Venerable Thay Thanh’s Talk at Norfolk Christian School

Once again this semester, our Venerable Thay Chuc Thanh was invited by Mr. Joshua Gangl to speak to his “Religion and Cultures” class on Buddhism at Norfolk Christian School. So on Wednesday, May 7th, Thay Thanh met with an enthusiastic and inquisitive group of Sophomores. During the class, Thay explained the basics of Buddhism and then answered a variety of thoughtful questions from the students and also from Mr. Gangl himself.
  Thay started his presentation with the Buddha’s teaching that suffering is our attitude, our mindset, toward a circumstance rather than the circumstance itself. Following this, he clarified that the mindset that moves us away from suffering is that of Right View, the first factor of the Noble Eightfold Path (which the students had studied). He explained that focusing on the present moment, rather than regretting the past or being anxious about the future, allows us peace of mind that reduces suffering. Adding to this, he emphasized the importance of understanding the entire Noble Eightfold Path, as well as the Five Precepts which Thay reviewed.
  Moving further into the teachings that suffering was created in our minds, Thay ventured into the importance of understanding Karma, and how our present actions of thought, word, or deed, be they positive or negative, would have results in our future, in this life and our “afterlife”. This, of course, brought up the concepts of Heaven and Hell. They were surprised to learn that in Buddhism Heaven and Hell are temporary states of existence, and that, to quote one student, ” You mean that even if I make it to Heaven, I can still fall out of it?”  “Well, yes.”   And another student asked, “Suppose I’m angry in the morning but kind in the afternoon?”.  Thay answered, “Then you are in Hell in the morning and in Heaven in the afternoon.” There was laughter at this notion.
 From here, Thay spoke about serving others as being of the greatest benefit, good karma. This is true because being of service not only benefits the ones who are being served, but also benefits the ones who are serving. This is due to the reciprocity of positive Karma, where giving is receiving and receiving is giving.
  Lastly, the question of meditation arose. Thay referred to meditation as going beyond sitting cross-legged on a cushion. He said that true meditation is living each moment of your day in a state of mind where you are paying attention to your thoughts, words, and your physical behavior, guarding them from negative tendencies. This ongoing awareness, this focusing of your mind, is carrying true meditation into practice. Thay ended the class with the metaphor of the Buddha’s teachings being simply the finger pointing the way, a set of tools, and not the goal or the target itself. 
  Once again, Mr Gangl’s class was very receptive and curious as to learning what Buddhism offers as a spiritual path, and seemed glad to have an actual Monk there to whom they could ask their questions.    So once again, Thay, “Well done!”