Two plus two is four

One late-summer afternoon, pale golden sunlight stretched across the small path leading up to the temple. On the moss-covered stone steps, a young woman sat quietly, holding a stack of cassette tapes and discs she had just received. She smiled, her eyes bright as if she had just found something precious. She was a Catholic, but today she had come here to learn about the Buddha's teachings (Dharma).

The story began a few weeks earlier, after the Vu Lan ceremony at Phat Quang Temple. That evening, the temple welcomed quite a large number of Buddhists who stayed for the ceremony. Among them was an elderly visitor, also a Catholic. He attended, listened, observed, and then went home. But just as he got into his car, he discovered something that troubled him deeply: many people were wrapping up the temple's blankets, packing them carefully, and taking them away. He shook his head in dismay: "This blanket won't keep you warm—it will only make you cold!"

Back home, he wrote a letter of nearly a hundred pages and sent it up the mountain. He recounted in detail how he first came to know Buddhism, how he liked the teachings, bought tapes and discs to listen to, and then opened a small grocery store where customers who found the teachings wonderful would borrow them to watch. He praised many good things, but one thing weighed on his mind. He wrote: "Why do you, the teacher, reject Christ, reject God? This universe operates according to such precise laws—who created those laws? There must be a creator!"

He asked: "If someone criticized your Buddha, would you feel offended? This is a major global religion, well organized, and it is not right for you to reject it that way."

After reading the letter, the teacher had not yet had a chance to respond because he had to leave. At noon today, this Catholic young woman came, and she relayed the man's question to the teacher. The teacher smiled, looked at her, and asked:

"Now, would you answer a question for me: what is two plus two?"

Surprised, she replied: "It's four."

"So this fact that two plus two equals four—did God create it? Did God decree that two plus two must be four?"

She fell silent, listening attentively.

The teacher continued: "If you believe that two plus two equals four because God decreed it, then you may believe that all the laws of the universe come from God. But if you see that two plus two equals four is a natural, objective truth that no one needed to establish, then you may also believe that all other laws are equally objective. While we wait to find that answer, let us live loving one another, help each other escape suffering (dukkha), and together build this planet into a place of peace and goodness. Do not let religion divide us."

The young woman sat quietly, her eyes brimming with tears. She had never heard anyone answer so gently yet so profoundly. She bowed to the teacher and left, her heart feeling lighter.

From then on, she still came to the temple, still listened to the dharma talks, and still kept her own faith, but she had learned to see with a more open mind, no longer viewing any religion as an enemy. And she often retold the story of "two plus two" to her fellow Catholics, as a gentle reminder: live well first, and everything else will become clear.

The meaning of the story

The lesson the teacher wished to convey: Do not rush to believe anything without verification, whether it is the teaching of a religion or the achievement of science. A small error at the beginning can lead us astray for a lifetime. In the face of differences in belief, keep the mind and heart open, live with love, and help one another—that is the most solid foundation of all.

Compiled from a dharma talk by Venerable Thich Chan Quang