What is Culture?

“Culture is the living totality of past and present activities and creations. Over the centuries, that creative activity has formed a system of values, traditions and tastes – the elements that define the unique character of a people. This is a concept coined by UNESCO to emphasize the productive and creative activities of countries that give their uniqueness.

However, there are hundreds of other concepts of culture, President Ho Chi Minh has also introduced a concept of culture that is cited many times in the world, this concept also shows the stature of an investor. Great idea, a leader and founder of a new era for our country.

According to him: “For survival as well as the purpose of life, mankind created and invented language, writing, morality, law, science, religion, literature, art, tools for daily living in terms of wearing, eating, staying and using methods. All those creations and inventions are culture.” This concept emphasizes the motivational factors, needs and aspirations of people to achieve cultural achievements and satisfy human needs.

Both concepts take human subjects and human activities in relation to culture, the interplay between culture and people, people and culture. The inclusivity and universality of culture have made the concept of culture understood in many aspects, under many expressions and made it difficult for us to grasp and approach the applications of culture. Although it is meaningful, practical work for us in our journey to create achievements.

The existing concepts of culture only describe culture in different aspects of human perception, just as we perceive the sun, “solar ologists” all use solar energy. Heaven to live without being able to explain where the Sun was born, the Sun exists objectively as the objective existence of the universe, and all perceptions only stop at hypotheses. The sun was long before man and it was the foundation of life. Many peoples have “pulled” the Sun down as a god. They worship the Sun and consider the Sun as a God to satisfy their religious needs. Just like there are peoples who never eat beef. They consider and worship cows as gods because of the great role this animal plays in agriculture and their lives.

So if we only stop understanding culture at the achievements and needs of mankind, is it possible that the “Sun of culture” has been pulled down to fit the limited perception and then we ourselves are not? It is impossible to define what culture is, and ignores a correct and objective perception of culture.

If only the Sun had overcome the problem of space and time to become a source of life energy from ancient times. Our ancestors also had a Sun that was no different from us, the Sun that shone for our ancestors, for both the present moment and the future of mankind. If the Sun is the light of the universe, then culture is the light of the “microcosm” in each of us, that is the human mind, and it also exists objectively, beyond the perception of space and time. time in the development of consciousness, enlightening people to find the essence and inner depth of the “microcosm” within us.

When going out to the world, we have the right to be proud of one of the cultural characteristics of Vietnam, which is “Dao Thanh Mau”. Simply put, it is the religion of worshiping ancestors and ancestors, the saints in the hearts of every Vietnamese child. But when we go deeper, we see that it is a sacred energy source with a strong connection between the past, present and future – into a flow so that the values ​​seem to have fallen asleep in the past. The past comes to life and wakes up to life today. That energy has helped to form a Vietnamese country where the whole world is always surprised by a rich and lively spiritual life.

“The Mother Goddess religion” always exists objectively in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people, whether they believe it or not. Just like the Sun still exists objectively whether or not that country has a religious custom of worshiping the “Sun God”!? Believe it or not, each of us lives by the source of solar energy in every moment, although sometimes that energy can dry up a river or burn down a forest, but not because of that. We underestimate its eternal value.

Culture is the same, whether you feel and see the role of culture or not, it still governs our entire life from the individual level to the whole humanity level. Since the birth of mankind, there have appeared many outstanding people, divine people, even Gods and Buddhas, and we often give them a common word to evaluate their achievements as “World Cultural Celebrity”. gender”.

But even that great title cannot express the magnificence of their discoveries of consciousness and the impact that these discoveries have had on our lives.

Typically God or Buddha, specific people but their discoveries have left behind cultural legacies that very few of us have fully grasped and we can sum up in one word as “the world”. spiritual world”.

The level of culture they reach is a great encouragement for mankind in a journey of rediscovering their identity, they are our outstanding fellows, and their achievements make us realize that their culture is different from ours, which we are aiming for. The whole of humanity has achieved a lot of material and spiritual achievements throughout history, but they are all small compared to the cultural reach of those enlightened beings. Their achievements are independent and not governed by spiritual and material human values. Even many people have murdered, pursued and harmed them, the people who brought the light of culture to mankind. The energy source from the cultural layers is always strong, unlimited and affects people directly like the radiation of sunlight or the fierceness of heavy rains, sometimes making the world drought or flood. Thankfully that doesn’t happen often. The energy from all levels of culture contains in it the understanding – sharing and creating solutions to help people adapt and solve the challenges that life brings.

So, is it possible that “Culture is an energy state and it exists independently of matter and the human spirit, which is displayed in people’s lives when they reach the levels of awareness, achievement, enlightenment? enlightenment. When there is cultural light for creative work, people will achieve heritage-related achievements, called cultural heritage”?

In the history of development, mankind has achieved revolutionary, breakthrough achievements and that achievement sometimes comes from a moment called “ecstatic” of an individual when they achieve a burst of energy. very high spirits, like when Newton (Newton) sat in the garden watching the apple fall, Einstein (Einstein) dreamily racing with the rays of light or Archimedes (Archimedes) relaxing in the bathtub. From those moments, the world has the law of universal gravitation, the theory of relativity or the repulsion of water. It is the beginning to have the development of modern science and techniques and technologies applied to life to fundamentally change the quality of our lives. They are strategic achievements, achievements of achievements. Advanced mankind has relied on those inventions to create countless applications in life and countless achievements that are collectively known as “Human Civilization”.