One-Day Retreat

On November 6th, 2016 (Lunar October 7th, Monkey year), a large number of Buddhists in many provinces and Ho Chi Minh City came to Hoang Phap Pagoda to attend the 9th One-Day Cultivation in 2016.

After the breakfast, the Buddhists gathered in auditorium areas to listen to a Dharma talk by Venerable Thich Chan Tinh, Abbott of Hoang Phap Pagoda and Chief Organizer of the cultivation course.

In the Dharma talk, the Venerable shared about his Dharma work trip in the US in the last two months. His proclamation trip in the US lasted from August 25th, 2016 to October 31st, 2016, which means being more than two months (68 days). During that time, the Venerable came to 17 states with 46 cities and gave 79 Dharma talks.

This was a distinctive causation for the Venerable and Buddhists in the US after many years of their unaccomplished causation. In the trip, the Venerable had a chance to meet, prostrate to all the Most Venerable, Venerable, most virtuous ones, monks and nuns of overseas Vietnamese Buddhism. Especially, the Venerable met his preceptors who instructed him when he was in the Buddhist institute.

In the Dharma love atmosphere, the Venerable and the honored ones had warm conversations. The Monks also had compliments on Dharma work done by the Venerable in the last years in home country. Those are meaningful actions which not everywhere can be done despite how good the conditions there are.

Besides, they also hoped that the Venerable could continue to maintain, bring into play what have been done to benefit human beings.

In addition, the Venerable mentioned a little bit about custom, habit, economy, society, significant features of this first-class rich country as well as daily lifestyles of Vietnamese community in there.

Through this talk, the Venerable shared about a valuable lesson from a message of the Patriarch of Hoang Phap Pagoda before passing away. That is the lesson about “Gratefulness.” In the 1950s-60s, when the Patriarch moved from the North to the South to build a religious place, he got great helps from Buddhists, benefactors, and especially from Military Engineer League at that time. After 1975, those general officers moved to the US. Before 1988, when the Patriarch was dying, he recommended the Venerable that if the Venerable had a chance to come to the US, he should find those general officers and send his thanks to them. Through this, we can see a valuable lesson. That is the Patriarch showed his gratefulness to them, and they were very touched by the Patriarch’s heart. All of us, the Buddhists should consider this an example to follow; learn to contribute into our own achievement from cultivation.

At the end of the Dharma talk, the Venerable shared about the death of meritorious artist Ut Bach Lan, who had a great number of contributions to home country’s art in general and to Buddhism culture in particular. The deceased artist also had a special causation with Hoang Phap Pagoda when she attended in the 8thDieu Am Hoang Phap program. The people there spent one minute to memorize her as well as to pray for her to come to the pure land soon.

Finally, the Venerable sent his profound gratefulness to Most Venerable, Venerable, most virtuous ones, monks and nuns as well as Buddhists in the US for creating convenient causation, supporting the Dharma work trip to be wholly accomplished. He also sent his gratefulness to the monks for helping him take care of the pagoda, and had compliments to Buddhists everywhere on continuing their cultivation and supporting some Dharma work at the pagoda although he was not there.

After that, the people there began the recitation as usual.

Below are some taken pictures: