I know a Vietnamese woman who prayed to Avalokiteshvara to move her to America to be with her son. Then, once she came to America, she prayed to Avalokiteshvara to send her back to Vietnam. So I asked her, “Why is that? Avalokiteshvara is not so free to be able to help transport you from Vietnam to America and then back from America to Vietnam.” She said that in Vietnam she may have lacked food and shelter, but when she came to America there was a great sadness. She wanted to go to America in order to spend time with her children. But they didn’t have any time to spend with her at all, so she was sad in America. Her children work all week, and on Saturday they go out with each other. On Sunday they are free but they have so many things to take care of. In Vietnam, when she had free time, at least she could go to the temples, or when she stepped out into the street she could speak to other people. She said, “In America, I cannot say anything to anybody. I can’t even answer the phone because I can’t speak the language.” So we can see that whether rich or poor, young or old, we all have suffering, and these sufferings will be released only when we can call upon the energy of Avalokiteshvara within our hearts. If we are not yet able to call upon the energy of Avalokiteshvara within our hearts, then there is no way that we can be free from our suffering.
BE LIKE A TREE
Zen Talks by Thích Phước Tịnh
Edited and Illustrated by Karen Hilsberg
Jasmine Roots Press – 2008
CHAPTER NINE
The Energy of Avalokiteshvara
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