A father in a family treats all his children with equal love and care, whether they are big or small, smart or foolish. Why? It is because their physiognomy depends on which child is born first or latter and their intelligence depends on how studious they are. After all, they remain the children sharing the same blood line. Thus the duty of the parents and grandparents must do their best to educate their progenies, help them secure an accommodation, career, asset and land. The love remains the same but the level of affection and reward vary in degrees, that is, vary depending on each child’s behavior. Why? those who are filial, harmonious, compliant, and respectful, will receive more affection and reward from their parents than the disobedient and brute. For those who are difficult to educate, the parents only think of groaning and can’t give them their affection. For those who are thrifty, take care of their father’s property, or do not let it be damaged, their father will daily reward them, but do not do so to the children who are prodigal, destroy their assets, commit what sullies their lineage’s reputation! For those children, their parents and grandparents have to bring themselves to put up with the ridicule and reproach from others, that situation which is more than enough for them to take in. It is impossible for them to reward those children.

By the same token, voila! Buddha is toward the sentient being and His disciples like the father to the above children. Buddha loves all the sentient beings, no matter whether they are clever or daft. He loves all the disciples even if some of them are lazy. It is because each sentient being has a different karma to every other, for their level of practice, but each of them has their buddha hood. Thus, Buddha’s compassion is based on His misericordia for the sentient being, but His level of closeness and blessing depends on each disciple’s commitment to His teachings, observing precepts, adoration of the good thing that Buddha will be closer to them than to those who have been taught many times but who did not listen. Buddha often rewards those who adore the Buddha’s scriptures, enthusiastically abide by the precepts, being prudent in their speech or action, not to let others deride or smirk their Master. For those disciples who have faked practice, do not comply with their Master’s teachings, nor keep precepts, the Buddha from above and their Master from below will resort to compassion to receive the complaint from the outsiders, and they shall in no way stay close to and bless such dishonest persons.

Bac Lieu, 24 August Nhâm-Ngũ (1942)
( SGTVTB 2004 , 447-449 )