It is possible for us
to wash our dishes in joy,
in happiness.
Happiness
is possible in every minute.
If you wash your dishes like that, you are in the Kingdom of God.
If you want to finish washing dishes
as soon as possible
so that you can sit down with your tea,
you lose your time
of dish washing.
The time for dish washing becomes no longer worth living.
If you cannot enjoy dish washing,
then when you sit down and hold your tea or your coffee
you think of other things to do.
And you lose also your tea and your coffee.
You are always thinking of something next.
Always thinking of the next thing.
And you lose your life just because of that.
Running.
That is why in order for you to enjoy fully your cup of tea
you have to enjoy fully your dish washing moment.
Make it enjoyable.
Make it joyful.
You are more than enough intelligent
than you may think you are.
You can organize your daily life in such a way
that every moment of your life is a celebration.
Celebration of life.
(Bell)
The energy of mindfulness helps you to be fully present
and fully alive in the here and the now.
The practice of mindful breathing, mindful walking,
helps generate the energy of mindfulness.
When you are inhabited by the energy of mindfulness,
dish washing becomes
a miracle, a wonder.
You don't need to finish dish washing in order to be happy.
You are happy right in the time of dish washing.
If you are able to enjoy
every moment of your daily life,
you become a kind of yeast
to help your group, your family, your community
to be joyful.
Because you embody joy,
you embody happiness,
you embody the capacity of being happy in the here and the now.
Your presence in your group is so important.
Everyone will be infected by your joy,
by your capacity of being happy and alive.
Very soon your group will become a sangha.
Will become a refuge for many others.
The letter I suggest you to write
should be addressed to someone who is close to you.
You want to practice loving speech to him, to her.
You know that in the past you have made some mistakes.
You have said things that have made him or her unhappy.
You have been unskillful.
It is your intention to love him, to love her
and make him or her happy.
But from time to time you were not mindful.
You were unskillful.
Mindfulness has to do with skillfulness.
It is not your intention to make him, to make her suffer.
But you have made him, made her suffer
because you were not mindful, you were not skillful.
Let us not talk about it in terms of
right and wrong,
good and evil.
Let's learn to talk about it
in terms of more skillful or less skillful.
More mindful and less mindful.
It will make the situation much lighter.
Darling,
I was unmindful.
I was not mindful enough.
Instead of: Darling, I was wrong.
You were right, or
you were wrong, I was right.
No.
Let us not talk in terms of right and wrong.
Good and evil.
Let's learn to talk
in terms of more mindful or less mindful.
More skillful or less skillful.
Darling, I was not skillful.
I am sorry.
Darling, you were just not very skillful.
That's all. I don't blame you.
Make the situation much easier, lighter.
So sit down and write a good letter.
You don't need to finish the letter soon.
It might take one week or two weeks,
even a month.
Because you enjoy the letter so much.
Like the distance of walking meditation.
You don't need to arrive to point B.
You may linger on
or you may like to stay as long as possible.
And you may never arrive at point B.
Why do I have to go to point B?
Half way to point B I discover
that the point B doesn't exist.
And you are enlightened.
You have overcome birth and death as notions.
You may begin your letter:
Darling,
It is funny.
I have learned so much from my unskillfulness.
I have learned so much from my suffering.
You can say things like that.
Thanks to the suffering,
I have been able to grow.
You can begin your letter in many ways.
The purpose of writing a letter is to get enlightenment
during every moment
of writing the letter.
The process of writing the letter
is a process of peace,
a process of looking deeply.
You look back into yourself.
You bring the past into the present
and you practice looking very deeply into the past.
You are not losing yourself in the past at all.
You are still grounded in the present moment
and you bring the past to the present moment
as the object of your study, of your looking deeply.
Because to meditate means to look deeply
like a scientist,
with the object of her studies
under the microscope.
Look deeply.
This is our relationship.
The object of your study is your relationship with him or with her.
You are honest, you are sincere.
You want to be
fully present, fully alive
and practice looking deeply into the situation.
That is why the letter is a process of discovery.
You know that
in the past,
you have gone through
moments in your relationship.
But in this moment you are not fully alive, fully present.
That is why you did not touch it deeply.
Now, when you bring it
to the present moment
you have another chance to live that again.
To relive.
(Fr) Revivre. What is the English word?
(Fr) Revivre.
Relive.
Relive. It is okay like this?
To have a chance to live it again,
that moment.
Relive.
We should not mix up with relieve.
It is okay?
I'm confused.
So, in the past we have gone through these moments,
we have gone through these places
and because you were not entirely present
that is why we did not get in touch deeply.
And we regret.
We don't have to regret
because we can bring then home to the present moment
and do it again.
And live it again deeply.
With our mindfulness, with our concentration,
with our insight,
that we have got
we can discover many things
that are new.
That is why writing a letter
is an authentic form of meditation.
You are not losing yourself in the past.
You are looking deeply in the past
to discover what you have not discovered in the past.
And you are doing it
in the form of a letter. That's all.
You are aware
that your beloved one will read the letter.
And your insight,
your renewal
will help him or her
to renew himself or herself.
But that is --
His or her transformation
is only a byproduct.
It is your transformation and healing
which is
the direct effect
of the practice.
You write the letter
as a practice of looking deeply.
You write the letter as a practice
of loving speech,
compassionate speech.
During the time of writing, you get a transformation.
You reconcile with yourself,
you reconcile with him or with her.
You don't need him to be here to reconcile. No.
Reconciliation takes place within yourself.
People say that it takes two persons to make reconciliation.
No.
You don't need two persons. You need just yourself.
And after reconciliation has been made within yourself,
peace and healing has been made for yourself,
the healing and the reconciliation of the other person
is only a matter of time.
Don't worry about him or her.
Just take care of yourself.
That person may be your father,
may be your son,
may be your partner, your husband, your wife.
This letter is for him or her to read.
But you are writing that letter not with the pen only,
but with your own heart, own wisdom.
Your own practice.
I'm sure
that if you write that letter,
if you succeed in writing that letter in that spirit,
you'll get the healing, you'll get a transformation into yourself.