Tragedy of Love.

Current society has witnessed many heartbreaking murders, one of which is the case of a physical education teacher stabbing his girlfriend, a math teacher, to death. Both were teachers at Vo Thi Sau High School (Binh Thanh District). The incident occurred on April 23, 2018. 27-year-old Vo Minh Thang stabbed 26-year-old NNT to death because she discovered he was two-timing her, and she refused to marry him. Around noon on April 23, residents on Hoang Sa Street (near Bong Bridge, Ward 3, Binh Thanh District) saw a young woman being attacked by a man who stopped her motorbike and stabbed her multiple times before fleeing. They immediately reported the incident to the police.  

During the investigation, the police identified the victim as Ms. T, who died with more than 10 stab wounds. While the police were searching for the suspect, Vo Minh Thang surrendered to the Binh Thanh District Police, confessing to his crime. It's truly tragic for the teacher, as many students and colleagues at the school said she was very kind and taught in an easy-to-understand way. We ask ourselves whether this love was. Why are there so many cases of murder driven by blind love in today's society?

 

First of all, I believe this young man was only self-centered, so when he couldn't possess what he desired, he destroyed it mercilessly. If he had considered the woman he loved as a human being, he wouldn't have murdered her so brutally. If he had been educated and understood Buddhist teachings, this wouldn't have happened in such a heartbreaking way!

 

 True love is about sacrificing for the one you love without necessarily expecting anything in return. It's about wishing for the happiness and joy of the one you love, even if that person doesn't love you back. Love that contains possessiveness, like destroying what you can't have, is extremely dangerous and blind.

 

Buddhism doesn't forbid lay Buddhists from falling in love, but it guides people towards a correct understanding of what constitutes a proper and reasonable love that benefits both oneself and others.

 

 The Buddhist concepts of impermanence, non-self, and cause-and-effect help people understand and correctly perceive the nature of love. The bond between two people is due to karmic connections from many past and present lives. Therefore, those who study Buddhism understand that all the results we receive stem solely from our own actions and thoughts—body, speech, and mind—and no external force can bestow blessings or curses upon us. As you sow, so shall you reap; you reap what you sow. This young man committed the evil deed of murder; the immediate consequence is imprisonment or execution, and after death, he will be condemned to hell.

 

In today's society, people are increasingly immersed in the world of television, music, the internet, and many other pleasures. They have less time to engage with the Buddhist teachings of karma and cause and effect. As a result, they don't believe in karma and reincarnation, they don't control their greed and hatred, leading to heinous crimes and ruthless acts that harm others and themselves. Buddhism teaches that if people can do the following ten things, they will have a good life. First, three things in thought including no greed, no hatred, and no delusion. Second, three things in body like no killing, no stealing, no adultery. Third, four things in speech including no lying, no double-tongued speech, no harsh words, and no fabricated speech.

If about seventy percent of people in society practiced these ten virtuous deeds, how happy and peaceful society would be! Society would be spared many of the tragic murders reported in the press and on the internet, such as the typical example above.

 

Currently, in some Western countries such as the UK, the US, and Australia, Buddhist education has been incorporated into schools for students. This demonstrates the importance of teaching about karma in particular, and Buddhist education in general, in shaping the moral character of individuals in modern society. In Vietnam, several temples have organized summer retreats and short-term courses for students and children, such as Hoang Phap Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City; Bang Pagoda, Hoa Phuc Pagoda, and Khai Nguyen Pagoda in Hanoi; Ba Vang Pagoda in Quang Ninh; and Cu Linh Pagoda in Hai Duong, etc. Simultaneously, there are also clubs for lay Buddhists that organize activities to spread Buddhist and human ethics. This shows that society and educational institutions are paying more attention to the moral training of individuals based on the teachings of the Buddha. These are encouraging signs for building and developing human character in a more complete way, and at the same time, a fundamental solution for stabilizing social order. If Buddhist education is increasingly integrated into social organizations, future society will see far fewer cases of fathers and sons killing each other, brothers and sisters killing each other, or murders driven by love like the case above.

 

Ngũ Uẩn

Translated into English by Huynh Thi Khanh Phung