(Half bell)
(Bell)
I know, as monk, you do things very slowly
and take your time with everything...
like mindful eating and walking meditation.
Is there any way to do something that's much faster,
like a sport, mindfully?
Is there any way to still appreciate nature and Earth
when you're running or swimming, for example?
When you come to Blue Cliff,
you can see the monks and the nuns
playing basketball,
table tennis.
They can do like you do in the world.
And, when they cross the street,
they have to go fast.
(Laughter from audience.)
They know how to do that.
Otherwise, they will be run over by vehicles!
(Laughter)
And, from time to time,
it rains during walking meditation.
And instead of walking slowly, they begin to run!
Maybe, 1,000 people run after Thay!
(Laughter)
We call it "running meditation"!
(Laughter)
It's possible to run mindfully.
The practice is to be mindful.
You can run slowly, or you can run...
You can walk slowly, or you can run fast.
The question is not to be slow or to be fast.
The question is whether you are mindful.
But, for beginners,
to go slowly is more easy to be mindful.
And, after that, you can do it fast,
and you can still maintain your mindfulness.
When you do things quickly,
without mindfulness,
you lose yourself, easily. That's not good.
So, you have to learn how to do it slowly, first,
in order for mindfulness to be possible.
And, after that, you can do it much more quickly.
The essential is that you don't lose yourself,
even if you are in a situation
where you have to do things very fast.
So, the conclusion is
that it is not a problem of being slow or quick.
The problem is about to be mindful or not to be mindful.
(Half bell)
(Bell)
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