Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Ecclesiastes (Giảng Viên – Công giáo; Truyền đạo – Tin Lành) in the Old Testament of the Bible is a very interesting book, because it reads like a Buddhist Sutra. The oral legend said that it was written by King Solomon, but some scholars said some words in the book suggest that it might have been written after Solomon’s time. Some other scholars suggested that the author probably had travelled to the Orient and learned Oriental ideas there.

I am posting here Chapter 3 of the book to share with you. The Bible had some very interesting books – another example is Song of Songs, also written by Solomon – very sexy.

The italics below are mine.

A time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Everyone talks about wisdom – The Buddhists, the Christians, the Confucians, the Taoists, the scientists, the teachers, the philosophers, the theologists… But what is wisdom? And how to gain wisdom?

To start out, everyone thinks that s/he is wise, though s/he may be dumb like a piece of wood. Ignorant people don’t know that they are ignorant. Continue reading Wisdom →

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Nhân (Benevolence or Loving others) is the first of Confucius’ Five Permanent Virtues: benevolence, propriety, loyalty, wisdom, trust – nhân, lễ, nghĩa, trí, tín.

What is benevolence (nhân)? Continue reading Benevolence – nhân →

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Trust is the last of Confucius’ Five Permanent Virtues (Ngũ Thường) – Benevolence, Propriety, Loyalty, Wisdom, Trust (Nhân, Lễ, Nghĩa, Trí, Tín).

Trust is the last of the five, meaning if you don’t have trust, you fall below the standards to be human. Continue reading Trust →

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Do you know that there is no objective world? Each world is seen and interpreted by someone. You look at the world, and see and feel differently than your neighbor, and everyone else for that matter. 9 billion people on this planet have 9 billion different worlds in mind. There is no such thing as an objective world, because when talking about the world you must have someone talking. If there are no humans, the world doesn’t exist, because no one around to know that it exists. Continue reading Your world →

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

While the Buddhists have 84 thousand dharma doors (methods of practice), the Christians have only one practice – that is praying: Praying to God to be connected with God, to take refuge in God, to committed oneself to God, and to find strength, peace and happiness in God.

Praying is to hold God’s hand and be one with God. Of course, praying this way gives you strength, peace, and happiness, especially in dire, dangerous or hopeless situations normally involving great fears and stresses. Continue reading Praying →

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Six Super-Knowledges (Lục Thông) are the powers that the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, the Enlightened have. However, even if we are not yet a Buddha or Bodhisattva, but we have a high degree of quietness and love in our heart, we may have some degree of Six Super-Knowledges.

The Six Super-Knowledges are: Continue reading Six Super-Knowledges →