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The Tale of Kieu – Through the Eyes of Mindfulness, Talk 14
Sister Giac Duyen, during a walking meditation along the riverbank, accidentally discovered that the Trach Tuyen family was performing a memorial ceremony for her younger Dharma sister, who was still alive. A wave of astonishment arose upon seeing her younger sister, flesh and blood, in the midst of the funeral, leading to doubt: even as we walk side by side, “breaking reeds, parting grass in search, deep affection still harbors half a doubt.” The verse “Out of the reeds, already at the Buddha hall’s yard” evokes the image of transcending afflictions, returning to the place of peace, and raises the question: have we truly left the forest of reeds, or are we still lost within it?
The ten-character phrase “what time is now” (now – time / what time – time) reveals the wonder of the present moment: difficult to believe, hard to distinguish between dream and reality, past and future. To receive the miracle that is happening, we must light the lamp of insight—dissolving the mist at the alley’s entrance, parting the clouds in the sky—to see that “wilted flowers become even fresher, the waning moon surpasses the full moons of old.” Reading The Tale of Kieu as a practice of meditation in daily life, every moment is a miracle if we are awake and cherish it.
