CAODAI YOUTH AND THEIR LIFE JOURNEY IN THE DIGITAL AGE
* HUỆ KHẢI
CAODAI YOUTH
AND
THEIR LIFE JOURNEY
IN THE DIGITAL AGE
* HUỆ KHẢI
A fortunate occasion
As invited, along with
the 2005-2006 school year beginning, I am here this Sunday morning at Trung
Minh holy house to speak on this topic to you — the university students and
young followers of the Caodai Missionary Holy Assembly. I have this opportunity
perhaps because I am the father of a son born in the 1980s, which means he will
soon follow in your footsteps, stepping out into the digital world.
I stepped out into the world at a time when society was
impoverished, closed off, and mired in backwardness. From the second half of
the 1970s onwards, life was perhaps only a little better than austerity. Unlike
many of you today, I was not born into a long-time Caodai family; instead, I
came from a Buddhist household. As a child, I was taken to a Buddhist convent
in the village, practised periodic vegetarianism, and was given a dharma name
by a nun there.
It is unclear what ambitions the youth sitting here are
cherishing. As for me, back when I was full of youthful dreams, I had to sorrowfully recite two verses by the poet Hoài Khanh,
whose real name was Võ Văn Quế, born on 20 March 1934 in Phan Thiết town (Bình Thuận Province). Before 1975, he also
wrote prose, translated books, and established the Ca Dao publishing house in
Saigon. After 1975, he went into seclusion in Biên Hòa town (Đồng Nai province). His two verses as follows:
Alas, farewell to happiness, my dear,
Fog and smoke have shrouded my twentieth year.
For me, “my dear” here refers to neither a younger sister nor a lover;
“my dear” is simply a personification of
youthful dreams.
However, it
was in my foggy, smoke-filled twentieth year that I was blessed to encounter the sutra titled Đại Thừa Chơn Giáo (The Mahayana True Teaching, bestowed in
1936), through
which I came to read the great
vow of our Heaven Master as follows:
“Why must you continue carrying the burden of endless
suffering and reincarnation? When I behold it, My heart is pierced
with sorrow, and I cannot feel at ease.
“So, at the Tam Giáo Công Ðồng (the Three Teachings Council), I made a
solemn vow: to bring My wondrous Dharma for the salvation of all sentient beings.
“If you will not
cultivate yourselves, will not turn from evil to good, and if Caodaism does not prevail, then I vow not to return to My
heavenly throne.”
Right then, tears
spontaneously streamed from my eyes. From the depths of my soul, I realised
that Caodaism was my faith. And so, on my own, I quietly chose Caodaism for
myself, even though I had not yet undergone any initiation ritual, or received
the Divine Eye image to worship.
It was not
until two years later (early in the summer of 1977) that I had my initiation
ritual at Vĩnh Nguyên Tự (a Caodai temple in Long An village, Cần Giuộc
district, Long An province). A few more years after that, I once spoke about
the gracious guidance of Our Heaven Master:
O Master, thank You for silently
guiding me
onto Your merciful boat amidst the sorrowful
sea.
With my karmic burdens,
without Your guiding light,
How could I truly learn to thank life?
Yes, I am grateful
that at the age of twenty, a historical event presented me with a hazy storm. Thanks to that, I was fortunate enough to encounter Caodaism.
I recall the past to acknowledge that I am at a disadvantage compared to you
all. I
neither had the chance to enter life in the digital era, nor was I born into a
long-time Caodai family like
many of you. In this talk, I will try to speak from the perspective of a father
with a son born in the 1980s. My hopes for my son are what I would like to
share with you today.
(To be
continued)
