SYNOPSIS of
Dust Along the Path
by Vinh, Hao
“Giving up a confined love may be regarded one of life’s failures, but, that very giving up is the key to open a door to an immense spiritual love.” (Pitchline by Vinh Hao)
As a novice monk who was trained at an early age in the pagoda, Khang is absorbed in studying the religion and practicing meditation. When the communists took over the whole country, Khang had to face the realities of life by means of productive labour – which was highly regarded as an essential goal by the communists who not only called upon but cleverly forced people to be involved. As a witness to the immense sorrow facing the population, the absurd unjustice in the society that led millions of people to flee the country, thousands upon thousands were incarcerated in prison camps forever, everyday life was harsh and degrading, most real estates were confiscated, families were split up, properties of all religions were controlled and expropriated, young novice monks were either obliged to join the army or be at productive units dependent on their age…, those conditions resulted in Khang’s decision to make a personal commitment to helping people lessen their misery. While searching an appropriate way to accomplish his noble idea, he suddenly came across Nhu Nhu, a young beautiful girl in the city. Their innocent love blossomed in spite of the turbulent surroundings. But Khang was not completely tempted by that love. In him, there was a continuous unswerving call demanding for his own liberation as well as for others, not only in a spiritual term but also in a secular life.
From that inside urge plus confronting human suffering, Khang understood the meaning of fighting for the idea of freedom as a real symbol for a final liberation which all Buddhist monks always thought of, and “love”, though confined in itself, could be regarded as a manifestation of compassion, wishing to lessen the sorrow and to bring happiness to others. In those circumstances, the simple, and untainted psychology of the young mountain born monk became complicated and closed to reality. Love and sorrow in life became the objects for his contemplation… From an adolescent love he gradually moved to a fully sensual desire, from purely conforming texts to deep immersion with probing, questioning, and inquiring the reality of life.
But Khang suddenly realized that the selfishness of the ego in others as in himself always hid under those noble ideas, in order to greedily open their arms for possessions. Khang decided to leave the mountain before their rendez-vous hour arrived. In the middle of the mountain, Khang loudly called out her name, Nhu Nhu, which in that situation had the same meaning as the Buddhahood, the Buddha Nature, the Origin. That call was an earnest voice echoed from a dedicated mind and the determination to accomplish the final liberation of a young monk.