Helping others means helping yourself?

At the end of the year, two brothers, Khanh and Nghi returned to the temple to donate a few pounds of rice. Two brothers are martial arts teachers at the temple. Thanks to the enthusiasm and perseverance, regardless of the weather: sunny, rainy, windy or cold days, the martial arts classes became more and more stable and in order.

In the cold weather, the three teachers and students brewed hot tea together and enjoyed religious stories. Khanh is quiet, rarely speaks some sentences in conversation. Nghi - after a while of talking, he opened up more about marriage and family. I love and think much about Nghi's words: "In recent years, I have never bought a new shirt, or anything for myself."

Nghi's situation is also very difficult: divorcing his wife, bringing up two young kids, and taking care of his elderly mother. A difficult life with many experiencing events gave Nghi an extraordinary strength - for the love of his two children and the elderly mother. Nghi works hard to earn extra income in many jobs, and he goes to class at night to teach martial arts skills to children.

Nghi wants his kids to be well-fed with friends and have enough money for medicine for his mom if the weather changes, Nghi ignores his own interests and desires. I asked Nghi, "Are you very tired?" Nghi was silent for a long time then replied: "Yes, Master. There are times when I want to give up everything, but thinking about my two young children and my elderly mother, I must try. Looking at my children studying well, understanding things, my mother being happy and healthy, and the martial arts students' appreciating what you taught me has given me a lot of positive energy."

Nghi - from a promiscuous young man who had trouble during his teenage years and then matured after adversities. "From lotus mud blooms, from suffering, talented people" is also from unwholesome conditions that have added to Nghi's qualities of calmness, bravery, and compassion for people.

Listening to Nghi's life stories about compassion and helping others helped me deeply contemplate Buddha's teachings of "Give and you will receive". But what we get in return here is not simply that if we do a good deed, we will receive it in return later - That's no different from a transaction. If we do bad things, then others will do bad things back to us - So it's like a social contract.

If I do one thing, I will do it more in the future. If I help people more, I will be able to help more in the future. Therefore, the path of practice is to go against the current. Today I help one person, tomorrow I help two people, in the next life I help ten people, hundreds of people. There is a story. There was a young man who, after losing his life, fell into Hell. The King of Hell said that when he was alive he had created a lot of merit, so he gave him a choice, one is for him to help ten thousand people, two is for ten thousand people to help him. The young man immediately chose "thousands of people to help him" and then he was born as a beggar, begging on the streets and markets every day to be helped by thousands of people. If you choose to "help thousands of people", you will earn money to become an official director of a company. Just one signature will help save the lives of thousands of people. This is how cause and effect works. As for such shallow thinking as today I help others, tomorrow everyone will help me; Now I help the poor, in two or three years when I'm poor, everyone will help me two or three times more. Karl Marx once said, "Everything develops in a spiral." The cause and effect cycle is still me helping others, but it has risen to a higher level, "I can help more people and more effectively." Wishing you with strong legs and soft stones, illuminating your life's journey with a warm, grateful heart and immeasurable compassion.

Tâm Lực

Translated into English by Le Thien An