LETTER OF VOWING AND ASPIRING TO BECOME A MONASTIC ONE
Namo The Original Master Shakyamuni Buddhaya
Dear the whole Sangha and Thầy Trừng Sỹ, the Abbot of Pháp Nhãn Buddhist Temple, Dear everyone,
My Dharma’s name in Vietnamese is Pháp Hỷ Lạc, Dharma Mudita in Pali. Today, I have a good opportunity to express a few lines of my thoughts on the Buddha Vesak Day, which is also the day of my ordination.
As you know, living in this world, we all have causes, conditions, and relationships with each other not only in one life but many lives. Thầy and I had the good fortune to meet each other on the historic flight from Austin to Chicago in 2013. It was so rare and wonderful that when Teacher and I met, knew each other, and became disciples of the Buddha by how to vow to take refuge in the Three Jewels and receive the Five Ethical Trainings with the Vietnamese Dharma name HỶ LẠC under the happy guidance of Thầy through the meditation song of Plum Village with the theme “Happiness is Here and Now.” From then until now, we have kept in regular contact with each other via email, phone, and even visited each other in person a few times in different places. That is why we are currently present in the Dharma companionship of fellow practitioners of the Buddha’s disciples together today.
As you know, I have always been intrigued by Buddhism. I remember when I was 7 years old in 1967 and saw the images of the Most Venerable Buddhist Monk Thích Quảng Đức that burned himself to call the world’s attention to the brutalities of religious discrimination committed by the South Vietnamese government during the war. I wondered how a normal human could sit perfectly still as he was doused with gasoline and died a martyr without moving. Buddhists were a mystery to me then, but I felt like they knew something ultra important about life and compassion.
I have always been an empathic person. I have had an unusual sense of compassion for others my whole life. At age 12 put myself in danger of physical harm defending a mentally challenged classmate. A bully had hit him in the head with a ball while he was on a swing and he fell into the mud, to the laughter of all other classmates…he was humiliated. I yelled at the bully to stop it. He said no Tommy who made you boss … .do you want to fight?? I said yes meet me on the hill after school. He was much bigger and taller than me but we fought fair back in those days…only boxing…. So I fought him and won. He never bothered another mentally challenged person or anyone else after that day. But no one else spoke up to stop his atrocities he perpetrated onto others…. why me?….. My unusual compassion appeared to save my classmates.
I now know a lot about Buddhism. I have the ability to help others and myself right now in the present life. I met my mentor monk, Thầy Sỹ, 11 years ago. So many miracle-like things have happened to me to have brought me to this point of becoming a monk myself. I have been studying Buddhism for 11 years. More recently I have been studying through Thay Sy’s zoom class instruction and reading books on Buddhism like Thich Nhat Hanh’s book called The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings. It all makes sense to me, and Buddhism has helped me live a happier life as I employed the practical daily methods of Buddhism over the past 11 years.
My whole life I have been told by others that I am a teacher and should be teaching others. I so look forward to giving Dharma talks, (the teachings of the Buddha), and answering questions for people on how to live a better life by employing Buddhism, while helping myself at the same time studying Buddhism further. That is why today I vow to become a Buddhist monk. All of this is in line with my monastic life:
1. Buddhism is a natural progression of my spiritual development, my curiosity and love of Buddhism, and my path in life.
2. I will have the opportunity to help others and myself in teaching the Dharma.
3. I am a teacher and have a honed skill set to teach Buddhism compassionately to others.
With the above-presented things, I aspire to become a well-trained disciple of the Buddha under the Sangha’s witnesses, presence, and support on the Buddha Day at Phap Nhan Temple.
I wish the whole Sangha full of peace, joy, and happiness in the Buddha Dharma.
SƯ, the Teacher is the light that illuminates the way
CHÚ, a Novice Monk (sāmaṇera), diligently practicing the Dharma in all directions manages to help others
CHÚ, a Novice Monk (sāmaṇera), diligently practicing the Dharma in all directions manages to help others
PHÁP, the Dharma of the Buddha is very practical everywhere
HỶ, Joy letting go of all secular things is to live a life of freedom than before
LẠC, Peacefully dwelling brightly in the present
HỶ, Joy letting go of all secular things is to live a life of freedom than before
LẠC, Peacefully dwelling brightly in the present
Determining to learn and practice the Buddha Dharma everywhere gets peaceful joy.
Sincerely in the Dharma
Sāmaṇera Sư Chú Pháp Hỷ Lạc
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