Quang Duc Monastery
History, lineage and organisation
Vietnamese Australians are the largest single ethnic Buddhist group in Australia. According to the 2001 census there are a total of 154 833 Vietnam-born people in Australia, 56 664 or 36.6% of whom live in Victoria. The majority (33 145) of the Vietnam-born in Victoria are Buddhists, and the 17 Vietnamese Buddhist Monasterys in Melbourne out-number those of any other single Buddhist group. This study looked at two Vietnamese Monasterys in Melbourne: Quang Duc Monastery and Quang Minh Monastery. These will be described in the next two case studies.7
Quang Duc Monastery is a major Vietnamese Buddhist Centre for the northern and western regions of Melbourne. The Monastery is named after Most Ven. Thich Quang Duc, a Vietnamese monk, who in 1963 self-immolated while sitting in the lotus position as a protest against the oppression of Buddhist priests and the Buddhist community by the Diem government in South Vietnam.
Quang Duc Monastery incorporates Quang Duc Monastery as well as Quang Duc Buddhist Welfare Association of Victoria. Ven. Thich Tam Phuong is the Abbot of the Quang Duc Monastery as well as a director of the non-profit Quang Duc Buddhist Welfare Association of Victoria. Ven. Thich Tam Phuong was ordained in 1983 in An Quang Temple in Saigon, Vietnam. Ven. Thich Nguyen Tang is the Vice-Abbot of Quang Duc Monastery; he was ordained in 1988 in Phuoc Hung Temple in Dong Thap Province, West of Vietnam. Ven. Thich Nguyen Tang arrived in Australia in 1998 and was the first Buddhist monk to be granted permanent residency in Australia based on a religious visa application. In addition to the abbot and the Vice-Abbot there is one nun residing at the Monastery. The Monastery is managed by a committee of 10 who are elected by the abbot. Quang Duc Monastery has 1000 members who receive the Monastery's newsletter, which is published once every three months in English and Vietnamese. The members of the Monastery are mainly Vietnamese except for a small minority of around 20 Anglo-Australians. The first Anglo-Australians to come to the Monastery were local retirees who would come in every day to help; later they began to attend the meditation classes at the centre and to study Buddhism. Other Anglo-Australians at the Monastery have heard about the Monastery through the Moreland City Council, which provides information about the Monastery in their information booklet as well as on their website. The Monastery belongs to the Lam Te lineage of Vietnamese Buddhism.
Quang Duc Monastery was established in 1990 as an initiative of the local Vietnamese community who wanted to have a Monastery in the area. The community members set up a small three bedroom house in the northern suburb of Broadmeadows, and asked Ven. Thich Tam Phuong to take residence as the abbot. The house was used for worship, religious education and many other Buddhist activities. Over time the Monastery community grew, and it became evident that to meet the needs of its members as well as the Vietnamese Buddhist community of the northern region a larger place was needed. In May 1997 the centre purchased a former primary school, in the suburb of Fawkner, from the Victorian Education Department, on an area of nearly two acres. This was one of the approximately 200 primary Schools in Victoria which were sold due to cut backs in education funding. The Monastery also received approval from the local Moreland City Council to set up a Buddhist Welfare Centre as part of the complex.8 By 2001 plans were made for the construction of a large two story building. The first level is a multi-purpose community hall, the second level is a large Buddha Hall which is solely dedicated to religious practices such as meditation and chanting. The structure of the building reflects the dual focus of the Quang Duc Monastery on the preservation of Vietnamese traditions and culture as well as strictly religious concerns. The foundation stone for the building was laid in 2001 and the construction was completed and the building opened at the end of 2003.
Activities
Since its inception in 1990 the main objective of the Monastery has been to serve the local Vietnamese communities living in the northern region through the provision of a range of activities and services. The religious activities at Quang Duc Monastery include weekly classes in Buddhist education, daily recitation of sutras, Buddhist Youth groups (which, as in Vietnam are modelled on the scouts) and Buddhist family groups. Regular prayer services are held, which include prayer for peace and happiness to promote quality of life for all sentient beings. Morning tea and discussion groups are held every weekend. The Monastery runs meditation classes for beginners and advance students; these are very popular and attended by the Vietnamese members and the Anglo-Australians. Three retreats are held at the centre annually in July, April (during Easter holidays) and in December; the latter is a very popular retreat and rotates between Vietnamese Monasterys around Australia. In 2005 it was held in Queensland, and was attended by 300 people. Other religious activities offered by the Monastery include marriage celebrations, special prayers for weddings, funerals and memorial services, and activities and entertainment for the aged members. The bulk of these activities take place on weekends, when over 200 people attend the centre.
The centre also offers a range of cultural activities which include Bo De Vietnamese Language School, children's cultural classes designed to help them retain their Vietnamese Buddhist tradition and culture, and Kong Fu classes, which are very popular and attended by around 50 on weekends. The Monastery also hosts a vegetarian lunch once every three months; this is both a social gathering and a fundraising event. Ven. Thich Nguyen Yang emphasised the importance of fostering the Vietnamese culture and language among the young Australian-Vietnamese members:
The second generation of Vietnamese in Australia have lost their way, they have lost their culture, they lost their land. 20% of young Vietnamese people are put in jail; this is a very high level. So, as Buddhists we would like to do something for the Vietnamese young generation. We can give them their culture and their language and this is important, because within the families there is a lack of communication between the parents and the children. The parents are busy all the time and don't have time to talk to their children. The children speak English 24 hours a day and the parents speak Vietnamese so they can't communicate [...] the Monastery is bringing the families back together, parents and children attend the Monastery together, children to do activities and study and parents have other activities like working in the garden and the kitchen, or pray in the Buddha Hall for the deceased. These activities are followed by Dharma talks and a free vegetarian lunch, which gives everyone more opportunity to socialise.
The major events celebrated at the centre include the New Year Celebration (Tet), the Buddha's Birthday ( Le Phat Dan) and the Parents' Day ( Le Vu Lan Bao Hieu).
The Monastery is active in the area of welfare and community service. It is involved in the prison chaplaincy program and visits Vietnamese and other Buddhist inmates once a month. The centre also makes monthly visits to Footscray Hospital, Sunshine Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital and the Royal Children's Hospital to offer prayer. The Monastery offers monthly tours of the Monastery to primary schools in the area, which includes an introductory talk on Buddhism and Vietnamese culture.
Quang Duc Monastery offers a one-to-one counselling service to help community members with family problems, social problems and, in particular, gambling related problems. It offers temporary accommodation and a referral service to those in the Vietnamese community affected by domestic violence, gambling and substance abuse. Some of these services are provided in partnership with agencies such as the Vietnamese Women's Association, the Community Health Centre in Footscray and Centrelink. The Monastery has sought the help of various government agencies to enhance welfare services to the Vietnamese community. For instance, employing gambling and financial counsellors, expanding the temporary accommodation available for homeless people (which is at present limited to three rooms), employing paid staff to coordinate the growing number of families and individuals who need emergency assistance at the Monastery, and the construction of facilities designated for welfare services and counselling.
Quang Duc Monastery also runs Work for the Dole projects through CVGT Employment and Training Specialists. The projects which have helped the participants in gaining a variety of useful skills include the construction of a garden at the centre and work on a new building at the centre currently under construction.9
The Monastery runs an informal overseas aid program. Ven. Thich Nguyen Tang, together with other members of the Monastery, have travelled to Vietnam to deliver food to the poor and the needy. According to Ven. Thich Nguyen Tang the welfare activities of the Quang Duc Monastery are a new phenomenon, and involve a shift from the traditional responsibilities and concerns of Buddhist Monasterys in Vietnam, which are more narrowly defined and largely limited to meeting the religious demands and needs of the community.
The Monastery has close association with other Buddhist centres in Melbourne. The local Sri Lankan Buddhist community uses the facilities at Quang Duc Monastery to hold children's language and Dharma classes. The Monastery also takes part in the activities of the Tibetan Buddhist Society, where Ven. Thich Nguyen Tang has spoken about the Vietnamese Buddhist tradition. The Monastery works closely with Quang Minh Vietnamese Buddhist Monastery in planning and coordinating activities for the Vietnamese community.
Quang Duc Monastery
85 - 105 Lynch Road, FAWKNER Vic 3060
TEL: (03) 9357 3544
FAX: (03) 9357 3600
E-MAIL: quangduchomepage@gmail.com
URL: http://www.quangduc.com
ABBOT: Ven. Thich Tam Phuong
VICE-ABBOT: Ven.Thich Nguyen Tang
VICE-ABBOT: Ven.Thich Nguyen Tang
