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The Wisdom of the Buddha's Path in The Tale of Kieu
Gently place your hand on your shoulder so that the energy of mindfulness, concentration, and insight can deeply penetrate, nourishing peace, and then return to this very moment, because “now our faces are clear to each other, who knows if later it will all be but a dream.” The Tao Khê lineage of meditation, like a clear blue stream, has watered the nation; a single drop of nectar from love and understanding is enough to revive springtime in the living wandering souls. Six or seven million compatriots who have passed away were offered three grand requiem ceremonies in Saigon, Ba Ria Vung Tau, and Hue; more than 100,000 names were recorded, so that the 82 million living compatriots can together untie the knots of past suffering.
- The Threefold Training: mindfulness, concentration, insight
- The three virtues of a practitioner: loving, forgiving, wisdom
- The foundation of present happiness for those in white robes: dwelling happily in the present moment—recognizing the conditions already available, from a healthy heart, a healthy liver, to “a family gathered early and late, cool moon and wind on our faces, simple meals of pickled vegetables and salt nourishing the heart.”
The line from The Tale of Kieu, “who is this with such perfect filial piety and righteousness, now the life of suffering ends here,” becomes a great auspicious sign, affirming that the seed of filial piety and righteousness still remains, helping us transcend the prison of the past or the dictatorship of the future. When we are truly present for our mother, for our loved ones, for the full moon, happiness is immediately present; like mindful steps, “I have arrived, I am home,” each breath is a prayer for our blood relatives.
