The sea is calm, the sky is clear, the moon is clear, the wind is cool, the world is peaceful... wonderful moments in the midst of a chaotic world, an impermanent world that is always changing. Xiu is happy with the water mist from all directions as if returning to the source. Xiu does not know what nirvana is, but in this moment it is like nirvana. With the water mist from all directions flying over fields, rivers, mountains, forests, cities, villages... leisurely, freely; without any bondage; without any trace of greed, anger, ignorance; without even the right and wrong of self; not at all related to the five desires and six dusts; and even without the seven emotions and six desires. Even Xiu himself, his relatives, have nothing to call me, mine, my self.

Oh my god, how can one describe a realm like this!

Once upon a time, Xiu read through history books that there was a Zen master Khong Lo who went up to a high mountain and howled so loudly that it shook the universe and chilled the entire void. Did you also experience a moment like this? Xiu was fortunate to be exposed to Buddhism, to study Buddhism with a childish mind full of trust but also no less naive. Buddhism has been passed down through 26 centuries, through many countries with many different cultural nuances, so there have been variations, changes, additions and subtractions to suit the cultural foundation of each country. The monks have combined Buddha's teachings and local culture to create branches of Buddhism suitable to the customs and disposition of the indigenous people. At first, Xiu, like all other Buddhists, did not see or know this, but later, Xiu realized it. Now Xiu can affirm that: Feng shui, asking for lots, fortune telling, choosing dates and times, praying for funerals, calling on gods to enter statues, exorcising ghosts, warding off bad luck, praying to stars, praying for funerals... are not Buddhism, Buddhist teachings do not have those things, they are local beliefs, folk beliefs. This reminds Xiu of a story written by a writer from a certain country: “There was a man who was born with a healthy body, beautiful and well-proportioned facial features, clear and functional six senses. However, he traveled through many places and was influenced by the customs, culture, and aesthetics of the local people. He tattooed his whole body, pierced his ears, his tongue, his nose, his eyebrows, and his hands and feet with many kinds of bracelets and necklaces... The more he did so, the more confident he was that he was beautiful, and the local people also liked him very much. However, when he returned home, his family looked at him with astonishment, and some of them did not recognize him as the handsome and healthy man he used to be. Many people condemned him for being too disgusting, destroying his previously healthy and beautiful body.” That was roughly the story, Xiu read it and now saw that the man’s story was exactly like the current state of Buddhism. Buddhism is now being forced and assigned all sorts of nonsense. Xiu only hopes that everyone will see clearly, even though they are forced and distorted in many ways, but Buddhists should follow the basic teachings: the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the 37 Bodhipakṣa factors, and practice them in accordance with the Dharma and reason.

Xiu knows that studying and practicing Buddhism, no matter what tradition, sect, or lineage, one must maintain the basic teachings. If one abandons the basic teachings, it will fail. The basic teachings are like the foundation of a house. If one builds a house but only desires its size, its stripes, its flashy colors, but lacks a foundation, no matter how big the house is, it will collapse. The more massive it is, the faster it will collapse without a foundation.

Xiu flies through the worlds in the ten directions of water mist, thanks to that, he knows that this world has the Buddha Dharma, and there are many other worlds that do not. The Saha world belongs to the Southern Jambudvipa. Saha means patience, enduring the unpleasant, suffering... Because of suffering, Buddha appeared in the world to bring the Dharma to teach people to escape suffering. Because of suffering, there are people who listen, believe and practice Buddhism. As for the North Cau Lo Chau, Tay Nguu Hoa Chau... there is no Buddhism because there is no suffering, life is natural, food and clothing are natural, life is long. Even if Buddha preached the Dharma, no one would listen, no one would believe and of course no one would practice and study. From this story, Xiu remembered the principle of dependent origination, the principle of interbeing. Because Saha is suffering, Buddha appeared in the world and there is Buddhism. If there is no suffering, there is no Buddhism. If Saha one day ends suffering, Buddhism will also disappear. Other lands, because there is no suffering, also do not have Buddhism. When this exists, that exists; when this arises, that arises; when this ceases, that ceases.

The last days of the year are bustling, people are busy, inside and outside the country everyone is busy working, shopping to prepare for the holidays. Just a little bit of water mist flies everywhere, wandering and playing, I feel sorry for people. I don't know why people have to suffer like this. The days are busy, the whole life is busy, life after life is busy. People don't have a moment of peace, happiness, freedom, and serenity. Being busy all their lives, when they lie down, they leave everything behind and go into a dark realm, the vast majority have less good than bad. If only people knew Buddhism, spent time on Buddhism, and created a little bit of provisions, then when they leave, it wouldn't be so bad. What can we do now? That is why the Buddha said: "Having a human body is as rare as the dirt stuck between the fingernails, losing a human body is like the dirt on the earth."

Xiu flew over the human world and saw that Buddhism is present in all five continents today, however, Buddhism is still only popular in a few Southeast Asian countries, while in Europe, America and Africa, only a few people know about it! Although it is so rare, Europeans and Americans, once they have studied Buddhism, are extremely diligent, devoting all their energy to their studies. Since the 19th century, there was a French white woman, Alexandra David Neel, who left the city of light, Paris, to travel to Tibet and then studied Buddhism for ten years. She sat in a mountain cave to meditate. She was not only a diligent nun but also a writer and received the prestigious Gold Medal of the Geographical Society of France. Also in the 19th century, many European scholars translated Buddhist scriptures into English, they spread Buddhism in Europe, for example: F. Max Muller (British), George Turnour (British), Eugene Burnouf (French), Christian Lassen (German)... In modern times, there was an English nun named Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo who spent 12 years practicing in Tibet, during which time she spent many years in seclusion sitting in a stone cave with the minimum amount of food that the villagers offered every two weeks. The nun was extremely diligent and wise, studying Buddhism, Tibetan language, translating scriptures, writing books and she once made a vow: "I wish to attain enlightenment in a female form no matter how many lifetimes it takes". Reading such shining examples of practice made Xiu so impressed that she could not speak, she could only prostrate herself on the ground and pay homage.

In the last months of the year, the history and Buddhist history of Vietnam has another great event, which is the anniversary of the passing of the elder, the superior man, the stone pillar of the forest, the sixth patriarch Thich Tue Si. No matter what words of praise are used, it is impossible to fully describe his merits and virtues. An outstanding talent. An artist surpassing ordinary people. A brave, diligent, and erudite master in the Zen forest. A great, fearless scholar-Zen master in the flow of Buddhist history of Vietnam. A person like him is likely to come only once in several hundred years. On the occasion of his first anniversary, Xiu followed the water mist from ten directions to fly back to that land and saw the four groups solemnly performing the memorial service. The Buddha temple was sacred and extremely cozy. Xiu prostrated before his spirit tablet, because Xiu had no form, no one knew. Xiu trembled as he bowed to him, his heart filled with indescribable emotions. After that, Xiu flew around the temple where On returned to recuperate at the end of his life. There was only one thing Xiu could not understand: with such greatness and stature, the whole world knew and admired him, yet right in his own country there were a large number of monks and laymen who did not know him. Most of his fellow Buddhists worshiped Buddha but no one mentioned him. It cannot be blamed on the suppression, protection, concealment, blockade, and prohibition of the secular power... What can the dragon in the clouds have that can shield it? What power can the sound of the Dharma drum have that can cover it? What power can the light of the torch of wisdom have that can cover it? Knowing or not knowing is up to oneself. Those people in the ranks of monks and laymen have separation, division, self-limitation, self-blindness, self-earing, self-sewing, self-sewing.

Xíu has traveled in the ten directions of water and dust from the past to the present, through both ancient and modern times, throughout the inside and outside, east and west. Flying from early morning to late night or even on dark nights. Sometimes Xiu feels like a wanderer, forgetting life, forgetting people, forgetting the world, forgetting his body and mind. Xiu laughs loudly, splashing crystal clear water drops onto the ground. The reason Xiu laughs is because he sees his own image in the verse:

Once wandering in ten directions
Forgetting one person, still loving another - (poem by Pham Thien Thu)

The same poet, also in the poetry collection Dong Hoa Vang, wrote:

Half a life wandering in clouds and water
The Zen master picked grass to offer to the Buddha's body.

This sentence makes many people doubt: "What is the point of offering just a blade of grass?". There are too many deluded monks and lay people who think that offerings must be big temples, big Buddhas, lavish ceremonies, noisy sounds, flashy colors, and a lot of offerings... These are just forms, illusions! Once deluded, any amount of offerings is deluded. Once enlightened, a blade of grass or a flower is an offering that can fill the ten directions. Offerings are not about material quantity or false appearance. The most precious and noble offering is sincerity, a pure mind. In the past, when Buddha was still alive, an old beggar woman offered a lamp with a little oil, yet her lamp was brighter than all the lamps of the princes and nobles. The old woman's lamp could not be extinguished when the monks used their supernatural powers to extinguish it. It could not be extinguished, that was the lamp of the mind, that was the offering from a pure mind. The Zen master picking that blade of grass to offer is a heart-wrenchingly beautiful image, and also a reminder for deluded people. From a pure mind, from a pure offering, all ten directions can manifest, endlessly. From one mind come the ten dharma realms, from this mind come Buddhas, demons, and also from one mind come the boundless dust and water of the ten directions.