The 4th Annual
Buddhist Retreat:Starting from the 1st
of December to the 5th of January 2005
A rewarding success!
Written by Chuc Kham & Pho Tri
Edited, translated and compiled into
English by Tam Lac
---o0o---
Once again, following
the spirit of selflessly propagating the Buddha Dharma for the benefit
of all sentient beings, the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation of
Australia and New Zealand (UVBCANZ) had kept
its word to hold a 4th Annual Buddhist Retreat as the past 3
years have proven to be a success. This year, the location of the much
long awaited retreat was agreed to be held at Quang Duc Monastery,
Victoria Melbourne.
Although the
surroundings of this year’s retreat at Quang Duc Monastery were rather
compacted in comparison to the past 3 retreats- in which the atmosphere
were amongst Mother Nature, up high in the lovely forest mountains.
Instead to substitute for the loss, the Monastery grounds offered a more
peaceful atmosphere, all the better at maintaining the essence of Bodhi
nature. Because Monasteries tend to always leave deep imprints into the
hearts of devout Buddhists, especially Monasteries baring the unique and
distinctive Vietnamese cultural design, which are unfortunately rare
beyond the homeland of Vietnam, so goes the poem:
“The pagoda roof
covers and protects the spirit of our culture and our way of life, that
has been handed down by the ancestors”- Poem of Huyen Khong
This year, the number of
Venerable Monks and Nuns attending the retreat totaled at 25 while the
number of Lay Buddhists came at 130 people. Despite the amount of
attendees decreasing in comparison to the 3 previous years, the
diligence and sincerity of everybody who came remained the same as it
was obviously revealed on everyone’s bright, happy, and excited faces
with faith upon Dharma.
The day before the
official opening ceremony of the 4th Annual Buddhist Retreat,
Quang Duc Monastery reverentially held a respectful ceremony to prayer
and hope for the victims of the Tsunami disaster 26/12/04 and ending
with a different atmosphere of a happy New Years celebration, completed
with fireworks and musical performances.
The ceremony for the
victims of the Tsunami disaster opened with Venerable masters guiding
the audience to chant along sincerely, truly hoping that the souls of
the victims of the
Tsunami disaster would soon be at peace. May the depressed
spirits, injured bodies, and wrecked homes of the devastated survivors
hopefully recover. May lives be mended, and everything would soon get
better.
And although the
ceremony was a short and simple one, nonetheless, it was truly a heart
touching reason to make everyone there no longer seeing a
differentiation between the Tsunami victims and their very own relatives
or loved ones.
After the ceremony
respectfully ended, the giant pagoda drums began to signal the opening
of the joyful New Years ceremony, which called in the popular piece of
the Vietnamese Dragon dance, performed by the Quang Duc Monastery
Buddhist youth group.
The next day, 1/1/2005
which was the first day of the Western Calendar, Venerable monks and
nuns from near and far gathered together entirely, to finally commence
the Official Opening Ceremony of the 4th Annual Buddhist
Retreat, held at the stunning Buddha Altar of the Quang Duc Monastery as
intended at 10am sharp. The total of people then tallied to 150
attendees.
To assist
organize and manage the retreat program was Venerable Thich Nguyen Tang
who had cleverly made accessible to everyone all the retreat details at
the opening ceremony, reminding everyone of the important things to
prepare for the retreat which was about the start. The partial list of
the Venerable Monks and Nuns who attended the retreat were as follows:
The Most Ven.Thích
Huyền Tôn The Central Sangha Council of the UVBCANZ, Most Ven
Thích Như Huệ President of the UVBCANZ,
Most
Ven. Thích Bảo Lạc Deputy-president of the UVBCANZ Commissioner for
Dhamma Propagation Affairs
Very
Ven. Thích Như Điển Chief secretary of the Vietnamese Buddhist
Congregation of Europe (Germany),
Very
Ven. Thích Quảng Ba, Deputy-President of the UVBCANZ, Deputy
Commissioner. for Social & Charity Affairs
Very
Ven. Thích Phước Nhơn: Deputy Chairperson, Commissioner for
Youth-Scouting Affairs,
Very
Ven. Thích Trường Sanh, Commissioner for Educational-Cultural Affairs
Very
Ven. Thích Minh Hiếu Abbot of Minh Quang Vihara,
Very
Ven. Thích Thiền Hiền, the Vice-Abbot of Huyền Quang temple,
Ven.
Thích Đồng Văn from Germany,
Very
Ven. Thich Tam Phuong, Abbot of Quang Duc Monastery and Deputy Comm.
for Dhamma Propagation Affairs
Ven.
Thích Phổ Hương Commissioner & Deputy Comm. for Ritual/Protocol
Affairs and management of general affairs at Huyền Quang Temple,
Ven.
Thich Nguyen Tang, Vice-Abbot of Quang Duc Monastery. General
Secretary, Deputy Comm. for Youth-Scouting Affairs
Ven.
Thích Phổ Huân Deputies Secretary and management of general affairs
at Pháp Bảo pagoda,
Ven.
Thích Viên Trí Abbot of Pháp Hoa Temple,
Ven.
Thích Viên Tịnh Vice-Abbot Pháp Hoa Temple,
Ven.
Thích Viên Thành Head secretary Pháp Hoa Temple,
Very
Ven. Nun TN. Hành Đạo, from Vietnam, Hoa Quang Temple
Ven.
Nun TN Đồng Liễu from Phap Hoa temple SA
Ven.
Nun TN. Như Lan Abbess of Phước Trí Temple,
Ven.
Nun. TN Như Tuyết, from Buddha Recitation centre An Lạc Hạnh
Ven.
Nun. TN Nguyên Khai, Abbess of Buddha Recitation centre An Lạc Hạnh
and Commissioner for Laity Affairs,
Ven.
Nun. TN Trí Anh from France
… and
from the distinguished guests list, there was Dr. Ph.D Lâm Như Tạng
Deputy Comm. for Educational-Cultural Affairs
The opening speech of
the Opening Ceremony was of the Very Venerable Abbot of Quang Duc
Monastery who was also the head organizer of the retreat: Venerable
Thich Tam Phuong. His words where to convey the obstacles and
difficulties of organizing and preparing such a large event, to really
appreciate the warmth of the Opening Ceremony which had at long last
arrived.
“In order to repay
the Buddha’s deep kindness, along with the love, hardship, and care of
our Teachers and Masters, every Buddhist disciple has vowed: “Even if to
endure thousandfold suffering, my heart is determined for the sake of
the Buddha Path to sacrifice. Sacrifice, endure, and overcome every
rocky obstacle that approaches, without considering the difficulties and
countless of tests that is to come; I am prepared to travel the path
with tolerance and selflessness in order to serve the Buddha path, the
Dharma and preserve the culture of both the monastic and the laity.”
Truly so! In the time when the Buddha Gautama was still in world, He had
assured and determined with adamancy that in the future, in order for
Buddhadharma to stay everlastingly and continue to bring benefit greatly
amongst beings, the 2 kinds of disciples: both Monastic and Laity must
harmonize respectfully and lovingly towards one another. Both kinds must
often interact and share learning with one another in order to hope for
the survival of Correct Faith and bring back happiness and benefit to
all beings.”
Even if to endure
thousandfold suffering, my heart is determined for the sake of the
Buddha Path to sacrifice”; these words have shown that Master Tam Phuong
had given it all his best toward creating exactly what the congregation
expects, or the least, he had tried his best to manage the first
Buddhist retreat in Victoria of the sort.
After that, there were
the enlightening and sincere words of The Most Ven.Thích
Huyền Tôn, the Central Sangha Council of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist
Congregation of Australia-New Zealand, who was concerned with the
teaching of Buddha Dharma; how to achieve the ultimate quality that
Dharma is always offering in order to produce a positive outcome for
those who have not studied Buddhism or are currently learning. Despite
the seriousness of the current matter, the Venerable still managed to
entertain the audience with his happy, cheerful and humble nature.
Next
were the blessed words of the greatly revered Most Ven.
Thích Như Huệ, President of the Unified Vietnamese
Buddhist Congregation of Australia-New Zealand. The Venerable iterated
firmly thus: Knowledge and understandings
about the Buddha Dharma are merely expedient tools, nevertheless
incredibly important and essential for those who practice Buddhism.
However, in reality, it shall not benefit any practitioner if he does
not take it into diligent action and apply the teachings of Liberation
into his everyday life. The truth has proven that in the past, the most
accomplishing Buddhist endeavours ever transpired were from beings that
were the most diligent and determined towards cultivation and practice.
And so with enough strength of Samadhi, strength of mind, and strength
of vow, those beings voyage into life, using whatever expedience needed
in order to transform and enhance the lives of all sentient beings using
all their might and capacity. The unforgettable image of Bodhisattva
Thich Quang Duc has told of the spirit of compassion and valiant wisdom
belonging to a Buddhist practitioner who has awakened to the Buddhist
path and unified it into life. Presently in the world, there still
remain in various places highly advanced Venerable monks, nuns and lay
Buddhists who continue to nurse a heart of selflessness, living a life
solely for the purpose of service to the Buddha Way and the liberation
of others. All the genuineness attained from the Doctrine of Liberation
that has clearly been proven by such brave role models deserve to be
noticed and imprinted deep into our hearts and may it become the guiding
essentials needed on our spiritual pathway of cultivation.
After
these compassionate words, the ceremony proceeded into the customary
offering of incense and prayer for the protection and guidance of the
Buddhas; thus the year’s 4th Annual Buddhist Retreat
officially commenced.
Although in fact the retreat only consisted of 4 short days, the hearts
of the Venerables, both younger and older remained bright and unmoving.
The classes taught such titles such as “For what reasons should
Buddhists become Vegetarians?”, “Applying the Buddhist precepts into
daily life” and “ Does taking refuge in the triple gems mean we must
renounce the world and live in Monasticism?” Although these issues are
the most fundamental and simplest of them all, nevertheless they are
most important.
Once
again, just as popular and special as every year, the periods reserved
for questions and answers were the most alive, exciting and energetic of
the whole retreat. Besides the many great questions that were given out
by the retreatants at the monastery, there were also many good questions
contributed by online listeners from two Online Paltalk chat rooms SHPP
& TLPP. Because of this unique merging of students from across the
globe, the event received some very outrageously humorous questions and
extremely amusing curiosities which created a laid back, harmonious and
happy atmosphere, leaving an even more a stronger, everlasting faith in
every student towards the Dharma.
Another thing we must accredit and praise was the class for children who
followed their parents to the retreat to learn about Buddhism for 5
days. The number of children who attended this year climbed up to almost
40, nearly double of last year’s total. Since the number of children
attending became so crowed that it became without a doubt that a class
for young students hasdto be organised properly. In result, Venerable
Nun Thich Nu Tri Anh, Venerable Sramanera Thich Hanh Duc, Dharma Friend
Steven Lowe and Venerable Thich Hanh Tri all contributed into the lesson
program as they help teach and guide the children through concepts of
Buddhism while at the same time maintaining a happy and cheerful
climate.
Within the heart of a true Buddhist who is truly and correctly
practising-observing, the motivation to continue battling obstacles and
travelling the Buddha path should always stay alight even beyond the
settings between an Opening and Closing ceremony of a retreat. We should
take this illustration and remember it always, not limiting our practice
within compressed time, space or location. Having said that, we'll know
that as the retreatants, both Monastic and Laity, return back to their
ordinary lives again, they will definitely still be able the feel the
joy and happiness of having studying the Dharma.
Finally, we have been informed that the next retreat to come, the 5th
Annual Buddhist Retreat of Australia, is to be held in the capital of
Canberra next year from the 31st of December 2005 to the 4th
of January 2006. Please contact any of your local Buddhist pagodas
belonging to the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation of
Australia and New Zealand in order to sign up for the next exciting
Annual Buddhist Retreat. Otherwise you could also directly contact the
location the retreat is to be held, at Van Hanh Monastery Canberra on
+61. 02. 6257 5517 or visit the website:
www.quangduc.com to find out in more detail about the next retreat
that is to come. Namo Amitabha Buddha.
Written
by Chuc Kham & Pho Tri
Edited, translated and compiled into English by Tam Lac
21 January 2005
www.buddhamind.tk
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