Namo Sakyamuni Buddha
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Venerable Bhikkhunī Giới Hương for inviting me to contribute a couple of lines in the collection of writings celebrating her forty years of studying and serving Buddhism.
I remember in 2004 when the eighth Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women was held in South Korea. It was the first time we had the good karma to meet Vietnamese nuns and other nuns from other countries in the world. I had the opportunity to organize an international Nun’s Sangha for a week. Venerable Giới Hương and a number of nun students studying in India contributed presentations on Vietnamese Buddhism during the conference. Thanks to that, we had the opportunity to interact with each other during the conference.
In 2005, we met again when Venerable Bhikkhunī Giới Hương visited temples, monasteries, and Zen temples in San Diego. At that time, we knew Venerable Giới Hương had settled down in the United States and was appointed the abbess of Phước Hậu Pagoda in Wisconsin by the most Venerable Thích Mãn Giác.
In 2010, Ven. Giới Hương returned to southern California to study at Riverside Community College and build Huong Sen Temple. During this time, we had many opportunities to meet and participate in common activities, such as attending the Great Ceremony and the summer retreat.
You were a very dedicated person in the educational field and worked hard writing and translating books. In my memory, you are always holding a pen and notebook in the ceremonies to record all the events, then immediately on that day we have the updated records from you. You are gifted at writing, so you are one among the young nuns who have contributed a lot to Buddhism as an author of many valuable books, such as Bodhisattva and Śūnyatā in the Early and Developed Buddhist Traditions, Agama – A Dharma Rain Transforms the Defilements, Key Words in the Vajracchedikā Sūtra, and many others. Moreover, you compose Dharma music and release many tapes and discs.
I greatly admire your energetic spirit and unwavering will. Although the work of building the temple, sharing the Dharma and education take up a lot of your time, those things do not distract from your writing. You often released new works continuously every year.
I am very honored to offer a few lines for this collection. I would like to borrow the opportunity to express my admiration to Venerable Bhikkhunī Giới Hương for your writing career. You are a precious gem in the Buddhist garden, being diligent and determined in sharing the Dharma by establishing Bảo Anh Lạc Bookcase. Thank you for your contribution to the pride of the Vietnamese Buddhist Nuns.
Especially, I am pleased to introduce readers to the anthology, Forty Years in the Dharma: A Life of Study and Service, Venerable Bhikkhunī Giới Hương. Let’s read it to experience what I have written about Venerable Giới Hương.
Wishing you to always be strong on the path of sharing Dharma for the sake of many.
Ngọc Hòa Vihara, San Jose, California
May 3rd, 2020
Venerable Bhikkhunī Tiến Liên
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Ven. Giới Hương (right) and Ven. Tiến Liên (behind) walking for alms at Minh Đăng Quang's Buddhist Community Center at the summer retreat July 27, 2013.
Ven. Giới Hương (kneeling far right, second row) and Ven. Tiến Liên(far left, second row) chanting in the main hall of Minh Đăng Quang's Buddhist Community Center, July 27, 2013
