Most Venerable Thích Thanh Từ was born on July 24, 1924 (the year of the mouse) at Tích Khánh Hamlet, Tích Thiện Village, Cần Thơ Province (Vĩnh Long Province nowadays). His name at birth was Trần Hữu Phước (later it was changed to Trần Thanh Từ). His father was Trần Văn Mão, who came from a simple and poor family in the Confucian tradition, but who himself was a Caodai follower (Caodai is an indigenous religion in Vietnam). His mother was Nguyễn Thị Đủ from Thiện Mỹ Village, Thanh Bạch, Trà Ôn District, Cần Thơ Province. She was a kind and simple woman who dedicated her whole life to taking care of her husband and children.
Trần Hữu Phước grew up in poverty, and since his childhood already showed his special characteristics. He was a calm and quiet boy who loved to read, and preferred solitude to secular life. One prominent trait was his high observance of filial duties. When he was 9 years old, one day he accompanied his father to Mốp Văn, Long Xuyên Province, to attend his uncle’s memorial services at Sân Tiên Temple on Ba Thê Mountain. Upon hearing the sounds from the temple bell on the quiet mountain, he was so profoundly touched that he uttered the following poem:
On such a pleasant place as this mountain,
Where the talented can find joy and leisure,
The sound of the wooden fish awakens humans from their dreams;
The ringing bell is echoing their pains and sufferings!
Non đảnh là nơi thú lắm ai,
Đó cảnh nhàn du của khách tài.
Tiếng mõ công phu người tỉnh giấc,
Chuông hồi văng vẳng quá bi ai!
This incident probably was the first blueprint in his decision about denouncing the mundane life in order to become a monk.
Living in the vicissitudes of wartime, he felt and experienced human sufferings more and more deeply. His wish to denounce the secular world grew stronger and stronger, and he always cherished and nurtured this vow:
If I could not become a panacea (“a magic pill”) to cure all humans’ illnesses, then I wish I could at least serve as a supplement to alleviate their sufferings.
When all conditions were available, there was an important turning point in his life, and the young man entered a new path full of bright light. On July 15, 1949, after three months serving as a layperson at Phật Quang Temple, he was allowed to become a monk with the Buddhist name Thanh Từ by his master, the Most Venerable Thich Thiện Hoa. Thus, his vow had become true.
From then on he diligently observed the temple’s training schedule and rituals, and learned the Dharma from his master, At the same time he helped to guide younger novices there. Although he had many responsibilities, he never neglected studying the Buddha’s teachings in sutras.
From 1949 to 1950 he attended the introductory training organized for the third time at the Phật Quang School of Buddhist Studies. In 1951 he started the intermediate level of training there. One late night, while reading in the Laṅkāvatāra Sutra (Kinh Lăng Nghiêm) about the Buddha’s teaching Ananda to realize the True Mind (bản tâm chân thật, the Buddha Nature) by means of seeing (drsta), hearing (sruta), understanding (mata), and thinking (jnata), he could not help crying. Could this possibly be an indication that he had accumulated many Dharma merits in his past lives, which came out in full bloom at that moment ?
That year, his master, Most Venerable Thiện Hoa, had to evacuate the Phật Quang Sangha to Phước Hậu Temple because of the war. There Thanh Từ received his ten precepts during a ceremony presided by Most Venerable Khánh Anh.
In 1953 he accompanied his master Thiện Hoa to Saigon, where he stayed and attended the Intermediate Training Class at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Southern Vietnam at Ấn Quang Temple. It was here that Thanh Từ received 250 precepts from Most Venerable Huệ Quang and became a Bhikkhu.
From 1954 to 1959 he attended the Advanced (Higher) Training Class at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Southern Vietnam. Some of his colleagues later became Most Venerables Huyền Vi, Thiền Định, Từ Thông….
Thus, within ten years (1949-1959) he had completed a rigorous Buddhist training: two years at the introductory level, three years at the intermediate level, and four years at the advanced level. With his graduation at the end of his advanced training, he was ready to start a new phase in his life, that of Dharma dissemination. He soon became a member in the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Board of Dharma Disseminators, and a highly-respected Dharma master at the time.
From 1960 to 1964, he has served the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in the following positions:
Deputy Head of Buddhist Studies and Training
Head of Buddhist Studies and Training
President and Dharma Master of Huệ Nghiêm Institute of Buddhist Studies and Training
Dharma Master at Vạn Hạnh University, and at other Schools of Buddhist Studies and Training such as Dược Sư, Từ Nghiêm,...
After the graduation ceremony of a specialized training for the intermediate and advanced classes at Huệ Nghiêm and Dược Sư, Bhikkhu Thanh Từ thought he had had enough contribution in terms of monk and nun training to the Sangha, and had dutifully offered his abilities, mind and heart to express his thankfulness to his master Thiện Hoa. He decided to ask his master for permission in order to retreat to the mountain as a secluded monk.
Then alone and quietly he left all the Schools of Buddhist Studies and Training for Tương Kỳ Mountain, Vũng Tàu.
(To be continued)
Source:
http://www.thientongvietnam.net/thichthanhtu/index.html
