Namo Sakyamuni Buddha
Dear Venerable Bhikkhuni Giới Hương,
I am Bhikkhuni Thích Nữ Tâm Diệu, the tenth aunt of Venerable Giới Hương (the mother of Venerable Giới Hương is the sixth) and also the mother of Venerable Thanh Đức (who was born in the same year in 1963 and received the same ordination as you). I solemnly send a few words to Venerable Giới Hương, to participate in Forty Years in the Dharma: A Life of Study and Service—Venerable Bhikkhuni Giới Hương.
Years and months have drifted along the timelines of life: birth, maturity, marriage, childbirth, striving for livelihood, getting old, and preparing to lie down, which is a birth-death cycle we are continually subjected to. Life is like a flashing light; that is the reason why everyone who ordains to experience the most happiness by living in a monastery with a tranquil lifestyle is superior. I have comprehended the meaning of the word “impermanence.” Since then, I have practiced letting go of the worldly life, turned towards the Dharma, and ordained to live in the Tathagata’s house, relying on the door of the Buddha’s temple. Although I am old, a little late, it’s still better than nothing.
The image of a young nun (Bhikkhuni Giới Hương) who studied abroad at Delhi University (in India) and the United States: she usually comes to visit me whenever she comes back to Vietnam and gives lectures to encourage me to become a nun. Her teaching is very good and easy to understand. I always feel love for her because I realize she is very filial; after the death of her mother, she was determined to follow the Buddha and ordained as a nun to be filial and repay her parents by leading a pure, liberated life in the monastery. Therefore, I have greatly admired her filial piety since she was very young. As for me, now I am old, but I am happy with this, and this dream has also been fulfilled, as I wished. I do not have enough conditions to preach, translate, and serve in the same way as Venerable Bhikkhuni Giới Hương or to do charity work as does Bhikkhuni Thanh Đức (my first daughter), so I have tried to recite Buddha's name and pray to be reborn in the Buddha’s realm.
I am very proud of our family, which has such celebrity, virtue, and talent as Venerable Bhikkhuni Giới Hương. She lectures, translates scriptures, writes books, composes poetry, travels around the world, and knows many languages to express Buddha's words. She is a true pillar of Dharma Buddhism who has contributed greatly to the cause of Buddhist education and culture.
I sincerely pray that Bhikkhuni Giới Hương, Bhikkhuni Thanh Đức, as well as Bhikkhuni Trí Minh (the seventh younger sister of Bhikkhuni Giới Hương), śikṣamānā Viên Khuông (my niece), and all nuns at the two pagodas of Huong Sen (Vietnam and the United States) forever carry the torch of insight, illuminating the darkness, and that samadhi-wisdom’s fragrance from all of you will spread everywhere.
Namo Joy Bodhisattva Mahatat.
Bảo An Pagoda, Long Điền, November 22, 2019
Best regards,
Bhikkhuni Thích Nữ Tâm Diệu
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Bhikkhuni Tâm Diệu (standing) and Bhikkhuni Thanh Đức (kneeling)
Bhikkhuni Tâm Diệu (standing) and niece Ánh (daughter of the fourth aunt)
Please read all articles and view all photos:3.13.The_flash_life-_Rev_Tam_Dieu.pdf
