By Tue Sy | Conveyed in English by Hoa Dam: Welcome Letter To Congress Of Cư Sĩ Buddhists Overseas
Sen Trắng Hoa Kỳ 
To:
– All Reverend Honored Elders
– Distinguished Fellowship of Buddhists,
From Vietnam, we are bowing to pay homage to the Honored Elders, present here for witnessing the Congress of Cư Sĩ (Laypeople) today. I also send to all Buddhists present here the warm greetings between the children of Buddha, but as a result of the nature of differences, or the living environment is not the same, there are often conflicting ideologies. However, all understand that Phật Tử tại gia (Buddhists at home) but living like laypeople has one only way to go, that goes together in the Holy Religion that the Buddha had shown, and only one goal is to reach liberation and enlightenment that the Buddha revealed.
Within thirty years now, I do not know how many Đại Hội Cư Sĩ (Lay Congresses) are held overseas. In Vietnam, if any, I do not have the grace to attend. How to correct enough to say that for a very long time, I did not have extensive communication with laypeople? In such conditions, it’s hard for me to write an essay for the Lay Congress that is being held today.
As far as understanding my current lack of what happens now, the congress was organized by Tổng vụ Cư Sĩ hải ngoại (Lay Association Overseas), of course, it carries a duty to guide and propose specific programs to practice and learn, in conditions of the western societies, between the modern and prosperous culture and material, in which the Buddhists are living.
In addition, overseas Buddhists, as well as other major parts of the nation, for reasons of economic, or political, but to leave the country, become citizens of other countries, with all the obligations and rights of man of the country bearing him. But in blood, in the mind, the overseas Vietnamese Buddhists cannot forget their roots, so it always felt their sacred duty not only to their ancestral past but also to many generations present and future, still awake mind for the future of Homeland. This is not an obligation of two floors, one shoulder two burdens. Why? Today, the world has been more expanded, and the gap between the nations become closer, so a modern man is obliged not only to his country but also for the obligation of humanity. The disaster, epidemic disease happens somewhere; the rest of the world finds itself obliged to relief. Somewhere a nation is oppressed, and the rest of humanity speaks up for intervention. Thus, what is called national obligation, together with the obligation of humanity, are two activities with the same active substance. First, it is the human substance. Second, say the true meaning that is the Buddha substance.
Buddhists, living in the normal world, are daily immersed in the world of luxury and enjoyment, they still find themselves able to learn and practice guidance, and act naturally as breathing, because the self of each being is the nature Buddha.
Based on the teachings, then whoever can say so. But contractual issues and contract opportunities, I cannot say any more specific. However, I also want to contribute a modicum of faith with the Congress, would also like to contribute a few things to think.
We are disciples of the Buddha; living life normally tends to vary, so divide into two, at home and in a monk’s life. Then the sex differences, it divided into four. Although the two are, or whether they are four, practitioners have a common Hoy Buddha to go, for the common end to reach Nirvana.
In ancient times, when this new world into being, when this ground surface had not yet appeared creatures, the ancestors of human beings living in the natural realm of Optical sound, natural or Aurora. Those beings that fly up in space according to the speed of light, survived with the food of joy by the oscillation frequency of the light generated. Until they are attracted to the ground, unable to move in light, and must taste the flavor of the earth as the food, then their body gets more and more hypertrophy. Right at the beginning, there is no discrimination on sex yet. Those primitive living things taste the earth’s food; in the process of digestion, absorption, and excretion, show a continuation of the cycle, gradually with more new foods. The final stage of this synthesis is rice. And it will be much more integrated in the future. Consistent with the process of the synthesis of food, the body of living beings followed also along with evolution. Until one moment, the distinction of sex appears. From distinguishing between sex, gradually to distinguish on species, race, ethnicity, and class. It is of course morphological evolution of human society. When Buddha preached this theory, pointed again to the process of evolution and development of society, He wanted to explain to the disciples that any discrimination in the world, the dispute and conflict between social communities, and nations, only a result of the impact of the living environment, of the natural environment and the social environment. In other words, is caused by interactions between personal karma and common karma. That means not only revealing that all peoples, regardless of differences in the process of accumulating material possessions, are equal in quality as a human, but it also reveals the meaning that all beings are equal in substance.
Briefly through the contents of the segment above, here temporarily, we can say that, based on thought and perception as such, Buddhists practice everyday in order life without even finding themselves isolated and inconsistent with people around them. This comment has its reason. Previously, in the society of Vietnam, practicing Buddhism meant you had to shun all worldly activities. Many of my older relatives, have so much faith in Buddha and very often go to the pagoda to celebrate Buddha, but said, dare not take refuge in the Buddha, because fond of drinking and many other things. Say like that, the disciples of the Buddha we are all saints of all because no one is greedy, hateful, and delusional; no longer anything material desires. But, the Buddha scripture says, the Buddha-Dharma is medicine. Depends on the kind of sick to give the drug. No longer sick, no longer need medication. So, nobody said it would wait for me to get healed just driving me to the hospital. In that sense, we might not be surprised to have remarked how sublime the teachings of the Buddha so why the Buddhists do not live at all sublime? A visual comparison, saying like that also says that other hospitals are so good, and have many skilled doctors, but why do more and more people get sick, not less at all? Do we have fallacies too when compared to that? On the meaning and logic, it’s not a fallacy, but there is so. In reality, there is a fallacy, because by the reality there is a part of people who practice at home as well as outside of home, self-identified Buddhists, but live in mess up, in debauchery, their ethical standards below the level of those who do not believe in Buddhism, or to quote the teachings of Buddha to justify the deterioration of their personality. In this case, it can compare them to a patient arriving at the hospital but refusing to comply with the rules of treating the doctors, eating, sleeping, and doing what they like, but blame the hospital treatment for effective results; increasing disease but not relieved. However, the hospital also has seen the responsibility for failing to properly care for patients, and without strict measures must be strict when necessary.
One thing that should also be noted here is that the examples mentioned above only make sense depending on where to apply, or for the Buddhist at home or outside home (monk and nun). In the practice of rules, the people outside the home commit the rules; they can be punished or can be ex-communicated.
Terms of rules for the monastic discipline are pretty much; there is no violation without the provisions of the penalty attached. The rules for people to practice at home are fewer; only five or eight precepts alone. Compared with the people who practice outside the home in reality, the people who practice at home violate their rules very frequently, but they are only advised to repent karma thinning out only, but no penalty at all. In this connection, we can recall examples of the hospital. A hospital, or doctor who has a conscience, does not deny any human disease. Even when no hope for treatment, doctors still try to give patients hope to be cured. It was love in the career and position. The virtue of compassion is reflected in the teachings of Buddha as well.
Of course, here we do not say words to protect the laypeople at home, believe in Buddha but lack the energy, and indolence, live in dissolute, but never repent at all.
Anyway, look on the surface, people at home find it more difficult to practice renunciation than people outside the home, because they live in the middle of vortex pollution, and run after often sweet attractions of the world. This difficulty is said the timeframe for achievement of the end, sooner or later different. It will be difficult because time is too long for achievement. In general, practicing at home or outside of the home is difficult because of nature differences, by fortune differences of each person, not because this place is harder to cultivate than other places. In Buddha’s time, many of the people outside the home, including A-Nan He, of course, had favorable conditions to practice, but he achieved only preliminary results, which as St. Anathapindika He, She Pi-amnesty-Lay past and many others attained without much difficulty. The people at home like Head in Pi-daily-ly, or Úc giả Tượng Tôn, but live at home, again attain in Holy Religion even higher in his Noble Ananda.
Well, not that the problem is difficult or easy, rules are much or less, but it is just an achievement goal in the end. In that sense, at home or left home, all are equal in Holy Religion. If the left home who lost the Buddha mind, then, whether the form is said that is the essence of Buddhism but a matter of fact is the practice in evil karma. People at home, have yet to live and work in the world, but to do with Buddha’s Mind, all the rule of the world is Buddha-Dharma. Teaching in Chinese said, “Vong thất bồ đề tâm, tu chư thiện pháp, tức thành ma nghiệp” (Loss bodhicitta, but still practicing the Buddha in public look like real, so for sure it is evil karma.)
But how do we start and raise the Buddha’s Mind, and then how do we make that Buddha’s Mind be at peace? Those are the questions that Tu-Bo- has asked the Buddha in the Vajrayana. The hardest thing to understanding Buddhism for Buddhist Studies and Buddhist practitioners, is the most difficult road, the longest pass, which is usually long to “a tăng kỳ kiếp” (long with no ending). That is how to see, to know as if real that, in itself, in essence, we are Buddhists, the true son of Như Lai, born out from the metal mouth of Như Lai, birth by transformation from Dharma of Như Lai, are heirs of legacy Dharma of Như Lai. As it said Kinh Pháp Hoa (Lotus Sutra), it is not easy to see very soon that our fate is not a despicable servant, worthy only of work cleaning the basement toilet.
So, the Bodhi Mind, or the wish to become Buddha, is the foundation for Buddhists to study and act Buddhism.
However, initially, not all people look to the Buddha-Dharma with the sole desire being to become Buddhas. Many people look to Buddhism for spiritual comfort, and to alleviate suffering is enduring. It is the messianic aspect of Buddhism. The essence of Buddhism is the correct operation of compassion and wisdom. So, first of all, Buddhism is a nursing home, an orphanage, and a relief house. This is according to the symbolic and practical activities. When Trưởng Lão Tu Bồ Đề asks Buddha, how you rise to Tâm Bồ Đề (bodhisattvas) and how to make it dwell in peace, Buddha points out the method to comply. That is the practice of generosity (giving charity). It is the practice of generosity when practicing up to the absolute level of achievements and accomplishments then leads to ba-la-mật(2). In the classic original teachings, the virtue of giving charity to the people at home has many explanations for it. Many Buddhist are famous on doing charity as Trương giả Cấp (Anathapindika) ở thành Xá Vệ (in the Xa-defense), or trưởng giả Cù Sa ở Kiểu-Thưởng-di. Many great festivals of sacrifice, and donation of animal blood donation for Gods, but the Buddha explained the true meaning of prayer and sacrifice, and then those great ceremonies turned into relief society festivals.
Alms or charity, according to the teachings of Buddha, that includes both positive and negative, say good sense. On the negative side, the people who want to do charity have to deliver their assets to those people with economic suffering. Spending much like Cấp Cô Độc (Anathapindika), even his assets run out. After that, did what Buddha guided, and recommended to the Monks, he restored heritage. And he resumed his career to continue to do more relief.
Clearly, according to the teachings, Buddhists at home made rich, and accumulated assets, not only to enjoy themselves or their relatives, but also to share with many people, especially those who are short or unlucky, or they are not have enough capacity for self-support. So, in a lot of scripture, Buddha teaches Buddhist laypeople how to accumulate assets for lawful business, and then spend and use their fortune in a useful way, for themselves and many people, for this life and many generations after.
But, on the positive side, the act of giving charity to the laypeople is the human factor for maintaining the actual peace and joy in the society. A Bà La Môn (Bhrama) asked the Buddha about how to organize a big ritual sacrifice and pray well effectively. Buddha showed the things that must be done first for the ritual to be really effective. That is, if it needs to have sufficient public funds, you have to force people to pay additional taxes and encourage doing free labor, which only makes the poor people poorer. Do it now is, the king takes the rice seeds in stock for people planting in the fields, opens public workshops for workers wanting to become craftsmen, opens vocational schools for those who want to train a career or professional, etc., that means how to make people have peaceful settle down and enjoy doing good business, then it comes to discuss sacrifice and praying. Thus, religious obligations can only bring practical results, only when a relatively affluent society and peace are in place. If in a country with many Buddhists, the people of the country were not at peace, no social order and security, and the majority of the population lived in poverty, then there cannot be called a renaissance of Buddhism.
In short, only on the basis that the practice of giving charity to those Buddhist laypeople themselves improves their moral qualities and achievements of Ba-la-mật rule. Then gradually shifted towards the achievement of the “Ba-la-mat khác”, such as meditation and wisdom. It is the background of the practice that Buddha taught very clearly, specifically. But how do you practice, it depends on the differences of each person. Because it is not all diseases can be treated effectively only by ginseng.
From here, I would like to end without suggesting any specific conclusions at all. Because of the things that Buddhists need to know, here I do not have conditions to provide. On what Buddhists need to do, I do not have enough chance of fate for comments. My only wish is that Bodhi seed in all of us never decay, it waits for one day to flourish on the fruit of enlightenment.
Please merit to all sentient beings, living peacefully in the Chánh Pháp (Dharma).
TUE SY
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(1) Cư sĩ. Kulapati (S). A householder who practices Buddhism at home without becoming a monk. A femele counterpart is Nữ cư sĩ. Lay
(2) Ba la mật, ba la mật đa, Đáo bỉ ngạn. Pàramita (S) derived from parama highest, acme, is as to cross over from this shore of births and deaths to the other shore, or nirvàna. Transcendental perfection.
