This is the question and answer session offered by Thay during the Summer Opening Retreat in the Lower Hamlet of Plum Village, France , on the 19th of July, 2011. 1) If we are living in the here and the now, how can we make plans? 2) Why do I have nightmares? 3) How can I help my younger brother to be happy if he annoys me? 4) How to become enlightened? 5) What is freedom, and can you be free even if someone tells you what to do? 6) How can I be kind to myself when I lack confidence? 7)What to do when daughters are treated less equally than sons? 8) We are taught not to judge people and things, but how can we love them without judging? 9) I feel that I attract people who have difficulties. Where is the boundary between being selfish and protecting yourself? 10) I am very confused. I feel caught by impermanence. So when you become a full-time Buddha, you have a state of mind with ultimate freedom and true happiness. But doesn't that state go against impermanence? When you become a full-time Buddha does the law of impermanence no longer apply to you? 11) I am 50 years old, and I have a 15 year-old son. I would like to become a nun. Can I leave him to take care of himself and come to live peacefully in the temple?
Video and audio published by the Plum Village Online Monastery: monks, nuns, and layfriends making content from Thich Nhat Hanh and the monks and nuns of Plum Village available on the Internet.
