This Panel Sharing was recorded on June 8, 2024 in Lower Hamlet, Plum Village France. It is the 5th talk of the series of talks given in the 2024 June Retreat held in Plum Village, France, with the theme: “”Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times: Applied Ethics.”
In this talk, Sister Chan Duc goes deeper into the Buddhist “”meta-ethics”” of “”Right View””, an essential element of the Eightfold Noble Path, introduced in earlier talks by Sister Dinh Nghiem and Brother Phap Huu. Sister Chan Duc explains the importance of breaking free from the Two Obstacles of (1) Afflictions and (2) Knowledge (or “”the known””). She shares examples from her own life of how the insight of interbeing has helped her transcend ideas of right and wrong, in particular in moments of anger. The talk also explores whether humans are innately “”good”” or “”evil””, with reference to Mencius, the Confucian philosopher from the 4thC BCE. And finally, Sister Chan Duc references the methodology of the Kālāma Sutra (also known as the Buddha’s Charter of Free Enquiry), which teaches the foundational ethical principle in Buddhism, that final discernment of true and false, right and wrong, beneficial and unbeneficial, rests with the practitioner’s own direct experience.
This Peaceful Step Becomes Our Prayer
This Dharma Talk was recorded on June 2, 2024 in Upper Hamlet, Plum Village France. It is the 1st talk of the series of talks given in the 2024 June Retreat held in Plum Village, France, with the theme: “”Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times: Applied Ethics.” It is the...