Long time ago, there was a huge tree.
It loved a little boy very much.
The boy loved to come and play around it every day.
He climbed to the tree top.
Ate the apples.
Take a nap under the shadow.
He loved the tree.
The tree was so happy!
Time went by…
DON’T FORGET THE HAPPY TIME
One day, the boy came back to the tree.
The tree said "come and play with me".
- I am no longer a kid. I do not play around a tree anymore. I want toys. I need money to buy them.
- Sorry, I do not have money. But you can pick all my apples and sell them. So you will have money.
The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The tree was so happy.
The boy never came back after picked the apples.
The tree was sad.
One day, the boy, who now turned into the man, returned and the tree was excited.
"Come and play with me" the tree said.
- I do not have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?
- Sorry, I do not have any house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house.
So the man cut all the branches of the tree and left happily.
The tree was glad to see him happy but the man never came back since then.
The tree was again lonely and sad.
One hot summer day, the man returned and the tree was delighted: "Come and play with me" the tree said.
- I am getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat? Said the man.
- Use my trunk to build your boat, the tree said. You can sail far away and be happy.
So the man cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time. The tree was happy but it was not true.
Finally, the man returned after many years.
- Sorry my boy. But I do not have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you, the tree said.
- No problem. I do not have any teeth to bite, the man replied.
- No more trunk for you to climd on.
- No problem. I am too old for that now, the man said.
- I really cannot give you anything… The only thing left is my dying roots. The tree said with tears.
- I do not need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years, the man replied.
- Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest. Come, come and sit down with me and rest.
The old man sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears.
NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU ARE,
SHARE SOMETIME WITH PARENTS!
Take sometime to visit them, even you work hard, even you are far from them or something else. But they will so happy if you will have visited.
Chonglin Zhan.
Shel Silverstein.
DÙ BẬN BỊU ĐẾN ĐÂU,
BẠN HÃY DÀNH THỜI GIAN CHO CHA MẸ!
Hãy dành thời gian thăm viếng Cha Mẹ, dù bạn làm việc khó nhọc, hay bạn ở thật xa, hay bất cứ việc gì. Chắc chắn Cha Mẹ sẽ rất vui lòng khi bạn viếng thăm.
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Tu Theo Đạo Phật
Muốn chân chính tu theo đạo Phật để giác ngộ chân lý và giải thoát khỏi cảnh khổ đau của muôn kiếp sanh tử luân hồi, con người phải tích cực dùng sức tự lực của chính mình, chuyển hóa thân tâm, chuyển hóa ba nghiệp chưa thanh tịnh thành ba nghiệp thanh tịnh, chứ không phải bằng sự mong cầu, trông chờ, van xin, cầu khẩn tha lực của người khác, dù cho thành tâm tha thiết đến đâu, cũng như tín ngưỡng ngoại đạo mà thôi.
Trong kinh sách, đức Phật thường dạy tu hành một cách tích cực bằng những pháp môn tự lực, tịnh tông hay thiền tông, không có bài pháp nào dạy tu tập cầu tha lực một cách tiêu cực, ỷ lại. Chẳng hạn như là pháp môn: niệm Phật, niệm Pháp, niệm Tăng.
Chúng ta nên biết:
Phật là tâm sáng suốt,
Pháp là tâm chân chánh,
Tăng là tâm thanh tịnh.
Đó là Tự Tánh Tam Bảo.
