Vạn Hạnh Monastery is a

Thiền Buddhist Thiền Buddhism (, , ) is the name for the Vietnamese school of Zen Buddhism. Thiền is the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (''chán''), an abbreviation of 禪那 (''chánnà''; thiền na), which is a transliter ...

temple in

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

, the largest city in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. The temple is located at 716 Nguyễn Kiệm Street on the road between

Go Vap Go, GO, G.O., or Go! may refer to: Arts and entertainment Games and sport * Go (game), a board game for two players * '' Travel Go'' (formerly ''Go – The International Travel Game''), a game based on world travel * Go, the starting position ...

and Phu Nhuan districts. It is the location of the main Buddhist training centre for

sangha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...

in Vietnam, and is also the office of the Vietnamese Buddhist Research Institute. Before the

fall of Saigon The fall of Saigon, known in Vietnam as Reunification Day (), was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. As part of the 1975 spring offensive, this decisive event led to the collapse of the So ...

in 1975, the site of the temple was the campus of the school of applied science of Vạn Hạnh Buddhist University, under the leadership of Thích Minh Châu. In 1976, with the reunification of Vietnam. It was converted into a Thiền meditation temple and Buddhist research centre. The temple is located on a block of land of one hectare in size. It comprises a main ceremonial hall, a patriarch hall, living and dining quarters for the sangha and separate facilities for various educational institutions. These include the office of the Vietnamese Buddhist Research Institute, the office of the Society for the Translation of the Mahayana sutras and the main Buddhist training centre in Vietnam, which trains Buddhist sangha. The temple fate was built in 1990 along the architectural model of the Buddhist temples in the central city of

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

, under the administration of Thích Tâm Đoan and Thích Tịnh Quang. The main hall is two-storied. The ground storey is the main ceremonial hall, with a white statue of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

seated on a lotus in the centre of the hall. One either side of the main hall are reading rooms of the temple's library, which stocks a large range of religious documents. The upper storey contains the guest room and the office of the abbot. The patriarch hall of the temple is also two-storied. The upper storey is for paying homage to the Buddha and to the patriarchs. On the altar of the patriarch altar is Thích Tịnh Khiết, the first head of the United Buddhist Congregation of Vietnam. The ground floor serves as the

dharma Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...

hall, where dharma talks are held. Vạn Hạnh Thiền Temple is the working office of the Buddhist Research Institute of Vietnam, where a team of Buddhist scholars works under Thích Minh Châu, who holds a doctorate in Buddhism and psychology. The institute is divided into departments, one for Vietnamese Buddhism, world Buddhism and one for printing and distribution. Another team is devoted towards translating

Mahayana Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

scriptures from

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

into

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

, in addition to the translation of the

Pali Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...

. The temple is also a major contributor in the training of Vietnamese Buddhist monks in the south of the country. It is the host of an institute of higher education in Buddhism, at an equivalent level to a university degree. Monks and nuns are accepted through an examination process to start a four-year course. Since 1984, the school has run three courses, training more than 400 members of the sangha.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Hanh Thiền Temple Buddhist temples in Ho Chi Minh City