A lesson from the ancient

Back the time to the past, at the last days of the winter of that year, the southern environment in a little bit cold, which made people bloom their hearts while thinking about the remote memory’s farewell to a man to the internal world.

Now, in the same chilly atmosphere, the drizzling rains touched gently on the shoulder of travelers; the cups of hot tea were passed to warm up minds and the tight hugs were given to connect people etc., but people in the Hoang Phap pagoda felt warmer when being back to the original source and reviewing the  heroic history of the Master’s life and career and listening to his lessons after months of separation. At the moment, let us sit and together  read about the biography of the Mentor in order to experience the true valuation and the helpful lessons for ourselves.

When I was born, the Grand-Master had no longer remained. I had no memories of him even a smallest piece but a blank space. However, there is a shore full of his love to me. From visualizing through the monk’s narration and what he had done and the picture on the altar and my own imagination, in me, the  Grand-Master was more than a wonder with a picture of an old monk who lived in a house made from earth wall and thatched roof and sat on a bamboo table to study and always abstained from eating with just jungle vegetables and nutsy rice and dressed up a faded dress because of the frost. Every day, in the morning even when the sun was still not clear and   everything was still submerged in the dark, the  Grand-Master took the stick and walked from   room to room to remind the four vargas and encouraged them to study diligently. Whenever the disciples came back to visit him from far away, he always told them to study hardunder whatever circumstances to be worth with the “Thich” parentage and not to betray their own ideals. He taught the monk who came to ask for Buddhism gently and he enlightened so many ignorant souls to the light of Buddha with just the simple words. In a lifetime, he enclosed himself in a noble percepts and kept virtue with the simple life in the joy of liberation enlightening happiness and took wisdom as the career of enlightenment and used compassion to get people’s hearts. Both in Buddhism or reality, all his behaviors reached human’s minds. All of the virtues such as everyday activities, meeting monks and protecting people were kept by the  Grand-Master even though they are simple and rustically revered forever.

 â€˜The scent of fragrant flowers

Goes with the wind

But the scent of virtue people

Exists against everywhere.’

The Master always taught us to follow the  Grand-Master’s example on cultivated way to encourage ourselves whenever we meet the difficulties. Whenever the monk told us about the Master’s life and religious career, we could feel the happiness shining in our gentle, tolerant and sympathetic eyes. We were proud to have enough good conditions to be your disciples and to be able to follow him on the preaching way, bringing the doctrine of love to all beings. Do you know that our later Master is very good? From the day you left the saha world, he continued to build and develop Hoang Phap pagoda to higher honor as your vow. From a small pagoda locating on the outskirts of the city, by a determined heart which is always towards the cause of liberation and bring peace to everyone. After a while, Hoang Phap pagoda has changed to a famous pagoda both at home and abroad about the organization of the Buddhism program and many important events on important holidays.

The Master often told us that you would like to become a translator going to study abroad then comes back to maintain the pagoda. But he had to abort his dream to come back to shoulder the responsibility given by the Grand-Master. Even though attained a lot of success, he always told us that was because of your blessings. The most happiness of a person is to know how to share, how to care and how to bring happiness to the one we love. I think that the Master’s most happiness is to proceed and to develop the career that you built in your whole life.

The seeds of compassion and wisdom that you left have been sown by the Master and grown into a giant tree. Now, the branches are enough to cover many species of beings. ‘Old bamboos will   shoot sprout”. We are the seeds that the Master has   sowed with the expectation that we would be soon-growing with flowers and fruits in order to bring benefits to everyone.

The shadow of the elder left us many valuable lessons. Although we are living in a developing society full of convenience, that is not truly good. Because we keep on chasing the illusion of desires and we cannot recognize the true life even once. Or the spinning wheel of the modern life sweeps us hastily and makes us exhausted and tired so that we may forget the liberation career. The Grand-Master’s life and career are the crystallization from the results of the cultivation. Whether they are written on pages of books, from the words of the precursors or just the marks in the middle of the sky, they are always the speechless dharma for our generation to experience the value of practice of the ancient so that we can perfect ourselves on the path of cultivation.

Tâm Lực

Translated into English by Khánh Hoa