Stop the Run-Away Mind | Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh (EN subtitles)

This is a full Dharma talk given by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, on November 23, 1995, in Upper Hamlet, Plum Village France, during "The Living Tradition of Meditation Practice" Winter Rains Retreats 1994-1996. Available with English subtitles on the Plum Village App ➛ https://link.plumvillage.app/qynX

-------
🔔 Video transcript ➛ https://tnhtalks.wordpress.com/2025/0...

-------
In this full Dharma talk called "Stop the Run-away Mind", Thầy tells many stories from East to West to discuss the ingrained habit of running away in every one of us and how to practice with it.

In particular, he tells the tales of Mr. Seguin's Goat, The Failed Student, A Young Lady in Paris, and The Space Astronaut. Through these stories, Thầy teaches us how to merely, non-judgmentally recognize this habit of non-stop running and thinking in us, how to practice stopping with walking meditation through the gatha "I have arrived, I am home", and how to coordinate the breathing with the steps to sustain our mindful awareness.

At one point, Thầy also mentions the practice of community living and building.

"In Persimmon Village, there are things that can never be recorded. For example, it's the practice of community building. That can only be practiced when we live together, when we interact with one another, when we work together, and when we run into difficulties with one another.

"And when we practice living together and working together, in a very natural way, we transform. There's transformation going on. We've become siblings of one another. We've come to accept each other. We've learned the way to organize and build a community—a family, in such a way that there's harmony, symphony, and happiness. Only in that context or environment, can a meditator observe transformation.

"These things can never be recorded into any kind of storage device. So, the audio and video recordings of the Dharma talks that we sent everywhere around the world are only by-products of the Persimmon Village practice."

------
Notes: Please kindly note that this talk was given in 1995 when Plum Village was still called Persimmon Village.

-------
✩ Original Vietnamese title: "Dừng Lại Tâm Đi Hoang [TTSĐCTTĐB 31] | TS Thích Nhất Hạnh (23-03-1995, Xóm Thượng, Làng Mai)"
✩ Originally posted by Làng Mai (Plum Village's Vietnamese YouTube Channel) on Jul 23, 2023,    • Dừng Lại Tâm Đi Hoang [TTSĐCTTĐB 31] |...  

-------
🌿TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
Please kindly note that this talk was given in 1995 when Plum Village was still called Persimmon Village. The name Persimmon Village went back to 1982 when Plum Village was just established. You can read more about Persimmon Village and the early days of Plum Village here: “I have arrived, I am home,” 2013: https://plumvillage.org/articles/i-ha...

-------
TIMESTAMPS
00:00:00 Dharma talk begins
00:00:49 To practice meditation means to stop
00:03:05 [Story #1] Mr. Seguin's Goat
00:06:29 Thay discussing the poems "A Girl's Anxiety before Marriage" (Lỡ bước sang ngang) by Nguyễn Bính and "The Tale of Kiều" by Nguyễn Du
00:09:11 [Story #2] The Failed Student
00:15:07 Drifting, rolling, sinking, and drowning
00:22:38 Thay discussing Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra's chapter "Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta Invoking the Buddha's Name"
00:25:08 Stopping goes hand in hand with mere, non-judgmental recognition
00:29:30 Practice stopping with the walking meditation gatha "I have arrived, I am home"
00:51:50 Coordinating the breath with the steps to sustain mindful awareness (1)
01:02:06 [Story #3] A Young Lady in Paris
01:04:15 [Story #4] The Space Astronaut
01:09:47 Coordinating the breath with the steps to sustain mindful awareness(2)
01:12:31 Dharma talk ends

-------
RELEVANT MATERIALS
🌿[Short teaching] Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting: “Go Home and Heal Yourself” (December 16, 2012), by Thich Nhat Hanh: https://tnhtalks.org/2023/07/27/go-ba...
🌿[Dharma talk] "Dharma Talk: Returning Home", by Thich Nhat Hanh, 1994, published on The Mindfulness Bell Magazine, https://www.parallax.org/mindfulnessb...
🌿[Song] I Have Arrived, I Am Home (Words: Thich Nhat Hanh / Music: Traditional, sung by Plum Village monastic Brothers, published on Plum Village YouTube channel):    • Monastery Jam #1 - I Have Arrived, I Am Home  
🌿[Song] Tâm An [Thiền Ca Làng Mai] Brothers Pháp Dung, Trời Đại Lực (published on Lang Mai YouTube channel):    • Tâm An [Thiền Ca Làng Mai] Thầy Pháp Dung...  
🌿[Song] The 16 Exercises of Mindful Breathing | Song by Plum Village sisters (published on Plum Village YouTube channel):    • The 16 Exercises of Mindful Breathing | So...  

-------
REFERENCES (Resources used to translate this Dharma talk): Please kindly visit the video transcript link for the full list.
-------
Republished on the Plum Village App with kind permission of Thich Nhat Hanh's Talks channel    / @tnhtalks   🙏

Help us caption and translate this video: https://web.plumvillage.app/subs?yt=S...