HT. Thích Như Điển Ven. Thích Hạnh Giới By Ven. Thích Trừng Sỹ
FORTY YEARS OF MY TEACHER’S DHARMA PROPAGATION
After morning chanting service, I return to my room, turn on the computer, go online, open my email inbox to read and reply to emails. I still follow this habit 2 to 3 times a day. In the past, sometimes I did not check my email for several days, so my teacher often scolded me.
Now I have trained myself to do this habit so that I don’t forget anymore. The number of emails I receive each day is much less than when I was responsible for running the work at Viên Giác Monastery. As soon as I opened my mailbox, I saw a letter from my Master sent the previous afternoon. I gently clicked on the bold text, and immediately the letter sent on February 3, 2018 appeared before my eyes with the following content:
Dear Venerable Hạnh Giới,
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Viên Giác Pagoda, the founding of the Buddhist Association, and the 70th birthday of the Master. The sisters and brothers in the Editorial Board of Viên Giác Newspaper want to publish a special issue of Buddhist Culture writing on all topics.
Therefore, Thầy hopes that Hạnh Giới should also write an Dharma article on the topic “My Master’s way of training monastic and lay Buddhist devotees” or “my Master’s way of working.” For example, Thầy thinks that when Thầy is alive, Thầy wants to read these things, whether good or bad, but when Thầy is gone, no matter what is said, Thầy will not hear anything at all. Therefore, Hạnh Giới should try to write it. The sooner the article is finished, the better, because the deadline for submitting the article is actually the end of June. But if it takes too long, Thầy is afraid of forgetting, so Hạnh Giới should try to do it, Master, Thích Như Điển.
After reading the short letter, I sat silently, took a deep breath and silently promised, if this is your Master’s wish, you will try to make it come true. But the truth is that “simple” is not as simple as I thought. When I sat in front of the computer and started typing on the keyboard, countless ideas poured out of my head, one after another, I was going to write this point, I was going to write that point, it never stopped flowing.
To avoid losing my ideas, I immediately typed a few lines of summary into the computer, then read them over and over, then deleted them and rewrote them.
While I was editing the sentences, other thoughts came in. I picked up the idea again and typed it into the computer. “Why is this so complicated?” I thought to myself. And so the work was interrupted. A day, two days, then a week, two weeks passed, and I still hadn’t written a single page yet.
I suddenly remembered my promise to Uncle Phù Vân, the editor of Viên Giác newspaper, and Aunt Diệu Thiện, who met me at the Temple in early June and asked me to write an article to publish in the yearbook on this important occasion. “Should I break my promise and apologize to Uncle and Aunt? What about my Master’s wishes?” It’s not that I couldn’t write, but I was a little hesitant: would any of my sisters and brothers write? Would anyone understand and feel what I wrote?
In my opinion, the relationship between teacher and student can only be truly felt by the teacher and student, but how can it be expressed in words, let alone in writing? There cannot be a common feeling, because each individual, each cause, each condition, is different. What I feel, elder Brother, younger Brother, lay Buddhist, to be honest, besides me, is there anyone else who can share and feel it?
Spiritual Master
In my opinion, to develop on the spiritual path, a Dharma practitioner, whether monastic or lay person, must need a teacher to guide the spiritual side. The Vietnamese folk song has the saying “Without a teacher, you can’t do anything” which also has that meaning. Learning secular things requires a male teacher, a female teacher to guide, let alone learning the Dharma?
The Master is the guiding teacher, guiding the Dharma practitioner to have a more virtuous life. When looking for a Master for himself, the practitioner already knows the purpose, so he can develop a respectful and grateful mind towards his Master. In the Novice Law, the second lesson on Fine Manner “The Law of Respecting a Master” states that one must regard the Most Venerable Preceptor of the Discipline and Sutra as a Buddha. No matter what happens or what happens to the Master, the Master is still the Master. Because, without the support of the Master, the practitioner cannot understand the “Guru” instinct within himself.
Guru means Buddha nature, seed nature, enlightenment nature in each practitioner, a Buddha-to-be. Many practitioners are worried because they cannot find a teacher for themselves. Normally, according to worldly dharma, students seek and choose for themselves a truly excellent Teacher, with a big temple, many disciples, reputation, and many people know. But in my opinion, each Teacher has virtues and understanding of the Dharma to guide and save sentient beings. Finding a spiritual Teacher may have to go through many hardships and challenges.
That Master will help the practitioner realize the nature of his own mind, the nature of the “Master” that resides within each practitioner. Normally, students seek out the Master; so is there a case where the Master seeks out his students? If the Master’s vow is to propagate the Dharma and save sentient beings, then the Master must also seek out disciples to fulfill his vow.
Because if there are no disciples to pass on the Dharma, no one to inherit the legacy of the Three Jewels, then the Buddha Dharma will not last forever. In my opinion, the virtues of a Master must be expressed through the perfect wisdom and the unconditional Great Compassion, aiming at the ultimate truth of liberation. If a practitioner only seeks a spiritual Master based on appearance and does not rely on cultivation according to the Master’s teachings, then surely that practitioner will encounter many obstacles on the path of cultivation.
According to the teachings of the Patriarchs, a disciple must know how to be grateful and have a sincere heart towards his teacher. Many people who just come to the Dharma often discuss and debate about a teacher’s appearance, sign, age, knowledge, education, achievements, level of fame, number of disciples and temples, etc. but these things are meaningless because that disciple cannot learn the Dharma, cannot develop a respectful mind towards a spiritual Teacher. Why not praise the good points, compassion, generosity, and the practice of his teacher? One thing is certain, a spiritual Teacher must have gone through the experiences of practicing himself, deeply understanding the Buddha’s teachings to instruct his disciples with skillful means through body, speech and mind to guide his disciples.
Based on the different precious merits of blessing and capacities of each disciple, the Master must have wisdom, love, and unconditional compassion for all his disciples.
Whether the disciples are filial, talented, diligent, obedient or disobedient, as long as he develops the mind of enlightenment and cultivates virtue for the sake of sentient beings, the Master must still respect, love, and care for them. In return, the disciples must develop the respectful mind and receive the teachings of his Master with the mind of sincerity, compassion, and equality for all sentient beings.
My Teacher’s Thoughts
Today, after nearly 20 years of monastic life, living close to the Master, being encouraged, reminded, motivated, scolded, and criticized by the Master, I feel that everything I learned from the Master is the Master’s heart and passion for me because he wants me to become a good person, to know how to live independently, to be confident, to develop my own abilities, to be resourceful in work, not like the person who “turns his face to the wall” (when meeting a difficult problem facing the wall) as the Patriarch Quy Sơn taught.
Certainly, not only me but also any disciple, Thầy also has such hopes and memories. One thing that Thầy often declares is that he is very pleased with Dharma brothers and sisters of Viên Giác, that everyone has the aspiration to practice diligently, not jostling, win or lose like in the real life. I think, this is the most meaningful result that Thầy has achieved. At the same time, each of us should ask ourselves, are we worthy of receiving the gratitude of virtue from the Triple Gem, from our spiritual teacher?
From my teacher, I learned the virtues of learning and practicing as well as his willpower. In himself, my teacher always strived and improved. He often said: “Learning does not make people enlightened, but to open the door to liberation, practice and learning are indispensable!” Before becoming a monk and even after becoming a monk, I often disagreed with my teacher’s view that we must study to get worldly degrees.
All those years of sitting in school, getting this degree and that, but in the end, did it solve any problem of life and death? I remember reading a Zen story about a learned scholar who came to consult with a Zen master about Buddhism. During the discussion, the Zen master made tea for his guest to drink. The Zen master filled the cup of tea so full that the tea spilled out and spilled all over the table. The scholar panicked and shouted, “Sir, the cup is full and it cannot be filled with any more tea!”
The Zen master smiled and replied: “Really? What about you?” At that time, I knew nothing about skillful means, generating the mind of enlightenment, adapting to sentient beings, etc., so I still held on and thought I was right. Therefore, every time my Master used me as an “advertising target” in front of the public, I was not happy. Once, during a Dharma propagation trip in the state of California, USA, I was able to follow him as his attendant.
He was invited to give a Dharma talk at a monastery in Santa Ana. I was surprised when many people asked about my education at that time. I firmly analyzed and explained that the important thing for a monk is to practice and cultivate to liberate himself and help other people, not to focus on academic degrees. But I could not convince them because they still held tightly to their concept of “knowledge”.
After that time, I understood why the Buddha used 84,000 Dharma doors and countless skillful means to teach sentient beings. I think, in life there are many people with very high status and knowledge, they are the elite members of a society. If we understand according to Buddhism, that is also their good fortune, being born as kings, princes, rich, prosperous, intelligent, knowledgeable, clever people etc. If we use skillful means to guide them to the Dharma, to know how to study and practice the teachings of liberation, then won’t they be lay Buddhists who know how to benefit themselves and countless other sentient beings? All are means to lead to the ultimate goal of liberation, to become Buddhas in the future.
My teacher always encouraged his disciples to practice and study. If anyone was still studying and had the ability, he would encourage and support them both spiritually and materially to continue their studies. It was also my teacher’s wish and vow to give scholarships to nearly 200 teachers to study abroad in Taiwan, Thailand, and India for many years. My teacher’s wish was for monks and nuns to learn knowledge from those countries, graduate from their study programs, with bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degrees, so that in the future, when they return to their country, they can propagate the Dharma to benefit sentient beings. Currently, many of them are teaching the Buddhism at Buddhist schools in many places.
I think that if you have received a scholarship after graduating, you will propagate the Dharma and help sentient beings and repay the kindness of the Most Venerable Master as well as hundreds of Buddhist devotees in Germany – come to the Temple to do volunteer work, make each cake to distribute to support the monks and nuns – by helping to sponsor the tuition fees for the later generations of monks and nuns, how precious it is. Receiving and giving are also noble virtues of a Buddhist who is walking on the path of Bodhisattva. Receiving with a sincere and grateful heart. Giving with a noble heart of unconditional charity.
My teacher often said that he came from a simple, rustic farming family. He left home for monastic life and followed his Master to study Buddhism at the age of 15, became a novice monk at the age of 17, and a fully ordained monk at the age of 22. After graduating from high school, he received a scholarship from the Unified Buddhist Congregation of Vietnam to study abroad in Japan. After 5 years of diligent study, he graduated and went to Germany to visit a friend who studied with him in Vietnam during his elementary school years.
Who would have thought that the first steps of Thầy to Germany would mark a new page in the history of Vietnamese Buddhism overseas in general and Germany in particular. According to the traditional Buddhist tradition that my teacher had absorbed, when he came to Germany, he continued to preserve and spread it. Through contact with monks and nuns studying abroad in India, my teacher learned that in Vietnam, in Buddhist Higher Schools, students are instructed in history, including the history of Vietnamese Buddhism overseas. The two typical trends that are often mentioned and referred to are the conservative traditional direction, advocated by my teacher. Meanwhile, Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh of Plum Village represents the direction of innovation and renewal.
My teacher maintained and educated our generation of monks, nuns, and Buddhist devotees with the motto of both practicing and studying. For those who left home for monastic life, my teacher required them to memorize the two morning and evening Sutras chanting sessions, the four books of minor Vinaya (Stepping into Freedom), Mindful Gathas in the daily life, Ten Novice Precepts, Mindful Manners, Encouraging Words, to maintain the four dignified postures when walking, standing, lying, and sitting, and to know how to use the Dharma instruments, big bells, drums, small bells, gongs, wooden fish bell, etc.
From the Master, I learned the basic teachings of Buddhism, how to do Buddhist work, how to organize and solve all problems, how to receive guests politely and talk politely with Buddhist followers. The Master always maintained a dignified and neat appearance with a daily long robe always on his body. There were times when the Master transformed into the Venerable Tiêu Diện Mahasattva to teach his disciples to cultivate their minds and character; there were times when the Master manifested the compassion, tolerance, and forgiveness of the Kind Gentle Mother Quan Âm. The Master’s vows are expressed in two sentences:
“I vow to be a river to carry clearness and dirtiness of life. I vow to be the earth to bear the cleanliness and filth of humanity.” During my time as a monk and working alongside my Master in Buddhist affairs, I sometimes felt troubled and discouraged. I was not tired of the overwhelming work and responsibilities, but I was “exhausted” by having to ask permission and persuade my Master to do anything, whether it was a small or big matter. Many lay Buddhist devotees met me and said:
“I see that your Master is easy these days!”. “Amitabha! Do you dare to become a monk? Come in and you will know!”. During the first few months after returning to Germany, after being “forced” by my Master to return to take over the job of replacing Dharma Brother Hạnh Tấn who was preparing to go to Laos for a retreat, I was really not happy at all. Therefore, I did not do it with a joyful heart, nor with any dedication to service. By chance, I read a book written by His Holiness the Dalai Lama about cultivating Bodhicitta; The words of encouragement in the book awakened me and made me cry. The aspiration and practice of a Bodhisattva are truly noble. In the future, if I want to go deeper into cultivation, I will also need to have a lot of merit. Why did I miss the opportunity to create merit by serving the Triple Gem and sentient beings? From then on, I corrected my wrong notions and became more enthusiastic in all the tasks assigned by my Master and that needed to be done. A very interesting but not a little surprising thing that I have just realized since accepting brother Thông Giáo as my first monastic disciple is that I have a few similarities with my Master.
I also taught and forced him to study the Sutras and novice Vinaya, to learn to chant, to call the bells, to learn how invite the wooden fish bell, to learn to be the master of ceremonies, and often tested him and “reminded” him of many things. Every time I reflected and realized that, I smiled to myself.
Establishing a resolve and aspiration
My teacher, with the dharma letter Giải Minh and the dharma title Trí Tâm, belonged to the 41st generation of the Lâm Tế Chúc Thánh sect. He was born in Duy Xuyên, Quảng Nam province, the youngest son of a family of eight people. At the age of 13, he took refuge in the Three Jewels and received the Five Precepts with the dharma name Như Điển. Two years later, with the consent of his parents, he entered the temple to practice being a novice monk with the Most Venerable Long Trí, his Master at Viên Giác Pagoda in Hội An. After a period of becoming the novice monk there, the Most Venerable Master sent my teacher to Phước Lâm Pagoda to continue his studies and prepare to receive the novice precepts.
In 1967, he received the novice precepts with the Dharma letter Giải Minh. In 1968, he went to Saigon to study and graduated with a high school diploma 3 years later. He received the Bhikkhu precepts in 1971 at the Great Precepts Transmission Ceremony of Quảng Đức held at the Quảng Đức Monastery in Thủ Đức City. In early 1972, he received a scholarship from the Unified Buddhist Congregation of Vietnam, Quảng Nam province, to study abroad in Japan. Arriving in Japan on February 22, 1972, he enrolled in a 1-year Japanese language course at the Yottsuya Japanese Language Center in Tokyo.
During that time, he took refuge and studied Zen with the Most Venerable Omori Sogen and lived at Honryuji Temple of the Nichiren sect. In 1973, he entered the Bachelor of Education program at Teikyo University. After graduating, he enrolled in the Master’s program at Risso University in Tokyo. In April 1977, at the invitation of a classmate in Vietnam, Thay visited the city of Kiel in Northern Germany. Unlike his plan to return to Japan to continue his postgraduate studies, Thầy accepted the request of overseas Vietnamese students to stay in Germany to provide spiritual guidance to Vietnamese immigrants whose numbers were increasing every day. Depending on living beings, wherever there are living beings, wherever the Bodhi seed can be planted, Thay did not hesitate.
From that moment on, he made up his mind to propagate the Dharma and save sentient beings in Germany. In German, there is a saying “Sprache ist das Tor zur Welt” (language is the door to enter the world). Therefore, the first thing he wanted to do was to learn German fluently to communicate with the native speakers and also to prepare for the entrance exam to the Education Department (Erziehungswissenschaft) in the Master’s program at the University of Hannover.
He enrolled in a one-year German course at the language center of the University of Kiel. Once, when I was cleaning up the East attic of the Temple, I found some German textbooks and German study notes documents that he had left behind. Curiously, I flipped through a few books to see and noticed that the notes and exercises were very neat and clear, not just one book but dozens of books were like that, with blue and black handwriting, interspersed with red. This was enough to show me my teacher’s determination and positive effort when doing anything.
While waiting to enroll, my teacher was invited to work as a German interpreter for Vietnamese refugees who had just arrived in Germany, at the Friedland camp as well as at the general hospital in Göttingen. By the end of 1979, the wave of Vietnamese refugees arriving in Germany was growing. The need for spiritual guidance was more urgent than ever. He had to give up his plan to continue studying to focus his energy on spiritual guidance and providing a place of refuge for the Buddhist community. He established a small Buddhist Temple, which was also his residence, in the city of Hannover. It was called the small Buddhist Temple but in reality, it was just a small apartment on Kestner Street, converted into a temple to become a place for Buddhist activities with space enough to accommodate a maximum of 30 people.
The Buddha altar is simply designed with a statue of Sakyamuni Buddha, a pair of candles, an incense burner, a fruit plate, and a flower vase. That historical statue was brought from Vietnam to Japan more than 10 years before, before being brought to Germany and enshrined at Viên Giác Buddhist Temple. Another identical statue is enshrined at Khánh Anh Temple, Paris. In order to support my Master in Buddhist activities, maintain Vietnamese religion and culture, as well as organize festivals, a Triple Gem Support Committee was established with Buddhist student members and a few Buddhist devotees. Since then, he has gone down in history as the founder of the first Vietnamese temple named Viên Giác in Germany, and also the founder of the Vietnamese Buddhist Refugee Association in Germany exactly 40 years ago.
Speaking of the history of Vietnamese Buddhism in Germany, Thầy is the founder, opening a new page of history of Vietnamese Buddhism overseas, accompanying the Venerable Thiên Ân, the Venerable Mãn Giác, the Venerable Tịnh Từ, the Venerable Minh Đạt in the US; the Venerable Như Huệ, the Venerable Bảo Lạc in Australia; the Venerable Minh Tâm, the Venerable Nhất Hạnh, the Venerable Huyền Vi in France and many Venerable Ones in other countries. One thing is certain, even my teacher at that time could not have thought that he was a historical witness from the beginning when Vietnamese Buddhism sowed the seeds of enlightenment in Germany.
But just a few months later, the small Buddhist Temple could no longer accommodate the large number of Buddhists who flocked to it for regular activities, so my Master applied to the German Ministry of the Interior for help in finding a larger place to meet the spiritual needs of the Vietnamese refugees who were increasing in the late 1970s. Through the newspaper advertisement, my Master found a location with an area of 450 square meters, which was originally a factory including a large hall that could accommodate 500 people, 3 bedrooms, an office and a toilet, located on Eichelkampstrasse 35a, in an industrial area, near the Messegelaende exhibition area in the city of Hannover.
The move of the Temple from the old location to the new location, only about 8 kilometers away, took place on January 8, 1981. At the same time, Viên Giác Buddhist Recitation Hall was also renamed Viên Giác Temple. The activities of the
The third group is the workers in Eastern European countries before the collapse of the communist bloc. After the Berlin Wall was torn down on November 9, 1989 and Germany was reunified (October 3, 1990), Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary all abandoned the communist regime. The labor program under contracts signed between Vietnam and Eastern European countries, starting from the 1950s until the late 1980s, gathered more than 60,000 Vietnamese people living and working in the above countries. At that time, the number of workers from Vietnam was often concentrated in the cities of East Germany such as East Berlin, Chemnitz, Erfurt, Magdeburg, Dresden, Leipzig, etc.
They worked hard and lived in crowded apartment buildings, and had completely no contact with the Germans, without learning the language and integrating into German society. The East German government established industrial training programs not only to increase the number of workers in industry but also as a form of development aid for poor members of the socialist bloc, including Vietnam. After German reunification, the cooperative workers lost their jobs. They made a living by selling illegal cigarettes, opening fast food restaurants, fruit and vegetable shops, tailoring shops, flower shops, etc. By the end of the 1990s, most of the contract workers who remained in Germany were granted permanent residence permits. Their descendants are now very successful and have integrated into German society, no less than the group of Vietnamese refugees after 1975.
The fourth largest group of Vietnamese people are students who have been studying in Germany for nearly 10 years in many cities across Germany. They go on educational exchange and student training, undertaking Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral programs at universities and high schools. They have to be financially self-sufficient to cover necessary expenses such as room rent, food, clothing, transportation, telephone, internet, books, entertainment, etc.
One of the legitimate reasons why students choose Germany is because studying in Germany is free, unlike other countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, UK, France, etc. However, the monthly spending requirement of 700 to 800 Euros is also a considerable burden. If there is no financial support from family in Vietnam or Germany, students must work part-time to earn some income. Many students work in Vietnamese restaurants and eateries with very low salaries and sometimes with hard work. I often advise them to find places where Germans work because they pay according to regulations and also have many opportunities for them to interact and learn German. Most Vietnamese students are very good at grammar when learning a language, but their listening, pronunciation and reading skills are very poor. The reason is that most of them are not confident and do not take advantage of every way to interact, practice listening and speaking German with native speakers.
Unfortunately, because you are not Germans or EU citizen, you are not eligible for the BAföG program. It is a financial support program of the government in each state in Germany for students and pupils under 30 years old. In special cases, students up to 35 years old can also receive a subsidy, provided they are studying a Master’s program or higher. BAföG is divided into 2 parts, 1/2 is a government subsidy, 1/2 is an interest-free loan. This loan must be paid back to the government within 5 years at the earliest and 20 years after graduation at the latest, and can be paid in installments, each installment is at least 105.00 Euro.
In the case of students, after graduation, who are able to pay off their loans in full or graduate earlier than the prescribed time, they will enjoy the debt reduction policy. I myself enjoy both of these policies because I paid off my student loan debt in full and graduated one year earlier (according to the regulations, it must be at least 4 months earlier). The total debt to be paid in principle is 12,703.55 Euros, but I received a reduction of 4,255.69 Euros under the policy 1 and an additional 1,296.66 Euros under the policy 2. So, the total remaining amount to be paid is 7,151.20 Euros. My teacher helped me pay off all of this before I went to the US to continue my postgraduate studies. As far as I know, he also helped pay the BaföG for some of my brothers to ease some of the burden so that we could study with peace of mind.
I often meet and interact with many students who come to the Temples or Monasteries to study and I really admire them, their efforts and struggles with the difficult German language and the subjects they have chosen. There is nothing more than I encourage and motivate them to try hard to study; after graduating they will have a stable job, have papers to stay and build a future.
Many students often come to the Temple to participate in weekend activities, take refuge in the Three Jewels, receive the Five Precepts, attend retreats, do meritorious deeds, etc., and join the Buddhist youth family. If they have a good living and studying environment, and know how to study Dharma and practice, I am sure that they can also develop the mind to become monks or become devout Buddhists who protect the Dharma in the future. The fifth group, young Vietnamese people who have been coming to Germany for nearly 5 years now, are students sent by the German government to train as nurses, caregivers, and care for the elderly. The nursing training program is fully funded by the German government, including accommodation, education, and salary. Hopefully, after graduation, they will find jobs and stay in Germany, first to contribute to work and show gratitude to Germany for raising and training them, and secondly, to breathe the air of freedom and have stable jobs.
Since 2012, civil service (Zivildienst) is no longer compulsory in Germany. Previously, these jobs were usually supported by young people over 18 years old, who reached the age of military service (Bundeswehrpflicht), if they did not participate in the military training program (Bundeswehrausbildung), they had to volunteer to work in hospitals, nursing homes, kindergartens, etc. In early 1998, after graduating from university, because of my German nationality, I also had to participate in this voluntary civil service program.
I work as a “driver” for the Malteser Hilfsdienst association, taking deaf-mute children to school every day. Every morning, I wake up at 5:30, drive to pick up the children aged 5 and 6 and take them to Hildesheim, about 30 km from Hannover, where there is a primary school for congenital defects. At 2 PM, I pick them up and take them home. During the day I help out in hospitals, kindergartens, nursing homes, and occasionally visit the elderly at home and take them to the doctor, the market, etc.
To be honest, the German social and health care system is really great, the government has many programs to take care of the people, especially the elderly and the sick. There is a memorable memory during the time I was working for the Malteser Association, that is during the Buddha’s birthday in 1998, early in the morning I received a phone call from Master Hạnh Bảo, who later became my Senior Brother, he asked me to help him take him to the Metro flower shop to buy flowers to decorate the Buddha’s altar.
At that moment, I didn’t think about anything, just quickly got on the 9-seat bus of the Malteser Association and drove quickly to the Temple to pick up the monk. After buying the flowers, while we were loading the car, a German man parked next to us and greeted us very politely. I also responded and said goodbye, driving back to the Temple. “Where have I seen this man before?” I tried to recall. When I got close to the Temple, I shouted: “Amitabha Buddha! The German I just met is Mr. Boss at the Malteser Association!” Master Hạnh Bảo looked at me with surprise but reassured me: “The matter is over, let’s wait and see what he says.” But when I met him, I didn’t remember him. Maybe he was a high-ranking Boss and I rarely worked directly with him so I didn’t remember his face. The next morning, on my way to work, I had to pass by his office. “Namo Kind Gently Compassion Mother Bodhisattva, please let everything go smoothly,” I silently recited to ask for help from Compassion Quan Âm Mother.
I felt guilty and had broken the rules because according to the Association’s rules, we are not allowed to use the car for personal use, even if the car only rolls half a meter. But when I passed by, although I tried to avoid his eyes, unexpectedly he turned to look at me and greeted me very warmly and happily in the morning. I replied and quickly walked back to my office with a feeling of relief. “Next time, I will definitely never do it again!”, I reminded myself. Perhaps, the Malteser Association also often lends the Temple tents, insulated boxes to store rice and food, and tables and chairs for each Buddha’s Birthday and Vu Lan – Parents’ Ceremony. So he also sympathized when he saw me taking the car to the market to buy fruit to offer to Buddha?
Currently, the total number of Vietnamese people living in Germany is estimated to be 130,000 to 150,000. One thing that previous generations of parents have in common is that they all devote all their efforts to their children’s education and success. They sacrifice everything so that their children can succeed in German society. The German government and media often praise the Vietnamese as one of the most successfully integrated ethnic minorities.
However, the differences in values and ideas between the two generations of Vietnamese parents and their children born in Germany often lead to conflicts and clashes every day. The differences in language, customs and practices between the two generations often lead to conflicts within the family. There are many families with spoiled children, involved in social evils. Many children suffer from depression, poor health and affect their personal and family life.
Furthermore, the division of Vietnamese communities living in Germany, the distinction between the North and the South, political stance, people living in West Germany, people living in East Germany, also has a significant impact on community life. In many places, the Northern and Southern communities do not live together. Only in the Temples and Buddhist Recitation Halls, Buddhists of all backgrounds are free to go to ceremonies, attend festivals, participate in and do Buddhist activities with the Temple. This is the bright spot where the religion brings people closer together.
The German Branch of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation was established in 1979, including pagodas, Buddha Name Reciting House, and small Temple, as well as members and Dharma teachers residing in Germany. The reason why the German Buddhist Branch was just established until the end of 1979 was because the Branch had not previously met the conditions and regulations to establish an association in Germany.
The German government required the Executive Committee to have at least seven members: Minister, Deputy Minister, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs,
the Deputy Minister for Internal Affairs, the Treasurer, the Secretary, the Cultural Commissioner, and the Social Charity Commissioner. By the end of 1979, when more Vietnamese Buddhist monastic people had settled in Germany, a meeting was held to invite all Vietnamese monastic people currently in Germany.
The meeting led to the decision to establish the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation, German Branch. At the same time, the Vietnamese Buddhist Refugee Association in the Federal Republic of Germany was also established, including 16 Branches (currently 22 Branches). Some Branches are no longer active today and new Branches have been established.
Regarding youth activities, the Buddhist Youth Organization was also formed through the mobilization and guidance of my Master’s teachings from the early years. During the Vu Lan – parents’ season of 1987, the first two Buddhist Youth Associations, Minh Hai and Tam Minh, were launched in a solemn atmosphere at the Main Hall of Viên Giác Pagoda. under the joy and praise of Venerable Ones and lay Buddhist devotees from all over the world who attended. How could we not be happy when everyone knows that the members of the Buddhist Youth Association are the young buds, the generation of young Buddhists who will follow in the footsteps of their teachers and parents to maintain the seed of Enlightenment in each individual and those around them.
According to the Branch’s operating system, all pagodas and Buddha names chanting house as well as the Venerable Monks and Nuns are members. The Buddhist Association includes male and female lay Buddhist devotees. Until 1983, Viên Giác Temple was still the only Vietnamese Temple in Germany, although at that time there were more than 10 Vietnamese monks and nuns residing in Germany. The reason is that Vietnamese monastic people in the early days of coming to Germany need time to settle down, learn German, and get used to the new life, so they cannot focus on building temples and taking care of the spiritual life of Buddhists.
Another reason is that some monastic people planned to stay in Germany for only a short time and then move on to the US, Canada, or Australia. It was not until 1983 that a few more Vietnamese temples were built in cities with large Vietnamese populations, such as Bảo Quang Temple in Hamburg, Linh Thứu Temple in Berlin, Phật Bảo Temple in Barntrup, Thiện Hòa Temple in Mönchengladbach, Quan Thế Âm Temple in Aachen, Phật Huệ Temple in Frankfurt, and Tâm Giác Temple in Munich.
The Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation, German Branch is one of eight Buddhist Sangha currently operating in European countries: France, England, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Switzerland. All of these Buddhist Congregation are under the management of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation of Europe, with its administrative headquarters at Khánh Anh Pagoda, Paris, France. From the founding of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation of Europe in 1990 in Konsvinger, Norway until 2013, the late Most Venerable Minh Tâm was the President.
He passed away in 2013 while the 25th European Dharma Course was held in Finland, leaving behind many memories. Currently, the Most Venerable Thích Tánh Thiệt, Abbot of Thiện Minh Temple in Lyon, France, is the First President and the Most Venerable Thích Như Điển, Abbot of Viên Giác Temple in Hannover, Germany, is the Second President. They continue the work of the late Most Venerable Minh Tâm by maintaining a Dharma Course every year for all Buddhists from countries in Europe. The course is held in a different country each year.
Countries that have hosted the event one or more times include: Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. This year the 30th European Dharma Retreat was held in Neuss, Germany, which also coincided with the 30th anniversary of the European Dharma Retreat. To support the work of the Branch and the Buddhist Association, the Vietnam Buddhist Cultural and Social Center was also established in 1987, based at Viên Giác Pagoda, to meet the needs of Vietnamese people living in Germany. The center aims to preserve Vietnamese culture, history and language, and at the same time help Vietnamese people soon integrate into German society.
Many Vietnamese people, of different ages and needs, have come to the center for advice and help. This is also a place where people in the same situation meet, chat, share experiences and exchange information related to the world in general and Vietnam in particular. They have received help to quickly integrate into their new life, for example, finding a house, finding a job, learning German and creating healthy activities for young people. The Cultural Center is also a place for discussion and meeting between Eastern and Western cultures. In addition, the center connects government agencies, social and charitable organizations, schools, and attends and organizes multi-religious seminars for people to meet, learn and understand each other better.
But how can the estimated construction cost of 3 million German Marks, equivalent to 1.5 million Euros, be obtained? That was also the big question of the contractors when my Master approached them. These difficulties did not make my Master hesitate but he still proceeded with fundraising and bidding, and started construction. There was no other way, so the Temple had to borrow 700,000 German Marks from the Bank to immediately have the money for construction. Borrowing 700,000 but including interest, it amounted to 1.4 million. My teacher came up with many plans to raise funds, such as calling for donations, lending charity without interest, the program of 1 square meter of land, 1 brick, 1 tile roof, inviting a statue of Sakyamuni to worship in the Tower, distributing cakes and vegetarian food, collecting donations from restaurants, doing Buddhist activities from the branches, etc.
Finally, Mehmel company agreed to undertake the construction project, after my Master assured me that they would start operating the vehicles and machinery, and when the Vietnamese people saw the project of the largest Buddhist Center in Europe begin to take shape, they would happily make offerings. Thanks to the immeasurable merit of Buddhists everywhere, the total amount of 9 million German Marks, equivalent to 4.5 million Euros, was finally paid off. It was truly incredible.
Speaking of this point, we, the brothers, must admire the determination and will of my Master, to build Viên Giác Pagoda and other projects. With the nickname “coughing up silver, spitting out gold”, to be more precise, with the will to establish a dharma center, to propagate the Dharma and save sentient beings, with the Retribution of body and mind, retribution of environment and situation and the merits of my Master himself and of thousands of Buddhists from all over the world, Viên Giác Pagoda was inaugurated in the spring of 1991.
Two years later, the Temple held a ceremony to fulfill the vows during the Vu Lan season of 1993, under the witness of Venerable Ones from many countries around the world. During the construction of the new Viên Giác Temple, my Dharma Brothers: Hạnh Tấn, Hạnh Bảo, Hạnh Vân, Hạnh Từ, Hạnh An, Hạnh Định, Hạnh Luận, etc. worked very hard to join forces with lay Buddhists who came to the Temple to do volunteer work from all over Germany, shouldering the construction work, from shoveling soil, carrying bricks, laying floors, building walls, etc. At that time, there were brothers from Eastern Europe who came to the Temple to do volunteer work. If we had to hire workers for everything, I am afraid the construction cost would not stop at 4.5 million Euros.
By 2008, when I returned to Germany to take on the responsibility, the temple had deteriorated over time and needed to be renovated in many places. So I immediately started to renovate it from the inside out, from top to bottom, to make it more peaceful and dignified. My wish was to quickly complete the renovation to focus on the practice of the many. At that time, I could say that my will was very strong, I vowed to enthusiastically do whatever I could, applying the experiences of practice and administrative management that I had learned during my 4 years in Taiwan. The first project was to design and rebuild the dead altar room. From a dark place with dim lights, it was transformed into a solemn and respectful place of worship.
I remember an old nun and some lay senior Buddhists threatened me: “You are not allowed to change or touch the pictures of the deceased, because they are like their tombstones and graves!”. I thought to myself: “Why does it have to be like that? The living also wants to have a beautiful and airy place to live, don’t the dead do the same?” Moreover, before starting, I also performed a ceremony to invite the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to witness and protect, and the deceased spirits were happy to sign the memorials. How could I just take them all down to do it? There were more than 4,000 images of the deceased spirits worshiped at the Temple in 2008. If this continues, in just 2 years, there will be no more space to post the images on the 13 large boards. What should we do then?
I thought and implemented a way to put images of the deceased into the computer and project them onto a large screen. Every time there was a memorial or death anniversary, I just had to click on the names and the images would appear on the screen. My teacher listened to my opinion and told me to think carefully before deciding to do it. I considered that message as an agreement for me to proceed with the work. Because there was no way more beautiful, solemn and long-lasting. Lay Buddhists in the future will gradually get used to this new way of worship.
After finishing the Patriarch’s room, I continued to work on the Main Hall, repainted the statues and walls, cleaned them up, redecorated the two altars of Avalokitesvara with a Thousand Hands and Eyes and Manjushri Bodhisattva to be truly solemn, moved the place where Buddhist objects and fruits were distributed to the lower floor, restored the solemnity and purity of the Main Hall, and made glass doors outside the Amitabha Buddha statue in front of the Main Hall. Instead of having to hire carpenters to make and replace all the large wooden doors leading to the main hall, I researched how to make sliding glass doors. With this system, the glass doors can be easily opened and closed when necessary, and the cost is much cheaper than paying for materials and carpenters. Almost all of the nearly 100 doors, inside and outside of the temple, are of different sizes, not using the German standard size.
Therefore, it must be placed separately. The glass door system helps to block the wind blowing through the open wooden doors; the temple has more space in front of the Amitabha Buddha statue so that lay Buddhists can pay homage to the Buddha, walk, especially in the cold and snowy months outside. Next is the multi-purpose hall and stage, remove all the wooden partitions, left from the Expo 2000 period, used to separate spaces and make fake walls for image exhibitions, repaint the entire hall, redo the hall ceiling with new and beautiful techniques, add Dharma wheels and Buddhist Family lotus flowers on both sides of the wings, install 2 automatic glass doors to enter and exit the hall, redesign the stage and equip a new color lighting and sound system.
After completing the Buddha Hall and the main hall, I continued to rebuild the room of Compassion, Wisdom, and Courage behind the stage, redesigned the office on the lower floor as well as the monks’ office on the first floor next to the main hall. I presented these renovation plans to my Master, sometimes he agreed, sometimes he did not respond, sometimes he prevented me from doing it. My original plan to complete the renovation within 1 or at most 2 years was not successful, but it took 4 years. The reason is that my Master did not easily accept my renovation and changes to the exterior. He told me many times that I could only renovate the interior, not the exterior. I patiently asked for permission and did it part by part, always probing to see how my Master would react. I chose the time when my Master went to Australia every year for a 3-month winter retreat to carry out the work.
Although my Master was away, Thầy knew everything at the Pagoda. It turned out that there were many “antennae” reporting to my Master. When my Master returned to the Pagoda, contrary to the threats of some people that he would scold and reprimand, he just kept quiet and observed. Because my Master had lived in Japan and always praised the decoration, design, cleanliness and tidiness in the Pagoda and public places. The Master did not praise him directly but he did let others know of his satisfaction. This was the guarantee and the green light for me to have more energy and new initiatives to repair the Temple. The last part of the interior renovation program was my Master’s office and resting room. Oh, everywhere there were books, newspapers, letters tied in bundles, piled high above my head on the shelves. My Master kept them all, every little piece of paper, every letter, every book and newspaper.
I told my Master: “Old books, newspapers and letters are very dusty and affect my Thầy’s health”. And I convinced my Master to let me clean up and redecorate his room to make it more spacious and beautiful. I gave him 2 suitcases and 2 plastic safes to store what he wanted to leave behind. In addition, I would burn and give away everything. He looked at me and shook his head. Yet before my Master left for Australia, he had packed all the necessary items into the 2 suitcases and 2 plastic safes that I had given him.
After that, it took me 3 days, each day on average 3 to 4 hours to burn each letter, each piece of paper from the Master by hand. Oh, how many valuable stamps for a collector, I had to throw into the fire, burning them all to ashes. Nothing is permanent, eternal? After that, I redesigned the entire room, bought new cabinets and shelves, installed new doors, had them painted, re-papered, etc. When my Master returned from Australia, I personally opened the door and introduced him to the new room. He happily smiled and lightly signed on my head. During the past 10 years, there were renovation projects that I had to inform my Master about 2 or 3 times, but I was still patient. After finishing the inside, I aimed for the outside, although I knew that asking my Master for permission would be very difficult.
The last two renovation and construction projects that I aimed at were changing the facade of the Main Hall, which has a winding staircase for wheelchair users leading from the ground floor to the first floor, and building the Quan Âm Flowers Garden, which includes the Quan Âm Altar with a 7-meter-high outdoor statue of Quan Âm and a garden park. Changing the facade is something that most people think is reasonable because it will be beautiful, solemn, and majestic for the Root Temple of Viên Giác. I tried to ask my Master for his opinion, the first time I received a definite answer: “not allowed”; the second time: “not allowed to change the external appearance”; the third time, my Master reminded me: “The Temple has been granted permission to be built like that, with stairs for wheelchair users. How can we demolish it?”. I listened to my Master’s teaching and could only keep silent because at that time I could not think of an answer. A few months passed and I waited for an opportunity to ask my Master again, for the fourth time.
One weekend when the weather was cool, my Master asked me to drive him to Buddhist activities. During the long journey in the car, I often talked with my Master. He told stories, asked questions, or reminded us of work that needed to be done, etc. Perhaps he wanted us to stay alert while driving, so he often told stories like that. Taking advantage of the moment when my Master was really happy, I brought up the story of the renovation of the front of the Temple: “Master, I think a wheelchair way to the Main Hall is a must. If we had designed an elevator from the beginning, it would have been so much more convenient. So it’s not too late for our Temple to fix that way now?” I continued to present to my Master my plan to build a Treppen lift that runs along the left side of the empty floor leading to the Main Hall because that way is less used than the way on the right side of the bell tower.
The stairs are completely automatic, just press and hold the button, the person in the wheelchair can use it alone. My teacher listened and did not answer or react. Two months passed since the day I talked to my teacher, in early October he got in the car and went to the airport to fly to Australia to enter a retreat, meditate, and write a book. I clasped my hands to say goodbye to my teacher and sent him a sentence: “I respectfully wish you a safe journey. Please allow me to be the elevator.” My teacher looked at me without answering and the car slowly rolled away and disappeared behind the gate of the office. I immediately called the concrete company and asked for the price and the earliest time they could come to cut, destroy and transport the concrete blocks.
They replied that it would only take 2 days and they could start the work early in the week. After negotiating the price, I agreed to let them proceed. This time someone told my teacher: “Just as he left, Brother Hạnh Giới destroyed the temple and threw away all the belongings.” “Amitabha! There are people who do not know the problem and spread rumors, slandering the Venerable Masters. Is this destroying the harmony of the Sangha?” I thought to myself. After the concrete blocks in front were removed and the facade was replaced by a transparent glass railing, the facade of the Temple was indeed much different than before. Everyone praised it.
Since 2007, the Temple has purchased an additional piece of land behind, nearly 5,000 square meters, but the project to build a Buddhist Study and Research Center, from the time of my senior Dharma Brother, Master Hạnh Tấn, until my term, has not been implemented yet. The project was too large, but the Temple did not have enough financial and human resources. I submitted to my Master to cancel the project and replace it with a flower garden with a 10-meter-high Buddha statue and Quan Am Altar. This time my Master agreed and gave the green light immediately. The design and construction time lasted more than 3 years, had to apply for a permit from the construction department because the statue and pedestal were more than 5 meters high, find a structural engineer (Statiker), a construction contractor, etc.
The gold-plated chemical statue of Bodhisattva Quan Âm riding a fish with a dragon head, I asked my junior brother Hạnh Nhơn and junior brother Thông Trụ to go all the way to China to order and supervise the workers. 1290 statues made of lapis lazuli were undertaken by a design company in Taiwan, the park includes trees, grass,
The walkways and brick paving were all assigned to the Kretschmer garden design company, the walls and the four-pillar Marmor covering were assigned to the mason Kindler, the three iron gates were assigned to the Gonschorek company, the Kakstein electrical company was in charge of the lighting and many other jobs. The Quan Âm flowers Garden also has a fountain with a new-born Baby Buddha statue, which was fulfilled during the Vu Lan season and Quan Âm Festival in 2017, which was also the time when I received my Master’s consent to end my responsibility as Abbot after nearly 10 years.
The members of this Board of Trustees are usually Uncles and lay devout Buddhists who live near the Temple, the Buddha Recitation Hall, or are active in local Buddhist Associations. They often visit the Temple and the Buddha Recitation Hall, mainly participating in practice courses and assisting the Temple in many tasks. The uncles in the Board of Trustees of Viên Giác Temple are active in many tasks that the Temple needs, such as making newspapers, making cakes and fruits for distribution, cooking, and cleaning. In places where there is no temple, the branches rent a place near their residence to hold Buddhist ceremonies, prayers for peace and memorial prayers for the deceased. During the monthly ceremonies, the branches often send monks and nuns to that place to preside over and guide the ceremonies.
To coordinate all Buddhist activities of many localities, the “Association of Vietnamese Students and Overseas Buddhists in Germany” was established in 1978. At that time, the majority of the Association’s members were Vietnamese students studying in Germany. After the 1975 incident, they applied for asylum in Germany and did not want to return to Vietnam. In 1984, the name of the Association was changed to “Association of Vietnamese Buddhist Refugees in the Federal Republic of Germany” and has been recognized by the Hannover court until now. This administrative system is under the management of the German Branch. Until now, 22 Branches and 7 Buddhist Families are members of this Buddhist Association.
There are some branches that were established from the beginning and still exist today; there are also branches that, for various reasons, are no longer active. At the same time, there are also some places that do not officially have a branch but only a Liaison Committee. During the recent 40th anniversary ceremony of Vietnamese Buddhism in Germany at Viên Giác Pagoda, my Master gave a speech with words of joy, praise, and gratitude to everyone who has contributed to the construction of Vietnamese Buddhism in general and Viên Giác Pagoda and the Buddhist Association in particular over the past time. The Master expressed his joy when he learned that now there are thousands of Buddhists who have taken refuge in the Three Jewels, received the Five Precepts, and many who go to the Temple know how to wear the elegant gray robe. The Master said that when he first came to Germany, there was only one Buddhist in the Temple who wore a robe.
Over the 40 years of the history of Vietnamese people living abroad, countless associations and organizations have been established to help Vietnamese people integrate and get used to life in a foreign land. However, the existence of these associations is only limited to a certain period of time, at the latest when the second and third generations of Vietnamese people have been fully integrated into the society of the foreign land. But the Buddhist Youth Family can be said to be the most correct organization among the organizations present in a society. Why? Because the ideal of each youth leader and member is to “Guide the boat of life and make life blossom”. An organization that always guides each individual on the path of peace and liberation, for the benefit of oneself and others, in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha, aiming for the goal of enlightenment and liberation in the future.
This is a bright spot that other organizations do not have. Realizing this, my Master made an effort to gather the youth leaders who had been active in the Buddhist Youth Family in our homeland to establish the Buddhist Youth Family in Germany. Under the care and support of my Master and the Venerable Ones, parents, leaders, and benefactors, the Vietnamese Buddhist Youth Family has developed over the years. As time passes, with the ups and downs of the organization, the 7 children of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation, German Branch, are still standing firm in Europe and standing shoulder to shoulder with other units around the world to dedicate themselves to serving the Triple Gem, repaying the four great favors and leading the younger generation, maintaining the organization. During the time from the founding of the first Buddhist Family in 1987 until 2003, My teacher directly took on the role of Religious Advisor for the Buddhist youth Family. This role was continued from 2003 to 2007 by my senior brother, Master Hạnh Tấn. And since 2008, I have continued to take on this role until now. With the role and responsibility nominated by the Unified Buddhist Congregation of Vietnam, the German Branch, plus the experience of living with the Vietnamese Buddhist Family in Germany for over 14 years, we ourselves have learned a lot from the senior leaders, and have been close to the new leaders and members of the various branches.
With the desire to contribute a small part of ourselves to help make luggage for life for the youth leaders and the members, we research and establish highly effective Buddhist study programs so that children can easily absorb Buddhist teachings. The method of teaching Buddhist teachings in Vietnamese and German is applied in the form of a workshop, lasting from one hour to one and a half hours. The content includes theory, discussion and presentation, helping them to be confident, active and promote their abilities and understanding. The teachings are added with useful activities, sports, round entertainment, large games, etc. suitable for each age and circumstances.
Starting from Vu Lan festival in 2017, once the Buddhist work of the Branch and Viên Giác Temple was relieved, we spent more time focusing on translating and compiling basic Dharma lessons to help young people approach Buddhist teachings. These Buddhist documents will also be translated into German and English to benefit the current and future generations of Vietnamese children, because we fear that at some points, they will be less able to read, speak and write Vietnamese.
However, the study of Dharma and the practice of the Buddha Dharma for the Buddhist Youth Family need to be further developed. Therefore, the goal and direction for the coming years is to promote the search for more effective methods of practice, especially the application of Buddhism in daily life so that the youth leaders and members have a firm confidence in their Buddhism when communicating with friends, local people, at school, at work or other organizations and associations.
How to sow the Bodhi seed, the Lam Love seed in the children? How to arouse them to dedicate themselves to serving the organization? How can they have a sense of responsibility and enthusiasm for the organization? etc. The young kids, teenagers, and young adults who have the good opportunity to come to the Buddhist Youth Family, come to the Temple, come to the Triple Gem, have the change to develop their Buddha nature. They can study the Dharma and be close to the teachers, receive the dedicated care of the Family Leader, the youth leaders, the parents in the sponsoring committee, the benefactors, donors who contribute their efforts and money, etc.
The members are none other than the young shoots, the bamboo shoots, our children, who will follow the footsteps of the Leaders in the mission of leading the next generation. When the bamboo is old, the new shoots will grow, that is also a natural law. However, in terms of maintenance and development, the Buddhist Youth Family, or more precisely, the youth Leaders, must always actively learn, promote initiatives, and follow the sophisticated development of science, humanity, and society to update and bring the organization to prosperity.
Over the past 30 years, the German Buddhist Youth Family’s Guidance Board has shown its loyalty to the Church in general and the German Buddhist Youth Family’s Branch in particular. The Sisters and Brothers of the Executive Board, the youth leaders and members of the German Buddhist Youth Family, including Minh Hải, Tâm Minh, Chánh Niệm, Chánh Dũng, Pháp Quang, Chánh Giác and Chánh Tín, have contributed their efforts to the Buddhist activities at Viên Giác Pagoda. Many members have been trained by the youth leaders of the Camps, Lộc Uyển, A Dục, Huyền Trang, etc.
We ourselves feel the great sacrifice and attachment of the youth leaders to the organization. Many of them can say that every breath, every heartbeat is directed towards the organization. The innocent activities, the spirit of learning the Dharma and the progress of the members of the various branches make us more motivated and vow to be more courageous on the path of propagating the Dharma to benefit sentient beings as the Eldest Sons of Tathagata.
For the youth leaders and all members of the Vietnamese Buddhist Family in Germany, wearing the gray shirt and the white lotus is an honor for a youth leader and a member of the organization.
In times of defilement, frustration, discouragement or boredom, remember the moments of kneeling before the Buddha altar and the Venerable Zen Masters to take the vow to become a youth leader, officially become a member of the Buddhist Family, and contribute to the building and development of the organization.
This is expressed through the last two lines of the poem remembering the Pagoda by the Most Venerable Thích Mãn Giác, pen name Huyền Không, expressing the profound meaning, existence and attachment of Vietnamese people to the Pagoda. “The pagoda roof protects the soul of the nation. The eternal way of life of our ancestors”. Wherever there is a Pagoda, there is the Triple Gem, there are Venerable monks and nuns propagating the Dharma, there is Vietnamese tradition and culture. It is truly cozy and flavorful to come to any effective place where there is the presence of a Vietnamese Pagoda.
By the late 1990s, there were many Vietnamese living in Germany. Their integration was comparable to that of Vietnamese living in the US, Canada, Australia and other European countries. At first, religion played only a small role in stabilizing life, but soon it became an important point to affirm a new role and life in a new society. Religion helps them connect memories from the past and new experiences in a new environment. Religion and beliefs play a role in the philosophy and perception of ethnicity, helping them regain their identity.
After a short time of integration, the first generation found to religion for support. They established Buddhist houses and Temples to preserve Vietnamese culture, religion and beliefs. They tried to recreate the same framework as in Vietnam in a foreign country, from form to content. In terms of form, the pagodas built often have the appearance of a pagoda, including a main hall, a refectory or a large dining room with a living area, a three-entrance gate and a stupa. In terms of content, the activities include regular ceremonies every weekend, sermons, chanting, repentance, well-being prayers, memorial prayers, etc. Many places buy spacious houses and convert them into pagodas and Buddhist Recitation Halls. Some places in the US buy churches to convert them into pagodas. Although there are pagodas of other traditions throughout Germany, Vietnamese people still prioritize going to Vietnamese pagodas. Therefore, they do not hesitate to travel hundreds of kilometers to Viên Giác Pagoda every time there is a festival to contribute merit and attend the ceremony.
Pagodas in Germany seek every means to create a familiar pagoda for Vietnamese people living in Germany. That is why Viên Giác Pagoda was built. Small pagodas and Buddhist Recitation Halls from a converted house do not have many characteristics of a Vietnamese pagoda. The reason is easy to understand because the architecture of the house is like that; to decorate it to look like a traditional temple, you need to apply for a building permit or make changes. Statues from small to large are all invited from Vietnam, China, Japan, Nepal, for worship. The organizational structure and management of Buddhist activities in Germany is like a spider web, distributed throughout Germany. Each temple is free to independently organize its own Buddhist activities. In particular, common Buddhist activities or major holidays are often discussed and scheduled at the annual meeting of the Branch.
The meeting brings together the Venerable Ones from the Temples of the Branch to summarize the Buddhist activities of the year and discuss the program for the coming year. Each Temple takes turns to take charge and organize this annual meeting, usually starting from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with a 2-hour lunch and break. The Buddhist activities are arranged and divided among the Temples and Buddhist Recitation Halls of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Branch in Germany.
Major ceremonies such as Buddha’s Birthday and Vu Lan festival are usually held on weekends, avoiding the overlap with the temples in the administrative system of the Branch. Therefore, Buddha’s Birthday and Vu Lan festival are not just 1 or 2 days a year but often last for a whole month. Every weekend, there are ceremonies held at Vietnamese temples, so that Venerable Ones can attend and witness and lay Buddhists in many places can attend the festival. One of the efforts of Vietnamese people overseas is to rely on their religion and beliefs to educate the younger generation, in order to preserve Vietnamese culture, traditions and language. Many pagodas overseas open classes to teach Vietnamese language and history to children. In Germany, local Buddhist Youth Families take on this role to teach children Vietnamese, hold quiz competitions, award certificates and gifts to encourage them.
Overseas, religious and social organizations often have to work hard to educate the younger generation not to forget their mother tongue and culture. The second and third generations born and raised in Germany are fully integrated into German society and know very little about Vietnamese traditions. Many children do not understand, not write or read Vietnamese. Many families have difficulty with their children living between two cultures.
My Master in particular and Vietnamese Buddhism, as well as teachers in Germany in general, have paid attention to this. The German Buddhist Branch, the Buddhist Families and the Buddhist Youth Families have established study and practice programs for the youth. Dharma courses for the Buddhist Youth Families and summer camps for Buddhist activities are often organized to attract children to attend. To expand the opportunities for young people to get to know and learn from their friends, the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation in Europe annually, within the European Buddhist Study Course, organizes classes specifically for young people of all ages from European countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, and Nordic countries such as Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
The age group that is most “cared for” by the Venerable Ones and parents is Oanh Vũ University, children from 6 to 12 years old. This name was given by the Most Venerable Master Khánh Anh himself to encourage parents to bring their children to the European Buddhist Study Course, to sow the seeds of Buddhahood and to be nurtured. The young children, who are also the young buds of the Congregation, are taught catechism, practice, learn more about Vietnamese history and geography, learn to dance, learn to sing and contribute to artistic performances whenever the Temple or the Buddhist Associations and Families need them. Many places have established lion dance and dance troupes so that the children can perform for the Germans to exchange culture. The study program is supplemented with entertainment and healthy competition.
Big games, circle activities, campfire activities, are all found in youth activities. During many years of working with the Congregation and the Temples, we have come into contact with and guided many youth groups. What is worth developing and encouraging is the leadership ability and high responsibility of some young people born overseas. They have a spirit of dedication and service that is very admirable. From these young buds, we have hope that there will be future generations who will continue to carry on the work of their predecessors to help propagate the Dharma and bring benefits to everyone.
Daily activities in a Temple for monastic people have clear hours and schedules. A new day begins with the early morning service at 5:45 a.m. with 15 minutes of meditation and 1 hour of reciting the Shurangama Mantra, reciting Buddha’s names, walking meditation, and repentance. If it is during the vassa 3-month retreat, from after Buddha’s birthday (the 15th day of the 4th lunar month) until Vu Lan festival (the 15th day of the 7th lunar month), the second chanting service is held at 11:30 a.m. with the Ritual of mindfulness lunch, Sutras chanting, Buddha circumambulation.
The third chanting prayers session of the day begins at 5:00 p.m., also known as the afternoon service, which includes chanting the Amitabha Sutra, offering food to the wandering souls, and sometimes repentance. This afternoon service is dedicated to praying for the liberation of wandering hungry ghosts. Offerings for them include porridge, rice, salt, and water. After the afternoon prayer session, the Great Bell is invited 108 times to open the gates of hell so that those who have paid off all their karma can be liberated and reincarnated.
The last chant of the day starts at 8pm, which is the time to bow to the Buddha one word at a time, meaning that each word is chanted along with the name of a Buddha or Bodhisattva and bowed down. For example, the sutra says: “I have heard thus…” then chant: “With all my heart I bow, Namo I, the Master Shakyamuni Buddha.”, “With all my heart I bow, Namo heard, the Master Shakyamuni Buddha.” This is an effective method of repentance that helps practitioners recite the Sutras that they have just revealed to repent and destroy their sins. My teacher practiced it every night during the 3-month Retreat of Vassa. At first, he guided the many to bow to the Five Hundred Names, the Three Thousand Buddhas’ names, the Ten Thousand Buddhas’ names, the Lotus Sutra, and now the Mahaparinirvana Sutra in the final stage. Each night, they bowed from 280 to 350 times.
After the time of chanting the sutras, there is a time of sitting in meditation for 15 minutes. “At the beginning of the night, I have already arrived at the Buddha Hall. My three karmas have been purified and I have attained the holy Face. I have deep confidence in the Buddha’s words and constantly recite the Buddha’s names. With my single-minded devotion, I will go to the Buddha’ land peacefully. Birth and death are great matters, and they are impermanent. I would like to invite the great assembly to single-mindedly recite the Buddha’s names.” The solemn sound of the night’s call brings the practitioner’s consciousness back to awareness, understanding the impermanence of this world and focusing on reciting the Buddha’s names.
In addition to the Dharma learning and practice sessions at the Temple, my Master organizes the Eight Precepts courses, training, and New Year’s Buddha worship, and Dharma learning and Practice courses for lay Buddhists at the Associations and places where there are Dharma centers. For 40 years, my Master has been tirelessly doing this work. Until now, he is still active and dynamic, going here and there when people request him. Buddhist activities and spiritual needs seem endless. Everywhere there are Buddhists who invite them, who are eager to practice and study the Buddha Dharma. I think my Master will continue to do this until his physical body no longer allows it. That is the wish of a spiritual Master who propagates the Dharma and saves sentient beings.
In foreign countries, Tết-lunar New Year cannot be celebrated like in Vietnam because many families do not gather in one place, they are scattered in many cities or even in different countries. Most Vietnamese people celebrate Tết at home with relatives and friends; others go to the temple to attend ceremonies and chant sutras and say prayers. Many overseas pagodas celebrate Tết on the weekend so that Buddhists can attend. Viên Giác Pagoda still maintains the tradition of celebrating on New Year’s Eve, welcoming the Maitreya Spring. At exactly 0:00 on the first day of Tết, my Master rings the Great Bell and the Prajna drum, lights a new pair of candles, rings the bell, drums and wooden fish for blessings, burns incense to the invitation of the Buddha, and recites the first sutra of the new year.
Before New Year’s Eve at 8:00 p.m., there will be a New Year’s Repentance period with 108 prostrations, followed by a homegrown performance program, with the shows contributed by fellow Buddhists in the Hannover Buddhist Association and surrounding areas as well as brothers and sisters in the Tâm Minh Buddhist Family. The plays and performances were rehearsed by the children 2-3 months before Tết, designing, sewing new clothes, decorating screens, preparing play instruments, etc. Before the New Year’s Eve ceremony, the youth leaders and members of the Tâm Minh Buddhist Youth Family and the Buddhist friends in the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Association of Hannover gathered at the Ancestral Hall to wish a Happy New Year and make offerings to the Venerable Ones; My teacher gave lucky money envelopes to everyone and especially gave out prizes to the students who were good at studying and had achieved many good grades during the school year. Starting from next year, he will also give lucky money to other Buddhist Youth Family members for these achievements. Usually on New Year’s Eve, up to two thousand people come to the Temple to welcome spring, receive lucky gift and money.
After the chanting, everyone happily lit the “firecrackers” by clapping their hands together following my teacher’s instructions to raise and lower their hands. After 3 rounds of applause, everyone turned around, shook hands and wished a happy new year to those around them. The atmosphere was warm and spiritual. The next important part that everyone was looking forward to was receiving lucky money envelopes. Each person attending the ceremony received 2 ang fruits symbolizing “good luck” and prosperity and 1 red envelope. The atmosphere was bustling, everyone jostled and pushed forward to receive one envelope to bring home with the hope of a prosperous business. Many people also asked for more for relatives at home who could not come to receive them directly. Some people asked for 10 to 15 envelopes for friends or relatives. Looking at the expectant and enthusiastic faces of the people asking “on behalf of” me, I felt touched and had to count enough red envelopes to give to them.
Two other major festivals are held every year at Viên Giác Pagoda, namely Buddha’s Birthday on the weekend near the full moon day of the fourth lunar month and Vu Lan festival along with Quan Âm festival near the full moon day of the seventh lunar month. Both festivals are held on the three days of weekend, starting from Friday evening until Sunday noon. Both festivals are held over three days of the weekend, starting from Friday evening until Sunday noon. Northern Buddhist traditions such as China, Japan, and Korea usually celebrate this festival separately, unlike Theravada countries such as Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka, which celebrate this day as the day of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and passing.
In Vietnam in the 60s, the Buddha’s Birthday was celebrated very solemnly, lasting for many days, with processions of palanquins and flower cars, and Buddhist flags were displayed on both sides of the road. Pagodas held festivals, chanted sutras, gave sermons, etc. After a long time, in recent years, in some big cities in Vietnam, the images of processions of flower cars returned, with flower cars, palanquins, cyclos, motorbikes and bicycles running in a row along the big roads in the city.
It is joyful and bustling to see Buddhist devotees expressing their respect to the World-Honored One on this great occasion to enlighten sentient beings to enter into the Buddha’s knowledge and vision. On Friday afternoon, Buddhist devotees in the organizing committee flocked to the Temple to carefully prepare their work, from the main hall to the kitchen, from inside the Temple to the yard. The work involved nearly 100 people, including incense burners, incense sticks, fortune telling, flower arrangements, cooking, reception, transportation, medical care, registration of offerings, registration of meal tickets, photography, shopping, cutting, cooking, preparing food, washing dishes, taking care of food for everyone, distributing food, cakes, tea and drinks… Everyone was busy.
On Friday evenings and late at night, the Buddhist Youth Associations and Buddhist Families on large vans with 50 to 80 people arrived at the Temple one by one, hurriedly ate a few bites, then dragged their suitcases to find a place to sleep so that they would have the strength to do meritorious deeds the next morning. Seeing the elderly, the young Buddhist Families, and the parents leading their young children, I felt admiration and respect in my heart. Thinking back 30 years ago, when I had not yet become a monk and my family was still in Fuerth. Every time Buddha’s Birthday and Vu Lan festival, my parents and four siblings each had a large suitcase, both personal belongings and offerings, from home taking the bus, then changing to the tram, then the train for more than 5 hours to Hannover. When arriving at Hannover station, I had to take another tram and walk 20 minutes to the temple. At that time, I was very bored with dragging my suitcase across the steep train bridge.
I just wish I had a bicycle to load all my belongings onto and push them across that bridge. Later, when more and more people wanted to go to the Temple to attend the ceremony, the Branches in Nuernberg, Fuerth and Erlangen hired buses with drivers, so that many people could go without having to organize each small car. This solution is both cheap and convenient, saving everyone’s energy. The following Saturday begins with the early chanting service at 5:45 a.m., followed by breakfast at 10:00 a.m., is the time for saying well-being prayers, at 11:00 a.m., is the ceremony of taking refuge in the Three Jewels and receiving the Five Precepts; 12:00 is the noon offering and offering to the deceased worshiped at the Temple; 13:00 is the meal; 14:30 is the period of Dharma talk in the Main Hall; 15:00 is the rehearsal of the performing arts in the hall and at the same time, the Executive Committee of the Vietnamese Buddhist Refugees Association in Germany, the Buddhist Associations, the Liaison Committees, the 7 Buddhist Families; 18:00 is the dinner.
19:00 hours of performing arts for the grand ceremony – interspersed with the flower lantern ceremony – until 24:00 hours of ending. Twice a year, the Grand Ceremony, the Temple hires singers from the United States or France to come and perform. My teacher believes that this is a way for young people to go to the Temple, to learn about the Dharma and also to be entertained. Young people who go to the Temple will have the heart to bring their grandparents, parents and family along.
Although I wanted to convince my Master many times to cut this part so that the Buddhist Families and enthusiastic Buddhists could contribute their own “homegrown” performance, my Master still refused. Late at night, everyone temporarily cleaned up from the Main Hall to the hall, their stalls, the leaders and the Buddhist family members divided into groups, holding trash tongs and green trash bags, and spreading out in all directions to collect trash. This image brings to mind the question: “Why do people carelessly throw trash or cigarette butts everywhere?” Is it because the Temple does not have enough trash cans? Or is it because they are not convenient to walk a few steps further to find a trash can? Or is it because they do not respect others or do not protect the environment?
The following Sunday, after the early morning chanting and breakfast, is the official Great Ceremony of Buddha’s Birthday or Vu Lan Festival. The sound of bells and drums resonates three times, blending with the chanting of Buddha’s names by Buddhists, welcoming the Venerable Ones to the Buddha Hall to witness the Great Ceremony: “Namo the Original Master Shakyamuni Buddhaya.” The program includes offering flowers to the Buddha by Buddhist Families taking turns, burning incense to pay homage to the Buddha, chanting the Sutra of Buddha’s Birthday or Vu Lan Sutra, introducing the Venerable Ones, reading the Messages, and giving Dharma talks.
Next is the offering of alms food to the monastic people at the present. The Vu Lan Festival program also includes an alms-collecting food ceremony. To preserve the tradition from the time of the Buddha, Viên Giác Pagoda also creates good opportunity for lay Buddhist devotees to practice alms-donating and make the offerings of food to the monastic people, and sow good seeds into the field of merit. With alms bowls in hand, the delegation of monks and nuns walked gently in noble silence, smiling from the office door through the wall of three-entrance gate, towards the main gate, drive in and go straight into the hall; on the path of the monks and nuns, lay Buddhist devotees stood to one side with pre-prepared offerings, toothbrushes, toothpaste, face towels, bath towels, medicine, oil, envelopes, candy, cakes, fruits, etc.
Waiting to put it in the alms bowl. There are also children who follow their parents to stand in line to personally sow the seeds of affinity with the monks and nuns. Following the alms-collecting ceremony is the offering ceremony for the monastic people, presenting the four offerings. After Vu Lan festival, there is also the ceremony of self-awareness and confession, which is the joyful day of the monks and nuns after 3 months of Vassa. After the midday meal and lunch are the cleaning part and general sanitation of the temple. 5:00 p.m., is the offering of food to the wandering souls completely.
After everyone left, from afar, I saw the figure of an elderly man wearing a tie, one hand holding a garbage bag, the other wearing a 59-ang, picking up every piece of trash, every cigarette butt left on both sides of the road and in parking lots… that image was my teacher, who had been doing this job for more than a few decades but few people knew about it.
18 years later, since the day His Holiness the Dalai Lama first set foot in Viên Giác Pagoda in 1995, he once again, on September 20, 2013, came to Viên Giác Pagoda to give a sermon to more than 1,000 monks, nuns and lay Buddhists who attended in person or via big screen. In the early days after the establishment of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation in Germany, Buddhist activities were mainly aimed at the Vietnamese Buddhist community, with occasional contact with other Buddhist communities, such as China, Taiwan, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Laos.
Until 1991, after Viên Giác Pagoda was inaugurated and Buddhist establishments were established throughout Germany, Germans also began to know about the activities of the Pagoda and wanted to contact it for cultural and religious exchange. According to statistics, each year the Pagoda has up to 5,000 Germans belonging to the components of society, from intellectuals, professors, students, officers, and workers participating in this program.
Not to mention the Germans who come, visit, and tour the temple. The program lasts from 2.5 to 3 hours in the morning or afternoon, including a tour introducing some locations of the temple such as the three-entrance gate, the 7-storey tower with 7 statues of 7 past Buddhas and more than 11,000 statues of Shakyamuni Buddha, the Buddha Hall, the multi-purpose hall, the Patriarch’s room, the room to worship the deceased, the library, etc. Next is a brief chanting session and a general presentation of Buddha’s teachings, meditation instructions, and a question-and-answer session. Finally, there is a lunch or dinner session to introduce pure vegetarian dishes to everyone 15 years ago, at Viên Giác Pagoda. My teacher founded and still advises and supports the German Sangha Council (DBO), organizing the Great Precepts Transmission Ceremony for German, British, and French people to receive Bhiksuni ordination, because the Tibetan Buddhist tradition has not yet opened the way for these Western people. My teacher hopes that in the future, German and foreign nuns will organize their own Precepts ordination Transmission Ceremony for female monastic candidates.
My Master was also concerned about this from the beginning when the foundation was established; therefore, he accepted disciples to become monks, to join the Tathagata’s Messengers to propagate the Buddha Dharma. Starting from 1984, my Master allowed them to be shaved and ordained at Viên Giác Pagoda, up to now, there have been more than 45 people and now officially there are more than 30 people.
However, in the recent 10 or 15 years, we no longer see young people who have the courage to leave home to become monastic Ones. There are almost no young people like us who have the courage to leave home to become monastic Ones, in spite of relying on the number of young people studying and practicing the Buddha Dharma, it is not small. But I do not understand why they do not take the next step to leave home for monastic life to help the world?
Is it true that the practice of becoming a monk is outdated and no longer suitable for young people? Regarding this, a few years ago I boldly told my Master my thoughts, that the German Buddhist Sangha Branch should have new directions and policies to create conditions for young people to practice becoming monastic people so that Vietnamese Buddhism will have more personnel in the future. Our intention is to ask the Venerable Ones in Europe to allow us and some young monks and nuns to organize short-term ordination courses to sow the seeds for the children. We often work and interact with children aged 14 to 18 and their parents, most of whom are very happy to agree and want to send their children to the Temple for the short-term ordination period.
I think that at that age, children are very eager to practice, eager to learn, like to be close to teachers, and want to become monks in the future. However, they do not have a real concept of the monastic life, especially one who leaves secular for monastic life and lives abroad. If in the future they become monastic people at the age of 19 or 20 after graduating from high school or university, they will be quite bewildered when they encounter the truth and monastic life.
That is why we think of creating conditions for students to have the opportunity to truly experience monastic life. They will have their hair shaved, wear robes, receive the 10 novice precepts and be trained in the life of a true monastic one. After 4 to 6 weeks, they will be released from the precepts, return their robes and return to continue their studies. Only then can you get acquainted and truly experience it to gain a concept. If your intention to become a monastic one is still strong, after graduating from high school or university, you can truly make a vow to become a monastic one. If after a period of ordination, you cannot endure it or feel that the path of ordination is not suitable for you, then being a devout Buddhist who protects the Triple Gem is also a good thing.
If we continue as we are now, out of urgency, sponsoring monks and nuns from Vietnam will only meet the needs of middle-aged and elderly Buddhists; the young will not benefit because the Buddha Dharma is not guided and taught in German, the local language. The most effective way for the younger generation to understand Buddhism, and for Buddhism to be spread to the native people, including our children, is for the communicators to be proficient in the language and understand the culture and customs of the native people.
If you want to know what the future will be like, you have to look at the present. If the present does not invest in the youth, then the future will not have young people to follow. At that time, temples will also turn into museums or restaurants, as happened to the Chinese community in America. My teacher did not agree at that time because he was afraid that he would not be able to control what might happen, for example, the clothes would be abused, and above all, in the Vietnamese Buddhist tradition, there is no short-term ordination like in the Southern Buddhist countries. Well, I have to accept and depend on it.
The education and training of the Sangha as well as the lay Buddhist devotees was my Master’s greatest concern. He often said: “I have no talent for growing trees, and no tree can survive for long. But I have a talent for cultivating people!” Therefore, during times of chanting, paying homage to the Buddha, and studying the Sutras, Vinaya, and Abhidharma, my Master applied a very strict principle to his students. The Master was not pleased with monastic people, so he chased them all away and did not allow any monks or nuns to stay in the Buddha Hall. That day, the Master did not allow the kitchen to “light a fire” to cook. Seeing that, my parents invited the Venerable Ones to come home for a meal. Every time we went up to chant the morning sutras, especially on Mondays, we reminded each other to “keep our own souls”, meaning that whoever held a certain Dharma instrument or had a turn to chant the Buddha’s names, had to put their minds into it. Otherwise, the whole sangha would be “suffered”. This is not to mention the classes that my teacher led. The atmosphere was sometimes very tense, especially the classes of Vinaya in Chinese.
The teacher often called me to the board or stood up on the spot to test my essay. Regardless of who you are, you all have to take turns taking the test, standing in front of a board and having to write out each stroke of the difficult-to-remember and difficult-to-write Chinese characters. Many times, I returned an assignment that I did not learn by heart, wrote 20 words and got more than 2 wrong, and was scolded and reprimanded. I told my teacher: “Learning by this method of memorizing words I cannot learn.” My teacher scolded me: “There is no other way, everyone learns like that. Each character must be written 50 times to remember!” I replied: “I wrote not only 50 times but 100 times, but still forgot.” There was no way I could memorize in a few hours the night before to turn in my homework the next day.
Normally, we novice attendants are very busy with our daily work. During the three-month Summer Retreat, from 05:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., we have to do many things, attend the six sessions, two sessions of learning the Dharma, four sessions of chanting the Sutras, reciting Buddha’s names, and repenting. After 10:00 p.m., when we are allowed to return to our rooms to rest, we are so tired that we often do not have the mind and energy to study. We also have to work for the Sangha, washing dishes, cleaning the bathroom, toilet, sweeping leaves, cooking 1 day a week. Reading this, you may think that washing dishes is not tiring? I tell you, washing dishes morning, noon, evening, 2-3 days a week, washing dishes for 30 people, sometimes 40 people, it is not just 30 minutes, but the fastest is from 1 hour to 1 hour and a half, the hardest part is the big and heavy pots and pans.
After that occasion, I resolutely sought permission from my Master to go to Taiwan to study, and refused to let my Master criticize me for being “ignorant” and not having the talent to learn Chinese. My intention was clear, but how could I convince my Master? Because he certainly would not agree. So I waited and found a way. On the day of my Dharma brother Hạnh Tấn being ordained as Abbot, my Master invited many Venerable Ones from overseas, Europeans as well as from Vietnam came to attend. I was an attendant to the Venerable Ones and got to know Venerable Long Thơ in Đà Nẳng. I told Venerable my wish and asked him to “ask for” my Master. He promised and I continued to wait with great hope.
After the Festival, my teacher called me up and said: “The Most Venerable Master Long Thơ talked to me about Hạnh Giới wanting to go to Taiwan to study. Thầy agrees to let Hạnh Giới go for 1 year and then Hạnh Giới must return to help his brothers with the work.” I was so happy that I quickly replied: “Yes!”. So I was sent to Taiwan to study Mandarin. A year passed, then two years, my teacher came to visit me and wanted me to return to Germany. In my mind, I wanted to stay a little longer and enroll in the Pháp Cổ Sơn Monastery, where the Most Venerable Master Thích Thánh Nghiêm founded and propagated the Dharma. That evening, I was very nervous when I presented my wish to my Master. And this time, I was sure that no Venerable Master would ask for help. Brother Hạnh Hảo, a German who accompanied my Master, clasped his two thumbs and wished me “Viel Glueck!” (Good luck!) when I knocked on the door and entered his room.
I talked with the Master for more than an hour, wishing to enter the Monastery to study and learn how to manage. When I talked to the Master, I learned that the Venerable Master Thánh Nghiêm had also studied in Japan, in the previous generation before my teacher. After a long time of propagating the Dharma in the United States, the Most Venerable Master returned to Taiwan to found and establish the Pháp Cổ Sơn Monastery to propagate the Dharma and ordain more than 300 monks, with many branches all over Taiwan and a few places abroad. To be honest, my Master always encourages his disciples to study abroad and pursue postgraduate programs to anyone who has the desire. Perhaps it was because my Master, 40 years ago, when he went to Germany, also had the desire to continue studying postgraduate programs, but because the needs of Buddhist affairs at that time were too diverse and urgent, he had to put that matter aside.
Once I asked my Master: “Why do you always flaunt your education and degrees?” He replied: “Parents who raise their children to be successful and educated consider it an honor and pride for the family. I have no family or children, but the success of my disciples is my joy!” From that moment on, I understood my Master better, because that was the ambition and wish of a Master who wanted to propagate the Dharma and save sentient beings.
According to the law of impermanence, all the dharma is born and ended by interdependent Origination and interrelationships. Everything changes, changes in shape. The past, present and future are the three points of the time not separate, always connected and dominated each other never stop. The achievement of today’s results is due to the cause of the past, and it is the result that is also the cause, the foundation that leads to the result of the future. It is clear that the morality of the Buddha is not out of the law of cause and effect and Dependent Origination. Knowing gratitude and thankful repayment is the Buddha’s teaching, which is also the spirit and virtue of a true Buddhist devotee. In order to improve the current life, each practitioner needs to make efforts to practice the good dharma, cultivate the Buddha’s teachings, develop Bodhi mind, cultivate blessing and wisdom, devote their strength to sentient beings.
Gratitude, learning from the past to rise up building for the future is essential. The worldly dharma has birth and death, good and bad. If everyone chose for themselves the path of goodness, actively living and practicing for the benefit of sentient beings, always happy with everyone, we are living peacefully and freely, as the Buddha’s teachings are to repay the virtue of the Three Jewels and travel on the way to liberation in the future. All dharma in this world, with birth, death, there is the beginning, then there will be an end, the mind and body are the same. After nearly 20 years of leaving secular for monastic life, living with my teacher, sisters, and brothers in the Dharma, receiving the teacher’s teachings, the support and collaboration of sisters and brothers, I felt the deep gratitude.
I burst into tears on the day of my duty ended under the statue of Quan Âm, the Bodhisattva saved all living beings, including me. Without the Bodhisattva, I would have been mentally depressed and lost the mind of enlightenment. For nearly 10 years, there were times when I sat and cried silently before the Bodhisattva because the pressure was too heavy. “On the anvil under the hammer” or “being a daughter-in-law to hundreds of families” is what I feel when I really have to work and interact with everyone as well as my teacher and my sisters and brothers. On the one hand, I have to follow the teacher’s teachings, on the other hand, I have to get the hearts of the great Sangha.
I had to represent the voice and the wishes of the many, work directly and submit to my teacher. Understanding Dharma learning and the cultivation and practice of their monks and nuns is the first priority; Seeing our brothers and sisters with hard work, such as printing and making newspapers, packing and sending products published by the Temple, driving all the way to France to bring calendars back to the Temple in the freezing winter and slippery roads, the elderly ladies and gentlemen having to take responsibility for the kitchen, preparing meals, distributing cakes, etc. We do not have much time to rest, cultivate, and recite Buddha’s names, so I have repeatedly asked my Master to reduce those auxiliary tasks so that the great community has more time.
Sometimes I ask myself, why can’t I just be a junior brother of my senior brothers? No need to worry, face any big problems? Wrong and right, praise and criticism, comparison, gossiping around.
Oh! It is so complicated! When I feel lonely with my responsibilities and work. At that time, I understand more about the wishes and responsibilities of brother Hạnh Tấn, and at this moment, when I am let go, I sympathize with junior brother Hạnh Bổn, who must continue to take on this work. During one Rains Retreat, for the peace of the great community, my junior brother Hạnh Giả and I submitted 22 things to my teacher, asking him to consider and approve. I remember that at that time my teacher was not happy at all. The next morning, he called us to meet him in his room and said:
“The Master agrees to accept the 11 things his disciples have proposed!” We breathed a sigh of relief, bowed to the Master and left. There was also one time when my Master reprimanded me in front of the public Sangha in the Main Hall, after the Flower Lantern Offering Ceremony during the Pure Land training course.
At that time, I was very sad but just kept silent and did not say a word. I just did not understand why my Master was unhappy and displeased. In my heart, there was not a single unwholesome or disrespectful thought towards my Master. I just wanted to apply what I learned from Taiwan to help bring the minds of the great Sangha closer to Amitabha Buddha, to Amitabha’s Self-Nature. The next afternoon, I packed my bags and left, leaving the Temple, the Master, and the community behind. Without a word to my Master, I bought a train ticket to the North, to the coast, to rest for a few days, to meditate and contemplate.
My teacher knew that and told junior brother Hạnh Lý and Hạnh Nhơn to call me back. At that time, I really thought a lot. I was really not worthy of my responsibility to manage the Sangha, not making the Sangha’s mind peaceful in practice. We brothers often understood each other and knew each other’s abilities, even knowing each other’s own knowledge obstacles.” To be honest, we Viên Giác sisters and brothers are very protective of each other. Even if we are angry or dissatisfied with something, we just talk it out and then become happy again. I think that when we join forces, there is nothing that cannot be solved and overcome.
These days, at the site of the 30th European Buddhist Retreat in Neuss, Germany, our brothers, Hạnh Vân, Hạnh Luân, Hạnh Tuệ, Hạnh Nhơn, Hạnh Bổn, Venerables Phổ Tấn, Tâm Nhật, Trung Thành, Thông Triêm, and a novice monk Thông Giáo are undertaking work on site. Each person has a job, a hand, like a colony of ants or bees, diligently fulfilling their duties.
has helped me grow up. In the future, each of us will go our separate ways and will have to continue to follow our chosen path. I hope that the sisterhood, brotherhood, and the common spiritual teacher will be close and support each other on the path of cultivation and study to find enlightenment and liberation. I would like to respectfully thank my parents, who gave birth to me and raised me to become a good human being. I would like to sincerely thank my brothers, relatives, intellectual friends, and donors for their efforts and merits, helping me to diligently cultivate and study.
– Bhikkhu Thích Hạnh Giới, Dharma name Đức Thụ, Dharma title Giác Nghiêm.– Ordained and studied Buddhism with the Most Venerable Master Thích Như Điển (founder of Viên Giác Pagoda in Germany).
– Ordained as a novice monk in 2000, and as a fully-ordained monk in 2002. In 2003, he graduated with a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Hannover in Germany.
– Second Abbot of Viên Giác Monastery (2008-2017), the 42nd generation of the Linji Chúc Thánh Sect.
– 2004-2008 Studied Chinese and practiced at Pháp Cổ Sơn Monastery in Taiwan, founded by the Most Venerable Master Thích Thánh Nghiêm.
– Currently practicing at Viên Lạc Monastery, Varel in Germany.
