Through the window of the Boeing 737 airplane from Houston to California by the end of Oct., from far away, the curves shaped by rivers and woods in Texas area made me really missed the streams and rivers in country side of South Vietnam . I had seen this kind of scenery a few times when I had chances to travel on airplane in Vietnam in the past ..
After two hours flight, the scene started to change. I did not see rivers and woods any more but the big plain of desert-like. It took me a long time to find the interstate highway which looked like a very fine line on the map with a few cars looked small like ants crawling through the yellow sand area. I have realized human beings are too small to compare with the Natures.
Last time, I had come to California to attend a wedding in Topanga Canyon, Santa Monica of Los Angeles. The wedding ceremony was organized on a hill with eight status of Buddha. The traditional ceremony was very interesting extraordinary.This time, I came to Orange County, where everyone thinks there would be the most Vietnamese residents outside of Vietnam. Santa Anna Airport was not too far away from Westminster City. After about half an hour of driving, we arrived the Garden Grove with the very familiar streets that we have heard before on Vietnamese news papers or Vietnamese oversea TV programs like Bolsa Avenue, Westminster Ave., Brookhurt Ave., Garden Grove Ave.
I could see that the fences in this area are almost as tall as the roofs of houses; more business Vietnamese signs than English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean,..I saw Tu Luc bookstore on Brookhurt Ave. and Tu Quynh bookstore on Bolsa Ave. And then, I also saw Phuoc Loc Tho plaza, the most famous rich busy Vietnamese plaza in America. Then I could see a lot of other Vietnamese plazas, supermarkets, restaurants on the streets. I could not remember all of them because we only spent three days for the UHBE level 4 class which was organized in the conference room in Westminster.Even though I did not have time, but I still tried to stop by some of the bookstores in Bolsa Ave. for 5 or 10 minutes. I just liked to throw a glance on what kinds of books that they sold in the bookstores.
I have had an enjoyment to go to the bookstores since I was a very young country boy. Even now, I am not young any more but I always enjoyed looking at the books on the bookstores in everywhere I go.
When I stepped into the Van But bookstore, it was still early, there was no customer yet, and the store owner was having breakfast. He was not really friendly to me: “What book are you looking for?” Without thinking, I said: “Can you help me to find books by Nguyen Hien Le?”
Bookshelves in Van But bookstore.
The owner dropped his chopsticks and led me into the left side where there was the kind of books I was looking for. Actually, I planed to look for the books: “7 days in Dong Thap Muoi” and “Angkor”. The two venture books which I liked to give to some young friends for presents. But the bookstore did not have them anymore. I did not have much time, so I just picked the book Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc, also from the same author. I have a big collection of Nguyen Hien Le books. He had all kinds of different subjects (foreign book Translation, Research, Writing skill, Behavioral Psychology,..). I loved his clear simple writing and loved his heart, his works for Vietnamese literature teaching. I loved his writing so much that I even loved his Preface on the books. Sometimes, I thought that his Preface writing was worth for the money that I had to pay for the whole book already. I think his Preface writing is the best. But I did not have time to look more of his books so I had to pay money and went back to the conference room.
From Canada, USA, Australia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, there were 242 disciples of level 3 from 40 meditation centers had come to the level 4 class. The class was not only a reunion of cultivators who got the same method but also a party for a lot of persons who had the same race of Viet, by some reasons, had to stay far away from their motherland.
From Canada, we have seen disciples of London, Brampton, Calgary 1 & 2, Edmonton, Montreal 1; Ottawa, Surrey, Mississauga and Toronto.
In US, we saw disciples from Boston in Massachusetts; from Houston, NASA and Holly in Texas; Orange County Center, Rosemead Center, San Jose Center in California; New York Center, Georgia Center.
From Australia, we saw disciples from Sydney Center;
From China, we saw disciples from Hong Kong Center;
And from Vietnam, there are disciples from Soc Trang Center; Binh Dai Center (Ben Tre Province); Hong Bang Center (Saigon City) and Vung Tau Center.
Two years ago, I have learnt about UHBE by a friend of mine who used to be an Agriculture and Forestry engineer in Vietnam, Le Van Ngoc. He started to learn about UHBE when he lived in Boston. After that, he moved to Houston and started to open a new center in Houston in which he and everyone would have chance to learn about UHBE, and to save others.
Le Van Ngoc, the chief of Houston UHBE Meditation Center, receiving the Recognition Award from the two Masters Nguyen Duc Thuan and Nguyen Ngoc Hai in the 165th birthday celebration of Founder Master Dasira Narada
Sign to go to the classAbout Level 4 teaching, please read what Pham Phu Hay, 75 years old, from Rosemead Center, one of the 8 instructors said in the interview with the Vietnamese Daily Newspaper Nguoi Viet:
“I have been an UHBE instructor for 4 years. Disciple would get to the higher level by his contribution to others.”
He said there were 7 levels. Disciple must be 18 years old, regardless of race, gender, religion. Level 1 and 2 are for new disciples. After about three months or six months of helping to heal others by energy transfer treatment, new disciple would get to level 3. Level 4 to level 7 would be called high level disciples. All classes are free. Mr. Pham said UHBE was a non profit agency.”
Mr. Pham also said that just in this year, there would be 15 more instructors and the total number of instructors would be 23. He emphasized: “This is a special method of meditation. This Meditation method is for both physical healing and spiritual improvement, not only for mind calming. Therefore, all disciples have to go to the class to study.”
All level 4 disciples have to meditate more and help healing other patients more in about two years.
For the level 4 class, in the first two days, students would have breakfast that was prepared by the conference organizers. After that, they would meditate for two hours. After meditation, there would be 5 minute break time. Then, all disciples would come back to class to listen to Dharma Speech from the two Masters.
Master Nguyen Ngoc Hai has said:
“All dharma speeches are the wonderful presents from the Founder Master, from the bottom of our heart, we celebrate the birthday of Dasira Narada, the savior of human beings. After 18 years of cultivating, he had gained the Six Transcendental Powers, activated all chakras by himself and helped people to enlighten, to get out of low level of Dark Ignorance.
A disciple from Ottawa, Canada, Doctor Lisa Cross, M.D. said:“The Founder Master was born in the City of Colombo in Sri Lanka in 1846. When he completed his PhD in Eastern Philosophy at the University of Nalanda, he was only 25 years of age. Impressive! Following the footsteps of his father who was a diplomatic official, Dasira Narada worked for the Sri Lankan government until 1893. Suddenly, he left his professional success, a bright future in a position many others desired, all the comforts of his family wealth as the only son. He left all of these material things behind him! He was 47 when he departed for the Himalayan Mountains. Somewhere in those 18 years of unimaginable drive and dedication for his own spiritual liberation, Dasira Narada achieved Cosmic Consciousness. Through his profound realization of the Ultimate Truth he contemplated deeply and developed a vast, deep array of teachings and methods that have formed the Spiritual Science of our discipline Divine Dharma Meditation. The Grand Founder Master was 65 years of age when he returned from the Himalayas to begin the teaching of Divine Dharma Meditation! This is an age when most of us are long retired! He taught for 5 years travelling extensively until 1916. When our Grand Master was 70 years of age he began to train his successor. This was another 8 years! By the time our beloved Founder Grand Master left one final time in 1924, he was 78. Truly, even these small historical chronological details speak volumes about his remarkable life. It is no wonder that his exceptional teachings as well as his extraordinary virtue and merit have truly inspired and transformed us in such profound ways”
Doctor Lisa Cross and Instructor Nguyen The Tin from Mississauga (Canada) was giving a speech in the Dasira Narada 165th birthday celebration.
By the way, talking about Master Narada Mahathera, the first disciple of Dasira Narada, Instructor Nguyen Lam from San Ferdino Valley, California said: “Narada Mahathera, our Secondary Grand Master, who was a born Catholic. He then converted to Theravada Buddhist after receiving the teachings of Dasira Narada. As a Buddhist monk, Narada Mahathera still tried to practice UHBE method along with the tradition Buddhist method. Narada Mahathera, by conditionality (duyên) with Vietnam, he had traveled to Vietnam several times to teach Theravada Buddhist. He had represented for Indian Buddhist to donate to Vietnamese Buddhist Unified Association the Relics of Buddha (Ngọc Xá Lợi), the Canon Scriptures (kinh tạng), and a bodhhiruma tree (bồ đề) from Buddha historic sites. In 1972, the last time he came to Vietnam he secretly taught UHBE method to 5 Vietnamese persons who were 4 men and 1 woman. In 1974, he came back to Sri Lanka and never returned to Vietnam.
In Sunday, October 2, 1983 Narada Mahathera had passed away in Sri Lanka Buddhist temple Vajirarama where he was appointed to be the Chief Monk in the last few years of his life. He passed away when he was 83 years old. His funeral was celebrated as the national funeral by the people and government of Sri Lanka”
Master Nguyen Duc Thuan was giving a Dharma Speech.
Lieutenant Mayor Tyler Diep (left) was giving the Recognition Award from The City of Westminster, California to Master Nguyen Duc Thuan. Master Nguyen Ngoc Hai is in the middle (Photo: Linh Nguyen/Người Việt Newspaper)
Female Disciples from Houston (Texas) at the Level 4 Class.
Young Disciples from New York Center.
Disciples from Holly Center (Texas)
Master Nguyen Duc Thuan, Master Nguyen Ngoc Hai and all Instructors prayed at the altar of Founder Master Dasira Narada
Also to remind us about the hard works of our two beloved Masters Nguyen Ngoc Hai and Nguyen Duc Thuan, Doctor Lisa Cross said:
“Our own most beloved Masters Thay Thuan and Co Hai were the only two disciples fully trained by the 3rd lineage Vietnamese Masters who were 4 men and 1 woman. Their teachers had been instructed privately from 1972-1974 by the 2nd Grand Master. When the time was right, our own beloved Masters Co Hai and Thay Thuan came to North America in 1996. We have so much to honor and thank them for. They developed the UHBE discipline and established the Seattle Meditation Center, which became as a spiritual home for all of us. Since then they have travelled extensively around the world many, many times. They have opened countless classes, initiated thousands, taught meditation and principles of energy treatment. Anyone over 18 years of age, regardless of race, culture, language, religion or socioeconomic class has the opportunity to learn this discipline. Their classes are taught with love, wisdom, and are always free of cost.”.(Celebration of The 165th Birthday of The Founder Grand Master DASIRA NARADA October 24-2011).
Talking about training the new instructors and spreading our meditation method, Doctor Lisa Cross said:
“There are now over 40 meditation centers worldwide. Thay and Co have trained instructors whom we trust and admire whose example we attempt to follow. More recently, the Masters initiated another 15 instructors to help with the growing demands. The Masters have actively encouraged and supported the massive job of translating the Founder Master’s teachings into many languages. There are now manuals in Chinese, English, French, Cambodian, and Spanish. This past September Thay and Co gave their blessing and support for the Ottawa Center in Canada to have the first Level I&II class in which the primary language of instruction was English. It was successful, another milestone for our discipline”( Celebration of The 165th Birthday of The Founder Grand Master DASIRA NARADA October 24-2011).
And Doctor Lisa Cross continued:“Thay Thuan and Co Hai continue to provide ongoing spiritual guidance and support to all of the meditation centers small or large, new or older. They have supported us through times of difficulty and struggle, explaining the Founder Master’s Dharma with ever wider and deeper spiritual meaning. Every human problem that we experience within our meditation centers or in the world at large, the Founder Master’s Dharma provides very clear comprehensive answers. As we let go of national, cultural, political and personal attachments both past and present that create barriers within ourselves, each other and others, Thay and Co patiently teach us the lessons and language of Universal love and altruism”.(Celebration of The 165th Birthday of The Founder Grand Master DASIRA NARADA October 24-2011)
Lieutenant Mayor of Garden Grove City, Steve Jones and City Counselor Dina Nguyen gave the Recognition Award to the two Masters Nguyen Duc Thuan, Nguyen Ngoc Hai
Lieutenant Mayor of Westminster City, Tyler Diep, gave the Recognition Award to Master Nguyen Duc Thuan and Master Nguyen Ngoc Hai.
Pigeons on the dawn at Garden Grove Ave..
Honestly, after the trip from California, it’s been two months already and I still could not stop thinking about it. The meditation method is not only for some sick old man like me, but also for a lot of young folks who possess good knowledge and good education, from all over the world like US, Canada, Hong Kong, Vietnam,.. I have seen a lot of the bright smiles from them. Their happiness and joyfulness made me believe that UHBE would definitely spread further and further. Those young fellows would bring all of the Dharma Talks of our Masters and our Instructors to everywhere in the world like pigeons that I have seen in a very nice early morning in California, were waiting for the time to go …
Houston, 12-12-2011
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