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.
Vietnamese Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYplpFyOOaI This is the story about Mr Huyền Diệu and the magical power of gratitude, the story of how he used the magic of gratitude to overcome hardship throughout his life and become someone that could change the world He was born in a poor family in a poor rural area in wartime Because of his low-income family condition, he couldn't go to school but went to a private class in his village His teacher was called "a reluctant teacher" because he was unprofessional and had no degree He didn't graduate from any university or get himself any pedagogical certificate As a matter of fact, he just finished 4th grade Probably, he could choose to be a teacher to provide for his family, and the people in the village accepted him because he was the person who had the most education there at that time In his class, he taught his students to spell, read and write In his small village, there are 10 families, but only four made a decision to send their kids to class Since it is wartime, education wasn't exactly in the limelight of everyone's focus at that time However, his parents were the complete difference They really cared a lot about his studies They are very inquisitive about how he studied in class, and they always told him that putting his best into study would be the best way to return them for giving birth and raising him His teacher was quick-tempered and he tended to get angry when his students got diverted, distracted and lost their focus, or when any of his students forgot his lesson, or didn't return his homework However, he was also a loving and caring Venerable Whenever he had cakes or candies, he gave it away as a treat to his students, especially the ones that behaved well in class, excelled in their study, or diligent in their study When he saw his students all doing well in class, he rewarded them by telling them fairy tales such as the Story of Tấm and Cám, the Story of Thạch Sanh and Lý Thông or historical stories about great men like Trần Hưng Đạo, Lê Lai, Lê Lợi…and Mr Huyền Diệu really fell in love with all those stories As Mr Huyền Diệu remember, his teacher's class length is completely dependent on himself When he felt like it, the class lasted longer than usual However, whenever his teacher had a thing to worry about or was in a bad mood, the class lasted for a really short time Unprofessional as a teacher he might be, he still really cared about his students and really tried to be their friend Looking back, his first experience of schooling brought him such a positive and memorable experience, probably the happiest time of his childhood which was full of memorable experiences But sadly, this period didn't last for long The war between the communist party of Vietnam and the French colonial empire escalated and reached its peak, his family had no other choices but to live a nomadic lifestyle constantly moving from one place to another His education concomitantly got interrupted as a result However, at that time he already reached a basic level of literacy and could read and write now So whenever he saw any newspaper or something he could read, he started reading He read aloud when he was alone, and he whispered when he was not When his family knew that he could read, it was his job to entertain his family by reading aloud stories when they were together He really loved his job because it lightened his household chores During that time, the war kept escalating and widened to every part of the country The war didn't bring chaos but also famine and hunger He could never forget the scenes of hunger, desperation and death he had seen with his own eyes The Geneva convention did help to restore peace to everyone by separating Vietnam into two countries And he was able to study again, in an official school this time The first time he used gratitude He tried his best to study out of his love for his parents His family was below-average in an unstable country His parents had to work to their bone to provide for him and his sisters Even though they were poor and uneducated, his parents cared a lot about his studies since he was the only son in his family His parents repeatedly told him to study hard if he loved them He chanted those words every day, which was a huge motivational boost for his study effort He turned out to be probably the most diligent and studious pupil in his school Solely out of his love for his parents, he put his entire mind into studying and studied every chance he got He didn't know at the time that the process of education had helped him throughout his life in every aspect and made his future as bright as today He admitted that he was just a normal kid with a below-average IQ Additionally, he got various incurable diseases when he was a kid, such as asthma Even though he performed poorly in class and it was challenging for him to memorize the lessons like other kids, he always tried his best to study to show gratitude to his parents As a result, he usually received semester certificates for being a good student His parents were merry when they saw that That further encouraged him to study more diligently "If I love my parents and want to return them for their kindness, I need to study harder" - This is his childhood chant He also admitted that he was a man of many weaknesses However, thanks to his gratitude for his parents, he has always been learning and working to become a better man And out of the process, he turned out to be the respectable, knowledgeable, wise, and happy man he is today It's all thanks to the power of gratitude His Family Condition The Law of Cause and Effect works for everyone Ones who have good karma for their past good deeds in different lives will be born in a peaceful country and a happy family Then, his parents will have unlimited energy for his study and life effort One born into an educated or wealthy family will have resources to fund his study and his life's endeavors However, if one is born into a poor family, study will no doubt be a luxurious thing, and it will be extremely difficult for him to be devoted to his study Unfortunately, he fell into the last case Still, the lack of basic means of study such as a pen or notebook didn't hinder his study But his diseases really put him through terrible times, especially asthma Sometimes the asthma even put him into a coma by choking all the breath out of his throat His parents tried with every means they could think of such as bringing to different doctors or even a wizard to chase the ghost of disease away from him Incurable diseases was a ghost that had been chasing him throughout his childhood until he found his Venerable His parents tried to take him to the city to ask for treatment from Western doctors just with the little money they had He loved his parents really much and it pained him to see them going through hardship for him One time, he told them that he wanted to die so that his parents would not suffer because of his incurable diseases any longer His parents wiped their tears as they said that he must try his best to live with them, to become a studious and successful man, when they leave this earth, just then he was allowed to die These imparted words were carved into his heart and engraved, ingrained into his brain and became a lasting moment of happiness between them until the unhappy incident occurred Regardless, he has been carrying these words with him, integrating them into his life motto and that really transformed him to become the man he is today The Unhappy Family Incident When he was too young to grasp what was going on, his parents went their separate ways His mother really did love him, but when his father left her, her love soon turned to hate She hit him whenever he spoke of his father, when she faced any difficulty in life or just for no reason since he really looked like his dad When she hit him, she tied his wrist and his feet together so that he couldn't run away or anything There were times that she hit him so hard that it made him go into a coma Sadly, these painful moments never leave him There are people in his neighborhood who advised him to report back to the local authority about these abuses However, he decided not to out of his love for his mother He thought that it would be even worse if they came and took his mother away and did the same thing to her as she did to him At that time, he was in 2nd grade And he suffered these torments till 4th grade Then he made the decision to firstly run away from his home He decided to look for his father, hoping for a shelter that protected him away from his mother After many days of walking without eating, he finally managed to find his father He ran into his father's arms, crying and telling him about the way his mother had treated him and begged his father to allow him to stay with his father instead of his mom His father said right now he was in a very bad situation His father thought for a while Then he took his son to a restaurant to eat Then they walk 11km to his brother's house His father sent him to live in his brother's house Occasionally, his father came to visit him, gave him treats and took him outside to play It was the happiest moment of his life during that time His father sometimes complained to the uncle for not taking good care of him when he saw his son was sick and wore tattered clothes After a while, since his father wasn't really happy with the way his uncle was treating him, his father took him to live in a different place It was the house of his father's close friend During that time, he didn't get to go to school He just spent his whole day walking around and only came back home when he was hungry And after a while, his father took him to live in a different place again His father repeated the process six times Since he didn't have a stable home, going to school was an impossibility Although he was really scared whenever he thought of his mother, he still really loved his mother deeply Still, the last thing he would want to was coming back to his mother He remembers really well that whenever he told his father the story, it really saddened him It made his father cry, and he cried along with his father As a result, he and his father hugged each other while crying Despite of his mother's torture, he still really cared about her He remembered vividly the way she woke up every early morning, bringing food to the market to sell Sometimes, she even brought treats back to him But on the day that she was unfortunate such as having unsatisfactory sales, or something bad happened to her, then she used him as a means to release her stress The physical abuse from her has really scarred him If not for his Venerable, Mr Hoàng Minh for fixing him, this would really scar him for life Now it really saddens him whenever he thinks of couples that couldn't resolve their issues then put all of their hate into their children If these kids don't get any resolution from someone, they will grow up distorted and become a burden for society He really hopes every couple will treasure each other, the relationship and the children they have Not just valuing each other's strength, they should also try to put up with the other's weakness to get along and live happily with each other If they found that they could no longer overcome all the difficulty of marriage and see eye to eye, they should try to get away from each other to live separately in an amicable way They shouldn't end their relationship in hate, but they should try to at least keep the friendship between each other, the partnership they once shared, not just throwing the relationship away Life is too short for that They are not just doing this for themselves, but for their children, the next generation as well If they are being truthful and honest with each other, everything will be possible His father occasionally came to visit and took him outside to eat It was such a long way from the places he was living in to the market so they had to walk for a really long way They even had to walk through long pastures to get where they wanted to be If there was a water-hole standing in the way, his father put him on his shoulder then walked through them This has always been one of the most memorable moments of his life, and it never fades away regardless of time Along the way, he was the one who did most of the talking His father just smiled and walked, occasionally taking a deep look at his son There were times when his father burst into tears And that made him cry as well Once, his father told him, even though staying with his mom would bring him some beating, it would also enable him to go to school That made him cry He begged his father to let him stay with his father forever, then he wouldn't need to go to school His father then repeated the words of the old time "You need to study to become successful if you really love your father and mother." Finally, his father decided to take him back to live together They lived in a very remote place that took them three hours of traveling by boat to get there Since there weren't any streets, then there were no vehicles, it turned out to be a really quiet and peaceful place His job is to help his father with little chores, so he could spend a lot of his time enjoying a peaceful scenery This didn't last for long His father still wanted him to continue his studies His father said he was really helpful, but his father still wanted him to spend time with his studying So, when his father saved enough money, the first thing he did was send him to a village school, which was two hours walking away from his current home However, he was still grateful to his father and enjoyed the scenery on his way to school every day In retrospect, he admitted it to be one of the most peaceful moments of his childhood He also said the peaceful scenery has never left him and also brought him peace and happiness into his mind until now Going to school, enjoying these peaceful scenery, living a calm, peaceful life didn't last for long The war soon escalated and affected his place of living Bombs and cannonballs started to appear around his neighboorhood The school, the market and public amenities were put into lockdown Not only he couldn't go to school, but staying there was no longer a safe place for him After a bombing that destroyed his school, his neighboordhood and his home, his father decided that his father got no other choice but to took him back to his mother He was glad that he gotta come back to a safe place away from all of the bombings However, the fear of her beating was still carved within his brain His father bid farewell to him and said he would one day come back to visit him He remembered clearly it was the 15th So each month when day came, he waited for his father However, his father never made good on that promise Sometimes, the feeling of missing his father made him cry He soon got to come back to school When he saw his mother wake up at am to prepare for everything to bring to the market, he really loved her deeply Coming back to school and getting to see his friends again made him really happy However, his time of happiness didn't last for very long His mother started to hit him again, this time even more brutally So his situation is not really bright He could stay and kept put up with being tortured by his own mother, or the alternative would be coming back to his father and living in a constant danger of war He made up his mind to leave his home and go away He shared his plan to one of his sisters His sister stayed quiet and asked where he intended to go He replied that he hadn't known but he had to go He couldn't put up with it any longer If he did, he might as well commit suicide He actually thought about it four times but he decided to stop Because he heard that if the authority knew his reason, they would take his mother away and torture her The thought of going away stayed with him for many months Even though he didn't have any plan about where to go, where to live and how to feed himself, the thought never left him He thought about coming back to his father, but he realized that coming back to the land of war would be the foolish thing to Then he pushed that thought aside Even when he was a kid, he still had a great belief in the self-born eternal Buddha Amitabha (Avalokiteshvara) 's mercy Whenever he faced any difficulty or hardship, he always chanted his name He used it like an incantation, like when his mother faced any hardship and cried in a corner of their home, he saw and chanted the name of Avalokiteshvara and wished for his mother to stop being sad, distressed and miserable And just a moment later, he saw his mother being happy and buying him candies Whenever his mother was angry about something and wanted to release his anger on him, he also chanted the name of Avalokiteshvara, then her beating became lighter and he didn't have to suffer as much Finally, he decided to leave and put his whole trust into the Buddha Before he left home, he gathered all his pictures regarding the Buddhas and the fairies that he had collected ever since he had been a little kid He brought them to the bank of a river and waited until he was alone He chanted the name of the Buddha Siddharta and Avalokiteshvara and wished for his departure from home would turn out to be okay He left home with nothing but the cloth that he was wearing, without a single dime in his pocket, and he soon found out the misery of being impoverished and alone When he almost fainted out of hunger, he met Mr Nam Mr Nam took him to a store and bought him a big loaf of bread He ate it like he was having a feast When he realized he couldn't finish the last piece of bread, instead of saving it, he threw it away Then, when he was in a state of hunger again, he came back to find that bread crumble, but he couldn't find it no matter how hard he tried to look for it This was his first lesson in taking for granted and wasting food From that point onward, he has never wasted food ever again He remembered clearly that after buying him a loaf of bread, Mr Nam took him to have a drink Then, Mr Nam asked him to a bad thing He said that he would be grateful to Mr Nam However, he would never the bad thing that Mr Nam asked him to For not being able to take advantage of him, Mr Nam left him one night One night when he woke up, he couldn't find Mr Nam anywhere He wandered around many Saigon streets, but he still couldn't find Mr Nam At that time, he wished that he had never disobeyed Mr Nam Many days passed, and he decided to come back to his father's village He might live in a poor village and a land of war, but he still had something to eat Mr Huyen Dieu had a fortune to meet his Venerable Coming to Bac My Tho, when he just passed the bridge he saw a monk The monk called his name It really surprised him because he had never seen the guy before The monk, his to be Venerable, said that he had waited for Mr Huyen Dieu for the past three days and told Mr Huyen Dieu to follow him to the pagoda at Bay Nui, That Son From being surprised to being attracted by his charisma, he followed the monk's footsteps At that time, he felt like the monk was like a close family member, someone that he could trust and respect After living with Mr Hoang Nhon - the monk's name was an enlightened one He could see many secrets of the universe and could foresee the future, even the fate of a lot of people Mr Huyen Dieu repetitively claimed that he felt really lucky that he got accepted to be one of the students by Mr Hoang Nhon Mr Hoang Nhon really had shown him a clear path to happiness, freedom, and even enlightenment If he had never got a chance to see Mr Hoang Nhon, his life would never have become as good as it is today Mr Hoang Nhon took him to a restaurant for him to eat Just right when seeing the food, Mr Hoang tried to wolf down the food brought out Mr Hoang Nhon to slow down Mr Hoang Nhon said he should eat at a slower pace, and he should just eat until he has enough because it would backfire otherwise It was his first lesson After finishing eating, the Venerable and student caught a bus-ride to Chau Doc, caught another bus to Nui Sam, then walked to his future home for many years He was really afraid when his Venerable took him past the forest Seeing him like that, his Venerable talked to him, telling him funny stories about his life's study that he still remembers clearly till now His Venerable really reminded him of his father, and that made him cry softly His Venerable spoke like he could read Mr Huyen Dieu's mind His Venerable told him not to cry anymore, his Venerable promised that he would one day fix all of his disease, that Mr Huyen Dieu should look forward to the future, try his best so that one day Mr Huyen Dieu would become a successful man and come back to repay his parents After a while he stopped crying Then, they started walking again They walked for a long time, passing the forest and so many rice fields and mountains, and came to Mai Son Tu village The pagoda, their home, lay a little bit further in a Bay Nui area, or so they called the range of the seven mountains He really liked the peace and the quietness of the place However, there are still wild predators such as tigers around, which makes the place a little dangerous He got to rest for one day Then he got assigned tasks to like everyone else At first, he finished all of his tasks well After a while, he got assigned another task which is chopping wood so his brothers at the pagoda could cook meals He was not really good at this task His chopping speed is slow Moreover, the task soon gave him blisters Soon, he got criticized for not chopping enough wood so his brother could cook dinner That made him cry His Venerable comforted him when he saw Mr Huyen Dieu crying His Venerable told him softly to try harder and be more patient Then his Venerable / master picked up an ax and showed him how to the chopping properly He told his student to be calm and work in a graceful and patient way, then everything will figure itself out That's how you get used to a new job or a new environment After a while, everything his Venerable said turned out to be true And that gave him another lesson Be patient, and things in a calm and chilled way, then it would make everything you become easy regardless of how difficult it originally is His task got harder as time gone by But thanks to his Venerable's secret teaching, he surpassed the difficulties and managed to them all This time he still suffered from his diseases As I told you, most of his diseases are incurable diseases and his parents had unsuccessfully tried various methods of fixing him But his Venerable managed to cure all of them His asthma was the first one his Venerable took care of with his herb Mr Huyen Duyen was elated and he started to feel more confident in his fate He started to sing and mimic the voice of animals he heard around the forest His brothers really loved it They said if they ever ran out of money, he could go to the circus to make money and feed everyone One morning, his Venerable called him into his room to talk to him He said that now Mr Huyen Dieu had had a normal body, what would Mr Huyen Dieu wanted to for his future career Mr Huyen Dieu answered that he would like to become a teacher in a small village teaching children His Venerable replied that he wouldn't just become a teacher Venerable for little kids but he would teach educated people with bachelor, master and doctorate degrees He thought that his Venerable was only joking around or trying to cheer him up, but everything gradually turned out to be exactly like that His Venerable could also foresee so many other things and his words have the wisdom of the universe For instance, his Venerable said there were so many mysteries and secrets in the universe Science alone would never be able to find out all the answers And even though staying on the far isolated mountain and didn't communicate with many people, his Venerable was still really knowledgeable about the world, and sometimes he could even foresee the world's events For example, one night when the Venerable and students gathered around to gaze at the moon and talk, his Venerable spoke: "Take a look at the moon guys, soon there will be a person walking on there Everyone was surprised, and they all doubted his words They all laughed when they talked about it but they didn't show their feelings to his face because they didn't want to sadden their Venerable Not too long after that, we all heard the news about Neil Armstrong becoming the first person who walked on the moon Or there was a time when he said that a bad thing would happen to a certain place that they usually spent gazing at the moon and having tea together, then after a few months, there was a missile hitting there destroying a place There were many other things that his Venerable predicted about the fate of a country or the world that he had foreseen were recorded by him and the other students turned out to be true as well There are Venerables who live on the mountains behind the forest Even though they don't have the media to stay connected with the world, they still know and could predict fairly accurately for the change of the world in the future Science still couldn't explain why For example, the environment and world hunger, which had been predicted by these enlightened ones from a few decades ago also turned out to be true Thanks to the gratitude I have for my Venerable, he has changed his life direction so he can be as successful and happy as he is today When he was on the mountain with his Venerable, sometimes he saw airplanes flying over his head He listened to the story his Venerable told him about a certain kind of airplane that was controlled by people, designed to take people and things traveling around the world The stories really ignited inside him a dream of becoming a pilot He kept it a secret for so many years while having a collection of all the pictures of airplanes he could find He imagined himself to fly above the clouds, pass these mountains and travel anywhere in the world This dream was really a motivation for his study, overcoming his low IQ and his laziness He failed the graduation exam twice, and that really discouraged him He thought about giving up on study but his dream of becoming a pilot put him back on the right track He finally managed to pass the 3rd time, and it was really a turning point of his life He continued studying for a pilot school entrance exam and also managed to pass the entry He was really on cloud nine because his long-term dream was about to come true There is only a short interview and a few paperworks and he would get what he had always dreamed of He came back to his master to tell him the good news Mr Hoang Nhan stayed silent for a while, then he said he needed to meditate on it Two hours passed and Mr Huyen Dieu still waited patiently and nervously Stepping out of the room, after chanting and meditating, his master said: "My child, I know that you want to become a pilot really badly, and I'm not gonna stop you In fact, if you choose to follow that path, you will become a pilot However, you will not live a happy life, and you will not live for very long If you choose to continue with your study and follow the path that I drew for you, you will be successful; you will travel around the world Whenever you want to go anywhere in the world, there will be plenty of pilots ready at your service." His words really saddened me After many days of thinking, he decided to follow my Venerable's advice even though he still really wanted to become a pilot Thanks to the love, respect and gratitude I have for my master, he made the right decision to turn his life to brighter days If he had become a pilot, especially a pilot in time of war, he would face a lot of dangers and even lost his life while still having so many things to And thanks to the gratitude and respect he had shown his master, his master had taught him so many secret teachings about himself, his life and even the universe After curing all of his diseases, his master really made his life brighter Now with a healthy body, he loved his life even more and had more dreams for his future He felt that life was not only beautiful but also magical And he became even more grateful and respectful toward his master He put all of his effort into the works that his master gave him regardless of how difficult it was Before living the life of a monk, his master was a professional martial artist I was told that only with a stick, he could take down about a couple of dozen guys pretty easily He was also a really talented and famous artist at the time But he gave them all up when he decided to become a monk When he was old, he usually got body aches At that time, he called his students to stand on him, jump and hit him as hard as they could Mr Huyen Dieu remembered that they tried to hit him like he said, but it still had no effect Even though his master was old, his body was no different to a young man While he was spending time and doing tasks for his master, his master taught him many precious secret teachings that have guided him to be as successful and happy as he is today He tried to remember his master words as best as he could Out of his respect and gratitude he had for his master, he even took note of them, even though he still didn't believe in them completely Later when he was on his own, when he had to face difficulties in life, he took the note out and practiced the teachings and they really showed him wonderful results Even when he faced an unresolvable problem that might take away everything, he slew down his pace, meditated, and practiced these secret teachings that his master gave him, and that led him to magical results So much empirical evidence that he had experienced himself had found his trust in his master's teachings He realized that there were so many secrets of the universe, the magic, the mysteries, the secret teaching that could not be just logically explained For instance, scientists gradually took a long time to figure out that there are a number of planets like Earth that also have life in various forms in this grand universe Just for this speck of truth, scientists have spent a couple dozen years just to uncover a tiny little bit of the secret of the universe For another example, 2500 years ago, Buddha already saw that there are a countless number of small creatures in a cup of water And there is also the passage in the sutra mentioned about the different small creatures with different colors for different diseases within a human body These creatures were later discovered by scientists with the help of a microscope, and they named them bacteria Thanks to the gratitude to his master, he had avoided causing pain to his country After partially finishing his study in other Western countries, many organizations came to him and offered him generous rewards for speaking against the Vietnamese government At that time he was still young Therefore, he was really attracted to the financial reward as well as the social status these organizations promised him However, the words of his master came to him: "You should be grateful and never any harm to any country that has ever fed you." He decided not to join or be affiliated with any of these organizations He thought that Vietnam was the place he was born and raised by his parents He was adopted and taught by his master And not to mention many other people loved and helped him along the way That's why he thought he should never anything that may cause harm to the country as well as the people The spirit of looking into the positives, be grateful to what was given to you was repetitively taught by his master So, he insistently refused any benefits, as long as it could hurt his country directly or indirectly The Vietnam war was one of the wars that was created by superpowers and their respective schools of thoughts ended 30 years ago But the pain and the hatred caused by the war still lives on This was one of the unfortunate events that had befallen his country and his people He spent time praying for the wounds to be healed, the hatred to go away and be replaced by love The Vietnam war is one of the cruelest wars in human history The Vietnam War can be a lesson for other poor countries If a poor country has to face up against a strong country, a poor country's leader needs to have a long term vision and perspective, and he should really love his country and his people, then his country and people might have the chance to escape the similar suffering When he did the recount, most of his peers and childhood friends had died because of the war The deaths, the painful scenes that he had watched in the time of war still imprinted in his mind That's why he is really against war, and he's willing to anything to promote peace for any creature on the planet One of the things he have done that brought him the most happiness was the time he brought peace to Nepal Thanks to being grateful and respectful to his master, he had kept a clear mind, staying away from the temptation of wealth to things that might cause harm to his country He found out that gratitude could bring one a lot of magic and even miracles to improve his life significantly Thanks to the gratitude, he could also bring his master's secret teachings to many people that needed it and turned their life around At the time, he taught and advised for many companies and received handsome rewards because of that I naturally accepted the money that was given to him without any thinking because he thought it was his earning and he rightfully deserved it After a while doing the job, when his acquaintances saw his knowledge about Buddhism and the way of practicing oneself following the path of the Buddha, they asked him to organize class teaching about Buddhism and the path of Buddhism on the weekends His classes gradually became more popular and gave him more and more money His students automatically gave him envelopes of money He didn't really care much about the money when he opened these classes because he thought of the classes as his part-time job and he only did it because of the admiration he received from his friends and acquaintances In short, he didn't have to worry much about the finances this time Remembering and being grateful to his parents for raising him and his master for teaching the secret teachings to become successful, he came up with an idea He decided to buy a first-class airplane ticket to travel around the world for his parents and his master, Mr Hoang Nhon There were plenty of attractive deals he could pick at the time, but he picked Pan Am's service The tickets were 21,600$ per person, and you could stop anywhere you want, you got a free shuttle service, hotel, or tour at your stops You could think of it as a tourist service that offers everything you want when you decide to have a vacation He sent a letter with good news to his parents and his master However, his master refused his gift This letter revealed to him that his master was really something else At the moment, he felt that he was extremely lucky that he had met and had been taught by a great man like his master In the letter, his master said: "I have traveled the world so many times in my many past lives, kid And don't send money or anything else because I have been living between the mountains for so many years You already know how I plant my own food If you want to repay me, help other people the same way that I have helped you, and that alone would please me very much." That action really touched him It took him a couple of more days but he finally decided that he would no longer receive any money when he taught the path of the Buddha any longer Alternatively, he encouraged his students to use the money they wanted to give him to charity work of their choice And strangely enough, he would never reach the position he is right now without making that decision This sudden change surprised everyone because he had been teaching and receiving money for years And they were moved when they heard his reason At first, he was really insistent on not receiving any money But after he refused a large amount of money like $10,000 or $20,0000 he started to have second thoughts This is the money that he would have to work for many months doing his normal teaching and advising job He started thinking: "Why did I come up with that idea? I wish I didn't it That money should be mine so I could spend it and charity work better than others And teaching the way of the Buddha is also my hard work I didn't swindle anyone's money And they were the ones who voluntarily gave me their money, I didn't even have tuition So why shouldn't the money be mine?" After the long process of chanting the sutra, chanting the Buddha's name and meditation, he realized that he was still under the control of his greed, and he saw the clouds of greed, anger and stupidity still somewhere in his mind And he needed to be subtle and calm to see your vices because they know how to hide themselves very well Your vices made you go easy on yourself, self-explained your way out of your wrongdoings, diverted you from the right path and made you lie to yourself and lie to the world in the process After a day of meditation, he overcame his greed and abstained from taking money for his spiritual courses in teaching the words of the Buddha He was elated that he had kept his promise Many countries in the world were in poverty There are other countries in the world that live in wealth but they suffer the pain mentally and spiritually That's why we can see the countries in developed country tended to have a high rate of having psychological problem or committing suicide Many people came to him to ask for his teachings to cure their problems physically, mentally and showed them how to live a happy, meaningful life He spent time talking to them to understand them before giving them any of his advice He saw that each person had his own problem And the question he always asked in any of his conversations was: "Who was the one that caused you pain?" and "Why you feel the pain?" Then he showed them his secret teachings He had learned so many Buddha teachings That's why he selectively picked out only the one that most suited the patient One of his most effective methods he taught his patient was "the 108 bows to Buddha" After seeing the result of his teachings, many of his patients were very happy and they wanted to show their gratitude But he refused all of their money and told them to spend that money on building Buddhist pagodas and doing charity works He has been doing these things for the past 20 years, and he hoped to continue doing these things until the day he would pass away Thanks to the Gratitude, he has created two Vietnamese's pagoda on the land of the Buddha and rebuild the holy land of Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha Thanks to the help from his students and acquaintances he has successfully built Vietnam Bouddha Bhumi Vihara (Vietnam Buddhist Temple), the first Vietnamese pagoda on the land of the Buddha And surprisingly, they even successfully convinced the government of Nepal to invite him to Lumbini so he could create the first international pagoda on the birthplace of the Buddha 40 years ago, he first arrived in Lumbini This was the birthplace of the Buddha over 2000 years ago He had read many books about this place And he remembered clearly the words of the Buddha before he died, his last teaching to Buddhists: "Before you leave this earth, you should visit at least one of the four holy lands." The four major Buddhist pilgrimage sites he was talking about were Lumbini - the birthplace of the Siddharta Gautama, Bodh Gaya - the place Siddharta attained enlightenment and became the Buddha, Sarnath - the place where Buddha first taught the Dharma, the government of one's individual conduct - righteousness, merit, religious and moral duties, also where the Buddhist Sangha came to existence through the enlightenment of Kondanna, and lastly, the place and Kushinagar, the place where Buddha left this realm and attained Mahaparinirvana - nirvana after death Coming back to the story, Lumbini was really undeveloped that time The road leading to Lumbini was poor, and there was no main road He had to arrive there by a wagon When he arrived at Lumbini, he was really surprised because the scenery was ruined and deserted In his imagination, Lumbini - the birthplace of the Buddha was magically, magnificently and splendidly beautiful He approached the pillar and saw the ancient text from the time of King Ashura This confirmed with him the place he was standing was Lumbini, the birthplace of the great Siddharta Gautama, the would-be Buddha of the world He did the chanting, bowing and meditating Then he prayed One of the things he repeatedly prayed was: "If this was really the birthplace of the Buddha, please let me see this great sanctuary developed again to its former state before he has to say goodbye to his life." He was saddened with the thought: "How come such an important place lies in ruin but no one does anything about it?" He related to the way the Christian cherished and preserved Jerusalem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, or other religious followers preserve their holy places He remembered how the original teaching of the Buddha that his master had taught him supported throughout his life, how he was deeply grateful to the wisdom of the Buddha He decided it was his obligation to rebuild Lumbini to its former beauty, by encouraging the people to come to help him rebuild and preserve the place with him After finishing his university degree, he found a job that allowed him to travel and teach in different countries Many people were surprised by how he was so committed and usually brought Lumbini to the topic of conversation in his classes and the international conferences that he was in even though the place had no relation to his specialty They thought that he was obsessed with Lumbini Every chance he met an influential person, he tried to direct the conversation to Lumbini He wanted to wake up others' conscience to bring Lumbini to be rebuilt, developed and preserved like it rightfully deserved like other holy lands In the process, he didn't know that his students were the ones who were really active in spreading his ideas, influencing people they could so he could build the first international pagoda in this holy pilgrimage site, commencing the rebuilding of Lumbini to its current beauty Thanks to the gratitude, he was given 108 rooms by his students He still couldn't find out how exactly he successfully built the two international pagodas It was such a dream for him At the time, he was still in the middle of building a pagoda His schedule was hectic, and he didn't have many resources But it seemed like there was an invisible hand guiding him His students started to take over his job, and they encouraged him to start a project on rebuilding Lumbini At the very first, when his students informed him the good news that they had successfully asked the government to give him land to build a pagoda, he still had second thoughts because it would seem to be a Herculean task for him at the time When he decided to take a step back or even give up on the project, his students and friends stood by him and told him not to "How could I build a pagoda with only $60?", he inquired His students promised that they would sell their lands, their houses, their cars, their possessions, and asked others for money to send to him The encouragement from his relationship built up his confidence He decided to leave everything, visit Nepal and set a course of building a new pagoda in the holy land When he arrived, difficulties and reality started to hit him in the face He started to regret his decision and asked himself why he was so credulous to believe the words of his students, something that could really be just empty promises His student promised him that they would send the money in about 30 days, the longest However, time passed and he didn't see any money With $60, he came to the open-market and spent $50 buying green silk and cooking pots He used the silk to create his tents on Lumbini And looking back, he saw this as one of his greatest challenges He spent time living in a place without electricity and any basic household devices Lumbini wasn't a really popular place at this time, so he spent most of the time by himself in the wilderness In the day, he had to hide under the trees inside the forest to avoid the heat And at night, he stayed inside his tent to mitigate the cold weather outside Many nights, he heard the howling of the wolves Some night, when the wolves approached his tent, he had to stay up and make fire to scare the wolves away It was what his master taught him back when he was still live with his master in That Son Mountain Even though he had to live in a poor and dangerous living condition, staying at Lumbini still had its perks It was a wonderful natural beauty He got to see the magnificent beautiful sunset of the place, the poetic beauty of sunrise For him, it felt like enjoying a great concert of light and natural sounds performed by nature itself He also added that the scenery changed each day and he got to witness a different beauty each day passed He wondered why people ignored this natural ineffable beauty but spent their time causing pain, hatred toward one another for superficial things instead? He really wished these scenes would last forever Next to his tent, he created his own mini-garden to plant and grow his own food There weren't many things for him to so the days lasted longer than usual He walked to the holy land of Lumbini to perform his worship and waited for the mailman to deliver the good news His mailman was his only friend during this time When he came back from the market, he usually bought some social delicacies to eat with the mailman They talked about a lot of things with each other That's why the mailman tended to visit him and keep him company He waited until the third week but he still heard nothing from his students Despite being discouraged, he still decided to stay one more week The next morning, he decided to come back to the city to talk to his students After many hours of walking and catching different buses, he got to talk with them again His students were really happy talking to him They told him the good news that everything was going well, that they would send him the money really soon, that they got a lot of support for their project He forgot to ask if his student had sent the money or not and rushed right into finding workers and architecture for his pagoda The reason that he rushed into the process of building the pagoda without much preparation was because some of his acquaintances that worked in international organizations revealed to him that the king and the government were trying to think of a reason to take back the land they had given him to build a pagoda Two days later, on 21/10/1993, he heard a call from his mailman, he received a letter of good news It was the letter informing him to go to the bank to receive the money from his students And that commenced his construction The first thing he did was dig a well for water After 10 days, he finished digging a well Then, he had to look for building materials and workers Now he became busy again and time passed by much quicker Even though he was busy with so many tasks, he was really happy because he could see his progress day by day The rumor of him building a pagoda in Lumbini soon spread around One night, he was told that there would be an important call from one of his students Tomorrow morning, he traveled back to the city to await a phone call The news was too good for him to believe, and that's why he only answered politely: "Yes, yes, thank you very much for your kindness and your support." In the phone call, they said they really loved and they were really grateful to him for teaching them to live successful and happy lives for so many years, especially the way of bowing 108 times to the Buddha And since he didn't accept any of their money They decided to gather their money to build him a 108-room castle to repay him He didn't really believe in that But he kept his thoughts to himself And what they said over the call turned out to be true 108 rooms were about to finish He didn't use the rooms that were built for him because he didn't think that he deserved them He saved them to welcome special guests instead Thanks to being grateful to his parents, being grateful to his master, and for keeping his promise, his students had created a 108-room pagoda for him This was the magic that came from the magical power of gratitude ... of the secret of the universe For another example, 2500 years ago, Buddha already saw that there are a countless number of small creatures in a cup of water And there is also the passage in the. .. home, lay a little bit further in a Bay Nui area, or so they called the range of the seven mountains He really liked the peace and the quietness of the place However, there are still wild predators... other, the relationship and the children they have Not just valuing each other's strength, they should also try to put up with the other's weakness to get along and live happily with each other