Dharma Beyond Borders: Quang Minh Vietnamese Buddhist Temple Visits Fo Guang Shan Chicago for Lunar New Year
Abbot Venerable Minh Hanh of the Quang Minh Temple in Chicago led a delegation of 130 monastics and lay devotees to visit the Fo Guang Shan Chicago Buddhist Temple for a traditional Lunar New Year visit, receiving a warm welcome from Abbess Venerable Yong Han and local devotees. Before the Buddha, Venerable Minh Hanh led the assembly in chanting the Heart Sutra and the Great Compassion Mantra in Vietnamese, while Venerable Yong Han led the congregation in English to read “A Prayer for World Peace” by Fo Guang Shan founder Venerable Master Hsing Yun, followed by the Fo Guang Four Verses. The joint service beautifully demonstrated a shared, multilingual devotion to the Dharma.
In his remarks, Venerable Minh Hanh explained that the tradition of “New Year temple visits” originated in India, aiming to enhance exchange between monastics and the laity to sustain the Buddha’s teachings. He praised Venerable Master Hsing Yun for establishing nearly 300 temples worldwide and mobilizing the monastic community to compile the Fo Guang Buddhist Dictionary. He encouraged devotees to remain steadfast in cultivating their faith in the Triple Gem and to spread the light of the Dharma.
Dedicated to reviving Vietnamese Buddhism, Venerable Minh Hanh and his team spent over a year completing the Vietnamese translation of the Fo Guang Buddhist Dictionary. One thousand hardcover sets were printed, with 700 sets being gifted to various temples across the United States and 300 sets sent to Vietnam. Venerable Yong Han highly praised this monumental achievement, noting that it is not only an academic milestone but also a living practice of Master Hsing Yun’s vow to “write, translate, and benefit all sentient beings,” transforming compassion into a powerful force that blesses the Vietnamese-American community.
During the event, Venerable Minh Hanh presented Fo Guang Shan Chicago with a complete, deluxe hardcover set of the Vietnamese Fo Guang Buddhist Dictionary along with other Buddhist books, including The Path to Peace. In return, Venerable Yong Han gifted Vietnamese translations of Master Hsing Yun’s Precepts, Concentration, and Wisdom in Humanistic Buddhism, along with calligraphy and red envelope sets. Both abbots expressed their hopes for future collaboration in propagating the Dharma and wished everyone peace and auspiciousness. Temple volunteers provided Vietnamese pastries and longan tea, fostering a deeper bond of mutual support between the Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhist communities in Chicago, and highlighting the far-reaching impact of Humanistic Buddhism.