It has been a long time since I returned to Austria in winter like this year, from November 22 to 24, 2019. Master Vien Duy and a Buddhist came to the airport in Vienna to pick me up on the afternoon of November 22, and took me to Phap Tang Pagoda, where the Venerable is the Abbot and the Most Venerable Thich Tri Minh is the Advisor and spiritual leader. This is not the first time I have been to Austria, but the previous times, from 1978 until now, must have been more than 10 times, but each time was different, no time was the same. Sometimes I went with the Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam, to attend the Conference on human rights and religious freedom at the hearings in the Austrian Parliament, and sometimes I sat in protest with other peoples demanding religious freedom and human rights for Vietnam during international meetings in Vienna. Sometimes I went to Austria to visit Venerable Seelawansa, Professor of the University of Vienna at the Nanaponika Center to ask about Buddhism, or to give lectures on Buddhism in German at this Center. Sometimes I went to Austria because of funerals and sometimes to visit the Minh Tinh Buddhist Recitation Hall, the predecessor of the current Phap Tang Temple, and sometimes stayed for up to 10 days during the European Buddhist Study Course held near Vienna in previous years.

The Phap Tang Temple was built by Venerable Vien Duy and Buddhists in Austria, and converted into a temple with a total cost of more than 500,000.00 Euros. That is not including the repairs. Buddhists donated and lent half of that amount to the Goodness Association. The remaining amount had to be borrowed from the bank and each month had to pay the bank 1,500.00 Euros for 25 years. The temple has 3 floors, the top floor has not been repaired. The middle floor is used as a Buddha hall and a residence for the Abbot as well as visiting monks. The main hall is spacious and can accommodate over 130 Buddhists. In particular, the main hall worships the bronze statue of the Buddha and the 48 incarnations of Amitabha Buddha along with the Holy Sangha, which were invited from Nepal to be enshrined here for nearly 3 years. The lower floor is as large as the upper floor, including a hall, a dining room, a kitchen and a public restroom. It must be said that this is a great effort of Vietnamese Buddhists in Austria as well as the Abbot. We would like to praise and rejoice in this merit of "Seeing the Dharma realm everywhere, breaking the net of doubts everywhere, subduing demons, introducing the Three Jewels". Fellow Buddhists who come from far away to Vienna should stop by Phap Tang Pagoda once to worship Buddha and visit the Abbot. The merit is not small. The temple is located very close to Vienna airport and in front of the temple is the train station, so it is very convenient for traveling, even for the elderly who want to visit the temple and worship Buddha.

On Friday evening, November 22, I proactively contacted Venerable Seelawansa to ask questions and made an appointment to visit him tomorrow, Saturday. The Venerable is from Sri Lanka, but is very close to the Vietnamese people in Austria, because three or four decades ago, when there was no Vietnamese temple in Vienna, most of us Buddhists went to the Venerable's center for activities. Since then, we have had a very close relationship, although belonging to Southern Buddhism, but because the Venerable has studied in the West for nearly 40 years, his views on the sects are very open, easy to approach and close. Luckily, the next day the Venerable was free, so after the morning service and breakfast, Buddhist Tuan drove us and Teacher Vien Duy to visit him. This time at Nanaponika center, not only He was there, but also 3 other Bhikkhus from Sri Lanka. We paid homage to Buddha, the monks chanted sutras, blessed and prayed, then had tea with powdered sugar like cane sugar in Vietnam, but originating from Sri Lanka. I remembered my hometown Quang Nam a lot when talking with Him about religious stories. For example, the Austrian Buddhist Association today, the situation of Sri Lankan Buddhist monks in Europe, the Summer Retreat, lectures and teaching at the University as well as other side stories in the two main languages of English and German.

On Saturday afternoon of the same day, Master Vien Duy took me to the central cemetery of the city of Vienna to visit the graves of famous musical figures such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, etc. Going to the cemetery on a winter afternoon in a foreign land, there was something a bit like a dark scene, but we still tried to go quickly and arrive quickly, because in winter in Europe the sun goes to sleep very early. Many times, at two or three o'clock in the afternoon, there was no longer a single ray of sunlight shining directly down on this earthly world, but everything gave way to darkness covering an endless space from three or four o'clock in the afternoon until nine or ten o'clock in the morning the next day. That was still a common thing that I had experienced for more than 40 years in this Europe. Our grandparents often say: "Live in the house, grow old in the grave", and Westerners are no exception. There are graves that have been buried in this cemetery for hundreds of years, large and majestic like a luxurious villa for the owner and sometimes even for the whole family. There are places where only one coffin is buried, but there are also many places where family members are buried, coffins are buried on top of each other, and there are also many coffins placed high above the head of the person, we do not know where this custom comes from, but certainly we in Vietnam do not have this custom.

First we visited the grave of the musical genius W.A. Mozart. He was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria and died on December 5, 1791 in Vienna at the age of only 35. However, his name is known to everyone in today's music world. Therefore, genius is not determined by age. As Napoleon the Great of France said, "The height of a person is not measured from the bottom of his feet up, but from the top of his heart up", Napoleon must have meant it to himself. Mozart's father was Leopold Mozart and his mother was Anna Maria Pertl. He had an older sister named Maria Anne, who was commonly called Mannerl. His parents and sister were very famous musicians, and Mozart was most famous in 1787 with the Serenade "Die kleine Nachtmusik" (The Little Night Music). When I came here, I thought of my Vietnam, Mozart's time was also the time of Quang Trung Nguyen Hue's great victory over the Qing army in 1789 and Quang Trung was only king for 6 years from 1786 to 1792. When Mozart passed away, 1 year later our Emperor Quang Trung also passed away, leaving behind so much love and remembrance from his contemporaries and that love and respect has lasted until today, whether people in the East or in the West. To prove this are the red, yellow, purple, and white flower petals that are still fresh, which were solemnly placed on his grave by those who visited his grave, to commemorate the person who made the musical history of Austria in particular and the world today in general. Next to Mozart's grave is Beethoven's memorial grave. His full name is Ludwig van Beethoven. He was born on December 17, 1770 in Bonn, Germany and died on March 26, 1827, at the age of 57. His father was Johan von Beethoven (1739 -1782) and his mother was Maria Magdalena Keverich (December 19, 1746 - July 17, 1787) who lived in Bonn and she died when Beethoven was only 17 years old. His parents were also famous musicians at that time, and the first time he came to Vienna, Austria in 1787, he became a student of Mozart, but in the same year he had to return to Bonn to mourn his mother. In 1792, when he returned to Vienna for the second time, Mozart had passed away a year before. He studied music with Johann Scheml, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Antonio Salier. He died in 1827 and was buried in the Wahringer Ortsfriedhof cemetery, but in 1888 the city of Vienna exhumed and brought him back to be buried near famous people like Mozart and Fanz Schubert in the central cemetery (Zentralfriedhof). Anyone who has ever passed by this place, especially Vietnamese musicians and singers who sing or compose music related to classical and modern music, should come here once to remember the ancients. 1827 was the year when King Minh Mang was reigning in our homeland Dai Viet and Nguyen Du had just completed the work Kim Van Kieu Story with more than 3,000 verses, and as a Vietnamese, few people do not know a few verses of Kieu. Nguyen Du lamented: Bat tri tam bach du nien hau, thien ha ha nhan khap To Nhu; meaning: I wonder if 300 years later, will anyone cry for To Nhu? Of course, there are many people. Even though 300 years have not yet come, through the work Kim Van Kieu, countless people have shed tears for Kieu's unfortunate fate in particular, or that is also Nguyen Du's fate when he had to be an official in three dynasties (Trinh Nguyen in Dang Ngoai, Quang Trung as well as Gia Long and Minh Mang). According to the spirit of "Trung than bat su nhi quan" (I am loyal and do not serve two lords), he had to serve three lords in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Vietnam. Is this an exception for a genius?

Next to the graves of Beethoven and Mozart is the grave of Franz Schubert. He was also Austrian, born on January 31, 1797 near Vienna and died on November 19, 1828 at the age of 31. He specialized in Komponist. Usually, geniuses often have very short lives, I don't know why, but this is the truth, in the East and West, there have been many such events. Therefore, let's take the two words "Vo thuong" that Buddha taught us as our luggage, as well as contemplation in this inherently ephemeral and illusory daily life, so that we can find ourselves and ask ourselves who we are? To make the remaining steps on the earthly path more meaningful. We drove very slowly in this vast and immense cemetery of Vienna to go to the burial place of Austrian Buddhists as well as Asian Buddhists in a large place nearby, also located in this cemetery in Group 48.

First we saw a not-so-high tower, about 8 meters, built according to the model of Stupa Sanchi in Southern India, built by Emperor Ashoka in the third century BC. Around the four sides of the tower, the artist painted four moving scenes of the Buddha. These are: His image at birth, enlightenment, first sermon and entering Nirvana. Next to it, there is a small house worshiping the first basic teachings of the Buddha for monks and lay people in German. These are: The Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. It is truly wonderful and inconceivable. In the West, today in Austria and Italy, Buddhism has been recognized by the local government as a world religion, alongside other religions currently present on this planet such as Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodoxy, etc. This is a joy and a happiness for Buddhists here and there. Other countries in Europe such as Germany, France, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries will soon also recognize Buddhism as a religion like in Austria and Italy. These are the merits of the leading Great Masters in Europe, including the Most Venerable Seelawansa, the President of the Buddhist Association of Austria, Italy, etc.

The next day, Sunday, November 24, 2019, at Phap Tang Pagoda, about 100 Buddhists from around the area came to the pagoda to attend the Ha Nguyen Festival on the 15th of October, as well as to attend the mass for the dead, pray for peace and listen to sermons. At exactly 10:30, everyone gathered in the Main Hall and Venerable Thich Vien Duy presided over the ceremony to pray for peace and chant the Universal Gate Sutra. From 11 to 12 noon was my lecture time. That day, I brought the spirit of Nguyen Du and Nguyen Cong Tru to talk to the Buddhists present about what happened after visiting the graves of Mozart and Beethoven as well as visiting the Buddhist cemetery in Vienna. The spirit of "Nhan sinh tu co thuy vo tu, luu thu dan tam chieu han thanh" (In life, from ancient times until now, everyone is born without dying, but leave something behind, making people's hearts shine). As for me, my thoughts are a little different from these people as follows. I think: The grass and wildflowers growing on both sides of the road, almost nameless, but they bring fragrance and color to life when they bloom, showing off their bright colors for everyone passing by to enjoy, so can't we, as humans, do something to leave behind for others? It's that simple, but not everyone cares about this.

After the noon meal, at 1:30 p.m., it was time for Buddhists to pray for the dead and recite Buddha's name, led by Master Vien Duy. From 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. with nearly 80 Buddhists present, I spoke and lectured about the life of the Buddha from after his enlightenment until his return to the Kapilavastu palace to meet King Tinh Phan, Princess Gia Du Da La and the Royal Family of the Sakyas according to the spirit of the Buddha's Original Conduct Sutra, the 13th volume of the 203 volumes of the Taisho Tripitaka. Everyone who listened to the Dharma clearly reflected on the Buddha's teachings through the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. That day, after the lecture ended, everyone happily left, and surely many people present during those two Dharma listening sessions would realize more clearly what the Buddha taught: impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self. This life is just a continuation and patching up of what has been broken from countless previous lives, so we happily accept the predictions of today that we are receiving, whether it is good or bad karma, we take responsibility for that on ourselves, then this society or the people around us will always be happy and live in brotherhood to understand and support each other to overcome obstacles on the path of life as well as the path of the Dharma.

Rewriting the memories like above is to record a trip, although short, only on the weekend, but it is a long journey to continue the path that in countless lives we have gone and will come. Pray that the Phap Tang Temple in Vienna, Austria will always be a spiritual support for Vietnamese refugees in foreign lands to have a place to return to and from there we will have a community living in foreign lands with more responsibility to the host country, in which Buddhism is an equally important factor. weight.