The following is excerpted from the booklet Van Hanh Temple – Ten Thousand Actions Temple.
It was almost five years, since the time that Plum Village Hong Kong received the donation of the Amitabha Temple – now renamed Ten Thousand Actions Temple (萬行寺) in Luk Wu Village, that the major renovation of the temple was completed and a Blessing Day for the Temple was made on June 27, 2024. The monastics of Plum Village Hong Kong gathered at the temple to carry out the blessing ceremony and to have a day of practice. The day of practice started with a sitting meditation and walking meditation in the early morning, the blessing ceremony in the mid-morning, and tea meditation in the afternoon. It was such a joy to see the first activities of the temple being held.
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In this article, I would like to share about the inspirations for choosing the name Ten Thousand Actions Temple, the root of mindfulness meditation of Plum Vilage, and planned activities for the Ten Thousand Actions Temple.
The “Ten Thousand Actions Temple” was formerly known as the “Amitabha House”. Under the management of the Plum Village Hong Kong since 2021, PVHK has spent three years on renovation before renaming ti as the “Ten Thousand Actions Temple” in 2024.
Inspirations for choosing the name Ten Thousand Actions Temple (萬行寺)
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022) was the founder of the Plum Vilage International Sangha, established in 1982 at Plum Village Mindfulness Meditation Practice Center in France. Plum Village Hong Kong has its root from Plum Vilage France and is a member of the Plum Village International Sangha. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (affectionally called Thay by his disciples) came to Hong Kong six times to propagate the Dharma in 1999, 2001, 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2013. He visited Luk Wu Village in his 2011 trip, visiting and having conversations with monastics in local temples at Luk Wu. Several monastics who had conversations with Thay fondly remembered those encounters.
Thây chose his dharma name as Nhat Hanh, one action (一行), to indicate that his entire life is dedicate to one action, which is to engage Buddhism into people’s life. It is the name he used for humanistic Buddhism in Vietnam to fit the situation at the time: to bring relief to refugees of the Vietnam war – which were mostly peasants, and to help bring peace to Vietnam. Engaged Buddhism, the term he coined in the 1960s in Vietnam, now is called Applied Buddhism, with the founding of the European Institute of Applied Buddhism in Germany in 2008 and the Asian Institute of Applied Buddhism in Hong Kong in 2010. Since the founding of Buddhism, it has always been applied Buddhism, which is to help people cultivate peace and happiness, transform pain and suffering, and live a peaceful and healthy life.
The interpenetration teaching in the Avatamsaka Sutra states that there is “one in many” and “many in one.” A Zen saying states that the whole universe exists in a single mustard seed. Science shows us that our whole life is contained in a single cell. With that insight, one action contains thousands actions. We chose the temple’s name as Ten Thousand Actions to inspire us to continue his life of serving.
Peace is every breath
The altar in the meditation hall has statue of the Buddha in the middle, statue of Master Kang Senghui (康僧會, Years ? – 280), considered as the first Zen Patriarch of Vietnam, on the right, and picture of Thay on the left. In his quest for enlightenment, the Buddha discovered mindfulness and designated it a principal element of the Noble Eight-Fold path. The Buddha’s teachings on mindfulness meditation are recorded in the Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing (Anăpanasati Sutta) and Discourse on The Four Establishments of Mindfulness (Satipatthãna Sutta). They are the foundations of Samatha (stopping) and Vipassana (looking deeply) meditation.
Master Kang Senghui was born to a Sogdian father and a Vietnamese mother in Jiaozhi (modern-day northern Vietnam). As a teenager, after his parent’s deaths, he became a Buddhist monk. In 247, he moved to Jianye of the Eastern Wu to preach the Dharma. While in Jiaozhi, he wrote a preface for the translation of the Anäpänasati Sutta. He promoted mindfulness of breathing in meditation practice.
Thay first learned basic practice of meditation, which includes stopping (samatha) and looking deeply (vipassana), from the book The Minor Stopping and Looking Deeply by Master Zhi-yi of the Tian-Tai School when he was a novice monk, while attending Bao Quoc Buddhist Institute from 1946 – 1949. Thay also learned the Six Wonderful Dharma Doors of Mindful Breathing and The Great Stopping and Looking Deeply, also written by Master Zhi-yi. In 1958, Thay used mindful breathing and walking to heal himself from a serious illness, using a new walking meditation method that Thay devised to combine mindful breathing and footsteps. From 1971-1973, while teaching at L’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Thay discovered the full text the Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing for the first time.
Plum Village employs mindfulness meditation teachings and practiced as taught by the Buddha in the Anäpanasati Sutta and the Satipatthãna Sutta. In the book Miracles of Mindfulness, Thay used the Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing to bring mindfulness meditation to the West, by relating it to aspects of the modern life, making it more accessible to the modern world. This book is one of the reasons that Thay was considered Father of Modern Mindfulness, or Father of Mindfulness in the West. Peace is every breath is the peace that we cultivate in practicing mindfulness of breathing.
Planned activities for Ten Thousand Actions Temple
Luk Wu is one of the five major Buddhist sites in Lantau Island, together with Ngong Ping, Keung Shan, Tei Tong Tsai and Man Cheung Po. There are quite a few active Buddhist temples in Luk Wu. Luk Wu and Ngong Ping is about 4km apart and the transportation between them is quite convenient. I often took bus No. 21 Ngong Ping – Tai O to go from Ngong Ping to Luk Wu. After getting off at the bus stop at Luk Wu, I made a leisure walk to the temple. It is a beautiful waking meditation path, which is about 1 km. One can make the walk into a walking meditation practice.
Ten Thousand Actions Temple is a small temple, thus makes it suitable for individuals or small groups. The meditation hall can hold about 30 people. Activities for people who are interested in longer time contemplative meditation, mind-body wellbeing, and structured training programs can be hold there. All activities we are currently holding in Ngong Ping are still being done there. Activities there are complementary to activities that we are holding in Ngong Ping at Lotus Pond Temple.
In the current fast-paced world, being able to stop, rest and to participate in spiritual activities helps us to balance our life. Plum Village monastics are blessed to have their presence and practices in both Ngong Ping and Luk Wu. We will continue to offer our presence and practices in both places to help us and others cultivate peace and happiness, transform pain and suffering, and live a healthy and compassionate life.
— Thich Chan Phap Kham