I’m gonna talk about one such time when I received money as a gift on Tet

holiday, which is one of the most exciting events that I’ve ever had . It happened
almost 10 years ago, I still remember it vividly like it yesterday. Traditionally, on
the first day of the Lunar New Year, my family has gone to the pagoda as a
custom. After having done all the praying, no Vietnamese have forgotten to
pluck buds from a branch of trees in the pagoda’s garden. Vietnamese consider
plants like a symbol of growth and prosperity. On the branches are hung many
red packets, in which they can be money, a piece paper of fotune telling or a
small Buddhist item. As you can expect, the pagoda was totally packed, I had to
struggle a lot to get to that tree . But it was a shame that when I showed up, there
were no more packets to be picked up. At first, I was down in the mouth, but
then, suddenly a Buddhist nun approached and inquired about my family.
According to my mom, she was her childhood best friend. When she realized
why I was down, she gave me a lucky money envelope containing a 2,000VND
bill and an Agarwood bracelet. She revealed that she kept it for me because of
the sheer number of people who would be there. Needless to say, I felt like I was
on cloud nine at that moment. My parents told me that bracelet has great
meaning in feng shui, so keep it carefully to help facilitate life. I’m still carrying
it to this day. After that, every New Year or Buddha’s Birthday, I would go the
temple where she practiced to hear amazing lecture on Buddhist wisdom.