Venerable Bhikkhuni Thích Nữ Nguyên Thanh
- An Exemplary Person of the Nun Sangha
in the United States
Former Treasurer of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV)
Deputy Foreign Affairs – Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam
Advisor to the Nun’s Community in the Unified Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam (UBSV)
The Abbess of An Lạc Pagoda (San Jose, California)
The Most Venerable Bhikkhunī Nguyên Thanh in 2017
Biography
Childhood
Venerable Nguyên Thanh, world name Lê Thị Quan, was born in 1944 in Quy Nhon, Vietnam, the third daughter in a family of five children. Her father is Lê Đức Khánh and her mother is Trần Thị Quýt, Phú Nhơn Village, Cát Trinh Commune, Phù Cát District, Bình Định Province.
Ordination
Venerable Nguyên Thanh became a nun in 1957 at age fifteen with Venerable Master Bhikkhunī Tâm Hoa at theTâm Ấn Pagoda, Quy Nhơn, Vietnam
Master Tâm Hoa and Ven. Nguyên Thanh at Tâm Ấn Temple, Quy Nhơn
Samaneri ordination ceremony at Tâm Ấn Pagoda, Quy Nhơn, in 1962.
Śikṣamāṇā ordination ceremony at Tâm Ấn Pagoda, Quy Nhơn, in 1963.
Bhikkhunī ordination ceremony at Từ Nghiêm Pagoda, Sài Gòn, in 1965.
Sāmaṇerī Nguyên Thanh and Sāmaṇerī Hạnh Bình
Conduct
The Most Venerable Nguyên Thanh attended Buddhist Studies Courses at Bồ Đề Institute, QuyNhơn, Vietnam and was a teacher in local pagodas.
In 1968, she established Lộc Uyển Pagoda in Sàigòn, Vietnam and assigned her nun disciple Bhikkhunī Minh Hạnh to become the abbess.
In 1984, she settled down in the United States. She stayed with the Most Venerable Đàm Lựu at Đức Viên Pagoda for two years (1984–1986). In 1986, she established Ưu Đàm Temple in Monterey, Marina City, California.
She bought a four-room house in San Jose to establish An Lạc Temple in 1988. In this small temple, monks and nuns of the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam in the United States gathered, met and developed to this day. There are large assemblies of up to 2,800 people where she and local Buddhist followers offer their wholehearted support. When the prestige and virtue of the Most Venerable Nguyên Thanh became popular, the house became too crowded to house all of the Buddhists who wanted to be involved. Four rooms were not enough space for living and the neighbors complained about the parking and the noise; therefore in 1993, she bought a church and converted it to An Lạc Pagoda.
An Lac Temple
Abbess: The Most Venerable Nguyên Thanh
1647 E. San Fernando St.,
San Jose, CA 95116
Tel: 408-254-1710; Cell: 408 594 8717
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam
in the United States of America, November 10, 2009
Nun Disciples of Most Venerable Nguyên Thanh:
Bhikkhunī Minh Hải, Bhikkhunī Minh Hoa, Bhikkhunī Minh Nguyện, Bhikkhunī Minh Định and Bhikkhunī Minh Chiếu
Nun’s Community at An Lạc Temple:
Rev. Minh Chiếu, Rev. Minh Năng, Rev. Minh Hải, Rev. Minh Hoa and Rev. Minh Định
The Most Venerable Nguyên Thanh visiting the Fourth High Priest,
Venerable Huyền Quang at Nguyên Thiều Monastery, Bình Định, October 3, 2007.
An Lạc Pagoda Activities
Daily Rituals:
The Dawn Chant, 5:30 am
Reciting the Offering of Rice to the Buddha, 11:30 am
Chanting the Offering of Food to Hungry Ghosts, 4:00 pm
Pure Land Chanting, 6:30 pm: Amitābha Sūtra, Lotus Sūtra, the Penitent Method of
Lương Emporer and fifteen minutes of meditation
Monday, 10 am – 12 pm, The Medicine Buddha Sūtra Chanting Course
(Liên Hoa Buddhist Association).
Wednesday, 2 pm – 5 pm, the Earth Store Bodhisattva Chanting Course.
Saturday, 7:30 am – 4 pm, Reading the Buddha's name, Chanting Sūtras
(Liên Trì Buddhist Association), charity, medical examination and treatment.
Sunday, 7:30 am –10 am, Chanting the Amitābha Sūtra for the deceased and reciting the Avalokiteśvara Sūtra for Peaceful Rite, the ritual offering of food for newly deceased .
Every first Saturday of the lunar month (9:00 am – 5:00 pm, the Eight Precept Retreat for
one day.
An Lạc Pagoda has a Vietnamese-language class for children age five to sixteen, an annual three-day renunciate retreat for lay Buddhists, the summer retreat, and a program for giving gifts to the homeless and elderly in two nursing homes in San Jose. In addition, there is a project for engraving benefactors’ names on the bronze Amitabha Buddha statues worshiped on both sides of the main hall.
An Lạc pagoda also often holds the Taking Refuge Ceremony, the Ten-Precept Ordination and the Lay Bodhisattva Precept Ordination for Buddhists. In 2009, ordinations for bhikkhunīs, sikkhamānās and sāmaṇeris were organized. As a reputable nun in the United States, the Most Venerable Nguyên Thanh is often invited as the leading bhikkhunī for ordination ceremonies in many temples in the United States, France and other countries.
Above left: Venerable Tịnh Từ, Ven. Thiện Trì and Ven. Giác Lượng.
Below: Ven. Nguyên Thanh (second right) at Ưu Đàm Pagoda,
Marina, Monterey in 1986
Charity
An Lạc Pagoda usually sponsors four years for student monks and nuns at the Primary Buddhist School of Nguyên Thiều Monastery, Bình Định, where they visit and give gifts to the sick, orphans, those with leprosy and poor peopleIn addition, An Lạc Pagoda builds the Compassionate Houses (Ngôi Nhà Tình Thương) in Nha Trang, Di Linh, Cần Thơ.
Venerable Nguyên Thanh visits Ho Chi Minh City Oncological Hospital
in Sàigòn which serves as a main cancer center.
An Lạc Pagoda often visits homeless people to donate gifts of food and clothing, along with visiting two nursing homes in San Jose. Every weekend, physicians offer a pulse check, orthopedic services, and acupuncture for patients free of charge.
Venerable Nguyên Thanh wants to help human beings and reduce suffering for the miserable, the hungry and the poor. The Guan Yin box in the yard of An Lạc Pagoda is noted for charity. In
addition, the temple also gave one-fourth of the donation box in the main hall to add to this noble charity.
Experience Constructing the Cemetary
With aspiration, “Buddhists live on the door of the temple” and Buddhists die relying on the gate of the Buddha. The Venerable Nguyên Thanh is famous in a unique action to establish a Buddhist cemetery in the United States.
At first, she thought that since there are so many Vietnamese Buddhists, they might need a hospital and nursing home (for older monks and nuns and Buddhists who can go there to retreat). The next site was going to be the small prayer hall to servedthe spiritual needs. She proposed this to the Saṅgha but in the end, there were not enough conditions to accomplish it. The monks and nuns are busy with many of the Buddha’s works, such as trying to build local temples with a lack of financing and help. After that, she changed her mind about building a Shakyamuni Buddha monument (like in Vũng Tàu). She had intended to buy forty acres of mountain land, priced around $600,000 (US), and hire twenty-four hour security to watch the Buddha monument.
The intention of making an outside monument was finally concretized by placing a jade stone Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue at Oak Hill Funeral Home in San Jose. The program erecting the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue was extremely challenging and difficult, but thanks to his divine power, the erection ceremony was carried out at the scheduled time on Sunday, December 10, 2005. Ever since, Oak Hill Cemetery and Oak Hill Funeral Home San Jose are blessed with the presence of a Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue which makes the deceased resting there more religious and serene.
The ground erection ceremony of the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue
at Oak Hill Funeral Home, San Jose, December 10, 2005
Experience Constructing the Temple
In 1993, Ven. Bhikkhunī Nguyên Thanh bought a church and remodeled almost 90 percent to change it from a church to the present An Lạc Pagoda. The flooded basement had to be be repaired and took four years to complete. The period of applying for a permit and other legal requirements for the temple was extremely difficult and challenging, both financially and in terms of manpower, especially at the licensing stage; however, thanks to the Buddhas' blessing, all obtacles were overcome.
The Inauguration Ceremony of An Lac Pagoda, 2013
Although Ven. Bhikkhunī Nguyên Thanh is seventy-five with a frail and ill physical body, her spirit is still strong. She persistently and patiently overcame many difficulties to set up Ưu Đàm Pagoda, An Lạc Pagoda and the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue at the Buddhist cemetery. She continues to make daily devotions for the sake of Buddhists. Let’s imagine how much dedication and energy she put into accomplishing these difficult projects. From the grand things of constructing solemn majestic temples, participating in the establishment of the Saṅgha, and converting the renunciates and laypeople to the small things like planting, cleaning and cooking; everything she is engaged in sets an example for all. How greatly admired she is!
Memorable Moments
In 1986, when Venerable Bhikkhunī Nguyên Thanh first established Ưu Đàm Pagoda, she wrote a poem:
Udumbara flower has just bloomed
Its scent everywhere.
Gentle smile forever
Want to offer it to people.
She went to Europe in 1991 to attend the inauguration ceremony of Viên Giác Pagoda, then flew to France for a two-day visit with Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh, but didn't know the way to the pagoda. She thought that if she did not go, she would miss many opportunities. This thought and the concern led her to compose this poem:
Waking up and lying still
Lost in the thoughts
Going or back, I hesitated in two ways
I neither know the way to go nor the way back
May the Buddha bless me to move forward
Now the Tathagatas are sacred
Granting my golden dream be true
Everywhere I go, the Buddha always helps me.
Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh and Bhikkhunī Nguyên Thanh
in Hồng Village, France, 1991
In 1992, one hundred nuns attended a three-day conference at Diệu Quang Pagoda in Sacramento, California. The conference was hosted by Venerable Nguyên Thanh from Diệu Quang Pagoda. Venerable Bhikkhunī Diệu Từ was the head of the Mahāyāna Nun Sangha, while Venerable Bhikkhunī Liên Chi was the representative of the Mendicant Nun Sangha. Venerable Nguyên Thanh was not well at the time, but when the nuns met, she gave a speech as powerful as that of a healthy person, lifting and brightening spirits.
The Nun Conference at Diệu Quang Temple, Sacramento in 1992
Visiting Nguyên Thiều Monastery in 2016, Venerable Bhikkhunī Nguyên Thanh wrote this poem:
Today I come here with love
Young monks and nuns are studying in Nguyên Thiều
To help many beings in the future
As a gift to repay gratitude to parents and teachers.
As one of the senior nuns in the United States, she is often invited to be an honored speaker in Buddhist temples on various occasions such as Vesak, the Vu Lan Festival, the Buddha’s Days, and Mother's Day. She also serves as the leading Venerable Bhikkhunī Nun in the precept ordinations.
The senior Venerable Bhikkhunī Nguyên Thanh leading
the Sāmaṇeri and Bodhisattva Precept Ordinations at Huong Sen Temple, May 20, 2017
What Remains
Venerable Bhikkhunī Nguyên Thanh follows the Pure Land method and vows to be born in the blissful West Land: “Every joy meeting must be ended sadly, the joy of the Pure Land is really blissful forever” and “Pay homage to the Buddha, the karma sins are dissipated; every time the Buddha's name is recited, immeasurable merits will come.” She prays for rebirth in the Buddha world to have more favorable conditions to continue to cultivate. When there are many blessings and purity, then she will be back to this world for the sake of many. She advises us to follow the Buddha's teaching:
Take the precepts as a teacher
Take compassion as the aspiration
Take wisdom as a main career
Repay often at four upper gratitudes
Save beings in three lower realms
Keep the vow to become a Buddha
For the benefits of all species.
She wishes that nuns and Buddhists be pure and diligent in following the example of the Nun Patriarch Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī. We can follow any Buddhist method, but we must pay attention to keep our body,speech and mind pure so that we can stop the deep karma. The Buddha well illustrated this as he taught, “If we do good deeds, because of the natural power, we will enjoy good karma. Even though the king has the power of an aid, it is not the same as the power of karma.” (Upāsaka Sūtra)
Venerable Bhikkhunī Nguyên Thanh (standing) gives lectures to the nuns in the summer retreat at Điều Ngự Temple, California, June 26, 2018
A Role Model for the Nuns
Not only in San Jose, California, but throughout the United States, the Most Venerable Nguyên Thanh is well known as an exemplary nun in application and practice of the Buddha's teachings. Following in the footsteps of the Buddha, she showed her spirit with her self-discipline, other-effort, strictly observing the precepts, converting as well as guiding the renunciates and laypeople, doing charity work to somewhat alleviate suffering, establishing temples and a Buddhist cemetery to bring the ultimate practical benefit to all sentient beings. Together with the great monks in the mission to build the house of Dharma, Venerable Nguyên Thanh, an outstanding Buddhist nun, raised the good image of nuns abroad.
Blue pure water by the clear source
Beautiful fresh flowers thanks to the good roots.
Venerable Nguyên Thanh speaking and pointing out pictures
to Bhikkhunī Giới Hương who is writing a few words for
Ven. Nguyên Thanh’s biography at An Lạc Pagoda Library, 8 am, June 22, 2018
Hương Sen Temple, June 26, 2018
High Regards,
Bhikkhunī Thích Nữ Giới Hương
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