We are truly fortunate to be able to sit together in this moment, as a spiritual family. Tet is an occasion to connect with our ancestors, reminding us that a tree has roots, a river has a source, and human beings also have ancestors. In today’s sitting meditation, we have “connected with our ancestors, recognizing that they are present in every cell of our body.” The daily offering of incense—which takes only one or two minutes—is not superstition, but a scientific act that helps “clean the ancestral altar and turn our hearts toward our ancestors,” strengthening our roots so that “our mind can remain steady.”

The tradition of burning votive paper reflects “the love we have for those who have passed away,” while the Rose Ceremony, begun in 1962, serves in part as a replacement:

1. Two red roses if both parents are alive
2. One red and one white rose if one parent has passed away
3. Two white roses if both have passed away

The notion of two separate realms—the world of the living and the world of the dead—is, in fact, just one. Science has erased the boundary between matter and energy, between magnetism and electricity, sound and air, heat and matter. The law of neither birth nor death of matter and energy is in harmony with “the true nature of all phenomena is no birth, no death, no increase, no decrease” in the Heart Sutra, bearing witness to the non-dualistic view and the unity of all dharmas.