VENERABLE BHIKKHUNĪ THANH LƯƠNG
& VENERABLE BHIKKHUNĪ MINH LIÊN
- SERVICE IS A WAY FOR A BLOOMING LOTUS
The Abbess of Viên Thông Monastery (Texas)
Venerable Bhikkhunī Thanh Lương was born in 1955 into a middle-class Buddhist family. Shelived in Saigon and as the youngest daughter, she was deeply cherished by her parents and siblings. When shewanted to become a teenager nun, her mother did not agree. Without wanting to go against her mother’s, she still cherished the mind of renunciation and continued to study at the University of Science and Biophysical Division in Saigon.In 1978, she settled down in the United States.
During the years 1980–1982, Bhikkhunī Thanh Lương served at the Vietnamese America Association in Oklahoma to help the refugee community just arrived in the United States. It seems that when she was exposed to the hardship of the cross-border people and the lonely helplessness of the refugees, initially her seed of renunciation grewstronger than ever before. It created an inner impetus, causing her to flee her family to find a religious teacher. But at that time, there were very few Vietnamese pagodas in the new land (USA), so she went to practice at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, a practice center of the San Francisco Zen Center in California. Until Kim Sơn Monastery was founded, she was the first female to be ordained under the Venerable Master Tịnh Từ. Shortly after being ordained, her master sent her to Đức Viên Pagoda (San Jose, California) to learn Dharma with Venerable Bhikkhunī Đàm Lựu.
In 1987–1992, Master Tịnh Từ sent her to study mindfulness meditation at Hồng Village in France under the guidance of the famous Most Venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh.
From 1993 to 1994 she was a teacher at Kim Sơn Monastery.
In 1995–2000, obeying the teachings of Venerable Master Tịnh Từ, she went to Tâm Quang Temple in Michigan to work as a spiritual guide for Buddhists. During that time, she studied at the University of Michigan and graduated with two master's degrees in comparative religions and psychology, as well as a certificate in psychotherapy (holistic or mind and body healing).
2002–2005: During this time, she was invited to propagate everywhere and had the good fortune to stop in Houston to establish a religious place – Viên Thông Temple. It was originally a welding factory that a Buddhist lent to use as a temporary practice place for Buddhism.
During this time, she was alone as she cared for the Three Jewels. While building up the temple and offering guide practitioners in other places, she did not have enough time to do everything so she invited Bhikkhunī Minh Liên from Vietnam to America to help with her missionary activities. She and her family knew Bhikkhunī Minh Liên when she was a young novice.
In 2005, to meet the needs of activities for Buddhists as well as to fulfill the aspiration to create a fully equipped temple that can provide retreat courses for nuns and lay Buddhists, two bhikkhunīs (VenerableThanh Lương & VenerableMinh Liên) built the Viên Thông Monastery.
Viên Thông Monastery
Abbess: Venerable Bhikkhunī Thanh Lương
17355 Groeschke Road, Houston, TX 77084
Tel: (281 )829-0816; (832)-638-1453; (281) 829-0830
Cell: (8 32)605-5503
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Initially establishing the monastery was extremely difficult. The two nuns and their renunciates and lay disciples worked together to build the main hall, auditorium and nuns' buildings. Although both the bhikkhunīs and their disciples did not have experience with construction, they were able to engage in all of the construction jobs, such as climbing on the temple roofs, laying roofing tiles, digging the foundation, making wooden walls, pouring the foundation, leveling the ceiling and leveling and compressing soil to make a parking. Finally, the spacious Viên Thông Monastery with the beautiful Asian architectural features, both inside and outside, has been completed and built to serve the majority of Buddhist practitioners, as well as to preserve the Vietnamese language by opening Vietnamese language classes, at times with over 400 pupils.
The construction of the temple by most of the nuns with their own strength, has been entered the history of Vietnamese nuns. This is a very beautiful image that brightens the history of nuns in the United States. This feat has been praised by domestic and foreign sangha, intellectuals, Buddhists, and media journalists who have posted much on YouTube, in newspapers, television, and history books.
Venerable Bhikkhunī Minh Liên is a teacher at Viên Thông Monastery.She was born in 1960 in Đà Lạt and in 1968, she became a novice at the age of eight under a Most Venerable Monk at Khuôn Hội Lộc Uyển (now as Lộc Uyển Temple – Ward 4 - Đà Lạt).
In 1975, because of the country's circumstances, the temple had no adults to take care of things. As she was very young, Khuôn hội Lộc Uyển Temple was closed and she was sent back to her family.
In 1976, Khuôn Hội Lộc Uyển Temple invited the Most Venerable Bhikkhunī Như Phú to be the abbess. She accepted and considered Reverend Minh Liên as her first nun disciple.
In 1978, her master sent her to Từ Nghiêm Nunnery in Sàigòn which had the opportunities for her to learn Buddhism and worldy academics. At that time, she was the only novice in Từ Nghiêm Nunnery.
In 1984, she received the full great precepts of bhikkhunī ordination at Từ Nghiêm Nunnery.
She graduated with a bachelor of Buddhist studies (Course II, 1989-1993) at the Advanced Buddhist Studies of Vietnamese Institute, Saigon, as well as earning a bachelor’s of literature at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Saigon.
In 2002, Venerable Bhikkhunī Minh Liên accepted an invitation from Venerable Bhikkhunī Thanh Lương to come to the United States to guide and implement her missionary activities abroad.
From a young age, Venerable Bhikkhunī Minh Liên has lived in a nunnery, trained in the environment of the Tripitaka of Sutra, Law, and the Abhidharma. She is very learned about Dharma. The Great Tripitaka and the Mahayana Sutras form the basis of her studies.
With deep knowledge of the Dharma and the diligent practice of meditation, she is able to convey the Buddha's teachings to the listener's mind in a way that is simple and easily understood, but very profound. She is often invited to give lectures and guidance to retreats all over the world.
Venerable Bhikkhunī Minh Liên and Venerable Bhikkhunī Giới Hương spent time together on a few occasions. They lived for four years in the same dormitory at the Advanced Buddhist Studies of Vietnamese Institute (Phú Nhuận). Every morning, they, along with twenty nun students, chanted the Śūraṅgama mantra at the temple of the chief nun Trí Hải next door. They also were classmates for those four years at the institute, as well as classmates for four years in the literature department at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Saigon. At that time, sometimes they sometimes rode together on a motorbike to save gas.
At present, Viên Thông Monastery has six nuns and many lay Buddhist apprentices under the compassionate guidance of Abbess Thanh Lương and Master Venerable Bhikkhunī Minh Liên.
Viên Thông Monastery has many rich programs, such as the summer and winter retreat for laypeople and the skills course for children, the nuns’ retreat, Vietnamese language classes for many ages, Buddhist recitation and mindfulness meditation, yoga exercise, martial arts with body and mind therapy, group exercise (qigong, dancing with sticks), the cultural program, outdoor activities, weddings, funerals, prayers for the living and the dead, (following the Vietnamese tradition) and water funeral ceremonies In addition, they also have plans to build Tịnh Tâm Hall for retired people to study Buddhism, to build Compassion Houses (for the poor people in Vietnam), to offer scholarships to students, construct kindergartens in the central region, West Highlands Tây Nguyên – Daklak, to build wells, assist patients, distribute New Year gifts for the poor and offer relief to people suffering from natural disasters.
The main ambition of Viên Thông Monastery is to preserve the Vietnamese culture, develop a spiritual life, and guide Buddhists to practice the right Dharma to transform suffering into peace and happiness.
May the Buddha bless Venerable Bhikkhunī Thanh Lương and Venerable Bhikkhunī Minh Liên to be healthy and continue with the Buddhist works of Viên Thông Nunnery, so that the nuns will always be a bright and beautiful image of Vietnamese bhikkhunis in the United States.
Namo Amitābha Buddha.
Summer Sunshine in Hương Sen Temple, California 2020
Bow and Smile,
Bhikkhunī Thích Nữ Giới Hương
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The Autumn Nuns’ Retreat at Viên Thông Monastery, October 3–17, 2019
From top left: Venerable Bhikkhunī Như Nguyện, Venerable Như Đức, Venerable Như Huệ, Venerable Thanh Lương, Venerable Giải Thiện, Venerable Hạnh Huệ, Venerable Hạnh Như, and Venerable Minh Liên at the Autumn Nuns’ Retreat in 2019
The Autumn Nuns’ retreat at Viên Thông Monastery, October 3–17, 2019
The Vesak at Viên Thông Monastery in 2019
The abbess attaching roses to Buddhists on Vu Lan Day
Chanting
Vietnamese Language Class
Front of Viên Thông Monastery
From right: Bhikkhunī Viên Anh, Venerable Bhikkhunī Thanh Lương, Venerable Minh Liên, Venerable Đồng Anh, Venerable Minh Nguyệt, Venerable Giới Hương, Bhikkhunī Viên Chân, Bhikkhunī Viên Hòa in the guest room of Viên Thông Monastery on June 3, 2014
VenerableThanh Lương (in brown robe)
next to Venerable Giới Hương (yellow robe)
with Buddhists in the main hall of Viên Thông Monastery, Texas 2016
Please kindly read this article and view all photos: 2.31._Ven._Thanh_Luong_and_Ven._Minh_Liên_-_Vien_Thong_Monastery.pdf
