Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We have so many faces that writers and philosophers have talked about each person wearing a dozen of masks in a day, as an actor playing many different roles in a drama. The implication is that our life is not real, we are only acting, presenting different faces to different people in different situations – we are not honest, no one knows our true self, true face.

That is a negative view about life, but we all know that it is true to some great extend.

The goal of real living is, of course, we live as we are, with our true face, true self, to ourself and to everyone else.

Soyen Shaku, the first Zen teacher to come to America, said: ”Receive a guest with the same attitude you have when alone. When alone, maintain the same attitude you have in receiving guests.”

What does that mean?

It means we have only one attitude, when we are alone and when we receive a guest.

When you are alone, you are honest to yourself, then when you receive a guest, you are honest to the guest. When you receive a guest, you are serious with the guest, then when you are alone, you are serious to ourself. Then, you will be a true person at all times, when you are alone and when you are with other people.

That is, being honest at all time, and being serious at all time.

No mask, no pretending, no deceiving.

Live seriously and honestly with your true self at all time.

Wish we all live seriously and honestly at all time.

With compassion,

Hoành

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Trần Đình Hoành
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