VENERABLE BHIKKHUNĪ TIẾN LIÊN
- A BEAUTIFUL FIGURE OF THE MENDICANT NUN
The Abbess of Ngọc Hòa Temple (Northern California)
- Birth and Origin
Venerable Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên was born in 1966 in Sàigòn, Vietnam. She grew up in a family with a father who was an army officer of the Republic of Vietnam. He was a captain in the Marines. The family resided in District 4 in Sàigòn City. Based on the good karma from Buddhism for many generations, although still very young, thirteen years old, she enjoyed learning about Buddhism, going to sutra chanting every night at Ngọc Khánh Mendicant Vihara, in the Fourth District. Every week, she attended the Dharma talk to listen to the teachings of Zen Master Thích Thanh Từ at Xá Lợi Pagoda, and the Most Venerable Thích Thông Bửu at Quan Thế Âm Pagoda, Phú Nhuận district. Occasionally she went to the Trung Tâm Mendicant Monastery, Bình Thạnh District to listen to sermons.
- Nunhood
In 1980, Venerable Tiến Liên was fortunate to enter the temple with the nuns to attend the robe-offering ceremonies of the Buddhist Nun Buddhist Sangha Church in Vietnam, and then ordained as a priest at Ngọc Chiêu Vihara, La Gi Province, Hàm Tân. The renunciation ceremony was held at the Buddhist Community Center at Ngọc Phương Vihara. The guru was the Most Venerable Sanh Liên. Venerable Tiến Liên took sāmaṇerī ordination in 1983, and was ordained as a śikṣamāṇā in 1984. Because of her family's fate, she was preparing documents to immigrate to the United States under the HO category (humanity opportunity) and did not know the exact time she would be leaving Vietnam. Because of the unusual situation, Venerable Tiến Liên was allowed to ordain as a bhikkhuni by Chief Nun Huỳnh Liên at the temple in 1985 (all the precept ceremonies of the mendicant sect were held at Ngoc Phuong Vihara).
- Buddhist Study and Secular Degrees:
- In 1985, Venerable Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên graduated from high school at Hà Huy Tập, Sàigòn,
- In 1986–1989 she studied and graduated from the Literature and English Department of Tổng Hợp University, Sàigòn.
- In 1989–1991, she graduated from the Basic Buddhist Studies Course at Vĩnh Nghiêm Pagoda, Sàigòn.
- In 1996, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social work at San Diego State University, California, USA.
- In 2003, she graduated with a master’s of social work at San Diego State University, California, USA.
- In 2009, she completed post-graduate classes and currently is doing a PhD thesis in the Religious Studies Department at University of the West, California, USA.
- The Vietnam Mendicant Nun Congregation and Many Mendicant Viharas
In January 1991, Venerable Tiến Liên and her family settled in the United States in San Jose, California. From 1991 to 1994 she lived and studied at Đức Viên Pagoda with teachers such as Master Bhikkhunī Thích Đàm Lựu, the Most Venerable Thích Minh Đạt, the Most Venerable Thích Tịnh Từ and the Most Venerable Thích Giác Lượng.
In 1994, Venerable Tiến Liến moved to San Diego with a number of Buddhist mendicant sisters who founded Ngọc Đăng Vihara (2405 W. Jewett Street, San Diego, California 92111) with the blessings of the Most Venerable Thích Giác Nhiên, the Most Venerable Thích Giác Chân, the Most Venerable Thích Minh Hồi, the Most Venerable Thích Minh Thiện and the Chief Mendicant Bhikkhunī Hạnh Liên.
After three years of being the abbess of Ngọc Đăng Vihara, in 1996, Venerable Tiến Liên had a chance to establish the Ngọc Minh Vihara (3776 46th Street, San Diego, California 92105) and founded the Vietnamese Mendicant Nun Congregation in the United States. In addition, Ven. Tiến Liên assisted the senior monks of the World Buddhist Mendicant Sangha in establishing some religious facilities, such as Như Lai Thiền Tự in Arizona, Minh Đăng Quang Monastery in Georgia, Đức Mẹ Hiền Monastery in New Jersey and Đại Bảo Trang Nghiêm Monastery in New York.
In 2008, Venerable Tiến Liên founded Ngọc Hòa Vihara in northern California where she is now living and actively teaching Buddhism.
Ngọc Hòa Vihara
Abbess Venerable Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên
766 S. Second Street, San Jose, CA 95112
Tel: (408) 295-2436 / (408) 507-2363
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.buddhayana.net / www.ngochoatemple.org
She also participated to become a member of the Vietnamese American United Buddhist Congregation and holds the position of Deputy General and General Secretary of the Nun Sangha in the Executive Council (led by the late Chief Nun Như Nguyện as the General Director). Now Ven. Bhikkhunī Giới Châu (abbess of Quang Minh Temple, Colorado) keeps the post.
In 2011, Venerable Tiến Liến founded the Overseas Mendicant Nun Congregation and the Buddhist Center for World Peace (2054 Old Piedmont Road, San Jose, CA 95132) on an area of nearly forty-three acres. The Buddhist Center has now completed the meditation hall, Amita-Buddha Hall and Nun Hall.
Overseas Mendicant Nun Congregation
Vietnamese Buddhism usually has three sects: Mahāyāna, Theravāda and Mendicant. In the United States, the image of Vietnamese Theravāda does not exist (hopefully it will appear in the near future). Theravāda practitioners are living and preaching in Sri Lankan, Thailand and Cambodia. Currently in the United States, the nuns are mostly from the northern sect (Mahāyāna) and the Mendicants.
A short history of the overseas Mendicant Nun Congregation: The Buddhist Mendicant Sangha was founded in 1980. At that time, most of the activities were performed by monks with only one nun, Ven. Bhikkhunī Liên Chi. There was no Nun Congregation, only nun members of the World Buddhist Mendicant Sangha in the 1980s until 1997. After that, the personnel in the Sangha changed as shown below:
President: The Most Venerable Thích Giác Nhiên
General Secretary: Venerable Thích Minh Tuyên
Director of the Executive Council: Venerable Thích Giác Lượng
Deputy Director: Venerable Thích Giác Ngởi
General Director, Sangha Affair Department: Venerable Thích Giác Chân
General Director, Spreading Dharma Department: Venerable Thích Giác Sơn
General Director, Lay Buddhist Department: Venerable Thích Minh Tồn
General Director, Department of Youth Buddhist Association: Venerable Thích Minh Thiện
General Director, Social Affairs and Construction Department: Venerable Thích Minh Hồi
General Deputy, Social Affairs Department: Ven. Bhikkhunī Liên Chi
By 1991, the Sangha had more mendicant nuns who followed their families to settle in the United States. At this time, although there were about ten mendicant nuns as the members of the Sangha, there was no Nun Sangha.
In 1997, the Overseas Mendicant Nun Congregation was founded by Ven. Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên (first and only). It has the traditional mendicant sect from Vietnam in which two divisions (monks and nuns) live independently and have their own Buddhst affairs. Only on the occasion of the Tự Tứ Ceremony or the yearly ordination, do monks and nuns gather to perform the rituals.
The World Buddhist Mendicant Sangha and the Overseas Mendicant Nun Congregation are two independent Sanghas. So, there is only one Mendicant Nun Congregation.
In 1997, the mendicant nuns in the United States were not many; however, in terms of personnel required to establish the Church according to the standards of California, there were enough nuns. The Overseas Mendicant Nun Sangha was established with the following personnel structure:
President: Ven. Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên
Secretary: Ven. Bhikkhunī Liên Thủy
Treasurer: Ven. Bhikkhunī Liên Lam
Since 2005, the personnel composition has changed a lot. However, this includes:
President: Ven. Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên (Abbess of Ngọc Hòa Vihara, San Jose)
Secretary: Ven. Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên (Abbess of Ngọc Minh Vihara, San Diego)
Treasurer: Ven. Bhikkhunī Liên Thiện
Members include Ven. Bhikkhunī Quảng Liên, Ven. Bhikkhunī Hạnh Liên, Ven. Bhikkhunī Hương Liên, Ven. Bhikkhunī Liên Hiếu, Ven. Bhikkhunī Hiếu Liên, Ven. Bhikkhunī Huệ Liên, Ven. Bhikkhunī Cát Liên, Ven. Bhikkhunī Liên Hiền and Ven. Bhikkhunī Liên Lam.
Because the Nun Sangha does not have enough personnel to take on duty in all departments, members of the congregation take turns propagating the Dharma, performing ceremonies and guiding the Buddhist groups, depending on their relationships and abilities.
- Activites and Sharing the Dharma in the United States
Venerable Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên became a nun at the young age of fourteen and is a young, intelligent, energetic bhikkhunī in the Mendicant Nun Congregation. Having been fortunate to study both secular and supersecular fields, she has strong Buddhist knowledge and solid practice experience to help her share the Dharma overseas. She is a rather famous prestigious person who has taken on many great responsibilities of both the nun and monk sanghas, as well as establishing many monasteries for the Mendicant Church. She has earned many degrees in American universities so that she can have enough qualifications to integrate and teach in the USA. Ven. Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên is sociable, open-minded, always welcoming and enthusiastically works for the Buddhist Sangha.
During festivals or congregation meetings, she often attends and shares responsibility. At Ngọc Học Vihara, her socialization program is very rich. In 2008 and 2009, Ven. Tiến Liên attended and served as the MC for the lecture program of the 14th Dalai Lama in New York. In addition, the local press often provides information about Ngọc Hòa Vihara's activities, such as the 2010 Organizing the Jade Buddha Worship Program, with the participation of more than 200,000 people with authorities from all levels such as the mayor, councilmen of San Jose and the supervisor of Santa Clara County. All attended and praised the largest Jade Buddha procession which is very rare overseas. In 2014, the Jade Buddha worshipping program was again organized by Ngọc Hòa Vihara at the fairgrounds of San Jose with thousands of people attending for forty-nine days and nights. She also holds important Buddhist ceremonies and prayers for the victims of natural disasters of the world and memorials for the deceased elder monks and nuns of Vietnam Buddhism, as well as lay Buddhists who had contributed to Vietnamese Buddhism.
Ngọc Hòa Vihara and Ngọc Minh Vihara created many conditions and sponsored young nuns to come to the United States to study and propagate the Dharma. Every year, at Notre Dame High School, Ven. Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên gives five lectures introducing Buddhism and her temple actitives to the American students. With relentless effort, she is building a vihara, establishing a church, helping nuns, lay Buddhists and sharing the Dharma. She is committed to Buddhism with tireless effort and has built a beautiful image of mendicant nuns in the USA. She is one of the accomplished mendicant nuns in a foreign country who has made significant contributions to the activities and propagation of Vietnamese Buddhism in the United States.
Huong Sen Temple, June 1, 2020
Respectfully,
Bhikkhunī Thích Nữ Giới Hương
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Ngọc Hòa Vihara in San Jose
The Buddhist Center for World Peace (San Jose) under construction, 2020.
Project on Buddhist Center for World Peace (San Jose)
The Dalai Lama offering a khata
to Venerable Tiến Liên in New York, 2009
The Death Anniversary of the Patriarch Minh Đăng Quang
at Minh Đăng Quang Monastery, California,
February 1, Mouse Year (2020)
The Most Venerable Phước Tịnh (in a brown dress),
Ven. Minh Tuyên, Ven. Minh Hồi, Ven. Monks and
Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên at the summer retreat of Như Lai Thiền Tự Temple in 2019
Ven. Tiến Liên (second row left), Ven. Giới Hương (eleventh in the second row)
at the summer retreat at Minh Đăng Quang Monastery on July 27, 2014
Venerable Bhikkhunī Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (President of the Sakyadhita
International Association) and Ven. Tiến Liên in Hong Kong in 2007
Ngọc Hòa Vihara's nuns chanting, 2019
Ven. Tiến Liên introduces Buddhism to High School students in San Jose, 2018
The welcoming ceremony with the Emerald Buddha in San Jose, 2010,
hosted by Ngọc Hòa Vihara
The Jade Buddha for Universal Peace in San Jose, 2010,
hosted by Ngọc Hòa Vihara
Monastics and guests attending the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace
in San Jose, 2010, organized the second time by Ngọc Hòa Vihara
Please kindly read this article and view all photos: 2.23._Ven.Tien_Lien_-_Medicant_Bhikkhuni_Congregation_-_TN_Gioi_Huong_FINAL.pdf
