A Cultural Center in a Dream

A Buddhist cultural center with a library, martial arts classes, health cultivation, and more will help Buddhists no longer remain indifferent to the world, living fully with a heart of compassion.

In the dream, I saw a vast and clean grounds. There were low houses with graceful tiled roofs, interspersed with clusters of green bamboo. This is the Buddhist cultural center that the master has always dreamed of.

Here, pictures of every pagoda in the province are displayed. Each photo comes with information: the abbot or abbess, the phone number, and the address. A visitor arriving in Vinh Long comes here to look around, and whichever pagoda their heart feels drawn to, they set off toward it.

The library is open, with the Buddha's teachings (Dharma) arranged neatly on the shelves. In the afternoon, martial arts classes for children ring out with spirited shouts. There are health cultivation classes for older Buddhists, with gentle qigong exercises. On Sunday afternoons, ethics classes are held for children — parents entrust their sons and daughters to us, and when the children return home, they are free of their gaming addiction and know how to be filial and respectful.

In the dream, I saw monks and nuns studying here. The program combined learning with practice: keeping the precepts, purifying one's inner virtue, meditative concentration, and gathering the mind. Stepping out of the school, they were people who knew how to master themselves.

Crowds gathered in the square, sheltered beneath a roof, unafraid of sun or rain. Great festivals took place there, with tens of thousands of people, solemn and warm.

Then I woke up. The master said: "There will never be such a center if no one's heart is moved to make offerings."

But good news had already arrived: the provincial government had promised to grant additional land. Seventeen hectares, enough for this dream to become reality.

I sat up, my heart full of hope, knowing that every prayer, every generous heart offering its support, was helping to build a future.

The Meaning of the Story

A Buddhist cultural center is not only a place for practice, but also a center of education and culture, a place that nurtures the human spirit and helps people overcome the disease of indifference. When a disciple understands the Buddha's words, they will develop a deep and loving heart, see life clearly, and live to contribute and to serve. That is true happiness.

Compiled from a dharma talk by Venerable Thích Chân Quang