Preaching in Southern Provinces of Viet Nam

In the end of Sept, 2014, we were lucky to join the Buddhist trip to the southern provinces of Viet Nam with Senior Venerable Thich Chan Tinh, abbot of Hoang Phap Pagoda and its monks. Our destinations were Hoi Duc Pagoda in Vinh Long and Quoc Thoi Pagoda in Ben Tre.

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Going through the 1st  national route, we are\r\nheading to Vinh Long province, in which there are kind and frank, hard-working\r\nand friendly residents with the slogan “Pleasure for visitors; satisfaction for\r\nleavers”. Its economy is developed because many kinds fresh tropical fruits\r\n(such as mangos, jack fruits, durians and so on) are grown in nutritious soil.\r\nAnother reason that brings the development is "tourism on river". It\r\nis believed that more and more travelers or tourists are interested in sightseeing\r\nby boat. In respect of cool climate, Vinh Long has beautiful green croplands\r\ngrown

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We arrived at Hoi Duc Pagoda, where the senior ven. was\r\ngoing to give a speech on the occasion of "the 66th peaceful Buddhist\r\ncourse". Hoi Duc Pagoda was under construction but obviously, it was still\r\nattractive for more than 500 Buddhists participating in the retreat course this\r\ntime. 

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During the course, senior ven. Thich Chan Tinh reviewed how\r\nthe Buddha spent life, he said: Crown Prince Siddharta decided to leave\r\neverything and self-cultivated after having realized the truth of life, and\r\nhuman body is just temporary. Having achieved the Buddha fruit, He recognized\r\nthat the bases of beings are different but all of them are able to be changed\r\nfrom delusion to enlighten. He would like to share his experience to people and\r\nhelp them work out with own salvation. The first monks followed to Buddha were\r\n5 sibling members of Kaundinya Ajnata. From that time on, triple gem was\r\nfounded. Yasas parents and wife were the first people who take refuge and\r\ntriple gem. At the end of speech, the senior venerable reminded that besides\r\nthe daily work, Buddhists should spend time on Buddhist courses and Buddhist\r\nevents such as Buddhas birthday, Ullambana, ancestor worship, celebration\r\nof Amitabha Buddha to reinforce dharma knowledge, develop Bodhi mind,\r\nkeep five precepts and come to enlighten just as the Buddha, which brings us to\r\npeace and lovely happiness in our current life.

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Next stop is Quoc Thoi pagoda, which is located in Ben Tre,\r\nLong Thoi ward, Cho Lach district, a branch of Hoang Phap Pagoda. It is known\r\nthat Ben Tre is famous for coconut. This is a reason why many factories operate\r\nto export coconut fiber for barrels decoration. However, the price of coconut\r\nis going down recently, coconut trees are cut down to create more space for\r\nshrimp raising. Moreover, the Mekong river pours out to the sea through nine\r\nseaports, among which Dai seaport passes by Ben Tre province, therefore it has\r\na big amount of fish and shrimp. However, residents are still poor, and they\r\nprefer to earn money in big city as the fact that it does not have national\r\nroute, so tourism has no condition to develop.

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In regards to Buddhism, there are few pagodas. People in\r\nsouthern provinces generally, Ben Tre citizens particularly tend to worship\r\ntheir ancestors and Buddha altar at home. Later, Buddhism is become more\r\npopular for them to cultivate, increasing their belief. Typically, Quoc Thoi\r\npagoda is in the constructive period, it is an attractive destination for\r\nBuddhists to go on Buddhist events, cultivations, reciting the Buddhas, taking\r\nTriratna refuge, doing blessings, etc.. Quoc Thoi is considered a quite large\r\npagoda in Ben Tre and beside full moon days, repentance days, it is the place\r\nwhere happens the impressive and memorable Buddhist events like Ullambana in\r\nJuly 2014.

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Buddhism has been developing and spreading strongly from\r\ncities to countryside’s. Now, Buddhist propagation missions are not only by the\r\nwork of Monks but also Buddhists from everywhere. The useful support from all\r\nwill help Buddhism develop in both physical side and spiritual side, bringing\r\nthe peace and wealth to Viet Nam. In addition, the useful support will assist\r\nall monks and masters to complete their mission as home-leaving monks’ reality,\r\na sacred mission which Tathagata left for posterity and humankind.

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Hocmon, 24/9/2014

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Nguyễn Thanh Thảo.

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Translated into English by Tang Gia Boi.

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