the importance of humility; finding beauty in the mundane; the sacredness of objects and spaces; the role of rituals and routines; the balance between sophistication and simplicity in one’s spiritual practice; and much more.  The episode concludes with a short meditation, guided by Brother Phap Huu, on being present and grateful for the wonders of life.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 Donate to support Plum Village’s reconstruction https://plumvillage.org/donate Interbeinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbeing   Samathahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samatha-vipassan%C4%81Dhyana in Buddhismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhyana_in_Buddhism  Dharma Talks: ‘Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/taking-refuge-in-the-three-jewels-sr-chan-duc-spring-retreat-2018-05-20  Wim Wendershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Wenders  Perfect Dayshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv8YO5BXCAQ  Love Letter to the Earthhttps://www.parallax.org/product/love-letter-to-the-earth/Sister Chan Khonghttps://plumvillage.org/about/sister-chan-khong  Sister Hien Nghiem (Sister True Dedication)https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/sister-hien-nghiem  European Institute of Applied Buddhismhttps://www.eiab.eu Sutrashttps://plumvillage.org/genre/sutras  Quotes “Zen is an art of contemplation in order to see reality as it is.” “This is because that is.” “The first foundation of mindfulness, which is the core of Zen, is learning to be in the body; aware of the body in the body.”  “The essence of Zen can simply be called the beginner’s mind, or the art of stopping, the art of living. And I can confidently say that in the training of the Zen school, we have to embody the three elements or three energies. Thay sometimes called them the holy energies: the energy of mindfulness, the energy of concentration, and the energy of insight.”  “Sacredness is very alive when the practice is alive. And that definition comes into play when we’re in a space that has cultivated this energy of mindfulness, concentration, and insight, such as Thay’s hut, where we’re sitting now.”  “Being aware and having the ability to take care of ourselves in the practice of sitting is as exciting and challenging as scoring a goal.” “I saw Thay open a door, and I learned everything I needed to learn.” “We can find meaning in everything.” “Being mindful is to establish yourself to be so alive in the present moment that nothing becomes boring.” “The art of Zen and the art of meditation is seeing the mundane, seeing the simple everyday life. And that becomes a sacred action, because our relationship to what we are doing has deep meaning, and that deep meaning represents our inner beauty, our inner contentment with this life.”“When you have something and you know it is enough, you don’t ha

Transcript

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0:00.0

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

0:27.6

I'm Joe Comfino working at the intersection of personal transformation and systems evolution. And I am Brother Faphu, a Zen Buddhist monk student of Zen Master Tickhya Khan in the Plum Village tradition.

0:33.6

And today, brother, we are going to talk about the true meaning of Zen, finding beauty and meaning in simplicity.

0:43.8

And that means keeping this intro very short.

0:49.1

The way out is in.

1:02.6

Yeah. way out to steam. Hello, dear listeners. I am Joe Confino.

1:05.3

And I'm Brother Faphu.

1:06.8

So, brother, I, this episode is quite personal for me because I was sitting this morning and thinking about the art of simplicity.

1:18.2

And what, I don't know if I'm getting old. I don't know if I'm getting boring or I don't know if I'm on the path to enlightenment.

1:27.9

It could be one of those three.

1:29.4

And the reason is because I'm increasingly finding joy and happiness in the simple things in life.

1:37.1

And to give you an example, yesterday I was just standing outside the house and I heard the first cranes arriving back from the

1:49.2

winter and we have huge sort of V-shaped formations of cranes that fly over when they leave for the

1:56.0

winter and when they come back for the spring and I was just overwhelmed overwhelmed with joy. I literally, I called my wife

2:02.3

Paz and we ran up to the top of the hill and just listened and watched them return. And it was

2:10.1

there was a moment of real pure joy, actually. It was like, ah, this is the first sign of spring

2:16.5

that they're returning home. And that means, you know, we've survived another winter and the warm weather is going to be coming.

2:25.7

And then this morning I was looking out into the garden and saw a robin, flitting around the branches of the bushes outside our house, and just really

2:37.3

enjoying its movements, just really enjoying just the simple experience of being witnessed to

2:46.3

life happening. And it made me think about Zen

2:51.6

because a lot of people throw the word Zen around.

2:54.6

So I've seen Zen on Chris Packets.

...

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