years!â Many of the men present were red-eyed, while women shamelessly sobbed and cried out loud. The chanting ceaselessly rolled out over and above all the commotion.
The casket of novice Kinh Tam was to be displayed for seven days in the West Hall before being moved to the funeral pyre in front of the temple gate, exactly on the spot of the thatched hut of the novice. Thay Chi Tam was given permission to travel on horseback in order to bring Kinh Tamâs family back in time for the cremation ser vices. The family of Thi Mau presented itself to the village council, requesting to bear all funeral costs. All members of this upper-class family heeded the advice of the abbot and came to stay in the humble accommodations at the temple for those seven days. They ate simple vegetarian meals, slept on the ground with modest bedding, read sutras, chanted texts of repentance and beginning anew, and prayed.
Mau cried herself dry. During the ceremony to receive mourning cloths, she had knelt down and asked to receive the mourning cloth of a blood sister of the novice. A marked change had come over Thi Mau. Ever since hearing the truth and then receiving the mourning cloth, her face and indeed her entire physical appearance had become completely different. All signs of melancholy and despair vanished. Her face shone brightly like that of a person who had found someone who truly loved her. Under the instruction of the abbot, copies of The Collection on the Six Paramitas collated by Master Tang Hoi were distributed for constant chanting day and night. Everyone eventually memorized the gathas on the teaching on magnanimity.
Finally Venerable Chi Tam returned. He announced that a two-horse coach was arriving shortly, carrying Kinh Tamâs parents Mr. and Mrs. Ly, Chau, Thien Si, and little Thien Tai. He relayed that Thien Tai had been fully accepted as a blood grandchild by Kinh Tamâs parents, who naturally had cried in reading the letter Kinh Tam had written to them. Eight long years they had searched and waited in vain for news of their beloved daughter, and now, when they finally received news, it was of her demise.
The coach stopped at the foot of the hills. Looking up toward the temple, Mr. and Mrs. Ly saw the red banner fluttering in the wind bearing the Dharma name of novice Kinh Tam and burst into tears once again. The cremation ceremony was planned to begin exactly at noon, but already the temple grounds were packed full with over three thousand people. The chanting continued to echo out to the outer courtyards of the temple. A bridge made out of white silk hundreds of meters long was put up to represent the path or bridge from the shore of suffering to the shore of freedom.
The abbot himself went out to greet and receive the Ly family and Thien Si. He ushered them into his quarters to comfort them in their grief, led them in to pay homage to the Buddha, and finally brought them to the West Hall to pay respects to their beloved, the novice Kinh Tam. The deceased noviceâs facial expression was quite tranquil; there was still a trace of the smile from the moment of last release. Everyone knelt down in front of the altar to receive their respective mourning cloths: Chau as younger brother of the novice, Thien Si as husband, and Thien Tai as Dharma son. Everyone made the solemn vow to practice in accord with the Five Mindfulness Trainings and to diligently practice invoking the Buddhaâs names and chanting the sutras.
Great rolling sounds of the giant bell and thundering rhythms of the drum announced the time to close the casket and start the procession to the funeral pyre. The crowd of devotees was told to make way. The Ly elders, Mauâs parents, Chau, Thien Si, Mau, and little Thien Tai wore their mourning cloths and walked behind the coffin. The Venerables Chi Tam and Thanh Tam headed the ceremony, leading everyone in the invocation and chanting of the sutras. Sandalwood incense permeated the air,
The casket of novice Kinh Tam was to be displayed for seven days in the West Hall before being moved to the funeral pyre in front of the temple gate, exactly on the spot of the thatched hut of the novice. Thay Chi Tam was given permission to travel on horseback in order to bring Kinh Tamâs family back in time for the cremation ser vices. The family of Thi Mau presented itself to the village council, requesting to bear all funeral costs. All members of this upper-class family heeded the advice of the abbot and came to stay in the humble accommodations at the temple for those seven days. They ate simple vegetarian meals, slept on the ground with modest bedding, read sutras, chanted texts of repentance and beginning anew, and prayed.
Mau cried herself dry. During the ceremony to receive mourning cloths, she had knelt down and asked to receive the mourning cloth of a blood sister of the novice. A marked change had come over Thi Mau. Ever since hearing the truth and then receiving the mourning cloth, her face and indeed her entire physical appearance had become completely different. All signs of melancholy and despair vanished. Her face shone brightly like that of a person who had found someone who truly loved her. Under the instruction of the abbot, copies of The Collection on the Six Paramitas collated by Master Tang Hoi were distributed for constant chanting day and night. Everyone eventually memorized the gathas on the teaching on magnanimity.
Finally Venerable Chi Tam returned. He announced that a two-horse coach was arriving shortly, carrying Kinh Tamâs parents Mr. and Mrs. Ly, Chau, Thien Si, and little Thien Tai. He relayed that Thien Tai had been fully accepted as a blood grandchild by Kinh Tamâs parents, who naturally had cried in reading the letter Kinh Tam had written to them. Eight long years they had searched and waited in vain for news of their beloved daughter, and now, when they finally received news, it was of her demise.
The coach stopped at the foot of the hills. Looking up toward the temple, Mr. and Mrs. Ly saw the red banner fluttering in the wind bearing the Dharma name of novice Kinh Tam and burst into tears once again. The cremation ceremony was planned to begin exactly at noon, but already the temple grounds were packed full with over three thousand people. The chanting continued to echo out to the outer courtyards of the temple. A bridge made out of white silk hundreds of meters long was put up to represent the path or bridge from the shore of suffering to the shore of freedom.
The abbot himself went out to greet and receive the Ly family and Thien Si. He ushered them into his quarters to comfort them in their grief, led them in to pay homage to the Buddha, and finally brought them to the West Hall to pay respects to their beloved, the novice Kinh Tam. The deceased noviceâs facial expression was quite tranquil; there was still a trace of the smile from the moment of last release. Everyone knelt down in front of the altar to receive their respective mourning cloths: Chau as younger brother of the novice, Thien Si as husband, and Thien Tai as Dharma son. Everyone made the solemn vow to practice in accord with the Five Mindfulness Trainings and to diligently practice invoking the Buddhaâs names and chanting the sutras.
Great rolling sounds of the giant bell and thundering rhythms of the drum announced the time to close the casket and start the procession to the funeral pyre. The crowd of devotees was told to make way. The Ly elders, Mauâs parents, Chau, Thien Si, Mau, and little Thien Tai wore their mourning cloths and walked behind the coffin. The Venerables Chi Tam and Thanh Tam headed the ceremony, leading everyone in the invocation and chanting of the sutras. Sandalwood incense permeated the air,
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