IN lieu of a preface

Humanity today, as well as 2,511 years ago, has looked into itself to discover that: it exists in a painful karma in the midst of an irrational and unstable society, in a meaningless physical universe that severely limits human life. This state of mind is tearing people apart, creating a source of lonely and desperate thoughts! All old values are being erased by humans. The theistic system is considered backward. The cruel and inhuman materialistic system has been surpassed by the comprehensive perception of progressive humanity. The existentialist movement of the time considers the human condition to be full of suffering and despair, life is irrational, nauseating, there is nothing truly existing, and also puts people and life before a fait accompli, to be left to the nothingness that besieges and overwhelms the universe. Therefore, humanity today is in a deadlock, has not found a guiding ideology for human life, so has fallen into a state of doubt and boredom: people feel lost in an impermanent virtual universe, living a miserable and fragile human life, living in an extremely unjust society!

The above event proves that: the main feature of the era is the loss of fatigue! People cannot stand still in this lost situation. Human suffering must be resolved. To resolve suffering, to escape the current deadlock, humanity has only one bright path left: to find the source of Compassion, to harmonize itself with the natural world to make all things more brilliant, to harmonize with the world of thoughts to make humanity more enlightened, to harmonize with the transcendent world so that the eternal Buddha nature in all things quickly blooms fully.

Buddhism recognizes that: All living beings have Buddha nature. All humans have the ability to become Buddhas. Therefore, in Buddhism, human beings are people of all social classes, all nations, all religions, on earth and in the three thousand great thousand worlds. By default, a Buddhist human being is a person living in three dimensions: nature, mind, transcendence, and being aware of being an existing human being. Then, he takes responsibility for his existence to practice and attain enlightenment by demonstrating the three great virtues of COMPASSION, WISDOM, and COURAGE to brighten human destiny and beautify life.

With the above intention, we think it is time to promote the ability of Buddhism to assimilate; a religion that has been inaugurated a great synthesis of profound Indian doctrines since ancient times; a religion that, wherever it is spread, can be integrated with local civilizations, to create for each locality a compassionate and virtuous character to forever show the way for people and life in the responsibility: to free the mind from the bondage of worldly reality. Because of this, Buddhists have the right to believe that the Thought of modern humanity is moving forward to meet the Thought of Buddhism, which 2,511 years ago crystallized into the Doctrine of Liberation, Breaking Attachment, Breaking Ignorance, Accepting Suffering to Master Suffering and, therefore, Always Mastering Life.

That is the Direction of the Times.

The greatest task of thinking is how to overcome the "wall of death" to satisfy the eternal demand of human consciousness. Only by overcoming the wall of death can life have meaning, people will want to live, and society will progress. Humanity's existence and progress to this day is thanks to the absolute faith in religions through ideological trends. This is an affirmative opinion, but it does not mean that it applies to everyone. It is affirmed because of the human demand to live a comfortable and peaceful life and also because of the politeness of the issue. Most of the Indian people have lived and are living with the concept: born by Brahma, die and merge with Brahma.

The Chinese people also live with the concept of death becoming a god. The people of the Mediterranean and all over Europe and America live with the concept of the immortal soul, good souls enter the kingdom of God, evil souls are banished to hell to suffer forever. For thousands of years, human consciousness has resided in these concepts, even the religions of Naturalism and transcendentalism have been viewed by the majority of humanity through the lens of theistic perception. It is because human consciousness resides in the concept of theism that other movements have no chance to develop.

It was not until this century, after many attacks, after much bloodshed, through many means of spreading ideology, that the opposition faction was able to establish a foothold. But in reality, these extremist ideas not only failed to liberate people's consciousness but also destroyed the source of eternal hope for people. The Materialist movement has built a "wall of death" right in the middle of life. People are always haunted by death. People find themselves living in a cold, deadly society. Living in constant anxiety and fear. With the concept of Materialism, only real life is the truth of human life, yet the life of each person is hung before the swift sword of the regime. Society is both heaven and hell, the power of God is placed in the hands of flesh and blood people, lacking in love and justice but filled with hatred, ignorance and internal injustice. How tragic!

Tragic! The shrill cry of the intellectuals of the era. Before their eyes, everything is broken and slimy. Human life is a sad page of history. Society is a prison, a hell, a hospital, a cemetery, etc. They rebel with a "don't care" attitude. They turn their backs on life to step backward into the "pit of death". European intellectuals have placed Nothingness at the end of the path of existence. On the path to Nothingness, the existentialist does not need to know what to do? Why do they need to do anything, when life is just a page of failure, a stream of absurdity. Everything will surrender to death. Everything goes to Nothingness. So after the Great War, a youth movement arose with an existential lifestyle. They did not need to know about existential consciousness. They did not need to pay attention to the existence of others. They rushed to destroy all idols. They sought their existence in feeling. They decided to live, to survive before surrendering to nothingness.

From the boredom of life of European intellectuals that spread to practical America, the Existentialist movement transformed into Afro-Birth. People were both bored with society and afraid of nothingness. Nothingness controlled and besieged existence. People who were already lonely in life felt even more completely lonely when besieged by nothingness. The human condition was now so fragile. There was nothing to guarantee existence. Existence would dissolve like a soap bubble in nothingness. Nothingness lurked and robbed human existence. Nothingness overwhelmed existence, making it impossible for people to hide anywhere. People existed in nothingness.

People had only one solution to stop being afraid of nothingness, which was the "suicide solution". Hemingway, the leader of the Afro-Birth movement, escaped nothingness by joining nothingness before the time it was accepted. Next are the young heads who feel bored with life, feel lonely, feel that life has no meaning, feel that life is loved but cannot escape the giant hand of nothingness. They all rush into nothingness. After the female star Marilyn Monroe, many other young men and women will join the Phi Sinh movement. My Chau's thoughts have reached a dead end. People who are bored with life also commit suicide, and people who love life passionately also commit suicide, and in the end will lead to the complete Huyen Sinh thought. Huyen Sinh will be the final voice of modern thought. The concept of the intellectuals of the time goes from existence to nothingness at the end of existence, through non-existence to nothingness controlling existence, and will reach illusory birth to nothingness right in reality. Existence is just an illusion. There is no real existence anymore. Everything is "illusory". People deceive each other with ideas. Phenomena are illusions. Existence is just a shadow "a vague human figure like a person walking at night". This is the concept of ancient India and this is also the thought of 18th century Vietnam. Nguyen Gia Thieu is the last tragic and desperate voice of human fate. Cung Oan Ngam Khuc is a masterpiece of illusions all over. No one can find the true face of the Palace Maid through the tragic and desperate mood of human fate, of all things:

“The illusion has been played out
The fleeting life is painful to see
What is there left in a hundred years
Just a green mound of grass”.

Two centuries ago, this thought was not strong enough to create a movement, but now, with the progress of human moods, the Huyen Sinh movement has all the conditions to spread widely everywhere. If Existence leads to hatred of life, boredom and despair, Non-Life leads to suicide, then Huyen Sinh will lead to the destruction of humanity. Everything is an illusion, so what does life or death mean? If life and death are just a miserable life, then what is the point of living for humanity? So, humanity will help the Void to eliminate these “vague” phenomena, to return to the universe of utter nothingness. Humans will kill each other without any emotion; kill others and then kill themselves in a very comfortable way.

The world will be destroyed if this ideology completely dominates human perception. Nuclear weapons do not dare to explode for profit, but want to explode in series when humans completely live by this Illusionary concept. Does that mean that humanity has reached the end of its life? No, humanity will not be destroyed because of the reality of the majority of humanity, which is to love life, to definitely live even though they know that life is a sea of suffering, the universe is an illusion, human life is fleeting. Because of “definitely living”, humanity will find its own way out for its thoughts, for its contemplation, for the demands of its eternal desire. The current intellectual blockage is only a phenomenon that heralds the change of seasons. People will liberate themselves, and liberate life so that everyone can be liberated.

The meaning of liberation therefore does not only depend on a mysterious, eternal supernatural event, but also liberates human emotions from the bondage of formulas, liberates thoughts from the shells of prejudice, liberates actions from groping to harm people and things. Liberates the eternally unjust fate of people. Liberates life from the poison of injustice, everyone can live a comfortable life, free from the yoke of suffering. Society is no longer a hospital or cemetery. Others are no longer enemies. People will have less loneliness and fear to live calmly, act wisely, and be flexible; in harmony with the real life of their fellow human beings, in harmony with the rhythm of life and transformation of all things.

Self-sensitivity to all, seeing oneself related to all, then transforming with all. Happiness, suffering, joy, sadness, life and death… are just the rhythms and scales of the long song of impermanence; living calmly, living clearly, living flexibly in that long song of a thousand melodies, means reaching a state of non-attachment, non-dependence, non-worry, means giving rise to a constant consciousness right in the midst of impermanence, means liberating oneself from birth and death, emotions will become vast and pure, wisdom will be bright and clear, willpower will be complete and transcendent. When the mind has a way to be liberated, life will no longer be stuck; all social relationships will continue smoothly; Humanity will live in a state of true human life, a state of comprehensive life that is not stunted, not one-sided, and has no more objects of hatred.

If the ability to think has created faith in people, has satisfied humanity's desire for eternal existence, has helped the concept of human beings overcome the wall of death and has been a torch to light the way for all activities, then the systematization of reasoning into purely rational ideologies has made human perception constrained by one-sided reasoning, especially creating formulaic ethics, distorting and eliminating each person's private feelings, making life become stiff, heavy, and dark. In addition, a group of cruel people always look for every opportunity to turn ideology into a cover to hide their despicable exploitation methods, making an already chaotic society even more chaotic and the already tragic human condition even more tragic. The ideals that people worship always come back to rub against human condition. Human values disappear before the idol of ideals.

People live passively, live by the concept of ideology, live by the attribution of sin and happiness of morality, live by the laws of those in power. People are completely immersed in the idea of sin, anything can become sin; and all sins are born from the desire of sexual desire. It is because of the desire to control sin that ancient and modern ethics have to propose sexual restraint. Such restraint, although necessary for an organized society, that is, living by consciousness, is also an oppression of private human emotions, especially for artists who aspire to absolute freedom. Once emotions are repressed by morality, it will lead to a state of repression. The hidden feelings grow bigger and bigger, and when favorable conditions arise, they will explode.

In the chaos of the ancient spring and autumn, Confucius systematized Chinese thought into a rational, empirical, and active ideology in order to restore order to society. It was also the time when the reaction of intellectual emotions rebelled and gave birth to Yang Zhu's Existential Self ideology. Yang Zi completely used natural emotions to attack Confucius' active system. He believed that human consciousness should not interfere with the natural way, but should let everything develop freely, without cultivating or preventing it. Human consciousness created all kinds of false names to control people, forcing life to have a proper name and destiny. "Reality has no name. Having a name is not reality." Stringing those false things together into a system to shackle people, not only will the chaos not end, but people will suffer more, and life will become more chaotic. Therefore, people living in this world have the joy of the body, do not abandon it, that is, must actively maintain the existing self. Therefore, "losing a hair but gaining the benefit of the whole world without giving, the whole world serving only one person without taking. Everyone does not lose a hair, no one gains the benefit of the whole world, then the world is at peace."

Yang Zhu's advocacy of freedom of self-existence and self-existence must be considered the ancestor of human existential thought. This thought appeared in a chaotic era, under the pressure of purely rational systems; appeared to deny all morality produced by the consciousness of existence, in order to liberate human fate, liberate the human spirit. Yang Zhu's era was the era of feudal agriculture, so his existential thought was heavily imbued with natural character, not carrying the extremely tragic nuance like our era, living a mechanical life far from nature; So Duong Chu was still happy to see himself existing in the pure state of nature, he only condemned and attacked the governing consciousness, the moral consciousness produced by humans.

That is, he still had the only way out, which was to live with an empty and free inner self. Our time is the time when humans exploit nature, distorting nature from content to form with the concept of humans. Humans see themselves existing not in nature but in a human society full of suffering, full of injustice and conflict. We can no longer find our true selves. We live completely by the concepts of others, of society. Humans cannot escape the great, unreasonable force of society. People cannot find a way to liberate themselves, so they have to live with the concept of letting go, so the current existential movement is heavily characterized by suffering and despair, different from Yang Zhu who lived with the concept of natural seclusion and active liberation.

Following Yang Zhu's thought, Lao Tzu established a Duy Nhan system. Although Lao Tzu did not decide that his thought was a systematic thought, we still recognize that Lao Tzu's unsystematic character is still a Duy Nhan system. All of Lao Tzu's perceptions return to nature, take nature as the starting point for development, and set the goal of life as realizing a natural person. A simple person with an empty heart and a full stomach, giving up wisdom, humanity, and morality to live a free, self-produced, and self-possessed life in accordance with the great natural path. The natural Tao is the absolute, eternal, everlasting Tao, unheard, unseen, untouchable, but in all, encompassing all, without beginning or end, doing nothing and yet nothing is not doing.

The universe is born from Tao; all things exist only through Tao. Tao is an objective necessity beyond human knowledge. Therefore, humans do not have the capacity to know about Tao but can only directly perceive Tao through the birth of all things, of themselves. The characteristic of Tao is not doing but not not doing. If humans want to enter the great Tao, they must put aside the concept of existence, that is, put aside the consciousness of the problem of doing, or in other words, do not do according to the arrangement of consciousness: do not do for fame, for profit, for this ideal, that thought. We must eliminate all objects of action, eliminate the conscious mind and then act with the natural automatic force.

Doing so is following the natural path, and following the natural path, we are one with nature, life is one with nature, when we can harmonize human life with the natural path, chaos will end, suffering will also end. Human beings are naturally at ease and naturally produce vastness. Only in a chaotic world do we need humanity, law is the offspring of consciousness, and consciousness itself is the cause of chaos. Using chaos to control chaos will only make chaos worse, therefore we must eliminate the consciousness of humanity, wisdom, and activeness to restore a natural and serene life.

From the subjective existential thought of Yang Zhu to Lao Tzu, it became the objective thought of natural existence and transformation. Lao Tzu thoroughly developed the naturalistic concept of the Chinese hermit movement. Lao Tzu brought people closer to nature, brought people back to the simple and rustic life of nature, living in the great biological rhythm of the natural universe. Lao Tzu advocated the complete abolition of the active and restless civilization of the Han people to restore the inactive and quiet life of southern people. People disrupt life because of their superior consciousness and superiority over things.

The more civilized society becomes, the more saints and wisdom humanity develops, the more chaotic life becomes. Indeed, living more than two thousand years after Lao Tzu, we all have to accept that Lao Tzu's words are correct. Our current humanity is a humanity completely detached from nature, the self-created civilization of humanity overwhelms the rich emotional aspects of nature. Humans have become too far removed from nature, and there is no way they can return to the source of simple joy. Every day, humanity is running faster towards the goal of extinction, if there is no method to liberate the mind, a climax to liberate life.

Zhuangzi is the one who developed Laozi's naturalistic thought, at the same time he sublimated Laozi's thought to the level of transcendence: not knowing how to like life nor hate death, living leisurely, not being cheerful when leaving, not being busy when entering, going carelessly, returning carelessly. Not forgetting where you started, not needing where you ended up. Heaven and earth are born together with you, the universe is one with you. The universe changes unpredictably, why bother about life and death, winning and losing, just follow the natural course of life, not craving life or fearing death, just keep your heart pure and empty, then follow the natural course of life and forget yourself, not needing fame or profit, not showing off your skills, not being attached to anything, just live peacefully, accept everything and be happy with it, forget everything and return to it. Forgetfulness, calm face, flat forehead, cool as autumn, warm as spring, joy and anger in harmony with the four seasons, in harmony with all things without anyone knowing the end. The person who reaches that level is truly human. Do everything and forget everything to play with the infinite world:

“General May went to play in the east, passing through the fluttering fields, and happened to meet Hong Mong. Hong Mong was slapping his thighs and hopping like a stork. General May saw this, felt bewildered, clasped his hands and stood up and asked:

– Who are you? What are you doing?

Hong Mong was still hopping non-stop, turned to General May and said:

– Playing.

General May continued:

I want to hear the story.

Hong Mong looked up at General May.

– Oh!

General May asked:

The air in the sky is not in harmony. The air in the clouds is stagnant. The six airs are not even. The four seasons are not in season. Now I want to combine the essence of the six airs to nourish living things, how can I make it?

Hong Mong slapped his thighs and hopped like a stork, shaking head:

– I don't know! I don't know!

General May asked but couldn't get any answers, so he left. Three years later, he went to visit the East, passed Huu Tong field, and met Hong Mong again. General May was overjoyed, and walked over to him and said:

– Heaven! Have you forgotten me! Have you forgotten me?

Then he kowtowed twice, asking for instructions.

Hong Mong said:

– Wandering around, not knowing what to pray for! Arrogant, not knowing where to go! Rolling around to see the 'hopelessness', what do I know!

General May said:

– I also consider myself arrogant, but wherever I go, the people follow. I can't stand up to the people! Now the people are imitating me... Please let me hear something. Hong Mong said:

– Chaos in the world. Contrary to the nature of all species. Unable to achieve the mysterious path of heaven. Causing the animals to scatter, but the birds all sing at night! The grass and trees are in trouble. Insects and bugs are in trouble. Alas! That is the mistake of treating people.

General May asked:

– Then what should I do?

Hong Mong said:

– Alas! What a disaster that is! Let's go home!

General May begged:

– I have encountered a disaster from heaven, please let me hear one word.

Hong Mong said:

– Alas! Use your heart to nurture your disciple! In a place where there is no work, things become natural. Leave your form! Spit out your intelligence! Forget your species with things. Great unity in the vastness! Open your heart, let go of your spirit, silently without a soul. All things wipe each other, all return to their origin. All return to their origin without knowing anything. Chaos and confusion will never leave them for life. If they know they exist, then they will leave them. Don't ask their name, don't look at their nature, things will therefore born naturally.

General May lamented:

– Heaven! Give me morality. Tell me to be silent. I asked for it myself, and now I understand.

I bowed twice and said goodbye"

(The Nam Hoa Kinh translated by Nhuong Tong)

Through the above fable, we can see that: Trang Tu completely advocated a lifestyle of unconscious tacitness to comply with the principle of "doing nothing but doing nothing" of heaven and earth. But unlike the contemplative Lao Tzu, the emotional person of Trang Chu created for himself a style of transcendence and unity in the vastness. Forgetting oneself, letting go of the spirit to reach a state where the universe and I are one. That is, reaching the mysterious and obscure realm of the ultimate path. Lao Tzu advised people to integrate with the natural way by purifying their minds to make their hearts empty like the void. Trang Tzu went further, turning the natural concept into a religion with "sitting in oblivion" practices so that they could freely play in the infinite field:

“The Yellow Emperor was established as the emperor, nineteen years, his authority covered the whole world. Hearing that Master Quang Thanh lived on Khong Dong mountain, he went to see him and said:

– I heard that your family understood the ultimate way. So I dare ask about the essence of the ultimate way.

I want to take the essence of heaven and earth to help with the five grains, to feed the people. I also want to arrange yin and yang so that all species can live comfortably. How can I do that?

Master Quang Thanh said:

– What you want to ask about is the substance of things. What you want to arrange is the excess of things! Since you ruled the world, the clouds did not wait to gather to rain. Grass and trees did not wait for yellow to fall. Light The sun and the moon are even more desolate. The hearts of flatterers are often full of greed. How can there be enough to talk about the ultimate path?

The Emperor retreated. He returned home, left the world to stay for three months, then came to welcome his teacher. Master Quang Thanh lay with his head to the south. The Emperor followed the wind below, walked on his knees, kowtowed and said:

- Hearing that you understand the ultimate path, I dare ask how you can govern yourself for a long time?

Master Quang Thanh lazily sat up and said:

- What a clever question! Come here, I will tell you the ultimate path. The essence of the ultimate path is vague and illusory. The most profound place of the ultimate path is completely silent. Do not listen, do not look, take stillness as your heart, the body will be self-correcting. Must be inside, must be still, do not tire yourself, do not shake your mind, then you can live forever. Do not see anything with your eyes, do not hear anything with your ears, do not know anything with your heart, then your spirit will be able to preserve the outer body, only then can the outer body live long. Be careful of your inside. Close your outside. Knowing too much is bad. I have brought you to the bright realm, there is the realm of the yang! I have brought you into the door of the realm of illusion, there is the realm of the yin! Heaven and earth have their own work, yin and yang have their own place to contain. Be careful of yourself, things will grow by themselves. I keep the one part and stay in harmony, so I have cultivated myself for 1,200 years and my body has never declined.

The Yellow Emperor kowtowed twice and said:

– Master Quang Thanh is truly a man of heaven.

Master Quang Thanh said:

– Come here! I tell you: It is an endless thing that people all think is finished when it dies. It is an indestructible thing that people all think is finished when it dies. Those who have my way, above are emperors and below are kings. If my way is lost, above will see light and below will see a pile of dirt. Now consider that all living things are born from the earth and return to the earth. So I am about to leave you and enter the gate of infinity, to play in the infinite fields. I will watch the halo with the sun and the moon. I will live in the ordinary world with heaven and earth. I do not know who welcomes me. I do not know who leaves me. Everyone else is dead, but I alone am still alive.”

(The Annals of the Lotus Sutra translated by Nhuong Tong)

Zhuangzi's thoughts completely entered the realm of transcendence. Although it carried a hope for transcendence, it was not yet an effective method of liberation for life, but only an attitude of conscious resistance to life. This thought of resisting life, avoiding reality to the point of provocation, was not a sure refuge for humanity, whether in Zhuangzi's time or in any era, but was only a temporary solution. Humans can only truly embark on liberation when they have a comprehensive method of liberation: liberation of the mind, liberation of society. Connecting the temporary with the eternal, merging the small self with the great self, bringing the method of liberation into a miserable life, lightening the injustice of human fate, reducing the injustice of society, only then will it be truly the time for humans to liberate themselves and humanity to liberate together. So.

The movement of renunciation in the ancient Spring and Autumn period started with the reclusive attitude of intellectuals such as Bo Yi, Shu Qi, Ngu Trong, Di Yi, Zhou Zhang, Shao Lian, Liu Xia Hui, Tie Yu, Zhang Ru, Jie Li, Chu Kuang... to discover the theory of Existential Self-Existence of Yang Zhu, which was then systematized by Lao Zi into the theory of Naturalism. And finally, Zhuang Zi sublimated it into a transcendent religion, aiming to resist the extremely rigid life of the Han people. Opposing the Confucian ideology. Opposing the harsh and violent rule of feudalism. The movement blamed the above phenomena for causing social chaos. It is because of the active life, the humane life, the organized life, that is, the life with the consciousness of people far from the natural way, that people suffer, and life is chaotic. Let's abolish the concept of active life, eliminate humaneness, spit out the holy wisdom, destroy the organization to return to freedom, natural simplicity. Live in the natural way Of course, if we die in the natural way, we will not suffer, and life will not be chaotic.

Not being aware of this is suffering, that is happiness, this is right, that is wrong, this is better, that is worse, then it is truly peaceful and worry-free. But people who have consciousness, who know how to distinguish, and yet advocate the rejection of conscious life is a matter against the natural nature of humanity. Consciousness for humanity is a natural phenomenon. This phenomenon is the perception part of the true mind. That is, the ability to distinguish and hold on to the consciousness of sentient beings. The true mind of all things is an equal, constant, and universal entity. The true mind is synonymous with Lao Tzu's Tao body. The perception part is synonymous with natural nature.

Natural nature has the ability to initiate transformations into all things of various colors and forms. The perception part also has the ability to hold on to and distinguish the seeds of the true mind to form separate phenomena. Each phenomenon has a Tao body or true mind; each has natural nature or perception part. Thus, each phenomenon has both The Taoist part and the natural nature are called in Laoism, and in Buddhism, the true mind and the knowledge part. When the knowledge part is ended, all things are destroyed. When the natural nature is destroyed, the universe becomes empty. The phenomenon still exists and is bio-chemical thanks to the two inherent natures of the phenomenon. The knowledge part or the natural nature in each species and each phenomenon has different levels: Plants and trees bio-chemically change according to the weather. Animals live naturally and leisurely, while humans live both naturally and consciously to create a human life. So consciousness is still within the scope of divine nature, if viewed from the cosmic perspective. If viewed from the human perspective, consciousness is a product of humans with the ability to be different from nature, to differ from nature, to upset nature. Therefore, Lao Tzu's natural consciousness theory is viewed from the human level. Buddha's consciousness theory is viewed from the cosmic level. Therefore, it is believed that human consciousness is just a natural product. Once the consciousness is recognized Human consciousness is a natural product of the discrimination and attachment to form the karma of each species, so it is not to destroy consciousness but only to make consciousness bright, that is, to sublimate consciousness into wisdom. When consciousness is bright, ignorance must retreat, ignorance retreats, suffering decreases, chaos gradually disappears. Therefore, phenomena caused by cosmic causes and conditions, or produced by human consciousness, for Buddhism, are also considered inevitable phenomena.

Buddhism has observed all phenomena with clear wisdom to provide a separate method of liberation according to the karma of each species and each object, allowing each species and each object to self-realize their state of liberation. Lao Trang abandoned the means to go straight to the goal of liberation, thus creating a completely transcendental movement. But Buddhism still does not forget the means. Only with means can one achieve results. Because it does not abandon the means, Buddhism is not far from reality. For Buddhism: reality is both the means and the goal of the problem of liberation. No If there is real suffering, there is no liberation from suffering.

Therefore, the issue of liberation from reality must go hand in hand with the issue of spiritual liberation, then people and life can be free from suffering and sorrow. Self-enlightened people are always fewer than those who perceive. The vast majority of humanity belongs to the karma of perception. The vast majority of humanity lives at an ordinary level, lives with circumstances and depends on real circumstances. If we do not liberate reality, give good karma to humanity, then the goal of liberating humanity from suffering will never be achieved. Liberating life, liberating the mind is the slogan of Buddhism in the era. For intellectuals who do not depend much on circumstances, liberating the mind always needs to be done first. Because intellectuals are the locomotives of history, playing the role of guiding the masses, they need to liberate their own minds first in order to hope to liberate life. Only when life is liberated will ordinary people have the opportunity and circumstances to liberate their minds. When human minds are liberated, the scene of suffering will gradually decrease in society. human society.

Although Lao Tzu abandoned means and distanced himself from reality, it was still a good place of seclusion for intellectuals in times of chaos and tyranny of the regime. Living under an authoritarian regime, living in times of extreme chaos, people were turned into means of production, means of fighting for their rights without the Lao Tzu's transcendental lifestyle to help intellectuals live peacefully and freely: not speaking with words, not listening with ears, not seeing with eyes... then it is not certain that intellectuals would be able to endure the reality. Unable to endure the filthy reality, suicide would be the most suitable solution.

Zhuangzi's positive attitude of rejecting politics to direct human life into a transcendental religion was transformed by followers into superstition, focusing on practicing immortality spells. Magicians appeared to deceive people and make profits; the movement of sitting in a trance and dancing with the ball arose, that is, playing with the invisible gods of the mediums and witches. Lao Tzu, from the concept of transcendental naturalism, has become an art of entertainment for ordinary people. Of course, ordinary people use it to satisfy their need for entertainment, and religious traders also use it as a place to make profit. For the purpose of profit, these people often think of many evil spells to confuse their followers.

The above case is not only for a Taoist sect, but also for all religions. In every founder, religion brings faith and love to people, opens the way for people to liberate, detoxifies society. But the later the successors, the more painfully the religion is degraded, to the point that religion only has forms, rigid dogmas, strict rules to bind followers in a dangerous sectarian concept. Today's humanity is in trouble because of conflicts of ideals. The ideals that humans create are controlling human thoughts, dividing humanity into opposing forces to kill each other.

The era is demanding that everyone give up Ideological prejudices and religions to stop the momentum of war, stop the momentum of degradation, stop the seeds of self-destruction, and together build a life of love, happiness, freedom and prosperity. Because any ideal is just a means to liberate the mind, to liberate this suffering life. If humanity continues to cling to hostile ideals, the world will never be able to achieve a comprehensive liberation. Buddhism often regards ideals as a boat carrying passengers across the river. When the boat reaches the shore, the passengers must leave the boat and go to the dock to complete the crossing; if the passengers insist on staying on the boat forever, they will never reach the dock.

Holding on to ideals is holding on to the means, losing the purpose. The purpose of ideals is always to serve humanity, but humanity has been so deluded that it blindly worships ideals, allowing ideals to turn around and control humanity, rigidly blocking life. It is this state of delusion that has made the already chaotic society even more chaotic; the already heavy human condition of injustice even heavier. more unjust. The existential movement today is a rebellious sentiment, aiming to destroy all ideal idols, all systematic reasoning, all formulaic ethics, all mechanical order, all sterile rules to demand freedom and comprehensive human development. Of course, such a movement will not avoid extremist thoughts that cause life to be deadlocked everywhere like today.

The extremely worldly lifestyle of Confucianism, the non-actionary lifestyle of Taoism, following the invasions of the Han people, flooded into Vietnam to dominate this region. Confucianism dominated the political realm, Taoism penetrated deeper into the people to dominate the religious realm. The characteristics of Confucianism and Taoism were already opposing each other, now they are even more strongly opposing each other. The Vietnamese people are the ones who lost their country. Since they had a deep hatred for the ruling imperialists, it was fitting that Taoism became a refuge for the government to actively oppose Confucianism while the people were not strong enough to drive out the invaders.

The two forces of the government were extremely subtle, and the people were inactive, opposing each other like that, so the flow of Buddhist fusion thought from India to China also flooded into Vietnam. Buddhism had both the ability to enter the world and the ability to leave the world, and was also the religion of a country that was not hostile to the Vietnamese people, so Buddhism was highly respected. Buddhism merged with Taoism in the people's world, and then took advantage of that to create the yeast for national liberation. Buddhism and Taoism merged with Confucianism to govern the country during the time of the Vietnamese Autonomy Ngo, Dinh, and Le. At the end of the Tien Le period, Buddhism was once persecuted by the government. When the government persecuted, it was the time when Buddhism was most loved and trusted by the people.

Therefore, Buddhism flourished among the people to give rise to a prosperous Buddhist Ly dynasty. At the end of the Ly dynasty, Buddhism was overthrown for a time. steep to the point of dilution; due to the promiscuous lifestyle of the monks who "skipped public work to stay in the temple". Buddhism is the soul of the Ly dynasty. But if Buddhism could not maintain the style of a leader, the Ly dynasty would surely fall. However, during the Tran Dynasty, Buddhism still maintained its position as a fusion between Taoism and Confucianism, to maintain the civilization of the Three Religions of the Same Origin: Vietnamese people living on their own, freely and peacefully follow Taoism. Living in society, they behave according to Confucianism. Living with the universe, they act according to Buddhism.

The Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian lifestyles have penetrated the marrow of the Vietnamese people, to the point that people do not need to know the doctrines of these religions, do not need to know what is Buddha, what is Taoism, what is Confucianism anymore. Until Christianity was transmitted from Europe, those who followed Christianity were called Daoists, the rest were Daoists. The two words Luong and Giao were the manifestation of a serious conflict in the ideological field, in political reality, up to now, a lot of blood has been shed on both sides. Luong and Giao here also represent the two civilizations of Asia and Europe. Luong belongs to the group of people being ruled. Religion belongs to the ruling element. When Confucianism and Christianity can be reconciled, no longer oppressing or overpowering each other, Vietnam will have peace and prosperity, the world will be in harmony, and humanity will enter a season of joy. Therefore, the current test in Vietnam, although small, has a representative value for the destiny of humanity.

Christianity brought the concept of Theosophy into Vietnam during the period of division between the North and the South. The people were immersed in a state of pleasure, the feudal government of the North lived in an atmosphere of competition between kings and lords, the struggle for the right to rule became more and more outrageous each day, and the problem of arrogant soldiers was rampant. The people were completely exhausted. The religions of the nation had been confined for too long, unable to transform in time before the invasion of Theosophy and European commercial technology, so the government could only react by banning them. For the people, the more strongly something was forbidden, the more they liked to follow it.

Moreover, the common thinking of mankind at that time was only at the level of theism, so the super-theistic teachings of the three religions became confused. Before the development of commercial civilization, before the reckless reaction of politics, before the chaos of the three religions, a "rebellious sentiment" broke out in the humanistic and intellectual circles. Dang Tran Con used the lonely feelings of a soldier's wife to protest against the war. Nguyen Du sketched the depraved face of society through the ill-fated life of Kieu, and the most lofty was On Nhu Hau using the hidden and desperate feelings of a concubine to condemn the backward and rotten feudal regime. Hatred of the harsh fate of God. Then it brings to light the perception of the tragic fate of human beings, under the friction of society, in the illusory cycle of the universe.

It can be said that, Cung Oan Ngam Khuc by On Nhu Hau aims to strike straight at the center of the strongest Confucian perception. Confucianism takes heaven as the root of the universe, takes the king as the root of society, takes humanity as the standard of living. Yet the king himself abandoned humanity to live with the satisfaction of private pleasures, burying alive countless talented and beautiful people who always cherished his desires in the forbidden palace. That selfish character of a social leader will lead to the destruction of humanity. Heaven itself is also full of many things, why create such miserable and teasing scenes? Creating mankind (?) with all kinds of sharp and brilliant traits and then inhumanely exiling people. Heaven is inhumane. The king is inhumane. How can one say that people are humane? The roots of Confucianism have rotted:

“On the nine platforms, do you know that
The guests are dressed in silk but are left cold
Why hate each other, oh winter wind
In the corner of the garden, holding a peach blossom
Why is the hand of creation so cruel
Tying people to play in a golden house
Sit with your hands on your hips, contemplating life
Wanting to cry out loud to avoid hatred”.

The Royal Concubine wanted to cry out loud, the Marquis of Wen Ru wanted to cry out loud, all the enlightened people wanted to cry out loud to avoid hatred. But what does it mean, society still jostles within the circle of fame and profit. The universe is still an illusion:

“The scent of wealth and honor tells the village to ride on horseback
The lure of glory and honor deceives the mandarin
The dream of a mandarin is cleverly unjust
Waking up, I see my teacher's eyes empty-handed
The peach and plum yard is blooming endlessly
The moonlit pavilion is dreaming
The room door is a vast sea of misfortune
The storm cleverly mocks the fame and profiteers”

The concubine, On Nhu Hau and the enlightened person all realize that life is a vast sea of misfortune, so they also decide to practice Buddhism, to escape from troubles, bitter suffering:

“The scent of the world is bitter
Why be happy while clinging to worldly affairs
The mirror of human affairs every afternoon
Would this body with the foundation of meditation be troubled
I would rather borrow the pleasure of wandering in the Buddha's door
I will definitely end the seven loves
Why be so busy
What joy in worldly affairs while hoping for humanity love"

But to practice, one must have the foundation, to practice, one must have the affinity to practice, if one is bored with life, one cannot practice. So, the practice of renunciation cannot be applied to everyone. So, how to solve the problem for those who cannot practice? But without cultivating, one is still trapped in the bitter cycle of worldly affairs, still trapped in the cycle of love and affection:

“The interesting thing is that all living things
Even though they are unconscious, they still know how to carry things
There is yin and yang, there is husband and wife
Even though they come from heaven and earth, they still have the cycle of husband and wife
The path of heavenly union is always snaking
How can one escape human love
Let's just turn away and remain silent
Let's see where the Creator will throw himself”

The concubine, On Nhu Hau and the intellectual who still owes a debt to the worldly fate refused the path of Zen practice, leaving their fate to the natural order, to after a period of ups and downs, reach the pinnacle of nobility, to live in a splendid royal palace, and to the point of being buried alive in a lonely room:

“The raindrops have fallen into the palace
I secretly rejoice that the fish and water are destined for clouds
The longer it lasts, the more fragrant it becomes
For the sake of those who are immersed indigo barrel hand
Who would have thought that suddenly it would become more and more pale year by year
The source of that cause was not removed but faded
Oh well, who knows the will of heaven
Suddenly it was gone and people became forgetful”.

The time of depression is when there is the most time, the most conditions for people to think about their own fate. The concubine, On Nhu Hau and the intellectual, regret that they did not know how to live earlier according to Lao Trang to enjoy a simple and natural life, to avoid many troubles, to avoid being sickened by the luxurious and slimy life:

“The rich and luxurious food is disgusting
The scent of the pear is light but delicious
Together in a royal palace
Wrapping each other, the little storks chirping, also in love
Did we know our fate
Why settle this vomit?
I would rather be a rustic and uncouth person
Even though my heart is coquettish, I wish for this flower”.

However, it was all too late, how could a talented and beautiful person destroy their talent and beauty, how could an intellectual spit out their intelligence. Having been known as talented and beautiful, I wanted to be at peace, but who would let me be at peace? Who would let Heaven be at peace? What has appeared is a natural phenomenon. Whether that phenomenon is a phenomenon of talent or an intellectual phenomenon, it is the same. Moreover, if one can refuse the glamorous life of consciousness, can one escape the brutal friction of nature?

“The power of heaven to create and bless is lost
A little comfort is not given to anyone
The spinning wheel is ready in the sky
A blurry human figure like a person walking at night
The image of a yellowed stone
The color of a zither and fish droops in the wind
The desolation of human affairs is over
The mountains and rivers are also illusory, the insects are also illusory”.

All things are illusory, all lie in an “illusory destiny”, that destiny according to the Imperial Concubine, according to the Marquis of On Nhu, according to the awakened person is not in the hands, in the clear consciousness of a powerful god but in the hands of a crazy, contrary-tempered boy:

“The child of creation is too cruel
Drowning people on dry land to play
The furnace of the world is burning
The painting of a cloud-shaped dog depicts a sad person
The temple of the rain temple has a moldy door
The pleasure of singing in the night is the cricket crying long
The flat land suddenly became full of thorns
Who brought the human image to be stained with the scent of the sunset?

Deadlock everywhere. The world no longer has a small way out for the human mind and fate. Life and existence appeared before the eyes of the concubine, On Nhu Hau and the awakened person like a painful dream:

“The world is like a dream
The mysterious machine opens and closes unpredictably
The appearance of eating and drinking is normal
There is also a predestined fate, which is quite pitiful
Demanding those who are devils and devils
The body is still in the stomach, the body is still in the stomach, the body is still in the stomach, the body is still in the stomach, no wonder when the baby is buried
He was born with the first cry
Crying because of the worldly passion
Who created the game of the sea and mulberry fields
White teeth until the hair turns white
Death, birth, fear, how many times did he do it
The life of success or failure almost dried up his hair
The end of the world is like burning the liver
The disease of the world demands to break the heart
The fire of the heart burns the intestines, the knife cuts the skin
The heel of fame and wealth is mixed with mud, the face is tanned by the sun, the smell of mulberry
Thinking of oneself The world is full of pain
Foam in the sea of suffering, duckweed on the shore of delusion.
The smell of worldly affairs numbs the tongue with bitterness
The path of life is pitted when it is rough
The waves of the sea are rough
The fragile boat is tossed about on the rapids”.

If the rebellious spirit of the Vietnamese intellectuals in the 18th century gradually sank along with the miserable fate of their nation, then the rebellious spirit of the European intellectuals in the 19th century had the ground and time to be qualified to become a large movement throughout the world. The founders of the current rebellious spirit movement were Kierkegaard (Danish) and Nietzsche (German), then thanks to Husserl's Phenomenological method and intellectuals such as Sartre, Camus... formed the Atheist existential front, Jaspers, G. Marcel, etc. forming the Theistic existential front.

The rebellious sentiments in ancient China and Vietnam in the past were all aimed at attacking purely rational ideological systems, old moral foundations, and corrupt regimes; they all appeared in times of chaos to make a comprehensive transformation for the coming day. After the great chaos of the Spring and Autumn period of Yang and Lao, after the Warring States period of Zhuang Zhou, there will certainly come the Qin and Han period. After the period of division of Wen Ru Hou, there will again be the time of unification of Tay Son and Nguyen Anh, and after the failed revolution of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, after the Second World War of Sartre and Camus, there will also come the time of world unity of humanity in the future. Thus, it means that historical circumstances are always the driving force for human cognition and human cognition is the transforming force of history.