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Sister Phuong Tape Rough Cuts
The film was made in 1987 – in 1989 a Vietnamese writer remains in jail for describing how prisoners survive on one bowl of rice a day under forced labor. Hunger pits friends against each other, killing their dignity; he vows that, if ever in power, he will never repeat such policies and urges us to view ignorant rulers with compassionate eyes. Since 18 March Thay has led 40 retreats through June, gathering 100–500 letters per city to send to Vietnam, calling for the release of:
- Two major monks, Thích Tuệ Sỹ and Thích Trí Siêu (tried last November, death sentence commuted to 20 years)
- Other Buddhist human-rights monks exiled since 1977
- Writers and artists such as Đoàn Quốc Sỹ
For orphans and hungry children, Sister Phương organizes 200 personalized parcels—rice, medicine and mindful letters—then trains visitors as True Emptiness social workers. Today 38 committees worldwide each support 50–200 families, using Vietnamese pseudonyms to protect recipients. Early boat-people rescue ships gave way to camp aid in settlements of ~10 000 refugees, sending $2–5 and handwritten notes.
Drawing on her wartime work with the Youth for Social Service—25 volunteers growing to 300, then 10 000—she recounts reconciling with combatants through forgiveness and calming trauma by mindful daily activities. Inspired by Thay’s cloud-to-rain metaphor, she closes with a step-by-step guide to tea meditation: seating in a circle, passing tray and cookies, pouring tea as “breathing in, I calm; breathing out, I smile,” and inviting each person—child or adult—to share a poem, song or reflection.