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SÁCH AMAZON


Mua bản sách in

The ancients used to say: "Nhan sinh thất thập cổ lai hy". This means: A human life of 70 years old has always been rare. That is true and that is only relative. Because there are many people who live to be 80, 90, 100 or more than 100 years old. Well, that is also due to the karma of many lives that we have done to cultivate compassion and respect the lives of others, so that is how it is. Of course, there are also many people who only live for 5 years, ten years, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60 years old, but at that age there have been many famous people in the world such as Mozart, Beethoven, etc. That means: Genius does not need to wait for age, but geniuses are very few, talented people are not many, but anyway, there are still, only talented people are rare and precious.

When I was 10 years old, I was still at home with my parents, going to the village school. After school, I followed my parents to the fields to help with the rice-pulling and weeding. When I returned home, I helped my family sew hats and weed the cows and buffaloes. On the 15th and 1st of the lunar month, I followed my mother to the pagoda and participated in the Buddhist Youth Association. The results of my primary school years were very bad, because there was no one to guide me at home, and I had to do everything myself. I loved my father and mother, but I also wanted to become a monk to do something, even though I was still young and didn’t know what I would be able to do. Just because I saw my older brother become a monk, I also had that wish, but I kept asking my parents but no one agreed, maybe because I was the youngest child in the family, my parents wanted to keep me for later? Because the ancients often said: “Duong nhi dai lao, tich coc phong co ma”. Meaning: Raise children to rely on when they are old, save rice and grain for when they are hungry. In the end, people in this life work and study only for food and clothing.

When I was 20 years old, it was near the time of the Baccalaureate exam. Everyone should have taken the exam at 17 or 18, but I entered the temple at 15 and started junior high school at that age, so it was so late. Being able to become a monk, to live in the temple, to go to school is a happiness, and being the best student in class and school is also a wonderful happiness. Perhaps I relied on the Dharma. However, my Teacher said something that I have never forgotten until now. That is: "You study until you get a Bachelor's or Doctorate, but it is not worth one Prajnaparamita Sutra." At that time, I was not happy, but not sad, because I thought that maybe my Teacher was right, and I replied: "Teacher, why is that?" The Master said: “No matter how many degrees you have, when you go to a donor’s house and show off those degrees, no one will invite you to a meal. Meanwhile, if you memorize a Heart Sutra and recite it fluently, the donor will immediately invite you to a meal.” At that time, I found it absurd, but after 50 years, I saw that my Master’s teachings made sense. This is similar to what the late Venerable Thich Duc Niem often said to his disciples: “When I entered the temple, I used both hands to play the gong and the wooden fish at the same time, and now after I have obtained my doctorate, I also use both hands to play the gong and the wooden fish at the same time. That is true, but it takes many years for people to clearly see the true side of this perception.

When I was 30 years old, I went out to take on the responsibility of the Dharma in this German land, after having been in Japan for more than 5 years and started to practice and meditate. Every night, every morning during Pure Land time or late night prayers, I contemplated the Buddha's words, the Patriarch's words, the Master's teachings and saw clearly that life has so many aspects, and on that long journey, what should I do? No matter how many sutras, books, poems, essays, Eastern and Western philosophies I read, I felt like I was just a grain of sand in the desert. The more I read, the more ignorant and bad I felt, even though I had started to do The Master then transmitted the precepts to the lay disciples. Then, whatever comes must come, whatever needs to go, we must let it go beyond our reach, without attachment, without being bound or controlled by emotions. At that time, only the Sutras and the Bao Vuong Tam Muoi treatise were the nourishing materials in daily life, used to deeply understand the Buddha's teachings and contemplate our unpredictable life in exile. Who is far from their homeland without wishing to return, but that day is now beyond our reach. After many years in Japan, thanks to Japanese rice and drinking water, I became a human being. I learned from them the spirit of forgiveness and self-respect. That is: We must know ourselves and others, be patient and endure. If there is a problem, we must stand up and resolve it, not run away from it. Because if we run away, the problem will always be there, and the other problem will not be resolved completely. Learn from the Japanese the virtues of diligence, patience, trust in the person facing us, and care for everything, everywhere. clean and especially punctual. Just those things, I have been me since that day until now. Praise, criticism, cursing, scolding, anger, resentment, sadness, etc., all of them for me at the age of 30 are still natural states, there is nothing to wonder about.

By the age of 40, maybe the age of stability, I began to accept disciples, buy land to build a temple, translate scriptures, write, chant at various places, preach, do diplomacy, etc. This is also the time when I learn the most from the people around me. Because: Everyone is my Teacher and I am also the Teacher of everyone. Whatever I do not know, go learn from others, that person is my Teacher and whatever I know that others do not know, they need my help, then I am their Teacher. In this world, no one dares to say that they know everything, except Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. We accept mistakes and Repent of mistakes. Because none of us are Saints, but we are people on the path of practicing Sainthood. The Buddha once taught that: In this world, there are two types of people. The first type never makes mistakes and the second type makes mistakes but knows how to repent. The first type is definitely not me. The second type will definitely exist. When teaching my disciples, I have also learned many very good lessons drawn from the scriptures such as: Mahaprajnaparamita Sastra, Mahayana Awakening of Faith, Lotus Sutra, Heart Sutra, Diamond Sutra, etc. For example, when reading the part where the Buddha taught: Don't expect someone to wrap the entire globe in velvet so that we can walk on our two feet comfortably, but each person should wrap their own two feet so that they can walk comfortably on this globe. Or: An evil person is like someone who doesn't buy fish, but after entering the fish market, when they step out of the fish market, their clothes stink; and a good person, like Going into the agarwood forest, although not picking any agarwood branches, but when coming out of the agarwood forest, the clothes are fragrant. Those are just typical words, there are many, many teachings like that everywhere in the scriptures, books in the religion as well as in this world. The thing is whether or not you like to read books, whether or not you like to watch sutras when beside you there are countless good movies, satisfactory cai luong plays. The result is: Whoever can master himself in love, money, fame, life, position, etc., he will live uprightly in this life. Whoever is dependent and bound by the above things, he has not chosen for himself a path of liberation right here and now.

At the age of 50, I have contemplated quite a lot about practicing as well as studying, about life as well as about the religion. This is also the time when we need to work harder, so the act of repentance, chanting sutras, bowing to sutras word by word during the An Cu Kiet Ha seasons in For 35 years like that, it is truly: The Buddha's Dharma is miraculous. Every word of the Sutra, every verse, every dot, every stroke of the Sutra has been planted in my mind thousands, tens of thousands of times miraculously. From then on, after returning from a far away Buddhist trip or when lying alone in the Pure Land, this is the time to make my mind and consciousness more awake. No one loves me more than me and no one hates me more than me. If I really still have a selfish ego. Therefore, I began to learn to let go; so at the age of 53, I returned to the Abbot's seat of Vien Giac Pagoda in Hannover, handing over the temple to my disciples to enter a retreat to practice, translate sutras, and write books for 3 months each winter at Da Bao Hill near Sydney, Australia for 10 years like that. Every day I woke up at dawn when the sun had not yet appeared. Looking at Da Bao Hill in Capelltown or in the Blue Mountains, I felt my heart calm and light. For many years, I was alone with only two mountain ranges. around, never had a mind afraid of poisonous snakes, forest fires or wild animals. The mind is still as steady as the void, not coming, not going, not existing, not lost. 15 minutes of sitting in meditation and nearly 1 hour of reciting the Shurangama Sutra in the morning has been my tonic for the past 56 years. Although I have been a vegetarian for many years, I do not need to take tonics, because that morning chanting is the strongest energy that has helped me fight myself in all situations as well as face all challenges in this world. In the morning and afternoon I work. In the evening I recite the Diamond Sutra. I swallow each word of the sutra into my heart. It sounds like I have enjoyed the mysterious dharma flavor of: Should not stay in any place to give birth to the mind, but before that, I have to understand the other two sentences before this third sentence can take shape. That is: Should not stay in form to give birth to the mind, should not stay in sound, smell, taste, touch and dharma to give birth to the mind. Should not stay in any place to give birth to the mind….

At the age of 60, I have become the Master of many monks. They are the disciples of my disciples. Now I entrust the education and guidance to the monks and nuns; I no longer have to be direct. Because education is a human being, a continuous bridge from the past to the present and from the present to the future. If not, a bridge will be missed. This means that a person cannot reach from the past to the future, but each generation must take care of inheriting and passing on existing experiences, breathing into the next generation spiritual heritages so that what can be absorbed can be absorbed, what needs to be eliminated over time can be eliminated. There is no need to force the next generation to be exactly like the previous generation. Because each generation has a separate time, space and circumstances, no time is exactly the same as any other time. I have also shown the disciples that: I will show you how to make a delicious cake; but I I will not give a cake. If you give a cake, no matter how big or delicious it is, you will eat it all. But here I will only show you the method of making a cake. You can use that mold and this recipe to make one cake or many cakes. If it is more delicious than the cake I have shown the recipe for, then you should do it. As for using people or the way to be successful in organizing, follow the method of rolling a mat. We must think that: If there were no old, torn mats, there would be no new mats today. Therefore, when changing mats, roll up the old mat slowly, then put the new mats underneath, until the old mat on top is rolled up, then we will have a completely new, exquisite mat. Anyone who looks at it will be satisfied and no one will blame anyone. It was also during this time that I bowed to the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, volume two, chapter 27, on the Buddha's return to the origin. When I bowed to the sentence: THE NATURE OF IGNORANCE IS LIBERATION, I must say that my whole body and mind were strangely shaken. Then I thought: If the Buddha taught like that, then I can further define that: The nature of afflictions is Bodhi and the nature of birth and death is Nirvana. This means: Outside of ignorance, there is no liberation; outside of birth and death, there is no Nirvana; outside of afflictions, there is no Bodhi. So Bodhi is born from afflictions. Nirvana is born from birth and death, and Liberation is formed from Ignorance. That means in this there is that, and in that there is this. When this appears, that will disappear. It is just that simple, but my mind is extremely relaxed and light, like being immersed in the mysterious Dharma of the Buddhas for a long time.

When I started working for the Church, I accepted the rumors. That is also a normal thing in the world, and I believe that the work of the Church is the common work of everyone. People, why don't we share the responsibility with others so that the weight on our shoulders will be lighter, if someone shares with us. Therefore, from 2013 until now, after the late Venerable Thich Minh Tam passed away, Venerable Thich Tanh Thiet and I have treated each other like brothers, sharing difficulties with each other and each person does his/her own duty, not stepping on each other. That is a principle, so the Church has been peaceful since then. Also because the Church is a synthesis of many members, so clashes with each other are also a normal thing. I often give an example and say: If we do not accept others, others will not accept us. Even our body, to survive here, is not just a vitamin to nourish dozens of cells in the body, but in that body there must also be many other bacteria. Sometimes up to 10 billion like that. If we eliminate these bacteria, in reality it is very dangerous for our own existence. Therefore, accepting reality is the most important thing and we will have more favorable conditions. As for me, from childhood until now, I have received more favorable conditions than adverse conditions. If you ask me how much favorable conditions and how much adverse conditions? I can confidently answer that: For me, from birth until now, over 70 years in this world, I have received 95% favorable conditions and only 5% adverse conditions. That is a blessing. I do not know if when you read this article of mine, you can apply any part of it to your life, then that can be said to be Fate; but if after reading this article, you find that you cannot apply anything, then that is also Fate that has not come yet. For me, I am ready like a silkworm spinning silk. I hope that with those shiny silk threads, people can weave wonderfully beautiful silk, helping people to have joy when wearing them. It is as simple as that. As for those who do not want to wear those silk shirts, it is also due to fate.

At the age of 70, I do not know how long I will live, so I have prepared myself. That is: If someone lives to be 80 years old, ask yourself how many more days you will live? If someone lives to be 70 years old, ask yourself: How many more months will I live? And if someone has lived to be 60 years old, ask yourself: How many more years will I live? That is not to mention impermanence. Because impermanence can come to us at any time, we cannot say how many months, years, days, hours... but we must ask: Now I can still breathe out and when can I no longer breathe in? This is exactly what I want to send to readers near and far to prepare for my life. Compared to that, being 70 years old is already too long. If I had more days, months, and years to live, I would always do subtraction, not addition. That means every day we live, we should subtract one day and look back at ourselves to see what we have done in those 24 hours. At this age, I will never do addition again. Just subtract what we have slowly. If anyone needs financial help, if we still have the ability, then give some of the money we have. If we still have clothes, vehicles, and material possessions, then we should give them away and let them go slowly. Because if we do not let them go now, when our eyes close, our breath stops going in and out, and at that time, even if our hands want to hold them, we will certainly not be able to hold anything, even the loved ones around us, or even ourselves, we will have to give up to the impermanence of the world. Not to mention that when we were born, we didn’t know how to cry, didn’t know how to breastfeed, didn’t know how to eat… we already knew how to be greedy and selfish. Because every child is born with both hands clenched, no child lets go of both hands when their mother gives birth. But holding on to a whole life, fame, profit, love, money, career, and finally when we are near death, we must return them to the origin of heaven and earth and both hands must let go. At that time, only Good or Evil karma will follow and we will have to face many other births and deaths, continuing in that endless cycle of reincarnation.

Today, I write these words when I am over 70 years old and have lived abroad for nearly 48 years, over 56 years of monastic life studying and practicing the Dharma, to send them to everyone who has supported me in many ways, so that I can be who I am today. Please clasp your hands together to remember all the graces and pray for everyone and all beings to enter the true nature of peaceful Nirvana.

Namo Cong Duc Lam Bo Tat Ma Ha Tat to be the great witness.

Finished writing at 18:00 on February 15, 2020 in the library of Vien Giac Pagoda, Hannover, Germany.

Buddhist Thanh Phi corrected the main error describe