When I, Venerable Bhikkhuni Gioi Huong die, please leave my body alone for 24 hours (avoid touching it). Nuns will gather to sit quietly and recite slowly the Buddha's name (not bustling). After 24 hours have passed, it will be time to announce to the outside my passing away and prepare for the funeral home and cremation.
- WORSHIP
- Nuns will worship Venerable Bhikkhuni Gioi Huong at the Tứ Ân Stupa. After cremation, the ashes will be scattered in the sea and under the trees. My photo and short biography will be carved at the stupa.
- Each Tứ Ân stupa has 16 compartments. Two stupas have 32 compartments. One compartment of the right stupa worships Venerable Master Bhikkhuni Hải Triều Âm while the other compartment on the left stupa worships Venerable Bhikkhuni Gioi Huong (the first Abbess of Huong Sen Buddhist Temple). The remaining 30 compartments are dedicated to the virtuous nuns and the next abbesses of Huong Sen Buddhist Temple.
- THE HEART MOURNING RITUAL
- My funeral will contain the heart mourning ritual (similar to the service of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 2022). During seven consecutive days, you can remember me by offerings of flowers, fruit, lamps, candles, and tea which are enough. You should light a candle, meditate, chant, and read Sutras. You can read respectfully the scriptures written by Venerable Bhikkhuni Gioi Huong, such as Rebirth Views in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Key Words in the Vajracchedikā Sūtra, and Cycle of Life, etc. . . .
- Regarding the death anniversary each year, you can organize a day to hold the burned candles, sit silently, recite the Buddha's name, and read the scriptures of the head nun, Venerable Bhikkhuni Gioi Huong.
- THE PRACTICE
- Mealtime: During breakfast and lunch time, the nuns of Huong Sen Temple should keep mindful and silent. You should also keep your lunch at noon and avoid eating after the noon; keep the kitchen quiet to avoid causing suffering to hungry ghosts because of their hunger karma.
- Practice: Every early morning, nuns must perform the bell ritual, meditate, and recite the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. In the afternoon, nuns can chant the Mông Sơn Thí Thực (offering food to hungry ghosts). The evening time is a Pure-Land Course (calming the mind, reciting the Buddha's name, and chanting the sutras). When there is a large group of nuns, the senior nuns should teach them the Sutras, Precepts, and Abhidharma every day.
- PROPAGATING THE DHARMA
- Each month, the monastery holds a retreat for the sake of many. When foreign guests (English speakers) come to study Buddhism, nuns should use the handbook Chanting from the Heart: Buddhist Ceremonies and Daily Practices by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh for guidance (reciting and sharing the meaning).
- Those who are able to preach or read scriptures should share every day on Huong Sen Media Station (Fanpage Huong Sen). Chanting every night online can guide Buddhists from afar to follow and recite along.
- ENCOURAGING THE NUNS
- The Buddha and Patriarchs taught: Where the ordained can eat, learn, have the grace to propagate the Dharma, and share the Buddha's teachings with Buddhists, even if they are beaten or bullied, they never go away. If the ordained receive support but do not have a good opportunity to practice and study, with their only focus on business, fame, and profit, even if they have the material things, they shouldn't stay. Thus, nuns of Huong Sen Temple should maintain a model of the holy monastery life, studying, and propagating the Dharma. That is the way to repay the gratitude to the Three Jewels (Buddha-Dharma-Sangha), the benefactors, and maintaining the developing of Huong Sen Temple, California, USA.
- Nuns must know what the main aim is and what is secondary in their daily life. “Only wisdom is the career” is the principal work of a cultivator. Liberating from the suffering of samsara and directly spreading the message of happiness to everyone is the main career of monastics.
Namo Amitabha Buddha.
Huong Sen Temple, the Tiger Year, February 10, 2022
Respectfully,
Venerable Bhikkhuni Giới Hương
