Free yourself

When I was 10 years old, my uncle - a Buddhist, took me to a temple near our house and taught me how to pray: Just recite this: Namo Amitabha Buddha, today is the X day of the Y month of the Z year, I offer this small offering with all my heart, praying that ABCD...

My uncle's "silver offering" was a tray of fruit built into a 9-story tower, decorated very elaborately, and his "sincerity" included praying for all sorts of things: asking Buddha to bless his son with a promotion at the end of the year, asking for his son who is working abroad to soon receive a "green card", asking for his daughter to have the love of her dreams...

And the image of my uncle clasping his hands together, mumbling prayers, occasionally making a soft “hiss” sound like a comma between his prayers was so deeply imprinted in my mind that decades later, it was the first image I remembered when thinking about Buddhism and spirituality. Unconsciously, with a reverence that was so cautious, with such abstinence that it was frightening, my uncle led me - a child, into that magical world with trepidation.

Every time I go to the temple, look up at the silent Buddha statue on the altar of the Three Jewels, smell the incense smoke, my heart is filled with a vague fear. Coming to the Buddha's door, instead of being calm, I am confused about how to pray properly, afraid that if I make a mistake, I will be punished. I do not understand who Buddha is, what power Buddha has. But I am afraid of Buddha. People are often afraid when they do not understand. I carry that fear to grow up, and because of that fear, no matter how busy I am, I always keep the habit of going to the temples in the places I visit to burn incense; even, I learn from everyone to perform the star offering ceremony to dispel bad luck in January every year. I used to light up the incense smoke, offer "silver offerings" costing millions of dong, pile up all kinds of votive paper to burn... just to hope that invisible bad luck would not come to me. But unfortunately, you never know when bad luck will come, no matter how expensive the ceremony is, there are many years when I still struggle.

Scene of a sea of ​​people jostling on the street to attend the star worshiping ceremony at Phuc Khanh Pagoda, Hanoi. Photo: Internet

Until I understood Buddha, that He is not a supreme supernatural being with magical powers to resolve all human suffering. Buddha does not need us to burn incense, lighting one stick of incense is no different than lighting a bundle of incense. In Buddhist teachings, there is no scripture that mentions the custom of burning votive paper, no matter what houses or cars we burn, Buddha has no use for it.

Buddhism does not teach us to make offerings to the stars to ward off bad luck, but that is a custom originating from Chinese culture. On the contrary, Buddha teaches us to return to ourselves, to reside in our own body and mind, because all sentient beings have Buddha nature: “I am a Buddha who has become and sentient beings are Buddhas who will become”. When coming to a Buddhist temple or any other spiritual place, the most precious thing is the mind, expressed in the body and speech. The body is the proper and kind attire, posture, and appearance; the speech is greetings, greetings, and reciting solemn and respectful prayers. A glass of clear water is also a ceremony. A sincere bow is also a ceremony.

When your mind is clear, you will understand that all misfortunes and blessings in life are caused by yourself, not by any stars. If the stars really shine, and if offering to the stars to dispel bad luck is really effective, then where in this world would there be so much suffering, disaster, injury, and loss? Misfortunes and blessings come from cause and effect, what you sow is what you reap. If you sow good causes, think good thoughts and do good deeds, then you will receive good results, first of all peace in your mind; and vice versa.

When I understood Buddha, I was no longer afraid. My ignorance and ignorance suddenly disappeared. With spirituality, I was respectful and faithful but not timid, not attached, not blind; instead, I practiced spirituality with understanding. I resolved my own problems by making an effort to sow many good causes, leisurely taking care of my mind, believing in my inner strength. If everyone could do that, then there would be no more exhaustion from jostling, pushing, and suffocating in front of temples and pagodas hoping that the gods would hear my prayers. The most precious thing about temples and pagodas is purity. If there were so many people in such a crowded and chaotic situation, with thousands of people chanting at the same time, would they be able to hear it all?