Friday, 04/17/2026
The peaceful retreat at Tieu Dao Pagoda - Quang Ninh
Update: 11/10/2018
On this occasion, Venerable Thich Tam Tinh - member of the director board of Vietnamese Buddhist Associassion in Quang Ninh province - Abbot of Tieu Dao Pagoda shared a Dharma talk with the topic: "The meaning of two - statues of the dharma protectors in the pagoda". Ven shared that: When entering the doors of most pagodas in Vietnam, you can easily see two statues with gentle and fierce faces opposite each other.
The folk often calls by the name of: Mr. good god and Mr. evil god. These are two dharma guardians, the first with costume is a suit of armor, a pearl handle; the other one brings a weapon in hand in the standing or sitting position.
A good god will impact on one 's mind to do good things, support the pagoda and virtuous cultivators. The opposite god is the sinful punishing god; punishes those who have evil minds harm Dharma Buddha. At each pagoda, two statues are worshiped as two dialectical symbols of the good one and the evil one always show parallel existences as the same of goodness and evilness still exist in everyday life
It can be said that it is a form of deep human education, advise each person should live well together, do not have the mind to harm others, or causing suffering any ones. People who do good deeds, they will be supported by the good god; otherwise, the evil ones will be punished by the opposite god.
"This view meant that reminds people should live by the kind and good heart. According to the Buddha teachings, dharma protectors not only have the supporting gods, but also include all people having the mind to support everlasting dharma Buddha (preventing the evils, encouraging the development of goodness), to benefit all sentient beings in the world., etc, all of them are considered as the dharma Buddha protectors.
At the end of the lecture, Venerable abbot and the mass prayed for "Rites of penance - repentance before the Buddhas' honor names"
The following was recorded images:
