Help Bat Nha Monastery

Posted Oct 17, 2009
Translated from Vietnamese

Letter written by the Bat Nha baby monks to the policemen.
Mid-Autumn 2009

Dear uncles in the police, we are writing this letter while our hearts have temporarily returned to peace.  We love you very much.  In order to give others peace and good sleep, you have had to work hard day and night against the criminals, sometimes forgetting yourselves on behalf of the people.  We are just “baby” monks with many aspirations and questions.  We are writing this letter to share our feelings with you, and we respectfully ask you to hear us out, so you may understand us better.

Tonight, the sky is clearer after Typhoon No. 9.  Lying by the window, we are welcoming the soft mid-autumn moonlight.  The refreshing breeze is carrying us back to Bat Nha, our beloved home.  Memories are flooding our mind, especially those of you, our uncles in the police.  Those memories frighten us but also make us feel much love towards you.  We recall the day you came to our dormitory to check our residential status.  When you asked for our Citizen’s ID cards, we responded with all kinds of pointed questions.  We felt uncomfortable immediately when you asked for our ID cards.  That was because we knew some of our elder brothers had to report to your Headquarters every day for work sessions once their ID cards had been confiscated.  We heard that our brothers had to go through these Q&A sessions right through lunch time, without eating.  My goodness!  Children like us would probably not be able to endure hunger like that.  We gather that adults would not like to be questioned so unexpectedly by children neither.  In our hearts, we wish none of this had happened.

An uncle in the police had reprimanded one of our older brothers, “How can these kids talk to us like that?  They are of our children’s age.”  Wonderful!  That comment actually made us feel so happy, because up until then, we were referred to as temple snatchers, traitors, and blind followers of propaganda.  Wouldn’t you consider us too young for such labels?  We had not expected you to be kind enough to consider us as your children.  But we realized that you could not help but love the image of us as young innocent kids in simple brown robes and full of life.  This image is completely different from the image of the teens in society outside today.  Unlike many other youths, we are so lucky not to be in an environment with a lot of peer pressure.  We have chosen for ourselves the path of freedom and happiness by cultivating a simple life – a life with few materialistic pleasures and a mind that is not attached to excessive materialism.  This path of practice makes it easier for us to accept situations and difficulties that others may find difficult to accept.  Normally, we develop hatred and vengeance towards those who cause us to suffer; but because of our practice of mindfulness, we react differently.

Dear uncles, do you know that sometimes you have caused us to suffer and to lose a certain faith in life?  Our hearts are too young to accept these actions that are startling and contrary to what we have learned in school.  All the cultural and moral values – of citizenship, of neighborhood, and of love for our country – have been deeply sown in our hearts.  Unfortunately, having been subjected to the recent contradictory events, we are now very much at a lost.  We have developed so much suspicion and have many unanswered questions.  What answers are there that can help us strengthen and maintain our faith in life?

When our brothers were beaten and dragged about, we tried very hard to be present for one another, and at the same time, to transform our violent emotions so as not to make the situation more difficult.  We accepted the brutal beating without reacting violently in order to maintain the beautiful loving kindness that the Buddha has taught us.  We saw that you also witnessed this assault.  We know that you were not happy to see us frightened children crying as we begged these aggressors to not take our elder brothers away.  We held on tight to our brothers despite the beating we received.  Some of us lost consciousness.  Unspeakable sufferings were in such violence!  The most moving image was that of our elder brothers throwing themselves under the taxis to prevent their brothers from being taken us away.  Many more heartbreaking images were witnessed that day. Brothers were being physically torn apart, with the sound of cries and screams – images thought only possible in times of war.  We were astonished to witness some of you uncles using force against us as we tried to block your way and keep our brothers.  We had to act in that way because we were afraid and extremely pained at the violence being committed.  In such an agitated state, we did not know how to act accordingly so as to discover a way out.

We waited for some time for you to come and rescue us.  And finally you came only to forcefully remove our brothers.  We could not help but to feel shocked and at a loss.

Inspired by our shared aspiration and the deep commitment of brotherhood with our elder brothers, we had to risk our lives to save them.  Can you still recall the sight of us trying to prevent you from taking our Elder Brothers Phap Hoi and Phap Sy?  We insisted to come along with these brothers but you did not allow it.  A few of us who tried to hold on to them were beaten.  Perhaps during the violent pandemonium, you were not aware that the ones you were beating are of 16-17 years old, possibly the age of your own children.  What a painful confrontation!  At that poignant moment, we could only look on, helpless.  Being young and also practicing of non-violence, how could we grapple with such stormy emotions?  We cried, and behind the tears, our eyes followed the vehicles taking our brothers away; gradually disappearing, leaving behind an afternoon full of sadness.

At that very moment, in our minds again came the daily reminder of our elder brothers, “Do not be angry at those who make us suffer, because they have their own difficulties and sufferings – even with the uncles in the police.  Sometimes they do not act kindly, but we should not have negative thoughts about them.  They also have families, wives and children, so they would know what proper behaviors are, but because of their own livelihood, they have to act certain ways.”  We kept hearing this message clearly in our heart.  Perhaps it is because we have been living and practicing in an environment with love and understanding, that at that moment, we did not feel any anger or bitterness towards you or the others who were causing us suffering.  Since then, we have been asked whether our faith in life and our love for our country and its people have been shaken by such suffering at such an early age.  Please rest assured that we have not been affected in that way and that facing these difficulties and hardships is good training for our minds.  We still love our country and our fellow Vietnamese with all their wonderful values.

Dear uncles, this letter is already long, and before ending it, we want to tell you from the bottom of our hearts that we are not angry at you.  We still respect you as our fathers and elder brothers.  When you have a moment during your tense and busy work day, please drop by for a visit.  We’ll have tea together.  We will sing for you and tell you funny stories of our lives – children’s stories of innocence and mischief.  Life is much in need of children’s laughter, don’t you think?  Beyond unhappiness, anger, blame and distrust, there is love and freshness, like moonlight tonight.

You will always be the ones we cherish and take refuge in.

Sincerely,

Your playful “baby monks.”