Aloha my dear friends. This is Dharma Pinkberry on Friday. This is for all of you, the young and the wonderful.

Long Nghi has been talking to me about how we can really understand each other by first, I give you some talks, and you can always ask me some questions, so that we can always have the kind of things going on so that we can better understand each other better.  For now, this is about a five-minute talk. I’d like to throw it out there for you.

Now pink berry, so why do I choose the word Pinkberry?  I know you all know Pinkberry, as you frequent there very often. Pinkberry is also a very wonderful kind, not only ice cream, but also frozen yogurt, that even I myself love very much. Do you realize that when I was very young, when I was in grade school, we did not have this kind of ice cream back then in Vietnam. What we had was a piece of ice, sweetened with a cheap syrup, and put on a stick. We would suck it. But really what it was, was a piece of ice sweetened on a stick, and all the sweetness we would suck out, and end up with a piece of ice. It was a very cheap kind of ice cream but we love it, every morning, or at school, or at break time, and we would go out and have that little tiny ice cream piece of ice. We would go out there and have that little bit of ice with the sweet syrup, really just a piece of ice with sweet flavour, but we love it. We used to eat it because it was so cheap and available, nothing to compare with real ice cream here, like the kind of ice cream that is available now, like Baskin and Robin, or Pinkberry. 

It’s such a blessing that we have Pinkberry. But back then no. I remember the first time we had the real ice cream when we went to a little tiny cart. Actually, not a shop but a cart. I remember the cart, the man pushing the cart and selling the ice cream. He had maybe 5-6 metal boxes with various kinds of flavours. And we can buy from him any flavours. It’s a little bit more expensive than the ice pop, but still very cheap.  I remember one day that my sister took me to eat some of this ice-cream, somewhere in Ngã Sáu, and we were standing there waiting for our ice cream to be scooped out.

I remember a vision that is still very haunting until now. I remember seeing a little boy, probably 4 or 5, and he was being carried by his sister, probably 9 or 10 years old. She held her brother, and her brother kept looking at us intensely. We got our ice cream and we ate our ice cream very happily, but the little boy kept looking at us. It was so haunting that my sister decided that ‘well, maybe we get an ice cream for you’. And so, she got up and got one scoop of ice-cream for that little boy.  And the little boy licked it, and he was so happy, his face was brimming with joy. And you know what, he wouldn’t eat it by himself, he gave to his sister too. And the sister also was so happy. And they were standing there, and they ate it together. And they came close to us and they said: “Cám ơn, cám ơn”. And that’s all they said, Cám ơn (Thank you). They didn’t say anything more. And they stood there and enjoyed the ice cream.

Why it so touched my heart? I almost cried because I never experienced that kind of joy that I, or my sister, can generate from someone at my age. At that time, I was probably 7-8-9 years old myself, about the same age as the boy’s sister. I was so touched.  I didn’t realize how someone can be so happy. And someone can be so, the transformation can be so clearly. At that time, I didn’t realize how much joy we can do to others. I didn’t have any clue about that. I’m just so touched, I almost cried to see the joy and happiness on the face of the little boy and his sister. I have no clue that this is the root for many goodness to grow from, to make someone happy. The appreciation from those two was so immense. While the sister kept saying “Cám ơn, cám ơn,”the boy looked at us, only 4-5 years, and you can look at that face, and you realize in that face something really deep and connects his heart with my heart. I still remember that face until now. I can still remember that face 50 years later.  And you can see how wonderful, wonderful, that an act of kindness can change people forever. And the imprint of that kindness.

Sometimes we think that we do something good for others, but actually others, the receivers, so profoundly affect the mind of the giver. Now in this case I was not the giver; my sister was the giver. I was just the person who witnessed the giving but I was so touched as well. So today when we talk about pink berry, it reminds me how important an act of kindness is, and how humble we all are. We may think that we have the power to give, but it is the receiver who has the power to open up our heart and mind. I hope you enjoy the dharma of Pinkberry today. And I hope you can all, like me, receive this wonderful light from others. And always try to find ways to reach out and open people’s heart as well. 

So, have a great day!

Dharma Master Heng Chang

Translated and transcribed by Compassionate Service Society