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Being Present for Life
Petition for peace, increasing blessings and longevity, for the body and life to be safe and joyful, for all wishes and aspirations to be fulfilled, for the mind to be happy, for life to be peaceful, with a single recitation of the sutra resonating throughout the ten directions. The devotee Nguyen Van Huu Tai respectfully offers this petition, written in gold and silver, with painted flowers before the Buddha altar at Dinh Quan Pagoda on the first day of the first lunar month of the Year of the Tiger, in reverence to the limitless, supreme Triple Gem, to our Original Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha, to the Medicine Buddha Lapis Lazuli Light Tathagata, to the Great Compassionate Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, and to all ancestral teachers. The Plum Village chanting is offered in the Northern style to maintain the tradition, praying that the fragrance of incense spreads to the ten directions, helping to protect a stable mind and to love one another forever. The sangha offers the incense of precepts, concentration, and insight—the wondrous fragrance of the heart—up to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, vowing that all living beings may be free from birth and death, turning toward Bodhi, relying on peace.
Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, contemplating deeply the Prajnaparamita, sees that the five skandhas are empty of separate self, transcending all suffering and affliction.
Prajnaparamita affirms that form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form; the mantra gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha is chanted three times, like the sound of a pure bell.
The Buddha’s Dharma is profound and wondrous; may we enter the ocean of wisdom, deeply understanding the subtle teachings.
To live each moment fully is “This is it”—happiness is available in the present moment, not something to wait for in the distant future. There was a journey to seven or eight countries with this theme, making a documentary film to share the message of peace and to help rescue the Earth. Each breath, each step, each smile, a drop of cold water from the Himalayas, a dewdrop on a leaf, an orange tree, a pine tree—all are the miraculous presence of life and the sangha. Daily life is a life of offering: a mindful breath, a compassionate gaze, a mindful step—each is a precious gift.