Various shades of colours within a pagoda

It was right at this place, a suburban area, that I found a peaceful area for myself. It was a peaceful area with a shade of colours that form our worldly life - such rudimental, simple, and pure heart like the very soul of my respectable masters. And tomorrow, among the heaven and earth stream of life and resigning myself to the bitter changes of life, I will never forget whatever that has happened to me.

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While everything is still sunk in its dreamy sleep,  while\r\na flock of young chicken are still against walking out of their coop to search\r\nfor food, and while the sun is still not over to rise up in the east, the alarm\r\nbell has resounded to give the signal of a new day. The sound of a great bell\r\nis resounding, breaking the silence of the previous night. In the bright yellow\r\nof their cassocks, the monks have already concentrated in the main sanctuary to\r\nchant scheduled night sutras. The yellow colour of their cassocks represents\r\ntranquility and solemnity, and the dark-yellow of basalt or red-soil  represents\r\nresignation or endurance. It is said that ‘resigned as soil’  -   this\r\nphrase means that even though the soil is dumped with anything, it still\r\nremains silent or does not have any reaction; instead of reactions, the soil\r\nsilently transforms itself.

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After the scheduled night sutra recitation, everybody\r\ntogether tidies up the pagoda courtyard. When the rustling sound from the\r\nstrokes of the brooms has ended, everything seems to wake up. The song of the\r\nbirds melodiously begins to be heard on tree branches, and the yellow sunlight\r\ndispels the dewdrops gathered at the blades of grass. In such an unpolluted\r\nair, all the monks and Buddhists line up one after the other to enter the\r\nmess-hall for their breakfast. After breakfast, all of them start their daily\r\npagoda work  - each one has his own duty, none resembles other\r\npeople’s work; the resemblance, if any, may be their smiles often seen on their\r\nlips while they perform their duties, or their enthusiasm or wholeheartedness\r\nin their assigned work.

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How impressive it is when during summer noons on holydays,\r\nSundays or retreats people witness the confusion of colours and sounds seen and\r\nheard from Buddhists from everywhere, those with brown and indigo-blue\r\nshirts  -  all these who are silently performing their\r\nduties in their sweat-soaking shirts in the scorching sun! In such a weather\r\ncondition, some monks are directing their Buddhists belonging to the group\r\ncalled ‘Dharma protectors’ to distribute lunch meals to Buddhists who come to\r\nthe pagoda. To have these portions of rice ready, the monks and Buddhists have\r\nto work hard during the previous night. If the colour of brown shirts\r\nintermingles that of indigo-blue ones in the kitchen area for the joy of good\r\ndeeds, here and there some shirts of these two colours are seen picking up with\r\na stoop the used meal containers, eagerly long for the pagoda courtyard to be\r\nclean and spacious. It seems that both the monks and Buddhists share the sense\r\nof responsibility for as well as the meaningfulness of what they are doing.

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Then the crowded stream of people separate themselves in\r\nvarious directions. The sun shines down in all directions and distant bell\r\nsound resounds; this makes travellers who are stopping over at a quiet pagada,\r\nare able to find the calmness in their deep soul. Someone is sitting at the\r\ncorner of a pagoda, listening to each of the sutra and each verse. The colour\r\nof sunset is covering everywhere, but it does not bring any sadness or\r\nmornfulness to travellers; instead, it is peaceful and quiet. The sound of\r\nwooden bell resounds regularly and sometimes mixed with bell sound  -  this\r\nmakes the atmosphere more serener. There seems to be someone who wants to stop\r\nhia wandering so as to sit down and listen to the peace and contentment which\r\nis pervading in each of his breath. Scheduled sutras go by and everybody sits\r\nstill, listening to their heart directing toward the Buddha. Although the\r\nserene moment seems short, it helps everybody recovers their lost energy spent on\r\none long and weary day and it is also the opportunity for everybody to\r\nenlighten or look back to themselves.

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After the evening scheduled sutra, the lamplight in the\r\nmonk’s residential quarter is still blazing. This helps Buddhist practitioners\r\nlook for the Buddha’s teachings in each of the pages of the sutras. In their\r\nsimple, brown shirts, they are studying the Buddha’s dogmas so that they may\r\nfollow the steps of their previous masters so as to shoulder the sacred mission\r\nthat the Buddha and their ancient masters have handed down to them. Here and\r\nthere in the light of an urban area outside, some people are having toasts\r\nexchanged  in a drinking bout by the side of a big feast silver tray\r\nwhile some people are madly in love with someone else. Nevertheless, there are\r\nyoung people with full of enthusiasm who are silently bringing up their\r\ncharitable heart, who are building their ambition, wishing to lead a good life\r\nand a durable faith. The day is close to end but the light is still blazing.\r\nNevertheless, beside this scenery, a few people are trying to save some of\r\ntheir remaining time of the day to give peacefulness and quiet to their heart,\r\nto look back themselves, and then throw themselves into a peaceful sleep.

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Although being aware of the numerous illogical things in\r\nhuman life, there are some people who still take unfair advantage of religion\r\n(Buddhism) to lead their life  -  that is, they try to do\r\nwrong things against the Dharma; in this way they cause the loss of the sacred\r\nand lofty image of the monks. Sometimes, indecent pictures and pieces of news\r\nare seen on television networks or on the media. But, there are still very may\r\nmasters who firmly believe in the liberation path, who are still keeping\r\nthemselves from luxurious temptation and who are looking for returning to the\r\nsacred light of the Buddha. There are also young masters with their short age\r\nof religious life who have always been nursing their sublime ambition which is\r\nto make this life less and less sufferings to human beings. And, at some other\r\ndistant places, there are Buddhists who are performing things in an attempt to\r\nboth practise Buddhism and help needy people at the same time. We wish that\r\nthese images would remain for ever, and that humankind would live in peace and\r\nin the light of compassion .

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Written by Kinh Duc and translated into English by layman\r\nHoang Huan

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