LETTER First December 2009
THE INNER POWER MANTRA FOR BREATHING
At
our Training Sessions in PISA last October (2009) you have learned the quyen Ky-Mon.
In this quyen the movement 11.a (see page 60 in the book SU-LO, KY-MON QUYEN)
means: “Searching the book Bat-Nha”. The correct training of this movement
requires that your legs must be crossed and the body lowered while you are
taking a long and deep breathing. Advanced training could be staying in this
posture up to one minute or more. This information is for the level of Hinh
and Thuan
, now how about the Y (meaning)
of this movement 11.a ?
The
“lyrics” of this movement said:
“Searching the book Bat-Nha”.
The book Bat-Nha is a very well known book
called Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra. Don’t run right away to the bookstore close
to your place for having a copy of it! “Searching” in the context of KY-MON
means put all your efforts in reaching the essence, the most important part, of
the teaching of the Heart Sutra.
What
is a sutra? This term is from Sanskrit: sutram. It
is used in both Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, sutra is for any of various
aphoristic doctrinal summaries produced for memorization, generally between 600
and 200 B.C.E.; in Buddhism, a sutra
is a scriptural narrative, a text or a book, regarded as a discourse of
the Buddha. The Heart Sutra is a small book consisting of only 260 words, as people
traditionally counted and reported (I discovered that this counting of words
was wrong, in fact the book has a number of words much less than 260, however
this issue is not part of the aim of this letter). Now the challenge is finding
the core, the essence of the Heart Sutra which is already a condensed version
of a giant sutra called Prajnaparamita which means the
perfection of wisdom. Many learned people
agreed that the core teaching of the Heart Sutra is at the last paragraph of
the Heart Sutra, it is a mantra, as follows: “gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha”. A mantra is a sacred verbal formula repeated in prayer, meditation, or
incantation, or a syllable or portion of scripture containing mystical
potentialities. This mantra is very well known and the Vietnamese pronounce it
in their language as:
“Yet-de
yet-de bala yet-de bala tang yet-de bo-de sa-va-ha”
« Go, go, go beyond, go really beyond, reaching universal
Enlightenment »
This mantra is really popular and powerful. Around the world, every day
millions of people are repeating it. But for us, we should put aside the
religious aspect of this mantra, and discover its profound and universal
teaching. In my understanding, we could make the mantra even much shorter, it
could be just a word: “GO”! This is not “go”
as in “you go to the market”, it
should be a great sound of “GO” which
carries the power of an earthquake helping people to change and reach universal
Enlightenment. That is the way I am practising this highly respected mantra.
The mantra should be connected to our Breathing Methods, our practise of the
Five Sounds, our dynamic Meditation, our daily training of Body and Mind.
Happiness, Inner-Power, Good Health, Respect are things we should gain by our
own efforts following our chosen daily training. Being a teacher is being able
to discern a new way from a beaten path. Do not sit and repeat this mantra,
make the mantra walk, run, chant, breathe with your everyday!
Last Saturday, 28th November 2009, solicited by the
organizers of a fundraising event to support disabled people, the Viet-Chi
Center in Ottawa has accepted to present two performances at the theatre of the
Ottawa University. There were about eighteen groups from diverse backgrounds
and countries presenting beautiful dances: modern dance, belly dance, folk
dance, and VIETTAICHI. The theatre was full with three hundred people and our
performances were highly appreciated and applauded. I executed the THAP BAT
DIEU/ 18 Birds, and Tue-Tinh Loc Mai presented the “Yet-De” Breathing, showing
the way how we train ourselves, keeping the teaching of the Mantra in mind and
using two sticks to express the philosophy on duality and unity. Tue-Tinh Loc
Mai has presented a wonderful performance.
I wish you and your family all the best,
HAPPINESS and GOOD HEALTH.
«Yet-de
yet-de bala yet-de bala tang yet-de bo-de sa-va-ha ».
Phan-Hoang
