Namaste: New year days in Buon Ma Thuot

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

New year days in Buon Ma Thuot

"To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour..."
~ William Blake

Thanks to Venerable Giác Kiến, I was invited to present in a new year workshop "Budhha's Enlightenment - Practical Lessons" on Buddha's Enlightenment Day ceremony at Ngoc Quang pagoda, Buon Ma Thuot. My presentation was on "Buddhism and Sustainable Development", in which i talked about the correlation between Buddha's teachings, Oneness, Unity in Diversity, Systems Thinking and principles for a green, sustainable and harmonious world . It was our honour and pleasure to be there, attending the workshop, meeting again Venerable Giác Kiến and new nice people...

Me and Châu, my sister, were warmly welcome by the hospitality of people in this mountainous land, which i so much appreciated. Ms. Nga showed us around and took good care of us. We stayed at Ms. Hồng house, in a small room with Vy Vy, a special lady from Nha Trang. Vy Vy is one year older than me but she looks quite young, and she is really young at heart. I enjoyed some talks about Buddhism on 2 nights together with her and somehow feel admiration for her deep knowledge on Buddhism and sensitivity on human. I remember we talked about the calligraphy we received as memories from the pagoda: "Address of Life: Now and Here". She asked me: "Who is the most important person?" Then she answered: "The most important person is the one who is just in front of you, talking to you". She reminded me of living to the fullest, being mindful and aware in every minute of our present. In the end, we create our future through our present thoughts and actions...

After a busy and interesting first day, on the second day of the new year, i met again a very nice, lovely and smart girl, Ngọc Anh, a student of Chị Huệ. I met her once in Helsinki, Finland on her first year studying in the university there. I can tell exactly the day, which was on 29th September 2008, because that was the day i flew to Austria from Helsinki for the favorite YES course. So it has been such a long time, more than 3 years already. Time flies. I was very happy that coincidentally, Ngoc Anh was also in Buon Ma Thuot this time for winter break and thus i had a chance to meet both her and her mother, a graceful and careful lady, sweet yet strong.

And the rest of the time in Buon Ma Thuot, i was back again in Chị Huệ and Chị Mai's house. It was very peaceful with a garden and many flowers around. I stayed in Buon Ma Thuot one more day just to wait for Chị Huệ coming back from Đà Lạt. And i always feel grateful, warm and blessed here. Take care and with much love, my dear sisters!

01.01.2011