Tịnh Xá Trung Tâm

[1] It is known for its weekly Bát Quan Trai Giới (Eight Precept Ritual) retreat, which is staged more frequently than at other institutions in the city, and has a reputation among its followers for rigour and discipline.

Many of the inner walls of the halls of the temple are adorned with relief carvings and paintings depicting important events in the life of Buddha.

The founding patriarch of the khất sĩ tradition was Thích Minh Đăng Quang, who was born Nguyễn Thành Đạt in 1923 to a peasant family from the village of Phú Hậu, Bình Phú prefecture, Tam Bình District in Vĩnh Long Province in the Mekong Delta.

[2] The temple is set on a plot of 5,490 square metres (59,100 sq ft); construction of the building began in April 1965 and took ten years.

There are 12 paintings that depict various events in the life of Gautama Buddha,[1] including the birth at Lumbini, the enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, the first dharma talk at Deer Park in Varanasi and the entering of nirvana at Kushinagar.

It depicts the traditional account of the prince taking seven steps, which resulted in seven lotuses blooming spontaneously, followed by Siddhartha pointing to the sky with his index finger and declaring that this life would be his last in samsara.

The founder of any Vietnamese monastery is typically commemorated there, but in this case, Thích Minh Đăng Quang left no remains, so only his begging bowl and robe are present, protected by a glass enclosure.

It is 37 metres (121 ft) high and has a symbolic Torch of Wisdom at the top, which is lit at night and is visible throughout the surrounding area.

This retreat commemorates events during the life of the Buddha, when the rainy season came between the full moons of the fourth and seventh lunar months.

The area surrounding Tinh Xa Trung Tam is now a noisy neighborhood, and most prominent among the sources of disturbances is a karaoke bar located on an alley leading to the temple.

[10] Due to overcrowding in the neighbourhood, joggers often use the monastery grounds, so a sign has been erected indicating "Ladies and gentlemen exercisers please follow this route" so that they circle the Dharma Tower in a clockwise direction, a path usually taken by Buddhists around stupas as an act of devotion.

Some stray dogs have adopted Tịnh Xá Trung Tâm as their home and traipse about during rituals; they are fed vegetarian food.

[12] Following the fall of Saigon and the communist takeover, religious bodies were required to be registered with and loyal to the party.

[13] However, the temple does not fly the national flag, and the only government material or symbols on display within Tịnh Xá Trung Tâm are letters of congratulations for charity initiatives.

In addition to local residents, who make up the bulk of the disciples, some are from other parts of Vietnam, as well as overseas Vietnamese who are temporarily in the country.

[14] According to the American professor of Vietnamese history and religion Mark W. McLeod, who did fieldwork at Tịnh Xá Trung Tâm, he did not survey the laypeople about their income, for fear of embarrassing them, but conjectured that most had an above average income as they were able to devote a considerable amount of time to organized religious activity instead of working longer hours.

[13] Dharma talks are held weekly by the resident monks and nuns, which is generally more frequent than at other places in the city.

The disciples and monks at the temple told McLeod that they chose Tinh Xa Trung Tam because of what they regarded as a higher level of discipline, rigor and scholarship at the institution.

[3] According to the scholar Mark McLeod, the temple incorporated aspects of both Mahayana and Theravada traditions in its style of practice and architecture.

[5] One monk interviewed by McLeod said that his temple's interpretation of Buddhism and its inclusiveness of Mahayana and Theravada aspects is "like a tree, which needs roots, a trunk, branches, and leaves; it cannot survive if any is missing.