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The Story of Truong Chi and My Nuong
Mi Nuong was the only daughter of a high-ranking mandarin, living in a castle by the river. One afternoon, upon hearing the wondrous singing of a fisherman drifting through her window, she immediately gave rise to an internal formation: every day from 5 to 5:30, she would open the window, and the enchanting sound made her suffer in its absence. Her father closed the window and invited physicians, but none could identify the root of her illness. Finally, a wise teacher advised opening the window and inviting the fisherman to meet her. Although the meeting dissolved the internal formation in Mi Nuong, the fisherman in turn developed a new internal formation and passed away. When his body was cremated, his heart turned into a hard stone, which was carved into a jade cup. Years later, when tea was poured into the cup, Mi Nuong saw the image of a small boat and heard the singing within the cup; a single hot tear caused the cup to dissolve—an image of the transformation of the internal formation.
The story of Truong Chi and Mi Nuong illustrates that an internal formation is a knot of attachment that begins gently but becomes heavy and restrictive, leading to a loss of freedom. The knots of sorrow, anxiety, anger, and hatred are internal formations that are not gentle; while addiction, fame, wealth, sensuality, and gambling are gentle internal formations. When dominated by an internal formation, wherever we go, whatever we do, we suffer and cannot experience true happiness.
The Buddha taught the method to transform internal formations through guarding the six senses with mindfulness:
- Edible food: only consume what is nourishing, to prevent illness
- Food of contact: when seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, or thinking, we must recognize and prevent internal formations
Mindfulness is like a protective layer of skin for the six sense doors, preserving our freedom and nourishing true happiness.