Chua Buu Mon is a

Buddhist Temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

located on Proctor Street in Port Arthur,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Quick Stats

Leader/Title: Most Venerable Huyen Viet Ethnic Composition: Mostly Vietnamese, with a growing non-Vietnamese population. Resident Monks: Rev. Huyen Viet, Abbot, Rev. Bui Thanh Nhan (Thich Tri Quang), and Bhante Kassapa Bhikkhu, Assistant Abbot. Tradition:

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Activities and Schedule

The

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

holds regular services in Vietnamese at 11 a.m. on Sundays and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

on Sundays at 2 p.m. with a

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

chanting class that follows the service at 3 p.m. Also, there is a weekly meditation class every Wednesday at 7 p.m. There are many festivals held throughout the year including the very popular and well visited

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

Blossom Festival, which also is part of the Vesak celebration. During this celebration, the temple's well-known water gardens are visited by upwards of several thousand people over one weekend in early June.

Demographics

The congregation consists of Vietnamese

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

and their children. Since the meditation classes have started in February 2007, a medium-sized group of non-Vietnamese Americans have started attending regularly. This temple has the largest amount of non-Vietnamese speaking people in a

Vietnamese Temple in the United States.

Teachers

Bhante Kassapa Bhikkhu

He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. He then began his formal training in the Jesuit Associate Program in Houston. Eventually, Bhante Kassapa Bhikkhu joined the Franciscan order as a monk. When he left that order, he spent 16 years studying Buddhism while working in the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority in Tampa, Florida. He was ordained as a novice monk in October 2006 at Phat Phap Buddhist Temple in St. Petersburg, Florida. After one full year, he became a fully ordained bhikkhu at Buu Mon Buddhist Temple in Port Arthur, Texas. Bhante Kassapa Bhikkhu is currently a resident monk at Buu Mon Buddhist Temple, a Theravada Vietnamese temple in Port Arthur, Texas. He is the chaplain to the Buddhist inmates at the minimum security federal correction facility in Beaumont, Texas. Since he took over the prison ministry from the previous chaplain, the attendance went from 7 inmates to 20 inmates and growing. He also runs a weekly meditation group that usually ranges from 20 to 40 people each week. He hopes to one day create an American-style

Buddhist temple. Averaging every six weeks, he also speaks at the Unity Church of Beaumont to their weekly meditation group. He gave one of the two keynote speeches at Oklahoma City University for the 10th Annual Oklahoma Buddhist Conference. Also, he spoke at the 2008 Human Rights Torch Relay Demonstration in Houston Texas, South East Texas World Peace Event in 2007, and a Lamar University World Religions course. Most recently, Bhante Kassapa Bhikkhu has appeared in a 3-minute special on the growth of Buddhism in America on the ABC affiliate, KTRK Channel 13, in Houston, Texas on November 16, 2008. He has also appeared on the live call in show, KFDM Listens, which aired on the CBS affiliate, KFDM Channel 6, in Beaumont, Texas. On October 20, 2009, he spoke to the Intercultural and Diversity class at McNeese University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Bhante Kassapa has spoken numerous times to Lamar University in Beaumont Texas, and has been asked to lecture at McNeese University in Lake Charles LA.

References

* Buddhist Association of Oklahom
10th Annual Oklahoma Buddhist Conference
Retrieved on February 18, 2009. * Buddhist Channe
KTRK News Interview with Bhante Kassapa
Retrieved on February 18, 2009. * Guidry New
Anglo-American to Join Vietnamese Theravada Sangha
Retrieved on February 18, 2009. * Beaumont Enterpris

Retrieved on February 18, 2009. * Houston Chronicl

Retrieved on February 15, 2010.

External links

Chua Buu MonBhante Kassapa Bhikkhu's Site
{{coord, 29.889295, -93.918804, type:landmark, display=title Port Arthur, Texas Buddhist temples in Texas Overseas Vietnamese Buddhist temples Overseas Vietnamese organizations in the United States Vietnamese-American culture in Texas Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Texas