The 10th Sunflower Program

On April 26, 2016 (March 20 in Monkey Year), as part of the 82th Buddhist cultivation course, Hoang Phap pagoda continued to hold the 10thSunflower program with the topic: “Evergreen Tree of Life”. The main character in this program was Buddhist, Lecturer, Doctor of Literature Nguyen Thi Hau, with a Buddha name of Phuc Luong Nha.

After 9 programs, Buddhists have met various people in various fields such as professors, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, directors, actors, singers, ect. In this program, there was a character whose job is named “the most noble job of all”, which is a teacher.

The story of a teacher who later turned into Doctor of Literature Nguyen Thi Hau was a touching one to listeners. It is a good story that bears a meaningful lesson, especially to Buddists who are on the road of cultivation.

Born and raised in a poor family in the 70s and 80s, she wasn’t able to study like her peers. With a serious disease, everything seemed to collapse in front of her. But she overcame everything with her great desire to go to school. With the help of relatives, she went through years of education that were both full of hardship and meaning. Perhaps, it was the motivation for her to sympathize with the less fortunate like herself.

Having lived in destitution and gone through difficulty in studying, she determined to help as many people to go to school as possible. Therefore, with her tireless efforts, she got in, studied and graduated from University of Pedagogy. During her 20 years of dedication to education, she has always tried to rise and bring education to everyone, from the plains to the mountains, from urban to rural areas. With the love of a teacher, she works relentlessly as she can’t bear seeing people being illiterate and miserable. What she has truly is the heart of a Bodhisattva.

But the path of life is not always filled with flowers, sometimes there are also rocks and grains. Moments like those help her to come to look for enlightenment from Buddhist dharma. The streams of tears from the lost faith in life and Buddhist dharma help her to overcome everything, to believe more in life and to engage herself more in her work. The acknowledgement, acceptance, empathy and sharing everywhere and to everyone are the sources of motivation for her later success.

What important is that Buddhism turned her from a normal teacher into a Buddhist teacher. Because of that, she does not merely impart knowledge but also educate personality for generations of students, as the youth is the future of the country. If we know how to gracefully apply Buddhist teachings into school we can build a future generation that is both physically and mentally sound, which can contribute greatly to the development of the country.

Besides, she also shared some tips in parenting, according to Buddhist philosophy. To finish her story, she reminded Buddhists that we needed to light the torch in thinking and in doctrine of the Tathagata. Each person needs a heart such as the heart of Buddha or Bodhisattva, which is geared towards everyone. And finally, "Being birds, being leaves. Birds must sing, leaves must be green. Why borrow without paying. Living is not about receiving all for yourself".

As part of the program’s board of directors, Venerable Thich Chan Tinh had a few words of praise for Buddhist Phuc Luong Nha. Besides, Venerable hoped that all Buddhist would take that as a lesson for themselves. As a Buddhist, we should follow the shining example of Buddha. After leaving home and becoming enlightened until the end of life, he always put education first, advising Buddists to take wits as a career, to help others to gain wisdom after having gained wisdom for ourselves. Everyone needs to flexibly and cleverly integrate Buddhist dharma into very aspect of life, to help everyone else to know about and cultivate Buddhist dharma. Thus, we can create joy for ourselves as well as for others.

 

Below are the photos taken from the program: