Sunday, February 3, 2013

TỨ CÚ

                                                                                   Tìm Phật - hình BXK

TỨ CÚ
Kính tặng cô Trần Thị LaiHồng

Như tứ đại trong vũ trụ
Vẻ đẹp đất đá hương hoa
Địa thuỷ phong nhiệt phương tiện
Năm uẩn hoà điệu tương giao
Duyên hợp tự tánh duyên tan
Tĩnh toạ nhận chân vô thường
Trên đỉnh cô phong Tanka
Tất cả cũng đều vô ngã...

Vui thay đoá Tâm Chơn Nguyên.

Sacramento, February 2, 2013

Friday, February 1, 2013

COMES AND GOES

                                                      Between the two sides - Ra sức - ảnh Đức Quảng

Click vào đây để đọc tiếng Việt

COMES AND GOES

It is cold
Winter is on its way
A sleeping town
The trees are bare of all leaves
Wide roads, deserted
Heavy rain dances every episode
Ragged leaves lie on the ground,
Yet there are rays of intrigue, sunshine
Leaves are lying about in disorder, in the way
and wet.
Yet, I realized the sequence of nature
Bud-Flower-Leaf-Branch
Spring-Summer-Fall-Winter
or Form-Stay-Change-Emptiness
or Birth- Remain-Change-Death.
The rain is dancing once again
 A few worms move to higher ground
 From the saturated water to find life.
And where is it from?
Is it the Law of Cause and Effect or Creator
And where is it going then?
Comes and goes
Gone and came
Amid the chilled cold, suffering and dissatisfaction
I avoid touching it
Surely it will be scolded
Death or as bait for birds
The dying body, this body - like Tibetans – are one-time sacrificing for others
Enrich the others and/or continuation
No traces of the grave (tomb)
Finally disappeared;
The silent withered flowers
Footsteps are bathed with the heart beats
Where are we going?
From where are we coming?
Karma and Laws of Cause and Effect
Infinite
Interdependence
Infinite
A fine path between the two sides.

December 1st, 2012. 
Sacramento, CA.

Published in Chanh Phap's monthly Magazine.

Monday, January 28, 2013

TIỄN CỤ PHẠM DUY


                                                                               Thư pháp: Võ Việt Tuấn

TIỄN CỤ PHẠM DUY

   Một nhạc sỹ danh tài đất Việt

Trăng mười lăm sáng tỏ
Nghe tin Ông ra đi
Người nhạc sỹ lâm li
Vui buồn theo vận nước

Những tác phẩm ông viết
Dân ca và quê hương
Thân phận hay yêu thương
Nhạc cũng đều đa dạng

Ông luôn làm cách mạng
Cho âm nhạc Việt Nam
Khảo cứu người vẫn làm
Những công trình giá trị

Thế rồi Ông ra đi
Nghìn Thu như lời hứa
"Tình âm dương chan chứa
Xoay trong vùng tử sinh".*

Tiễn người một kiếp sinh linh
Tài hoa một cõi mộng tình thiên thu.

Sacramento, January 27th, 2013.
Bạch X. Phẻ
*Lời bài nhạc Nghìn Thu của cố nhạc sỹ Phạm Duy


KÍNH TIỄN DƯỢNG PHẠM DƯỜNG

                             Thư pháp Võ Việt Tuấn

KÍNH TIỄN DƯỢNG PHẠM DƯỜNG
        Xin chia buồn cùng anh Thư và đại gia đình.

Người đi như hạt nắng loang
Thiên thu huyễn mộng vỡ toang vô thường
Người đi trăm nhớ ngàn thương
Không gian thanh thoát khói hương vô ngần
Phạm thiên chuông Phật nhẹ ngân
Dường như vô tịch trong ngần thiện tâm
Cuộc đời bao nỗi phong trần
Nay về nhà Phật một lần vãng sanh
Tây phương Tịnh độ sen xanh
Người đi như áng mây lành thong dong.

Sacramento, January 25th, 2013.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

ĐI VÀ VỀ



                                                                                    Nỗi lòng của Mẹ - Photo: BXK
For English, click here

ĐI VÀ VỀ

Trời lạnh 
mùa đông về khắp lối
phố buồn - những cây xanh đang trụi hết lá
những con đường rộng, vắng vẻ người qua
mưa nặng hạt từng hồi
những chiếc lá xác xơ trên mặt đất,
lưu lại những vạt nắng vàng ngây ngất
lá ngổn ngang nằm ướt nhẹp
lại thấy sự tuần tự của thiên nhiên
có nụ-hoa-lá-cành
có xuân-hạ-thu-đông
có thành-trụ-hoại-không 
hay sinh-trụ-dị-diệt
mưa lại rơi lộp độp 
vài con trùng đã bắt đầu ngoi ngóp khỏi mặt nước
để đi tìm sự sống
nó từ đâu đến nhỉ?
là nhân duyên hay tạo hoá
rồi về đâu?
Đi và về
Về và đi
giữa muôn trùng của giá buốt, khổ đau và bất toại
tôi tránh đụng nó
chắc hẳn nó sẽ nằm co ro
chịu chết hay làm mồi cho chim chóc
thân, xác chết này--như người Tây Tạng--một lần được hy sinh cho kẻ khác
làm giàu sự nối tiếp
không còn dấu tích của nấm mộ (mồ)
cuối cùng cũng biến mất;
những bông hoa khô héo thầm lặng
tim vẫn đập theo bước chân
Ði và về đâu? 
Nhân duyên đang đưa đẩy
trùng trùng
duyên khởi
trùng trùng
con đường giữa hai bên.

Sacramento, December 1st, 2012.

Đã đăng trong Nguyện San Chánh Pháp, số 15; Tháng 2, 2013.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Are women and girls important?


In honor of the rape victims around the world, especially two young women in India, I would like to introduce my first guest blog from a colleague, a friend—Dr. Addie Ellis. She is a very energetic, charm, encouraged and compassionate individual.  Her passion is making differences for those around her especially the children, the youth and the unseen. Here is the condensed of her biography.

Dr. Addie L. Ellis
Personal Growth Coach
EdD, Drexel University
MS, National University
BA, UC Riverside

Dr. Ellis is a Personal Growth Coach specializing in assisting women in accessing and achieving their goals. With over 15 years as a personal growth coach, counselor, and educator, Dr. Ellis has guided small business leaders, executives, non-profit developers, mid-level managers, and educators. Her workshops include: “Moving from Surviving to Thriving,” “Discovering Your Passion,” “Purpose, Passion, Power,” “My Sister’s Keeper,” “Unheard and Unseen: Educating the New Face of Homelessness,” “Identifying Behaviors that Maximize Outcomes.”

In addition to coaching and speaking engagements, Dr. Ellis is a consultant, and she is also a professor at St. Mary’s College of California where she teaches the Psychology of Gender and Systems Collaboration and Consultation.

A long-time advocate for children and youth, Dr. Ellis serves as Secretary of the Board for Capitol Collegiate Academy, a charter school operated on the firm belief that all students, regardless of race and socioeconomic status are entitled to a high quality education. She is also a regular volunteer at Mustard Seed School: An emergency school for children experiencing homelessness.

Dr. Ellis completed her Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Management with a policy concentration from Drexel University, December 2012. She holds credentials in Life and Executive Coaching, Pupil Personnel Services, and Administration.

Dr. Ellis is the proud mother of her sailor, Naseer Najee. She lives and coaches by the quote, “It is never too late to be what you might have been.”




Are women and girls important?

On January 3, 2013, a young Indian woman died in Singapore from the wounds inflicted by a brutal rape the occurred in New Delhi, India.  Her crime was to be a woman, on a bus, with men.  In the United States tongues were clicked… “Isn’t it a shame what women have to go through in those countries?”  “They have no respect for women!”  “Something must be done…in those countries.”  As tongues clicked and fingers wagged about the brutality women face in other countries, on August 11, 2012 a 16 year old young girl was brutally raped, videoed, and photographed by several male assailants in Steubenville, Ohio, USA.   On the video recording the young men laughed at their ability to repeatedly victimize this young woman.  What links these cases; young girls whose only crime was their gender. 

Women and girls are brutalized world-wide based on the social construct of gender.  Within many cultures women and girls are viewed as being the “weaker sex.”  As the “weaker sex” some believe they are in need of the protection of men.  Women and girls who act outside of cultural norms; those who are not fully covered, who advocate for themselves and others, who seek male dominated positions or education,  are viewed as “deserving of victimization.”  Malala Yousufzai and Kainat Ahmad are prime examples of gender expectations leading to victimization.  These two young women were shot by the Pakistani Taliban for attempting to go to school.  World-wide women and girls are more likely to:  not attend school, be victimized by a male, and live in poverty (www.unesco.org, 2012). 

Are women and girls in need of the protection of men or the protection from men?  In western culture young age girls are taught to be demure; yet alluring, intelligent; yet conniving.  This dichotomy is played out in every Disney cartoon.   The message given to young girls is “your strength and value rests with the male.”  The message given to young boys is “you control the destiny of the girl.”  Neither message is beneficial.  These messages continue into adolescents where young women and young men are bombarded with images of women as objects to be used by men.  These images can be seen in popular music videos, commercials, and sitcoms.  Shockingly these images can also be viewed on morning “news” shows where the young woman sits prettily with a low cut top and short skirt next to her fully clothed, older male co-host.   The messages do harm to both girls and boys as it perpetuates the myth that “boys will be boys” and girls are without control or value. 

In the Steubenville, Ohio, USA rape case some of the boys stated “she wanted it.” “She slept around.” “She was a s___.”  In the New Delhi, India case some remarked, “Why was she out so late?”  “She should have been home.”  “She was a loose woman.”  Fortunately these comments were in the minority; however, they still occur.  If we are ever to move beyond the victimization and second class treatment of women and girls we must start with teaching our boys that girls matter for who they are, not for what they can do for the male.  At the same time, we must teach our girls that they are valuable and deserving for whom they are, not for what they can do for the male.  When we as a society are able to teach our children that each gender is valuable and important, then we will be on our way to making the world safe for all.  

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

LOVING AND MISSING YOU



LOVING AND MISSING YOU
In honor of my brother, Vinh Ky (1978-2013)


The solitary sound of rain
Escaped the perfume of the land
In a deep solitary soul
Pity, a young leaf just fell though

You went into the eternity
Like the water comes back to its source
In a bright moon night
A sigh of breath is all

Vinh Ky, oh my beloved brother
Your essence filled the entitled space
Flower, the heavenly music just sang
For a life of worth remembered

Our life is as long as a breath
And you slept forever
You went to the Pure Land
Between illusory and immense

Vinh Ky, oh my beloved brother
I will forever missing you!

Sacramento, January 5th, 2013.

Friday, January 18, 2013

President Obama’s Inauguration


                                                                       From Washington Post - photo by   (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
In honor of President Obama's Second Inauguration, I would like to post an old poem that I wrote four years ago.


President Obama’s Inauguration

Today is the 20th of January, 2009
One day after Martin Luther King Jr.’s day
44 years after Blacks and women got the right to vote
Barack Hussein Obama, born August 4th, 1961, becomes the 44th President and
The first African American President of the United States of America
Today is a chilly, yet sunny day in Washington, D.C.
It is beautiful in California and it is a new day for all people.
It is a renewal of American spirit
It’s a gigantic and majestic event
A hundred million people in the USA and around the world watching
With around two million people at the Presidential Inaugural experiencing
There is an ocean of people stretching as far as our eyes can see
Greeting an extraordinary leader,
Who has a willingness, openness, and eagerness to lead our country out of the great mess.
It is such an exciting and historic moment
With so much pride,
A tsunami of hope and expectations
He is a symbol of dreams and people’s motivations
At the inauguration, he called for unity and responsibility of all people.
And he restated that the USA is ready to lead the world for the betterment of all.
With that, the new spirit is on
The beginning of a new chapter
Of our history.


Mira Loma High
Inauguration Day, 2009