Joys of Experiencing

In life, we sometimes should be in others’ shoes to understand about their situations and themselves. Since birth, each of us has taken a role in the stage of life with success, failure, happiness or sufferings. Some have to take many roles simultaneously in life due to the relevant karmas we have created in the past.

To understand more about the farmer life and its hardship, I took the part of a farmer and my achievements are interesting experience as well as the insight of Buddha’s teachings.

In the pagoda, there is an empty piece of land for the new building construction next year. The old building becomes too damaged and overloaded to serve the retreat participants. After a month of dismantlement, the old building turns to the gravelly soil that is too rough to walk through. The empty land is there awaiting the right time to become a modern building project.

That land is located in front of my room. When walking along the public gallery, some brothers and I have the same thought: "it takes time to start the construction, why don’t we make this empty land more useful before the project?", “As your wish!” We started things immediately. Performing is not as simple and easy as thinking. On the field, I deeply understand the prayer before lunch: "Wearing the cloths, think of the labor making it. Taking daily meal, think of the farmer’s efforts ". To have the cloths or a bowl of white rice, it takes a lot of labor, caring and efforts from human beings. To have current appearance, it is necessary for us to have not only our parents’ merits but also others’ silent sacrifices and supports. Therefore, we should be grateful to our beloved ones and all sentient beings.

Being on the field and experiencing, we can fully understand the farmer’s hardship. After working moments with sweaty brown cloths, we feel tired but happy because we have done a meaningful volunteer mission. At the break taking breath of mild breeze passing by, we can feel the joy spreading in our mind in fraternal atmosphere. Such simple things can release all of my tiredness. It is right to say that:” happiness is when we are in others’ shoes to understand, to love and respect their efforts, to create the achievements, and when we enjoy the wonderful peace in current moment”, isn’t it?

Twilight is coming down, the sunset with last lights of the day have closed our working day. Looking at the achievement of a day on the field, we can feel great joys from experiencing and practicing. Our achievement is turning the ground of debris to beds for sowing good seeds. The ruins will become velvet green carpet of plants. This image reminds me the story of Buddha in the book “Duong Xua May Trang” as following:

One day, Buddha stands on a hill looking at the ripe fields stretching to the horizon and tells Ananda:

- Ananda, do you see the plotted yellow ripe fields stretching out to horizon ? It is so beautiful, isn’t it? Why don’t we have the monk’s robes in this form?

Ananda replied:

- That is a good idea, Lord Buddha! It will be great having clergy robethis form. Bhagavat used to teaches us that a virtuous mendicant is more likely the good merit ground for devotees sowing good deeds for the benefits in present and future. Following up that practitioner to offer, learn and practice is sowing good deeds of merits. If it is possible, I will inform this information for the mass to follow. We can call it the merit-ground cloths.

Buddha smiles and agrees. It is the history of the monk’s robe.

Taking care of and fertilizing the field to make it rich will give us good crops in future. The impoverished soil lack of cares and cultivation will grow feeble and pale plants or even cannot grow any kind of plant. Similarly, a true and virtuous monk with profound knowledge of Dharma, can bring ease/happiness to himself and benefit others.

For Buddha, the renunciant is more likely the rich merit field for Buddhist devotees to sow good seeds and harvest good crops of merit. On the other hand, the fake or unqualified clergyman is more likely the arid land. Buddhist devotees should wisely choose the right ones to sow merit and shelter to get enlightenment and liberation. From that point of view, should we sow our good deeds onto the impoverished one?

Day by day looking at the growing shoots on the new beds under the sunshine, we think, "we will harvest the vegetable at the right time to prepare dishes serving the mass”. Such simple things give us happily smile with the thought: the renunciant should be the rich land for Buddhist devotees to shelter and sow good deeds in the Dharma garden".

Thich Tam Luc