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His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
MESSAGE
I extend my greetings to
participants of the 11th Anniversary Celebrations and International Buddhist
Conference on the United Nations Day of Vesak 2014, being hosted by the
National Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (NVBS).
For Buddhists across the world,
Vesak is a day when we not only honour and celebrate the Buddha's birth,
enlightenment and Mahaparinirvana, but also remind ourselves of the
importance of leading our lives in accordance with his noble teachings.
Buddha Shakyamuni attained
enlightenment and taught in India over two thousand years ago, yet his
teachings remain refreshing and relevant even in today’s world. Today, for
example, there is a growing global awareness of the importance of
non-violence. Its application is not restricted merely to other human beings,
but also has to do with ecology, the environment and our relations with all
the other living beings with whom we share the planet. Non-violence thus can
be applied in our day-to-day lives whatever our position or vocation.
The purpose of life is to be
happy. As a Buddhist I have found that our own mental attitude is the most
influential factor in working towards that goal. In order to change
conditions outside ourselves, whether they concern the environment or
relations with others, we must first change within ourselves. Inner peace is
the key. In that state of mind you can face difficulties with calm and
reason, while retaining your inner happiness. The teachings of love, kindness
and tolerance, the conduct of nonviolence, the Buddhist theory that all
things are relative, as well as a variety of techniques for calming the mind
are a source of that inner peace.
I believe Buddhism has an important
role to play in our modern world; its concept of interdependence accords
closely with fundamental notions of modern science. We can think of Buddhism
in terms of three main categories - philosophy, science and religion. The
religious part involves principles and practices that are of concern to
Buddhists alone, but the Buddhist philosophy of interdependence as well as
the Buddhist science of mind and human emotions are of great benefit to
everyone. As we know, modern science has developed a highly sophisticated
understanding of the physical world, including the subtle workings of the
body and the brain. Buddhist science on the other hand, has devoted itself to
developing a detailed, first-person understanding of many aspects of the mind
and emotions, areas still relatively new to modern science. Each therefore
has crucial knowledge with which to complement the other. I believe that a
synthesis of these two approaches has great potential to lead to discoveries
that will enrich our physical, emotional and social well-being.
Until the last fifty years or so,
the world's diverse Buddhist communities had only a distant inkling of each
other's existence and little appreciation of how much they held in common. As
the Buddha's teaching took root in different places, certain variations in
the style in which it was practised and upheld evolved naturally. However, I
believe that time has now come to communicate freely with one another; after
all, our various Buddhist traditions are but branches springing from a common
trunk and roots. May I therefore appeal to this assembly of esteemed Buddhist
elders and representatives to take this opportunity to improve and extend
communications amongst ourselves, in order that the Buddhist community as a
whole will be able to contribute more effectively to human happiness and
peace of mind throughout the world.
March 26, 2014
Source:
http://www.undv2014vietnam.com
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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
A Message About Vesak 2014 from the 14th Dalai Lama
Most Venerable Thích Trí Tịnh -- A Biography- Part IV
In the South, the monk students temporarily dwelt at Vĩnh Tràng Pagoda, Mỹ
Tho, the abbot of which was Venerable Trí Long. After that Venerables Thiện Hoa, and Trí Quang also came to Lưỡng Xuyên to supervise the new school. Meanwhile, the young monk Trí Tịnh went to Kim Huê Pagoda, Sa Đéc, for a retreat. On June 19,1945, he took a lifetime vow, and received the bhikkhu's precepts at a ceremony held at Long An Pagoda,
Sa Đéc, which was presided by the Most Venerable Abbot of Kim Huê Pagoda.
With the August Revolution uprising in 1945, the Lưỡng Xuyên Buddhist Studies School was dispersed. Venerable Thiện Hoa returned to Phật Quang Pagoda,Trà ôn, Cần Thơ, where his brother Most Venerable Thiện Tâm was the abbot, and started to build a temporary new school. Bhikkhu Trí Tịnh left Sa Đéc for Phật Quang, and with Venerable Thiện Hoa, he began to gather monk students to build up Phật Quang Buddhist Studies School, which was to open at the end of that year. The majority of the monk students were newly recruited, because most of the previous monk students had to be dispersed here and there due to national insecurity. At the end of 1946 the local ethnic groups' uprisings forced the Buddhist school administrators to evacuate some monk students to Vạn Phưóc Pagoda, Phú Lâm, Chợ Lớn. After that, with Venerable Huyền Dung, Bhikkhu Trí Tịnh
founded Liên Hải Buddhist Studies School, which attracted about 70 monk students scattered from all over the place. Venerable Đạt Từ from Thiền Tôn Pagoda,Thủ Đức, came to help as a supervisor. Bhikkhus Quảng Liên and Quảng Huệ also provided assistance. It was here that Minh Cảnh, a novice, received the major vows and became a monk. Bhikkhus Quảng Liên and Bửu Huệ also accepted major vows at the same pagoda. In 1950 Bhikkhu Trí Tịnh had to resign from administration responsibilities due to poor health, and retreated to Linh Sơn Ancient Pagoda in Vũng Tàu. Venerable Thiện Hoa who had returned from the North took charge of all the school administration. In 1951 Bhikkhu Trí Tịnh was elected to be the Abbot of Linh Sơn. In 1952 the South Vietnam Sangha Association (Giáo Hội Tăng Già Nam Việt) was established in Sài Gòn, and he was selected Head of its Education Department and its Vinaya Superintendent. Soon after that when the national Buddhist Sangha was established, he was again elected Head of its Education Department, and a member in the Tripitaka Translation Council, as well as Vice-Chief Executive of the Sangha. Because he had been given so many duties, he had to resign from abbotship at Linh Sơn Pagoda, and to delegate the duty to Venerable Tịnh Viên until the latter deceased in 1995.
With Bhikkhu Trí Tịnh's strong aspirations for Buddhist dissemination, founding Buddhist temples and monasteries, and training for future generations of monks and nuns, he was respectfully invited to be the abbot of an ancient pagoda located in an isolated and remote area at Bình Đức, Tâm Bình, Thủ Đức District (Tam Phú, Thủ Đức, Ho Chi Minh City nowadays). He rebuilt the pagoda there and named it Vạn Đức. Gradually, his reputation was spreading, and more and more monks and nuns came to live nearby and to learn the Dharma from him, forming a new Buddhist congregation called "Vạn Đức Congregation," which is well-known in the region.
In 1955 with a vow to teach sentient beings in a period of time when Buddhism was degrading and vulnerable, he established the Great Bliss Congregation of Buddhists, and taught them to chant names of Buddhas and to pray for entering the Pure Land after death. Following his teachings, this Congregation has sparked a movement of Buddhist practice which emphasizes the Pure Land as the realm to enter at the end of one's life. Thus he was the First Patriarch who renewed the Pure Land School in Vietnam. He mastered all Buddhist sutras, and oriental medicine. Thanks to his translations of Mahayana sutras, all Vietnamese monks, nuns and laypeople can understand these sutras. His translations are lucid and valuable. He focused on translating correctly, precisely, clearly, truthfully, and smoothly, so that the reader or the chanter may understand the core meanings and the implications in the sutras without any doubt about semantic ambiguity.
(To be continued)
Source:
With the August Revolution uprising in 1945, the Lưỡng Xuyên Buddhist Studies School was dispersed. Venerable Thiện Hoa returned to Phật Quang Pagoda,Trà ôn, Cần Thơ, where his brother Most Venerable Thiện Tâm was the abbot, and started to build a temporary new school. Bhikkhu Trí Tịnh left Sa Đéc for Phật Quang, and with Venerable Thiện Hoa, he began to gather monk students to build up Phật Quang Buddhist Studies School, which was to open at the end of that year. The majority of the monk students were newly recruited, because most of the previous monk students had to be dispersed here and there due to national insecurity. At the end of 1946 the local ethnic groups' uprisings forced the Buddhist school administrators to evacuate some monk students to Vạn Phưóc Pagoda, Phú Lâm, Chợ Lớn. After that, with Venerable Huyền Dung, Bhikkhu Trí Tịnh
founded Liên Hải Buddhist Studies School, which attracted about 70 monk students scattered from all over the place. Venerable Đạt Từ from Thiền Tôn Pagoda,Thủ Đức, came to help as a supervisor. Bhikkhus Quảng Liên and Quảng Huệ also provided assistance. It was here that Minh Cảnh, a novice, received the major vows and became a monk. Bhikkhus Quảng Liên and Bửu Huệ also accepted major vows at the same pagoda. In 1950 Bhikkhu Trí Tịnh had to resign from administration responsibilities due to poor health, and retreated to Linh Sơn Ancient Pagoda in Vũng Tàu. Venerable Thiện Hoa who had returned from the North took charge of all the school administration. In 1951 Bhikkhu Trí Tịnh was elected to be the Abbot of Linh Sơn. In 1952 the South Vietnam Sangha Association (Giáo Hội Tăng Già Nam Việt) was established in Sài Gòn, and he was selected Head of its Education Department and its Vinaya Superintendent. Soon after that when the national Buddhist Sangha was established, he was again elected Head of its Education Department, and a member in the Tripitaka Translation Council, as well as Vice-Chief Executive of the Sangha. Because he had been given so many duties, he had to resign from abbotship at Linh Sơn Pagoda, and to delegate the duty to Venerable Tịnh Viên until the latter deceased in 1995.
With Bhikkhu Trí Tịnh's strong aspirations for Buddhist dissemination, founding Buddhist temples and monasteries, and training for future generations of monks and nuns, he was respectfully invited to be the abbot of an ancient pagoda located in an isolated and remote area at Bình Đức, Tâm Bình, Thủ Đức District (Tam Phú, Thủ Đức, Ho Chi Minh City nowadays). He rebuilt the pagoda there and named it Vạn Đức. Gradually, his reputation was spreading, and more and more monks and nuns came to live nearby and to learn the Dharma from him, forming a new Buddhist congregation called "Vạn Đức Congregation," which is well-known in the region.
In 1955 with a vow to teach sentient beings in a period of time when Buddhism was degrading and vulnerable, he established the Great Bliss Congregation of Buddhists, and taught them to chant names of Buddhas and to pray for entering the Pure Land after death. Following his teachings, this Congregation has sparked a movement of Buddhist practice which emphasizes the Pure Land as the realm to enter at the end of one's life. Thus he was the First Patriarch who renewed the Pure Land School in Vietnam. He mastered all Buddhist sutras, and oriental medicine. Thanks to his translations of Mahayana sutras, all Vietnamese monks, nuns and laypeople can understand these sutras. His translations are lucid and valuable. He focused on translating correctly, precisely, clearly, truthfully, and smoothly, so that the reader or the chanter may understand the core meanings and the implications in the sutras without any doubt about semantic ambiguity.
(To be continued)
Source:
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Most Venerable Thích Trí Tịnh -- A Biography- Part III
When the young monk arrived in Huế, he did not know which pagoda to stay at. With the help of some rickshaw men, he learned that at Tây Thiên Pagoda, there were some monks from the South. It turned out the Abbot of the pagoda was Most Venerable Giác Nhiên, the Second Patriarch of the United Vietnam Buddhist Sanga. It was there that he met two monks who years later would became Most Venerables Thiện Hòa, and Thiện Hoa. Most Venerable Giác Tâm from Duyên Giác Pagoda , Bến Tre Province, had already graduated, and now was teaching the Lankavatara Sutra. After the class was adjourned, Most Venerable Giác Tâm asked him to read what had just been taught again. He read and explained the text so clearly that Most Venerable Giác Tâm encouraged him to get formal training, which the former would happily help to prepare the paperwork for the latter's admission. Because the young monk had no sponsor, the school granted him some fellowship, so he could get support while studying. When he was admitted into the class, it was almost at the end of the curriculum for the Elementary Level. There were only a few months left before the entrance examination to the Intermediate Level. He could learn most subjects without much difficulty, except for the
Vijnaptimatrasiddhi-sastra (Duy
Thức), which he had no idea about. He had to borrow notebooks from classmates, and learned by himself. Gradually he could understand it. When there was a test about
Vijnaptimatrasiddhi-sastra, he got the highest grade in his class. No wonder the Most Venerable who was in charge of academic affairs was interested in him, while his friends felt awed. At the oral exam, Dr. Lê Đình Thám asked the young monk and candidate to open the book randomly in order to explain the content of the page he got. He could not explain the page well, since he had not learned about it. The doctor said, "Although this student came later than his classmates, he will be useful."
In the end, the young monk was ranked 7th in his class.
In the end, the young monk was ranked 7th in his class.
Early in 1941 the young monk received the ten precepts in Huế under the Most Venerable Abbot of Quốc Ân Pagoda. After that he continued to learn and completed the Intermediate Level and graduated near the end of 1942. In 1945 he graduated the Advanced Level. That same year the Annam Buddhist Studies School (An Nam Phật Học) moved to Kim Sơn Monastery (Tòng Lâm Kim Sơn). He was assigned Head Supervisor of the School. Because of the famine both in Huế and in the North, the School Board decided to move 40 of its students of the Elementary and Intermediate Levels to the South, under his supervision. Most Venerables Thiện Hoa and Trí Quang were to found a new school, the goal of which was to build the Lưỡng Xuyên Buddhist Studies School (Lưỡng Xuyên Phật Học).
(To be continued)
Source:
Hương Sen Vạn Đức
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Most Venerable Thích Trí Tịnh -- A Biography- Part II
He traveled to Mt.Cấm, because he had learned that there were many genuine Buddhist masters practicing the Dharma in the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, he felt so happy that he took off his shoes and started to climb up enthusiastically from one rock to another, thinking that the first pagoda he stopped at would be where he would ask to become a monk, even if he might not know its name, nor its abbot. In due course he came to Vạn
Linh Pagoda located high up in the mountain. At that time the Abbot was not inside, but was mainly staying in his own small hut, and only came back after the sutra recital to give instructions if necessary. It was February 2, the Lunar Year of the Buffalo (Đinh Sửu), and there was a bimonthly repentance ritual. When the ritual ended, one resident monk presented the story of the new visitor to the Abbot. Gazing at the young man for a while, the Abbot said, " This is a special young man who in his previous life was a most venerable monk, and who will again become a respected monk in this life. But because of his bad habit of looking at women in the previous life, he has to bear an eyesight blemish in this life." The following day which was also the Mahaparinirvana Day (when the Buddha demised), the young man was allowed to have his hair shaved.
From then on he was asked to help with writing in Chinese in the temple. The Abbot allowed him to live in a small hut in the pagoda yard. He followed monastic schedules, and did all the assigned tasks dutifully and diligently. In fact, he would sometimes be so absorbed in his thoughts about the Dharma that he forgot all about sleeping and eating, and was admonished by the Abbot. The Pagoda had issues of Compassion Journal, which the novice avidly read. He soon vowed that he would dedicate his life to learning Buddhist Dharma. At the end of 1939 he asked for permission to go to Saigon to learn more about Buddhist sutras and vinaya (monastic rules). From Saigon, together with another monk named Thiện Phước, he went to Mt. Thị Vải, hoping to find an appropriate place to build their own hut. The two finally found a fairly good place not far from Tổ Pagoda (Linh Sơn Bửu Thiền nowadays). The young novices borrowed tools from the pagoda, and began to build their own hut. At that time very few people lived in that wild and mountainous area. Soon both of them contracted malaria. They had to abandoned their hut, and sought for help and shelter from some local people. After some days his Dharma friend Thiện Phước passed away, while he had to go back to Saigon and stayed at Tịnh Độ Pagoda, Gò Vấp District. The pagoda was built by the manager of a railroad station. Located behind his house, it had some resident monks. The young novice had to go to hospital to seek treatment, but he did not get any better. He thought to himself, "It is fine if I too have to die like my friend Thiện Phước." He concentrated on copying the Lotus Sutra in Chinese characters, and no longer paid much attention to his health. With the donation of paper and ink from a Buddhist layperson, he completed the work on October 14, and sent it out for binding into a book. That night another Buddhist layperson, Mr. Mười, visited the pagoda and said to him," I know a physician who is very good at treating malaria. Please allow me to take you to him by bike for treatment." As it turned out, that was an itinerant physician who was staying at a local resident's house to help sick people. Following the physician's instructions, he was gradually recovering, but it was not long before he set out for another journey to continue learning the Dharma.
After he got well again, a cousin of his who was a Buddhist nun named Diệu Trí visited him, and mentioned that she had learned some sutras which he should learn, too. At that time the only Buddhist school was the An Nam Buddhist Studies (An Nam Phật Học) in Báo Quốc Pagoda, Huế. Upon hearing about this, he decided to leave for Huế.
However, in early 1940 he had to go back to Cái Tàu to complete the paperwork to go to Huế. Under the colonial laws he had to stay there for 5 or 7 months waiting for the authority's permission. Unable to wait any longer, he had to decide to go to Sài Gòn in order to look for ways to get to Huế. He met with a rich patron named Ba Hộ, who was also the owner of the land where Vạn Đức Pagoda (of which he was the Abbot years later) was built. She donated him some money for travel expenses. From Sài Gòn in the South, a French colony, to Huế, an independent central region of Vietnam under the French supervision, he needed a passport. Therefore, he had to split his train journey into several parts. When he got to Phan Thiết around noon, he asked the rickshaw-man to get him to the nearest pagoda. He was taken to Bình Quang Pagoda, where he had lunch. He was so poor that he could not afford a decent robe to wear while accepting the donated meal, even though he wished he would have one to follow the etiquette. After lunch he left for Bình Định Province, because at the Compassion Journal Headquarters, he had met the Most Venerable Abbot of Liên Tôn Pagoda, Bình Định, who was the Deputy-in-Chief of the journal. The Editor-in-Chief then was Most Venerable Bich Liên.
In Bình Định, although he could not meet the Abbot, who was still in the city and would not be back in a few more days, he was allowed to stay at Liên Tôn Pagoda until the Abbot returned, accompanied by his assistant and Sister Diệu Trí. The Abbot asked him to rewrite the Prajna-paramita Sutra, which the former had preached and written about in the journal, so as to have it published. During his stay at the pagoda, along with the nun and the assistant, he could study monastic rules in “Cảnh Sách Chú Thích Ký” taught by the Abbot. Thanks to the help of Sister Diệu Trí, he could read sutras sent from the North, but was advised to go to Huế for formal Buddhist training. After three months he left for Huế, while the nun returned to Sài Gòn. It was August, 1940.
(To be continued)
Source:
Hương Sen Vạn Đức
From then on he was asked to help with writing in Chinese in the temple. The Abbot allowed him to live in a small hut in the pagoda yard. He followed monastic schedules, and did all the assigned tasks dutifully and diligently. In fact, he would sometimes be so absorbed in his thoughts about the Dharma that he forgot all about sleeping and eating, and was admonished by the Abbot. The Pagoda had issues of Compassion Journal, which the novice avidly read. He soon vowed that he would dedicate his life to learning Buddhist Dharma. At the end of 1939 he asked for permission to go to Saigon to learn more about Buddhist sutras and vinaya (monastic rules). From Saigon, together with another monk named Thiện Phước, he went to Mt. Thị Vải, hoping to find an appropriate place to build their own hut. The two finally found a fairly good place not far from Tổ Pagoda (Linh Sơn Bửu Thiền nowadays). The young novices borrowed tools from the pagoda, and began to build their own hut. At that time very few people lived in that wild and mountainous area. Soon both of them contracted malaria. They had to abandoned their hut, and sought for help and shelter from some local people. After some days his Dharma friend Thiện Phước passed away, while he had to go back to Saigon and stayed at Tịnh Độ Pagoda, Gò Vấp District. The pagoda was built by the manager of a railroad station. Located behind his house, it had some resident monks. The young novice had to go to hospital to seek treatment, but he did not get any better. He thought to himself, "It is fine if I too have to die like my friend Thiện Phước." He concentrated on copying the Lotus Sutra in Chinese characters, and no longer paid much attention to his health. With the donation of paper and ink from a Buddhist layperson, he completed the work on October 14, and sent it out for binding into a book. That night another Buddhist layperson, Mr. Mười, visited the pagoda and said to him," I know a physician who is very good at treating malaria. Please allow me to take you to him by bike for treatment." As it turned out, that was an itinerant physician who was staying at a local resident's house to help sick people. Following the physician's instructions, he was gradually recovering, but it was not long before he set out for another journey to continue learning the Dharma.
After he got well again, a cousin of his who was a Buddhist nun named Diệu Trí visited him, and mentioned that she had learned some sutras which he should learn, too. At that time the only Buddhist school was the An Nam Buddhist Studies (An Nam Phật Học) in Báo Quốc Pagoda, Huế. Upon hearing about this, he decided to leave for Huế.
However, in early 1940 he had to go back to Cái Tàu to complete the paperwork to go to Huế. Under the colonial laws he had to stay there for 5 or 7 months waiting for the authority's permission. Unable to wait any longer, he had to decide to go to Sài Gòn in order to look for ways to get to Huế. He met with a rich patron named Ba Hộ, who was also the owner of the land where Vạn Đức Pagoda (of which he was the Abbot years later) was built. She donated him some money for travel expenses. From Sài Gòn in the South, a French colony, to Huế, an independent central region of Vietnam under the French supervision, he needed a passport. Therefore, he had to split his train journey into several parts. When he got to Phan Thiết around noon, he asked the rickshaw-man to get him to the nearest pagoda. He was taken to Bình Quang Pagoda, where he had lunch. He was so poor that he could not afford a decent robe to wear while accepting the donated meal, even though he wished he would have one to follow the etiquette. After lunch he left for Bình Định Province, because at the Compassion Journal Headquarters, he had met the Most Venerable Abbot of Liên Tôn Pagoda, Bình Định, who was the Deputy-in-Chief of the journal. The Editor-in-Chief then was Most Venerable Bich Liên.
In Bình Định, although he could not meet the Abbot, who was still in the city and would not be back in a few more days, he was allowed to stay at Liên Tôn Pagoda until the Abbot returned, accompanied by his assistant and Sister Diệu Trí. The Abbot asked him to rewrite the Prajna-paramita Sutra, which the former had preached and written about in the journal, so as to have it published. During his stay at the pagoda, along with the nun and the assistant, he could study monastic rules in “Cảnh Sách Chú Thích Ký” taught by the Abbot. Thanks to the help of Sister Diệu Trí, he could read sutras sent from the North, but was advised to go to Huế for formal Buddhist training. After three months he left for Huế, while the nun returned to Sài Gòn. It was August, 1940.
(To be continued)
Source:
Hương Sen Vạn Đức
Friday, April 11, 2014
Most Venerable Thích Trí Tịnh -- A Biography
Most Venerable Thích Trí Tịnh was born at Mỹ An Hưng (Cái Tàu Thượng), Châu Thành District, Sa Đéc
Province (Đồng Tháp nowadays) on October, 17, 1917 (September 2, the Lunar Year of the Snake) under the name Nguyễn Văn Bình. His Dhamma names were Thiện Chánh, Trí Tịnh, Hân Tịnh, Nhựt
Bình, and he belonged to the 41st lineage order of the Linchi School. His first spiritual master was the Late Most Venerable Thích Thiện Quang, Abbot of Vạn Linh Temple on Cấm Mountain, Châu Đốc Province. He was the youngest in a family of 6 children.. His father, Nguyễn Văn Cân, was a simple peasant who passed away when he was only 3 years old. His mother, Nguyễn Thị Truyện, also demised when he was 7. He lived with his eldest brother Nguyễn Văn Đặng. He did not start schooling until the age of 10. But he was an intelligent and fast learner who would first learn, then teach his nieces and nephews later. At the age of 15 he finished his 6th grade, and started to learn Chinese characters with his uncle, and Oriental medicine with his cousin. He got tired of family life and wanted to denounce the mundane life, so he explored various religions such as Catholics, Cao Đài, Theosophical Society, and became interested in Buddhism. Since then he began to chant Buddhas' names, mantras, and contemplated on compassion. However, he could not be interested in the ways Buddhism was practiced at the time with too much emphasis on rituals for the deceased and superstitions. He preferred to go to mountains to find genuine Buddhist masters to learn the Dharma from them.
At the age of 18, he started to become a vegetarian. One night in his dream, an old man said to him,"You have had the Dharma seed from previous lives, so you should seek for a master to learn the Dharma, to fulfill your wishes." The old man added,"When the tiger dies, the snake will return to the mountain" (He was born in the year of the snake). In 1937, at the age of 21, he went to Saigon with a friend. They rented a room, hoping to start a new life in the city. A member of the landlord's household where the two friends rented had gone on a trip to Tây Ninh, and brought back home a tiger cub. After 9 or 10 days the cub died. Recalling the dream, Nguyễn Văn Bình decided to denounce the mundane life to become a monk. However, since his elder sister had not yet gotten married, he waited until she did. Then when the time came, he left notes and his own photos to his siblings to start looking for a Dharma master.
(To be continued)
Source:
From The Fragrance of Van Duc Lotus
(Hương Sen Vạn Đức)
http://www.daophatngaynay.com/vn/phatgiao-vn/con-nguoi-vn/14880-tieu-su-dai-lao-ht-thich-tri-tinh.html
At the age of 18, he started to become a vegetarian. One night in his dream, an old man said to him,"You have had the Dharma seed from previous lives, so you should seek for a master to learn the Dharma, to fulfill your wishes." The old man added,"When the tiger dies, the snake will return to the mountain" (He was born in the year of the snake). In 1937, at the age of 21, he went to Saigon with a friend. They rented a room, hoping to start a new life in the city. A member of the landlord's household where the two friends rented had gone on a trip to Tây Ninh, and brought back home a tiger cub. After 9 or 10 days the cub died. Recalling the dream, Nguyễn Văn Bình decided to denounce the mundane life to become a monk. However, since his elder sister had not yet gotten married, he waited until she did. Then when the time came, he left notes and his own photos to his siblings to start looking for a Dharma master.
(To be continued)
Source:
From The Fragrance of Van Duc Lotus
(Hương Sen Vạn Đức)
http://www.daophatngaynay.com/vn/phatgiao-vn/con-nguoi-vn/14880-tieu-su-dai-lao-ht-thich-tri-tinh.html
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