Category Archives: trà đàm

Ăn trong mùa bão

Chào các bạn,

Mùa bão ở đây là mùa bão trong lòng. Có vấn đề với người trong nhà, người ở chỗ làm, người buôn bán ngoài đường…, thường tạo bão trong lòng. Khi có bão, ta thường ăn uống không yên.

Khi có bão, đa số ăn uống mà đầu óc vẫn suy nghĩ về công việc hay về vấn đề với người, nên ăn vội ăn vàng, ăn cho xong bữa, ăn và chẳng rõ mình ăn những gì. Continue reading Ăn trong mùa bão

Pain and sorrow

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

If you look back on your life, you will find that most sad and painful experiences gave you a lot of wisdom, and most happy experiences taught you little. That is called lesson – you have to pay high prices for good lessons.

I have never hated painful lessons. Obviously, I don’t enjoy pain, but every time I am in a painful situation, I always thank God for sending me another lesson to endure and to overcome. Continue reading Pain and sorrow

What is the fundamental issue of Vietnam?

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

You see a lot of lawlessness in Vietnam – big corruption cases involving lots of VIPs, lots of cheaters in the marketplace (from taxi drivers, to venders everywhere, even big companies lying on the packages of their products), everywhere you go you are afraid that someone is cheating you, big businesses do illegal development projects and the poor people in the area have no voice to protect themselves and their environment, people drive motorcycles and cars on the sidewalks, people drive aggressively, impolitely and dangerously… Too many things to list here. You guys and gals know much more than I do.

What is the cause of all these? Continue reading What is the fundamental issue of Vietnam?

Làm bạn với Chúa

Chào các bạn,

Đi chợ với Chúa, cùng nhau thấy bé mèo hoang vàng nằm sưởi nắng dưới gốc cây đa nhỏ rậm; vắt nước cam với Chúa, cùng nhau vắt và cùng nhau chơi trò đếm hạt rất vui; rửa chén bát với Chúa, vừa nói chuyện vừa làm, bọt xà phòng cũng thành hình trái tim; suy nghĩ công việc cùng Chúa, mới bế tắc đó giờ đã thấy con đường; nằm ngủ với Chúa, những giấc ngủ bình yên không mộng mị;… Continue reading Làm bạn với Chúa

Remembering the old friends of the old days

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Every time I think back about my time in primary and high schools, I always feel sad. Not because those were sad times. Actually, you all would agree that primary school and high school were the best time of our life – we were young and only did eating, sleeping, schooling and playing. But most of the boys of that time of mine died very early, during various stages of the war – many at 18, some a little older, 20, 22… By the time I was 20, I could hardly have any friends left. College time was a lonely time. I felt all alone in the city – a couple of friends still alive were in the army, but you never knew when one would drop dead. Continue reading Remembering the old friends of the old days

Gặp người nổi tiếng

Chào các bạn,

Người nổi tiếng ở đây có thể là tổng giám đốc đại công ty nhà nước hay tư nhân có yếu tố nước ngoài, hay viện trưởng viện này viện kia, hay bộ trưởng này thứ trưởng kia…

Đây là bài test: Gặp người nổi tiếng, ta thế nào? Tim đập mạnh? Tay run run? Đêm hôm trước trằn trọc mất ngủ hay ngủ không ngon? Mặc bộ đồ đẹp nhất, tóc tai chỉnh tề nhất, đi đứng tác phong hoàn hảo nhất?… Continue reading Gặp người nổi tiếng

The myth of rich and poor

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Vietnam has always been poor because our culture has been teaching us to hate the rich.

Have you read a lot of Vietnamese fairytales? Almost in every Vietnamese fairytale, when a rich person is mentioned, s/he has to be a bad person – greedy, stingy, oppressing and cheating. Business people are always described as cheaters. Teachers are always poor and their poverty is a medal of honour. Continue reading The myth of rich and poor

Abortion

Dear brothers and sisters,

France has just been becoming world’s first country to enshrine abortion in constitution on 4 March 2024 (1). Now France is the only nation to guarantee the right to an abortion in constitution.(2).

A few weeks before that, February 21, 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court (US) ruled that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization, or IVF, are considered children under Alabama state law and are therefore subject to legislation dealing with the wrongful death of a minor if one is destroyed (3). Continue reading Abortion

What world are you living in?

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Everyone of us is familiar with the term “global village.” The term was coined in the early 1960s by Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, who was writing about the newer technologies of his day, such as radio and television. It became popular some time at the beginning of 1990s, at the birth of what we call Internet today.

But, do you really understand and “feel” about the global village? Continue reading What world are you living in?

Corporeality and spirituality

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Most of the world think in duality – right v. wrong, true v. false, white v. black and, of course, corporal v. spiritual.

So, people divide our human life in two separate parts: the corporal part which is our body and the spiritual part which is our soul or our spirit. Many religions despise the body and glorify the spirit. They consider the body – the flesh – weak and sinful, and the spirit pure (if it doesn’t allow the body to commit sin). The body is temporal – it disintegrates after we die; the spirit is perpetual – it stays on for a different world and/or a different life. Continue reading Corporeality and spirituality