Chapter 15: Children Suffer Equally… “Visualize opposite ends of the world: on one end are the poor orphans and on the other are people who are able to support the orphans. The sponsors put a picture of the little child on the desk or in their living room, and they feel happy to be able to help those in need. In their remote villages, the orphans now feel loved and cared for.”

Chapter 14: Pilgrimage For Peace… “After Costa Rica, I went to Europe and met with the Foreign Ministers of Denmark, Sweden, West Germany, and Belgium, encouraging them to use their influence to stop the war. I still felt as if I were in a dream. What was the use of visiting this luxurious offices and meeting with prestigious people while my countrymen continued to suffer under the bombs? I visualized the bodies killed and maimed by the war, and I imagined that even the rice plants must be too afraid to ripen, lest the grains be burned by the hellish bombs.”

Chapter 13: Buddhist Peace Delegation… “The letter that Thay and the other monks prepared in Bangkok in March 1973 was read by the President of the Buddhist Church. It was a beautiful message to all the monks and nuns throughout the country: “We hope that you can share a few days per week with the young generation that has suffered so much from the war.” Before 1973, local Buddhist temples in Vietnam had done only seasonal charity work or urgent relief work for war victims. In March 1973, the entire UBC had only seventeen day-care centers. But after the appeal, many monks and nuns left their temples and began to work with the poor in the villages and slum areas. By January 1975, more than 300 day-care centers had been set up by the UBC throughout the country without any overseas aid! This was the fulfillment of my dream.”…

Chẳng phải tất cả những gì ta muốn có trong cuộc đời này, là để hướng đến mục tiêu tối thượng - hạnh phúc đích thực, hay sao… Vậy làm thế nào để cảm thấy hạnh phúc đích thực?

…”In the beginning, I wasn’t sure how open parents would be towards mindfulness. We didn’t use the word ‘mindfulness’ at all. Flowers became our first bell of my mindfulness. When the children would walk around the garden, when they saw a flower, they would stop, take three deep breaths, and smile. We are lucky to have a lot of birds, and they also became bells of mindfulness. Teachers taught the kids that when they heard a bird singing, they could stop, breathe, and thank the bird for the songs.”

In article “Love and Relationships: Inclusivity”, Sister Bội Nghiêm shares about understanding, relationships, and suffering in the LGBTQIA+ community. … “Do you know that the word “relate” means to restore, bring back? It can also mean make last, solidify, strengthen, repay, and one interesting meaning: give up. Isn’t that interesting? The word “relate” also means give up. So “relate” means to make lasting, to suffer without breaking, to maintain, and to surrender or let go. Take a moment and ask yourself, are you able to restore, bring back, make last, solidify, strengthen, and repay in your relationship?” ~ Sister Bội Nghiêm, Plum Village

In article “No Mud, No Lotus”, Thich Nhat Hanh has detangled for us all the complexity of Suffering and Happiness’s coexistence. The renowned Buddhist monk and spiritual teacher is a master in revitalizing Buddhism, bringing its theories into simple daily practices. His words are very simple yet easy to understand; and his explanation usually involves natural elements such as flowers, clouds and sunlight which make it approachable to many..

Chapter 12: Leaving Vietnam... "The next day, July 23, 1968, I said farewell to my mother, expecting to be gone for less than a week. As I boarded the Air France flight to Hong Kong at five o'clock in the afternoon, I had no idea this might be the last time I would see Vietnam."...

Nói về Tham thì biết thế nào là Đủ? Trong phần 2 này có thêm đoạn mình rất hăng say nói về, là chủ đề bản thân rất yêu thích: Cái Chết. Cũng như cuốn sách vừa đọc mang lại nhiều xúc cảm mạnh mẽ: “Điểm Đến Của Cuộc Đời” của tác giả Đặng Hoàng Giang. Những trích dẫn miêu tả trần trụi về mặt sinh học của cái chết, một lời cảnh tỉnh cho chúng ta nhớ trân trọng những gì đang có trong giây phút hiện tại, một sự thật rằng ai trong chúng ta cũng sẽ phải ra đi ~ rời khỏi hình thái này, ở một thời điểm nào đó ta không biết trước. Khi điều đó xảy ra, dường như tất cả sự Tham lam & sở hữu vật chất ở cõi sống này đều vô nghĩa.

“Mong tất cả chúng ta có một cuộc sống an lành và nột cái chết thanh thản.” ~ Đặng Hoàng Giang

In this podcast I will be sharing the reasons why I love Vietnam more than any other place in this World. I have been fortunate enough to be able to travel back-and-forth between Vietnam and the US, and around the world. However, Vietnam remains to be an irreplaceable place in my heart!