Friday, May 2, 2014

Most Venerable Thích Trí Tịnh -- A Biography- Part V

In 1947 Venerable Thích Trí Tịnh translated the Lotus Sutra at Liên Hải Buddhist Studies School.  After that he translated the Three Jewels Sutra, the Kṣitigarbha (Địa Tạng) Sutra, and the Samantabhadra/Fugen (Phổ Hiền) Chapter.  In 1951, at the request of the South Vietnam Sangha Association (Giáo Hội Tăng Già Nam Việt), he translated Precepts of the Boddhisattva for chanting on Boddhisattva Days.  In 1952 he wrote The Path to Sukhāvatī (Đường Về Cực Lạc) at Linh Sơn Pagoda, Vũng Tàu.  At Vạn Đức pagoda, he translated  Avataṃsaka Sutra  (Hoa Nghiêm) in 1964, then the MahaNirvana Sutra, and the MahaPrajna Sutra.  From 1972 to 1978 he translated more Chinese versions of the Great Jewels (Đại Bảo Tích) (01-160). 
 
In 1962 he was the Vice-President of the Buddhist Studies Institute in Central Vietnam.   In 1964 when the United Vietnam Buddhist Sangha was established, he was elected to be the Head of the Council of Monks Issues.  In 1973 he was the Vice-President of  Buddhist Dissemination (Hóa Đạo) Institute.  In 1978 together with three other Most Venerables, Trí Nghiêm in Nha Trang, Giác Tánh at Nguyên Thiều Pagoda, Bình Định, and Minh Tâm in Phan Rang, he was promoted by the Most Venerable Patriarch.  It was he who suggested the symbol of the Dharma Wheel with 12 spokes for the United Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Association (Tam chuyển Pháp Luân Tứ Đế).  In 1981 he became the Deputy President of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Association, and in 1982 he was also the Head of the Administrative Council of the Ho Chi Minh City Sangha Association.   In 1984 he was elected the President of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Association.  In 1987 he delegated his position as Head of the Administrative Council of the Ho Chi Minh City Sangha Association to Most Ven. Thiện Hào.  In 1992 he became the Deputy Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and also its Chief Supervisor of Precepts Observation until his demise.

All his life Most Venerable Thích Trí Tịnh always served the Sangha, and practiced Buddhism with a focus on studying sutras, chanting sutras and Buddhas' names, teaching monks and nuns, and translating sutras from Chinese into Vietnamese.  Every fortnight he would preside at the Boddhisattva Precept Acceptance Ceremony held for laypeople to learn to live the monastic life at Vạn Đức Pagoda.  
He was a great shining example for all Vietnamese monks and nuns, and a genuine Buddhist follower in Vietnam.

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