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SÁCH AMAZON


Mua bản sách in

The last days of summer were hot, without a breath of wind. The trees stood like stone statues in the garden of death. Everything seemed to stop, waiting for a miracle. Last week, the forest in the neighboring county burned for several days, making the sky covered in black smoke, the sun could not penetrate, only glowing an unusual saffron-yellow sky. Now the sky is clear without a cloud. The black crows are fighting over some prey, squawking loudly in early summer. Then silence. The sparrows have disappeared for nearly a month of intense summer heat. Suddenly, a brown-winged butterfly wandered into the small garden. And from somewhere, the wind gently shook the branches of the magnolias that were blooming sporadically, sending a fragrant scent to the porch. The miracle had come. The wind of early autumn.

Desire is an instinct, coming to us from birth, and nurtured day by day with the encouragement (gentle or strong, unintentional or intentional) of family, school, and society. Desire, clearly expressed through feelings and thoughts, always has its object. The object can sometimes be just a cake or a candy, bringing a small feeling of joy; sometimes a birthday or New Year gift with new clothes; sometimes a degree, a high-paying job; sometimes jewelry, diamonds on the engagement day, wedding day; sometimes beauty, talent, house, property, etc... and more than that, high reputation, supreme power in society, country. Desire is never satisfied with the object it aims at. It is always bored, and wants to overcome the object, seeking another object higher, bringing stronger feelings. And the process of seeking will be a long, arduous, and painful path through a hundred years of life (sometimes many other lives in the future), not knowing where to stop.

The more material comforts increase, the more desire is driven to new, exciting and interesting hunts. The world thus becomes more and more chaotic, insecure and imperfect.

Sometimes the poor man gets tired, stops, and no longer wants to search; his desire still pushes him to search at a higher, gentler, and more holy level, such as a life of renunciation, abstinence, and reduction of material needs. But that is only the surface, the shell of a ball of fire—the earth—that he stands peacefully on every day. A life of renunciation and observance of the precepts are still only formalities, and cannot extinguish the smoldering or raging fire of desire.

According to Buddhist philosophy, the problem is to recognize the root cause of desire, not to find ways to extinguish it or eliminate its objects. Once we see it clearly and accurately, it will no longer make us search for and chase after objects and illusions.

What is the root of desire?

When a person only knows how to collect, accumulate, and save wealth and property, and does not know how to give or donate anything to life: he is being tied down by a master.

When a person is always arrogant, conceited, self-respecting, haughty, arrogant, thinking he is superior, thinking he is the center, everyone must obey: he is being led by a master.

When a person is always egotistical, angry, hateful and is often influenced by praise and criticism: he is being controlled by a master.

When a person always thinks of himself as the most intelligent and clear-minded person, the only one capable of solving life's problems: he is being blinded by a master person.

Who is his owner?

The dog was taken for a walk by a neighbor, passing by someone else's house, and barked at the owner.

The crow got the food, pecked eagerly, swallowed it whole, then flew to the roof, looked back and forth, and cawed dryly, seemingly satisfied.

The newspapers said that the forest fire that had been spreading for a whole week was caused by a paranoid patient who started the fire. Tens of thousands of people were ordered to prepare to evacuate. Hundreds of houses were burned, hundreds of thousands of acres of forest were burned. But this patient's house was safe, unharmed.

At noon, a flock of sparrows suddenly returned from somewhere, searched for food all over the backyard, found nothing, and flew away together, leaving a sunny yard.

The brown-winged butterfly gently flapped its wings, leisurely, and hovered over the fragrant flower buds.

There was no miracle! The early autumn wind today is not like the early autumn wind last year, but it is still wind, nothing new; just the repetition of a weather cycle.

Humans in the modern world do not perform any miracles, do not add anything new to the dream of human life other than inventing and developing everyday conveniences, so as to satisfy everyone's greedy tastes. The object is new, it changes, but the nature of desire has never changed.

No dragonflies fly, but we know, the cool breeze has returned (*), and there will be yellow leaves falling everywhere for a new autumn.

California, August 25, 2018
(15th day of the seventh lunar month, Vu Lan)
Vinh Hao

www.vinhhao.info

_________________

(*) Lyrics by musician Trinh Cong Son in the song “Watching the autumns go.”

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