Le Vu Lan (Ullambana) / Parent’s Day
Summary
The Buu Mon Buddhist Temple’s annual Le Vu Lan (Ullambana)/Parent’s Day Celebration was attended by congregation and visitors from Houston and the local tri-cities; Port Arthur, Beaumont and Orange. In keeping with the new Port Arthur slogan, “Port Arthur Where Oil and Water Do Mix, Beautifully”, the same can be said of our Sunday Le Vu Lan gathering with attendance by people from various religious and cultural backgrounds.
Young ladies, members of the temples Youth Group, distributed white and red artificial roses to the attending congregation and visitors before the ceremony began. Le Vu Lan or Parent’s Day is a day set aside to pay respect to our mother’s and father’s. The roses represent our parents either living and/or deceased. As you looked out over the audience you saw a sea of color; red and white.
Jennifer Thu Thanh Tan was the master of ceremony; she did an excellent job announcing the program as it unfolded. The congregation was fortunate to have three visiting monks from the Houston Buddhist Vihara; Most Venerable Nanda, Venerable Anuruddha, and Venerable Punnaji, who joined our resident monks, Most Venerable Thich Huyen Viet, Abbot of Buu Mon Buddhist Temple, Venerable Thich Tri Quang and Venerable Kassapa to chant and pray for all parents. The monks were assisted on the altar by Sucara (Mathew Rhone), Sappurisa (Tom Harlan), Anandi (Joni Villemez-Comeaux) and Pandita (Mike Wise). Following the chanting the audience was addressed by Most Venerable Thich Huyen Viet in Vietnamese a Vesak Speech of the Supreme Patriarch Thich Quang Do and translated into English by Venerable Kassapa.
After Rev. Viet’s opening speech the audience was fortunate to hear speeches by Anandi (Joni Villemez-Comeaux) and Pandita (Mike Wise) who shared with the congregation their feelings about Fathers and Mothers. Their speeches most definitely came from their hearts and included insight into the teachings of the Buddha. Both are members of the temple having joined the congregation in a ceremony held last October. (Their speeches are posted elsewhere on the website in English and Vietnamese). The speeches were translated into Vietnamese by Nha Nyugen and Tuan Anh.
We were fortunate to have Bhante Nanda share with us his wisdom and knowledge of the dhamma as it related to parents and their children. Bhante Nanda’s dhamma talk was very insightful and well received by the audience.
Following the dhamma talk we were entertained with a contemporary cultural dance by the young women of the Buu Mon Temple’s Cultural Performance Youth Group. Their performance was very professional and the congregation was appreciative of the hard work it required of them to prepare for the event.
The Le Vu Lan commenced with the monks moving from the main shrine to the dining area for Sangha Dana – offering of food to the venerable monks - with the congregation gathered around.
The ceremony concluded with a free Vietnamese vegetarian meal for all who attended Parent’s Day. The volunteer kitchen staff, composed of excellent cooks from the temple congregation, prepared a delicious meal with more than enough food for all who attended.
The Most Venerable Huyen Viet, Bhante Kassapa, Su Tri Quang and I, Danny Dubuisson, thank everyone for sharing their time and energy to make this year’s Le Vu Lan Ceremony a success.
May you all be blessed!
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