Welcome to Deer Park.
We have arrived,
we are home.
Please enjoy your breathing.
 

Support Thay in his Effort to Renew Buddhism in Vietnam

Help Thay Train Spiritual Workers in Vietnam

Prajña Monastery

Ward 13, Bao Loc District, Lam Dong Provience, Vietnam. Tel. +(84) (63) 751.518

January 2, 2006

Dear friends,

Happy new year! Greetings from the monks, nuns, and lay practitioners at Fragrant Palm Forest Hamlet (for monks and laymen) and Bright Hearth Hamlet (for nuns and laywomen), Prajña Monastery. We celebrated the new year with a joyful time together in the meditation hall of Bright Hearth Hamlet, meditating, singing songs, performing skits, and exchanging home-made gifts, like the way we do in Plum Village.

 We would like to share with you about Prajña Monastery, founded in 1995 by Ven. Thich Duc Nghi. Ven. Thich Duc Nghi was born in 1951 and ordained as a novice in 1962. During the 1960s and 1970s, he trained in various Buddhist institutes such as Hue Nghiem in Saigon, Nguyen Thieu in Binh Dinh, and Hai Duc in Nha Trang. After reading “Fragrant Palm Leaves,” he liked Thầy’s practices, Thầy’s actions in engaged Buddhism, and Thầy’s efforts to help bring peace to Vietnam very much and so he decided to follow in Thầy’s footsteps. In 1977, he settled in Bao Loc and visited the Fragrant Palm Hermitage that Thầy founded in the 1950s. Seeing the place deserted and damaged by the war, he vowed to establish a second Fragrant Palm Hermitage and to invite Thầy to stay and teach there when sufficient conditions should arise. Over a period of almost 30 years, he founded eight temples in eight remote areas among the poorest people, starting with small huts in each of them. Bao Lam (a district of Lam Dong province in the central highlands of Vietnam) was formerly a new development zone, set up by the Vietnamese government after 1975, for the resettlement of poor people who had no alternative. Many of the poorest people from Thai Binh province, from Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Quang Nam, and Dong Thap provinces have resettled there.

 Ven. Duc Nghi aspires to a real engaged Buddhism, serving the destitute and indigenous people in the remote areas of Vietnam. Recently he founded a temple for the Chau Ma and K’Ho indigenous communities. Eighteen young boys from the village practice as novice aspirants at the temple. He also is active in social projects. Since 1997, he and social workers from the Love and Understanding Program (a continuation of the School for Youth and Social Service after 1975, supported by various sanghas of Plum Village) have started more than 39 nursery schools to take care of children aged 3 to 6 years old so their poor parents can go to work during the day.

 Local Buddhists are mostly farmers, planting tea and coffee in their small parcels of land. They have a rough life because of the hard work and wide fluctuations in the prices of coffee and tea. Despite their hard life, they are very connected to the temple. At times, hundreds  volunteer to help in construction projects at night, moving barrows of sands and bricks, so construction workers have materials to do their work during the day. All temples founded by Ven. Duc Nghi were started with the help of these local Buddhists.

During the visit to Vietnam from January 11 to April 12, 2005, Thầy saw that while the country is for the most part doing well enough economically, it is in danger of losing its most beautiful values and falling prey to corruption and illegal trades in sex and drugs.  Seeing that the need to protect the nation’s young monks, nuns, and laypeople from the degradation of core spiritual values is quite urgent, Thầy accepted the requests of the venerables from Tu Hieu Monastery in Hue, Bat Nha (Prajña) Monastery in Bao Loc, and Phap Van (Dharma Cloud) Monastery in Saigon to send monks and nuns from Plum Village to these monasteries in order to share and to guide the practices. The administration, construction and day-to-day operation of these centers are handled by the venerables and resident monks and nuns. The Plum Village monks and nuns are only responsible for sharing and guiding the practices.

In May 2005, after the Vietnam trip,  Brs. Nguyện Hải and Pháp Khâm from Plum Village and Br. Phap Ung from Deer Park Monastery went to Tu Hieu Monastery in Hue, and Srs. Thoai Nghiem, Bich Nghiem and Hang Nghiem from Plum Village went to Dieu Nghiem Temple in Hue to participate in the Summer Rains Retreat. There were already 13 newly-ordained novice nuns and about 60 female novice aspirants at Dieu Nghiem, and 40 male novice aspirants at Tu Hieu, waiting to be trained. Because of  limited space at Dieu Nghiem temple, the sisters moved to Prajña monastery in late May, starting the practice at Bright Hearth Hamlet. Thây transmitted the novice monk/nun precepts to 40 female aspirants and 7 male aspirants at Prajña and to 29 male aspirants at Tu Hieu on August 7, 2005.

 After the Summer Rains Retreat in Tu Hieu Monastery, Brs. Nguyện Hải and Pháp Khâm went to Prajña monastery to attend the Winter Rains Retreat and to set up the practice at Fragrant Palm Forest Hamlet. The Winter Rains Retreat began on Nov. 15, 2005, the same day as Plum Village. Br. Phap Tru and Srs. Hy Nghiem and Dang Nghiem from Deer Park Monastery are also at Prajña. Br. Phap Dang from Maple Forest Monastery joined Br. Phap Ung for the practice in Tu Hieu Monastery. The Plum Village monks and nuns at Prajña also hold monthly day of mindfulness at Phap Van Monastery in Saigon. So all together, Plum Village has sent ten brothers and fifteen sisters to support the practice in these monasteries in Vietnam.

 There are now about 300 monks, nuns and lay practitioners at Prajña monastery and 90 monks in Tu Hieu root temple. We are practicing happily here, with schedules and activities similar to those in Plum Village. We also have Western practitioners visiting us at Prajña and Tu Hieu temples. On December 28, 2005, two Australians received their Five Mindfulness Trainings at Prajña. We are also preparing for another novice ordination on Jan 8, 2006 for 25 female aspirants and 21 male aspirants. As every two or three days there are one or two or three young persons just dropping in and requesting to be accepted for training at Prajna Monastery with Plum Village methods, Ven. Duc Nghi and the Sangha anticipate that there may be 500 monks and nuns practicing here by the end of 2006 and 1000 monks and nuns by 2010. We try to be realistic, because it is impossible to have enough room and facilities for such a big number of trainees right away; but with your help, we can make it happen over time.  After 40 years of exile, Thầy finally can offer to his country this fruit of his practice.

 Prajña monastery serves as a training center (Thầy likes to call it a “nursery”) for young monks and nuns. Those trained here subsequently will be sent out to monasteries in big cities as well as rural areas to help with the practice, when requested by  local Buddhist communities. They will return to Prajña periodically to rest and continue their training. Prajña is situated in a remote area, up in the mountains and 18 km from the nearest town. It is on a 25-acre property with rolling hills and singing streams, and rows of tea plants, coffee and durian trees.  It is 18-25o C year round, with 6 months rainy and 6 months dry.  

 Ven. Duc Nghi in Prajña and Ven. Chi Mau in Tu Hieu need help from many of us, monastics and lay practitioners alike. It costs $25 per person, per month for room, board and other essential needs ($10 for food, $5 for clothing, $5 for utilities, and $5 for medicine and personal hygiene). Various construction projects are being carried out in Prajña to meet the needs of housing 1000 people. A residence for 200 monks and one for 200 nuns, meditation halls for 200 nuns, and a kitchen and dining halls for 300 monks, are being built. The sisters sleep on bunk beds, sixteen in a room of 25 square meters.  A big meditation hall for 1500 people and two residences for nuns that can house 500 people are planned. A 1.5-ton truck for shopping and computers and office equipment are also needed. Ven. Chi Mau in Tu Hieu is constructing a residence for fifty monks with support from a family living in Singapore and Boston.

 There will always be the need for things to accommodate the growing sangha. Ven . Duc Nghi and the Sangha are not worrying about whether these things will be realized. Things will manifest when conditions arise. Ven. Duc Nghi and Ven. Chi Mau remind the Sangha to concentrate on the practice, and they will do whatever they can to provide the environment and the facilities.

 We are writing this letter to inform you about flowers and  fruits that have blossomed from the seeds Thầy planted during the Vietnam Trip in 2005. The young people of Vietnam need to have a chance for a spiritual and wholesome life. Thầy and the Plum Village Sangha are helping them to have that chance. You are warmly invited to join us is this endeavor. Let’s do it together!

A Lotus to you,

Current Construction Projects in Prajña

There are now about 300 monks, nuns and lay practitioners at Prajña monastery and 90 monks in Tu Hieu root temple. We are practicing happily here, with schedules and activities similar to those in Plum Village. We also have Western practitioners visiting us at Prajña and Tu Hieu temples. On December 28, 2005, two Australians received their Five Mindfulness Trainings at Prajña. We are also preparing for another novice ordination on Jan 8, 2006 for 25 female aspirants and 21 male aspirants. As every two or three days there are one or two or three young persons just dropping in and requesting to be accepted for training at Prajna Monastery with Plum Village methods, Ven. Duc Nghi and the Sangha anticipate that there may be 500 monks and nuns practicing here by the end of 2006 and 1000 monks and nuns by 2010. We try to be realistic, because it is impossible to have enough room and facilities for such a big number of trainees right away; but with your help, we can make it happen over time.  After 40 years of exile, Thầy finally can offer to his country this fruit of his practice.

Prajña monastery serves as a training center (Thầy likes to call it a “nursery”) for young monks and nuns. Those trained here subsequently will be sent out to monasteries in big cities as well as rural areas to help with the practice, when requested by  local Buddhist communities. They will return to Prajña periodically to rest and continue their training. Prajña is situated in a remote area, up in the mountains and 18 km from the nearest town. It is on a 25-acre property with rolling hills and singing streams, and rows of tea plants, coffee and durian trees.  It is 18-25o C year round, with 6 months rainy and 6 months dry.  

Ven. Duc Nghi in Prajña and Ven. Chi Mau in Tu Hieu need help from many of us, monastics and lay practitioners alike. It costs $25 per person, per month for room, board and other essential needs ($10 for food, $5 for clothing, $5 for utilities, and $5 for medicine and personal hygiene). Various construction projects are being carried out in Prajña to meet the needs of housing 1000 people. A residence for 200 monks and one for 200 nuns, meditation halls for 200 nuns, and a kitchen and dining halls for 300 monks, are being built. The sisters sleep on bunk beds, sixteen in a room of 25 square meters.  A big meditation hall for 1500 people and two residences for nuns that can house 500 people are planned. A 1.5-ton truck for shopping and computers and office equipment are also needed. Ven. Chi Mau in Tu Hieu is constructing a residence for fifty monks with support from a family living in Singapore and Boston.