New Vietnamese poem
THIỀN CÔNG
Thiền sư ngồi thẳng, phòng lạnh ngắt (7)
Bạch lạc mệt nhoài, lụn bấc (6)
Trang kinh khép chặt, không đọc (6)
Mặt trời mọc. (3)
ZEN POWER
A master sat straight,
Whole night, cold place
No sutra,
The sun now is rising
mercredi 29 décembre 2010
dimanche 26 décembre 2010
THE CITY OF CAEN (Translated from French by electronic program, not edited)
In a cold day in February 1964 the train from Paris dropped me at the station of Caen, next to the area called Demi-Lune . Why did I come to Caen to do my Ph.D. studies?
It's very simple, for every event in life, there is always an economic reason, apparent or hidden, which influences our decisions. In my case it was very clear: doctoral studies last several years and the cost of living in Paris was unbearable for me. In addition, I was very tired. Caen, as I had imagined before arriving there, would be my peaceful place. A quiet and easy city to live with the small budget of a foreigner student alone.
The bus runing to the university made me discover that Caen was a brand new city and very beautiful. Through the window of the bus which was moving too fast for me I had seen many fine shops along a modern avenue. Also there were some beautiful churches but I confess that at that time these modern stores were clearly much more attractive than the architecture of churches. A the end of this avenue, the horizon opened widely to the ramparts of a imposing castle. A fabulous castle. Who has not dreamed in his childhood of a fabulous castle. In my early youth my dreamed castle was the imperial palace in Tokyo. I saw it on a wall calendar, among other pictures of beautiful young Japanese in traditional attires and the beautiful Mount Fuji covered by snow. But right now the Japanese imperial palace faded quickly and the French impressive castle appeared as a reallity within the reach of my eyes. These magnificent ruins of the castle dating from the time of William the Conqueror warmed my heart in a cold day of February when I did not know much myself where my life was heading. In fact, the bus Caen was comfortable and well heated and there was also a bright sun shining in the sky when I arrived in Caen.
In a cold day in February 1964 the train from Paris dropped me at the station of Caen, next to the area called Demi-Lune . Why did I come to Caen to do my Ph.D. studies?
It's very simple, for every event in life, there is always an economic reason, apparent or hidden, which influences our decisions. In my case it was very clear: doctoral studies last several years and the cost of living in Paris was unbearable for me. In addition, I was very tired. Caen, as I had imagined before arriving there, would be my peaceful place. A quiet and easy city to live with the small budget of a foreigner student alone.
The bus runing to the university made me discover that Caen was a brand new city and very beautiful. Through the window of the bus which was moving too fast for me I had seen many fine shops along a modern avenue. Also there were some beautiful churches but I confess that at that time these modern stores were clearly much more attractive than the architecture of churches. A the end of this avenue, the horizon opened widely to the ramparts of a imposing castle. A fabulous castle. Who has not dreamed in his childhood of a fabulous castle. In my early youth my dreamed castle was the imperial palace in Tokyo. I saw it on a wall calendar, among other pictures of beautiful young Japanese in traditional attires and the beautiful Mount Fuji covered by snow. But right now the Japanese imperial palace faded quickly and the French impressive castle appeared as a reallity within the reach of my eyes. These magnificent ruins of the castle dating from the time of William the Conqueror warmed my heart in a cold day of February when I did not know much myself where my life was heading. In fact, the bus Caen was comfortable and well heated and there was also a bright sun shining in the sky when I arrived in Caen.
jeudi 16 décembre 2010
mercredi 15 décembre 2010
jeudi 2 juillet 2009
BEING AT SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
BEING AT SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
My dear learners,
It was Tuesday morning, October 30th, 2007, when Filipe (Master Filipe Leite de Sousa) came to pick me up for a trip up north from Porto to Santiago de Compostela, the famous place of the Way of St James in Spain. By the highway from Porto in Portugal it would take about two hours to get there, but we spent more than three hours for the sake of enjoying the trip, stopping here and there. I did not come to Compostela as a fervent believer in the story of the tomb of St. James nor as a passionate researcher willing to discover more historical truth about the curious story on the relics of St. James. I came to this place, as I did for many other places, simply because I know sacred places are places with high energy, strong cosmic vibration, rich in history, and beautiful to contemplate. Visiting sacred places contributes significantly to personal growth; it enriches our individual experiences. Also at these places you have a good chance of meeting with extraordinary people and learn unexpected precious lessons.
At Compostela that afternoon I met a man, an ordinary man at first glance. As you can see on the picture I am attaching here, he was quietly sitting on a stone bench in front of the Cathedral. Although with grey hairs and a nice beard he looked like many normal men you can find on the street at any city in Western Europe. However in that moment, and at that place, I paid him high esteem, and I managed to stay for a long moment close to him without talking much.
Who was he? I don’t know. Probably he was not a Nobel Laureate nor a famous singer; and surely not a master of martial arts nor a champion of tennis. What did he do so that I get inspired in him? He had simply accomplished what you and I, almost anyone, can do: Walking. The difference is he had walked a thousand kilometres just to come and sit here, in front of this Cathedral of Compostela to admire it, and feel accomplished, happy, without any other ambition. What motivated him to do so had come from the inside, not from the outside. This makes a whole difference. We too, to reach our goal we often walked many extra miles. Our goal, in most cases, means winning benefit, promotion, power, prestige, admiration. These motivations which come to us are from outside and always put us under pressure. Don’t misunderstand me. I do say clearly that it is very good when in life we can accomplish all these achievements. However, we should consider that this is just one side of life, the outer award. For the inner award, we have much more challenges to overcome because precisely the choice comes from our inner voice. We obtain inner peace and happiness when we really decide to walk a long way, alone, in deep meditation, honestly facing ourselves. This man has accomplished it. At that moment in Compostela, I saw the transcendental happiness reflected in his quiet eyes. In some way, he has contributed to make Compostela more famous, more meaningful. On the reverse, Compostela itself, did not give anything tangible to him, however he needed some place called Compostela to test himself, to make his life happier. This relationship without premeditated aim between an individual and an event is called in Vietnamese the “duyen”. The duyen is not a random relationship which leads to somewhere, it is the consequence of thousands of habits and thoughts under what we daily act without much questioning the Why. Creating good duyen is living accordingly to what we find good. This wise man had met his good duyen with Compostela.
We all have the possibility to achieve great things, what we lack is the understanding that we also can accomplish great things as the others did. Walking the long Way of St. James of Compostela (Le Chemin de St Jacques de Compostelle) is not the unique way to set your inner challenge for making yourself a strong person. The path is wide open to you each morning when you wake up and do some Vietchi exercises if you understand that each exercise has its name, its own meaning, its flow of energy, its beauty. They are not just mere physical exercises; they are thousand challenges to train you for not falling when you walk the long path of life. I know you know these Vietchi exercises, but I am not sure if you know yourself, the one who possesses the miracle tool for gaining inner strength and happiness.
I am attaching to this letter some more pictures of Santiago de Compostela to share with you an unforgettable moment of my life, also I want to share with you the CUU-DOAN movement with photos taken by Filipe, near the famous Cathedral of Compostela. Thanks to Filipe I have visited Compostela, but more over, through our conversations and my observations, I have also discovered many talents and qualities in Filipe which I did not know before. What’s a pleasure.
One day, if it happens to you to visit this place, please do me a favor by sending me a picture of you, taken at the same place. It would create some kind of complicity between us.
Master PHAN-HOANG, VIET-CHI POST No 33 © 2009
www.vovietjournal.org vovietblackbelt@yahoo.com
BEING AT SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
My dear learners,
It was Tuesday morning, October 30th, 2007, when Filipe (Master Filipe Leite de Sousa) came to pick me up for a trip up north from Porto to Santiago de Compostela, the famous place of the Way of St James in Spain. By the highway from Porto in Portugal it would take about two hours to get there, but we spent more than three hours for the sake of enjoying the trip, stopping here and there. I did not come to Compostela as a fervent believer in the story of the tomb of St. James nor as a passionate researcher willing to discover more historical truth about the curious story on the relics of St. James. I came to this place, as I did for many other places, simply because I know sacred places are places with high energy, strong cosmic vibration, rich in history, and beautiful to contemplate. Visiting sacred places contributes significantly to personal growth; it enriches our individual experiences. Also at these places you have a good chance of meeting with extraordinary people and learn unexpected precious lessons.
At Compostela that afternoon I met a man, an ordinary man at first glance. As you can see on the picture I am attaching here, he was quietly sitting on a stone bench in front of the Cathedral. Although with grey hairs and a nice beard he looked like many normal men you can find on the street at any city in Western Europe. However in that moment, and at that place, I paid him high esteem, and I managed to stay for a long moment close to him without talking much.
Who was he? I don’t know. Probably he was not a Nobel Laureate nor a famous singer; and surely not a master of martial arts nor a champion of tennis. What did he do so that I get inspired in him? He had simply accomplished what you and I, almost anyone, can do: Walking. The difference is he had walked a thousand kilometres just to come and sit here, in front of this Cathedral of Compostela to admire it, and feel accomplished, happy, without any other ambition. What motivated him to do so had come from the inside, not from the outside. This makes a whole difference. We too, to reach our goal we often walked many extra miles. Our goal, in most cases, means winning benefit, promotion, power, prestige, admiration. These motivations which come to us are from outside and always put us under pressure. Don’t misunderstand me. I do say clearly that it is very good when in life we can accomplish all these achievements. However, we should consider that this is just one side of life, the outer award. For the inner award, we have much more challenges to overcome because precisely the choice comes from our inner voice. We obtain inner peace and happiness when we really decide to walk a long way, alone, in deep meditation, honestly facing ourselves. This man has accomplished it. At that moment in Compostela, I saw the transcendental happiness reflected in his quiet eyes. In some way, he has contributed to make Compostela more famous, more meaningful. On the reverse, Compostela itself, did not give anything tangible to him, however he needed some place called Compostela to test himself, to make his life happier. This relationship without premeditated aim between an individual and an event is called in Vietnamese the “duyen”. The duyen is not a random relationship which leads to somewhere, it is the consequence of thousands of habits and thoughts under what we daily act without much questioning the Why. Creating good duyen is living accordingly to what we find good. This wise man had met his good duyen with Compostela.
We all have the possibility to achieve great things, what we lack is the understanding that we also can accomplish great things as the others did. Walking the long Way of St. James of Compostela (Le Chemin de St Jacques de Compostelle) is not the unique way to set your inner challenge for making yourself a strong person. The path is wide open to you each morning when you wake up and do some Vietchi exercises if you understand that each exercise has its name, its own meaning, its flow of energy, its beauty. They are not just mere physical exercises; they are thousand challenges to train you for not falling when you walk the long path of life. I know you know these Vietchi exercises, but I am not sure if you know yourself, the one who possesses the miracle tool for gaining inner strength and happiness.
I am attaching to this letter some more pictures of Santiago de Compostela to share with you an unforgettable moment of my life, also I want to share with you the CUU-DOAN movement with photos taken by Filipe, near the famous Cathedral of Compostela. Thanks to Filipe I have visited Compostela, but more over, through our conversations and my observations, I have also discovered many talents and qualities in Filipe which I did not know before. What’s a pleasure.
One day, if it happens to you to visit this place, please do me a favor by sending me a picture of you, taken at the same place. It would create some kind of complicity between us.
Master PHAN-HOANG, VIET-CHI POST No 33 © 2009
www.vovietjournal.org vovietblackbelt@yahoo.com
jeudi 22 février 2007
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