Bhikkhuni Từ Quán was born into a noble family which had served in the royal court for many generations. No record was found about her exact date of birth and death. We only learned that she was living in the middle of the 14th century. As a nun, she lived in a small hut on Mt. Thanh Lương. She was an ascetic who practiced the precepts diligently, and had developed wisdom through meditation. It was said that she looked like an Arahat, and was admired by both Buddhist monks, nuns and laypeople at her time. Her name was as well-known as other contemporary famous Buddhist venerables. King Trần Nghệ Tông (1370-1372) awarded her the title "Tuệ Thông (Profound Wisdom) the Great Master." In her old age she wished to sacrifice her own body to the wild beasts, so she walked into wild mountain, sat in a lotus posture, hoping that tigers or wolves would come and eat her up. Her compassion and her courage was so boundless that in 21 days tigers, wolves and other wild beasts came only to sit around her, but none dared to get near her. Her disciples came and begged her to return to the hut. She finally did, but sat in deep meditation during that summer. Early in fall she called all her disciples to her side, gave a Dharma talk, and instructed them: "After my death, just leave some of my bones here, so people may use them as medicines." She did not contract any disease, but just passed away while sitting in meditation when she was over 80 years old. After her cremation, her disciples found many relics in her ashes. They carefully picked up all the relics to preserve in a sealed box. The following day they found one wrist bone on the table, outside the box! They felt awe at their master's sacredness, and her spiritual power. Later they scraped the bone and mixed it with water to make medication for those who were ill, and came for help cure their diseases. It was said that all those ill people who came were cured with the medication made from her bone. A local ruler ordered to build a shrine to worship her right on the mountain. Her decision reflected the ideal of Buddhist compassion.
Source:
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Bhikkhuni Diệu Nhân
Bhikkhuni Diệu Nhân (1042-1113) was from the 17th generation of the Tỳ Ni Đa Lưu Chi Thiền (Zen) School in Vietnam. She was born under the secular name of Lý Ngọc Kiều at Hương Hải Village,
Phù Đổng, Tiên Du. She was the eldest daughter of Phụng Càn Vương Lý Nhật Trung,
a knighted nobleman. Since childhood she was allowed by King Lý Thánh Tông to live in the royal palace, and was given the title as a princess in her adulthood. Because she was highly respected for her well manners and good character, the King considered her his own daughter, and married her to one of his subjects. It was said that her husband had been ruling at Châu Mục, Chân Đăng, and that his last name was Lê. When he passed away, she declined getting married again to any other suitors, and remained a widow. One day she said, "To me all phenomena in life are dreams, why should we depend on such vain fame and wealth?" Then she decided to become a nun. She was a disciple of Zen Master Chân Không at Phù Đổng. On June 1st, 1113, under the rule of King Lý Nhân Tông, she did not feel well, and told her disciples to come and listen to her gatha as her final farewell. She passed away at the age of 72 in a sitting posture.
Bhikkhuni Diệu Nhân has been a role model for her contemporary nuns and all the bhikkhunis in Vietnam.
Following is her final gatha:
Bhikkhuni Diệu Nhân has been a role model for her contemporary nuns and all the bhikkhunis in Vietnam.
Following is her final gatha:
Sinh, lão, bệnh, tử
Tự cổ thường nhiên
Dục cầu xuất ly
Giải phọc thiêm triền
Mê chi cầu Phật
Hoặc chi cầu thiền
Thiền, Phật bất câu
Uổng khẩu vô ngôn.
(in Chinese Vietnamese)
(in Chinese Vietnamese)
Sinh, lão, bệnh, tử
Lẽ thường tự nhiên
Muốn cầu thoát ly
Càng thêm trói buộc
Mê, mới cầu Phật
Hoặc, mới cầu Thiền
Chẳng cầu Thiền, Phật
Mím miệng ngồi yên.
Translated by Ngô Đức Thọ and Nguyễn Thúy Nga (Thiền Uyển Tập Anh, p. 235).
The version translated by Zen Master Thích Thanh Từ in Thiền Sư Việt Nam, p. 163 is below:
Sanh già bệnh chết
Xưa nay lẽ thường
Muốn cầu thoát ra
Mở trói thêm ràng
Mê đó tìm Phật
Lầm đó cầu thiền
Phật, thiền chẳng cầu
Uổng miệng không lời.
Birth, old age, sickness, and death
Such is the natural course of life
To those who want to escape from that cycle
Trying hard to untie the fetters -- vain
Trying hard to find the Buddha -- illusion
Trying hard to sit in meditation -- mistake
The Buddha and meditation are not to be desired for
Words are redundant; speechless.
Birth, old age, sickness, and death
Such is the natural course of life
To those who want to escape from that cycle
Trying hard to untie the fetters -- vain
Trying hard to find the Buddha -- illusion
Trying hard to sit in meditation -- mistake
The Buddha and meditation are not to be desired for
Words are redundant; speechless.
(To be continued)
Sources:
http://thuvienhoasen.org/D_1-2_2-137_4-19598_5-50_6-1_17-71_14-1_15-1/dieu-nhan-ni-su-1041-1113.html
Friday, January 10, 2014
Honesty - Part IV
As long as one is engaged in the mundane world, busy interacting with others and striving hard for one's sustenance and comforts, one may have to rely on one's will to overcome traps or to tactfully disguise oneself to avoid being looked down by others or fooled by frauds. However, if one realizes what true happiness is, and what is the ultimate and noble goal to attain in life, one would dedicate most time dwelling in one's true mind, and refuse to chase after fleeting dreams, or to do harms to the precious seeds in one's mind. The reality, one is well aware, is that what is built upon vanity and dishonesty does not last long, and will become huge obstacles against interconnectedness.
The supreme art of living is therefore not that of molding or disguising one's mind according to some models or guidelines. Instead, it is the art of true mind training. What we need to do is to observe the mind all the time in a calm and gentle way, then the result will emerge naturally. That way happiness is within our reach, and we won't have any laments, discontents or complaints about our failure to conquer our bad habits. Living with the true mind is the way of life followed by the wise and those who don't find any values in life's colorful but vain and insignificant drama.......
Source:
The supreme art of living is therefore not that of molding or disguising one's mind according to some models or guidelines. Instead, it is the art of true mind training. What we need to do is to observe the mind all the time in a calm and gentle way, then the result will emerge naturally. That way happiness is within our reach, and we won't have any laments, discontents or complaints about our failure to conquer our bad habits. Living with the true mind is the way of life followed by the wise and those who don't find any values in life's colorful but vain and insignificant drama.......
Source:
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Honesty - Part III
Mind training requires honesty, that is, we need to observe the mind as it is, and not to force or shape it into the way we want. In meditation (Zen) such a natural and pure observation is called intuition, noticing without any discriminative thoughts, nor any distinction between the observer and the observed. It is the first insight. When we examine our mind without love (attachment) nor hatred (detachment), we are able to see its true nature, and to notice the arising and the disappearing of mind processes. Just remain calm and quiet while watching the film about our physical and psychological processes. Gradually we will be able to become detached from them, from the grossest to the finest. This demands a lot of practice. However, with honesty, we accept what we truly are, and gradually get detached from all fetters without any fight or denial. Such is an important progress in our self transformation.
Many have struggled very hard to improve themselves, but, even with a strong determination, they failed to make any progress, and they even had occasional setbacks. One of the possible reasons was that they relied on their own will, and denied who and what they actually are. They hate themselves, and have inferior complex when they recognize their bad trends or habits. What they lack is an honest awareness that they need to accept who they actually are, and to transform their bad habits by practicing better ones.
Some people who have been in the convent for a long time may fall into the trap of seeing themselves as holy beings while deep down they are still human. Their strong desires to become holy may have hidden their real inner life. They may have perceived themselves as the reflections of their religious masters and predecessors. Their self love fools them into thinking that they are virtuous and saintly. They appear to be forgiving and tolerant, but suffer inner conflicts. One who seeks the truth must rely on their own experience, not on fantasy or imagination, for the truth is elusive if one is dishonest and incapable of attaining it.
Source:
Many have struggled very hard to improve themselves, but, even with a strong determination, they failed to make any progress, and they even had occasional setbacks. One of the possible reasons was that they relied on their own will, and denied who and what they actually are. They hate themselves, and have inferior complex when they recognize their bad trends or habits. What they lack is an honest awareness that they need to accept who they actually are, and to transform their bad habits by practicing better ones.
Some people who have been in the convent for a long time may fall into the trap of seeing themselves as holy beings while deep down they are still human. Their strong desires to become holy may have hidden their real inner life. They may have perceived themselves as the reflections of their religious masters and predecessors. Their self love fools them into thinking that they are virtuous and saintly. They appear to be forgiving and tolerant, but suffer inner conflicts. One who seeks the truth must rely on their own experience, not on fantasy or imagination, for the truth is elusive if one is dishonest and incapable of attaining it.
Source:
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Honesty - Part II
We need to be honest to ourselves
There is no exact measurement tool for honesty. As there are different views of life and criteria for happiness, there are different ways to judge to what extent we should live with honesty. If we think happiness is measured by accumulated wealth and fame, then honesty is definitely not a powerful weapon to use in the fierce war of competition. Those who find true happiness in a peaceful mind, and who have let go most of their unnecessary desires and struggles with their own transient emotions are able to protect their mind in all circumstances. Such people never have their minds spoiled by pursuing other worldly gains and achievements. A contaminated mind is ten thousand times more difficult to correct than a failure in the mundane life. Even when one is successful in life, one is still unhappy if one's mind is marred.
In other words, very often those who look inwards would rather be more mindful in taking care of their minds than chase after the fleeting worldly scenes around them. But even those people sometimes have to make a choice between living with honesty and participating in life's cheating game. The reason is that their inner strength may not be strong enough to protect themselves from external attractions and temptations in life, which always stir up human dormant seeds of greed and desire. As a result, such people have to struggle hard against their inner contradictions, between the good and the bad from within. Those who are able to sublimate their minds towards higher and better life values are truly self-conquerors. In reality, however, the struggle is not that simple. Not always are human beings able to conquer themselves merely by a strong determination to live up to high values with a strong will. Our capacity to live up to those high values may be at a lower level than we thought. Because we have been shaped by our past lives of desires, showoff, and and dishonesty for so long, even our strong will may be knocked down by such past trends or habits.
Therefore, it is better for us first to understand our true self, and not to try hard to suppress our desires with a strong will, a will to improve the self to become an expected product which could fool its own producer. In fooling ourselves, when we are angry, we deny that we are in anger. When we are envious, we claim that we are trying hard to compete with others. When we are cowardly, we say we are practicing tolerance. We cannot see our own true self because of the spontaneous interference of our will. Instead of transforming them, our interfering will simply obstructs the increase of our sufferings. We become subjective in our judgement, and are easily caught off guard by our bad habits and behaviors without our understanding why they emerge.
(To be continued)
Source:
There is no exact measurement tool for honesty. As there are different views of life and criteria for happiness, there are different ways to judge to what extent we should live with honesty. If we think happiness is measured by accumulated wealth and fame, then honesty is definitely not a powerful weapon to use in the fierce war of competition. Those who find true happiness in a peaceful mind, and who have let go most of their unnecessary desires and struggles with their own transient emotions are able to protect their mind in all circumstances. Such people never have their minds spoiled by pursuing other worldly gains and achievements. A contaminated mind is ten thousand times more difficult to correct than a failure in the mundane life. Even when one is successful in life, one is still unhappy if one's mind is marred.
In other words, very often those who look inwards would rather be more mindful in taking care of their minds than chase after the fleeting worldly scenes around them. But even those people sometimes have to make a choice between living with honesty and participating in life's cheating game. The reason is that their inner strength may not be strong enough to protect themselves from external attractions and temptations in life, which always stir up human dormant seeds of greed and desire. As a result, such people have to struggle hard against their inner contradictions, between the good and the bad from within. Those who are able to sublimate their minds towards higher and better life values are truly self-conquerors. In reality, however, the struggle is not that simple. Not always are human beings able to conquer themselves merely by a strong determination to live up to high values with a strong will. Our capacity to live up to those high values may be at a lower level than we thought. Because we have been shaped by our past lives of desires, showoff, and and dishonesty for so long, even our strong will may be knocked down by such past trends or habits.
Therefore, it is better for us first to understand our true self, and not to try hard to suppress our desires with a strong will, a will to improve the self to become an expected product which could fool its own producer. In fooling ourselves, when we are angry, we deny that we are in anger. When we are envious, we claim that we are trying hard to compete with others. When we are cowardly, we say we are practicing tolerance. We cannot see our own true self because of the spontaneous interference of our will. Instead of transforming them, our interfering will simply obstructs the increase of our sufferings. We become subjective in our judgement, and are easily caught off guard by our bad habits and behaviors without our understanding why they emerge.
(To be continued)
Source:
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Honesty
We need to be honest to each other
As we are chasing after desires and pleasures, seeking for good feelings from material comforts or for the recognition and admiration from people around us, we are behaving with less and less honesty. Although everybody knows that honesty is a virtue, and we all expect others to treat us with honesty, once we are caught in the whirlwind of life competition, we may think that honesty is often the main obstacle to success. Some people even declare that in today's world, if one is trying to live up to the principle of honesty, one is naive, gullible, and vulnerable. In order to be smart and successful in today's world, one is encouraged to be foxy and mischievous.
As a result, we treat each other with spectacular showoff, from flowery words to tactful behaviors in order to attract the other party, even at the expense of honesty and distorting the truth. It is ridiculous when we behave that way with our own family members and close friends. Could we maintain such relationship throughout our lives, or would there be one day when we will no longer be able to keep our masks on, and lose others' trust?
It is true that sometimes tactfulness is necessary in life, but we do not need to wear a mask. It is our responsibility to be truthful to ourselves and others, so that others can trust us. Life has a meaning when there is mutual trust. That mutual trust is built up with honesty.
In reality sometimes our honesty makes us vulnerable to frauds who take advantage of our trust for their selfish gains and motives. We must use our wisdom to judge and to live with honesty. Life is fundamentally beautiful, and we should not lose our inborn sincerity and honesty just because of some bad life experiences we may have had during our life struggle and competition.
(To be continued)
Source:
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Climate Change
Climate change is a huge global problem. Today we face greater frequency of weather extremes all over the world. In the USA, 2012 is the hottest year recorded. Within the last 15 years there were 10 warmest years. In China 2012 was also the hottest year recorded. Australia had a record of heat wave the same year. In Brazil, Rio de Janeiro hit 109.8 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time since 1915. Meanwhile, Pakistan suffered extreme flooding, and England got the wettest year since records started over 100 years ago. The Middle East had a rare storm that brought snow, rain and flood. Hurricane Sandy caused over $60 billion in damage. All took place in the same year.
Other current environmental issues include the continuously rising level of acidity in the world's oceans, desertification, quick loss of biodiversity due to human actions, deforestation, and serious air pollution in many cities. There are growing concerns about a global collapse of fish species and the loss of over 25% of the Earth's land mass. Nearly 1 billion people in 100 countries are now at risk, while 1/3 of land mammals face distinction. Almost 2 billion people in 40 countries now live with critically low levels of forests.
We are all connected, and globalization makes it impossible for our societies to collapse in isolation. There must be responsible actions and policies at all levels. Unless we make the right choice, we all will die in the common tragedy.
Diamond, J. (2005). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Viking Press.
Other current environmental issues include the continuously rising level of acidity in the world's oceans, desertification, quick loss of biodiversity due to human actions, deforestation, and serious air pollution in many cities. There are growing concerns about a global collapse of fish species and the loss of over 25% of the Earth's land mass. Nearly 1 billion people in 100 countries are now at risk, while 1/3 of land mammals face distinction. Almost 2 billion people in 40 countries now live with critically low levels of forests.
We are all connected, and globalization makes it impossible for our societies to collapse in isolation. There must be responsible actions and policies at all levels. Unless we make the right choice, we all will die in the common tragedy.
Sources:
Diamond, J. (2005). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Viking Press.
ISBN 0-14-303655-6
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