Young Nuns
With the Dynamic Preaching Model
In today's society, material life is increasingly advanced and scientific and technological development is booming. Besides advantages, material wealth can also bring many negative consequences. The majority of young people tend to live a virtual, tedious life with less people around, less social contact. This is a huge danger to society because the rate of adolescents with depression, loneliness and low self-esteem is increasing.
Mrs. Nguyễn Tuyết Hạnh, Vice President of the Vietnam Autism Network (VAN), shared her ideas at the Scientific Conference, “Communication on Autism.” “Currently among every 166 children, there is one child with autism. This is a large number and is in great need of attention and early intervention.” In the Lao Động Newspaper, Dr. Lê Quốc Nam, Head of the Committee at Ho Chi Minh City's Mental Health Hospital, also expressed concern about the “psychological disorder that can lead to depression.” This affects a a number of high school students in Ho Chi Minh City, over 20 percent which is a significant rate.
In the face of this negative situation, monks and nuns need to contribute to building a moral foundation through retreats so that young people can feel the value of life, raise the sense of responsibility, love others and practice filial piety with parents and grandparents. Young Buddhists can be oriented to rise up in society, bringing the spirit of integration into modern life without forgetting the tradition of the ancestors.
Therefore, building a dynamic retreat model and training young nuns to serve as instructors is essential for Buddhism's long-term strategy, and also makes a practical contribution to the cause of the human educational resources for the future.
Active Preaching Method for the Spirit of Engaged Buddhism
Necessary and sufficient conditions for the retreat leader: The value of life is not merely in the world of matter, but also in the spiritual. In addition to the family moral tradition, the social ideology, the spiritual life greatly influences the maturity of the moral character of young people. Therefore, young nuns have a very important role in guiding adolescents at the retreats, promoting the dynamic spirit of sharing the Dharma as the Buddha taught:
“Ananda, out of compassion, the Dharma Master taught his disciples, ‘This is happiness for you, this is peaceful for you.’ His disciples listened to him, listened with their hearts. They did not pay attention to the other direction, and did not turn away from the teachings of the Dharma Master. As such, Ananda, the disciples treated the Dharma Master with a friendly mind, not with a hostile mind. Therefore, Ananda, treat me with the mind of a friend and not with hostility and such will be happiness and long-term peace for you.”[1]
The young nun instructor with the “friendly heart” combines the gentle love of a mother, the serious discipline of a father, the devoted instruction of a teacher, and the presence of a close friend, which help to manipulate the positive results during and after the retreat.
Whether the retreats are successful or fail largely depends on the capacity, the force and the spirit of the staff. According to Venerable Dr. Thích Viên Trí: “There are two important factors when sharing information: the content of the lecture and the preacher. In regard to the lecturer, the virtue of the teacher in the field of Dharma teaching plays an extremely important role. Because the influence of Buddhism is positive or negative, strong or weak, large or limited, always depends on morality, level of knowledge, and especially the inner strength of the teaching staff.” Therefore, the preachers should have the educational vision, ability to apply and internal practice.
The Most Venerable Thích Giác Toàn has generalized, "the Quality of the Preacher.” In addition to good health, gentle attitude, dignified appearance, the basic qualities needed are the preachers who must believe in the Three Jewels, compassion, patience and fearlessness. They must have pedagogical knowledge, lecture skills, educational level, and secular knowledge. They must know how to use some modern means to serve the teaching: books, newspapers, radio, television, tapes, movies, and so on.Thus, for the preacher to share Dharma, it is necessary to have virtue, be professionally trained and practice the above skills.
As a guide to the retreat, both as a teacher and a moderator of the activity, we reorganized the above criteria and added a number of skills, including the following:
Conditions for the retreat instructors:
- Good manners and standards
- Good health
- Flexible language and expressive voice
- Compassion, patience and confidence
- Understand basic knowledge about Buddhism and worldly knowledge
- Master the psychological knowledge of teenagers
The skills of the retreat instructor should include:
- Improvisation of the situation
- Individual and group activities
- Managing the assemblies
- Using digital media
- Observing and listening
- Organization, design, MC
A young nun who leads the retreat, meets all of the above conditions and skills, can attract young people, and at the same time, use the physical teaching to help young people learn through the nun’s appearance of simplicity, enthusiasm and intimacy: “Preaching is definitely not about imposing some teachings on the listeners, but giving them what they need.” Teachers can understand what young people think, like, need and want in order to meet their needs effectively.
[1] Majjhima Nikāya (The Middle-length Discourses). Vol 3, p. 314, translated into English by Bhikkhuni Giới Hương.
Develop an Adaptive Retreat Model in Accordance with Young People
Building a dynamic retreat not only provides positive social support, it also has the advantage of teaching ethics to the youth. The Buddha gave different sermons, according to the level of his listeners: “The Worldly Honored One with the divine vision looked around the world and saw there are beings less infected with the polluted life; there are beings more infected with polluted life; there are intelligent ones; there are stupid ones; there are people who are easy to teach, difficult to teach. Some beings see the danger of having rebirth in another world, and the danger of wrong actions.”[1] Therefore, Buddhism came into life in many different manifestations, using the right means to convert, depending on the capacities of sentient beings to transform for the sake of many.
The Organizational aspect: Through the practice of organizing retreats for more than ten years in many localities, we think the retreat model needs to meet the following factors:
- a) The administration: The retreat will take place from four to seven days. First of all, the abbot should propose the organization of the retreat and get the permission of the Buddhist Executive Board and the local government. At the same time, it is also necessary to inform the departments and branches about location, time, quantity, age of participants, programs, the content of retreats, and the forms of security and order during the course.
- b) The personnel: The organizers are responsible for the overall course of the retreat, administration and observation. The subcommittees consist of active members who are directly responsible for the work and each part of the retreat.
The content aspect: The content of the curriculum and activities is organized by the monastery, with the agreement of the Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in the district. Because “the propagating department has not yet shaped the ‘curriculum’ clearly for each object, each age, the activities of the Dharma propaganda committee in the provinces now seem to be providing for movement and seasonality, but not for a long-term strategy. Especially, there is no specific curriculum and guidance for teenagers.”
The program: Each monastery to organize a separate program of activities for the retreat. Currently, there is no specific curriculum, so we rely on a number of programs that have been successfully organized in some monasteries to propose a dynamic retreat model with three criteria: “Study – Listen to Dharma – Play” to adapt to the young age.
The practice: The main courses of the day should use short sutrās, easy to read, easy to remember, easy to understand, with gentle texts such as the Morning Prayer, the Merit Sutrā, the Happiness Sutrā, the Vu Lan Sūtra, the Báo Hiếu Sūtra and so on. The ritual is simple but solemn, with the duration of each course about 30–45 minutes. The young people sit and contemplate the breathing (meditation) and they perform mindful walking. The instructors explain retreat manners for adolescents, with such practices as bowing, prostrating, kneeling, walking, standing, lying down and sitting. They further explain how to eat with mindfulness and offer concentration instructions, waking up, sleeping, resting so that young practitioners can get acquainted with the routine of monastic life. The purpose of the retreat is to guide young people to have the spirit of self-awareness, listening, studying and practicing to feel the peaceful value in Buddhism.
Listening to Dharma: Parallel with the practice, the Dharma listening sessions are held by the teachers. Selecting the appropriate lecturer for the age of the retreat is extremely necessary. There are two conditions for the lecture: the prescribed duration (sixty minutes) and a friendly conten,t which is not only easy to understand and vivid, but also must convey the meaning of the retreat topic proposed by the organizers. Instructors should be able to talk in the forum of exchanges with students or modernize lectures by showing it on the screen (slideshow, PPT or YouTube).
Teachers should find information about their assemblies so that candidates can behave appropriately, using public speaking, common knowledge, age-appropriate, easy to understand, accurate, and do not talk too long. Instructors must tell stories with vivid examples in modern language with playful content. Teachers should have a broad vision, create favorable conditions for assemblies to actively participate in the lecture content, create a joyful, gentle atmosphere and open up the positive emotions. It helps attract young people to listen to the useful things, recall good qualites and exchange the problems still in their hearts to guide them to a new positive life.
Collective activities: In the retreats, group activities are very important. The unity of the community will show whether the organization is methodical or not. The instructor will apply to the group the living skills to guide individuals to work together, promote the organization, respect each other with sensitivity, confidence, listening and expressing. Through collective activities, practitioners can eliminate personal distance so that the fellow practitioners can learn, play and cooperate consistently in a spirit of solidarity.
Personal activities: With the daily routines, students enter a new environment. The way of personal activities also becomes different: sleeping, waking up, and washing clothes. Personal belongings must be kept orderly to comply with the program. The organizers need to pay attention and guide the students to get used to the positive independent lifestyle.
Play: The summer retreat is considered to be one of the vivid activities in the trend of Buddhism. Engaging in life by effectively attracting young people to the dynamism of the model, “If we have appropriate Buddhist activities for young people in society, they can come to us because they find that what we teach is not different from life, but is a remarkable practice to help them be calmer, more lucid and more energetic to survive well in the hustle and bustle of urban life.”[2] In the spirit of active teaching, the retreats have built a useful playground, helping young people develop their abilities, stimulate creativity, teamwork skills, and presentation skills for young people to be more confident in life.
Designing the game groups need to be full of diverse and dynamic features, and at the same time suitable to the Buddhist living environment. The games can be renamed to increase attractiveness and bring more meaning in the education fields as follows:
The intellectual and knowledge game group: It supports the participants to review basic knowledge; forming the intelligent improvisation, reasoning and judgment. The game should be designed like the actual game show to create appeal and arouse interest in learning. For example, the game shows ”Dharma Drum,” “S-Buddhists,” “Ring the temple bell” and so forth.
The artistic and gifted game group: Through the game, we can encourage potential talents such as design, painting, assembly, art, fashion with positive artistic content, showing the innocent beauty of youth as well as helping them be confident in public and have the opportunity to show their talents.
The mobilized game group: It helps the candidates in their mental and physical training, practicing patience and flexibility in their work. The group of active mobilized games includes firstly, the light mobilized games (participants must have dexterity, sensitivity, patience). For example, the game “Bean Selection” was renamed to “The Zen Door of Ms. Tấm.” The game “Blowing Glass” was renamed to ”Blow the Karma Away." The vigorously mobilized games (using a lot of speed and techniques as stretching to balance the energy), ”Jump in the Bag” was renamed “Towards the Enlightened Banker.”
The skill-training game group: The group is divided into areas to collect waste to clean the surrounding environment, The group is further divided into sections with some members focusing on self-protection and learning some basic martial arts for protection. They also learn how to do first aid and fire prevention. Some students focus on thinking and expression, using a diary and the collected writings in the retreat There is program design (candle-lighting ceremony, the alms bowls, village fairs, and festivals). Each year, the content of the retreat must be renewed, the Organizing Committee must always mobilize and update the program to meet the unique criteria of content, impression of forum, variety of genres and to bring the most practical effect for candidates, the happy feeling to enjoy fully the meaning of the program.
Comments and Recommendations
Over the years, we have had opportunities to guide a number of retreats organized by the monastery or organized by the Buddhist Administration Board in District.We realize that young people need our enthusiasm, care, closeness and sharing. The retreat organizers provide the right place at the right time to connect the candidates, volunteers and organizers. Those connections depend on the person who leads the retreat, especially the young nuns. Therefore, it is difficult to organize the retreats, maintaining such retreats is even more difficult. The organizer must consider and make efforts for the retreat to provide unforgettable impressions that will be the premise for the next time.
Not all young people are voluntarily participating in the retreats Some of them are forced by their families, some have participated in many retreats, and some are attending a temple retreat for the first time. Each young person is an individual, a separate world, accustomed to everyday life instincts, entering a whole new environment. The side effects for the students are sadness, loneliness and crying. They often are homesick and keep to themselves with few exchanges. They hesitate to participate in collective activities.
This is the most important time for young people and the Organizing Committee. The trainees' management committee, the control committee, the activity-inspector subcommittee and others must promptly grasp the signal to create a bridge for young people to step into the new living environment. The shy boundary between the candidates is gradually opened, shared through the collective activities, linked together in moments of the tearful farewell. Thus, when the retreat closed, young people realized the value of gathering together for Dharma. They were grateful for the retreat’s profound teachings.
Currently, the nuns of all three Buddhist sects: the North, the Mendicant and Theravāda have dynamic, creative and enthusiastic young human resources. Dr. Bhikkhunī TN Huệ Liên expressed “That is called the nuns' potential, We mean the resources, methods, effectiveness and contributions of nuns can reach the highest level. Yes, it is still in the form of ‘waiting for the predestined’ The social and community conditions of the Sangha have not allowed the set-up of any specific methods or plans that can open doors of opportunities for nuns dedicating their contributions to the propagation of Buddhism.”
In the era of integration, young and active nuns need to use the available potentials as the Buddha taught: “Bhikkhus, be ye lamps unto yourselves, rely on yourselves and, do not not depend on anyone else, taking the Dharma as a lamp, taking the Dharma as a refuge, not relying on anything else!”[3]
In the spirit of “relying on yourself,” a number of Buddhist nunneries have been organizing annual summer retreats for young people. In the north, there is Vẽ - Hoa Linh Pagoda with over 700 students per class. In the south, the number of organizations is quite large, such as Quán Âm Monastery (HCM City), Long Hoa Nunnery (Long An Province), Long Quang Pagoda (Cần Thơ City), Tam Bảo Pagoda (Tiền Giang Province), Ngọc Lâm Vihara (Long Hải - Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu), Ngọc Trước Vihara (Bến Tre Province), Viên Quang Vihara (Lâm Đồng Provice), Vạn Phước Pagoda (Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu). In particular, Viên Không Nunnery, chaired by Ven. Bhikkhunī Liễu Pháp is the first nunnery of the Theravāda Sect to organize the third seven-day summer retreat in 2017 for young students on a spacious campus. The candidates have a space to practice meditation, live in harmony with nature, listen to Dharma, learn English and participate in skill-training games and so on. This is a step forward for the nuns in Theravāda Buddhism, which has been gradually accompanying the Mahāyāna and mendicant nuns to develop the Vietnamese Nun Sangha’s Tathāgata mission.
After the retreat, the Organizing Committee realized the great effect the young candidates had achieved. They changed themselves, mastered their verbal actions and expanded their love to the surrounding species. To the community, they are skilled in proper behavior and they unite and support one another. To the family, they promise to be filial children. To the school, they will be good students. Although still modest, it is still a very positive signal about an educational process between the subject (the candidates) and the condition of the living environment (the retreat program), and vice versa.
In order to maintain and promote the dynamic propaganda model, young nuns need support from the Central Nun Sangha, the nun sub-departments in the provinces, cities, districts and towns to organize professional skills training courses for young women who can learn, cultivate and promote a leading role with a dynamic teaching model. Today, with the development of society, the Buddhist spirit engaging in life is re-opened at the diverse Dharma paths for young women to have the opportunity to be devoted. In addition to practicing on their own, young nuns, if they are trained professionally, learn more about the qualities of bravery, self-confidence and dynamic flexible skills, they will be the extended arms that succeed the famous nun patriarch ranks in the role of modern preaching.
Thích Nữ Viên Giác
[1] Samyutta Nikāya (Kinh Tương Ưng), Venerable Anuruddha, Vol 1. Chapter II, edited by M. L. Feen & Mrs. Rhys Davids, 5 vols., London: PTS: 1884–1898; ed. Mrs. Rhys Davids, tr. by F.L. Woodward, The Book of the Kindred Sayings, London: PTS, rpt. 1950–1956.
[2] Material for Propagating in Buddhist Youth Association, Propagating Department. Publishing HCM City 2018.
[3] Dīgha Nikāya (Collection of Long Discourses), ed. T.W. Rhys Davids & J.E. Carpenter, London: PTS, 1890–1911; Tr. T.W. & C.A.F. Rhys Davids, The Dialogue of the Buddha, Motilal, 2000. Vol II.
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