Videos
Music and poetry in traditional cultures tend to be spiritual in nature. They remind us of our more profound connection with one another, the land, and the world at large. The following is a small collection of songs that reach that ascendant state and bring out our common humanity from within. Enjoy!
Our E-books
Yes, we generate our own e-books to share what we do. Although so far, we have only one author, Brandon Hoang Nguyen, he writes out much of what various members in our group and our collaborators think and talk about over the years. Trying out new solutions is hard, but not as hard as living with the same old problems. And it helps to have someone like Brandon to put ideas and concepts on paper, so our group can work on solutions more cohesively and confidently.
Linh Mục Lương Kim Định's
vision of Viet culture
Do you think Viet culture is just a set of random beliefs, traditions and behaviors? The answer is Yes and No. Although the Viets had a multitude of cultural influences both internally from the Cham and Khmer, etc..., and externally such as from the Chinese and the Europeans, Father Lương Kim Định saw a unity of spirit that he called An Vi (harmonious living). His insight is devoid of religion and politics and is very optimistic. Certainly, there are strands of knowledge to be gained from his books, and you can read them here. They are all in Vietnamese though, sorry!
Fr. Lương Kim Định (1914-1997)
llinked to Wikipedia
Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh's wisdom for the ages
One of the most well-known Buddhist Zen teachers of our time, Thích Nhất Hạnh could be the most influential Buddhist psychotherapist in the world given his many books and talks about basic mental health. He frequently came to San Jose and lead meditation sessions, attended by many CQF members.
Listening with love and mindfulness like a Bodhisattva is the key to healing others, and the inspirational message behind our Việt Tâm support group model.
We cannot post his books online due to copyright. His books can be bought on Amazon.com.
See the birth of modern Vietnamese script (chữ quốc ngữ)
Fr. Alexandre de Rhodes (1593-1660) link to Wikipedia.
Paulus Hùinh Tịnh Của (1834-1907) link to Wikipedia
2000 years ago, the Viets did not have a writing system. Every ideas had to be memorized and transmitted through speech. Ooh! what's a pain!
Then the Viets adopted Hán Chinese script. For what we lost through Chinese domination, we gained a great communication tool as well as knowledge. But the Hán script was difficult to learn, and only few had learned it. Chinese script draws out meanings and not sound.
A Jesuit priest, Fr. Alexandre de Rhodes, came to Vietnam on a Portuguese ship and wrote the first Vietnamese dictionary using the Latin alphabet to convey sound. It was the Vietnamese, Portuguese and Latin dictionary in 1651. Then in 1895, a Vietnamese Catholic Confucian scholar Huỳnh Tịnh Của brought the Viet writing system into modernity by compiling the first complete Vietnamese writing system using the Latin alphabet alongside the original Hán script.
You can view both of these documents here, and appreciate the hard work and inventiveness of these scholars who helped make literacy more universal for Vietnamese.