Senior Venerable Nguyên Tạng
I met Venerable Bhikkhuni Giới Hương for the first time on April 17, 2008, when I came to teach at Phước Hậu Pagoda. At that time, she was the abbess in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. That day, I went to lecture with Thích Đồng Văn (currently abbot of Phổ Bảo Pagoda, Munich, Germany).
Every year, the most Venerable Thích Như Điển, abbot of Viên Giác Pagoda in Hannover, Germany, organizes a mission to the United States and Canada. That year (2008), I had the opportunity to accompany his delegation, which was held from March 11 to May 13, 2008. When the delegation arrived in Chicago, it stayed at Trúc Lâm Pagoda (under the late Most Venerable Abbot Thích Hạnh Tuấn, who passed away in 2015). From there, Ven. Thích Như Điển sent me and Ven. Đồng Văn to preach at Phước Hậu Pagoda (which is far, about a two-hour drive).
That afternoon, Venerable Bhikkhuni Giới Hương and two other nuns drove down to Trúc Lâm Temple to pick Ven. Đồng Văn and me up. On the way to Phước Hậu Pagoda, she took both of us on a round of a Milwaukee city tour, and she avidly played the role of tour guide introducing the surrounding scenery. She also did not forget to tell the reason why Buddhists here invited her to be the abbess of Phước Hậu Pagoda, after she graduated with a doctoral degree in Buddhist Studies in India in 2005.
I was impressed by Bhikkhuni Giới Hương’s humble manner because during the two-hour Dharma talk that day (from 7 pm to 9 pm, Ven. Đồng Văn preached an hour and I preached the next hour), she sat there to attend and listen to the Dharma with local Buddhists. This is a rare act for an abbess or abbot because she/he is always busy with many works for the temple and rarely sits down to listen to entire lectures with the disciples. But here, she sat and focused on the lectures. This means that she is mainly encouraging the disciples to take advantage of the short time in this life to study about Buddhism and experience with monks, to diligently practice before it's too late.
I think Bhikkhuni Giới Hương has a predestined relationship: she ordained with the Most Venerable Hải Triều Âm from a young age and must have been taught and trained well by her teacher, since she has become such a successful, virtuous nun honoring the late Venerable Hải Triều Âm.
Since 1999, from the time she was still studying in India, she often contacted me to send collaborative articles to the Quang Duc website. I did not have the opportunity to meet her up to 2008. Please see the page of her works at this link:
https://quangduc.com/author/post/40/1/ns-thich-nu-gioi-huong?o=0
It can be said that she is one of the few Vietnamese Buddhist nuns with the gift of writing. She has written and translated very well; she is honored as the one who has the most published works today. On December 15, 2019, the committee on Records of Global Vietnamese People officially awarded her as the "American-Vietnamese female doctorate who has written and translated the most Buddhist publications." Vietnamese Buddhism in the United States was accorded such pride and honor!
Indeed, Ven. Bhikkhuni Giới Hương deserves to be awarded the title because wherever and whenever she goes, she also embraces the dream of "waking up to support a culture." The desire and aspiration has now become a reality as she has established two Hương Sen Pagodas, one in Bình Chánh, Saigon, Vietnam and the other in Perris City, California, USA. In addition, she also founded Bảo Anh Lạc Bookcase and the website Huongsentemple.com to disseminate the Buddha's teachings.
In November 2012, Ven. Giới Hương came to Australia to attend the Grand Patriarch Sixth Ceremony of Returning to Roots at Pháp Hoa Monastery, Adelaide, South Australia. On this occasion, the abbot, Venerable Thích Tâm Phương, and I invited her to visit and preach at the Eight Precept Retreat at Quảng Đức Monastery. Our Buddhist followers here were very happy to receive her two Dharma talks and were even happier when she offered many dharma gifts, such as scriptures, DVDs, and the Buddhist music she has composed.
On this occasion of the disciples of Hương Sen Temple celebrating the 40th anniversary of the study and service in the Dharma by Ven. Giới Hương, I would like to write a couple of lines to praise the merit of the Dharma sharing by Ven. Giới Hương, who has great dedication in this life. The Western proverb says, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration," which is right for her. Just forty years of "engaging in Buddhist works here and there," but she has done so many things worth admiring, such as building temples, raising nun disciples, translating books, composing poems, giving lectures everywhere, and guiding pilgrimages for worship, etc. Master Hải Triều Âm in the far-away realm may smile happily when she sees one of her disciples gaining such professional accomplishments.
Once again, please congratulate her and praise her merits and contributions to turning the Dharma wheel in this life. May the Buddha bless her, may she always be happy and peaceful, and may she create many more works for Vietnamese Buddhist literature.
Namo Amitabha Buddha.
Writing at Quãng Đức Monastery, Melbourne, December 18, 2019
Senior Venerable Thích Nguyên Tạng
Abbot of Quảng Đức Monastery
General Secretary of Overseas Vietnamese Buddhist Temples in Australia - TTL
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Venerable Nguyên Tạng and Bhikkhuni Giới Hương
at Phước Hậu Temple, Wisconsin, in 2008
Venerable Nguyên Tạng teaching at Phước Hậu Pagoda (2008),
which was headed by Bhikkhuni Giới Hương
Please read all articles and view all photos:2.13.The_merit_of_sharing_Buddhism___Ven._Nguyen_Tang.pdf
