Celebrating the day of Buddha Shakyamuni.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.

Celebrating the day of Buddha Shakyamuni

 on 8/2 / Nham Thin, Buddhist calendar 2555, humanity in general, the great family of Buddhists in the world in particular, sincerely remembered, celebrating more than two thousand years when Prince Siddhartha was ordained to the Dao Becoming a German Patriarch from Shakyamuni Buddha. On this great anniversary, we review some historical-religious events related to that rare event.

As a prince who has matured and peace of mind, though living a life too full: any title of fame, palace palace, and chorus of singing and dancing, any beautiful wife and son, but Prince Tu Dat Da still finds his heart heavy with worries and questions. He saw that the life he was living here was not true happiness, but a lie, confusion, only making life worse. He felt the need to find a way out, a more honest, meaningful and beautiful life.

On the occasion of President Dien Dien, the Prince followed his father Tinh Phan to the field to see the people cultivate. Spring scene, just looking over, it is very beautiful, but the Prince's soul is not a superficial, shallow judgment. On the contrary, he looked deeply into the scene and painfully realized that life was not as happy as when he looked.

He saw farmers and cattle working hard under the scorching sun, in exchange for rice bowls and grass. The birds fight for food and eat the insects that are struggling on newly plowed fields. At the same time, in the bush the hunter was aiming for the birds, and in the nearby forest, the panther were catching the hunter. What a near-death scene, no moment to stop! Just because of the food to live, people and things use every means to kill each other unbelievably. He is clearly aware that life is suffering.

Another day, he asked permission from his father to walk outside the four gates to get in touch with the people. Ra came to Dong's door, he met an old man with gray hair, teeth that lost, eyes that were dumb, deaf ears, back and cuffs, and a walking stick hesitated as if about to fall. Arriving at Nam's door, he saw a sick person lying on the grass, crying and moaning, extremely painful. Arriving at the West gate, he saw a corpse lying in the middle of the road, the fly bugging, bulging, looking very disgusting.

Three scenes of suffering, sickness, death, plus the similar scene in the life that the Crown Prince witnessed the day of President Dien, caused him to grieve, pity for living beings immensely.

Another day, he went to the North gate, met a monk who was serious and calm, calm and calm as a man who did not cross the road. The prince was born with a feeling of affection for the monk. He hurried to greet and asked about the benefits of spiritual practice. The monk replied, "I practice to stop giving up all the constraints of life, to escape suffering, to become enlightened so that all beings can be liberated."

The response was filled with the ambition that the Prince was cherishing for a long time, so he was very happy. He immediately went back to ask his father to let him go home. The King of Pure Land does not agree. The prince asked his father four things, if the king could solve it, he postponed his monkhood, to return to take care of the people and treat the country. 4 things are:

1. How to keep your child forever old

2. How to make your child healthy and not sick

3. How to make me live forever

4. How to make people out of misery

4 this confused the king, could not solve anything.

Knowing the intention of renunciation of the Prince, the King of the Sanskrit became even more fearful, finding all ways to prevent and bind him in the "joyful bow." But once the prince has decided, there is no power to stop him. The prince fosters determination to renounce his family and renounce his religion. But then a news came, causing the Prince to be unhappy: Thai Phi and his wife gave birth to a son. The prince said: "An obstacle has been born, a constraint has occurred".

With the Crown Prince, the castle, the palace is no longer a suitable residence. His heart is heavy with sentient love, immersed in suffering. The prince was more determined to renounce his religion, to find the way to save suffering for all species.

Then one night the Crown Prince ordered his inner servant Xa - anonymously to take the Kien-trac horse out of the horse. Before leaving, the prince came to the front of the Thai room and the son was asleep. The Prince opened the door to look, the Prince loved his wife and children, but for humanity who was suffering misfortune, the Prince's mercy was even more skinned. He whispered: "My dear, my red lips will also fade, my green hair will also be tinged with color. I hear in you, in me and in all, everything is falling apart. Under the weight of time hammer nothing can stand. Only infinite love is the rope that binds all species together. ” After that, the Crown Prince alone went out on horse, went out of the royal citadel, followed, only the loyal servant.

Leaving, the prince abandons all, the father, the throne, his wife, the full and happy life of a prince. It is not the sacrificing sacrifice of a sick old man, a poor man, a sickness, a life of distress, but a sacrificing sacrifice of a young prince who lives in rich wealth to. It is indeed a renunciation, a great and unique sacrifice in human history. That year, the Crown Prince was 29 (?) Years old. At that time, it was the night of February 8 Lunar Calendar.

When he arrived at the Anoma River, the Crown Prince stopped, removed his horse, shaved, cut his hair, gave clothes and jewelry to Xa - anonymously and ordered Xa - anonymously to return. The prince left alone, with the simple yellow coat of a monk, from now on, he began the homeless life of the monk. He has no permanent residence. When you sit under the shade of a tree, then stay overnight in a cave. Vacuum, bare head, He calmly walked between the hot sun as well as in the cold night dew. All of his energies and will are directed toward noble ideals to find the ultimate truth, the reason of life and death, the meaning of life, of life, the path to liberation and the Nirvana. - immortal table. After leaving the regal life, Tai Tu went into the depths of searching for Tao.

At that time, the political situation in the lands in India was quite stable, there were many prominent intellectuals, monastic practitioners, becoming spiritual masters with many disciples attending. The prince on the way to reach the end of the path, came to receive the teachings with the two most famous masters of the time, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta. Both of them practiced the Du-old monk and all witnessed the highest levels of meditation at that time. Alara Kalama witnessed the level of non-possession meditation, while Uddaka Ramaputta proved to be non-idealistic. These are the two levels of the Meditation class, the two highest levels of meditation that the monk Du - old at that time attained.

But after a short period of study, the prince also easily achieved those two levels of meditation, and was invited by two masters to stay with them to lead them. But the prince knew well, that the levels of meditation that he witnessed were not the ultimate truth, Nirvana, the cessation of birth and death and all suffering, so he refused and went on to continue the journey of prayer. mine.

Through experimentation, he sees the ultimate truth - Nirvana, ending all the sufferings of samsara, cannot find outside, or at any level of a Master. That ultimate truth must be founded by Himself, self-realizing taken from His inner self, unable to rely on any other power.

The prince came to a place called Uruvela, the town of Senan. He found a beautiful and cool land, with a small river running through the middle of the white sand. Recently, there is a small village that can go begging for food every day. It is a beautiful, quiet place, very suitable for contemplation and meditation practice. Coming here to practice with the Prince, there are also monks Kondana (Kieu Tran Nhu), Bhadhya, Vappa, Mahanama and Asaji. Kondanna was the youngest Taoist, among the Taoists invited by King Suddhodana to the capital to see the Crown Prince, when he was just born.

At that time, in India there were customs and beliefs that, who prayed for liberation, had to persevere in asceticism, forcibly. According to the same tradition, the Prince and five fellow practitioners for 6 years, persevering in asceticism, forced the body to the point that the Crown Prince was as thin as a skeleton, his eyes deepened, and his health deteriorated. that He could no longer go on. He experienced, the more ascetic asceticism, the farther away from the ultimate truth, the more delusive the mind became, the weaker the body became. He saw clearly, asceticism, and forced body-being were not the way to escape suffering and to save suffering. Therefore, the Crown Prince decided to eat normally again. The five fellow practitioners, who put their absolute faith and hope in the Crown Prince, thought that the Prince had withdrawn, so they left the Prince, to the Deer Park in Isipatana near Banares to continue their spiritual practice. They said that Prince Tu Dat Da was resigned,

The history of Shakyamuni Buddha is a history of a human being, through his own practice, became a perfect person, a saint in the world, "the greatest man born in this life ”(Indian poet Tagore).

By his life, and by his teachings, gathered in the three canonical organs, the Buddha told people that any person, with his own efforts, has can rise to the highest peak of enlightenment and liberation, just like the Buddha himself.

It can be said that there is no religion, an ideology that values ​​people and places their faith in people as Buddhism. The great humanity of Buddhism is there. Avoid all evil, do all the good, clean the inner mind to become a Saint, a perfect person of virtue and wisdom, each of us has the ability and duty to carry out that teaching. That is the message that the Buddha gave to us, for each of us. That is the true meaning of human life, the true value of life. There cannot be any more noble and encouraging human meaning for our lives today.

The life of Shakyamuni Buddha, in its outline as well as in detail, expresses and conveys in a very vivid way the teaching. Believe in Buddha, respect Him and recite His name, mainly to study Him on both sides of virtue and wisdom, even if only in one. Anyone who, despite being away from Buddha, has a virtue, according to the Buddha's teaching, is like living near Buddha. Anyone who lives next to Buddha, but lives without virtue, is no different from Buddha.

Our Vietnamese Buddhists, though living 2,500 years from the Buddha's time, have always maintained the belief that we still live by Him if we live with virtue, according to the Buddha's teachings. Living in this universe, being a human being is as difficult as the Buddha once said: "To make a person as difficult as an eye-catching tortoise, raise your head from the sea once every hundred years, and find a way to get in The small hole of a log floated on the water, being blown away from side to side by the East wind, the West wind, the South wind and the North wind. Being able to be a human is as difficult as an eye-catching turtle that wants to get through the small hole of such a log. For example, this monks, a person who threw a piece of wood had a hole in the big sea. There is a blind turtle there, after a hundred years of emergence once. What do you think? The bhikkhus, that turtle, every hundred years, once floating, can I slip my neck into a tree with a hole or something? ”-“ Ten years may be possible, Bach The Sun, after a long time. ”-“ I declare that More quickly, this bhikkhus, the blind turtle, after every hundred years emerged once, could slip into the hole with the hole. More than a fool, when once fell into the land, to be made again. For what reason? Because there is no Dharma practice, right action, good karma, good karma. Here, monks, only eat each other, and only the weak are eaten. "(Xiangyu V, 485). "It is difficult, this is the monks, to be human. It is so difficult, this is the Bhikkhu-stilts, is the Tathagata appears in life, the Arahant, Chief Justice, it's hard to be so. The Bhikkhu-stilts, is the law and this law is preached by the Buddha, illuminating the world. ” Can I slip my neck into a tree with a flaw? ”-“ Ten years may be possible, Bach The Sun, after a long time. ”-“ I declare that it is faster, hey Bhikkhu-stilts, that blind turtle, after every hundred years emerged once, he could slip into a hole in the log. More than a fool, when once fell into the land, to be made again. For what reason? Because there is no Dharma practice, right action, good karma, good karma. Here, monks, only eat each other, and only the weak are eaten. "(Xiangyu V, 485). "It is difficult, this is the monks, to be human. It is so difficult, this is the Bhikkhu-stilts, is the Tathagata appears in life, the Arahant, Chief Justice, it's hard to be so. The Bhikkhu-stilts, is the law and this law is preached by the Buddha, illuminating the world. ” Can I slip my neck into a tree with a flaw? ”-“ Ten years may be possible, Bach The Sun, after a long time. ”-“ I declare that it is faster, hey Bhikkhu-stilts, that blind turtle, after every hundred years emerged once, he could slip into a hole in the log. More than a fool, when once fell into the land, to be made again. For what reason? Because there is no Dharma practice, right action, good karma, good karma. Here, monks, only eat each other, and only the weak are eaten. "(Xiangyu V, 485). "It is difficult, this is the monks, to be human. It is so difficult, this is the Bhikkhu-stilts, is the Tathagata appears in life, the Arahant, Chief Justice, it's hard to be so. The Bhikkhu-stilts, is the law and this law is preached by the Buddha, illuminating the world. ” White World Religion, after a long time. ”-“ I declare that even faster, this monks, the blind turtle, after every hundred years, once emerged, can crawl into the log that hole. More than a fool, when once fell into the land, to be made again. For what reason? Because there is no Dharma practice, right action, good karma, good karma. Here, monks, only eat each other, and only the weak are eaten. "(Xiangyu V, 485). "It is difficult, this is the monks, to be human. It is so difficult, this is the Bhikkhu-stilts, is the Tathagata appears in life, the Arahant, Chief Justice, it's hard to be so. The Bhikkhu-stilts, is the law and this law is preached by the Buddha, illuminating the world. ” White World Religion, after a long time. ”-“ I declare that even faster, this monks, the blind turtle, after every hundred years, once emerged, can crawl into the log that hole. More than a fool, when once fell into the land, to be made again. For what reason? Because there is no Dharma practice, right action, good karma, good karma. Here, monks, only eat each other, and only the weak are eaten. "(Xiangyu V, 485). "It is difficult, this is the monks, to be human. It is so difficult, this is the Bhikkhu-stilts, is the Tathagata appears in life, the Arahant, Chief Justice, it's hard to be so. The Bhikkhu-stilts, is the law and this law is preached by the Buddha, illuminating the world. ” can get into the log with that hole. More than a fool, when once fell into the land, to be made again. For what reason? Because there is no Dharma practice, right action, good karma, good karma. Here, monks, only eat each other, and only the weak are eaten. "(Xiangyu V, 485). "It is difficult, this is the monks, to be human. It is so difficult, this is the Bhikkhu-stilts, is the Tathagata appears in life, the Arahant, Chief Justice, it's hard to be so. The Bhikkhu-stilts, is the law and this law is preached by the Buddha, illuminating the world. ” can get into the log with that hole. More than a fool, when once fell into the land, to be made again. For what reason? Because there is no Dharma practice, right action, good karma, good karma. Here, monks, only eat each other, and only the weak are eaten. "(Xiangyu V, 485). "It is difficult, this is the monks, to be human. It is so difficult, this is the Bhikkhu-stilts, is the Tathagata appears in life, the Arahant, Chief Justice, it's hard to be so. The Bhikkhu-stilts, is the law and this law is preached by the Buddha, illuminating the world. ” This is the monks, to be human. It is so difficult, this is the Bhikkhu-stilts, is the Tathagata appears in life, the Arahant, Chief Justice, it's hard to be so. The Bhikkhu-stilts, is the law and this law is preached by the Buddha, illuminating the world. ” This is the monks, to be human. It is so difficult, this is the Bhikkhu-stilts, is the Tathagata appears in life, the Arahant, Chief Justice, it's hard to be so. The Bhikkhu-stilts, is the law and this law is preached by the Buddha, illuminating the world. ” 

The Buddha appeared in life as well as that. The Dharma and the Law propagated by Buddha in life are also difficult. We have three rare fortunes to live as human beings, to know the Buddha Shakyamuni and the Dharma, the Law taught by the Buddha, and yet we do not know how to enlist up to three fortunes. ? We can again live without virtue, contrary to the Buddha's teaching, so that evil karma will be drawn to the lower realms, more miserable than the human realm, and ultimately strive to become an eye-catching turtle. in the example story of Buddha?

We should reflect on the lesson about the history of the Buddha, about the example of the eye-catching turtle playing on the ocean, about the meaning of human life, the true value of life, the present real life of each of us, how to make that life truly peaceful, supreme, benefit ourselves, benefit people, benefit our lives, benefit the Tao.

Male model Great hero, Great force, Great word, Dai bi, Great spirit, Great discharge, Duty master, Shakyamuni Buddha! END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.15/3/2019.