Mysterious That Son: Legend of Buddha Master Tay An

Buddha Master Tay An was born in 1807 in Tong Son village, Cai Tau Thuong, Sa Dec province (now Dong Thap). His real name was Doan Minh Huyen, the founder of Buu Son Ky Huong religion. Many legends still circulate about his life.

Stranger sitting on the altar

According to Vuong Kim and Dao Hung (in the book Buddha Teacher Tay An ), in his youth, Buddha Teacher lived by farming. At the age of 43, he suddenly changed, often saying things that were both true and false, sometimes profane, sometimes holy, then left the village. With only a small boat, he went up Cai Tau Thuong canal to Xeo Mon canal and then to Kien Thanh village, Long Xuyen, living here and there, eating temporarily and sleeping in the temple.

Tay An Buddhist Master's Tomb

PHOTO: HOANG PHUONG

In the autumn of the year Ky Dau 1849, when the cholera epidemic was raging in the area, doctors and even sorcerers were helpless, the villagers were extremely scared because they had no way to prevent it. At that time, one early morning, at Kien Thanh communal house, when the monk went to the communal house to burn incense, he was startled to see a person sitting on the altar of the god. The monk tried to run away, but the person sitting on the altar shouted loudly to stop. After regaining his composure, the monk asked who he was that dared to sit on the altar of the god? The person replied: "The Buddha Teacher came to earth to save the world, it is me."

Still not believing, the monk was about to run away when the man repeated what he had just said. At that time, the monk asked, he claimed to be Buddha Teacher coming to earth to save the world, so now the villagers were suffering from an epidemic, did he have any way to save them? The man replied: "Where? Whoever has the epidemic, bring them here so I can save them." Since the eldest son of the village was sick, the monk immediately ran to tell the eldest son and brought his son. Indeed, the eldest son was cured.

The news spread quickly. More and more people came by boat to ask for treatment. The strange thing was that when people came to ask for medicine, Buddha asked for their names before giving it to them. If he did not give medicine to anyone, he could not save them. It was called medicine but it was just plain water. At first, he used the water offering cup on the altar to scoop water and give it to the sick. Later, he tore up yellow paper into finger-sized pieces and distributed it. He saved many people, so people respected him as a living Buddha.

Buddha Thay stayed at Kien Thanh temple for a few days and then moved to Ong Kien's valley, which is now the Tay An pagoda. In addition to giving talismans to cure diseases, he advised people to change their temperaments, to value humanity, to be honest, to do good and avoid evil, to be filial to their parents... Gradually, he had the valley transformed into a pagoda and worshiped according to the ritual: the main hall worshiped a red ceiling instead of a statue. On the Buddha altar, there were only flowers, water, incense and candles.

Buddha Teacher in trouble

Before Buddha Thay appeared, evil magic was very popular among the people. There were shamans, mediums, and witches everywhere. Lacking medicine, villagers would seek them out whenever they were sick or had questions about life. Now, Buddha Thay cures illnesses without charging, people are less superstitious, which has affected the reputation and interests of the other group. So they find ways to slander and harm Buddha Thay.

Ancient Xi'an Temple

Legend has it that there was a doctor who heard rumors that Buddha Thay only used plain water to cure cholera, so he mocked him, saying, "Even a doctor with a medical book like mine doesn't know if he can cure a disease, how can plain water cure a disease?" Having said that, the next day he contracted cholera. Despite using all his skills and prescribing all the medicine, his illness became more serious. His family saw that he couldn't handle it, so they asked Buddha Thay. When they asked his name, he laughed and said, "Why doesn't he take his own medicine and ask for my plain water?" Despite saying so, Buddha Thay still cured the disease.

If slandering did not lower the reputation of Buddha Thay, people would find other ways to harm him. In 1841, in Tra Vinh , there was a case of Lau Sam collaborating with some monks to cause a rebellion. The court had to send Nguyen Cong Tru and Nguyen Tien Lam to quell the rebellion. That group of rebels were called "traitors". Seeing that Buddha Thay's way of preaching was different from Zen, not worshiping Buddha statues but only having a red ceiling, they secretly accused Buddha Thay of being a traitor.

Sam Mountain

The story goes that the first officer Trung was sent by the governor to Kien Thanh village to bring Buddha Thay back to the province. When they arrived at the valley, the officer stood outside and shouted loudly: "Is this the Daoist's valley?" Buddha Thay replied yes. First officer Trung shouted loudly: "There is an order from the high-ranking mandarin, we must leave immediately." Buddha Thay asked to finish the midday offering and then leave, but First officer Trung refused. On the way, because of his rude nature, the officer insulted Buddha Thay and 3 days later suddenly became speechless...

According to the secret report, Buddha Thay had magical powers. Therefore, the mandarins arranged a test to see if he was a false Taoist. When Buddha Thay was brought in, they pointed to a wooden board with a cotton mat and said, "Please sit down, monk." Buddha Thay refused, "Please sit down first, I dare not be disrespectful." "It's okay. If I allow you to sit, then just sit down." "Your Majesty, if I say I dare not be disrespectful, I am disrespectful to Buddha, because I am a monk and I dare not sit while Buddha is lying down." "What are you saying? Are you mocking me?" Buddha Thay immediately stepped forward and lifted the mat to see the statue of Quan Am Buddha. But Buddha Thay was still taken to prison.

Haircut but no shave

One day, on the full moon day, people prepared a tray of rice and prepared 8 bowls of rice. They asked Buddha Thay if he was eating vegetarian or meat today? Buddha Thay replied that he was eating vegetarian today and then leisurely finished 3 bowls, then he took a 4th bowl and said: "If you want me to eat vegetarian food, I must finish it all." They were very surprised because the remaining 4 bowls of rice below all had fat.

Buddha Teacher surprised them even more when he asked, "Your Excellency, do you intend to tie me up if I accidentally eat salty rice?" They replied, "We dare not be disrespectful." Buddha Teacher immediately reached out to open the lid of the fruit, took out a rope, and said, "Here, Your Excellency, I have prepared this rope to tie me up." After many trials, the Governor of An Giang sent a memorial to the court, recognizing Buddha Teacher as a great monk who truly practiced. The court then issued an edict approving the memorial.

But during the ceremony to welcome the royal decree, another funny thing happened. After Buddha Thay finished cutting his hair, people wanted to shave his beard, but he stopped them, saying that the royal decree only taught to cut hair, not shave his beard. Everyone was surprised but had to accept it. ( to be continued )

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/that-son-huyen-bi-huyen-thoai-ve-phat-thay-tay-an-185251010231051829.htm