Who Could Memorize the Sutra
Would Be My Husband
Ven.
Thich Nguyen Tang
Whenever
beings still receive sufferings or cycle into the round of rebirths
whenever Bodhisattva Avalokitesvera still under different forms, extends
her love with full of compassion to comfort, to help, and to lead them
to the right path for Nirvana.
For each year,
in the early of 1980s decade, I used to work at the summer retreats in
Trai Thuy Hill of Hai Duc Temple in Nha Trang City. Once, I heard Most
Venerable Thich Tri Nghiem (1911 – 2003), who I had chance to be with
for the duration of my working as an attendant at the retreats,
narrating the story in Hoang Truc Am (Golden Bamboo Hut) , while I was
fanning him each afternoon on the summer days.
The story was
told as there lived peoples who were in a village in the land of China,
did not believe in Buddha’s Teachings because they thought Buddhism was
superstitious. It was a reason for Bodhisattva Avalokitesvera to come
to help them understood their evil karmas those had covered their minds
making them not to see the original spirit. One day, Bodhisattva,
under a form of a pretty girl on her hand with a bamboo basket filled in
some fishes, suddenly appeared, was slowly walking on village roads for
selling her aquatic animals. All young fellows, of cause, were
attracted by her beauty and wishing to marry her. Some millionaires
wanted her to be a concubine. Some Mothers wanted her to be a daughter
in law. Soon, peoples surrounded her making a crowd, a bigger crowd,
and a much bigger crowd…especially the bachelors, who kept their feet
contact on every single step she moved. All day long, she could not
sell any fishes because peoples wanted to buy her but not her aquatic
animals. Feeling that it was about time, a girl happened to say: ”
Myself is could not for all. In response, I just have to select a top
candidate. Who could memorize the whole chapter of Universal Door in
Lotus Sutra within three days would be my husband.” Immediately,
all of the candidates in that village went out to searching for the
chapter of sutra to pack in their memories. The three days dead line
had come, there were close to fifty of them passed the contest. A girl
said: “Myself is could not for these many. Again, please, if any of
you who could memorize the whole Diamond Sutra within five days would be
my husband for the rest of my life.” Hum, it was really a higher
step for who wanted to marry this pretty girl! Really, the contents of
Diamond Sutra are difficult to read, difficult to memorize along with
the repeating text with different meanings… It’s hard isn’t? However,
after five days, there were still ten smart gentlemen got thru! A
beautiful girl, one more time, set a prize: “It is still impossible
for me to marry more than one. Because of by law and because of by
morality, one more time, could you please accept my proposal. Who could
memorize the whole Lotus Sutra within seven days would be my husband.
Only just seven days! And on the honor of a person who’s selling
fishes to the village, I swear by it.” Oh! Yes, the guys really
faced with the challenge. No doubt about it. The first difficulty was
they had to gather the whole set of seven books then next they had to
read, to understand, and to memorize within a very short time, just
seven days. It was extremely and extremely hard, wasn’t it? Well,
because of love, the guys wouldn’t mind. One week had passed and the
best of the bests was selected, finally. A smart elegant young man,
last name Ma, was born in a wealthy and well respected family, had
achieved his highest goal in life. Young Bachelor Ma was pronounced to
be her husband.
Congrats
groom! In the night of their wedding banquet, guess what happened? The
bride suddenly felt pain at her tummy. She fell down on the ground and
passed away quickly without saying a good bye. Oh! No! Poor young
Ma! Why did she die? Of cause, dead is an event of life with no
exception, but why her? What were happening to the newlyweds? People
expected them to have wonderful lives together forever. How could he
survive without her? Poor young Ma had tried the best to study and to
memorize the whole set of Lotus Sutra in wishing the greatest reward,
his fair lady, the only source of the true happiness in his life. Oh!
No! The happiness without wings had flown away and left him a hard
corpse in pale like a stone no more or less!
Oh! Life
likes a light bulb, blowing wind, flying cloud. Being together and then
apart within a blink. All are impermanent like a dream… poor life!
Young Ma felt lucky minutes ago, minutes later felt unlucky alone on
earth! He ended up with being himself and not to wed any girl. In his
heart there was only her within. He continued living in the
lovesickness and dragged his life from place to place without a real
soul.
A special day
had come. On the way to his no landing place, young Ma met an old man
in purple dress. An old man was a priest. He looked at Ma and realized
that this dumbfounded creature had been in boundless suffering. He
gently comforted Ma so that this young man told him what did happen. A
priest let Ma know that a girl he loved was Bodhisattva Avalokitesvera.
Because of folks in the village did not believe in Buddha’s Teachings,
this Bodhisattva under a form of a pretty girl was trying to awaken
people in order to help them seeing the Truth. Really, in Buddhism, “attracting
attention first, showing the Truth later.”
Shortly, young
Ma went home. He told people what he had heard from a priest. No one
believed on him. All together went to the cemetery to dig up her grave
expecting to find her body. No one saw nothings in the grave hole. It
was empty, no bones, nothings, but just a coffin. They then realized
that because of the ignorance, they had lived in unconsciousness for
long. In end, those folks then believed and practiced Buddha’s
Teachings. Since the truth was discovered, Buddhism started to expand
throughout the village and has passed from generation to generation.
About young
Ma, what did happen to him after seeing the empty grave? He felt
himself likes leaving his dream for a real life. He clearly understood
the meaning of impermanence of human being’s life, devoted the rest of
his time for practicing the Teachings and became a monk afterward. He
went to the cave by a mountain and had stayed in there. No one could
see him then. People, because of missing him, named the cave after his
name, Ma Lang Cavern, which means the retreat place of young Ma.
Today, this historic place is still maintained well as it had been in
China.
From the above
story, the Buddhists could pull out three highlighted points related to
their mind cultivations. First, when people hasn’t studied Buddha’s
Teachings, hasn’t listened to dharma talks, hasn’t recited sutras, then
his/her mind is still full with greed, hatred, and delusion. Therefore,
Bodhisattva Avalokitesvera in the story, in order to awake people, used
the form and sound as the targets to attract people’s
greed, a cupid causing the sufferings.
Second, even
though living in the world of distress, people who lives in the
consciousness, the true happiness is always within her/him. Therefore,
intelligent young Ma, in the story, stood for the wisdom once the
conditions have met he was easily to release the attachments for the
enlightenment.
Lastly, the
impermanence happens to every single being on earth. The phenomenon of
birth and dead clearly helped young Ma and people in the village to live
in the state of awareness, which would lead them to the path of Nirvana
with feeling less pain or without pain while dipping in the habitat with
fully sorrow and dissatisfaction.
I hope this
story would help you to see the truth and to keep your mind awake in
order to minimize the suffering now and then.
Namo Amitabha
Written at
Phap Bao Temple for the summer retreat, July 2006
Ven. Thich Nguyen Tang
Translated into English by
Helen Quang Tue Nguyen
Vietnamese version
---o0o---
