In this life, from the time we are born and raised, apart from parents who give us this body, our teachers are the ones who give us the lamp of knowledge. Therefore, a beautiful tradition is for disciples to express respect and thanks to masters. It is a basic virtue for people in Vietnam and all over the world.
My ancestors had the sayings: "Think of the source when you're drinking water," "Respect your mentor and what is right," "Once a teacher, always a teacher," and so on. These true words remind us about the beautiful memories of our teachers, such as the images of teachers on the podium, cultivating knowledge for future generations, students diligently reading books, and red flowers in the schoolyard as summer arrives, which have entered poems and been engraved into people's hearts. Vietnamese songs such as "Chalk Dust” (Bụi phấn) or "Calling for the Past Memories” (Mong ước kỉ niệm xưa) make our minds anxious and agitated whenever we hear them. They are about ordinary teachers in secular life. Now, I will talk about supermundane masters, especially Venerable Bhikkhuni Giới Hương, who has spent both her youth and her life since then bringing happiness and peace to everyone.
Time passes by quickly. Life is neither long nor short, but like a dream. I have been a nun for more than ten years. I recollect the first day I left my family behind to step into the temple for a monastic life with so many surprises and new things. I started to live a pure and innocent life without cares about gains/losses, sadness/happiness. I focus on keeping pure (in speech, body, and mind), eating a vegetarian diet, chanting, and studying Buddhist scriptures to open wisdom. Such things are thanks to the great virtue and the generous support of many masters including Venerable Giới Hương.
I chose the monastic path for myself in order to practice, not because of boredom with life, debt evasion, or lovesickness, as most people think. The day I became a nun, the villagers gossiped with my parents: “Why did she become a nun when she has a good job with a high salary?” They complained, "Your child is weak to run away from worldly life and hide under the Buddha’s compassion." In fact, the reason I became a nun was because I realized that life is fragile and impermanent and worldly happiness is transient; however, the villagers don't realize this. There is a famous sentence in a Vietnamese song describing that "Đường thương đau, đày ải nhân gian, ai chưa qua chưa phải là người," i.e., “The world is full of suffering, those who have not experienced this are not yet human beings.” It is true that although I am young, I have experienced many ups and downs and ups in life.
Because of having experienced so many adversities and pain, I realize that life is miserable, and I want to get rid of suffering, birth, old age, sickness, and death and really seek the salvation and happiness in Buddhism over the years. I have never regretted when I shaved my hair and left behind beautiful clothes to put on plain Buddhist garments. Such things are thanks to the great virtue and the generous support of many masters including Venerable Giới Hương.
Over these years, every day from my heart, I always called Venerable Giới Hương as my “dear master.” She is a person whom I have always admired and respected over many years because she has a great heart and talent in using many means to shine the Dharma light for the sake of many. People including me know how to do good deeds and avoid evil, know how to turn away from ignorant darkness towards the light, from delusion to enlightenment. Over many years, many people under her guidance learned how to return and practice the Buddha’s way to achieve happiness.
The virtue of Master Giới Hương can be well understood in the Dhammapada verse described below:
The scent of flowers
Can't fly against the wind;
The example of a virtuous person
Flies against the opposing wind.
Therefore, for many years, I have always attempted to study hard to repay her heart. Sometimes when we have shallow thoughts and are young, we make frequent mistakes and are stubborn, but after we see our wrongdoing and repent, she always shows a compassionate smile of forgiving our mistake. She always said, "To be human is to err. If you do not hide it but instead correct it, you will still be a good person.”
“In this life, if we are guided on the right path by an insightful master, then we just keep going straight to the shore of liberation to repay our debts.”
If parents are those who give birth and form to the child, then the spiritual master is the second parent who puts in a lot of effort, dedication, training, and education about good things for the child to become a moral and intellectual person. Yes! Dear Master, you always look forward to the best for my future. The figure of Master will forever be the light guiding me to the shore of happiness.
My gratitude towards Master is very deep and vast. You guide me in knowledge and morality so that I can become a valuable person. That grace is very great: the Great Enlightenment calls it the Gratitude to Teachers, which is greater than gifts given by parents. I always remember in my heart the saying, "Learning a word is to thank a teacher, learning half a word is also from a teacher." Sometimes I was wrong and was scolded by you, but I respect and love you for all my life. I remember the words that you ever taught, “If you respect me one time, you must respect the Buddha a thousand times.”
I wish to bring the morality and knowledge that you taught me to guide the next generation. I will try my best to exhort your Dharma, Buddhist books, music, temple-building, sister nuns, and holy works continuously. I always want to realize the ideal; the morality of Master spreads widely, forever.
Master's love is a priceless gift that my dharma sisters and I have received. We are respectfully in debt to you and we always remember your every smile and act of care. In the life with its many disturbing afflictions, I feel sometimes lost, like a one-way train rushing forward, the driver having lost control at the steering wheel. I really need the protective hands and the long-lived shadow of Master, who can bring many holy dreams and young aspirations to a bright tomorrow, even though now you and I are far halfway apart on the earth’s cycle. I always see you by my side. And I will always remember the figure of a great master who has lived and served her whole life for Buddhism. I will try to fulfill the wishes that Master expected.
I always remember the image of Master!
Finally, I would like to express here a few lines from my heart in place of the thousands of things I want to say.
Kelaniya University in Sri Lanka, December 12, 2019
Two hands touching and head bowed,
Bhikkhuni Viên Quang
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Bhikkhuni Viên Quang (center) with her Sri Lankan friends
Please read articles and view all photos:4.2.Gratitute_to_Master-_TN_Vien_Quang.pdf
