Saturday, March 27, 2010

Van Hanh Buddhist University


One of the places I mention in Destination Saigon, and a place that has had a significant influence on my spiritual formation, is Van Hanh Buddhist University in Ho Chi Minh City.
It was here that I met one of my great spiritual mentors, way back in 1996. Back then it was a dusty and rather ramshackle place. Originally established by Thich Nhat Hanh in the 60s, it hadn't been renovated much since then, and was a tacky collection of wooden buildings that hosted scores of Buddhist monks and nuns studying there from all over the country. I used to just go there and hang out (there was a cafe on the premises back in those more permissive days), and I made so many friends. It was quite a sexist institution then, and monks got to study in the relative cool of the morning, while nuns were forced to do their classes in the hot afternoon. By 1999 the rules had changed, and each year the order of classes was swapped around - nuns got mornings one year, monks the next.
These days Van Hanh is a thoroughly modern co-educational institiution, and monks and nuns attend the classes together. It is quite a unique place in that monastics from all the Buddhist schools and sects study together. A couple of years ago lay-people were allowed for the first time to study there too, which was something radically new.
Until 2000, as I mentioned, the facilities were basic, at best. The grounds also housed a resident monastery, and in a distant corner a walled-off nunnery that served as a hermitage for Su Ba Tri Hai, one of Vietnam's most revered religious figures. It was in this peaceful little hermitage that I used to take my lunch with my elderly grandparents when they would visit me in Vietnam. The Elder Nun Tri Hai lived as a recluse, and she sadly died a few years ago, killed in a car accident on Vietnam's incredibly dangerous roads. She and her sister nuns were returning from doing some charity work at one of Vietnam's leprosariums.
In recent years a Taiwanese Buddhist group has pumped a lot of money into Van Hanh, and it is filled with big, beautiful new buildings and classrooms. There is still a resident monastic community, but the nun's hermitage was demolished after Su Ba Tri Hai's death.
If you wanted to visit it now you would probably have to have a good reason, as visitors are no longer encouraged on the grounds, and there is no where to hang out at any rate. The temple functions as a working house of worship, so prayers are held there every evening, and anyone can attend them - if you arrive early it might give you a legitimate reason to have a look around the place.

7 comments:

  1. I visited this university in January, 2010. I didn't realize that visitors were no longer welcome. I have a friend, a fellow nun, who works there in the library.

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  2. Su Co,
    I am sure that monastics would still be allowed to visit at any time, and would be welcomed with interest by the students. There are bookstalls on the university veranda which are open to the public, and the temple on the grounds is always open.
    I guess I am just comparing it to the old days, when there used to be a couple of cafes on the premises and people would mill about with complete freedom.
    Just to clarify, it is still open to the casual visitor, but there is not much for them to do or see.

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  3. Where is Van Hanh Buddhist University? I have been Google-ing for some time now w/ no results. I will be in Saigon in a few weeks and would love to visit. Any new info?

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  4. Jamie, Vanh Hanh university is at 716 đường Nguyễn Kiệm, quận Gò Vấp, Ho Chi Minh City. It's about a 20-30 minute taxi ride from central Saigon, faster on xe om. It's a well known spot, so most drivers will find it easily.

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  5. Thanks, Walter. Actually, I was able to find the site via Google maps and the Vietnamese Wiki--though I couldn't read it the auto-translation wasn't bad. I teach Buddhism in the states, and have been noodling around looking at Buddhism revivals in post-soviet or "late communist" areas--completely outside my own area (Japan, T'ang China) and so having lots of fun. I will post what happens, hopefully some student or teacher who wants to practice English and talk about Buddhism in the west perhaps. Thanks! BTW here in Saigon in the first time since arriving a few weeks ago in Hanoi and working my way south that I have been able to access Blogspot.Ah, Saigon :)

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  6. Hi again. Well, I visited w/ no prior contact or introductions around 4 pm. There were a number of student monks and nuns hanging about the courtyard studying and laughing together, and I visited the temple and admin building. But w/ no contacts, that was about as far as I could go. Next time I will prepare better! Thanks, Jamie

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  7. DEAR ADMINISTRATOR AND READERS AT VAN HANH:
    DO YOU POSTE THE VIETNAMESE CALENDAR TO CELEBRATE YOUR CULTURE AND RELEGION ON YOUR WEB SITE. IT IS NICE FOR ME TO KNOW THE DATES OF THE CELEBRATION SUCH AS TET, TRUNG THU, VU LAN ...THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

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