Hòa thượng Thích Huyền Diệu – Người gieo mầm xanh hạnh phúc Hẳn mỗi người Việt Nam may mắn có dịp hành hương về đất Phật Ấn Độ và Nepal, ai cũng muốn dành thời gian ghé thăm An Việt Nam Phật Quốc Tự ngôi chùa Việt Nam đầu tiên trên đất Phật.
Bản Tiếng Việt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01SK8aHvcKY Where to Find Joy, Peace, and Happiness The Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu took attendance of everyone in his class After a period of laughing and saying welcome to everyone, he started: Thich Huyen Dieu: Yesterday, we talked about the rat So I’ll tell you guys this Each creature in the world has its own soul And the rat that tried to eat our door Mr Tri Hue said it to be a demon, and that turned out to be true When I released the rat, it turned its head back and looked at me I spoke to my students: “Do you guys see it? This rat is looking at me and hissing at me.” The last time I caught him, I brought him crossing the river so I would never have to see him again The distance was about 13km And not only did he remember the way He swam across the river to come back Can you guys believe that? It was simply not just a simple rat Looking back, the right thing I should was feed him to our cat, but I simply didn’t want to it The Karma should come to him on its own, not through my hand Finally, that rat jumped down the big water bottle and committed suicide It was quite a scene for me I was happy because I saw its regret And since it was quite a unique rat, I decided to hold a funeral for it At first, everyone said we could bury the rat within the pagoda, but I said no I told them his spirit was not simply like any other spirit, so we decided to take its corpse far away and bury it under a banyan tree In the cycle of Karma, the mouse, cat, and dog - the creatures that live close to humans, might very well be our past relatives from a previous life There is a story In the time of the Buddha, there was a wealthy but selfish stingy and miserly died After his death, he didn’t follow the flow of Karma because of his attachment to his wealth He decided to become a dog that was born in his home in his next life In the form of a dog, he was astute, loving, and caring to his owner One day, when Buddha came to his house and asked for alms, the dog came out and barked at Buddha Buddha looked at the dog with his magical sight, heard its barks with his magic ears, and spoke to the dog: “How come you still greedy, and be attached to possession that is no longer yours? You are a dog now.” And after hearing the words of Buddha, the dog was awakened The dog then stayed silent, and it was sorrowful Its moods hadn’t changed for the next few days; he even stopped eating Because the bond between the family and the dog was quite deep, the wife and the husband decided to go to Jetvana monastery to see Buddha and asked him to fix the problem Buddha spoke to the couple: “This dog was your father in his previous life He was very stingy with his money and very good at saving his money He buried his gold in his garden without telling anyone The problem is death came to him suddenly and didn’t allow him time to inform his relatives That was why he decided to be reborn as a dog this life to guard his wealth So when you guys get home, look at the place that the dog always lies on When you dig it up, you will find a big pot of gold.” The husband came to the house and did exactly as the words of Buddha Then the dog immediately died after that So take it as your lesson You were lucky to be born a human this life However, if you not live your life wisely, you will still be chained and won’t be liberated and free even after you die So remember that Okay, there were some people last time who asked me for methods of making the rats go away from your home and I told them how Can you guys tell me the result? Did my way work? - No one responded, so he moved to a different subject So in life, there are certain things you that may get past other human beings’ sights However, it will never get past gods and the law of karma (The law of cause and effect) The people who swindle or fraud others will get consequences sooner or later Okay, guys, today we will talk about… Can any of you guys speak out about the written topic, anyone? Participant: Where to find peace, joy, and happiness Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Yes, that’s right Where and how to find peace, joy, and happiness The first thing I want to tell you is that true peace, joy, and happiness are not far from you Unlike most people say, we don’t really need to go very far to reach it, but we need to delve deeply within ourselves We need to meditate, study the truth, and put the teachings of great saints into practice throughout our life Remember, these things don’t come by themselves For some people, it takes them forever to find their true happiness They even have to accept continuing their search in the next life So, today I will reveal to you guys one of my secret teachings related to the topic It may sound easy to you, but it is really not It requires a process of long-term investment in building it So how we make it? Can any of you guys contribute an idea? How we find or create our true happiness? I will let you guys try to answer the question first before giving you my feedback and answer Participant: Dear teacher, I think to be truly happy, we need to be satisfied and content with what we have It is an essential factor in building up our true happiness, sir Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: So what if you have these things that make up your happiness, but these things are taken away later? Can you still be happy then? One other participant gave a roundabout answer to the question that led nowhere Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu decided to interrupt her and gave his answer Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Ok, to be truly happy You first need this one thing This thing is so simple that so many people overlook it Ok, the very first thing that makes the foundation for your happiness is your belief in the law of karma, in other words, the law of cause and effect, you guys understand You must have a crystal clear understanding of this: what is the law of cause and effect, how does the law of cause and effect work, and the importance that the law of cause and effect plays in our life Moreover, when you guys don’t have faith in the working of the law and effect, you will be willing to anything that you think would lead to your success, whether it is an evil, insidious, malevolent, or vicious thing, because you believe the end will justify the means You will be willing to lie to others, swindle, and fraud them; you will be ready to hurt, cause pain, and sadden others for your benefit However, these things will end in your pain sooner or later because of the simple mechanics of the law of cause and effect Remember, guys, this is a critical factor in making your happiness I see some people in the process of looking for their happiness When they see other people that are happier than them, they get jealous, and they even try to steal some of the happiness of others away by swindling or fraudulence They might even succeed in doing these bad things, but it will never lead to their happiness no matter what Your faith in the Law of Karma ( the Law of Cause and Effect) is very well the most crucial element in your life When you believe in the Law of Cause and effect, you will naturally stay away from doing harm to others and bring positive energy to the world but the opposite things instead This tendency will gradually develop a lifestyle that will get you lots of sweet fruit in your future Looking at this from a bigger perspective, imagine a world where everyone believes in the Law of Cause and Effect, there will not be as much pain, and chaos as it is nowadays, and the world will become a much more peaceful and happier place to live Before Siddhartha Gautama reached the state of Buddhahood, no one could find the answer to true happiness For everyone, true happiness was an unreachable goal, even for Kings Finally, one person reached the state of sainthood, coming to Buddha and respectfully asking: “The Venerable, please tell me how to become truly happy in this life.” Ok, guys, remember It was a very long time ago Before that, no one could provide a proper answer to this question And Buddha was the first man who provided a fitting solution that was accepted by everyone, from the people of the lowest class to the highest, from the uneducated to the wisest You have to choose your friends carefully and stay away from evil people unless you are an enlightened one I’m not telling you guys to be discriminating but being selective So until you reach a certain level, you should stay away from these bad people The next thing you need to memorize is to treat good people well Especially the enlightened or liberated ones, you should treat them with the utmost respect when you have an opportunity to see them These people can bring significant positive change in your life and even can turn your life around Take me for example With the arrangement of karma, I met my master As for me, I can proudly say with all my heart that he was a living Bodhisattva or a living Buddha himself Learning and applying his teachings has brought me everything I have today The next thing I want to tell you guys is to find happiness from things that are right in front of your eyes and not take these things for granted because they might very well be your greatest treasure There are people I know that spend several thousand dollars on expensive vacations and material things, but these things don’t really make them any happier If they do, it is only short-term happiness The Buddha’s teaching is that you can find happiness right in your life, even within you, not by going to a faraway place to look for it It is right within you Hence, Buddha pointed out that there was no path to happiness, happiness is the path It is about enjoying the moment, and the process instead of obsessing about the end Take me, for example Every morning, I stand on the Himalaya mountain and gaze at the sunrise I feel really fantastic Some people spend about $50,000 to $60,000 staying at a luxurious hotel I am not criticizing the way they spend their money, but I’m saying that a night in these sumptuous hotels will not bring them any significant or permanent change in their life, but the night on the Himalaya mountain will In fact, if they put their heart into it, it might completely change their life around We will take care of their food for them, and let them enjoy the simple things like enjoying a cup of coffee, listening to positive music that will raise their vibration and frequency, and enjoying these beautiful sceneries I have a strong belief that if we could get leaders of every country to come here, stay for a month, and witness this scene of beauty with me, it would make a great difference to the world The world would no longer be as chaotic as it is nowadays, but a much more peaceful and happier place to live I have witnessed it myself Some leaders have changed their thinking and politics after spending some time here, especially the ones that like to make war for their country’s benefit I am hoping that one day we will save enough money to open a vacation resort here, a place for the wealthy, the elite, and influential people in society One thing I need to forewarn you guys is to keep the design of the place neutral, not make it look like a pagoda, a temple, a tower, or any place that has a religious vibe They would misunderstand our good motivation as trying to attract them to religion and convert them instead In lieu of doing that, we can open conferences and meetings and invite them to live here for a couple of days Looking at these sceneries - Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu spoke while flashing through pictures that he had taken It is nothing compared to witnessing these sceneries in person So, I’m telling you guys to get started now Start from your prayers Then when you save enough money, you should travel here First, you visit the sacred garden Lumbini, then you go to the mountain and live to enjoy beautiful sceneries like this In short, doing things that will increase your frequency, vibration, and energy level, and as a result, make you a better and a happier person This had been our dream (me and my peers) for such a long time to enjoy these natural beauties and be one with nature While we are at it, I will tell you guys one of my secret teachings At the time of the full moon, stop using electric light Light a candle, then meditate and chant the name of the Buddha On this day, you should eat a very simple meal, a nutritional but simple meal If you exactly as I said, it will wonders for your spirituality And if you have a chance to visit me this time of year, I will personally cook for you so you can personally experience what I said yourself There was a man who just visited me not too long ago, when I cooked a simple meal with brown rice for him He told me that it was his best meal He had never eaten four bowls of rice until today The secret of my culinary art is, that while I am cooking, I chant the name of the Buddha and the mantra I am pretty sensitive If a person with an ill-tempered or a bad mind cooks my food, I will start to feel unwell physically and mentally So, as you can see, you not need to go far to seek happiness Happiness is right beside you As long as you are being honest to yourself and others, and you keep on improving yourself by following the path of Buddha, you will see it Learn to see, and apply Buddha’s teachings, then you will get it For example, the covid pandemic has made a lot of people stressed and even suffered psychological or mental problems Still, the ones that practice Buddhism, especially the ones that practice the Lotus Sutra, are happy and at peace, as far as I know This is one of your treasures, and you guys need to value it and develop it through time If you meditate and be grateful for what you have, you will find that you don’t need extravagant things for happiness, but just enjoy simple creature comforts with the people that are important to you Or if you seek happiness, but you surround yourself with negative people, the dishonest, the undisciplined ones who only look for pleasure as their driving force, you will never find it regardless of how hard you try You should find happiness from renunciation, the happiness from a renunciant life resulting from freedom from sensuality, attachment, and an absence of greed Do not depend on material happiness, which is the happiness that is dependent on enticements, consumable objects, possession, and carnal pleasure Be grateful for what you have Be content and happy with what you have and who you are It doesn’t necessarily deprive you of the motivation to work harder because it stops you from desiring more, but it means you are thankful for what you have and be patient for what is to come Moreover, this state of fullness, gratefulness, and confidence will soon attract positive things to your life So does anyone else have any other questions?It is nothing compared to witnessing these sceneries in person So, I’m telling you guys to get started now Start from your prayers Then when you save enough money, you should travel here First, you visit the sacred garden Lumbini, then you go to the mountain and live to enjoy beautiful sceneries like this In short, doing things that will increase your frequency, vibration, and energy level, and as a result, make you a better and a happier person This had been our dream (me and my peers) for such a long time to enjoy these natural beauties and be one with nature While we are at it, I will tell you guys one of my secret teachings At the time of the full moon, stop using electric light Light a candle, then meditate and chant the name of the Buddha On this day, you should eat a very simple meal, a nutritional but simple meal If you exactly as I said, it will wonders for your spirituality And if you have a chance to visit me this time of year, I will personally cook for you so you can personally experience what I said yourself There was a man who just visited me not too long ago, when I cooked a simple meal with brown rice for him He told me that it was his best meal He had never eaten four bowls of rice until today The secret of my culinary art is, that while I am cooking, I chant the name of the Buddha and the mantra I am pretty sensitive If a person with an ill-tempered or a bad mind cooks my food, I will start to feel unwell physically and mentally So, as you can see, you not need to go far to seek happiness Happiness is right beside you As long as you are being honest to yourself and others, and you keep on improving yourself by following the path of Buddha, you will see it Learn to see, and apply Buddha’s teachings, then you will get it For example, the covid pandemic has made a lot of people stressed and even suffered psychological or mental problems Still, the ones that practice Buddhism, especially the ones that practice the Lotus Sutra, are happy and at peace, as far as I know This is one of your treasures, and you guys need to value it and develop it through time If you meditate and be grateful for what you have, you will find that you don’t need extravagant things for happiness, but just enjoy simple creature comforts with the people that are important to you Or if you seek happiness, but you surround yourself with negative people, the dishonest, the undisciplined ones who only look for pleasure as their driving force, you will never find it regardless of how hard you try You should find happiness from renunciation, the happiness from a renunciant life resulting from freedom from sensuality, attachment, and an absence of greed Do not depend on material happiness, which is the happiness that is dependent on enticements, consumable objects, possession, and carnal pleasure Be grateful for what you have Be content and happy with what you have and who you are It doesn’t necessarily deprive you of the motivation to work harder because it stops you from desiring more, but it means you are thankful for what you have and be patient for what is to come Moreover, this state of fullness, gratefulness, and confidence will soon attract positive things to your life So does anyone else have any other questions? Participant: Yes, teacher, please teach us how to cook rice Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Ok, the trick is, when you cook rice, you need to have a calm mind and free yourself of all the worries, envy, and toxic emotions After washing the rice, when you put water into it and put them into a rice cooker, chant the name of Buddha Then you stir the rice and water clockwise When you something with a calm mind, the trick is to transfer your positive energy into the food you cook Never carry negative thoughts such as envy and belittling others into your mind while you cook; the negative energy will also be carried in there in the same way It would be best if you were careful with who you share this secret Others might look at you as superstitious because of it, but this one is actually one of the secret teachings that were given to me by my master Never carry evil thoughts such as greed, anger, envy, attachment, or even let your mind wander while you cook When you guys are lucky enough to come here and eat food that was cooked by these masters of Himalaya, you will understand what I am talking about They are not professional chefs Their ingredients and the way they cooked are pretty simple, but the food they cooked was really scrumptious In the Himalayas, we make our own food from the very beginning to the end Right from the moment we sow the seeds until the end of the process when we cook the rice, we chant the name of the Buddha And the food made from this process is not just physically, and mentally nutritional, but it is also delicious Try it, and you guys will understand what I am talking about Participant: Namo Buddhaya Sir, please let me share my result of chanting and practicing Saddharma Pundarika Sutra Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Ok, go ahead Participant: Namo Buddhaya After seeing one of your videos on youtube, I have practiced taking 108 bows to the statue of Buddha every morning Then, I tried to show the technique to my friends I have so many friends who are also practicing the way of the Buddha, you know As a result, it works wonders for my friends Some of my friends even recovered from cancer I even bought a Saddharma Pundarika Sutra as a gift to one of my friends So I want to inform you and everyone about the good news It is genuinely my happiness, sir One of my friends got a pernicious goiter When I looked at her, I advised her to follow the method of applying the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra to cure her disease You chant the name of the Buddha, and then you drink water Every time you drink the water, you chant the sutra, then you chant the name of Avalokiteshvara Finally, she totally recovered from her disease as well About 10 or 20 of my friends got their bodies cured thanks to the method Whenever one of my friends comes to me to express their gratitude and amazement for the miracle, I tell them not to share this with anyone else except myself I also told them that the method would stop working if they did it In short, I have helped so many people with the technique you taught me from my friends to my acquaintance and my customers And it made me extremely happy Whenever I hear the good news from one of the people I share the teaching with, I am elated Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Your actions have created good karma for yourself Participant: I want to share one more thing, teacher One of my friends was a specialist back in the day Now she is 61 years old and in retirement When she was still working, she killed about thousands of mice every day during her career It was part of her job description, you know She was supposed to that in part of the process of creating the vaccination But, the karma still comes regardless Now, when she reaches her old age, her arms and legs are bent and twisted together Her bones and joints are bulging out However, she is still blind and clueless about Buddha and his teachings and his path There was one time when I took her out to visit Hoang Phap pagoda in Hochiminh city I even told her to start to chant the sutra and the name of the Buddha However, she didn’t really like my idea In order to help her and got her hooked into doing that, every day when I chant the sutra and the name of the Buddha, I think about her and wish for her betterment So now, I want to ask you, teacher Will she receive the good Karma I intend to give her every time I chant? Namo Buddhaya, I want to say thank you to you Mr Huyen Dieu: Yes, it’s possible as long as the person you wish for has the ability to receive the good things you try to give her As long as she is ready to receive your gift, then it will work… Participant: You want to give her, but she has to receive it for it to work - one of the male participant interrupt Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Yes, that’s true The person you want to send the gift to must know how to receive the gift for it to work Imagine, no matter how good the gift is, if she doesn’t use it, it will be pointless Ok let's wrap it up About the miraculous effects of the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra, it is ineffable to describe it You just gotta practice it, experience it to understand what I was talking about And even after you follow my teachings and get the result you want, you still need to keep your humility and not to show off your result pointlessly to raise your ego Because if you share it to just anyone without thinking, you will make the unsuccessful people envious towards you, and it will be the starting point for a cycle of bad karma So, only share it to the ones that you find him or her to be ready If you can help him to cure himself, you will get good karma from your good action And for the one that got an incurable disease but you help him to overcome it using the teachings of the Buddha, the good karma you receive will be infinite Ok, I can assure you guys about the effectiveness of this method, and I say this method can bring lots of good karma for you if you teach it to the right people But I still advise you to be humble when you suceed Participant: I want to share about the time that I gave the portion of my lifespan away to my mother I want to let the others know that so that they could give away part of their lifespan to their parents if they want to It worked for me really well That year, in 2013, my mom got herself a cardiovascular disease When I heard the news, I chanted to Avalokiteshvera and wished that I could use one year of my lifespan to pray for my mother I wished that my mother would be healthy again if she still had her lifespan However, if her life span was over, please give her a peaceful and painless death And it was really effective She was well again after two or three days Seeing how effective it was, I decided to give you one year of my lifespan to wish you peace and health Namo Buddhaya Mr Huyen Dieu: Namo Buddhaya, I say thanks to you Did you sign in your name when you came to the class? Participant: Yes, I have given my name to Mr Huy Dat Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Okay, I want to say thank you If possible, I want you to make records of the people that practice my method of bowing and chanting the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra and get their health back to normal again It’s not like I want to some marketing, but it is to show others how magically effective it is to solve your issues just by bowing and chanting the sutras So the key thing is humility, not go around sharing your success just to boost your ego What I said also applies for the case that you are being wealthy by listening and practicing my teachings, you should not that either In the future, when all of my students are all financially wealthy, I want you guys to live in humility and charity sharing what you know to others Don’t be like Mr Dang Le Nguyen Vu, driving in a supercar such as a Rolls Royce to give books to people So even if you are wealthy, you should still be happy and grateful with what you have Do not show off your wealth to others for your ego boost It will hurt others emotionally and raise up negative feelings inside them You should get yourself busy with improving your life, aiming for a more multifaceted wealth And you are ready to share your knowledge, the teachings that I gave you to others as long as they are ready Personally speaking, I always feel elated when you guys tell me how happy and successful you are after applying my secret teachings, and I’m sure you will, too Ok, any other questions? Is Mr Minh Phuoc Hoa here today? Participant: One time when I visited my old village, I saw one of my old acquaintances killing an innocent fish She and her husband chopped off the fish’s head, its tail and unscale the fish She and her husband thought that they did nothing wrong However I see that bad karma will surely come to them I told them to chant the name of the Buddha, hoping that would one day change their mind However, they refused because it wasn’t their belief I feel kinda helpless about this situation So I want to ask you for advice on what to in this situation Mr Huyen Dieu: The only thing you can is pray for them to change their mind It is very difficult Imagine that they have been in darkness for such a long time If you think of lighting up their way, you shouldn’t make it too bright because you might really scare them away It’s similar to the story I shared last time about the woman who had difficulty dealing with her husband while she was bowing and chanting the sutra Her husband just turned on the radio really loud, interfering with her chanting He even got physically violent with her to stop her chanting She was about to get her divorce until I stopped her I told her that instead of doing that, she should chant sutra in a more discreet way And while she was at it, pray for her husband to change his way It really worked wonders for her husband Now, he was really faithful to the Buddha, and even more enthusiastic and diligent in chanting than her She was even a little bit jealous of her husband From my personal experience, the women, due to their persistence and faith, tend to have better results than men when they put their mind into practicing the way of the Buddha It was similar to the story of the ancient time about an evil and heartless king, King Songsten Gambo (Songzen Ganbu), the 33rd Tibetan King and the founder of the Tibetan Empire His love for Princess Wencheng really changed his way, and made him become a less ambitious and more loving king Looking back at history, we have to thank Princess Wencheng for her heart, her mind, her spirituality and her attractiveness that had converted him into a good king and saved a lot of lives as a result There are miracles that are just ineffable for me to use any words to describe And the family's happiness is largely in the hands of a woman If a woman follows the way of the Buddha and has a strong belief in the law of cause and effect, that family will be a happy family and vice versa For a couple, the husband is usually the one who is supposed to make a concession whenever there is an argument And because the women will be more likely to be better than men at raising children In the case one of the persons die, the women will have a higher chance of raising the children to become a contributing member in the society because it is genetically wired as their natural tendency The best scenario, of course, is that both the man and the woman believe in the way of the Buddha and live their life accordingly However, in case that the trust in Buddha only lay on one side, the woman will have a higher chance than the man to convince the other side to change his/her way of living Ok, anyone else here wanna share their story, or to ask any question? Minh Phuoc Hoa: Namo Buddhaya Hey teacher, I am right here Venerable Huyen Dieu: Before knowing Buddhism, Mr Phuoc Hoa was the guy who just did whatever he wanted However, he was still not happy After he knew about Buddhism and decided to follow and practice the way of the Buddha, his life started to change to be a much happier place to live Ok, Mr Phuoc Hoa, I am not asking you to show off, but I want you to share your honest experience and opinions to everyone here to learn from I want to show everyone that happiness can be very simple things that they take for granted everyday, that being grateful for what you have is the shortest path to true happiness Minh Phuoc Hoa: Dear Venerable Huyen Dieu and everyone who is at the meeting Allow me to share with you guys my life along with the lessons I learned regarding true happiness There have been so many lessons about happiness already I’m pretty sure some of you guys here have heard of it The thing is, these lessons seem easier in theory However, when you put them to practice, it is a completely different story There is a strong opinion that having a lot of money or material possession will equate to happiness The things that most people think of when they think about happiness will be: having a high rise building as a home, having a luxurious car, a beautiful wife, a good child and people to serve under you… And I have to admit, I used to have that thinking too The way of thinking that revolves around our happiness around money, material possession, social status, and other relationships This kind of thinking basically just depended our happiness on money and the others, but forget the most important thing, yourself I have to say, you will victimize yourself if you are attached to that thinking, like I did in the past I was born and raised in a very poor family, so I grew up with a deeply imparted belief that I gotta become a rich person when I become an adult I did live in a city slum However, it was a pretty small city, so my neighborhood is right next to a living place for wealthy people I still remember vividly how they looked down on me, the way they pointed their fingers my way and told each other to keep a distance from me because of how dirty and smelly I was The self-deprecating feeling was sowed that day, and I had always thought the only way to no longer have these feelings would be becoming a rich person It made me determined to study and work to become someone with a social status in society I had really defined happiness in such a small narrow way But really man, speaking from the position of someone who had experienced them all, I say to you guys I was successful in getting all of these things, but it wasn’t an answer at all Once you get all these things that you dreamed of, you will also receive problems that go along with them and will bring other unfortunate events coming their way But looking back, I was kinda grateful for these things because it had drived to find out about Buddhism and had the luck to see the greatness of Buddha I have to say that the teachings of Buddha really saved me So today, when you allow me to speak for myself about my experience and how grateful I am for these things to happen so that I could see the light, and turn back to live the right way and be truly happy So for the question of where we can find happiness True happiness can exist in many many ways For some people, it can just be to successfully instruct others the Lotus Sutra so they can be successful and healthy, physically and mentally speaking This kind of happiness is really light, really easy to find, but it takes some people forever to find it I think the reason is chiefly because they had misunderstood the definition of happiness, therefore misdirected their way to happiness Take me for example, a couple of dozen years ago, when I was still a young man, I thought that the only way to happiness was money, material possession and social status and it was the reason for my pain and suffering Like I said, when I get all of these things, to keep them by my side, I bad things to cause bad karma Some of the things I did might be unconscious But still, I did bad things regardless And of course, the law of cause and effect played into the equation and striked me one day And all of the things that I dreamed of ended up becoming the elements of my suffering Let me assure you guys, the only way that we can ever find true happiness is going the path that Buddha laid out for you about 2500 years ago The things that Mr Huyen Dieu imported to us about the belief in the law of cause and effect, and the way of practicing the sutra is something that we should memorize and carry deeply within our mind and our heart And the last thing that I wanna add Because of how Mr Huyen Dieu marketed me, everyone seemed a little bit afraid of me I heard that some really wanted to ask me questions but they were too afraid to pick up the phone to call me, even though I had made my number public I wanna tell you guys not to be afraid of me It’s true that I used to be in the underbelly of society My face used to be scary But now, it is completely the opposite My face has become much more gentle, and I smile a lot I think that’s part of the reason everyone tells me that I am a lot younger than my age And also, my progress in practicing the way of the Buddha really changed my appearance So in short, the things that I gotta to get where I am today was fixing my mindset, having complete trust in the words of Buddha, and putting your belief and your knowledge into practice in your daily life Now I find my happiness simply in successfully completing the tasks that teacher Huyen Dieu gave me, doing things that will make other people happy and make the world a better place Venerable Huyen Dieu: Ok, now I wanna tell you a simple thing Happiness is just waking up each day and realizing that you are still alive, you have time to practice the way of the Buddha, you have the opportunity to go out there doing good things to make the world a better place and bring good karma to yourself, and even enjoying the simple things such as drinking a cup of tea or hearing a bird singing Like I just talked with one of my students this morning, he said to me that he had traveled to many countries in his life, but he could never forget what he had seen during his time of staying with me in Himalaya So, if you guys pray for something, you guys should pray for these kinds of things to come to your life, not to have a bigger house or to drive a faster car Some people told me that they don’t know if they would gather enough good karma to make the trip to be here with me I told them to pray to Buddha, to themselves honestly and faithfully, the mind can miraculous things If you use it right, it can help you achieve anything you want Couple of years ago, some people told me that they just had a simple dream of one day being able to set foot on the land of Buddha But now, they all achieved their goal, and some of them even made the trip about 30 to 40 times Another thing I want to tell you guys is to enjoy the simple things wholefully Stop turning on the news while you eat a meal with your family During the meal, stop talking about stressful or sad subjects, or any negative subject that will bring out negative feelings for anyone such as politics, crime news I need to warn you guys, the media and social media nowadays is more likely to inject negative feelings that would bring down your energy level and make you look at the world with a more doubtful, negative perspective So whenever I have a visit, unless they want to confide in me and want my advice, I allow them to tell me their negative stories, but when they want to talk about negative events that they read on the news or social media, I tell them to stop and let me be at peace I have enough things to think about rather than looking at things that I cannot change and be all judgemental about it Our life is very very short, and we have so many many things to So be selective about what you take in your life And I tell you guys, even though the happiness that I told you may seem really simple and right in front of you However, to be able to truly get it, especially in today’s society, you need to be in a constant process of practicing the way of the Buddha to keep a calm mind Remember, all of you guys are extremely lucky to be born as humans In fact, you must’ve gathered a lot of good karmas for that to happen So be grateful for what you have, and keep that thought in your mind when you are studying the way of the Buddha and integrating it into your life so you can get visible results for all your hard work in this life Remember that you gotta put what you learn into practice for you to truly understand it, and for it to really change yourself and your life There are 365 days in a year, and none is like others You need to appreciate that And as long as I am alive, I’m willing to open my monastery in Himalaya for each of you guys to stay here for one week with me Coming here, you guys can enjoy the beautiful landscapes, things with me if you want to The point is to calm your mind, understand yourself better, help you see what is truly important and what’s not, and help yourself get further on the way of Buddha It will raise you to a different level, increase your energy wave, and when you can come back, you can spread goodness and make a huge difference to the people around you, especially your family And your children, instead of sending them to a modern city to enjoy the artificial luxury and extravagance, you should send them here to have a life-changing experience In here they can physical things to hone their body such as climbing mountains, and hone their mind such as meditating and studying the sutras Here, they can understand themselves better, and have chances to be at one with nature All of these things can make them a better and deeper person Ok, anyone else wanna share? This is an open forum, so feel free to speak up and share your ideas Like in my previous live streams, there were people who spoke up and told me that they had recovered from certain incurable diseases by practicing my secret teaching That really made me happy Health is a funny thing I have experienced it myself There were diseases that cost me a fortune (about a couple of hundred thousand dollars) but still stayed around But it went away when I made a medicine out of some herbs in Himalaya Just a business idea, but for anyone here that’s good at doing business, you can come here and pick up some valuable herb seed here (Himalaya) and plnt in our country It will be a win-win situation when you kill two birds with one stone You can make a fortune out of it and help other people, even the ones that’s desperate from incurable diseases, or lack the resources to fight it Remember guys, the teachings of Buddha are very deep and sophisticated, you can misunderstand them However, the clearest sign that you are going the right way is that you feel happy along the way And the thing that I am proudest of is the life of my students Today, I picked up the phone and dialed every single one of my students When I ask them whether or not they are happy, none of them told me so In fact, every single one of them told me that they were really happy or they felt really strongly that they were on the way to their happiness Hearing their words really elated me They assured me that my understanding and interpretation about the words of the Buddha was right The covid pandemic can also be the sign to show you about your karma status For example, none of my students got a covid so far And the same goes for my peers and students at this monastery, except for one guy that cut off the branch of the ficus religiosa nearby He was a monk just like me, but instead of spending his time focusing on studying and practicing the way of the Buddha, he busied himself with making relationships with political figures around the country He had bodyguards with guns following him wherever he went He really liked me, and he loved to hang out with me, but the feeling wasn’t mutual Still, I really felt sorry for him when I heard about his death due to the pandemic I’m telling you guys, this covid pandemic is really something that we all need to contemplate on It is the way that the Earth uses to clean itself, and it is our wake-up call I can’t even imagine how far the wealthy countries in the world would go and how much trouble they would cause without the appearance and spread of this pandemic And the law of cause and effect is always in action Rich countries that tried to steal the resources from poor countries by bullying, manipulating, using wars got all their booty taken away, even more Remember, the words of Buddha are always right, every single one of them, and you definitely should make it your moral compass A participant told a long story about how he got to know Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu and expressed how much he admired Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu, then he said: I want to gift you five years of my life span so you would have more time to help others, direct them to live the right way following the path of Buddha, and make the world a better place Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Are you Professor Do Binh Diep? Participant: No sir I live in Saigon, Vietnam Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Tell me your field and profession then Participant: In the past, I used to have a production business I did have the intention of leaving something meaningful when I leave this earth I was very ambitious about making a career for myself But I was blind and stupid, and I didn’t really understand the law of cause and effect Once I understand it through your videos, I have a clear view about my life I was blind, and you made me see That is the reason why I want to give you five years of my lifespan so you will have a longer time to teach others Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: I am thankful for your wish You are in your fifties, but you are still willing to give five years of your lifespan Your heart really moved me But I will only take one or two years Still, I am really grateful Participant: No, I am really grateful Your method really helped me When my father was really tired, he even gave up on living I was sad and helpless when I looked at him But I remember your teaching I decided to pray and wish to give him one year of my lifespan My father soon recovered and got his health back to normal I am not really a believer myself, but after seeing that miracle, I decided to become a religious person That’s why in my first class, when I can speak in front of everyone, I want to publicly give you in front of everyone so you will have more time to help more people I am glad to give my lifespan to you because that means I also play a part and contribute to your good deeds in the future Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Ok, after the class, please contact Mr Minh Dat telling you your name and date of birth so I will show my thanks to you in a Gratitude Ceremony Ok I want to thank you again And as for your gift, you want to give me five years, but I only take two Three years left is for you to enjoy your life with your family Participant: I really wish that there would be a time that I can come and visit you I believe it will help me alot in going forward on the way of Buddha Because it’s precisely my goal, and I believe you are the compass to lead me where I want to go Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Again, I want to say thank you to you What he and I just shared is a secret teaching It is unexplainable by science You have to practice to see it When you are being truthful and honest, you will see and feel so many things, ineffable things, things that are invisible to the unbelievers, things that science cannot explain If you have any doubt, just look at me I’ve been away from Vietnam for about three dozen years The only teachings in Vietnam I followed are the teachings of my master And his words never failed me, not for once There are four words that my master gave me and I have been living by them, now I taught them to you guys: Truthful, honest, grateful, and wisdom About gratitude, if you are grateful to your parents, you will receive so much good fortune And the opposite is also true when you are ungrateful Let me reiterate, for the ones that still have their parents, please not anything to make them sad And for the ones who have children, impart the lesson about gratitude into your mind the sooner the better If you are successful in doing that, you are halfway to the path of victory There are some people I know of who sell off their house, their savings so they can send their kids to the wealthiest, richest, most civilized countries to study abroad, but it can be a huge misuse of their money The most important thing you guys need to teach your kids is morals I have witnessed with my own eyes there are so many cases where children wished for their parents to die so that they can get their hands on the inheritance And the parents tried to cover up for their kids because of their own self-respect; they just don’t want to be ashamed and lose face in front of others Sometimes, admitting your own failure is the hardest thing But refusing to look at the truth and hiding your failure away will disable you from moving forward forever I remember a clip I watched about a married couple that had five grown up children, lived in a wealthy country but had to sleep on the street If you guys love me, all you need to is to apply my secret teachings, become a better, happier, more successful version of yourself, then go out there and make the world a better place This is actually everything I want And I’m not propagandizing the lotus sutra There are actually so many secret teachings about practicing the way of the Buddha Think of it like a menu list, there are so many foods and drinks you can choose from You pick out the food that you really love and that is also most suitable for your body You love it so much that you can eat the food wholefully And after you eat, if the food you ate is nutritious for your body, then you are successfull Nowadays, there are so many choices of religions you can pick from It’s like a supermarket When you decide to make a religious decision, I advise you to look at the face of your intended master Ask yourself whether it is a happy face or not? Do you feel at peace when you look at him? That’s the key point Because regardless of what he says, he just has to be a tranquil and happy guy to help others to be tranquil and happy The same thing goes for the material aspect You just have to be a rich person to teach others to be rich On a higher level, you have to be a wealthy person to teach others to be wealthy I know we are religious people, and even spiritualists, but we still need scientific thinking to make the right decision Time is just too short for any of us to make the wrong decision and just wander around There are some people, I will not mention their name for their benefits, they left their home to go to Himalaya, stayed for around three months, and they came back claim themselves to be Maitreya Buddha, Guanyin Buddha, Shakiyamuni Buddha, or Bodhisattva, any greatest name they can think of The surprising thing was that they still got themselves millions of followers And of course, every single one of their followers ended up in pain or suffering Nowadays, in this age of information, you guys need to have a clear and wise mind to keep yourself away from all these fraudsters and swindlers Okay, anyone who wants to share their experience in practicing my secret teachings on their way to happiness, please speak up… Participant: Thank you very much sir None said anything Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu waited for a moment then actively continued: Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: If we take a look at the course of history, science and technology along with civilization and society have moved so many giant steps forward Don’t get me wrong, we need to be really grateful for that, especially the development of science and technology But the really sad thing is, instead of helping us to have a happy, peaceful life, a life with more freedom, we use the advance of science and focus using it to bully each other Instead of the supposedly positive things, we see new forms of exploitation, political & social bullying even wars, in diplomatic, financial or worst, real physical The way that we use science right now will end up creating more pain and suffering So you guys pray with me I want to create an organization that will promote peace by talking to political leaders I think the gods are with me on this; they even arranged it actually Think of it figuratively They are in a dark room, and they can’t see anything Our job is lighting up the candle to show them the way We need to let them see where they are, and direct them so they can walk the escape path with us I will be extremely happy if we succeed Our project of opening a vacation resort, first I’m thinking about inviting you guys and the people that are in our group first, then we will invite political leaders to join us Just by doing these simple things: cooking for them, letting them listen to high vibrational music, let them really have a peaceful morning for themselves enjoying these beautiful landscapes, allowing them to the simple things that they haven’t got a chance to in a very long time They would start asking themselves a question: “The world is so beautiful by itself Why they have to bully or fight each other just for these small petty benefits?” And we will have our own newspaper dedicated to prove the validity of the law of cause and effect by showing examples in our daily life There was a guy I watched on the internet about an overseas Vietnamese coming back to his home country He was quite radiant, elegant and handsome, but he was a swindler And he didn’t just swindle just one or two persons, but he made it big and deceived about a couple of hundred people for their money I was quite surprised So if these kinds of things happen to you or in front of you, you can chant the name of Buddha or Bodhisattva It was what almost happened to me, guys I almost had to sleep on the street if not for their help The guy that I intended to give the ownership of this pagoda to almost sold it for money Hard to believe, I know But it really did happen That guy, he even thieved the Triple Jewel’s money He had been doing it for a long time because the money was quite big, around a couple dozen million dollars I was making the document to transfer everything I have to him so he could manage it in my place I was about to give all of my possessions up so I could be free to follow the way of Buddha until the end of my life But before the document was finished, I found out that he was breaking the pagoda I am a peaceful, gentle guy who is willing to make concessions for others However, I am really decisive When I make my decision, there is no going back In this case, the Buddha and Bodhisattva had arranged for everything to happen so I could realize his true face The same logic also goes for what has been happening in our country Vietnam is a very sacred place, a place that is full of saints Looking at historical events, what is Vietnam’s military strength compared to America’s, but we beat them Looking back, the South depended on the strongest countries in the world and the strongest religious affiliation, but they still failed What we take away from that? So if anyone got himself any wrong ideas that violate the benefit of the country, not to mention treason, will surely get divine punishment from them… Well, as you can see, I am not rich I am quite old, so I don’t have time to make money myself I spend my time helping others become wealthy The first on my list is my students, and none of them has failed so far Then I did the same thing to the local people that live close to me in Lumbini by giving them advice on how to sow seeds, how to feed their cows to gather milk Now, they usually bring their milk to me When I offered them money in return, they refused It’s Fruit before my eyes I am really happy to witness the law of cause and effect in action, especially when I am on the beneficial side This Lunar New Year, I will rent a car to invite them to come to our pagoda to enjoy the holiday with us I think it’s something I really should because they have never set foot here before Can you guys imagine it? They are the local people; they live just about two hundred kilometers from here, but they never set foot on the sacred place, the place where Buddha was born That’s something I really should fix I am planning to get them to try out living here, and talk to them about the way of the Buddha to help them live a better life I am not playing favor But we are all Buddhists, whenever we see someone with the same belief as us but still poor, we should be sad Then we should think of a way to help him improve his life So that’s why I also want to add If any of my students doesn't find his life to be better after a while of studying under me, he should look for a different teacher or a different religion that better suited him You gotta be decisive like me If it were me, if I didn’t get good results from following the way of Buddha, I would have said goodbye too I almost gave up a couple of times Like the time I witnessed a guy that made about 20 million dollars by using religion to deceive others, I was jealous and thought about giving my way, the Buddha’s way that was given to me by my master because I thought it was the wrong way However, not too long after that, I witnessed his painful death Looking back, at the time, I had to work so hard that others might think I was crazy, but I didn’t make even a million whilst that guy already got himself 20 million dollars by just lying and my faith got weakened But, the effect of the law of karma soon came and became my wake-up call …The Venerable praised the magical result of the Lotus Sutra, and he wish more people would know about it He said that if more people chant and practice the lotus sutra, not only their life will be happier but the world will be a much happier place He said that if everyone were like him or his student, there would never be a war ever again Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: If no one else has anything to say, please the people that gave me part of their lifespan, please write down your name and date of birth so I can show my gratitude for you I will light a candle on the Himalaya, have a ritual so that I can pray for your wellness and success to show my thanks There will be more gifts further down the road but that will be the first thing I Ok look at the list, there are so many people who want to give me their lifespan, some even gift me 10 years or 20 years, I’m telling you guys not give me that much, just give me one or two years as a symbol You guys still have so many things to in your life… Now I want to say that gifting me is not really important, I don’t really care about that The thing I care the most about is your success in studying and practicing the teachings of Buddha, and the people you help along the way to make the world a better place For instance, there was a person who said she was living in an uncommunicative family where members just mind their own things and didn’t care about each other But she turned it into a really happy family by applying my secret teaching This really made me happy Only love can extinguish hatred Like I mentioned in my previous lesson, we should learn to forgive others when they wrong us It is the most effective way to prevent other bad seeds from being sowed I want to tell you guys about Mr Phu He was from Hanoi or Saigon, I’m not sure He has really good facial features that indicate a promising future prospect However, it seemed like he didn’t have enough luck to be able to meet a teacher When he came to my pagoda, he was making a mess And I just couldn’t control myself, I said words that I shouldn’t say to him If any of you guys ever see him, tell him that I really want to meet him and apologize in person, and please help him out if you see him in trouble Judging from his facial features alone, I can say that if he meets the right teacher, he will go a long way to success and enlightenment But sadly, he sowed a bad karmic seed when he came to my pagoda Furthermore, when he was in Kathmandu, he did the same thing by swindling others But let’s not dwell into it because it’s his business Regardless, I really want to meet him to say that I am sorry I want to say sorry that I couldn’t control myself and said bad things to him when I saw him breaking my pagoda I said bad things to him for about 15 minutes, but I think he has been cursing me for the past dozen years Frankly speaking, it was partially my fault This would never have happened if I was still in Lumbini at that time And I could’ve dealt with the situation in a better way I could talk to him to teach him right from wrong, not just listen to my students to just cut him loose and kick him out of the pagoda But what a guy he was If he stayed, he might’ve set the pagoda on fire I really wish for him to change his way of thinking If my memory serves me right, he had a really good appearance, and he had a talent for speaking In my view, he spoke like a professor or a knowledgeable man His true name is Phu, but he has so many names I heard that he is back to Vietnam now, and he hasn't become someone successful If only he met the right teacher, he would’ve really become someone A participant told his story about how he studied and practiced the Maha Mangala Sutta in his way of following the path of Buddha Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu said that he had traveled to many places around the world but Himalaya is the place that captured his heart the most He told the story of how he built a place to light a candle on top of the mountain And even though it was really windy, the candle was unaffected because he had covered the lighting place with glasses He said that one day he would make a livestream recording the scenery from the time when he lit the candle until the sunrise He claimed it was mesmerizingly beautiful He had a strong belief that the world leaders could stay here for one week and see what he sees every day, they would stop making wars and the world would be a much better place Next, he said that it was his dream of creating a place that would become the genesis of world peace Then he told a really moving story: Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: 50 years ago when I graduated, I was the only Asian guy there One morning, while I was having a conversation with my friends, one of them cried out in surprise because of something they read in a newspaper I asked him what was going on He told me that in Paris - France and Geneva Switzerland, there are hotels that cost 22,500$ for one night Please take the inflation rate into account to truly understand the cost Right at that moment, I was sad The first thought that came to my mind was that if staying there would take me to nirvana, I would try my hardest to get enough money to stay there But there was no way that could happen A dream instantly appeared in my mind In this life, I dreamed that I would have a room, a very special room The room that you couldn’t stay in no matter how much money you had The only thing you could to be able to stay in that room was contributing to humanity and helping to make the world a better place That was your only ticket Now, I can say that doctor Minh Son and doctor Du Thuy, have successfully bought their tickets there And we should pray and hope that one day we could create that room Other people create luxurious hotels to make money But we create the most luxurious room, but this room is not for the rich people This room is a reward for people who good deeds Let’s pray for that to happen Participant: Hey teacher, I want to ask you an important question One of my friends has the same faith as me in the Lotus Sutra She has complete trust in the effect of the Sutra However, that belief also stop her from chanting and praying the Sutra She is just too afraid that she will have to receive the bad karma that will certainly come from the law of cause and effect So can you give me any advice in reassuring her to continue? Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: The bad karma comes, keep on praying, and it will go away That’s just something you have to and there is nothing for you to be afraid of You didn’t touch the food, but you are afraid you are gonna get full Do you see the contradiction? And no one can escape the working of the law of cause and effect no matter what you One participant spoke a poem as a gift to Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu nodded and gave his last piece of the advice in the lesson Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: You guys shouldn’t be too public with your success Life is too complicated That’s why you shouldn’t show off your success to others, consciously or unconsciously There are people who are the jealous type, and there are some people who practice the way of Buddha for a couple dozen years, but they still see no result How would they feel and what would they if they see that you guys are successful after such a short time So that’s why I’m telling you guys to practice the secret teachings discreetly You only share them when you see someone deserves them In short, be humble and not show off After that, he asked everyone to pray with him; he especially emphasized the part that each one of his disciples would have a chance to be here on Himalaya and study, practice the Buddha’s way with him for at least a week Then, he bid goodbye to his disciples and ended the livestream ... Where and how to find peace, joy, and happiness The first thing I want to tell you is that true peace, joy, and happiness are not far from you Unlike most people say, we don’t really need to go... guys, today we will talk about… Can any of you guys speak out about the written topic, anyone? Participant: Where to find peace, joy, and happiness Venerable Thich Huyen Dieu: Yes, that’s right Where. .. start to feel unwell physically and mentally So, as you can see, you not need to go far to seek happiness Happiness is right beside you As long as you are being honest to yourself and others, and