[Vnbiz] Staying to be a leader

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear CACC,

Eventually I would like to go expand more on the point I wrote on my last
message.  For now, I just would like to stress, again, one important point
for us, the intellectual.   As far as the nation is concerned, we are the
brain of the nation.  If the brain is bad, the nation goes nowhere.

And the job of the intellectual is to think clearly and comprehensively, to
provide the mental directions for the nation.  So we have to learn to think
with discipline and courage.  We have to have the courage to think
independently, the courage to make our own judgment, the courage to say what
we believe as the truth, even if the truth hurts.  We may have to hurt some
persons or organizations when we say the truth.  But difficult of all, we
may have to hurt ourselves when we face the truth.

Intellectual without the ability to think independently is brain dead.
Intellectual without the courage to say the right thing is mute.

We are the brain and the voice of our people.  Let's our job!

Have a great day!

Hoanh



On 3/28/07, Tran Dinh Hoanh <tdhoanh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear sis Thu Huong & CACC,
>
> Great response, Thu Huong.  Thanks, sister.  Sorry I've been a little busy
> in the last couple of days, so I couldn't respond earlier.
>
> "How could a leader listen to the voice of his nation?"  I am not sure
> that there is a "true" answer to this question.  I pose the question with
> the intention  to use it similar to a co^ng a'n (koan) in the Zen ( Thie^`n)
> tradition.  In Zen Budhhism training, a koan is a question posed by a Zen
> master to his student, not really for the purpose of getting answer but for
> the purpose of leading the student into a strenuous search for an answer
> (which sometimes may take years and years).  The journey to find the answer
> is the key, not the answer itself.  Once the student has started that
> journey, he will start to discover truth after truth for himself.
>
> In the same spirit, I pose the question just so that we all can keep it in
> mind and be on a journey for a possible answer.  Each of us will be on a
> different journey and will find somewhat different truths for him/herself.
>
>
> Back to your answer, that is a very good answer. Thanks, sister.  Let's us
> just explore your answer a little more.
>
> 1.  The Golden Rule:  Probably you're already aware of this.  The first
> point you mention is called the Golden Rule in the western world.  Actually,
> there are two golden rules, almost identical,  On the written record, the
> first one is by Confucius (Khong Tu) which says "Don't do to others what you
> don't want to be done to you."  The second one is by Jesus, who went a step
> more positive: "Do to others what you would have done unto you."
>
> It is interesting that you cite the golden rule as a key element of
> listening.  It is so true.  The ability to put oneself into another's shoes
> (in the golden rule) would be the first requirement to help us understand
> others, so that we can listen to them effectively.
>
> 2.  History: Absolutely.  One must know his nation's history in order to
> understand his nation, to listen to his voice.  But watch out, history may
> be written with bias .  Say, I am sure that the VCP writes history and
> teaches history to every student in the country with its own viewpoint, or
> we Vietnamese would of course writes our history the way that favors us
> (Everyone in the world does that).  So we need to figure out a way to read
> history with an open mind.  Try to read more than one point of view, and
> make our own analysis and reasoning.
>
> Now let's mention some other points:
>
> 1.  Today, of course, in addition to the media, all kinds of researches
> and pollster use all kind of survey to help a leader understand his
> people.  But my observation is that these polls are so superficial and
> primitive that thy don't help much at all. A good leader would have the
> insight about his people so deep and so accurate that none of the polls may
> even compares.
>
> 2.  Culture:  Culture of a nation is similar to the personality of a
> person.  The more we understand a person's personality, the better we can
> listen to him accurately.  History itself is a part of culture.  And
> everything under the sun is culture, from economic life, to religion, to
> poetry, to food and fashion.   The more we understand our culture, the
> better we can hear the voice of our nation.
>
> Since everything under the sun belongs to culture, let's narrow it down to
> a manageable size:
>
> a.  Understand the core cultural legends, such as Au Co Lac Long Quan, Phu
> Dong Thien Vuong, etc.  The kind of historical legend that we learn when we
> were little.  These story are not real, but they carry the "dreams" of a
> nation, which are an important part of a nation's psyche.
>
> b.  Poetry, especially folk poetry (ca dao tuc ngu):  Nothing brings out
> people emotion a poetry.  It is a written record of the people's emotion.
>
> Music is similar to poetry.
>
> c.  Religion:  Nothing is more important to a person's psyche than his
> religion.  And almost everyone belongs to some religion.  This makes
> religion a very important part of  a nation's psyche.
>
> For Vietnam, you want to at least be familiar with Buddhism and
> Christianity.
>
> To study Buddhism and Christianity, you want to study first what the
> Buddha Shiddartha (Phat Thich Ca) and Jesus teach.  You need to study
> yourself (by reading things on the Internet or the Bible).  Buddhism could
> be confusing. You can ask me and I will show you how to study it
> effectively.
>
> Be careful of listening to monks and priests.  By my observation, 70
> percent of the monks do not understand the gist of the Buddha teachings.
> And 70 percent of the priests and pastors do noy grab the gist of Jesus
> teachings.  They are more into church politics and status.  So, as an
> intellectual, you need to read things yourself and study yourself.
>
> After you understand clearly the gist of the Buddha and Jesus teachings,
> we can start to learn about the church' and temple's teachings and
> practices  (and don't be surprised of you find that many of these practices
> are indeed anti-Christ and anti-Buddha).   Then,study general beliefs  and
> practices of the mass.
>
> And when you study religion, study the riligions' political roles in
> history, especially the messy contemporary history (of the last 100 years or
> so).
>
> c.  Pay attention to the cultures of Dong Bao Dan Toc as much as we can,
> because they think and feel different from the Kinh.
>
> d.  Pay attention to the current culture of the young and the restless.
> They are bring in new elements to our cuture every day.
>
> 3.  Finally we need to train ourselves to synthesize all the information
> every well so that we have the ability to feel the pulse of the nation, feel
> when it is happy, when it is upset, what is really wishing for, what is not,
> etc.  Once we have developed that "feeling" we can know a nation better than
> the lines on our own palms.  Then we can hear it very well.
>
> Great day, Thu Huong and all.  Keep thinking.  Keep chiping in.
>
> Hoanh
>
>
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
> Attorney of Law
> Washington DC
>
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