DHARMA IN EVERYDAY LIFE

By Nhat Quan

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You are fortunate to live in the 21st century, which is an advanced century, the media is very good, so the stories of the five continents and the four seas just need to go online to know immediately. Living in the virtual world of the monstrous ego, the petty ego, they become very fallacious, very picky, very cunning, very cruel, very bad people. While in terms of personality, their bad habits are as bad as many others, but they try to cover up for themselves, and then only know how to attack others at night.

So the harm of communication through the internet community is real. In my opinion, to assess what is a bad person, that is, the kind of soul that specializes in slandering, distorting, and destroying places they deem necessary to destroy. You don't know their malicious schemes, you just need to look at their information, only saying bad things, and criticizing other people's bad things without any good. They never praise, or disseminate positive values, at some point you will feel confused in the middle of the road:

- Good and evil, good and bad, right and left, correct and incorrect...

So I have very sincere advice, you should not waste time accessing those facebook. It will make you mentally disturbed and sometimes confused because you do not know what is right and what is wrong. Because fake news in the media especially Facebook is the biggest in the world. When five thousand, seven thousand, or hundreds of thousands of people hear bad news, and then follow the bad news without knowing the truth, the effect is terrible...

The evil people who oppose Buddhism, when they want to destroy it, make excuses to harass at the Temple, Institute .... to record a video and put it on youtube to make money. Because youtube, if the number of visitors is over ten thousand people with copyright registration, then a month can earn five to seven hundred dollars. Making money doing nothing in this digital age is not too difficult so you should not be surprised. Those rumors are put on youtube to make money. One hundred-thousand view, two-hundred-thousand views, and one million views increase the number so more money goes into the owner's account. It is a complication of the free world. These sites don't ask for real information from the registrant, so they can't be prosecuted.

That's the flip side of media freedom. Therefore, when Buddhists hear a piece of information or are introduced to a link that slanders Buddhism, slanders the temple, or slanders monks and nuns about this or that, do not rush to believe it. Please ask professionals in that field to verify if it is true or not. If fake news leads to acceptance of the truth, the consequences of psychological crisis and crisis of belief are real.

For many years, Vietnamese Buddhism has become a victim of media abusers and media unethical people including the television industry, the press, personal blogs, and social networking sites that destroy temples, and institutes mercilessly. That's what Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has admitted for the ways in which Facebook's work is being used to divide people and humanity, instead of bringing them together with real things...

The harmful effects of facebook's destruction on the peace of humanity are not small beside the positive contributions. Everything has two sides, good and bad. The remaining problem is that the user or affected by it must be smart, must be wise with wisdom to use the positive, beneficial, and valuable aspects of Facebook in communication. And those who are foolish will be swept away by it like a cataclysm, a tsunami sinks to death if you are gullible, letting all the media report it.

The 21st century is the century of digital and also the century of spirituality. Because more and more scientists have proven things that many people previously denied because they could not confirm or prove experimentally due to limited knowledge. Things that have been mentioned in Buddhist scriptures are increasingly evident in life, and recently scientists themselves have to confirm that: Cause and effect are real.

Talking about cause and effect, you and I all know, changing a person's beliefs or conception of life is not easy and I don't expect to change your perception of everyone's outlook on life people, and view of the universe. However, if you save the knowledge, the things that I follow the Buddhist teachings to compare with the problems in life. I believe, at some point in your life, you will realize the value of the laws that exist and operate around you. By the way, my sincere advice is that whether you believe in spirituality or not it is your right, the most important thing is not to blaspheme or criticize the faith of others, or set up a group to harass the temple, the pure institute. This won't make you more famous or talented, but it will create enormous karma and you'll regret it at some point in your life. Because the veil of ignorance is still covering the conscience and mind of many people who have no faith, atheism, no saints... But in fact, if you live without faith, you will be like a lost boat in the ocean immense, not knowing where the shore is. From there you cannot see the truth to illuminate, to guide the way. And you will slide into the sins created by the selfish desires, greed, and low interests of the ego. Then at the end of life, the veil of ignorance is still dense, you can't find the way, get stuck in the middle of the lonely, stranded, helpless realms, then continue to create karma, causing problems and negative consequences for this life and many future lives.

The consequences of destroying temples, and harassing places of practice are very serious consequences and are valuable lessons for those of you who do not have faith. Then receive dire consequences from distorting, harassing, and destroying the practice, sacred places such as temples, and monasteries ... When you do not believe in God and Buddha, you dare to distort and even destroy Temples and Buddha statues, in fact, there have been too many lessons for this act of ignorance. Here are the true stories:

1- The retribution for destroying the shrine to worship Avalokitesvara

In Phan Thiet city, no one is unaware of Ong Hoang castle, where many people know about the anecdote about Han Mac Tu and the beautiful woman Mong Cam. From Phan Thiet to Mui Ne, you have to go through Ong Hoang castle. Here there is a shrine to worship the statue of Avalokitesvara.

After April 1975, the Communist regime in Hanoi tried to sweep the whole country, they considered religion to be the opium to sleep people, so this statue of Avalokitesvara was an inevitable fate.

In the process of expanding the destruction of temples and shrines, Hanoi officials have called and forced people to destroy countless Buddha statues and temples, only the statue of Avalokitesvara on the hill near Mr. Hoang's castle due to rumors of spirits sacred so no one dares to break. But, in that small village, there were two young men of the big liver type, big bile who did not know high heaven, the thick earth patted their chest and confessed:

- You dare not destroy, we dare!

As a result, the shrine of Avalokitesvara was demolished, they also used their feet to crush the lanterns and worship fruits, and then threw them down the hill. After destroying the Quan Yin shrine, one returned home, the other sat on a rock on the side of the hill to rest.

Unexpectedly, the person returned home, and after returning home, suddenly his stomach hurt, and writhed, lying on the ground. This young man's mother, who was a believer in Buddha, saw her son returning home with an illness and difficulty keeping life, so she walked on her knees from the street to the place Quan Yin shrine to accept his son's fault, despite being punished by the local government.

This young man also promptly realized that he had been retribution for his sinful deeds, so he deeply regretted it in his heart and developed a respect for the Buddha. The result was amazing, his stomach gradually reduced pain, and finally, the pain completely disappeared.

But the young man sitting on the hillside was not so lucky. After getting enough rest, just as he got up to go home, he fell face down on the ground. After trying to get up, he discovered that his legs were bent, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get up. The strange thing is, the two legs are still intersected in one place, unable to open. His back was also bent, and he couldn't stand up with all his might, causing his head to close to the ground. From then on, for the rest of his life he had to walk in this position, excruciatingly painful. This pose of his is similar to the gesture of bowing to the Buddha.

The people in his locality all say:

- This young man for destroying the sanctuary, and distorting the Buddha, received such retribution.

As for the chief of police, who commanded the destruction and witnessed the whole scene of destruction, he laughed. But only after a while, people did not understand what crime he was involved in, and was arrested. The People's Court of Binh Thuan province sentenced him to life in prison and he died in prison.

The leader of the militia group who directly commanded the other two young men suffered from appendicitis. People didn't know if it was the doctor's fault or not, but the incision became very infected and had to be operated on again and again nine times. Once, the doctor even forgot the scalpel in his abdomen. Finally, the necrotic bowel had to be resected. He lived on a piece of intestine. Whatever he drinks in his mouth, he spits out his anus. The pain was excruciating, day and night writhing and crying. He wants to die but he can't. His wife reads fortune-telling, and the fortuneteller said that he was retribution for creating evil karma. To reduce karma, it is necessary to repent. The family secretly goes to the temple to apologize. But more than a month later, he died.

Witnessing the tragic death of this man, many people said:

- God really has eyes. Although the net is sparse, it does not let it through. The ancient law of cause and effect has left no one. It is true that whatever you sow, you will reap.

2- The second story: Getting disaster because of contempt

As Phuc's mother recounted:

- My house is in a rural village of Thien Giao, Binh Thuan province. At that time, when Phuc was a child, he followed me to the temple, while I was praying in front of the Tam Bao table, Phuc snuck out to the altar of Quan Thanh De Quan. Seeing a tall, shiny black wooden horse with a beautiful mane and beard placed in front of the table, Phuc immediately came over, stroked his body, touched his legs, rubbed his muzzle, and cut off the horse's beard. That night, going home, Phuc dreamed of a tall mandarin, with a red face, long beard, head-wearing helmet, body-wearing armor, holding a dragon sword in hand, riding a black horse, approaching Phuc, eyes watching angry, looking like the Dharma protector that Phuc often sees in the temple. Phuc's hair suddenly stood up, goosebumps, cold body. Phuc wanted to scream but his jaw was stiff. The horse was still walking slowly toward Phuc and then suddenly leaned forward, kicking in the face, making Phuc fall back. Phuc raised his hand to cover his face and screamed in pain. The screams in the middle of the quiet night woke Phuc's mother. She panicked and rushed to where Phuc lay. Waking up from a dream, Phuc's heart is still pounding, and his limbs are shaking because his fear has not stopped. In the morning, the right side of Phuc's face suddenly swelled, deviating from the whole face. When Phuc's mother brought Phuc to the commune health room, the nurse checked the temperature and did not find a fever, the swelling did not hurt, the nurse said:

 - Probably because Phuc is allergic, or something stung.

The nurse gave Phuc a topical medication. The next day, Phuc's left cheek was also swollen. The face looks like a plate. Phuc's mother suddenly remembered Phuc's terrible dream of being kicked by a horse the night before, which Phuc told her. She immediately ran to the temple and told the whole story to the abbot. After listening, the old monk at the temple smiled gently and said:

- It's okay, Buddhists don't worry. Now, Buddhists come back to buy some flowers, fruits, and some incense sticks, I will do a prayer peace for him.

No one knows what the Master wrote in the letter, or how he prayed, but that afternoon, Phuc's face gradually decreased. The next morning it was back to normal. Feeling so strange, Phuc told a group of friends playing in the neighborhood. They did not believe, saying:

- Crazy guy made up stories.

Rang, the son of the shop owner selling pig intestines, and blood soup on the street, and some of his friends, famous for being naughty and sassy, scolded Phuc as:

- Paranoid psychopath.

Not only that, but Rang also grabbed Phuc's hand and dragged him to the temple, saying:

- Phuc! You open your eyes and look at me here. Saying that he jumped on the wooden horse's back, galloping. As he galloped, he kicked his feet, thrusting his hands into the hips, and into the side of the wooden horse.

Rang heard Phuc told that his face was swollen from a horse kick because he had pulled out a horse's beard. Therefore, Rang reached out and grabbed the whole bunch of horse hair and blew it all over the temple. Next, he took off his pants, turned his butt towards the altar of Quan Cong Thanh De Quan, patted his butt, laughed, and shouted. All the little friends laughed together. Not only that, but Rang also pointed at Phuc and said:

- Tomorrow, if my face is not swollen by the horse, I will slap your face until it is swollen like a tray.

After threatening Phuc, the whole group went to the jackfruit tree at the temple gate. Phuc and Hung were assigned to stay under guard for fear of being caught by the Master. Rang, Phu, and Dong eagerly climbed. They climb like monkeys. One shot jumped up the tree. When they had only climbed half a tree, the whole group of children suddenly heard Rang's voice:

- Oh, there are wasps, you guys. It burns me so badly.

Phuc and his friend just looked up at the tree, towards where Rang climbed when they heard a thud. They all looked down startled and saw Rang lying on the ground. Phuc and his friends ran back and saw blood flowing from Rang's nose, mouth, and ears. Its eyes glared up. Neighbors heard the children screaming and ran to see what was happening. When people come, they know what's going on. Having a healthy brother in the village, he quickly picked up Rang and ran to the commune health station. But he died on the way. It is said that its internal organs were all crushed. Its head was also broken.

3- The third story:

It happened in a remote village in the North. The family of Mr. Secretary of the commune is preparing to build a house, so it is very necessary to have materials, especially wood. The party secretary surnamed Nguyen believed that he had the right, so he ordered the workers to go to the temple to get wood. So the workers dragged each other to the temple, demolished the temple, and took the wood from the temple to bring back to build houses. By the time the secretary's house was completed, the village temple had almost been demolished.

Later, the secretary's house kept having many accidents. The house suddenly caught fire for some reason, burning everything in the house. Although the porcelain objects did not burn, they strangely jumped up from the ground, then fell to pieces. The clothes in the closet were also burned to ashes. The Secretary said:

- Burn down my house, but I still have a field.

At that time, the commune secretary went out to the field to take a look and saw that the top layer of soil had not changed, but the entire layer of soil below seemed to have been burned. The people in the nearby village knew that this fire was not accidental, but was caused by the karma of destroying the temple.

In addition to dismantling the wood of the pagoda, the commune secretary also let people threaten, people go to the temple to worship Buddha. More maliciously, he also incited people to come in front of the temple to boo every time Buddhists recited a prayer. He often continued to harass everyone like this. Then one day, he began to feel pain in his eyes, so painful that he could not sleep all night. Seeing this, his wife sneaked to a fortune teller in the village to check it out, this teacher said that this was the karma of destroying temples and shrines. But Mr. Nguyen did not dare to promise to rebuild the temple, so his eyes kept hurting for several months. Later, he was injured in the leg and became disabled, and the secretary's house was never peaceful. Indeed, he had no choice but to secretly build a small temple, since then the house was a little more peaceful, but he could not have children for the rest of his life. That's why his wife often scolded him for being unvirtuous to have no child and grandchild.

Secretary Nguyen's situation is even more tragic. The wife became crazy, and kept the knife on the bed all day, causing trouble from morning to afternoon.

Mr. Nguyên himself often happens to be. Once after dinner, there was a meeting of villagers, all the people in the village came, but only the Secretary did not come. Someone came to the house to look for him, his family said he left early. Guess something happened, so everyone split up to look. As a result, Mr. Nguyen was found lying in the cowshed on the west side of the house, his head buried in the cow dung, causing cow dung all over his face. Everyone carried him home to wash and clean, and after a while, he regained consciousness. Asked what happened, he said:

- Before I went to the meeting, I went to the cowshed to go to the toilet, and then I didn't know anything.

Someone kindly advised him to repair the temple he destroyed, and stop scolding and harassing the temple. But he felt that he was the secretary of the village cell, the representative of the party in the village, temporarily unable to do so. So, he was tortured like this for many years, in his house, there were often strange things happening in his house. The commune secretary was not yet 40 years old when he died, leaving a crazy wife and a poor and miserable family.

In short, everyone knows that giving monks a piece of rice is a matter of immeasurable merit, on the contrary, destroying temples and destroying Buddha statues will create enormous karma. So I would advise people to take this as a commandment, don't do things that harm cultivators, or else you'll push yourself into a tragedy of extreme suffering, even falling into the abyss of countless eons there is no time to exit.

From ancient times, from kings, and high officials to ordinary people, almost everyone believed in Buddhism, Taoism, and God. Even true cultivators are highly respected by everyone.

There is an old saying:

- Better to stir up a thousand rivers

It is better than disturbing the mind of a cultivator.

Or is:

- If you beat the monk, there will be evil retribution.

However, there are people who are greedy for fame and gain, so they do not need to know or know, but because of fame and gain, they are blind regardless of cause and effect. But whether they believe in cause and effect or not, the matter of cause and effect, good and evil is very clear. The fact that there have been many cases of evil deeds with immediate retribution has awakened many people. Like what I just told you.

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