TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE – VEN. THAY THANH

Two Types of People   

Teaching in the temple in Virginia Beach in May, 2017, Chuc Thanh said: “There are two types of people-those who worry and those who don’t worry.  Those who don’t worry practice the Five Precepts, the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold Path every day. Worry about the Five Precepts, the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold Path.  Don’t worry about sensual desires like beauty, money, fame, and other things like that  Don’t worry about these things. Let them go and live your life.”

In Buddhism, the Five Precepts are: Refrain from Killing, Refrain from Stealing, Refrain from Sexual Misconduct, Refrain from Telling Falsehoods and Refrain from taking Intoxicants.  The Four Noble Truths are summarized as: There is suffering, there is a cause of suffering, there is a cessation of suffering and there is a path leading to the cessation of suffering.  The Noble Eight-Fold Path is summarized as: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.  There is a lot of information contained in this teaching.  Take your time contemplating each concept and how you apply it in your daily life.

(Venerable Thich Chuc Thanh is the Dharma Master at Dong Hung Temple. These quotations were collected from 2015 through 2018 as he taught in Virginia Beach, VA and Southern Shores, NC.  The quotation titles and commentary are by Mark Palamara.)