TIẾNG GÀ GÁY TRƯA - AFTERNOON ROOSTER SONG

Nhìn cảnh nhớ quê - BXK

TIẾNG GÀ GÁY TRƯA
Gà xao xác gọi hồn ta từ quá khứ Về nơi đây cùng khốn với điêu linh Hương trái đắng mùa thu buồn bụi cỏ Ôi ngọt ngào đâu mái tóc em xinh Từng tiếng lẻ loi buồn thống thiết Nghe rộn ràng từ vết lở con tim Từ nơi đó ta ghi lời vĩnh biệt Nắng buồn ơi là đôi mắt ân tình Còi xa vắng giữa trưa nào lạc lõng Môi em hồng ta ước một vì sao Trưa dài lắm nhưng lòng tay bé bỏng Để vươn dài trên vừng trán em cao. Saigòn 78
Tuệ Sỹ AFTERNOON ROOSTER SONG
A ragged rooster called my soul from the ancient past Come here and experience the misery with woe With the essence of bitterness, the autumn still, saddened grass Oh, that bittersweet taste, that beauty in your hair Each of these sounds is lonely, sad, or pathetic Hear the throbbing from a sore heart From there, writing my own farewell That saddened sun is the eyes of a favored condition A distant whistle at noon is empty and lost Your lips are so pink, that I wish for a star What a long afternoon but with these little fingers Stretching on your high forehead, my thee. Saigon 78
Translated by Phe Bach

THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE MOST VENERABLE THICH THIEN TRI

Hoà thượng Thích Thiện Trì

THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE MOST VENERABLE 

THICH THIEN TRI

The Most Venerable Thich Thien Tri, named Nguyen Duy Hien, belonged to the Lam Te Chanh Tong lineage of the forty-second generation. He was born on February 19, 1934 in Nhon Khanh commune, An Nhon District, Binh Dinh Province.

He came from a purely Buddhist family. His father was Mr. Nguyen Han and his mother was Mrs. Bui Thi Thiep. He has 10 siblings, 5 brothers and 5 sisters. Of which, there were 3 sons who have dedicated their life as Buddhist monks, Himself, Venerable Thich Thien Huu, and Venerable Thich Vien Man.

When he was just 17 years old, awared of the impermanence of death and the reality of suffering in his life, he began his journey to pursue ‘enlightenment’.  In the beginning, he practiced at Thap Thap Temple in Binh Dinh, and then at Son Long Temple, Tuy Phuoc. After his Venerable Master passed away in 1965, he studied at Hai Duc Buddhist Institute in Nha Trang. He graduated at a Buddhist School in Hue in 1971, after which he was appointed as Dharma Teachers for many Buddhist Schools in the Central and Southern Provinces. He taught widely in the southern part of Vietnam and because of his virtuous conduct, he was also invited to be the abbot of Kim Quang Pagoda in Phan Thiet. Even with his busy schedule, he still invested his time and energy in translating and composing.

He translated quite a few Buddhist texts in his lifetime that included:

-           Kim Quang Minh Sutra

-           Medicine Sutra

-           Amitabha Sutra

-           Maitreya Sutra

-           The Sutra of Eight Awakenings of Great Beings 

-           Prajna Heart Sutra

He was also a writer and a poet.

In 1980, after a difficult time under the Communist regime and for the sake of spreading Buddhism, the Venerable escaped Vietnam as a Boat person, to find freedom and to continue the ideal of serving the Dharma and the nation. During his stay at the Galang Refugee Camp, Indonesia, he founded Kim Quang Temple, Quan Am Pagoda and devoted himself to the cultivation of the monastic discipline and became a symbol of brightness as the direction of the people. After resettling in the United States in 1981, he was the first Abbot of our Kim Quang Temple and he held many great leadership positions. To name a few:

· President of Vietnamese Buddhist Association in Sacramento and Abbot of Kim Quang Pagoda

· Vice President of United Vietnamese Buddhist Association in the United States

· Director of the General Department of Sangha of the Unified  Buddhist Church of Vietnam in the United States.

He also found the following centers:

· Van Hanh Pagoda, Rochester, NY.

· Tu Hieu Temple, Buffalo, NY.

· Quan Âm Temple, Binghamton, NY.

· Pho Quang Pagoda, Salt Lake City, UT.

In addition to promoting the Dharma as the salvation of sentient beings, he stood side by side with the Unified  Buddhist Church and actively advocated for freedom, equality, democracy and human rights in Vietnam.

He was a special teacher in love who was devoted to supporting, educating and building the Blueprint of the Buddhist Family in Vietnam.

His life is a shining example and a lesson that is invaluable in many respects. For example, the time the Venerable Master was ill. Despite the long period of challenging conditions, the Venerable Master retained his self-esteem, prestige and serenity, and he demonstrated the respectable virtue of a devout Buddhist monk. This was the time when the students studied in the Venerable Master's teachings which were not full of words, but experience and actions.

Venerable Thich Thien Tri passed away at 8:20 pm on July 31, 2003. He was 70 years old. Although he is no longer illuminated, his most noble teachings are his selfless acts towards the Nation and to leading by example. His devotions still live on in the hearts of many Buddhists who met him.

The lesson of impermanence is real but yet we share our sorrow and pray for his return to this earthly realm to continue his vows of spreading the Dharma.

Translated by Tâm Thường Định

QUÁN TRỌ CỦA NGÀN SAO - Place Holder of Thousands of Stars

QUÁN TRỌ CỦA NGÀN SAO

Mắt em quán trọ của ngàn sao

Ngọt ngất hoang sơ ánh rượu đào

Pha loãng nắng tà dâng cát bụi

Ấm lòng khách lữ bước lao đao.

Mắt huyền thăm thẳm mượt đêm nhung

Mưa hạt long lanh rọi nến hồng

Sương lạnh đưa người xanh khói biển

Bình minh quán trọ nắng rưng rưng.

Trại giam Phan đăng lưu, Sài gòn 1979

Thơ Tuệ Sỹ

Place Holder of Thousands of Stars

Your deep innocent eyes are the place holder of thousands of stars

So sweet that dissolves in the wild peach wine

Diluting in the sun ray, blending in the dust

It is heartwarming for travelers with tottering steps.

Those legendary eyes are deep in the silky dark night

The glittering raindrops shine like golden candles

Cold mist escorted  frontier, sadden ocean mist

In the dawn of this realm of life, sun shed its tears.

Phan Dang Luu Prison, Saigon '79
Translated by Phe X. Bach
Edited Professor Nguyen V. Thai

MỘNG TRƯỜNG SINH - The Dream of Everlasting Life

MỘNG TRƯỜNG SINH

Đá mòn phơi nẻo tà dương

Nằm nghe nước lũ khóc chừng cuộc chơi

Ngàn năm vang một nỗi đời

Gió đưa cuộc lữ lên lời viễn phương

Đan sa rã mộng phi thường

Đào tiên trụi lá bên đường tử sinh

Đồng hoang mục tử chung tình

Đăm chiêu dư ảnh nóc đình hạc khô.
Thơ Tuệ Sỹ

The Dream of Everlasting Life

Eroded stones bring forth their sunset rays-covered pathways

Listening supine to overflowing water crying over human comedies

Across millennia resounds the echo of the anxious living beings

The wind is sending human existence onto an aimless journey

As cinnabar melts away, the dream of everlasting life vanishes

The denuded divine peach trees lay bare on the roadside of birth and death

On to the desert of existence still hangs the loyalty of the Taoists
Meditating on the remnant of an illusionary image on the pinnacle of the Shrine of a dead swan*.

Dịch: Bạch X. Phẻ

Hiệu đính: GS Nguyễn V. Thái

* swan is also a symbol of longevity

RỪNG MẮM - THE FRONTIER FOREST

                                          

Cây Tràm

Cây Mắm - Photos: internet

                                         RỪNG MẮM 

            Đất nước Việt-nam cứ mỗi năm dài thêm ra được độ chừng 20 thước vì được bồi bởi đất phù sa của giòng sông Cửu-Long tại vùng Năm Căn, Cà Mau...
            Vùng đất mới được bồi thêm vì quá gần Biển Đông nên đất còn chứa nhiều "nước mặn phèn chua" vì vậy không một loại cây nào có thể sống được ngoại trừ cây Mắm.
            Cây Mắm làm nhiệm vụ hút hết "nước mặn phèn chua" rồi gục chết và làm phân bón cho một loài cây khác là cây Tràm.
            Cây Tràm làm tiếp nhiệm vụ được giao là hút sạch "nước-mặn + phèn-chua còn sót lại" và giữ nước do những cơn mưa mùa và nước ngọt từ giòng sông Cửu-long + biển-hồ Tonlésap chảy ngang qua trước khi xuôi giòng ra biển.
            Vài trăm năm sau những người di dân đã đến vùng đất này, thấy đất đã thuần có thể trồng trọt được nên kéo nhau đến định cư và bắt đầu khai-hoang chặt bỏ cây Tràm để trồng trọt sinh sống.
            Dân khai hoang lúc đầu lưa thưa, năm ba người, nhưng càng về sau càng đông và những Ruộng Lúa + Vườn Cây ăn trái đã thành Trù-phú như hôm nay chúng ta đã thấy...
            Trước năm 1975, khi đi hành quân ngang qua cánh đồng mênh mông lúa chín và xa xa là những vườn cây ăn quả, tôi lặng người sửng sờ trước một cái trũng nước rộng đường kính độ chừng vài chục thước, và thấy còn sót lại năm ba cây Mắm bên cạnh  gần chục cây Tràm dưới đáy trũng nước u buồn, xa xa là vườn cây xanh mát, xung quanh là cánh đồng lúa chín reo vui và tôi ngậm ngùi cất bước ... ./.

Tâm Nghĩa - Lê Hữu Đàng
 

THE FRONTIER FOREST

Viet Nam, our beloved homeland, gets a bit longer every year, about 20 meters or so because of alluvial deposits from the Mekong River in Ca Mau- the Southern most part of the country.

            Due to its close proximity to the East Sea, the new land contains high level of "alum salt water" or salinity level and thus is unable to sustain plant life, except for Cây Mắm.

            Cây Mắm extracts the “alum salt” or salinity from the water and then dies to become fertilizer for other crops – Cây Tràm.

            Cây Tràm then does the remaining task of cleaning up the leftover salty water.  It also holds rain water and stores fresh water from the Mekong River. This fresh water originates from Tibet and runs through Biển Hồ - Tonlesap in Cambodia before flowing out to the sea in Vietnam.

            For hundreds of years afterwards, immigrants encountering this land saw that it was tillable, settled there and began chopping down the CâyTràm for more profitable farming.

            The settlers were few at first being four or five persons but many went later to plant prosperous rice fields and orchards seen today.

            Before 1975, when marching through the vast fields of grains and viewing the orchards from a distance, I was stunned to see a still pond that had a few CâyMắm with a dozen or so CâyTràm side by side- standing endless in time.  Nowadays, the land is as green as a mat, surrounded by orchards and dancing rice fields. I mournfully walk by- such is the way of life.

Translated by Phe Bach