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In Vietnam, there are two beliefs that are deeply feminine and are worshiped everywhere: Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and the Virgin Mary. Statues of the two are built everywhere from North to South.

If you look from afar, it is difficult to distinguish who is Buddha and who is the Virgin Mary, because both are of similar height, both wear white clothes and both have halos. But when you get closer, one is European and American, and the other is Asian. Let me open a parenthesis here, although Jesus and Maria were both Jews, they were not Jews of the modern era that had been heavily Europeanized, however, the Christian culture was upgraded by the Roman Empire to the state religion and dominated Europe from the 4th century until now, so let alone pagans, even Christians, there are people who think Jesus and Maria were Europeans and Americans like the Chinese who worshiped Amitabha Buddha all their lives but never knew Shakyamuni Buddha.

Bodhisattva Quan Am always has a vase of nectar in her hand and a willow branch in the other hand, or if she is sitting, she is in the lotus position like Buddha. Whether standing or sitting, Buddha sits on a lotus throne, sometimes she sits on a dragon's head if she is out at sea, or very rarely she sits on a one-horned dragon-headed fish that the people of Da Nang dug up and offered to Quan Am Pagoda, becoming a national treasure of Vietnam. As for the Virgin Mary, she either clasps her hands or raises them as if welcoming her children to her bosom, or carries a very long rosary, like the statue of Our Lady of Mang Den. She often appears in the clouds, on walls, on doors or in dreams. She especially likes to appear and talk to uneducated shepherd children in remote, deserted areas.

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara does not exist in Southern Buddhist countries such as Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia or Sri Lanka.

In India, she is called Avalokiteśvara, which is made up of the word Īśvara, meaning ''lord'' combined with the word avalokita, the past participle of the verb avalok ''observe'' (lok) ''below'' (ava). If translated literally, it should be translated as The Lord Looking Down From Above. He is neither male nor female, of course not a travesty or "again" if anyone wants to go further to satirize, because in Buddhism, male or female is just a manifestation determined by karma, while Buddha and Bodhisattva go far beyond karma, so there is no need to be limited by the gender of male or female like ordinary people.

When translated into Chinese, Avalokiteshvara became Quan The Am, which means to contemplate, to consider, to listen. It is rumored that the Chinese, because of the taboo name of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, called Quan The Am Quan Am.

In the common sense, Buddha is the one who always listens to the sound of suffering in the world to save it, so people also call him the Great Compassionate Great Compassionate Great Sound Saver of Suffering and Disaster Miraculous Response Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Compassion is giving joy, and compassion is saving from suffering, so not only does he save from suffering, he also gives joy, and because in the Buddhist meaning of Dana Paramita there are three types of Dana including Dana of Wealth, Dana of Dharma, and Dana of Fearlessness, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva also gives Dana of Fearlessness, which means giving confidence, removing fear when facing danger or even when facing death. Those who often fail because of lack of confidence in life will find that self-confidence, steadfastness, and determination are sometimes more valuable than knowledge and money.

Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is also called Avalokiteshvara, which further strengthens his practice of fearlessness, because Avalokiteshvara is the one who contemplates the nature of all dharmas, especially the five aggregates, all of which have no self-nature, are all false combinations, are not real, then immediately all fear, all insecurity, will be replaced by the present mind of Freedom, worries will disappear like mist when illuminated by sunlight.

In addition to the two titles above, he is sometimes also called the White-Robed Great Being. Legend has it that Bodhidharma, who passed the robe and bowl to the East, was an incarnation of the White-Robed Great Being.

Avalokitesvara, in short, Avalokiteshvara, is the one who examines voices, both inside and outside; is to listen, and to listen to the soundless sound.

With just the practice of listening within, people can soothe all their own pain, and when they are surrounded by a fresh, letting go, loving atmosphere towards themselves - suddenly feeling sorry for themselves - then that energy spreads and soothes everyone around them, be it a bird, a branch, or an ant. Only when people know how to listen within, can they project outward to listen to the universe. Only when people know how to listen, in a state of deep contemplation of the dharmas, can they also hear the soundless sound.

Buddhism's compassion is not purely between people and people. The Compassion of Buddhism does not only extend to all sentient beings.

The Compassion of Buddhism is profound and covers all dharmas. If we go deeply into the Dharma Realm of Interpenetrating Dependent Origination of the Avatamsaka, that Compassion becomes one and all, all is one. Because of that compassion, a polluted puddle of water is a part of our body and mind that is also polluted. A poor, sick person with no money for medicine is our own body and mind that is poor, sick and hungry.

Today, in its increasingly high development, Europe has unintentionally caught up with the Dharma Realm of Avatamsaka. The environmental movements here have brought people to the center of political and social demands, bringing them very close to the vision of One Is All and All Is One. Ecologist parties have proven that humans and nature are two interdependent entities that depend on each other and cannot be separated. Only when one is healthy can the other be stable. Only when humans are clean can lakes, rivers, and seas be clean. Both need to protect each other and be "compassionate" to each other so that both sides can live in peace and happiness. Being cruel to the environment is like climbing a tree and sawing off the branch you are sitting on. Unfortunately, selfish humans have damaged the Ozone layer (O3) that protects the earth. Humans have cut mountains, filled rivers, destroyed forests, and dumped into nature the garbage produced by human greed and selfishness. The earth has been brutally beaten by humans like a violent husband mercilessly beating his wife. The earth has been injured, fatal wounds have begun to torment it. The earth roars with pain, groans through terrible storms, and cries through floods. That is the result of the lack of compassion in human behavior towards the universe and nature.

European Ecologist movements have designed a harmonious harmony between humans and the natural universe, between humans and humans. They oppose any means of technical civilization that pollutes the environment, such as the use of nuclear power, the burning of coal or charcoal; they oppose war, in any form; they oppose social injustice, regardless of skin color or race; they oppose domination and colonialism, whether cultural colonialism or religious colonialism. For the movement to respect the environment, domination, oppression, class distinction, and distinction of cultural traditions are synonymous with inhumanity, harm to life, and damage to the harmony of the world.

Buddhism's compassion is based on selflessness, so compassion also means that no one gives, no one receives; no human form, no self form, no living being form, no life form; like the heart pumps blood to the lungs, the lungs bring oxygen into the blood, the blood transfers oxygen to the brain, the brain brings sensation to the whole body and vice versa... fortunately the organs in our body treat each other completely "Paramita" like Bodhisattvas, so no one fights, no organ has the selfish intention of taking all the nutrients for itself, no organ is in conflict with any other organ, every organ loves the cells equally as it loves itself, one place hurts, the whole body hurts, we give our all to everyone, and everyone gives their all to us. If just one of the organs in the human body accumulates more nutrients than necessary, that organ will gradually cause illness, like having too much fat or sugar in the blood, too much fat in the liver, etc.

Understood like this, Quan Am means observing, examining, listening, and being present immediately wherever there is sadness and suffering, so that even the two words compassion become redundant, because has the sun ever given life to the earth because it is compassionate and full of mercy towards humanity?

Compassion makes people and the universe move from being narrow, shy, and suspicious to understanding, close, and trusting. From there, there are no doors to block the two sides, outside and inside.

Compassionate people and the egoless universe are like two branches of a river merging before disappearing into the ocean of Non-duality.

Compassion is communication without deception, communication without boundaries between giver and receiver, opening wide the door of separation. That door is the Universal Gate in the Lotus Sutra, which Zen people call the Gateless Gate, meaning that when the five aggregates cover it, there is no entrance; but when the five aggregates are removed, there is no door that needs to be opened. Here, according to Buddhist terminology, it is the roots of perfect communication, all things are unobstructed. In Vietnam, the great compassion of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara has blended into the hearts of the nation, naturally becoming MOTHER VIETNAM, mentioned by Pham Duy in the epic Mother Vietnam through the lyrics:

Paying debts on behalf of her husband, she still keeps her heart pure and clean. Mother is little Kinh Tam Going to the temple to clear the name Oh pity for the children crying in the garden, stray children Oh compassionate Mother This drop of blood, Mother accepts as her child, Mother Vietnam.

Also in Vietnam, if there is someone who can bring the mind of Bodhisattva Quan The Am into the social classes, that person is not the monks, the high monks, even though they are the teachers, but a poet, that poet's name is Pham Thien Thu, and the one who secretly realizes the profound meaning of the manifestation, entering the life of Quan Am's virtue, is the music of Pham Duy through the song Quan The Am that even Khanh Ly, a devout Christian, does not hesitate to sing.

Quan The Am is the mother who always longs to find her child, searching until her eyes go blind, searching until she is foolish, wandering on the hill of white flowers, on the bank of the river of purple orchids...

... Then, one day Mother died, Mother's breath in the sky has not yet ended Embracing the whole world, full and empty, humanity mourns her Mother's heart becomes the ocean, Mother's blood become rivers, become water Oh life in misery, Mother loves, shines light from the light.... Quan Am incarnates as rivers, as water, as reeds, as the ocean, as clouds, as very far galaxies or very near dust particles, and then, simply becomes the common mother for all living beings.

... Now Mother has become a dream, Mother's breath turns into wind Four seasons sitting everywhere listening, Mother's lullaby is nostalgic In the past, Mother was looking for her child, Mother's lullaby was sad everywhere Now she has manifested as a common Mother, Mother's lullaby is gentle...

The song only has a title with religious overtones, other than that, the content does not mention the two words Quan Am or touch on Buddhism, does not talk about extraordinary things like going into fire and fire going out, going into a mountain of knives and the mountain of knives turning into paper, but simply sings about a mother's love for her child, boundless, not knowing of herself (blind eyes), vast as the ocean, mountains and rivers, and then in the end, Mother dies, turns the universe, just because of love for her child.

But I believe that there is no miracle or magic more magical and sweet than a mother holding her child in her arms. Just a mother holding her child in her arms, very gently, and lulling her child to sleep in her warm arms so that the child can smell the most fragrant scent of all, that is the miracle above all miracles in this vast world - the universe, the mother is the universe, holding the human being in her arms, the true nature of Vairocana World - the realm of the Interpenetrating Dependent Origination of Buddha Vairocana in the Avatamsaka Sutra, like the clusters of amas and grand amas of the galaxies - appears silently and without image, and this reality, this miracle, is real, not empty, empty promises, only after death.

In 2001, when the whole world was seething with condemnation of Bin Laden for having collapsed the twin towers in New York, the symbol of the world stock market, Zen master Nhat Hanh alone expressed the opinion that we must listen to Mr. Bin Laden. The reaction of the whole world is that almost everyone sees him as an accomplice of Bin Laden, they almost want to eat him alive, even Buddhists in America are no exception. The biblical phrase "slap one cheek and turn the other" seems to be only for decoration in bold in libraries and on the walls of churches. And although almost all of America is Christian, they only love their enemies when they go door to door to preach.

If humanity had listened to Bin Laden, had thought about helping Muslim peoples, and Muslim people would also practice listening, then perhaps there would be no 9/11 and millions of people living in the Middle East would not have had to leave their countries, deaths would not have happened every day, bombs would not have plowed up the earth, ISIS would have had no reason to exist, the armies of the superpowers would not have needed to be present, billions of dollars instead of being spent on weapons of war could have been used to build peaceful lands where birds could nest, feeding millions of poor people and they would not have had to leave their homeland. One surprise for me is that, when Muslims crossed the Mediterranean Sea to seek peace and freedom in Europe, the former Vietnamese boat people never voiced their support or called for help, but instead looked down on them simply because the Arabs were different from us in terms of race, culture and religion.

Don't think that this is just a theory, a fantasy.

In fact, the practice of listening, within the limits of the secular world, is not difficult to practice, but simply no one wants to practice it.

Great people or successful people are those who know how to listen.

Listening or observing sounds also means calming the mind, focusing all attention or concentrating observation on a topic, unifying subject and object into a boundless, non-subject and object. People who focus on the inside of the body often practice medicine, discovering the basic rules of pathology such as Karl Landsteiner (discovering blood types), Thomas Hunt Morgan (discovering chromosome inheritance), Selman Waksman (discovering streptomycin against tuberculosis), Alexander Fleming (discovering penicillin). People who focus on the outside often discover the laws and operations of the physics of the universe, which are the basis for scientists such as Archimedes, Pythagoras, Newton, Einstein, Bohr. People who know how to listen both inside and outside are often philosophers such as Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Parmenides, Heraclide, Aristotle, Plato, Heraclide du Pont. People who listen to the highs and lows and rhythm of sounds are musicians such as Bach, Brahms, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin. People who know how to listen to images or colors tell stories are painters such as Van Gogh, Gaugin, Picasso or genius writers such as Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Hugo, Hesse, Kazantzakis. People who listen to dissenting opinions are often political leaders like the first Greek democratic legislators: Solon, Clisthene, Ephialte.

In general, let's listen, the act of listening will not make us lose, on the contrary, it will sublimate our lives. Let's listen sincerely, everything in the universe has secrets to reveal to us. Just listen with all our hearts, the dust particles will sing us unexpected songs.

The act of listening, compassion, and an open heart are inherent qualities of all living beings. Avalokitesvara is the nature of the entire universe, including humans.

We should distinguish between listening and eavesdropping. Listening is sharing, while eavesdropping is spying, appropriating, and scheming.

Listening is the heritage and nature of humanity, not just Buddhism. But listening for Avalokiteshvara has become the realization of the dharma realm, there is no longer a subject and object of listening, as described in the Lankavatara Sutra, translated by author Le Sy Minh Tung and published on Hoa Sen Library as follows: First, I use the nature of listening: Listening to movement and listening to stillness, then I erase the notion of movement and stillness, from there the power of stillness gradually increases, I am able to eliminate "the subject of hearing" and "the object of hearing". The power of stillness does not stop there, then my enlightenment nature appears again. I continue to think: Although it is enlightenment nature, the nature of "perception" and "object of hearing" still remains. I then erase the notion of enlightenment, then my mind nature is empty and quiet like emptiness. I again destroy that awareness "like emptiness". Finally, I destroy the concept of "extinction". When I destroy all the subtle concepts of "extinction and birth, birth and death", suddenly I realize that the entire dharma realm in the ten directions is only the present realm of "non-duality" and stillness. My mind-nature is perfect throughout the ten directions, far surpassing the ordinary understanding of the world. I have two excellent things: One is that my mind is in accord with the wonderful original enlightenment of the Tathagatas of the ten directions, with the same compassionate mind turning downward to save sentient beings. Two is that it is in accord with the minds of the six paths of sentient beings in the ten directions, with the same compassionate mind turning upward to seek the Unsurpassed Bodhi.

Original text in Chinese:
At first, in hearing, I entered the place of exile. What I entered was recorded in stillness, the two aspects of movement and stillness were clearly not born. Thus, I gradually increased, what I heard was completely exhausted. When I finally heard, I did not stay, what I perceived was empty. The enlightenment of emptiness was extremely complete, and what was not emptiness was destroyed. Birth and death were destroyed, and stillness and extinction were present. Suddenly, I transcended the world and the other world, and the ten directions were completely illuminated, attaining two excellent things: One, above, I united the wonderful original enlightenment mind of the Buddhas of the ten directions, and with the Buddhas and Tathagatas I had the same compassionate power; Two people, in the lower ten directions, all sentient beings of the six paths, all sentient beings are united in their grief.
如是漸增。 聞所聞盡。 盡聞不住。 覺所覺空。 空覺極圓。 空所空滅。 生滅既滅。寂滅現前。 忽然超越世出世間。 十方圓明。 獲二殊勝。一者，上合十方諸佛本妙覺心，與佛如來同一慈力。二者，下合十方一切六道眾生，與諸眾生同一悲仰

The style of this sutra is concise, heroic, and so good, so I bring it up to enjoy (for those who understand Chinese literature deeply), but this article does not dare to discuss too much about the The highest realm of Buddhism, the realm of Liberation. With the understanding of a person with only mortal eyes and ears, I only allow myself to discuss the worldly benefits that are very obvious in civilian life, that is, within the realm of Secularism.

The first special feature of Buddhist teachings is that, with the same words the Buddha said, those who practice at the elementary level will receive benefits according to the elementary level, those who practice at the intermediate level will receive benefits according to the intermediate level, and at higher levels up to the level beyond human and heavenly levels will also receive benefits beyond human and heavenly levels. I will just give an example of vegetarianism, vegetarians start with the wish to pray for blessings - that is all that uneducated country women know -, that simple beginning unintentionally leads to a gradual relief of body and mind. Vegetarians rarely have a bad smell coming from their bodies that discreetly disturbs those around them. The longer you are vegetarian, the more you realize that vegetarianism is not simply about not having the flesh and blood of living beings, but even the lustful mind that wants to eat delicious food, to eat for pleasure, to eat to be full, must be restrained. If you eat vegetarian food and create all kinds of dishes, full of oil and fat, like fake dog meat, fake fish, peacock spring rolls, phoenix sausage, then you will only get the shell of vegetarianism, and will still be full of diseases. You must understand that being vegetarian is about self-control, the three constants are not enough, then the body and mind will be light. When vegetarianism reaches a higher level, one immediately thinks of people who have nothing to eat, poor people who die of hunger, cold, and illness, and naturally, the practice of listening appears thanks to vegetarianism, and from that listening, the Universal Door opens, that person urges himself to practice social service or to dedicate himself to others, to the living environment, including sentient beings and lakes, rivers, and water, and attains the fruit of non-retrogression, sometimes even without knowing it.

The second special feature of Buddhist teachings is the achievement in the community or collective, and furthermore, entering the Dharma realm. Because Buddhism is a religion of no-self, the small, selfish ego is the source of birth, death, and suffering, so the Buddha advocates abandoning the limited ego to open the Universal Door to penetrate the Dharma realm, meeting with the infinite ego like light merging into light. In Buddhist scriptures, there is always the encouragement to seek Bodhi above and to save sentient beings below, that is, Self-Enlightenment and Enlightenment of Others. Buddhists aim for these two goals, and of course, only after the first two goals are achieved, will the final goal be achieved, which is the Perfect Enlightenment, and only Shakyamuni Buddha achieved these three things, becoming the Rightly Self-Enlightened One. The purpose of the Buddhas' birth is to open the eyes of sentient beings to enter the Buddha's knowledge, to show all beings the true understanding of the universe, it is for the purpose of serving the world that Buddhism has a practice called Bodhisattva path, which is considered closest to Buddhahood, surpassing the two vehicles of Sravaka and Pratyekabuddha. I remember watching on a youtube somewhere, listening to Buddhist nun Thich Nu Tri Hai lecture, she confided that she did not want to be born in the Western Paradise, because in the Western Paradise there are only Bodhisattvas and Arhats, there is no suffering, she wanted to return to the mortal world, ready to suffer to save the suffering. This is a noble aspiration, beyond the small ego of a Bodhisattva, taking Universal Gate as a wonderful practice for the path of practice and realization of the dharma realm. The ultimate goal of Hinayana is to escape the three realms, the ultimate goal of Pure Land Buddhism and Christianity is to reach Heaven or the Western Paradise (flowers bloom, see Buddha, and realize Non-birth). The ultimate goal of Bodhisattva is to forever accept rolling into the mundane world for the sake of sentient beings, vowing to be reborn to help them, hell is not empty, vowing not to become a Buddha. Present-day Buddhism (the words of Zen master Nhat Hanh) advocates building this place as a realm of happiness, not promising a distant paradise after death. The most famous saying for this idea is: live mindfully, so that each step makes a lotus flower bloom.

Therefore, Buddhist teachings tell us a Good News above all good news, that all living beings, from cows, dogs, goats, horses, pigs, chickens to gods and humans, all have Buddha nature, are completely equal to Buddha, no different, opening up a horizon of absolute freedom, freedom from dependence on gods, from being slaves to any concept of salvation that is self-destructive and loses self-nature. The Buddha nature in humans always makes humans turn toward selflessness, and the starting point of selflessness is to open the door to the universe, other people, or the Dharma realm, living together in a pure land right on this small planet.

From there, I believe that, thanks to knowing how to listen, understand, and open the Universal Door, humanity possesses very humane cultural values as follows:

The Universal Door or listening completes human history

In the beginning, humans lived a lot by emotion and very little by reason, all were blocked by suspicion, fear, and self-defense. Human society is also the image of all animals that we observe today: the strong win, the weak lose; big fish eat small fish. In this period, the nature of humans is very close to ignorance, each person is a small door with a closed door. When a nation destroys another nation, only a hundred years later, the border between the winner and the loser will no longer exist, or at least will have faded a lot, at that time society will listen more than need swords and spears to suppress, and thus, if anyone knows how to listen from the beginning, they will know how to take the shortest path leading to peaceful coexistence.

China does not need to show its fangs and claws to the outside world, it only needs to promote its own strong-rooted three-religion culture, advocate a policy of rich people and strong country domestically, develop social benefits, unemployment insurance, health insurance, improve the living standards of all people, do not let the economic gap between rural and urban areas be too great, so that outsiders look at China as they look at Europe and America, wishing to become Chinese citizens. In addition, let's spread Chinese civilization by competing with Europe and America in human rights, philosophy, and spirituality, showing the world that China is the leader in listening, openness, sincerity, defending and assisting neighboring countries in all aspects, using love, human rights, equality, trust and righteousness to treat each other, showing its status as a big brother. If that is the case, China does not need to spend money to build artificial islands in the East Sea, does not need to manufacture many planes or ships to serve the war, because the path of listening only builds peace, war knows that it does not have any small role here. The increase in war budgets of the great powers is just a whirlwind of ignorance that leads people to destruction before a country is honored as victorious. This is the stage where humanity needs to sit down, open their hearts and listen to each other, and understand their own future.

It is the open listening and understanding (Universal Door) that has led to cultural exchanges, which not only makes people respect differences but can still get along, but also makes them possess a concise treasure of all fields of academia in which science and history are especially upgraded and strongly promoted without losing tradition.

All doctrines, beliefs or financial, religious, and militaristic organizations with a dominating nature that often cause wars and often create tragedy in human history are ignorant forces. They do not know how to practice Universal Door or the virtue of listening, their hearts are completely closed.

East Germany and West Germany listened to each other before tearing down the Berlin Wall. The German people have saved a lot of blood and resources, they did not need bloody wars but still achieved unification in peace, love with honor. They are fortunate that there are no cultural differences but only political differences. The Vietnamese people have spent millions of lives, thousands of billions of dollars to unify the country, but today, even though nearly half a century has passed, the people still fear each other with political differences and cultural distance, just waiting for an opportunity to explode into a fratricidal war between one side that preserves traditional East Asian customs, and the other side with the dominant Christian beliefs and traditions that want to re-establish control in Vietnam like under the French colonial period or under the two dynasties of the Republic of Vietnam. This is a great misfortune for the nation, a painful legacy that is more difficult to cure than the legacy left by Agent Orange after the two French and American empires left.

Hopefully the government will listen, and Christians in Vietnam will listen too. Be a beloved religion in a nation, do not impose a beloved nation on a religion.

The Universal Door or listening eliminates the distinction between master and servant, abolishes slavery

The pioneers who fought to eliminate the privileges of the aristocratic class in Greece at the dawn of mankind were those who listened to the voices of the majority, of the common people or slaves as I presented in the section on great people or successful people who know how to listen.

Emperor Cyrus II (-339) of the Perse empire was probably the first person to hear the lamentations of the exiled races, he ordered the release of Jewish slaves when he captured Babylon, and he gave freedom of belief in his empire. These were engraved on a baked clay cylinder called the Cyrus Cylinder. According to some historians, Cyrus II was the father of the Bill of Rights.

President Abraham Lincoln listened to the grievances of black slaves, and he personally sided with those who were traded like animals from Africa to America by Christian civilization in the 17th and 18th centuries. Slavery was a social benefit of the Roman Empire for more than 18 centuries, and for the Christian faith, it was accepted in the Bible as a very normal thing. Of course, later there were Catholic saints who listened to the suffering and pain of slaves and opposed that policy, such as Saint Augustine - he was listening to his own Buddha nature without knowing it. Slavery existed until it was abolished by Abraham Lincoln in the United States. Slavery in various forms has been a part of the social environment for much of Christianity's history, spanning well over eighteen centuries. In the early years of Christianity, slavery was a normal feature of the economy and society in the Roman Empire, and this persisted in different forms and with regional differences well into the Middle Ages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_views_on_slavery

Usually, Bodhisattvas came into the world to save people, and they left as soon as their mission was completed. The case of Abraham Lincoln is very similar to the vow of a Bodhisattva. Lincoln fought a fierce and arduous struggle for the American people and for slaves, and he had to fight against the infiltration and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church, which wanted to take control of the United States through its support for the southern faction in the Civil War, which also advocated maintaining slavery. According to some information in the book The Suppressed Truth About the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln by author Burke McCarthy, it was the Roman Catholic Church that masterminded Lincoln's murder. To understand more about the Roman Catholic Church's attempt to manipulate America, please read the article by author Tran Quoc Hoan: http://sachhiem.net/THOISU_CT/ChuTr/TranQHoan01.php

Do not think that what happened above has nothing to do with Buddhism.

Buddhism does not possess a private truth. Buddhism shows the way, offers a method leading to Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, but does not possess Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Everything that makes the world happy and less miserable, all the movements of history that make the earth revolve in the harmonious orbit of the universe are in accordance with the Buddhist doctrine of compassion, giving joy and saving suffering, it is not limited by time, nor is it rigid in space. A priest can be a true Buddhist if he has a pure and noble life, knows how to put the goal of benefiting others first, while a Bhikkhu is not necessarily worthy of being a Buddhist disciple if he indulges in lust in the dark behind the followers, clings to the temple or creates his own community. Before the birth of Buddha Shakyamuni, there was Buddhism, or more precisely, Buddhism - not capitalized - is the truth, the Dharma, the law of cause and effect, the reason of the universe, the nature of enlightenment, the emptiness of all dharmas, the nirvana of liberation, the Dharma realm of the Flower Garland, all is one, all is one. The universe is like that, whether Buddha Shakyamuni was born or not, it is still the same. Bacteria in water or in space are not "creatures" of Buddha Shakyamuni, he simply saw them and let us know. He did not come to create the universe, but to show us the universe.

When man was born, he thought that the universe was different from him, and he wanted to possess the universe. This primitive idea was secretly formed, he created the god of rain, the god of wind, the god of fire, the god of water, the god of earth, the god of rivers, the god of seas to secretly express his desire to control, command, and subdue phenomena that he was completely powerless against. That was the period of clustering into groups, tribes. When mankind advanced to conquer larger lands, with countries whose borders far exceeded the tribal period, man secretly created the god above all gods, that is, the almighty god, capable of controlling everything. Why do I use the adjective secret? Because it was a human inhibition in a time without science and intelligence, God was the result of this helpless inhibition.

The introduction to the book And Man Created God: A History of the World at the Time of Jesus by female scholar Selina O'Grady - born of a Catholic father, a Jewish mother who converted to Christianity, and was very sympathetic to Christianity - is written as follows:

In the time when Jesus was born, the world was full of gods. Thousands of gods jostled and fought each other to gain a superior position. In Syria, fanatics castrated themselves in the streets to become monks of Atargatis (the goddess who gives children and protects life). In Galilee, Taoists turned oil into wine, healed the sick, exorcised demons and claimed to be the Savior. Every day, thousands of people flocked to newly established neighborhoods with many ethnic groups. The ancient world was in ferment as it went through the first period of globalization, and in this ferment, rulers and ruled alike turned to religion as a source of order and stability. (At the time of Jesus' birth, the world was full of gods. Thousands of them jostled, competed, and merged with one another. In Syria, ecstatic devotees castrated themselves in the streets to become priests of Atargatis. In Galilee, holy men turned oil into wine, healed the sick, drove out devils, and claimed to be the Messiah. Every day, thousands of people were flocking into brand-new multiethnic cities. The ancient world was in ferment as it underwent the first phase of globalization, and in this ferment, rulers and rulers turned to religion as a source of order and stability.)

The above description is in no way meant to offend or defame Christianity, but the scene shows that Jesus was a person who emerged from this crowd of ascetics, wise men, and magicians. At the same time, stories of exorcisms and turning water into wine were as common at that time as the Shandong circus to sell Chinese medicine in Vietnam in the 50s and 60s. The scene also explains who invented the Gods, or God. Christianity has a dominant position thanks to the emperor Constantine, otherwise, Jesus would probably be an unknown person that no one knows about today.

Buddhism is very practical, not theorizing about far-fetched things. When a person opens his heart to listen to the different voices and sufferings of others, he is practicing the Universal Door Dharma of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, whether he is on Mars or living on the Andromeda Galaxy, because Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva travels in the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds, and he became a Buddha countless eons before appearing as a Bodhisattva beside Amitabha Buddha.

According to the Universal Door Sutra, he has 32 (some say 33) different manifestations, from kings and mandarins, to Brahma Heaven (considered by Hindus as the God who created the universe and has the power to bestow blessings and curses), but with only 32 forms is too limited. In my humble opinion, that is a typical number. But with the wish to unite all sentient beings in the ten directions and six realms, and to bring all sentient beings the same compassion, how can the other 32 forms be enough to save all six types of sentient beings? (six species include: heaven, human, asura, animal, hungry ghost, hell) Don't say that Avalokiteshvara has the power to transform into Cyrus II or Abraham Lincoln. Even when needed, he can manifest as a hungry ghost, asura or animal, pig, cow, chicken, dog, which is not mentioned in the Universal Gate Sutra. - Saying this half-jokingly, half-seriously, so that before killing a chicken or pig, someone should think that, who knows, it might be Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva himself manifesting to save a certain animal.

In addition to the 32 forms, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva also appears with 42 hand and eye movements, which are special spiritual ways to make everything go as desired. The author does not go into this topic, it belongs to Esoteric Buddhism, beyond his understanding.

The Universal Door or listening leads to equality and democracy

The word Universal Door has expressed the whole concept of democracy. The simple meaning of Universal Door is the Door of joy and salvation from suffering, open to all beings. The French Larousse dictionary explains the act of democratization as follows: Démocratiser = Rendre quelque chose accessible à toutes les classes sociales, le mettre à la portée de tous: Démocratiser le transport aérien en abaissant les tarifs. introduce a democratic system or democratic principles to.

(Democratization = Making something widely used across all social classes, making it available to everyone, such as democratizing air transportation by lowering airfares).

The famous saying: I am a Buddha who has become, you are Buddhas who will become is a declaration of absolute equality that Buddhism contributes to humanity. The idea that there is a Son of Heaven in Chinese civilization, and a Son of Heaven in Christian civilization representing Western Europe, is the most typical idea of feudal autocratic society, the only difference is that one side is secular power, the other side is theocracy, but the goal of both is to dominate.

Thus, Buddhism has had the idea of democracy since ancient times and is even more universal than democratic ideas in modern times. Democracy only means that the majority decides, even if it is a pluralistic democracy, there are still some remaining in that pluralistic group who are not satisfied and reluctantly accept its rules of the game.

The principle of selflessness is also the core of equality, because when the ego is absent, everything belonging to the ego naturally disappears, and the host and the guest become equal in Buddhist thought. If there is no host and guest relationship, then what is the need to establish democracy or class struggle? Universalism is the essence of education, while democracy is a concept of politics. Education does not create social chaos or bloodshed; but politics, if it is to be implemented, must rely on revolution, and in history, there has never been a revolution without bloodshed. Christianity is more orthodox than atheist, it coerces religion rather than preaches it, that is why wherever it goes, unless it has a monopoly on power, it is the source of violence, division, seduction, conspiracy, and bloodshed. - I truly respected Christianity before it colluded with Constantine to rule the Roman Empire.

Thus, Universal Door has included and gone beyond democracy, because in every human being there is an innate gentleness to listen, regardless of what cultural class, race, or religion that person belongs to. That listening has linked a large circle of humanity together. That listening and sharing does not require compensation, does not expect a ticket to buy a place to enjoy in a faraway paradise on the other side of the earth. I once watched a movie about a leopard, it leisurely killed its mother monkey to eat, but for the little orphaned baby monkey, it gently pulled it up a tree to avoid the hyenas that lurked at night under the tree, ready to wait for the baby monkey to fall down and tear it apart. Animals also have a Universal Gate nature, although it is as vague as a layer of late night mist, and although they have never been given a soul by God like humans.

Before discussing the collective nature of the Universal Gate, which is also the most important part of Universal Gate practice, I would like to open a small parenthesis here to talk about prayer, which I honestly never want to talk about, because it is completely local and personal, it is the rumored response. No one talks about Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara without more or less discussing the response with a strong metaphysical character. I am very allergic to these supernatural things, because deep down, I never believed, even though I had experienced it myself once when I was very young.

My family has truly followed Buddhism since a monk came to the house to pray for me during a severe fever. I had been lying motionless for who knows how long, when I heard the bell and wooden fish, I sat up, then went to the incense bowl, took a handful of incense sticks, returned to the bed placed right in front of the Buddha altar, sat cross-legged, and rubbed the bundle of incense sticks on the soles of my feet, watching the dead cells fall like dry scales onto the mat and smiled happily. My mother was about to scold me when the monk raised his hand to his mouth and whispered, "Shhh," meaning to let me do as I pleased. And that was the first image of the Buddha altar with incense sticks, candles, flowers, and incense in my family's poor earthen-walled house, and that image has remained intact ever since. But the following story is the one I want to tell:

When I was about 7 or 8 years old, one day I asked my mother's permission to take my younger brother, who was two years younger than me, with a group of friends to the stream at the edge of the forest to dig for clay. My friends made crafts with clay of all colors: orange, green, blue, red, yellow, and jet black. Looking at the papaya or orange that my friends made to be graded for their crafts, I was fascinated. When my friends invited me to go get that naturally colored clay, I begged my mother to let me go with them. The path from my house to the stream had to go through a patchy, damaged asphalt road, down the pine hill slope along a path leading to a stream, where I often followed my mother to bathe, while she washed clothes on an iron bridge across the stream, from the stream, zigzagged through many rows of sugarcane fields planted by ethnic people, then came to the cliff where there was clay of all colors. It was both clean and poetic like a peach garden. My brother and I could be considered the least "polished" of the children at that time. We were absorbed in bathing in the stream made entirely of colorful clay that was rarely seen, when suddenly we heard thunder and lightning exploding like bombs right above our heads, the clouds were pitch black, the sky suddenly changed from late afternoon to dusk, looking back there were only the two of us, the children were wrapping up their clothes and running away from the sugarcane forest. My brother was so scared that he cried out like he had never been so scared. I was about to burst into tears like my brother, but the mission of being my brother suddenly awakened, I quickly put on my shorts, bit my lips, pulled my shirt over my brother, held him with one hand, and held my shirt with the other hand, running towards the direction of the sugarcane forest. At that time, unfortunately, the rain poured down like a splash, and the wind blew fiercely in gusts accompanied by continuous thunder and lightning. In the middle of the sugarcane forest, on the other side of the stream was a towering hill and it was said that tigers would occasionally roar. My brother and I were like two small ants, frantically running in all directions, unable to find a way out of the sugarcane field that was taller than an adult standing with their arms outstretched. My younger brother opened his mouth and cried as if someone had stabbed him with a knife. I was as scared as I had ever been since I was born. And in that extreme fear, I naturally chanted Namo Quan The Am Bo Tat without stopping. That was because my mother often did that whenever she was worried, she taught me to also chant Quan Am Buddha, but this was the first time I chanted her name like a machine without waiting for my mother to remind me. I chanted but my eyes were still staring straight ahead and my hand was still holding my younger brother's, still holding tightly onto the worn-out shirt, running like crazy without direction. In that moment of despair and terror, thinking that I would die in the middle of the sugarcane forest, the sky became darker as if to threaten me even more with the ghost of a tiger, then a bright flash of lightning lit up the sky like fireworks, accompanied by a clap of thunder at the other end of the sugarcane field, I was shocked to see the lightning, an arm reached up from the sugarcane top waving and calling my name, Hey! T., come here. Without caring about the location, and like a small deer, I took her and ran quickly towards that direction. Sure enough, only a few minutes later, I arrived at the place where I saw the hand. This was the edge of the sugarcane forest, I immediately saw the trail leading to the iron bridge across the stream, here it was completely clear with nothing blocking my view, I looked towards the end of the trail leading back up to the main road in the distance, there was not a single person, my friends had all run away. In my heart, I absolutely did not think about Buddha or God, I just thought that some friend had called me, after calling, he ran away, that's all.

After a while, until I entered university, on the occasion of going out with a group of friends, passing by a sugarcane field in the vicinity of Nha Trang, I suddenly remembered the sugarcane forest that ethnic people cultivated when I was a child, and I suddenly thought: now I am almost 1.7 meters tall, I still cannot easily raise my arm over the sugarcane shoot, so which friend was tall enough to raise his arm up to the armpit level over the sugarcane shoot and call my name when I was a child?

I tell this story today, not thinking that it is a miracle of Quan The Am Bodhisattva, but still confused and unable to explain it.

Like millions of other Asians, I always admire the Mother Quan Am, every day I meditate and recite her name - meditate on her 12 great vows, and try my best to follow those virtues, but I do not like superstitious stories such as seeing Quan Am appearing in the clouds, in dreams, curing cancer, giving birth to boys or girls, winning the lottery... Quan Am Bodhisattva is not a self-centered deity who likes to be praised and worshipped, only those who call her name, those who pray, those who flatter her with rosary beads will help, otherwise they will not. That is a very narrow concept, although it is not harmful, but it is only local and lucky for each individual, like traditional medicine, some people drink it all, some people cannot drink it all, the owner is lucky and the doctor is lucky. I believe that when a person wholeheartedly recites the name of Quan The Am, the wholeheartedness will cause his or her ego to open the Universal Gate, and his or her ego will escape in the present moment. Bodhisattva Quan The Am within will be in perfect communication with Bodhisattva Quan The Am in the Dharma Realm, just like the light that is locked up will open and blend with the light outside, and thus the Dharma Realm will appear without hindrance, and everything will be resolved. As soon as the matter is resolved, his or her mind will be filled with satisfaction and joy, and then it will return to the state of an ordinary mind, and he or she will save himself or herself, thinking that a Bodhisattva from outside will come to save him or herself.

Today, Buddhism has many scientific colors and more universal values. Science has been like a tool to excavate the precious gems in the Buddhist treasure and bring them to light. It is through the lens of science that I have found the values of democracy, equality, abolition of class, abolition of slavery, and the declaration of human rights in Buddhism. I once wrote about a widow whose child died. It was rumored that the monk Gautama had many miracles, the ability to bring the dead back to life. She hugged her child's body and went to see Buddha and begged him to save her child's life. Buddha told her to find a handful of mustard seeds in a family where no one had died before to perform a miracle to save her child. She happily hugged her child and went from village to village but could not find it. Finally, she understood that no one could avoid death. She returned to bow to Buddha and asked to become his disciple. When I first heard this story, I used to think, if I can't save someone, I'll just say it, beating around the bush would only prove my helplessness. The more childish people are, the more they tend to like exaggerated stories, like supernatural powers, miracles, like stories about a single strike killing hundreds of people, like Saint Giong holding an iron stick, riding an iron horse flying to heaven after defeating the Yin invaders. It turns out that there are people who fly to heaven, not just Jesus, but Saint Giong flew a thousand years before Jesus, and was also Vietnamese, and no one worshiped him.

For children, Buddha is certainly far behind Jesus, because if that woman met Jesus, Jesus only needed to tap his chest and the child would come back to life. In the Bible, Jesus saved the dead, and Alexandre de Rhodes also imitated Jesus, using jars of holy water he created to save many dead people who were about to bloat. Please read Journey and Mission as quoted and criticized by Professor Tran Chung Ngoc http://sachhiem.net/TCN/TCNls/TCNls01.php

Today, if the holy water of a missionary is so effective, then surely the water of a Cardinal or the Pope must be even more effective. I wish the Vatican would distribute missionaries around the world, each day they only need to give out 7 jars of Holy Water to save the dead and those with diseases such as cancer, HIV, chronic kidney failure, cerebral palsy, Parkinson's, tuberculosis... just one drop can revive or cure the disease. It is estimated that 100cc has hundreds of drops, each jar can provide for 1000*100cc*100 drops, then one jar can save at least 10 million dead or terminally ill people, 7 jars can save 70 million people. A missionary coming to Vietnam only needs one day to heal all the diseases of the entire Vietnamese people! Amen, I will be the first person to go to church to ask to convert to God! But does Jesus really have such miracles? I read on a website that a million priests died from AIDS, I assume the article exaggerated the truth, but if they exaggerated by 400% then the real estimate must be 25% of the number that can be believed. Or maybe they miscalculated, there are not even 250 thousand priests, we just need to take the smoke and take the fire, and at worst, 100 thousand priests died from AIDS. So why don't the miracles of God come to save the priests infected with HIV? One is to glorify God's Mercy, two is to save the church from the scandal of being infected with harmful sexually transmitted diseases, one job for two things, why would God not do it? Why would the church not give a jar of holy water? I would like to cite the link of 1 million priests infected with HIV for readers to research, just for fun, but I do not believe that this news will make Catholics question their pastors: http://fathersmanifesto.net/aidsdeaths.htm .

The story of Buddha's search for a handful of mustard seeds, and the story of Jesus resurrecting a person who had been dead for 4 days, as told in the Bible Luke 8:40-56 or John 11:17-44, what thoughts do they raise in our minds?

The author's personal thoughts are as follows:

Speaking of miracles, only the story of Feng Shen or the Great Sage Equaling Heaven of China can be on par with the story of Christianity.

The story of China has two generals who fought equally, Trinh Luan specialized in captivating souls, and Tran Ky specialized in captivating spirits, both were complacent and neither would give in to the other. In Christianity, there is the Son of God, in China, there is the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven said: Whoever does not follow me, kill him in front of me (Luke 19:27), the Son of Heaven said: the ruler will punish his subjects, the minister will not die, the minister will not be disloyal.

Please read the introduction to the book by female scholar Selina O'Grady, a person who loves Christianity very much (above) about the miracles that were performed by the Magi as a daily meal at the time of Jesus' birth, those miracles are proudly proclaimed by Christians today, thinking that only their God can do them, even though they themselves still go to the hospital to be treated, and if they are cured, they thank God.

Assuming, just assuming, that Jesus could raise the dead, what use would that lesson be for humanity today? Who could learn the art of resurrection from the dead from Jesus? Alexandre de Rhodes? If there was an Alexandre de Rhodes, why can't anyone do it today?

The purpose of stories about miracles is not to educate, but to intimidate and gain faith: I am the son of God, if I am so powerful, how great must my father be! Believe me, father and son.

In fact, the father and son of Jesus did not benefit at all, the one who benefited was lying on his back and committing pedophilia all over the world, whether in the Vatican, or in seminaries, monasteries, churches. They eat the best meat and fish, drink the most expensive wines, wear heavy gold crosses, travel in shiny cars, live in medieval palaces and castles furnished with modern amenities, enjoy the most beautiful women in society and when served, they are no less than movie stars or kings of the past. Just read the world-famous novel The Thorn Birds by Australian writer Colleen McCullough to see everything I have said.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, former foreign minister of the Vatican under Pope Benedict XVI, lives in an apartment of several hundred square meters furnished like a royal palace, always with three nuns and a secretary on duty. The money to repair the apartment is donated to help sick children.

A French newspaper said about the life of a German bishop as follows: His apartment is roughly worth about 3 million euros, his bathtub also costs 15,000 euros. To visit the poor people of India, he traveled by business class. (In his apartment, which cost 3 M€, he flew by business class. For all to visit the poor people in India, Mgr Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, 53 years old, from Limbourg, in the south of Germany, traveled by business class.)

The story of the mustard seed in Buddhism is indeed difficult to make children admire, but the more modern educators, philosophers, and scientists think about it, the more they admire the Buddha. Buddhism does not advocate deception by the tricks of wandering monks or Taoists in the childhood of mankind as told by female scholar Selina O'Grady.

The story of the handful of mustard seeds teaches us that everything that has a beginning will have an end, and that beginning and end are two inseparable aspects of one reality. Sadness and pain about death are absurd. Anyone who wants to prove the miracle of saving a corpse is also a frivolous, meaningless, and childish act. Death, decay, and destruction are a necessary state of the universe. Why make that natural state lose its naturalness and then call it a miracle? This universe would not be an eco-system without the states of birth, existence, change, and destruction.

The story of the handful of mustard seeds is a lesson in helping the living, and that medicine to save suffering, until the earth is destroyed, will still have the value of bringing joy and saving suffering. Buddhist medicine can cure any illness, there is no such thing as the master being lucky or the teacher being lucky.

The Buddha, in the eyes of the followers, and for those who believe in intelligence and judgment, must acknowledge him as a great educator.

Here, the article will go into the final part, which is also the most core part, which is the collective self-nature in Buddhist thought and philosophy.

Why do I call it the collective self-nature?

It is the surrender to the universe, one is all, all is one.

That self-nature always urges people to return to themselves, which is also the universe itself, they are the universe and not a part of the universe. The universe is perfect, while a part of the universe has been separated, reality has been cut off. Buddhism describes reality as inherently non-different and non-uniform. In Buddhism, there is no place for monism, dualism, or even pluralism. The process of seeking liberation from all suffering is to enter into the emptiness of reality. The focus of secular Buddhism is to unite the six realms into one, so that sentient beings can live in harmony and happiness, especially between humans and the world around them.

In Buddhist thought, there is no such thing as this mastering that, this wishing to be a slave to that for eternity, but all are equal, all are one. Time is not separate from space, and time has no past or future. Space has no this place or that place. Buddha is sentient beings, sentient beings are Buddha. Serving sentient beings is serving the Buddha, there is no need to honor the Buddha, no need to worship the Buddha, no need to flatter or beg the Buddha, because the Buddha is the Dharma Realm of the universe, the Buddha is fire, but whoever puts his hand in the fire will be burned, the Buddha is rock, but whoever hits his head on rock will die. But the Buddha is also the gentle sunlight, the cool moon. Those who practice Pure Land should think about this: Amitabha Buddha's Western Paradise is only a means, his liberation is the Dharma Realm, because his name is Dharma Realm Zang Shen.

Buddhism takes the happiness of the collective as the motto for all activities. This thought is expressed in many images:

Above, I seek Buddhahood, below, I transform sentient beings.

I will save all sentient beings, then I will attain Bodhi (All sentient beings have happiness, only then will I attain Bodhi - the vow of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha)

I vow to save limitless sentient beings.

If there is one sentient being who has not yet become a Buddha, or has not yet attained happiness, I vow not to attain Nirvana - the preface of the Shurangama mantra that Northern Buddhist monks must recite every morning)

Always be in harmony with sentient beings. (The Ten Vows of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra).

Equipped with such provisions, we can now leisurely discuss the meaning or image of the great compassion of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes.

The Universal Door or listening emphasizes the role of compassion and collective happiness.

Suppose there is a city with a very crowded population, but there is only one doctor, then what must that doctor do to save the sick while every day the number of people seeking treatment increases? Answering this question, we immediately understand why Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara transformed herself into a thousand hands and a thousand eyes?

It is difficult to imagine a person growing 1,000 arms, holding all kinds of tools to do everything, and each arm has an eye. If we understand Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara as a biological human being, then that understanding is indeed too mechanical. Don't talk about 1000 hands, just about 100 arms, then the body has turned into a porcupine, or a sea urchin. Buddhism is a spiritual religion, not flying to heaven with the body, not being pure through flesh and skin; not drinking blood, eating Buddha's flesh to be close to him, so 1000 hands do not need to grow from bones, or 1000 eyes do not need to look through eyeballs.

But, the only person with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes in this world, is only Quan Am Bodhisattva.

And, the concept of a thousand hands and a thousand eyes only exists in Buddhist spirituality.

Just one day, on the way home, you see a person lying on the ground, you suddenly feel your heart tighten with compassion, you go to find out what happened to that unfortunate person, you help that person with all your love. Then, at the very moment your Universal Door opens, your listening heart turns to the pain and suffering of the person lying on the side of the road, at that very moment, you are Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, and perhaps, the person lying on the side of the road has sent you a ray of energy asking for help that only you can feel.

In Vietnam, everyone probably knows the story of Ms. Tim Aline Rebeaud and Lucky House. When she was very young, she traveled to Vietnam as a Western backpacker. She rented a hotel to sleep, late at night she heard the cry of a 10-year-old child next to a pile of garbage, she went to the child, wanting to take him to the hotel to take care of him, but the hotel refused. The next morning she met the child again, from then on she was determined to dedicate her life to taking care of sick, orphaned, and abandoned children in Vietnam. For more than 20 years, she has built a large facility and called it Maison Chance. She has helped raise hundreds of people at this facility. All the children are now grown up, educated, and have stable jobs. Everyone calls her Mother Tim - Tim is a kind heart. To the unfortunate children here, Tim is the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara has no boundaries. He is selfless, not bound by worldly emotions such as liking to be praised, jealousy, envy, protecting his own side, only blessing those who worship him as a deity of religions, so he can manifest as a pagan, or even as the Virgin Mary to bring joy and relieve suffering to people of other faiths. To be able to communicate with him, just open the Universal Door, practice listening with all your heart, regardless of culture, spirituality or belief; just need the heart to know how to speak, to open up, to erase borders, to be in tune with suffering and pain - whether it is one's own pain or that of others, one should be quiet, observe and listen to it.

A god, because he always wants to be famous, wants to be worshiped, does not appear to others, and always calls himself this god or that saint, afraid that others will not know him. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is not bound by those limitations. He manifests himself in thousands of different forms, and when he appears, he does not want the person being saved to know that he is being saved, in accordance with the true Dharma of no self, no person, no life span, far beyond the duality of host and guest.

Here is the profound thought of no duality of host and guest, no four aspects of Buddhism presented in the Diamond Sutra:

The Buddha told Subhuti: "Great Bodhisattvas must subdue their minds like this: no matter how many species of living beings, whether egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born, transformation-born, with form, without form, with thoughts, without thoughts, without thoughts, without thoughts, and also not without thoughts, then I All are brought to nirvana, and all are brought to nirvana without remainder. Thus are the immeasurable, innumerable, boundless beings liberated, yet in reality there is no being who is liberated. Why is that? Subhuti! If a Bodhisattva still has the notion of self, of person, of living beings, of life span, then he is not a Bodhisattva.

(The Buddha told Subhuti: Bodhisattvas-mahasattvas should subdue their minds like this. All beings of all kinds, whether egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born, transformation-born, with form, formless, with perception, without perception, or neither perception nor non-perception, I have all entered nirvana without remainder. Thus are immeasurable, innumerable, boundless beings liberated; in reality, no being is liberated. Why is that? Subhuti, if a Bodhisattva has the appearance of an ego, the appearance of a person, the appearance of a living being, or the appearance of a life-span, then he is not a Bodhisattva. 所有一切眾生之類：若卵生、若胎生、若濕生、若化生；若有色、若無色；若有想、若無想、若非有想非無想，我皆令入無餘涅槃而滅度之。 In fact, speaking of the Four Forms of the Diamond is to serve as a means of explaining thoroughly, but as long as one attains selflessness, all surrounding forms will fall away.

The self is like a bottle containing water, the water itself has no division. When the bottle breaks, the water flows out, mixing with the water of the universe, without inside or outside. me.

With the same thought as above, we can leisurely say that Bodhisattva Guanyin saves all beings from suffering, but no Bodhisattva Guanyin has ever appeared, and no one has ever been saved!

Returning to the question of the doctor in the city with many patients above, even the least knowledgeable person will think that, if he wants to save all the patients, that doctor cannot selfishly monopolize his position so that people will bow down and flatter him when they come to see him. He must train student doctors to help him take care of the patients, and his students must also train the younger generations to meet the increasing demand for medical care along with the population. You must tell everyone that I am a successful doctor, you are doctors who will become doctors, you cannot say that you can only kneel at my feet, the good ones will be head nurses, the bad ones will be nurses or nursing assistants, and the all-powerful position of doctor is only mine, then you will be tired and deaf, even if you have the strength of a thousand people, and are incomparably intelligent, you will only do it for a certain time, then you will get bored and give up without a successor. In addition to training medical staff, he must call on everyone to respect hygiene, keep the environment clean, encourage people not to smoke, drink alcohol, donate to build hospitals, clinics...

Therefore, the thousand hands and thousand eyes in the compassionate thought of Buddhism is not a fictional story, but a miracle that seems to only appear through theory or in legend, but is actually evident right before the eyes of anyone who is willing to listen, willing to open the Universal Door in each person.

So we just calmly look, the thousand hands and thousand eyes do not need to appear in clouds or smoke, in dreams or fantasies, but right now, in every corner of every species, the bee and the ant together build a nest to raise their children, one is all, all is one; look everywhere, listen, love, give hands to build life together. Humanity is looking for ways to mobilize, encourage, and honor noble deeds to save humanity: anyone who has a mind of great compassion is the eye and arm of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. None of us have not at some point manifested as Avalokiteshvara, none of us have not helped a blind person cross the street, none of us have not stopped our car when we saw a careless baby fall onto the street; everyone drives carefully out of respect for the lives of others, no one litters indiscriminately on the streets, rivers, or streams just because they selfishly think that is not where they live, everyone is willing to buy a lottery ticket so that a lonely, hunched-backed old woman can have a bowl of rice every day, everyone chews chewing gum without spitting it out on the street... all of those manifestations are Avalokiteshvara, listening to the heart, opening the Universal Door.

Just open the heart, listen, it will tell us what to do. Everyone is the eyes and hands of Quan The Am, not to mention a thousand hands and a thousand eyes, but a billion hands and a billion eyes is just a small matter.

As I was about to finish this article, I heard that the US president withdrew from the Paris Agreement on climate change. The attitude of the US will cause the lungs of the earth, which are already severely damaged, to be damaged even more severely. According to scientists, if we do not listen and understand the painful signals of the earth, it will be destroyed, and humanity will only have a few hundred years left to survive. The US has chosen to cover its ears, close its eyes, and selfishly want to maintain its position as a superpower regardless of the future of humanity and of more than 300 million Americans. The author of the article feels the closed door from the heart of a devout sheep, who represents Christian civilization and is also the most powerful person on the planet. Please pray to Our Lady of Perpetual Help to open the heart of Mr. Donald Trump.

Namo Tam Thanh Cuu Kho Cuu Nan Quan The Am Bo Tat.
Finished in Paris in early June 2017.