Finding Peace at the Start of the Year: Pray Not Just for Yourself

When spring arrives, Vietnamese people often spend the first days of the year visiting temples and praying. But have you ever wondered what truly brings peace? In a New Year's dharma talk, Venerable Thich Chan Quang offered a profound perspective on finding luck and happiness.

**Three Ways to Seek Fortune for the Year**

The Venerable explained that people typically seek fortune in three ways. The first is making offerings to a star to remove misfortune, a folk belief based on the idea that a star governs one's destiny each year. The second is praying for peace and safety for oneself and one's family, such as through a ceremony on the full moon of the first lunar month. The third and noblest way is to pray for the peace and prosperity of the nation and its people—to extend one's heart towards the country and homeland.

"This third level of seeking fortune for the entire year is far more sublime and greatly surpasses the previous two, precisely as in this great ceremony praying for national peace and prosperity."

When we pray not just for ourselves but for the nation, we are living for others and for society. This is the profound educational value that the Buddha's teachings (Dharma) bring.

**The Power of Sincerity**

Some believe prayer is just a formality, sent into the void. But the Venerable affirmed:

"Our every wishful prayer impacts heaven and earth. Do not think it is sent into the void."

He recounted the story of a super typhoon with winds of three hundred and seventy-five kilometers per hour about to hit the central region. Thanks to the sincere prayers of millions of Buddhists, the typhoon suddenly turned ninety degrees, sparing Vietnam. This demonstrates that the sincere heart of humanity can move heaven and earth.

However, sincerity does not mean reliance. He taught: "When we understand correctly, we live correctly, and we practice correctly. We revere correctly and make offerings correctly within moderation, within reason, and with our own responsibility in the nation's construction and development." True prayer must go hand in hand with concrete action: loving the country, living virtuously, and doing useful work.

**Living Without Indifference: The True Happiness**

Ultimately, what makes a follower of the Buddha valuable is not extravagant rituals, but a heart that knows how to love. The Venerable said:

"We come to the Buddha's teachings (Dharma) to not be an indifferent person in this life."

We live in indifference when we pass a thin child without looking back, or when we nod to someone with cold eyes. Practicing compassion is not just about sitting in meditative concentration every day; it is about learning to look deeply into each life to respect and love them. He shared:

"We walk down the road, see a small child toddling about and playing, and we just walk on. But if we are not indifferent, we look back at them for a few seconds... The loose trousers they are wearing are old and torn. We wonder why their family cannot mend them a pair of pants. They scurry about, and looking closely, they are frail. Clearly, this child is undernourished."

With just one look, a small moment of attention, we begin to heal the indifference within ourselves.

As the New Year arrives, try starting with a prayer for the nation and its people, and keep your heart wide open to the suffering of others. Because, as the Venerable taught, when we pray for national peace, we are truly contributing merit to our homeland. Prayer and the practice of compassion are how we find true peace.