Amanda Sasina
Overview of Lien Hoa Temple:
Nature is closely intertwined with Buddhism both in scripture and in practice, which is why I selected a temple in an area known to be barren, central Texas. Lien Hoa Temple is located in San Antonio on a plot of land larger than a standard American football field. It is centered in a sparsely vegetative residential area. However, within this space the temple has strived to incorporate nature. An abundance of evergreen trees surrounds the temple, creating the feel of an authentic forest. The temple is beautifully landscaped and even includes a sculpture garden (Figure 1, 2). Lien Hoa Temple’s exterior has a natural, welcoming aesthetic, which matches its intentions on the interior.
Buddhism is presented as inclusive at Lien Hoa Temple. On the home page of the website, the first thing that pops up is an advertisement for the “Annual Lunar New Year Festival.” It is eye-catching with phrases “Welcome” and “Free Admission” in bold, rainbow fonts. Included in the festival is a traditional lion dance, music, concerts, a live Shaolin Kung-Fu show, Vietnamese vegetarian foods, and kid friendly activities. The goal of this festival is to offer “a window into Vietnam’s beautiful culture and traditions” (3). Both on the internet and in person, Lien Hoa Temple wants everyone to feel they are a part of their community. On the phone, the nun I spoke to, Uechieu, mentioned with enthusiasm that the temple’s “New Year celebration is December thirty-first” and that I was “more than welcome to come” (Uechieu 2017). Later in the conversation, she offered to ship me a book from the monastery so that I could learn even more about her community.
Uechieu Thich[2] is a Buddhist nun at San Antonio’s sister temple in Austin, Texas. The San Antonio location is the original location, which was built nine years ago. Even though Zen Buddhism was the first branch to come to the United States, this temple is young. This shows that the spread of Buddhism, particularly Zen, is still underway today. Male monks reside in Lien Hoa San Antonio while female nuns reside in the Austin location. Uechieu explains that it is “important for mothers and daughters to stay together and fathers and sons to stay together” (Uechieu 2017). A third location exists in San Francisco, California, but the two Texas temples are not as closely related to this location. Uechieu has been practicing as a novice for about five years at Lien Hoa Temple under her master who remains anonymous. Lien Hoa Temple’s master teaches gradually and does not allow any shortcuts. Monastics must learn on their own and at their own speed. Uechieu preaches perseverance, admitting that there is competition and jealousy within the temple, but she does not care “how hard it is, [she] learns it, [she] learns the sutra” (Uechieu 2017). When I asked who the founder of Lien Hoa was, she responded with “the Buddha” (Uechieu 2017).
Values and Teachings at Lien Hoa:
Education is important at Lien Hoa Temple. Verbose web pages illuminate Buddha’s life and teachings, introduce Buddhism, and instruct on insight meditation. Mahayana Zen Buddhism is practiced at Lien Hoa Temple. There is no specific affiliation mentioned on the website, but Thich Nhat Hanh[1], a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, is mentioned. Oprah Winfrey interviewed Thich Nhat Hanh and the transcript of this interview is under “Buddhist Education” on Lien Hoa Temple’s website. In this conversation, Thich Nhat Hanh mentions that he still has the beginner’s mind, which is the center of Zen Buddhism. He also says that the key to enlightenment is to see the true nature of reality—the end goal of Zen Buddhism. His version of Zen, Engaged Buddhism, is recognizing “that spiritual practice must be complemented by responses to injustice through various means, such as resistance, collective action and the creation of new cultural forms. This approach helps the activist pay attention to the nuances of emotions, ideologies, communication and other aspects of social action” (Pyles). This movement was inspired by him living in the middle of the Vietnam War.
The Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh
Lien Hoa Temple’s core values are clearly delineated under the “Introduction to Buddhism” page on the website in which the following Buddhist concepts are listed: the three marks of existence, the four noble truths, the five skandhas, the six realms, the eightfold path, and nirvana. Each description is lengthy, but drives the central point home. Karma has a web page of its own, which Uechieu admits is what her community believes to be the core of Buddhism (if there is one). She explains the concept of karma quite beautifully: “People in California are suffering wildfires, people in Florida are suffering flooding, and people who were affected by the terrorist attack on 9/11 ask ‘why did this happen to me’ because they don’t understand it happened because of karma… in their past lives they did things that caused them this present suffering. Peace is of the utmost importance; don’t hurt anyone and be peaceful to everyone” (Uechieu 2017)[3].
Uechieu explains that in order to be “peaceful”, one cannot kill animals. Accordingly, Lien Hoa Temple firmly believes in vegetarianism. Their website addresses the vegetarian diet with extensive research and a balanced argument. It lists the health benefits of a vegetarian diet such as preventing cancer, beating heart disease, lowering blood pressure, preventing and reversing diabetes, and several others. However, the temple includes the counterargument to vegetarianism by acknowledging and alleviating the “common concerns” of vegetarianism. Vitamin B12, for example, is a “genuine issue for vegans, although very easy to deal with” (3). Lien Hoa Temple lists other sources of vitamin B12 for vegans and vegetarians including fortified cereals and fortified soymilk. Furthermore, the web page implores that proper nutrition is accessible even for infants, children, and pregnant women on a vegetarian diet.
Life at Lien Hoa Temple:
Lien Hoa Temple is primarily Vietnamese. There are ten to fifteen American monks and the remaining monks are “foreign” or of Asian descent (Uechieu 2017). Despite being predominantly Vietnamese, they make their programs and activities accessible for non-Vietnamese speakers. Before entering the webpage, there is an option to view it in either English or Vietnamese.
Monks residing at Lien Hoa Temple have a regimented daily schedule dedicated to meditation and personal study. They have meals and rest time penciled in, but this time is limited in comparison to spiritual time (Figure 3). Monks practice for at least nine and a half hours daily, starting at 4:45 in the morning. When calling, I was told to call back the next week. I called back the next week and the woman on the other end told me, again, to call back another time. I called a third time and the machine went straight to voicemail. Discouraged, I tried calling the temple in Austin, Texas instead. Someone (Uechieu) picked up and was immediately able to answer my questions. She explained how extraordinarily busy monks are at Lien Hoa Temple. In addition to keeping busy with regimented schedules, hierarchy is important in their temple. If a monk is eighty years old and joins the monastery, but a sixteen-year-old monk joined the year prior, the sixteen-year-old is superior to the eighty-year-old monk. Seniority is defined not by age, but by an individual’s time at the temple (Uechieu 2017).
Comparing two Zen Centers:
The Cambridge Insight Meditation Center is a stark contrast to the Lien Hoa Temple. The latter has a photo of Buddha on its homepage, making Buddhism abundantly clear and available to website viewers. Cambridge, on the other hand, has a photo of lavender on the homepage and Buddhism is made rather vague. Cambridge charges visitors a fee for each lesson and pushes for donations as well. These fees are not insignificant, ranging upwards of $100.00. At Lien Hoa, there is no clear option to donate. Additionally, all services are free to whomever. Buddhism is supposed to include everyone regardless of race, economy, and even religious background, so it makes sense that a more traditional temple would commit to inclusivity. I find it disturbing that the more modern, western Buddhist temple directly excludes low to average income followers from their programs. While this certainly can’t be their intention, it feels as though the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center is somehow capitalizing on the Buddhist faith, which upholds an unfortunate western stereotype. Lien Hoa Temple effortlessly exudes inclusivity even from half a country away—and it couldn’t be more genuine.
Appendix
Figure 1. Sculpture and Rock Garden outside Lien Hoa Temple.
Figure 2. Bird’s Eye View of Lien Hoa Temple
Figure 3. Daily Schedule of Monks at Lien Hoa Temple
References
- “Earth Pro on Desktop – Google Earth.” Google Earth, Google, www.google.com/earth/desktop/.
- Google Maps, Google, maps.google.com/.
- “Lien Hoa Dao Trang | Lien Hoa Buddhist Temple.” Lien Hoa Buddhist Temple, 22 Apr. 2012, lienhoa.org/.
- Sasina, Amanda M, and Uechieu Thich. “Lien Hoa Temple Interview.” 28 Nov. 2017.
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Goldstein, Elisha. “A Mindful Gift from Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) to All of Us.” Psych Central.com, 18 Nov. 2014, blogs.psychcentral.com/mindfulness/2014/11/a-mindful-gift-from-thich-nhat-hanh-thay-to-all-of-us/.
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Pyles, Loretta. “Understanding the Engaged Buddhist Movement: Implications for Social Development Practice.”Understanding the Engaged Buddhist Movement: Implications for Social Development Practice | Critical Social Work – University of Windsor, www1.uwindsor.ca/criticalsocialwork/understanding-the-engaged-buddhist-movement-implications-for-social-development-practice.
[1] Thich Nhat Hanh joined the monastery when he was sixteen years old and coined “Engaged Buddhism”. He was upheld for both maintaining his practice and helping suffering villagers during the Vietnam War. Martin Luther King Junior nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.
[2] Uechieu is her Buddhist first name. She didn’t tell me the name that appears on her birth certificate. She told me that at the temple, all nuns share the same last name (“Thich”) but each nun is given a unique first name. After telling me this, Uechieu laughed “only you know this!” (Uechieu 2017).
[3] This is a paraphrase. I don’t have the exact quote.