A TRUE REFLECTION: HOW ONE SEEKER RECLAIMED PROFOUND PEACE AT THE SACRED SANCTUARY

When the mind has no room to breathe

Ms. Minh Anh, 34, working in marketing for a company in Hanoi, recounts that there was a period when she couldn't remember the last time she had a full night's sleep. Deadlines followed deadlines, her phone rang even in the middle of the night, and her head was always full of a never-ending to-do list. "There were evenings when I sat blankly in front of my laptop screen, not because I didn't know what to do, but because I had no energy left to start," she shared.

A colleague, after a weekend trip, told her about Ngoa Van - a place on Bao Dai Mountain, Quang Ninh, just over a two-hour drive from Hanoi, where the friend said, "just going up there for a day, my mind feels like it's been washed clean." Initially, Minh Anh didn't quite believe it - after all, she had tried meditation apps, tried yoga, tried all sorts of ways but didn't feel much relief. But one day, when she felt she was truly on the verge of exhaustion, she decided to give it a try.

The journey up the mountain - when the clouds truly "touch" you

Minh Anh chose a mid-week day to avoid the crowds. From Hanoi, the car took her via the highway, then turned onto a small road leading to the foot of Bao Dai Mountain, where the Ngoa Van cable car station is located. "As I got into the cabin, I was still thinking about an unanswered email. But when the cabin began gliding through a thick layer of white clouds, suddenly all the thoughts in my head fell silent. I just looked out the glass window, saw the mountains and forests stretching out below, and naturally felt my eyes sting," she recalled of that moment.

Setting foot at Ngoa Van Hermitage, standing before the statue of Buddhist Emperor Tran Nhan Tong in the Nirvana posture, Minh Anh said she is not a Buddhist and doesn't know the sutras, but the feeling of standing in a place where a king once let go of everything to find peace made her ask herself: "If a person who once had absolute power chose to let go, then are the things I am trying to hold onto every day really that important?"

A cup of tea, an afternoon without deadlines

What Minh Anh remembers most is not any grand sightseeing spot, but an afternoon sitting at Ngoa Van Zen Village, holding a warm cup of tea, with no phone, no notification sounds, only the sound of the wind sweeping through the pine forest and the babbling of a stream somewhere nearby. "I had forgotten what it feels like to sit still and do nothing. At first, it felt a bit strange, like my hands just wanted to reach for my phone. But just a few minutes later, I started noticing my own breath, and for the first time in a long time, I felt my shoulders truly relax."

That evening, sitting and watching the sunset fall over the misty valley from a high vantage point in the pagoda area, Minh Anh said she cried - not out of sadness, but out of an overwhelming sense of relief. "It was the first time in months that I cried without it being due to pressure."

Returning, but no longer the same as before

Minh Anh returned to Hanoi the following evening, and the grind of work was still there waiting for her. But she said something was different. "I'm not saying that after one trip, all problems disappeared. The workload is still heavy, deadlines still approach. But I learned how to pause for a few minutes every day, breathe, and ask myself: what am I clinging to that is unnecessary? The feeling of tranquility at Ngoa Van, I brought it back with me, at least a part of it."

A few months later, she returned to Ngoa Van once more, this time registering for a short-term meditation retreat at the Zen Village, to periodically "recharge" as a mental health care habit, instead of waiting until she was exhausted to seek it out.

Why does Ngoa Van make people settle down so deeply?

Minh Anh's story is not an isolated case. Many tourists, upon setting foot in Ngoa Van, share the same feeling: the peace and solemnity here make people feel like they are stepping back in time, rediscovering the pristine values within themselves. Perhaps it is the combination of the pristine mountain scenery, the sacred atmosphere of the Buddhist sanctuary, and the rare slow pace of life amidst a hurried era that has created this "magic," making many find what they didn't realize they were missing: a true moment of silence for the mind.

If you also need such a moment of silence

Not everyone needs a crisis to realize they need to rest. If you've recently felt tired for no clear reason, found it hard to sleep, hard to concentrate, or simply felt your heart "heavier" than usual - perhaps that is the sign that you also need a journey like the one Minh Anh experienced.

Ngoa Van does not promise to solve every problem in your life. But a day here - with a cable car riding the clouds, a tranquil space for offering incense, a cup of meditation tea amidst the pine forest - can be the starting point for you to relearn how to listen to yourself.