So spring comes six weeks late because the first day the groundhogs come out of their burrows is sunny, if it rains that day, spring will come six weeks early. This is the weather experience of the Native Americans (Indian natives). This is similar to the Vietnamese, when they see the swallows return, they know spring has come, the swallows bring spring, herald spring. Animals have special abilities that humans do not have, such as they can predict earthquakes, tsunamis... even though humans are proud of being civilized and highly developed. For generations, people in both the East and the West have observed the behavior and lifestyle of animals to draw their own experiences: Weather forecasting (dragonflies flying low means rain/ flying high means sunshine, flying moderate means cloudy), forecasting the harvest (cicadas signal summer, swallows signal spring, deer in heat signal autumn, migratory birds signal winter)... Nowadays, people rely on advanced machinery and technology to forecast more accurately and quickly. However, the images of animals that signal spring such as groundhogs, swallows... are still in people's minds, because they are deeply ingrained in people's memories.

Spring has not officially arrived, the weather is still very cold, but on the peach branches there are countless young buds, on the ground there are clusters of daffodils, tulips, saffrons... All signs of spring are ready to spread their colors and fragrance.

Then spring comes, North America enters spring, flowers bloom in the fields, in the city and on the beach everywhere is vast Flowers, brilliant in color and fragrance, butterflies and bees bustling. All the grass and flower seeds sleeping underground simultaneously awaken after a long winter sleep. The whole world is bright in the spring sunshine, it can be said that there are thousands of colors and shades. Flowers from the garden, flowers throughout the small towns and cities, flowers are everywhere on the vast grasslands. The most indifferent person must exclaim: "Oh, flowers, so beautiful". The world awakens. Persephone returns to the world after six months in the underworld. She brings warm, radiant light, providing energy for plants, flowers and all species, and bountiful crops. She will be with humans and all species in this world for six months of spring and summer, this is her destiny. Greek mythology says so, she is the daughter of goddess Demeter and god Zeus, because of unfortunate circumstances, she has to marry Hades, the god of the underworld, and must endure a dark life in the underworld for six months every year. Those six months the world is cold, gloomy, and desolate... Only then to revive, grow and develop. When spring comes, that is when she returns to the human world. Is it her destiny or the law of nature? Growth and development then decline, decline and then rebirth in the next season. The cycle of birth and death is endless, without beginning or end, without beginning or end. This world is impermanent, everything is always in a state of change, decaying in every moment, nothing is permanent. Impermanence itself is eternal, forever changing and decaying. East and West have many differences but also have similarities, that is why we have the saying east meets west. Zen masters say: birth - existence - change - destruction or formation - existence - destruction - emptiness also have the same meaning. Zen masters go further, reaching the absolute truth, seeing the nature of no birth and no death right in birth and death. Birth is also due to causes and conditions, destruction is also due to causes and conditions; causes and conditions have no self-nature. Matter and all things and all species are also due to causes and conditions that gather and disperse, there is absolutely no "self", there is no What is independent? All things due to causes and conditions have no self-nature, exist but are not, are falsely existing. Emptiness is not emptiness but is emptiness, is the essence of human beings, of all things and of all natural and social phenomena. Emptiness is existence, existence is also emptiness, existence is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from existence... Prajna emptiness is a transcendent wisdom that cannot be discussed, analyzed or divided by words. The more words are used, the more confusing it becomes. However, without using words and writing, it is impossible to express even at a simple level. Therefore, we must temporarily borrow words and writings with the four hundred non-existent lines to temporarily explain. However, using words to explain emptiness is like using a blunt knife to split the silk thread of the light of the sun and the moon. Even if there is the first debate, even if there is a superior one among the four hundred non-existent lines, it cannot fully express the wonderful meaning of Prajna emptiness.

Spring comes, spring returns, spring arrives, spring arrives... that is birth and death, that is the coming and going. Only the spring of the enlightened one or enlightenment is eternal, neither coming nor going, neither born nor destroyed. “Don’t say that spring has ended and all the flowers have fallen, last night in the front yard apricot branches bloomed” – Zen master Man Giac. Flowers in the mind, in the soul, flowers of truth, flowers of the ultimate truth… how can they wither? because they are inherently neither born nor destroyed! That flower is the Dharma body, the Buddha Dharma body, the Dharma body of sentient beings, which is inherently neither born nor destroyed, neither dirty nor clean, neither increasing nor decreasing! Only the incarnation and transformation bodies have birth and death. The Dharma body of flowers, the Dharma body of spring forever flourishes in heaven and earth, covering the boundless universe, stretching from beginning to end.

The flower transformation body, the spring transformation body, is born and dies, coming and going every season, every year. When the groundhogs emerge, when the swallows soar in the void, the flower transformation body blooms again, bursting with fragrance and color; the spring transformation body returns, the earth and sky are radiant and splendid to infinity.

Spring in the foreign land and sky is so beautiful, so beautiful that it breaks the heart People. Animals, plants, and minerals are inanimate, unconscious, yet they seem to rejoice in spring. That is, the dependent retribution depends on the main retribution, and when the main retribution changes, the dependent retribution changes as well.

Spring in the foreign land remembers the spring of the old district with a whole sky of longing, a whole treasure of sparkling memories in the mind. Spring in the old district is bustling with sounds, brilliant in colors, sweet in flavor... Spring in the old district has red firecrackers, the sound of singing bai choi, hat boi, bingo; there are yellow apricots, red peaches, and many other flowers. There is the warm, fragrant smell of ginger stew and celebratory wine. Spring in the old district is filled with joy in going to village festivals, going to pagodas, visiting graves, worshiping at communal houses, giving lucky money to grandparents and parents, meeting friends...

Spring in the old district is also called Maitreya spring, which here is not only a religious meaning but also extended to the meaning of joy, happiness, tolerance... Maitreya spring, people live happily with each other, bringing joy to each other, ignoring the matter old, put aside grudges and conflicts, put aside differences to live together in the new spring, live in harmony with all creatures in heaven, earth and nature.