Trúc Lâm Chánh Giác Zen Monastery

Trúc Lâm Chánh Giác Zen Monastery is located in Hamlet 1 (about 20 km from National Highway 1, and more than 500 m from Tràm Mù Road); in Tân Phước 2 Commune, Đồng Tháp Province, Vietnam.

The abbot of Trúc Lâm Chánh Giác Zen Monastery is Most Venerable Thích Thông Phương, disciple of Most Venerable Zen Master Thích Thanh Từ, who made significant contributions to the revival of the Vietnamese Trúc Lâm Zen school.

Trúc Lâm Chánh Giác Zen Monastery was approved for construction by the People's Committee of Tiền Giang Province on 28 April 2012 (the 8th day of the 4th lunar month, Year of the Dragon), following the traditional model of the Trúc Lâm Yên Tử school under the registry of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, Tiền Giang Province, on an allocated land area of over 30 hectares, with a planned completion time of 5 years (2012 - 2016).

The spacious land where the monastery is situated was donated by several Buddhist laypeople. As the entire construction area is 2.5 - 3 metres lower than the road surface, the first task was to build a surrounding dyke with a height of 3.7 m to pump in sand and raise the ground level to +3 m for construction. These four dyke sections have a total length of 2,200 m, with 109,890 m³ of earth excavated and filled. Afterwards, the volume of sand used to create the construction platform was similarly large, with over 100,000 m³.

In addition to donating land, the lay Buddhists also contributed many large trees to create landscaping, as well as a large quantity of boulders (about 2,500 tonnes, each weighing from over 1 to 20 tonnes, transported by barge from Thị Vải Mountain in Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province) for the construction of miniature mountains and decorative features...

Furthermore, the lay Buddhists donated a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha (installed in the main hall on 20 October 2013), carved from jade, gilded, 4.5 m high, weighing over 30 tonnes, crafted by Myanmar artisans....

Venerable Thích Trúc Thông Kim is currently the Standing Deputy Head in charge of construction. According to him, Trúc Lâm Chánh Giác Zen Monastery is designed similarly to Trúc Lâm Zen Monastery in Đà Lạt but on a larger scale. Notably, the dyke system surrounding the monastery is capable of preventing floodwaters for several decades to come.

According to the planning orientation, the monastery has two separate areas: the inner monastery and the outer monastery. The outer monastery includes many facilities: Main Hall, Patriarchs' Hall, Meditation Hall, Lecture Hall, Outer Monastery Monks' Residence, Dining Hall, Library, Exhibition House, Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Male Lay Guest House, Female Lay Guest House... with a total area of over 47,000 m²; the inner monastery has a total area of nearly 16,000 m², including: 4 monks' residences, 1 meditation hall, and 10 specialised retreat huts.

After many months of construction, the monastery has basically completed several components such as: Main Hall (area 1,000 m², capacity over 3,000 people), Bell Tower, Drum Pavilion, Guest House, Abbot's Retreat Area... In the near future, an area of 3,600 m² will also be allocated for the construction of the Four Holy Sites, including: Lumbini (where Shakyamuni Buddha was born), Bodh Gaya (where Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment), Sarnath (where Shakyamuni Buddha delivered his first sermon), and Kushinagar (where Shakyamuni Buddha entered nirvana).

Although this large-scale project is still under construction...; according to custom, on the third Sunday of every month, the Zen Monastery organises sangha activities with a considerable number of lay Buddhists from near and far participating, including activities such as: chanting sutras, repentance, listening to Dharma talks, and meditation. In addition, every two months, the Monastery also organises ceremonies for the transmission of the Three Refuges and Five Precepts to lay Buddhists. Furthermore, the Monastery regularly welcomes visitors from all directions, both within and outside the province, to visit and pay homage.

Currently, the Provincial People's Committee has a policy to implement a project to expand the Đồng Tháp Mười Ecological Conservation Area (with an investment budget of about 100 billion VND, managed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development). The establishment of Trúc Lâm Chánh Giác Zen Monastery, in addition to becoming a centre for Buddhist study and practice, also creates an important highlight to attract visitors to the aforementioned conservation area, contributing to changing the face of a poor commune in Tân Phước District; an area once considered a wild, remote land with vast spaces and sparse population...