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UNITED VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST SANGHA

THE COUNCIL FOR PROPAGATION OF DHARMA

VPCTK-HĐHP: Vien Giac Pagoda, Karlsruherstr.6, 30519 Hannover, Germany

Email: ctk.hdhp@gmail.com - Phone: 49 511 879 630

LETTER OF THE HEART

For many years, Vietnamese Buddhists have celebrated the great ceremony with joy and pride on a great Vesak festival solemnly named "United Nations Day of Vesak."

Buddhism is one of the four great religions of humanity. The number of Buddhists is still only about 400-600 million.* With such a modest number, the voice of Buddhism does not have any significant influence in the decisions of the United Nations on the fate of the peoples of the world. Vietnamese Buddhists officially welcomed the "United Nations Vesak Celebration" in 2008. Since then, the statements by delegates from many countries praising the Buddha are too many, but there has not been any significant practical contribution to the desire for peace of many peoples oppressed and exploited by their own governments; threatened by the hegemonic ambitions of big countries.

The current reality is not an obvious proof that the Buddhist doctrine is unrealistic, unable to solve the burning issues of the times, the degeneration of the earth. It is because those who call themselves Buddhists, who call themselves the Messengers of the Tathagata, have not properly appreciated the secular values that have been and are contributing to humanity many necessary means to reduce physical suffering, and in some cases, reduce the pressing worries that lead to mental disorders, insecurity, and fear. Although the Sutras and Treatises speak a lot about the principles of reason and opportunity, in the current preaching of the Dharma, reason and opportunity are obscured by the flickering phenomena of ghosts, by the advice on how to be assisted by ghosts, by the science of physiognomy to know whether this person still has a lot of blessings or that person is about to run out of blessings; things that the Buddha himself warned Venerable Maha-Maudgalyayana, even with supernatural powers, not to tell what he himself saw to those who could not see. To tell things that others could not see could not be known, could not be proven true or false; and this leads to the possibility of deceiving the gullible, blindly trusting, and inevitably acting out “love stories or the masses”, telling stories of ghosts and demons to enchant the masses.

That is a real phenomenon that is happening, it distorts the teachings that Buddha taught. That is what Buddha compared to a boat loaded with gold sailing on the ocean that did not sink because of stormy waves but sank because of its own overload.

And another historical fact. In ancient times, when the king, his subjects, and his soldiers of the Tran Dynasty, from the royal court to the countryside, from the elderly to the young, sacrificed their lives for the survival of the nation, some others, including many royal relatives, betrayed the country and followed the enemy. When peace was restored, the records of the traitors were presented to the royal court for appropriate punishment. King Tran Nhan Tong immediately ordered to burn everything, so that whether the winner or the loser, whether the traitor or the loyal, all are citizens of the same fatherland, forget the mistakes of the past, erase the traces of suspicion and hatred, look at each other, treat each other with national sentiment. That is the flag of humanity and tolerance, not only raised high in a small country, but also at the pinnacle of progressive human history in a humane civilization.

That quintessence of the nation has not been inherited. Nearly half a century has passed since the re-establishment of peace and unity, but the national hatred between brothers of the same bloodline and ancestors cannot tolerate each other. And even among Buddhists, inheritors of the Truc Lam tradition of Buddhism of Duc Dieu Ngu Giac Hoang cannot forget the conflicts and hatreds of the past, determined to eliminate each other. We cannot free ourselves from hatred, how can we free ourselves from hatred in others. There can be no harmony because there can be no liberation from hatred, or no equal distribution of interests; this is a law of psychology, undeniable, and even more so, cannot be justified by any argument based on the Holy Teachings.

However, it is difficult for Vietnamese Buddhists to currently have a complete set of scriptures to be able to judge what is or is not in the scriptures.

Because of this awareness, the Supreme Patriarchate of the Unified Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam, in 1973, organized a conference to establish the Tripitaka Translation Council. The Venerables of the Central Sangha, under the direction of the Sangha Council, with the support of the Venerables in charge of education at Buddhist Colleges and Universities, gathered at Van Hanh University to discuss the organizational structure, translation program, translation regulations, book review methods, etc., until the project to build the Phap Bao Institute as the headquarters of the Translation Council.

This great project did not last long, due to the tense war situation leading up to April 30. Up to now, among the 18 members of the Translation Council, who have passed away one after another, only the Venerable Thich Thanh Tu remains in an inactive state. The wishes of the Master and Founder are at risk of being interrupted.

Through the hardships of war, the oppression by powerful forces, at one time, those Venerables wrote a thick history of cultural and educational works, not thick with violent struggles. How can the descendants, the next generation, with their will, with their virtues, with their wisdom, inherit that noble heritage, and promote the quintessence of that nation?

Half a century of peace in the country, but the nation is not at peace. Half a century of the Dharma being restored, but the Patriarchal Seal is not restored. How can we carry out the Buddha's strict religious precepts, and resolve conflicts within the Sangha by the last resort of "like a rich land"?

The faint hope is that a small number of young teachers, those who have not been captivated by worldly values, not yet contaminated by the glorious positions bestowed by worldly power; those whose initial intention to become monks has not yet turned into a barren field, are enough to be called fields of merit for many people; Those people will, with their diligence and self-awareness of their mission as monks, learn from the same teacher, and be in harmony like water and milk, inherit what their teachers and ancestors have not yet fulfilled, keep the torch of the Dharma burning in the dark night of birth and death; keep the torch of tolerance and kindness burning and passing it on to the next generations, for the peace and happiness of the nation, for the happiness and peace of many people, of all living beings.

In order for the Great Buddha's Birthday to be respectfully celebrated in the hearts of every Buddhist, the four groups of disciples should courageously generate the Bodhi vow, decide to practice Bodhi, and progress without regression on the Holy Path, for the sake of the Dharma's pure, happy, and liberating nature, for the benefit and happiness of the national community and humanity.

Pray for the Dharma to last long in the world, for the nation to be in harmony and love one another. Pray for world peace and happiness for all beings.

Sincerely

Buddhist calendar 2565, Tan Suu (May 20, 2021)

Director of the Buddhist Sangha

The Most Venerable Thich Tue Sy




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* 1. Christianity (2.3 billion followers); 2. Islam (1.8 billion followers); 3. Hinduism (1.1 billion followers); 4. Buddhism (500 million followers). Source: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/largest-religions-in-the-world.html

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