If someone asks: “Why do you write so much and not rest? It’s better to concentrate on writing a valuable work than writing miscellaneous articles like that.” I will answer: “If you can write, then write. If you wait until you write well, who knows when you will be able to write an article. There are many people who wait their whole lives without writing, and when they want to write, they no longer have the strength.” Indeed, life has many difficulties like that, and we cannot control our own time and health. Therefore, I advocate that: “Whatever can be done today, we should do it, because if we wait until tomorrow, that tomorrow will often no longer be with us. No matter how old we are, no matter how many years we live in this world, one day we will have to leave, and time will not spare us, no matter how hard we try to hold on to it. Even with our family members, we think that they are always close to us and that they belong to a part of our lives, but we are wrong. In the end, nothing is ours, not even property, wealth, relatives, position, education, degrees, etc. All of them will be nothing but a huge zero like flower petals falling in the wind.”
Living 67 years in this world, I have witnessed countless separations of many people, including myself, and also for relatives and friends near and far, especially Buddhists. passed away and I came to help them. This time in particular, I just want to record my feelings when facing these separations. Two years ago, on August 8, 2013, the late Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam, Abbot of Khanh Anh Pagoda in France, who was also the former President of the Executive Council of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation in Europe, passed away without a word to his disciples and members of the Congregation. During the past two years, we have been together with the Venerables in the Congregation and his monastic and lay disciples to continue to shoulder the responsibility of the Congregation, especially the construction of the Khanh Anh pagoda, which is still in the unfinished stage. Finally, the European Congregation was able to organize important ceremonies from August 13 to 16, 2015; with thousands of Buddhists from all over the world and more than 300 monks and nuns from all over the world attending. This is an achievement, a pride of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha in Europe in general as well as the Dharma disciples of the late Venerable Minh Tam in particular.
The Khanh Anh Great Ordination Platform gathered more than 40 candidates from 10 countries in Europe as well as America, among them 10 candidates from France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Scotland, etc. This Ordination Platform has opened up a way for Westerners, especially women, who have been ordained with Tibetan Buddhist schools for more than 30 years or more than 20 years but have not yet received the Sramanerika and Bhikkhuni ordination, since receiving the Sramanerika ordination. We have built a bridge for these Western women, and in the future, after they have received the Bhikkhuni ordination and have completed five or more rainy seasons of the Rains Retreat, they can accept disciples and if they have ten nuns, they can begin to transmit the precepts to European and American nuns, so that they have the opportunity to access the Buddha's teachings in the spirit of the Four-Part Vinaya, which Vietnamese nuns are practicing. This is the highlight of the Khanh Anh Ordination Platform on August 13 and 14, 2015.
Next, the Ceremony of Reuniting the Great Patriarchs (Returning to the Source 9) was solemnly held on the 15th with presentations on the life stories of Patriarch Khuong Tang Hoi and Patriarch Khanh Anh. In addition, on the 13th and 14th, there were "reunion tea talks" as well as "Young Monks and Nuns Discussions" etc., which made the atmosphere of the Returning to the Source Day even more vivid. A TV station from the United States interviewed me: "Dear Master, many people in the United States, when hearing the two words Returning to the Source, think of this organization as being related to Communism. So, please tell us your opinion on this issue." I replied: “Nine years ago, at Phap Van Pagoda in Toronto, Canada, the first Return to the Source was held. Nearly 100 monks and nuns attended, and then the media shouted that Return to the Source was the return to Communism, but I would like to inform you that Communism does not have a national origin to return to. Moreover, during the past nine years, among the nearly 100 monks and nuns who attended that first time, none were Communists. Please help me.” That was my simple answer. In these free countries, people have the right to criticize constructively, but not to slander and label. If they say they do, but lack evidence to prove it, then the current law will be severely punished. There have been many such cases, and I ask those who often label others or slander others without evidence to take that as an example. In my opinion, we should see the good and beauty of others, our mind will be more peaceful; If we only see the bad and wrong things of the other person, our mind will always be upset. Nguyen Dao Van Cong Tuan once wrote: "There are many people who only want to look for worms in the leaves, but they only see worms and never see the leaves." Please remember that we are the ones who study the virtues of the Saints to practice according to the Saints, not that we are Saints. Therefore, people still make mistakes, which is normal, there is nothing difficult to understand.
Saturday night, August 15, "Remembrance of the transcendental monk" made many people feel sorry and remember Master Minh Tam. Tears still flowed involuntarily as if to remember a Master who had devoted his life to the Church as well as other great public works. The next day, August 16, 2015 was the ribbon cutting day (although not yet officially permitted by the French government, because the main works were not yet completed), but the Venerables as well as Buddhists everywhere were happy to see this image, after 20 years of construction. The ceremony of the Patriarchs' Commemoration and the reading of the thoughts of the Overseas Buddhist monks and nuns as well as the Great Memorial Ceremony of the late Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam were held very solemnly and respectfully. Next was the consecration of the Abbot for Venerable Thich Quang Dao and Nun Dieu Tram. Venerable Quang Dao will take care of the new temple in Evry with the advice of the Venerables in the European Buddhist Church as well as the Lieu Quan sect near and far. To run this great temple, Venerable Quang Dao needs the support of the Venerables and Venerable Monks in the General Departments of the Buddhist Church. The inner temple will be managed by Venerable Quang Dao as well as the brothers and sisters and lay Buddhists. Nun Dieu Tram also gave a very strong and touching speech when Most Venerable Thich Tanh Thiet handed over the authority to be the Abbot of the old Khanh Anh Pagoda in Bagnneux, where the late Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam had been the Abbot from 1977 until 2013. These are extremely beautiful images of the Grand Ceremonies held at Khanh Anh Pagoda these days. Although one petal has fallen, two petals have grown to continue the path that their Master has worked so hard to cultivate over the past 40 years. Next was the offering of food to the monks and nuns present. This is probably the largest number of monks and nuns in Europe present these days at Khanh Anh Pagoda to attend the Grand Ceremonies just presented. Surely, somewhere far away, Venerable Minh Tam looked towards the Great Temple of Khanh Anh and smiled happily for the work of transmitting the lamp and continuing the flame that had been carried on in this way.
In August 2015, in the United States and Canada, three flower petals fell at the same time on the 3rd, 18th and 20th. They were the late Venerable Dharma Master Thich Giac Nhien, Abbot of Minh Dang Quang Temple in Westminster, California, who passed away at the age of 93. Next was Venerable Thich Vien Dieu, Abbot of Thuyen Ton Temple in Montreal, Canada, who passed away at the age of 62, and another famous and virtuous monk, the late Venerable Supreme Elder Thich Tam Chau, who passed away at the age of 95 after 84 years of practicing Buddhism and 74 years of practicing Buddhism in all parts of Vietnam and the five continents and four oceans for more than 40 years now, there is no place where his image is not present. I will write about these three special flowers of the Mendicant Dharma Sect, the Lieu Quan Dharma Sect and the Truc Lam Yen Tu Dharma Sect. Of course there will be many shortcomings, I respectfully hope that the Venerables and the learned friends will supplement them. Thank you very much.
The Mendicant Sect was founded by Minh Dang Quang in the first half of the 20th century and only exists in Vietnam, there is no such Sect in the world, except for Vietnamese monks who went to America or other continents and brought this Mendicant tradition of Vietnam to establish it. According to the two-volume "Truth" passed down by Minh Dang Quang, he first practiced Mahayana in Vietnam, then he went to Cambodia to study Zen with Southern monks and finally he returned to Vietnam to establish this Mendicant Sect. The monks and nuns ate vegetarian food and went begging for food, which was most popular in the South of Vietnam. And in 1954, Minh Dang Quang disappeared. Since then, his disciples traveled everywhere to establish monasteries and teach sentient beings in the form of poetry and prose composed or translated from Mahayana sutras. The late Most Venerable Thich Giac Nhien was the last disciple of Patriarch Minh Dang Quang. He came to America to escape communism in the early 80s and established about 20 monasteries, monasteries, and monasteries related to the mendicant sect in the United States. His lecture tapes were sent everywhere, so Buddhists had the opportunity to listen and practice. At the end of his life, he suffered from illness for 9 years and on August 3, 2015, he passed away at the age of 93 and over 60 years of monastic life. This was a great loss to the Vietnamese mendicant Sangha both at home and abroad. Afterwards, his body was brought back to Vietnam and cremated in Saigon. His Dharma disciples held important ceremonies to remember the past grace of a great Master who had worked hard to educate his disciples to become good people.
About 3 months ago, our European and American Dharma Propagation Delegation visited Canada and heard that Venerable Vien Dieu, Abbot of Thuyen Ton Pagoda in Montreal, was seriously ill, so we visited him and he said: "The doctor has given up and let him return to the pagoda to rest, he will probably leave in 3 months." I heard it was a bit sudden, because the news came from the Master himself, and besides, he was only 62 years old, so it was not too pessimistic. However, on August 18, 2015, he passed away forever. Venerable Vien Dieu belonged to the Lieu Quan Dharma Sect. This sect was formed in Dang Trong at the end of the 17th century by Master Nguyen Thieu who came from China to teach. Patriarch Lieu Quan was from Song Cau, Phu Yen, and went to Hue to study the Dharma and attained the Dharma with Master Nguyen Thieu. And since the beginning of the 18th century until now, in Hue in particular as well as throughout the Central region and overseas today, many Venerables belong to this Zen sect. Venerable Lieu Quan is Vietnamese, so this Zen sect is developing very strongly all over the world today. Venerable Vien Dieu passed away, leaving behind 3 temples in Canada and certainly the Lieu Quan sect will send someone to take charge.
On July 7, At Mui year, which is August 20, 2015, the Supreme Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in the World passed away in Montreal at the age of 95. He became a monk in Ninh Binh at the age of 11, and received the Bhikkhu precepts at the age of 21, so he had 74 years in Zen, and was one of the Elders of Vietnamese Buddhism. That was the late Venerable Thich Tam Chau, he belonged to the Truc Lam Yen Tu sect of the Emperor Tran Nhan Ton. In 1954, following the wave of communist refugees, he left the North for the South and established or sponsored many pagodas in South Vietnam such as Vinh Nghiem, Giac Minh, Vietnam Quoc Tu, etc. During the turbulent period of Buddhism being suppressed by the Ngo Dynasty, he was the Head of the Inter-Sect Committee for the Protection of Buddhism to dialogue with the Ngo Dynasty government and after the successful revolution on November 1, 1963, he was elected as the first Abbot of the Institute of Propagation of Buddhism of the Unified Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam from 1964. In 1966, the Church split into two parts, An Quang and Vietnam Quoc Tu. He played many important roles in many different periods of Vietnamese Buddhism. On April 30, 1975, he once again sought refuge from communism in France. In France, he established Tu Quang Pagoda, then Hong Hien Pagoda, and then went to the United States and Canada to advise Giac Hoang Pagoda, Lien Hoa Pagoda, and then he returned to Montreal to establish Tu Quang Pagoda. In 1984, he founded the World Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam at Lien Hoa Brossard Temple in Canada and he became the Supreme Patriarch. In 2014, exactly 30 years later, he solemnly celebrated the 30th anniversary of the founding of this organization at Vien Quang Monastery in the United States.
He has experienced nearly a century. Therefore, there are countless things that have been said, but as the author of this article, I respectfully pay homage to him as he did many times when he attended the important ceremonies of Vien Giac Temple in Hannover in 1991 (General Assembly of the Executive Committee of the World Sangha Council), 2003 (ceremony of handing over the position of Abbot) and 2008 (ceremony of being ordained as Most Venerable). Every time we went to Canada, we asked for permission to pay respect to him and each time we heard his heartfelt teachings on the harmony of the Sangha as well as the efforts to develop Buddhism in various places, etc. I received many of his tapes of poetry and sutras, listened to and read them. Each word, each phrase seemed to be recalled somewhere. I should have gone to Tu Quang Temple in Montreal, Canada to see him off for the last time, but many representatives from the European Church had already come to pay respect to his coffin, and Vu Lan Day was too close, so I could not go to Canada. As he once intimately instructed: "Master Nhu Dien, don't forget me!" "Yes! I will never forget you and your activities throughout the long history of Vietnam and Vietnamese Buddhism, and I will come to Tu Quang Temple on future occasions, just as your image appeared in the Montreal sky at 10 p.m. on August 21, 2015, when your body was taken to the funeral home. Yes! The manifestations of that great flower petal are like the “Heart Flower Petals” that He composed, creating wonderful Moral poems to leave to the World.
Sooner or later, everyone will have a day to leave like that, so from now on we should be ready to accept the joys and worries of life and let life flow forever, not waiting, not denying, but accepting it as it is, then everything will pass.
The flower petals falling in the sky of Europe and America today in the 21st century have reminded us of the flower petals of the past, when the Buddha was still alive, and in the Samyutta Nikaya, Ananda one day told the World-Honored One:
“Dear Lord, I am picking up a flower branch, when I smell it, its fragrance spreads everywhere, feeling very gentle and fragrant. Even its branches and leaves are fragrant. Not only that! Sir, I even smell its roots and find them fragrant. I wonder if there is any flower that can fly against the wind in all directions?
Ananda! Yes, there is. That is the fragrance of lay Buddhists who keep the five precepts. That is the fragrance of lay Buddhists who keep the precepts carefully for six days, on the 8th, 23rd, 14th, 15th, 30th, and 1st of the lunar month. That is the fragrance of lay Buddhists who keep the eight precepts in all directions on those days. This fragrance, even against the wind, can fly in all directions.” Like that, the fragrance of virtuous people, even against the wind, can fly in all directions, even among lay Buddhists, the Buddha still praises and extols it like that; And here, as we have seen above, the Great Masters entered the world, carrying with them so many vows to spread the message to all living beings, and the fragrance of precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and liberating knowledge still spreads everywhere in this universe.
When we remember them, it also means that we want to follow their vows, enter the world, and devote ourselves to the Dharma. No matter how dangerous our lives are, we still do not retreat before the adversities that test our hearts. Only then can we be worthy of being disciples of the Buddha. Today, the Dharma is weak, the devil is strong, so the forces of ignorance are lurking around us. So let us be more courageous to enter the world, we must do as Ananda vowed in the Shurangama Sutra:
In the evil age of the five turbidities, I vow to enter first
If there is a single sentient being who has not yet become a Buddha
Then I will not enter Nirvana.
Be brave and diligent, like a king elephant charging into battle. We must face ignorance and we must transform ignorance into wisdom and transform afflictions into Bodhi. This is the duty of a Buddhist practitioner. Please pray for all of us to have such strong faith in the Three Jewels and in ourselves.
Trong sự tu tập nhẫn nhục, kẻ oán thù là người thầy tốt nhất của ta. (In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.)Đức Đạt-lai Lạt-ma XIV
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