In the Moment – Ven. Thay THANH

In the Moment

Teaching in North Carolina in July 2016, Ven. Chuc Thanh said that “All of the ideas (teachings) of the Buddha help us to live in the present moment.”  In October of that year while teaching in Virginia Beach he told us “We practice Buddhism to improve the condition of now.”

Some dictionary definitions of the term moment (with respect to time) are “a very brief period of time’, “an exact point in time,” and “a particular stage in something’s development or in a course of events.” When thinking about the Buddhism approach to living in the moment, reflect on these definitions with respect to Chuc Thanh’s comments that reference “now” and the “present” moment.  How long does a moment last?  Once you experience a moment, can you go back to it? Does a future moment exist?

(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.)