LIFE OF BUDDHA CUỘC ĐỜI ĐỨC PHẬT

LIFE OF BUDDHA	CUỘC ĐỜI ĐỨC PHẬT
BBC Documentary	BBC Documentary
Five hundred years before Christ a young prince set out on a journey. He would travel through pain and suffering to reach nirvana - the everlasting bliss we all dream of. Symbol of peace Symbol of compassion, symbol of non-violence. He was the Buddha. He grew up in a palace surrounded by luxury. In his teens his privilege afforded him every indulgence. But he gave all this up - to gain ultimate wisdom. He would travel the darkest corridors of his mind to come face to face with the devil inside him. He founded the first world religion, followed today by over  million people - a religion where meditation is used to reach a state of complete peace and happiness. Our own potential our own effort to know the ultimate reality. And the events of his life make up one of the greatest stories ever told - and the Buddha the world's most enduring icon. Two and a half thousand years after his death the Buddha's message lives on. The Dalai Lama - the spiritual figurehead of Tibetan Buddhism - passes on the teachings of the Buddha - continuing a practice that began the day he died. Buddhism has been adopted by many different cultures and has many interpretations. The Buddha's teachings of a higher mental calm and clarity are seen by some as a religion, others a philosophy, even a psychotherapy. Some people describe Buddhism is not a religion but Buddhism is science of mind. The Buddha's message is as relevant today as it was two and a half thousand years ago. What has made Buddhism so popular is that it is insightful and largely true that the Buddha discovered immensely important things. Unlike other religions, Buddhism, which centers on the mind, has no supreme God. Instead a great teacher - the Buddha or the Awakened One. It seems very almost intuitive to an age in which psychology becomes for many people an alternative to religion it's the means it's a therapeutic means to dealing with the problems of life and so it seems very accessible to many people. There are many representations of the Buddha - and Buddhists all have their own picture in their minds of what he was like. Some kind of vibration of complete peace, non-violence I think that must be there. Until little more than one hundred years ago the life of the Buddha remained unknown to the West. By the time the British colonized India - the country of the Buddha's birth - Buddhism had all but died out, destroyed by Hindu kings and Muslim invaders. The origins and the sites of the Buddha's life became lost to everyone. It wasn't until British colonial archaeologists began to explore Northern India that their discoveries began to root the Buddha's life in historical fact. In the xxx 's, a series of archaeologists began to try and identify the sites associated with the life of the Buddha. By the xxx 's many of these sites had been successfully identified within the Ganges area, but that time two of the great sites connected with Buddhism were still missing, the site of Lumbini, where the Buddha had actually been born, and the site of Kapilavastu which was the childhood home of the Buddha. The area to the north of the Ganges was less well known, partly because of the very thick jungle there, tigers as well as malaria. It took a breakthrough discovery to unlock the story of the Buddha's origins. In a remote village across the border in Nepal a pillar was discovered. A British expedition was sent out to decipher its inscription. The script is the early Brami script and the language is a local vernacular language of Northern India and indeed the inscription itself depicts that this is where the Buddha, the enlightened one was born. This was the first piece of evidence to suggest that the Buddha was not just a legendary figure - he actually existed. Ancient Buddhist texts had named the Buddha's birthplace as Lumbini and now the archaeologists had it located on the map. Now they tried to find the Buddha's childhood home - an ancient city named in the texts as - Kapilavastu. It was apparent that it was located to the west perhaps  or  kilometers to the west of Lumbini and that is where the search began to intensify. Expeditions uncovered two possible sites for Kapilavastu - one in India the other in Nepal. For a hundred years archaeologists have argued over them. New research by Dr Coningham and his team suggests the ancient city lay at modern day Tilaurakot - in Nepal. It's an extremely exciting site because it is so well preserved, we conducted that a series of geo physical surveys and we then identified a series of roads laid out and it became a clear that the entire city in its final phrase had been laid out on a girded pattern. At its centre lay a palace. It is here that the Buddha's story begins. Two and a half thousand years ago Northern India was divided up into Kingdoms and republics. The Buddha's father – Sudhodana - was the elected chieftain of the Shakya tribe. He ruled his kingdom from his palace near the foothills of the Himalayas. His queen was called Maya. Legend tells that on the night of the full moon she had an extraordinary dream. It told that a special Being known as the Buddha was about to be born again on earth. The legend goes on that Four Guardian deities of the world carried Queen Maya up to the Himalaya mountains in her bed. They anointed her with divine perfumes and decked her with heavenly flowers. A white elephant with six tusks descended from heaven, carrying a lotus flower in its trunk, and entered her womb. The Buddha would be born of Maya. If one looks at this story of the Buddhist conception and compares it to say the conception story of Jesus, where you have angels appearing. I suppose a similar basic idea is there. That the forces which are beyond are signaling that something great is happening. Its said that the Buddha chose the time and the place that he would be reborn. The baby boy was named Siddhartha - meaning 'every wish fulfilled'. But his mother fell ill after giving birth and died a few days later. Siddharta was brought up by his aunt. The family summoned Brahmin priests and then a trusted palace soothsayer to predict the young prince's future We're told that he noticed the auspicious signs of a great being upon Siddhartha's body, including the mark of a wheel upon his feet. It's said that the Buddha was born with certain marks on his body the so called  marks of a great person. They are seen as appearing on the body of two kinds of people. One who will become the Buddha and one who will become a world Emperor. His father was quite keen on the idea that his son would become a great political leader. So this is why it is said that he cosseted his son, to prevent him seeing things which might send him in a religious direction. Everyone knew the signs meant Siddharta was exceptional, especially the King. But as he watched his inquisitive young son growing up he worried about these predictions - that one day his son would abandon the palace and become the spiritual leader rather than stay to become chief of the Shakyas. As Siddhartha grew older his father was delighted to see the boy's exceptional ability at the princely sports of fencing, wrestling and archery. But he also noticed that Siddharta was a deeply thoughtful and curious child. He appeared to be more interested in trying to understand the nature of the world around him than in military pursuits. For the King these were the most important skills young Siddharta should learn if he was to become a leader of men. Siddhartha was expected to become the future King and defender of Kapilavasthu - one of the very first cities in Northern India. The Palace where Siddhartha grew up has long since crumbled away. Its mud and wood construction have left nothing for archaeologists to examine. But more durable materials have recently been discovered at Tilaurakot. We cut a trench  meters by  meters and eventually We had a very clear sequence at the site and then we began to be somewhat surprised by identifying a material known as painted greyware which is basically a flat bowl with black paint. This tiny fragment has huge significance. Dr Coningham believes it was made in the xxx th Century BC - at the time Siddhartha was growing up in the palace. What we have is a centre of small industry - We are probably dealing with a settlement that we would even hesitate to call a city today - centered around a large courtyard belonging to the ruler. And the majority of the population living in the agrarian hinterland. It was this hinterland, lying beyond the city walls that fascinated Siddhartha. So when at the age of nine his father allowed him out to celebrate the annual ploughing festival he eagerly participated. His first glimpse of reality beyond the palace walls would open a door for Siddharta to a new vision of the world and would become the turning point of his life. The story recalls that he watched a farmer ploughing. He saw the toil and effort, struggle and repetition of this back-breaking work, something he'd never seen in the palace. He managed to slip away from the festivities and be alone. This first experience of real life had a profound effect upon him. To everyone else this was a celebration - but to Siddhartha it symbolized something quite different. He felt his mind leading him into a contemplative state. He watched the plough as it cut and parted the ground and noticed a bird eating a freshly unearthed worm. He asked himself why living beings have to suffer in this way. If the farmer had not been ploughing the bird would not have eaten the worm. He realized that everything was connected and that all actions had consequences. This simple observation would become one of the corner stones of his teachings - known as karma. As Siddharta's mind focused on these profound thoughts he slipped into a trance or jana - a mental state which would become his first step on the road to enlightenment. He was sat under a tree and he was just focusing on the plough going through the earth. And its said while doing that he fairly Naturally went into a meditative state called a first Jana. Which was very very joyful and happy. And which he later uses as part of his spiritual path. The connection to Buddhist meditation is the focusing on something which has a calming centering effect. Possibly also the idea of compassion for the worms being killed as the plough went through the earth. So I suppose one would see this as just part of his rather special nature. The young prince's behavior deeply unsettled the King. Brahmanism - the religious tradition of the time - insisted that sons should follow in the footsteps of their fathers. One of the things that I think makes this narrative so powerful is, again we can imagine this scene of his father trying to protect his son encountering any suffering. Now the reason for doing this is that there has been a prophesy that he'll either become a universal monarch or he'll become a renunciant who will gain enlightenment. His father of course wants him to become a king to follow in his footsteps. As Siddhartha grew up his father did all he could to tempt him to stay inside the palace. He tried to create a perfect and seductive world for him to live in. As was Customary for a prince, Siddhartha was offered beautiful maidens to entertain him with music and to pleasure him with their physical beauty. When Siddhartha reached the age of sixteen the King even found him a beautiful bride - Princess Yasodhara. Siddharta had to compete for her hand and the King was delighted how skillfully his son fought off the competition. The King began to convince himself that palace life was beginning to suit his son at last. But this was wishful thinking and Siddhartha pestered his father to allow him out of the palace. Unable to refuse his son's wishes any longer, the King desperately set about clearing every eyesore from the surrounds of the palace. Like a Hollywood film set, the sick, the poor and the old were all deleted from the fantasy presented to the young prince. Despite his father's efforts, Siddhartha's first taste of the outside world would reveal stark realities. With the naivety of a child he set out with Chana, his charioteer, as his guide. The prince would make four journeys and see four signs - as predicted by the palace fortune teller. Early Buddhist texts place great importance on this point in the story as each journey would reveal to Siddhartha an aspect of life which had been deliberately hidden from him. On his first trip Siddhartha went out into the country, away from his father's influence. He noticed an old man painfully making his way through a village. He asked Chana what was wrong with the man and Chana explained the process of ageing to him. Siddhartha was alarmed when he learnt that ageing is inescapable and happens to us all. For Siddhartha, reality was beginning to unveil a cruel picture of the world. - Where misfortune and suffering appeared to dominate every aspect of life. The second sign was soon to follow when Siddhartha noticed a sick man, his features twisted with disease. He asked Chana if anyone could become sick and again he was shocked when he learnt the brutal truth that we all can. The protective wall of fantasy around him was beginning to crumble. And the further the young Prince ventured the more of life's horrors confronted him. Now he saw a corpse, bound in linen, being carried to the funeral pyre - and the story records that Siddhartha is appalled to discover not only that all men are mortal, but also that it was a Brahmin belief that after death we are all reborn - to suffer and die time and time again. There seemed no end and no solution to life's miserable and inevitable cycle. The Buddha's life is an allegory because the most important point in it is that here is a young man who is brought up with every luxury and he realizes that isn't enough because he has a shock. He has a shock because for the first time he encounters old age, disease and death. It's not plausible to think that growing up as an intelligent youth he wouldn't have known anything about it. The point is rather to convey the tremendous impact that coming face to face with these fundamental facts of human existence, has and must have upon us, and that it's urgent that we do something about it. But it was the fourth sign that would definitively point to Siddharta's future - a man wearing a simple robe with a begging bowl before him. Why should anyone want to give up the pleasures of the world to wander the countryside, begging? Asked the prince. Chana explained that the man had renounced such pleasures in order to confront reality and seek answers to this painful existence. The account of the four signs I see as quite an effective story way of putting certain existential realizations we all know we are going to get old we all know we are going to get sick we all know we are going to die in our heads but its very different to sit down on day and realize here no is not just other people who get old sick and die its I'm going to get old I'm going to get sick and I'm going to die and I think the story accounts are trying to portray that moment of existential realization where you see it for the first time you are going to die and you know it and you taste it. When Siddartha returned to the palace after this fourth journey his mind was reeling with his new understanding of the world. The fruits and flowers around him would rot and wither away. Even the walls of the palace would one day crumble. His wife had just given birth to a beautiful child. But they would both one day grow old, become ill and die. It was inevitable. He had learnt the meaning of impermanence and saw it in everything around him. Siddharta knew he had to leave his family to seek answers to the questions that tormented him, even though this meant abandoning his wife and son. Against the tradition of his family and the Brahmin religion, Siddhartha left home to find his own answers to life's suffering. One story recalls how a hypnotic mist sent the guards to sleep allowing him to escape with Chana, through the Eastern Gate of the palace. It is said that beside the river Anoma, he removed his jewellery, exchanged his robes for rags and cut off his long hair. He asked Chana to carry them back to the palace. Siddhartha was alone for the first time. He had at last escaped the false world of palace life where suffering had been swept out of sight. Now he needed to come face to face with reality, if he was ever to find a solution to the pain of existence. Siddhartha was confronted by suffering on a scale he'd never seen before when he arrived in the cities. And within those cities people were being thrown together, at times there was perhaps an increase in disease and suffering. Some people have seen this as a particular trigger for the Buddha's emphasis on suffering. It accentuated a universal problems that any human being in any society faces. Siddhartha realized that if he was to find an answer to the suffering surrounding him, he would have to challenge the Brahmin religion under which everyone lived. What the Brahmins had was sacred knowledge this sacred knowledge centered on knowing certain texts called the Vedas the word Veda itself simply means knowledge and the implication is that that was the only knowledge which was really worth having. With their sacred knowledge, Brahmin priests oversaw every stage of life, from birth to death. Their blessing was essential but their knowledge could only be handed down to their sons. The position of Brahmin families remained assured - until a new wave of thinkers began to challenge this. It was a time when Brahamism, early form of Hinduism was being questioned, it was a little bit like the time of the ancient philosophers such as Plato and Socrates in Ancient Greece. People debating arguing with people and the Buddha tried to cut a way through that. He described the context as a welter of views a jungle of views. As Siddhartha explored this jungle he realized that the solution to life's suffering needed to be available to everyone, rather than an exclusive few - like the Brahmin tradition. The Buddha disagreed with the Brahmins and he said one does not become a Brahmin by birth one becomes a Brahmin by living well one does not become an outcast by birth one becomes an outcast by living badly. Now that's a wonderful and important thought its like saying in our society a true gentleman is not one who is born into a particular family but one who behaves properly. Siddhartha traveled further on his search into Northern India. He was looking for an alternative way of life that attempted to overcome the suffering he'd seen around him. He was interested in all the new philosophies but he wanted to go further - to reach deeper into his mind. He now decided to focus on the technique of meditation and sought out the leading gurus of the day. There been broadly speaking two kinds of meditation in ancient India. Which consisted in putting yourself under various kinds of pressure by controlling your breathing or sometimes fasting or undergoing other forms of discomfort and the aim is really to obtain what we call altered states of consciousness. So they would think that they had climbed to very high plains in the universe. They're not taking this literally, its not that they think that they go five thousand feet up in the air, so to speak but they think that there are certain planes which become more and more abstract such things as the plane of infinity of space and that's followed by the plane of infinite consciousness as you got and then the plane of infinite nothingness, these were the sorts of things the Buddha definitely must have learnt from his teachers. It is said that Siddhartha, so excelled at mediating that he attracted a group of five followers and his teachers asked him to stay on and take over their schools. But Siddhartha decided that this practice alone was not the answer to the problem of suffering and rebirth or reincarnation. He set out to explore other techniques - this time focusing on his body. So he then goes to try another method which is harsh asceticism. This involved things like fasting, not washing, meditations where you hold your breath for a very long time and its very forceful willful way. Ascetics may starve and even mutilate themselves. For them the physical body is a barrier to spiritual liberation. By shedding their attachment to the body they will cleanse the mind and liberate the soul. Siddhartha tried to achieve this state of liberation. He fasted for so long his life hung by a thread. 'All my limbs became like the knotted joints of withered creepers, my buttocks like a bullocks hoof, my protruding backbone like a string of balls, my gaunt ribs like the crazy rafters of a tumbledown shed. My eyes lay deep in their sockets, their pupils sparkling like water in a deep well. As an unripe gourd shrivels and shrinks in the hot wind, so became my scalp. Just as Siddhartha was about to die of starvation a young girl saved his life by giving him a bowl of rice and milk. He now realized that if he starved himself again he would simply die having achieved nothing. And the story says that he is living on one grain of rice a day. He's practically starved himself to death and realizes that disciplining the body through extreme self renunciation, aestheticism inflicting pain upon the body that doesn't solve the problem. When his five followers saw Siddhartha had given up his fast they lost faith in him. They no longer believed he had the strength to live up to his spiritual convictions and abandoned him. He feels he tried what's on offer, they haven't worked, and its at this stage that he remembers meditation that he went into spontaneously in his teens/ and he thinks, maybe that is a way through to awakening because its not taken up the desires of the body but it is very joyful and happy. By chance Siddharta came across a musician tuning his sitar. When the string was too slack it would not play. When it was too tight it snapped. Somewhere in the middle lay tuneful harmony. Siddhartha realized that this simple observation signified something of great importance. It was the middle way that would lead him to the state of mind he was looking for - to a state of tuneful harmony - enlightenment. But how could he achieve it? And the way that Buddha eventually uses is what one could call mindfulness or awareness of the body, which neither ignores it nor tries to forcefully master it, but it's a kind of middle way. The middle way led Siddhartha through the countryside. He had been traveling for six years, He had experienced pain and suffering and had stretched the boundaries of his mind. But he'd still not found the inner peace and harmony he was searching for. The state of absolute wisdom and everlasting bliss known as Enlightenment. Siddhartha arrived at Bodh Gaya. Here his torment would end. He sat down beneath a tree and vowed not to leave until he had reached ENLIGHTENMENT. 'Flesh may decay, bones may fall apart, but I will never leave this place until I find the way to enlightenment.' He's no longer giving himself a hard time, he's not stressing himself unbearably, he's not undergoing anything painful, he thinks, well life is painful without taking the trouble to make it more painful, but let me just calmly think things out, think of how life works. He starts to focus the mind by attention to the slow movement of the breath coming and going out a refined sensation which exists in the body just around the nose in a way which starts to lead to the mind quietening, stilling, settling, gathering, purifying. Siddhartha's mind was now so focused that he could successfully enter the darkest reaches of his unconscious. It was now that he would face his final and greatest torment. The demon Mara - the Lord of Ego and illusion appeared before him. He could make any horror real in Siddhartha's mind. It's very important to remember that Mara this demon king is not like the Christian Satan because he isn't a tempter and he isn't any kind of counterpart to God, he is purely psychological forces which we have within us, Mara unleashed an army of demons to attack Siddhartha. They fired flaming arrows at him. But mid flight Siddhartha turned them into lotus blossoms and they fell harmlessly around him. Having failed Mara then tried to seduce Siddhartha with his tempting daughters. He's assailed by the demon king who is the same time death and desire very Freudian that in a way desire is death, death is desire and in fact the Demon king offers him his three daughters who are both passion or lust and aversion where it is equally bad if you shy away from this and say it is disgusting you are also a slave to passion - and he can be completely calm and indifferent and just gaze at them without any feelings of attraction or repulsion. The faces of Mara's daughters began to rot before Siddharta's eyes. The evil daughters then disappeared into the earth. It is in fact you could say the Buddha's very recognition that Mara is an aspect of himself the total recognition of that is his enlightenment. The earth is said to have trembled as he dispelled the devil. Siddhartha, now aged, passed through four Janas to reach enlightenment and become the Buddha - or Awakened One. He then spent  days beneath the tree in a meditative state of absolute bliss. This is seen as a state where the mind is incredibly refined and sensitive, and an image might be of a lake, which is totally still, which would register even an insect on the surface. So this is seen as a state where the mind is very, very powerful as an instrument of knowledge, very sensitive. In this highly attuned state, the Buddha saw way to escape the inevitable cycle of old age sickness and death. He realized that if we remove desire we can remove dissatisfaction and suffering from our lives. A key cause of the painfulness and frustration of life is craving kind of demanding desires. So There's a general mismatch between how you want things to be and how they actually are. The insight the Buddha attained beneath the tree was the birth of Buddhism - a religion followed today by million people. The Buddha summed up his wisdom in four noble truths which are the foundation of all Buddhist beliefs. The first noble truth recognized that there is suffering in life. The second diagnosed the cause of that suffering - desire. In the third truth, like a doctor, the Buddha revealed that there was a cure for desire. And in the fourth noble truth he gave the prescription - how to cure the illness and achieve Enlightenment or Nirvana. The ultimate aim was to reach a state of mind completely free of craving, ignorance, greed, hatred and delusion, thereby free of all the causes of future rebirth when an enlightened person dies they're seen as going beyond rebirth to a state beyond if you like space and time and not coming back so that is seen as a state of liberation. The Buddha would further teach that morality, meditation and wisdom were the stepping stones to enlightenment. He would dedicate the rest of his life helping others to follow this path - towards freedom from suffering. As his followers grew in number he went on to set up a school or Sangha Today a temple stands beside a descendant of the very tree under which the Buddha became enlightened. The monks here have become a living library of the Buddha's teachings. Chanting his sacred words beneath the Bodhi tree of Enlightenment is seen by Buddhists to give special power to their practice. The chief monk is responsible for preserving this tradition at the temple. The most important thing is the practice of his teachings. Practice diligently, be ever mindful. So now I say I explain Buddhism in two words, practice mindfulness. The path to enlightenment begins with the focusing of the mind and following a number of commandments. Morality, meditation and wisdom. So not to kill, not to steal, not to have any sexual misconduct, not to tell a lie and not to have indulge in intoxicating drinks or intoxicants. This was the way of life established by the Buddha in the very first sangha. After eight years he went back to the palace and the family he'd abandoned. We're told his father now forgave the Buddha for the deep hurt he had caused. King Sudhodhana now realized the importance of his son's quest. His stepmother even begged to join his sangha and she went on to become history's first nun. The Buddha is justified in the eyes of all Buddhists of even leaving his wife and child to go on his solitary journey to try and find what the solution to life's problems is and how life should be lived and for him how life should be lived is the question infinitely more important than having any possessions or even the company of loved ones. The Buddha was to abandon his family again. He set out to teach, for forty years - passing on to his followers the wisdom he had attained beneath the bodi tree. But before he left he ordained his son as a monk. The Buddha encouraged his followers to live together in a monastery or Sangha - to help them focus on the path to enlightenment. Some people become a monk purely to meditate, purely to practice meditation, purely to practice the life of a recluse. Some become a monk to work for the propagation of the religion. Monks from all over the world come to live in monasteries established around the temple of the Bodi Tree. Non-Monks or lay Buddhists, come here too, to learn from them. Monks must be celibate and give up every selfish desire. And that is the one part of the training to get rid of self tendencies, tendencies to always think about yourself and put yourself fully in the context of the community of the sanga Then when all the sacrifices have been made the hard work begins - committing long chants or mantras to memory. Mantras such as this have a purpose - they are designed to test the monk's memory, concentration and commitment to the Buddha's teachings. Over the centuries his message has evolved into a number of different traditions, with their own interpretations and monastic practices. But the Buddha taught that lay people can also follow the path to eternal bliss and ultimate wisdom. Most westerners are not drawn to Buddhism as a way of leaving society behind they're drawn to the practical of meditation as a way of being more effective within society and that's a way in which the message of Buddhism takes on a very different caste because it becomes a form of self improvement a way of dealing with the stresses of life a way of clarifying your goals and objectives. Many westerners are especially attracted to Buddhist meditation. I think all of us sometimes glimpse that magic and mystery of the moment what meditation does is to help us touch that more often, it helps us to be more calm and controlled in our mind and we can create conditions that allow us to come into a state of awareness of interdependence, of impermanence, of nirvana. Some schools of Buddhism believe the Buddha was superhuman a magical figure who consorted with gods and performed miracles. Others that he was no more than a human being and they believe it is this that adds power to his message. There is no doubt that the Buddha wished to be remembered as a human being with human frailties not perhaps frailties of the intellect or moral frailties but certainly physical frailties and the Buddha suffers from back pain towards the end of his life he suffers from various physical complaints and weaknesses. The Buddha would die at the age of eighty from a common illness - food poisoning. It is said that before passing away he fell into a deep trance on his journey from this world to Nirvana - a state of eternal bliss - free at last from rebirth, free at last from suffering and death. A council was assembled to record for posterity the Buddha's teachings. These were learnt by heart and handed down the centuries by generations of monks. The Buddha's body was cremated. And his remains were preserved. They were enshrined two hundred years later by India's first Emperor King Ashoka who converted to Buddhism. He built vast monuments or stuppas and erected pillars to mark the key sites of the Buddha's life. Asoka then becomes an absolutely key figure, both in terms of the actual spread of Buddhism but then as a model for future Buddhist leaders throughout Asia they look back to Ashoka as the kind of ideal king and supporter of Buddhism. So far as we know the Emperor Asoka who ruled over two thirds of modern India in the middle of the 3rd century BC, helped monks to send out missions to countries bordering India, missionaries were sent up into Kashmir to Nepal and certainly Sri Lanka. They converted the king, the king give his patronize to Buddhism and Sri Lanka has therefore been a Buddhist country from that day to this. And in country after country we know over many centuries that this is the way that Buddhism was successfully implanted. Ashoka's pillars outlived Buddhism in India - they withstood Muslim invasions and survived to catch the attention of the first colonial archaeologists. This gave a very significant impetus to the revival of Buddhism - the desire to go back to the places associated with the Buddha. Imagining Buddhism for people in the West but these investigations also become the basest for a revival within Buddhism in Asia. Today the sites associated with the Budha's life attract tourists and pilgrims flock to Bodh Gaya to follow in the Buddha's footsteps, hoping to find, as he did, eternal peace and happiness and a cure for suffering and death. It's a great irony that after the Buddha's death the person who preached of the uselessness of ritual and also the uselessness of personality cult became the object of ritual worship and as big a personality cult as has ever existed in history. Buddhist temples have been built in Bodh Gaya representing the different traditions from around the world. Buddhism, in all its forms, has come home, to the Bodi tree, to the place where once a prince reached enlightenment and became the Buddha. The Buddha attained enlightenment on that fleeting moment of a wink, this moment, fleeting moment is the time that takes to realize that moment cannot be explained. That special moment gave birth to the first world religion - A religion without a God where the path to Nirvana lies in the mind of each and every one of us.

David McCullough Jr.’s commencement address: You’re Not Special Diễn văn của David McCullough Jr. tại lễ phát bằng tốt nghiệp: Các em không phải là người đặc biệt

David McCullough Jr.’s commencement address: You’re Not Special	Diễn văn của David McCullough Jr. tại lễ phát bằng tốt nghiệp: Các em không phải là người đặc biệt
Dr. Wong, Dr. Keough, Mrs. Novogroski, Ms. Curran, members of the board of education, family and friends of the graduates, ladies and gentlemen of the Wellesley High School class of 2012, for the privilege of speaking to you this afternoon, I am honored and grateful. Thank you.	Thưa tiến sĩ Wong, tiến sĩ Keough, bà Novogroski, bà Curran, thành viên của hội đồng giáo dục, gia đình và bạn bè của sinh viên tốt nghiệp, quý bà và quý ông của lớp học năm 2012 của trường Trung học Wellesley, tôi xin cảm ơn quý vị đã cho tôi đặc quyền nói chuyện với quý vị buổi chiều nay, tôi lấy làm vinh hạnh và biết ơn.
So here we are... commencement... life’s great forward-looking ceremony. (And don’t say, “What about weddings?” Weddings are one-sided and insufficiently effective. Weddings are bride-centric pageantry. Other than conceding to a list of unreasonable demands, the groom just stands there. No stately, hey-everybody-look-at-me procession. No being given away. No identity-changing pronouncement. And can you imagine a television show dedicated to watching guys try on tuxedos? Their fathers sitting there misty-eyed with joy and disbelief, their brothers lurking in the corner muttering with envy. Left to men, weddings would be, after limits-testing procrastination, spontaneous, almost inadvertent... during halftime... on the way to the refrigerator. And then there’s the frequency of failure: statistics tell us half of you will get divorced. A winning percentage like that’ll get you last place in the American League East. The Baltimore Orioles do better than weddings.)	Thế là, chúng ta có mặt ở đây... lễ phát bằng tốt nghiệp ... cuộc sống tuyệt vời với buổi lễ hướng về phía trước. (chứ không phải là đám cưới? "Đám cưới thì phiến diện và không có hiệu quả đầy đủ. Đám cưới là quang cảnh hào nhoáng với cô dâu là trung tâm. Thay vì chấp nhận một danh sách các yêu cầu vô lý, chú rể chỉ biết đứng đực ở đó. Không có đám rước trang nghiêm, kiểu như nào-mọi-người-hãy-nhìn-tôi-đây. Không có gì đem cho. Không có tuyên bố gì gây khác biệt. Và các bạn có thể tưởng tượng một chương trình truyền hình dành riêng để bạn xem bọn con trai mặc thử lễ phục? Cha của họ ngồi đó mắt mờ lệ vì vui và hoài nghi, anh em của họ ẩn trong góc lẩm bẩm lời ghen tị. Riêng với nam giới, đám cưới hẳn là, sau khi trì hoãn thử nghiệm các giới hạn, có tính tự phát, gần như vô ý ... trong nửa đời còn lại chỉ là ... bước đến tủ lạnh. Và sau đó là tần số thất bại: số liệu thống kê cho biết một nửa các bạn sẽ ly hôn. Một tỷ lệ thắng thế như vậy sẽ giúp bạn có được vị trí cuối cùng ở giải Đông Mỹ, đội Baltimore Orioles vẫn chơi tốt hơn so với đám cưới.)
But this ceremony... commencement... a commencement works every time. From this day forward... truly... in sickness and in health, through financial fiascos, through midlife crises and passably attractive sales reps at trade shows in Cincinnati, through diminishing tolerance for annoyingness, through every difference, irreconcilable and otherwise, you will stay forever graduated from high school, you and your diploma as one, ‘til death do you part.	Nhưng trong buổi lễ tốt nghiệp hôm nay là một sự khởi đầu mới. Từ ngày hôm nay trở về sau, ngay cả khi đau ốm và khỏe mạnh, mặc những khủng hoảng tài chính, khủng hoảng tuổi trung niên, cùng những sự tha thứ cho những lần nóng nảy, vượt qua mọi khác biệt tưởng như không thể hòa giải và rất nhiều điều khác, các em sẽ mãi mãi tốt nghiệp trung học và cầm tấm bằng chứng nhận của các em đến cuối đời.
No, commencement is life’s great ceremonial beginning, with its own attendant and highly appropriate symbolism. Fitting, for example, for this auspicious rite of passage, is where we find ourselves this afternoon, the venue. Normally, I avoid cliches like the plague, wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole, but here we are on a literal level playing field. That matters. That says something. And your ceremonial costume... shapeless, uniform, one-size-fits-all. Whether male or female, tall or short, scholar or slacker, spray-tanned prom queen or intergalactic X-Box assassin, each of you is dressed, you’ll notice, exactly the same. And your diploma... but for your name, exactly the same.	Không, buổi tốt nghiệp này là một nghi lễ khởi đầu tuyệt vời của cuộc sống, với những người tham dự và những nghi thức thích hợp. Thông thường, tôi ghét nói những gì sáo rỗng, nó thường rất vô nghĩa, nhưng tại đây chúng ta đang ở trên một sân chơi bình đẳng. Đó chính là vấn đề. Điều này nói lên vài thứ. Và những đồng phục nghi lễ khuôn mẫu… không có hình dáng khác biệt, không có kích cỡ, một cái vừa cho tất cả. Dù các em là nam hay nữ, cao hay thấp, mọt sách hay lười biếng, nữ hoàng ăn chơi hay là sát thủ X – Box, mỗi người đều mặc bộ trang phục này, các em có thể dễ dàng nhận thấy, chúng giống nhau đến từng chi tiết. Và bằng tốt nghiệp của các em, ngoại trừ cái tên các em ra thì cũng đều giống hệt nhau cả.
All of this is as it should be, because none of you is special.	Tất cả điều này hiển nhiên như nó phải thế, bởi vì chẳng ai trong các các em đặc biệt.
You are not special. You are not exceptional.	Vâng, các em chẳng có gì đặc biệt. Các em không phải là trường hợp ngoại lệ nào cả.
Contrary to what your u9 soccer trophy suggests, your glowing seventh grade report card, despite every assurance of a certain corpulent purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and your batty Aunt Sylvia, no matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save you... you’re nothing special.	Cho dù các em có đọat những chiến tích lẫy lừng trong đội bóng U9, cho dù các em được đánh giá ở hạng xuất sắc trong số các học sinh lớp 7, cho dù các em nhận được bao nhiêu chứng nhận về văn chương, như Mister Rogers hay Aunt Sylvi, cho dù các em tham gia vào bao nhiêu cuộc diễu hành đòi công lý... các em cũng chẳng có gì đặc biệt.
Yes, you’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped. Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you and encouraged you again. You’ve been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored. You’ve been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie. Yes, you have. And, certainly, we’ve been to your games, your plays, your recitals, your science fairs. Absolutely, smiles ignite when you walk into a room, and hundreds gasp with delight at your every tweet. Why, maybe you’ve even had your picture in the Townsman! And now you’ve conquered high school... and, indisputably, here we all have gathered for you, the pride and joy of this fine community, the first to emerge from that magnificent new building...	Vâng, ngày từ nhỏ các em đã được nuông chiều, nâng niu như trứng, dìu dắt, bảo bọc từng chút…, những người lớn có khả năng sẽ làm nhiều thứ để dẫn dắt các em, ôm hôn các em, cho các em ăn, lau miệng, tắm rửa cho các em, dạy dỗ, huấn luyện, lắng nghe, khuyên răn, khuyến khích, an ủi và thúc đẩy các em hãy đứng lên và bắt đầu lại. Các em bị tán tính, lừa phỉnh, nài nỉ. Các em chỉ toàn nghe những lời ngon ngọt nồng nhiệt. Vâng, chính xác là vậy. Và dĩ nhiên họ có mặt trong tất cả những trò chơi, vở kịch, màn độc tấu và hội chợ khoa học của các em. Những nụ cười nồng cháy khi các em bước vào một căn phòng, và mọi người há miệng thích thú mỗi lần các em nhoẻn miệng cười. Và bây giờ các em đã chinh phục được trường trung học. Không thể phủ nhận, tất cả chúng tôi ở đây là vì các em, với niềm tự hào và đầy hứng khởi của cộng đồng…
But do not get the idea you’re anything special. Because you’re not.	Nhưng đừng bao giờ lầm tưởng các em có chút gì đó đặc biệt. Vì các em không hề đặc biệt.
The empirical evidence is everywhere, numbers even an English teacher can’t ignore. Newton, Natick, Nee... I am allowed to say Needham, yes? ...that has to be two thousand high school graduates right there, give or take, and that’s just the neighborhood Ns. Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than 37,000 high schools. That’s 37,000 valedictorians... 37,000 class presidents... 92,000 harmonizing altos... 340,000 swaggering jocks... 2,185,967 pairs of Uggs. But why limit ourselves to high school? After all, you’re leaving it. So think about this: even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you. Imagine standing somewhere over there on Washington Street on Marathon Monday and watching sixty-eight hundred yous go running by. And consider for a moment the bigger picture: your planet, I’ll remind you, is not the center of its solar system, your solar system is not the center of its galaxy, your galaxy is not the center of the universe. In fact, astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center; therefore, you cannot be it. Neither can Donald Trump... which someone should tell him... although that hair is quite a phenomenon.	Các bằng chứng thực nghiệm có ở khắp mọi nơi, những con số này ngay cả những giảng viên người Anh cũng không thể phớt lờ. Newton, Natick, Nee… tôi được phép nói Needham, phải không nào?… Có 2000 sinh viên tốt nghiệp trung học tại đây. Mỗi năm có ít nhất 3,2 triệu học sinh tốt nghiệp từ hơn 37.000 trường trung học trên toàn quốc. Đó là 37.000 học sinh tiêu biểu của các trường, 37.000 chủ tịch hội học tập, 92.000 giọng ca nổi bật, 340.000 vận động viên… Nhưng tại sao lại tự giới hạn chúng ta ở trường trung học thôi? Hãy thử nghĩ xem. Nếu cả triệu người mới có một người như các em thì trên thế giới 6,8 tỉ dân này sẽ có tới gần 7.000 người như các em. Hãy nhìn toàn cảnh. Hành tinh của chúng ta không phải là trung tâm Hệ mặt trời, Hệ mặt trời không phải là trung tâm Ngân hà, Ngân hà cũng chẳng phải là trung tâm vũ trụ. Các nhà thiên văn đã khẳng định vũ trụ không có trung tâm đâu, do đó các em không thể là “cái rốn” của vũ trụ. Ngay cả tỉ phú Mỹ nổi tiếng Donald Trump cũng vậy, mặc dù ông ta thực sự là một hiện tượng. Ngay cả tỉ phú Mỹ nổi tiếng Donald Trump cũng không có gì đặc biệt
“But, Dave,” you cry, “Walt Whitman tells me I’m my own version of perfection! Epictetus tells me I have the spark of Zeus!” And I don’t disagree. So that makes 6.8 billion examples of perfection, 6.8 billion sparks of Zeus. You see, if everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. In our unspoken but not so subtle Darwinian competition with one another–which springs, I think, from our fear of our own insignificance, a subset of our dread of mortality — we have of late, we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement. We have come to see them as the point — and we’re happy to compromise standards, or ignore reality, if we suspect that’s the quickest way, or only way, to have something to put on the mantelpiece, something to pose with, crow about, something with which to leverage ourselves into a better spot on the social totem pole. No longer is it how you play the game, no longer is it even whether you win or lose, or learn or grow, or enjoy yourself doing it... Now it’s “So what does this get me?” As a consequence, we cheapen worthy endeavors, and building a Guatemalan medical clinic becomes more about the application to Bowdoin than the well-being of Guatemalans. It’s an epidemic — and in its way, not even dear old Wellesley High is immune... one of the best of the 37,000 nationwide, Wellesley High School... where good is no longer good enough, where a B is the new C, and the midlevel curriculum is called Advanced College Placement. And I hope you caught me when I said “one of the best.” I said “one of the best” so we can feel better about ourselves, so we can bask in a little easy distinction, however vague and unverifiable, and count ourselves among the elite, whoever they might be, and enjoy a perceived leg up on the perceived competition. But the phrase defies logic. By definition there can be only one best. You’re it or you’re not.	"Nhưng, Dave", các em đang hét lên, "Walt Whitman nói em là phiên bản của sự hoàn hảo! Epictetus nói em có tia lửa của thần Zeus" Và tôi không đồng ý. Vậy thị chẳng lẽ có đến 6,8 tỷ ví dụ của sự hoàn hảo, 6,8 tỷ tia lửa của thần Zeus. Các em thấy đấy, nếu tất cả mọi người đặc biệt, thì chẳng có ai đặc biệt cả. Nếu tất cả mọi người đều được khen thưởng, danh hiệu trở nên vô nghĩa. Có một điều chúng ta không nói ra nhưng ai cũng hiểu là, học thuyết của Darwin bắt nguồn từ một nỗi sợ hãi vô hình của con người, đó là nỗi sợ hãi bị diệt vong – hiện nay chính chúng ta gây nên sự sợ hãi cho chính mình, chúng ta yêu sự hư danh hơn là những thành tựu thật sự. Chúng ta xem chúng như những yếu tố quan trọng - và chúng ta vui vẻ thỏa hiệp với các tiêu chuẩn, bỏ qua thực tế, nếu chúng ta nghi ngờ đó là cách nhanh nhất, cách duy nhất để có một cái gì đó để ghi dấu ấn, một cái gì đó để khoe mẽ, một cái gì đó với thúc đẩy mình vươn lên một bậc cao hơn của xã hội. Không còn đơn giản là cách thức các em vận hành trò chơi, thậm chí không nằm ở vấn đề chiến thắng hay thất bại, học hỏi tiếp hoặc phát triển, hoặc dám thân làm việc gì đó ... Bây giờ vấn đề nằm ở câu hỏi "Vậy điều này có thể mang lại cho tôi cái gì?" Kết quả chúng ta đang rẻ mạt giá trị của sự nỗ lực. Đó là một loại bệnh dịch và theo cách này thì ngay cả trung học Wellesley - một trong số trường trung học tốt nhất trong 37000 trường trung học trên toàn quốc - cũng không miễn dịch. Chỗ tốt không đồng nghĩa với tốt đủ. Và tôi hy vọng các em hiểu ý tôi khi tôi nói "một trong những trường tốt nhất." Tôi nói "một trong những trường tốt nhất" để chúng ta có thể cảm thấy tốt hơn về bản thân mình. Tuy nhiên, theo logic chỉ có thể có một thứ tốt nhất. Các em tốt nhất hoặc các em không.
If you’ve learned anything in your years here I hope it’s that education should be for, rather than material advantage, the exhilaration of learning. You’ve learned, too, I hope, as Sophocles assured us, that wisdom is the chief element of happiness. (Second is ice cream... just an fyi) I also hope you’ve learned enough to recognize how little you know... how little you know now... at the moment... for today is just the beginning. It’s where you go from here that matters.	Nếu các em đã học được điều gì đó trong suốt bao nhiêu năm qua, tôi hy vọng đó là tri thức và niềm đam mê nghiên cứu chứ không phải là những bảng ghi thành tích. Tôi cũng hy vọng rằng các em đã nghiệm ra câu mà viết kịch người Hy Lạp vĩ đại Sophocles đã nói với chúng ta: "Trí thông minh là yếu tố chính để tạo nên hạnh phúc". (Tất nhiên, trong một vài trường hợp cá biệt, hạnh phúc có thể là một que kem!). Tôi cũng hy vọng các em đã học đủ để nhận ra rằng các em đã học ít thế nào, các em đã học ít đến mức mà hôm nay mới chỉ là bắt đầu. Các em đã đến đây từ vị trí nào, đó mới là vấn đề.
As you commence, then, and before you scatter to the winds, I urge you to do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance. Don’t bother with work you don’t believe in any more than you would a spouse you’re not crazy about, lest you too find yourself on the wrong side of a Baltimore Orioles comparison. Resist the easy comforts of complacency, the specious glitter of materialism, the narcotic paralysis of self-satisfaction. Be worthy of your advantages. And read... read all the time... read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life. Develop and protect a moral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it. Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself. Love everything you love, everyone you love, with all your might. And do so, please, with a sense of urgency, for every tick of the clock subtracts from fewer and fewer; and as surely as there are commencements there are cessations, and you’ll be in no condition to enjoy the ceremony attendant to that eventuality no matter how delightful the afternoon.	Và  khi các em vừa bắt đầu, trước khi các em nghĩ đến chuyện bay cao bay xa, hãy tập làm bất cứ thứ gì, có thể cả những thứ chẳng có có ý nghĩa gì chứ không phải chỉ là những điều các em thích hay cho là quan trọng. Đừng bực bội vì những việc mà các em không tin tưởng, vì như thế các em sẽ cảm thấy nhàm chán chính bản thân mình, cũng đừng đem bản thân so sánh một cách lệch lạc với những người như Baltimore Orioles. Hãy giết chết cảm giác tự mãn và dễ dàng thỏa hiệp, cảm giác mọi thứ dường như đều có lý hay cảm giác tự bằng lòng trong trạng thái tinh thần u mê. Hãy làm cho bản thân xứng đáng với những gì mà các em đang cố gắng. Và hãy đọc, đọc mọi lúc, đọc như một nguyên tắc của bản thân và như một cách để tôn trọng chính mình. Coi việc đọc như nguồn sống của cuộc đời. Hãy phát triển và bảo vệ một giá trị đạo đức bằng cách đưa ra các lập luận để chấp nhận nó. Hãy mơ những giấc mơ vĩ đại. Hãy làm việc cật lực. Hãy nghĩ cho bản thân mình. Hãy yêu tất cả những thứ các em thích và những người các em cảm mến bằng tất cả tấm lòng của mình. Và hãy làm tất cả những điều đó, như thể các em đang bị thúc giục, mỗi giây mỗi phút, từng chút một. Hãy tin bữa tiệc nào rồi cũng tàn nhưng các em đừng bao giờ tham gia vào một cuộc vui khi đã đến lúc tàn, cho dù buổi chiều hôm nay có rực rỡ đến thế nào.
The fulfilling life, the distinctive life, the relevant life, is an achievement, not something that will fall into your lap because you’re a nice person or mommy ordered it from the caterer. You’ll note the founding fathers took pains to secure your inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness–quite an active verb, “pursuit”–which leaves, I should think, little time for lying around watching parrots rollerskate on Youtube. The first President Roosevelt, the old rough rider, advocated the strenuous life. Mr. Thoreau wanted to drive life into a corner, to live deep and suck out all the marrow. The poet Mary Oliver tells us to row, row into the swirl and roil. Locally, someone... I forget who... from time to time encourages young scholars to carpe the heck out of the diem. The point is the same: get busy, have at it. Don’t wait for inspiration or passion to find you. Get up, get out, explore, find it yourself, and grab hold with both hands. (Now, before you dash off and get your YOLO tattoo, let me point out the illogic of that trendy little expression–because you can and should live not merely once, but every day of your life. Rather than You Only Live Once, it should be You Live Only Once... but because YLOO doesn’t have the same ring, we shrug and decide it doesn’t matter.)	Cuộc sống đang hoàn thiện, cuộc sống có khác biệt, cuộc sống có sự liên quan, đó là thứ mà các em hiểu được chứ không phải là một thứ gì đó được nhồi trong máy tính hay mẹ bắt các em làm. Các em sẽ nhìn thấy những người cha bị thương để bảo vệ cho quyền được sống, được tự do của con mình. Và theo đuổi niềm hạnh phúc đó là một động từ chủ động. Nhưng tôi nghĩ, "theo đuổi" ở đây có nghĩa là từ bỏ những khoảng thời gian các em nằm nhà để xem những con vẹt đang nói chuyện trên Youtube. Tổng thống Roosevelt nhiều tuổi vẫn cưỡi ngựa và sống một cuộc sống tích cực. Tác giả Thoreau vẫn muốn cố gắng sống thật ý nghĩa, rút hết sinh lực để cống hiến cho các tác phẩm. Nhà thơ Mary Oliver dạy chúng ta phải chiến đấu, chiến đấu trong những cơn bão tố. Điều quan trọng ở đây đó là các em phải làm cho mình luôn bận rộn và chiến thắng các mục tiêu. Đừng chờ đợi nguồn cảm hứng và sáng tạo tự tìm đến với các em. Hãy tỉnh dậy, ra ngoài và bùng nổ, tự tìm thấy nó và giữ chặt nó trong tay. (Và giờ đây, trước khi các em vội vã ra ngoài để "tậu" một hình xăm YOLO cho đúng phong trào, hãy dừng lại một chút để tôi chỉ ra điều phi lý ở đây. Rõ ràng các em không chỉ sống một lần mà mỗi ngày các em có một cuộc đời. Đừng nghĩ là "các em chỉ sống một lần" mà hãy nghĩ là là "các em sống một lần tốt nhất". Và hình xăm YOLO thì không mang lại cho các em những giá trị ấy, vì thế chúng ta nên quyết định nó chẳng có ý nghĩa gì cả.)
None of this day-seizing, though, this YLOOing, should be interpreted as license for self-indulgence. Like accolades ought to be, the fulfilled life is a consequence, a gratifying byproduct. It’s what happens when you’re thinking about more important things. Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. Go to Paris to be in Paris, not to cross it off your list and congratulate yourself for being worldly. Exercise free will and creative, independent thought not for the satisfactions they will bring you, but for the good they will do others, the rest of the 6.8 billion–and those who will follow them. And then you too will discover the great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself. The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you’re not special.	Tuy nhiên, cũng không nên lấy việc ai đó xăm một hình đang thịnh hành làm bằng chứng cho lối sống buông thả, hãy coi đó như một hệ quả hoàn hảo mà quá trình hoàn thiện cuộc sống chúng ta có thể đã tạo ra và trải qua. Vấn đề là khi nào chúng ta có thể nghĩ về những thứ quan trọng hơn. Leo lên đỉnh núi không phải để cắm cờ mà là để vượt qua thách thức, tận hưởng bầu không khí và ngắm nhìn quang cảnh rộng lớn xung quanh. Leo lên đỉnh cao là để các em có thể nhìn ngắm thế giới chứ không phải để thế giới nhận ra các em. Hãy đến Paris để tận hưởng cảm giác đắm chìm trong Paris chứ không phải lướt qua đó để ghi Paris vào danh sách các địa điểm các em đã đi qua và tự hào mình là con người từng trải. Tập luyện những suy nghĩ độc lập, sáng tạo và táo bạo không phải để mang lại sự thỏa mãn cho bản thân mà là để đem lại lợi ích cho người 6,8 tỷ người trên trái đất của chúng ta. Rồi các em sẽ phát hiện ra sự thật vĩ đại và thú vị mà những kinh nghiệm trong cuộc sống mang lại, đó là lòng vị tha mới chính là điều tốt đẹp nhất mà các em có thể làm cho bản thân mình. Niềm vui lớn nhất trong cuộc đời thực ra lại đến vào lúc các em nhận ra, các em chẳng có gì đặc biệt cả.
Because everyone is. Congratulations.  Good luck.  Make for yourselves, please, for your sake and for ours, extraordinary lives.	Bởi tất cả mọi người đều như thế. Xin chúc mừng. Chúc các các em may mắn. Hãy tạo dựng cuộc sống phi thường cho bản thân các em vì lợi ích của các em và của mọi người.
David McCullough	David McCullough
http://www.theswellesleyreport.com/2012/06/wellesley-high-grads-told-youre-not-special/