Planning for the Future, Learning from the Past | Thich Nhat Hanh (short teaching video)

Let us enjoy our in-breath and out-breath
with the bell.

Breathing in, I know I am alive.

Breathing out, I smile to life.

Enjoy your breathing.

Good afternoon, dear sangha.

When we speak about
living in the present moment,

we speak of touching life deeply in that moment.

In our daily life, we are used to allowing ourselves
to think too much about the past.

And many of us are prisoners of the past.

We are not capable of letting go of the past.

That is why we cannot touch
the present moment very deeply.

And there are those of us who
worry too much about the future.

And the fear, uncertainty in us...

prevent us from being there to touch
the wonders of life that are available.

That is why the Buddha advised us
to go home to the present moment.

He said, the past is already gone,
and the future is not yet there.

There is only one moment
when we can be truly alive.

That is the present moment.

And to him, it is possible...

for us to live happily
in the present moment.

When you practice his teaching,

you find out that...

being in the present moment does not mean
that you can't learn anything from the past,

and that you are not allowed
to make plans for the future.

If you are well grounded in the present moment,

you can bring the past
back to the present moment...

and study the past.

You can learn a lot from the past,

and you are still grounded in the present moment.

The idea is not to get lost in the regret,
and in the complex of guilt

concerning what you have done in the past.

If you are grounded well in the present moment,

you can consider the past
as the object of your inquiry

in the present moment.

And it can tell you a lot.

It can bring you a lot of understanding.

It can liberate you, and that is why the practice
does not forbid you to study the past

with the condition that you are still
grounded in the present moment.

The same thing is true for the future.

The Buddha doesn't want us to be
carried away by our fear,

our anxiety, and our uncertainty about the future.

But if you are grounded firmly
in the present moment,

you can very well make plans for the future.

His advice is not to get lost in the worries
about the future.

But if you are grounded in the present moment,
you bring the future here in the present moment...

and have a deep look in it.

The future is also the object of your meditation like the past,

and you are always in the here and the now.

The fact is that the future is made
only of one substance.

And the substance is called the present.

It is with the present that the future is made.

That is why when we are able to handle
the present moment the best way we can,

that is about everything we can do for the future.

If you are handling the present moment
the best way you can,

you are ensuring you a good future.

Allowing yourself to get lost in the worries and fear
about the future does not help.

So to make plans for the future is part of
our practice in the present moment,

because the present IS the future.

The future is made of the present moment.

When you know you are doing your best
handling the present moment,

you know that you are taking care
of the future at the same time.

The practice does not forbid you
not to think about the future

or not to make plans about the future.

In fact we can look very far into the future,

and make intelligent projects for the future.

But we can always still be grounded
in the present moment

not getting lost in the fear and uncertainty.

The same thing is true with the past.

Many people think the past is no longer there...

...we have done some things negative in the past...

...we can never go back to the past and fix it.

So we allow the guilt to make us ruminate.

But according to this practice,
we can change the past.

Because the past is still there

hidden in the present.

The damage you have done in the past,

the damage your ancestors have done in the past,
are still there,

very real in the present moment.

If you dwell in the present moment and
touch deeply the present moment,

you also touch the past

because the present moment is
made of the past.

The past continues in the present moment.

That is why touching the present moment deeply,

you can touch the past, you can change,
and you can fix the past.

Suppose a long time ago you said
something not very nice

to your grandmother

out of anger.

And now she's no longer there,

and you regret.

You tell yourself that if she's still alive,
you come to her and apologize.

But because she is no longer there,
you cannot do that.

So you are caught in your complex of
regret or guilt.

According to this practice,

the pain...

the damage you have caused in the past
is still there in the present moment.

The suffering of your grandmother
and your own suffering are still there

in you

in the present moment.

In your practice,
meditation means looking deeply.

You see that your grandmother is still alive
in every cell of your body

because you are a continuation of her.

You are a continuation of your mother,
you are a continuation of your father,

you are a continuation of your grandfather
and your grandmother.

Although you think that
they are no longer there,

they are still alive
in every cell of your body.

This is the teaching of the Buddha.

Nothing is lost.

So if you go home to yourself,
breathing deeply,

and recognize the presence
of your grandmother in you,

you may like to say something like this:

"Grandma, who is in me,
who is in every cell of my body,

I'm sorry.

I've said such a mean thing to you...

and that made you suffer, and made me suffer.

And the suffering is still alive today.

I promise to you, and to myself

that I will not do something like that again
from now on."

If you are able to do that,
you can see your grandma smiling in you

in every cell of your body,
and you are healed.

Every damage done in the past can be healed

if you know how to touch deeply
in the present moment.

When the Buddha said
let us live deeply in the present moment,

he does not mean that we are forbidden
to learn from the past,

or we are forbidden to make
intelligent planning for the future.

So your grocery planning is also part of...

the object of your meditation
in the present moment.