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The Tale of Kieu – Through the Lens of Mindful Contemplation, Talk 9
Kieu is sharp and wise, possessing both beauty and intelligence, yet she is without affinity—lacking the wholesome conditions for happiness. This lack of affinity leads to a fate of misfortune, and with the added burden of love, Kieu finds herself “unable to rest in peace, unable to sit in stability,” “led astray by ghosts and demons,” having to “take a single step, yet travel a thousand miles,” and ultimately condemning herself for life, “living in suffering, dying in exile, enduring heartbreak until the end of this lifetime.” Tam Hop Lao Co points out two factors that lead to this result:
- Objective conditions due to karmic destiny—the will of heaven ordaining fifteen years of storms, hardship, and heartbreak.
- Kieu’s own way of handling things—not knowing how to take hold of her own mind, letting emotions, anger, and longing lead her into darkness, ultimately resulting in her suicide in the Tien Duong River.
Even in the midst of suffering, there are still glimmers of wholesome karma that guide Kieu toward the stage of saving herself:
- Maintaining the precept of not committing sexual misconduct, not betraying Thuc Trong or So Khanh.
- Selling herself to redeem her father—“selling herself in a way that moves both heaven and earth.”
- Harming one person to save many—advising the killing of Tu Hai to end the war and bloodshed.
These three wholesome actions create a transitional stage, but are not enough for Kieu to be completely liberated. Giac Duyen appears as a condition for awakening, a ray of light from the bodhi tree 2,600 years ago—helping Kieu to hold onto mindfulness, release the bonds of delusion, and enter the post-suffering stage (when darkness turns to light), reuniting with Kim Trong, and finding peace in family life.
From the Tale of Kieu to the practice of daily life:
- Destiny and karmic force resemble the scientific theory of determinism—it seems that all outcomes are already arranged.
- Mindfulness—breathing in, knowing you are breathing in; breathing out, knowing you are breathing out—is the only path to break through the net of karma, opening true freedom in the heart.
- The Sangha is the environment that nourishes mindfulness, maintains the wholesome conditions for awakening, and helps gradually expand the “space” of freedom from a tiny seed into a great tree of peace.
