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Transforming Tu Uyen with the Fragrance of the Precepts and Loving Speech
In 16th-century Vietnam, the scholar Tu Uyen, though intelligent and talented, lived a lonely and unhappy life due to his hot temper. After marrying Giang Kieu, a beauty who stepped out of a painting, their happiness did not last long because Tu Uyen suffered from three major shortcomings:
- Drinking alcohol to excess, losing clarity, and often scolding and beating his beloved.
- Being unable to listen to others, thinking that he knew everything.
- Not knowing how to speak gently and softly (lacking Right Speech), often using harsh words when angry.
When Giang Kieu left, Tu Uyen, in despair, sought to end his life but suddenly remembered the Dharma teaching on the five kinds of incense: the incense of precepts, the incense of concentration, the incense of insight, the incense of liberation, and the incense of liberation of knowledge and views. He realized that to light the true “heart incense,” he had to keep the precepts, specifically by not drinking alcohol and not using harsh speech. Thanks to looking deeply, repenting, and Giving Rise to Our Aspiration to practice, Tu Uyen was able to transform himself and regain his happiness.
Everyone has a Tu Uyen inside, and the Giang Kieus are the parents, spouses, children, or friends around us. To preserve happiness and not cause our beloved to leave, we need to practice the Three Refuges, the Five Precepts, and the practice of deep listening and loving speech of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. This morning, about 100 English people made the vow to receive the precepts, reminding Vietnamese people to cherish and practice the spiritual heritage of their ancestors to protect family happiness.
