MYSTERIOUS LANGUAGES

(Chư vị tá khẩu – 3 người nghe ra 3 ngôn ngữ – Sent by Bạch Hạc on August 1, 2013, 20:31, translated by Horangi.)

My respects to To, Thay
Greeting to Brother DongQuan

On April 7th, 2013, I joined my friends A and B for a hangout at Bui Vien in District 1, Saigon. While at a snail coffee shop, I struck up a conversation with two English girls. It was intriguing to discover that they were sisters; the older one identified as Christian and was a vegetarian, while the younger one was an atheist.

After engaging in some conversation to get to know each other, I attempted to steer the discussion towards spirituality. The European guests then asked about my religious affiliation. In response, I mentioned that I considered myself multi-religious, believing in all religions.

Suddenly, my friend A, who adhered staunchly to materialism, interjected with what sounded like Khmer or a dialect of a mountainous tribe. His voice carried an unusual loudness with echoes, as if emanating from above, and there was a sudden burst of light behind him. However, once he ceased speaking, all three individuals present (the guests and my buddy B) exclaimed in surprise, remarking on the peculiar turn of events.

Perceiving a potential mystical occurrence, I turned to B, who had limited proficiency in English, and inquired in Vietnamese: “Hey, did you understand what A just said?” B responded with an eye-roll followed by hearty laughter. “Are you deaf, dude?” he exclaimed. “The guy was speaking Vietnamese, plain and simple. What’s wrong with you?”

Turning to my European guests, I inquired, “You understood what A said, didn’t you?” Both of them stared at me wide-eyed and replied, “Of course, A was speaking in our mother tongue.”

Feeling embarrassed, I attempted to excuse myself by saying, “A spoke too quickly for me to comprehend.”

The older sister kindly reiterated A’s words verbatim for me: “He means that he believes in Jesus, Mother Mary, Buddha, and Allah… However, he views them not as the ultimate Truth or the Supreme Being, but rather as highly esteemed beings within the heavenly hierarchy. He believes in a Creator, the highest authority who governs them all. According to him, terms like Bodhisattva, Buddha, the Lord, Allah, Brahma… are merely human constructs.”