THE MOST VENERABLE BHIKKHUNĪ DIỆU TỪ,
VEN. TỊNH LẠC & VEN. TỊNH TÂM
– ENJOY THE RENUNCIATED VITUE
The Abbess of Diệu Quang Temple (Southern and Northern California)
The Most Venerable Bhikkhunī Diệu Từ was born on March 8, 1943 (the Goat Year) in Đa Phước Village, Hòa Khánh Commune, Liên Chiểu District, Đà Nẵng City. She is the youngest daughter in a family of three boys and five girls. At the age of thirteen, she was sent to the nunhood by her parents and became a novice under the late Master Diệu Không, a famous nun in the ancient capital of Huế of the twentieth century.
After that, Venerable Từ went to Saigon to study and graduated with a baccalaureate, as well as completing a Buddhist studies course at Vạn Hạnh University with an optimal score. Among the ordination ceremonies of samaneri, śikṣamāṇā and bhikkhunī precepts at Dược Sư Nunnery (Gia Định, Sàigòn), she took bhikkhunī ordination at the age of twenty in Huế. She achieved excellent high scores in the examinations. She is a natural genius in writing, singing and composing poems, music and literature.
In 1975, she went to study abroad in Japan and in 1981, she settled in the United States. On July 4, 1982, Venerable Diệu Từ, her disciples and lay Buddhists founded Diệu Quang Pagoda in Sacramento (located in northern California and within the capital of California). This is one of the earliest nunneries in the United States, as well as the earliest establishment of the “Buddhist Youth Student Union” in the United States.
To further the sharing of Dharma dignity spread in mid-1997, the nun expanded to the Diệu Quang pagoda (the 0.5 acre plot) and the Diệu Không Buddhist Cultural Center in Santa Ana, Orange County, Little Saigon—the central areas where the Vietnamese community lives in southern California.
Time passed and Most Venerable Bhikkhunī Diệu Từ’s health became worse. On October 20, 2018 (September 12, the year of the dog), she left her body, returning to the Pure Land. She had more than twenty nun disciples, and now the two leading disciples have replaced her as the abbess to take charge of the Buddhist works, spreading the Tathagata’s mission.
Diệu Quang Pagoda (northern California)
Abbess: Venerable Bhikkhunī Tịnh Lạc
9229 Elder Creek Road,
Sacramento, CA 95829
Phone: (916) 381-4360
Diệu Quang Pagoda (southern California)
Abbess: Venerable Bhikkhunī Tịnh Tâm
3602 W. 5th Street,
Santa Ana, CA 92703
Phone: (714) 554-9588
The founder of the temple was a person with fine taste, so the two Dieu Quang Pagodas (in northern and southern California) have many architectural features of ancient Asian pagodas, such as curved roofs, three-door gate, Guan-yin Stupa, Cundī Hall, Medicine Buddha Stupa, Lumbini Garden, the main hall. They are very artistic and exemplify the Buddhist homeland of Vietnam.
Buddhist compatriots come to practice and chant every weekend and on the holidays festivals are very crowded. These two pagodas have a Facebook page where Diệu Quang Temple, Sacramento, posted this poem:
When coming to Diệu Quang, I don't want to go back home.
Think of yourself without awakening, still ignorant,
Pray to the Three Jewels for blessings often,
Let us rely on Bodhi Root.
Huong Sen Temple, June 11, 2020
Bowing respectfully,
Bhikkhunī Thích Nữ Giới Hương
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THE MOST VENERABLE BHIKKHUNĪ DIỆU TỪ-
DIỆU QUANG TEMPLE
“Our family settled in Sacramento, USA, in 1996 under the immigrant HO program. My close friend, Phụng, visited and drove us to visit Diệu Quang Nunnery, less than fifteen minutes away from home. At that time, in the Sacramento capital there were only two Vietnamese pagodas: Kim Quang pagoda which was established long ago and Diệu Quang Pagoda which was newly established. Two months later, when our lives were temporarily settled, we started to go to Diệu Quang Pagoda to recite sutras, listen to the Dharma and offer service labor at the temple. Our three young children joined the Buddhist Youth Association as I used to be in Huế.”
It was touching to meet and talk with the Most Venerable Thích Nữ Diệu Từ. Upon learning that we had just arrived in the United States, she graciously asked about our accommodations, living conditions, school and asked if we had any difficulties and did we need any help from her? At the end of the ceremony, after lunch, she brought out rice, noodles, cooking oil, butter, milk and so forth and told us to take them home. We refused because we thought we had not offered anything but only received the temple's assistance, but she said, “Don't hesitate, we share hunger and thirst.” That statement made us shed tears. She took care of us with gentle gestures and cordial words as our master.
The lay Buddhists also welcomed our family very warmly, asking and giving instructions and advice on the weekly temple activities. Thanks to the kindness and compassion of the Most Venerable Abbess, the nuns and the lay Buddhists did not feel lost or strange. On the contrary, we felt as if we were children far away from our homeland, now returning the main patriarch’s house and warmly welcomed by our relatives. Ever since then, we go to the temple to attend regular activities every week.
According to the recounting of nuns, when they first established the temple, the chief and young nuns had to do a lot of work, such as repairing the old room, renovating the garden and planting trees to create a temple scene. Sometimes lay Buddhists came to help, but most of the labor was done by nuns. Even the chief nun had to climb on the roof and repair the damaged areas. There was a time when Venerable Bhikkhunī Như Minh came from Vietnam, visited the temple and saw Venerable Bhikkhunī Diệu Từ sitting on a tiled roof. She exclaimed: “Practicing in America is so hard!” Thanks to those difficulties of the first days, today, Diệu Quang Pagoda has become a majestic temple with many visitors from far away coming to worship and take souvenir photos.
As a talented person in organization and sharing Dharma, Venerable Bhikkhunī Diệu Từ divided Buddhists in the temple into four groups for studying Buddhism and contributing to service. Thanks to that, everything runs smoothly at the pagoda.. In the weekly Dharma talks, the chief nun often encourages her followers to recite the name of Amitabha Buddha, applying the Buddha's teachings to transform greed, hatred and delusion in everyday life. The chief nun is also very interested in young people. Along with other experienced elder Buddhists, she founded the Diệu Quang Buddhist Student Youth Union (LĐSVTTNPT) in 1985. Most of the students are descendants of lay Buddhists, so their parent's support is very enthusiastic. The association operates weekly on Sunday mornings and in addition to the youth activities, studying the Dharma, they also learn more about Vietnamese culture. During the Vesak Day Ceremony, Vu Lan, the Student Youth Union performed the flowering ritual with excellent performances of music, dance and animation.
In addition, the Diệu Quang Buddhist Student Youth Union has skilled dragon dancers serving the Vietnamese community for decades. Why did I establish the Diệu Quang Buddhist Student Youth Union (LĐSVTTNPT) but not the Buddhist Young Family? I sadly replied that the Buddhist Young Family in the United States is divided into two central instruction boards. Which one should I join? Both of the groups I knew well, so it was decided to create a new group.
In 1998, at the request of Buddhists in southern California, Venerable Bhikkhunī Diệu Từ went to Santa Ana to establish the second Diệu Quang Pagoda whose model is similar to the one in Sacramento, but places more emphasis on music. She had the ability to translate Buddhist scriptures into lyrics and composes music with her own elegant melodies.
This is a very new way to share the Dharma and it is very effective, suitable for many ages. Many elders and middle-aged folks like to sing or listen to it— young people do too and children clap and sing at the union activities. The voice of the chief nun is very inspiring, pious, transforming the hearts of listeners. Sometimes in the Dharma talks, people would get sleepy, but when the chief nun sings a piece of music, people cheerfully woke up. Some scriptures performed through music are easier to understand and remember, such as the offering of incense and repentance. The meetings often are sung by the “chorus.” Over ten years ago, we, by chance, heard a young singer in Vietnam sing a repentance song with a professional orchestra, transmitted over the internet and we thought it sounded quite lovely.
At that time, we all felt all the wonderful transformations of the chief nun’s song in the hearts of the masses. Like other timeless choruses, many of the chief nun's songs will still resound amid this impermanent life.
Venerable Bhikkhunī Diệu Từ has succeeded in displaying the traditional ceremonies at two Diệu Quang Pagodas. The ceremony program is also lively, attracting crowded, colorful attendees on the stage and the audience. Besides the old Buddhists, there are small children, next to the yellow robes of the monastics. There are young singers with colorful dresses and innocent faces of the children offering flowers. After the ceremony, there is always a pure delicious vegetarian meal service that also offers takeout.
In the book, A Lotus, the author Đức Hạnh mentioned the healing ability of the Venerable Bhikkhunī Diệu Từ, which less people know about. The book contains the accounts of six Buddhists, Phú, Quảng Phổ, Quảng Giải, Quảng Tín, T. Đại and Quảng Thanh, representing hundreds of other patients. A Lotus recounts the life of the chief nun from birth to age thirteen when she ordained. She displayed talents at a young age. She continued to study, practice and propagate the Dharma in her home country and later abroad. Books were published by two Diệu Quang Pagodas in 2019, free of charge. The readers of the book, A Lotus, deeply admire the strength and discipline the chief nun displayed when encountering harsh and unfavorable conditions. Yet she was always smiling and happy as she performed her duties and courageously devoted her life to the religion.
Without an elaborate practice and steady concentration, how could the chief nun be able to calmly continue on the journey of “serving sentient beings as offerings to the Buddhas”? Her lay disciples who have committed to the Three Rules with the Five Precepts are numberless; however, she is most attentive and supportive to the training programs in the monasteries, regardless of whether monks or nuns. She has twenty-five renunciate disciples, many of whom are contributing to the work of propagating the Dharma to benefit the USA. For example, Venerable Bhikkhunī Tịnh Lạc, Abbess of Diệu Quang Pagoda in Sacramento,; Venerable Bhikkhunī Tinh Quang, Abbess of Quan Âm Monastery in Redlands, California, also teaches at the Bodhi Buddhist Institute in Santa Ana, southern California; Venerable Bhikkhunī Tịnh Tâm, Head of Diệu Quang Pagoda (Santa Ana), helped Master Diệu Từ in establishing the temple and its activities. Venerable Tịnh Hạnh, head of Từ Quang Pagoda in Alabama, has the gift of voice in chanting to touch people's hearts.
The list of monastic disciples under Master Diệu Từ are Ven. Bhikkhunī Tịnh Lạc, Rev. Tịnh Trí (deceased), Ven. Bhikkhunī Tịnh Minh, Ms. Tinh Châu (disrobed to be lay Buddhist), Ven. Bhikkhunī Tịnh Quang, Ven. Bhikkhunī Tịnh Phổ, Rev. Tịnh Chiếu, Ms. Tịnh Khánh (disrobed to be lay Buddhist), Rev. Tịnh Hiền, Rev. Tịnh Khánh (deceased), Rev.Tịnh Anh (deceased), Rev. Tịnh Huệ, Rev. Tịnh Nguyện (deceased), Rev. Tịnh Thành (deceased), Rev. Tịnh Chơn, Rev. Tịnh Diệu (deceased), Rev. Tịnh Tâm, Rev. Tịnh Pháp, Rev. Tịnh Giới (deceased), Rev.Tịnh Huyền (deceased), Ms, Tịnh Viên (disrobed to be lay Buddhist), Rev. Tịnh Hạnh,
Rev. Tịnh Ngọc, Rev.Tịnh An and Rev. Tịnh Hiếu.
Master Diệu Từ passed away on October 20, 2018, at the pagoda in Santa Ana at the age of seventy-six with fifty-four years in Dharma. At her death, dear disciples gathered to chant for her. With the virtue and vow of the chief nun, we fully believe that her soul will go to the Buddha-land to awaken the unproduction state; however, due to compassion, she will return to the saha world to save sentient beings.
On behalf of all Buddhist followers who wish to receive the education of the chief nun again, we would like to pay homage to the Most Venerable Diệu Từ, the forty-third Linchi Zen lineage of Zen, Trúc Lâm Sect, the abbess of Diệu Quang Nunneries in Sacramento and Santa Ana.
Sacramento, June 15, 2020
Paying Triple Homage,
Nguyên Thành, Quảng Minh,
Quảng Diệu Minh, Quảng Từ Phổ, Quảng Diệu Thảo
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MEMORIAL
THE VENERABLE BHIKKHUNĪ DIỆU TỪ
The Founder of Diệu Quang Pagoda, California
Namo Sakyamuni Buddha
We are Bhikkhunī Giới Hương and nuns of Hương Sen Buddhist Temple, Perris, California, have just knew that Venerable Bhikkhunī Diệu Từ, the abbess cum founder of Diệu Quang Pagoda, Southern California, United States, had passed away at 10 pm, October 20th 2018 (according to lunar year September 12th, the year of Dog), at the age of 76 in life and 56 years old in Buddhism.
Dear our Master,
I am propagating into Vietnam and I have heard Bhikkhunī Hạnh Quang (Diệu Giác Pagoda, District 2) informed that you had passed away. We are really sad and shocked by your departure. This is a great loss for overseas and domestic Buddhism, especially for our nuns. Master is a respectable talented female with full virtue. With constant deep compassion, you are intimacy for those who are predestined to see and learn from you. I remember the first days when I first set foot in the United States (2005), you and your Bhikkhunī disciple Thích Nữ Tịnh Tâm helped and shared the experience for me to get used to a new life. You offered me two long traditional renunciate dresses (áo nhật bình), a warm cloth and undergarment which I still keep as the valuable souvenirs. When I first set up a new establishment at Hương Sen Pagoda (2010) in a remote area of Moreno Valley, Cali, although your body was sick, but also you went along with your Buddhist followers of Diệu Quang pagoda to visit, and attend the ceremony to give preaching and support spiritual affinity for our nuns. In the summer, sometimes we come to Diệu Quang pagoda to recite the precepts (Uposatha) and give sermons to lay people. Later, my Buddhist works are so busy, I rarely to come back Santa Ana, and heard that your health is getting weaker and weaker often. You keep rest in room less talk and receive visitors. I often send tea cakes and card Mother's Day (on the first Sunday of May each year) to offer you instead of Vu Lan’s gift. I also receive the phone call from you to thanks with a weak voice. Today I am very sad to hear that you have been left this world.
Terns fly all over the sky
Their shapes sink underflow of cold water.
Terns do not pay attention at their traces
Water has no saved their figures.
Master had come and gone, leaving no traces except the past echo. "Birth and vanish. Appearance and disappear" means that there is a birth in this life, there will be death. If there is a shape, there will be end of shape. That is the timeless principle, but why in our hearts like small pupils, it is impossible to stop the respect and miss our modest Master. From now, the meditation scene has been absent the most Venerable master, in the abroad nun sangha have been lost the chief Bhikkhunī with the high virtue, in Diệu Quang pagoda has been lost the compassionate teacher who kindly provided liberation for all her nuns and disciples. We feel helpless, lost and surprised when there is no Master to guide us on the spiritual path ahead...
At this sacred moment, towards the USA, in front of the burning incense, we pray that our Master will direct peacefully in the blissful Amitābha Buddha's world; however, out of great compassion to our beings, you kindly come back to this saha world to guide and convert all of sentient beings.
On this occasion, we also would like to send our deep condolences to all nun disciples and relatives of the Master as well as the Buddhists of Diệu Quang Pagoda to this great loss.
Namo Amitābha Buddha’s world
adorning all directions of Buddhas.
Paid homage to The Late Venerable Bhikkhunī Diệu Từ proved.
Hương Sen Temple, October 23rd, 2018
Respectfully,
Bhikkhunī TN Giới Hương and Nuns
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Master Bhikkhunī Diệu Từ (speaking with microphone) and her leading disciples:
Ven. Tịnh Lạc (left) and Ven. Tịnh Tâm (right) at Vesak 2018
The three-door Gate of Diệu Quang Pagoda, Sacramento
Front site of Diệu Quang Pagoda, Sacramento
Main hall of Diệu Quang Pagoda, Sacramento
Vesak at Diệu Quang Pagoda, Sacramento in 2019
Diệu Quang Pagoda, Santa Ana
Members of Sangha praying at Diệu Quang Pagoda, Santa Ana
Vu Lan Festival at Diệu Quang Pagoda, Santa Ana, August 19, 2019
Right in first row: Ven. Bhikkhunī Tịnh Tâm, Ven. Bhikkhunī Tịnh Lạc
and Ven. Bhikkhunī Tịnh Quang at the main hall of Diệu Qua
Please kindly read this article and view all photos: 2.5._Master_Dieu_Tu_Ven._Tinh_Lac_and_Ven._TinhTam_-_Dieu_Quang_Pagoda-Ven._Gioi_Huong_Nguyên_Thành_Quảng_Minh.pdf
