A Book About Vietnam

Tet! Lunar New Year decorations at our local temple

2012-01-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

Our nearby temple is Chua Minh Giac, and one of the resident monks is a dab hand at decoration.

Every year he goes all out to create some elaborate themed gardens and displays for visitors who come over the Lunar New Year period.

He has excelled himself this year.

Details:

Minh Giac Vietnamese Buddhist Temple
42 St. John's Rd
Cabramatta
(The temple is about a 15 minute walk from Cabramatta station)
Open 7am - 8.30pm
All welcome - enter the main hall via the driveway to the left of the house. If the roller-doors of the main temple aren't up, you can gain access via the doorway at the left of the complex at the back.
Shoes need to be removed before entering.

Walter Mason's book Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam (Allen & Unwin) was voted one of the 10 best travel books of 2010 by The Sydney Morning Herald.
It is available as a paperback and e-book from all good booksellers and on-line.

Tan Dinh Church, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City

2012-01-08T23:28:00.000-08:00

News about Vietnam rarely includes mention of the numerous sleepy, crumbling French Colonial churches that are to be found in every city and large town. Tourists mostly just drive by them, and to the local Vietnamese (unless they are parishioners) they are exotic remnants of a largely unknown past. I took my friend Kien - a Saigon native - with me when I visited Tan Dinh church recently, and it was the first time he'd ever been inside a Catholic church.

In Ho Chi Minh City there are only a couple of these French Colonial beauties left - most of the really big Catholic churches were built in the 60s and 70s, and have a distinctive and quite groovy architecture all of their own.

Tan Dinh Church in District 3 is probably my favourite of the French churches.
It is always painted a vibrant and unexpected colour - at the moment it is a gorgeous salmon pink, but in the past it has been orange, a kind of biscuit-colour, baby blue and mint green. The aesthetic eye overseeing this church's exterior is distinctly camp.

Inside it is largely untouched. Lots of faux-baroque statuary, a shrine to Saint Therese of Lisieux (the only one I know of in Vietnam), a shrine to St. Martin de Porres (there is one of these in every second church) and one to the Vietnamese martyrs (also reasonably common).

Unlikely the infuriatingly chained-up Nha Tho Duc Ba in central Saigon, Tan Dinh church is always open, and is well worth checking out.
It is also situated right near Tan Dinh market, which is THE place to buy fabrics in Ho Chi Minh City. If you are searching for linens and cottons (reasonably rare at other markets), then this is the place to go (heads up - I always go to ABC Fabric).
There is also a doughnut shop just before the church called The Gioi Donut, and I have been known to drop by there ;-)

Buddhist Prayer Guide at Cabramatta Vegetarian Restaurant

2012-01-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

The vegetarian restaurants and supermarkets in Cabramatta, and many of the herbalists, all feature a little stand that gives out free Buddhist media - books, pictures, CDs, DVDs etc. The things are almost always in Vietnamese, but sometimes there is material in English, so they are always worth checking out.
This material is there for free distribution, so help yourself, if you are interested.
This is a laminated A4 poster which offers a program of chanting for the lay Buddhist.

Where?
Happy Vegan
Shop 11, Belvedere Arcade
66-68 John St
Cabramatta NSW

The Teo Chiew Centre in Cabramatta

2012-01-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

An under-utilised but wonderfully picturesque piece of orientalist architecture in Cabramatta, stuck between the Baptist and Catholic churches.
As viewed from Cabra-Vale Park.
I have written about the ubiquity of the Teo Chiew elsewhere.

Vietnam Books - Something to Read Before You Go

2011-12-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

If you're anything like me, reading books about a place is one of the most pleasurable parts of preparing for a holiday abroad. A book is the perfect companion in Vietnam, especially, which has such a rich and complex culture, and where books in English are still reasonably difficult to come by. Here is my reading list for Vietnam:

Walter Mason's Destination Saigon - Ok, ok, so I wrote it. But honestly, if you want an intimate view of contemporary Vietnamese religion, culture and sexual mores, and a bit of a giggle, then this is where you should start. So many books about Vietnam are about the war or about colonial history. I set about writing a book that was telling stories of Vietnam now, and I really think I succeeded!

Andrew X Pham's Catfish & Mandala - Quite a superbly written book that is about so much more than Vietnam, this is a unique and compulsive read that offers a great deal of insight into what it's like to be an overseas Vietnamese returning home as a stranger. Books about Vietnam are normally told from the perspective of a foreigner, or are translated works by people living in Vietnam. This is a specific point of view of the person who exists at some in-between point.

Gontran de Poncins' From a Chinese City - A French Count goes to spend a few months in Cholon, Saigon's Chinatown, in the 1950s. This is such a gorgeous book, and absolutely fascinating. There are very few books on Vietnam that deal with the Chinese community in any detail, so this is a real rarity.

Norman Lewis' A Dragon Apparent - More Indochina in the 50s, Lewis' quiet British fortitude makes him an excellent observer, and his love of the Vietnamese comes seeping through. Vietnam travel books are surprisingly rare, and really good ones rarer still. Lewis' is the best.

Graham Greene's The Quiet American - Yeah, yeah, I know it's on every list, but really it is quite perfect, and you can still visit all the places he mentions in the book. If you're going to Vietnam, do make sure you read this book first.

Marguerite Duras' The Lover - Especially if you are planning on having an affair with a Vietnamese guy (though the lover is actually Chinese). Sensuous, historically fascinating and quite dazzlingly accurate. Not really full of Vietnam tips, but it creates the most wonderful mood, and evokes an incredible era that is only now beginning to be romanticised and even celebrated in Vietnam.

Thich Nhat Hanh's Zen Keys - A unique insight into Vietnamese Buddhist monasticism. As well as information about the philosophy of Buddhism, it provides a great story to read about the life of a young monk, and how they were once expected to behave inside the Chua (Pagoda).

Kien Nguyen's The Unwanted - Absolutely the best account of what Vietnam was like in the years immediately following the end of the war. This book is a masterpiece and deserves to be better known. Don't wait to buy this one - it is one of the really good Vietnam books, and one of the most unique perspectives.

Duy Long Nguyen's The Dragon's Journey - A memoir about a Vietnamese refugee's journey to Australia, where he becomes a famous healer. A book about Vietnam and about the journey of the Vietnamese dispora.

Stanley Karnow's Vietnam: A History - Pretty solid going, but once you've finished it you will be entirely informed about the complex and long-lasting Vietnam war.

Ma Van Khang's Against the Flood - A little-known but fascinating fictional peek into the ghastly bureaucracy and stifling conservatism of Vietnamese life in the 80s and 90s.

Phuoc An Hoi Quan Pagoda

2011-12-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

Phuoc An Hoi Quan Pagoda is one of the Chinese clan temples (belonging to the Fujianese) in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City's Chinatown. District 5 is the old Cholon, once one of the most tremendous Chinese cities in the world - to read about it in its heyday you can't do better than Gontran de Poncins' wonderful book From A Chinese City. If you are lucky enough to travel to Ho Chi Minh City, you should really put aside a morning or afternoon to visit the colourful temples of Cholon.
The Phuoc An Hoi Quan is just two minutes walk from the Quan Am pagoda (that's not counting the ten minutes you will spend drumming up the courage to cross the truly terrifying Hung Vuong Rd.), so you should really plan to do both at once. Both temples are shown on maps in any of the guide books to Ho Chi Minh City.
There are reasonably concealed benches in the temple courtyard so it makes a nice place to sit and people watch without being hassled. Bring a fan.

The statue of Kwan Yin to the left of the courtyard as you enter is a very popular and lucky statue in this part of town.

And interestingly the robes for Kwan Yin that are donated by people who have had their prayers answered are embroidered with the names of the donors or the people they want blessed.

This is the first time I have seen this. I wonder if it's new or old?

There is also a lucky horse to your left as you enter the temple - it is meant to be lucky for travellers to stroke its mane.

Details:

Phuoc An Hoi Quan Pagoda is at 184 D. Hung Vuong, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City.
It is meant to stay open till 6pm, but they normally won't let you in after 5.30.
It's a 10-15 minute taxi ride from downtown Saigon.
Photography is allowed, and you don't have to take your shoes off to enter this temple.
You can purchase incense and offerings inside the temple, where you will be charged the true local price.

Van Duc Temple, Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City - Places to Visit in Vietnam

2011-12-02T01:47:00.000-08:00

If you are planning a holiday to Vietnam then you should definitely put aside a morning or afternoon while you are in Ho Chi Minh City in order to visit Thu Duc. Thu Duc is a fascinating place.
It is a vast geographic area, almost a city in itself, though it is classified as one of the districts of Ho Chi Minh City. It has always been something of a poor cousin, home to slums and sub-standard housing, though in recent years this seems to be changing, and Thu Duc's proximity to central Saigon (it's just across the river) is seeing it become increasingly prosperous.
One of the places I use as a gauge of that prosperity is Van Duc Temple.

I first visited the temple in the late 90s and it was a very humble affair indeed, despite being the home of the then most senior Buddhist master in Vietnam, The Most Venerable Thich Tri Tinh. It was dusty and a little ramshackle, having been originally constructed in 1954. The large and quite unique satue of Kwan Yin (Quan The Am, the Buddhist Bodhisattva of Mercy) was already in place, but she was installed on quite a shoddy and tacky little stand in the middle of a sad and muddy pond.
Van Duc has undergone quite a renovation.

The same statue is now housed in a solid and ornate construction, and the temple's main prayer hall is cavernous, with incredibly high ceilings and the capacity to seat hundreds of worshippers.

There is a large monastic community, and the surrounding area is home to many different Buddhist temples, as well as a Benedictine monastery of some note.

If you keep walking down the Tinh Lo 43 (the name of the road the temple is on) and turn down the first No. 7 Road (there are actually two No. 7 Roads, one after the other) you will see a collection of 7 or 8 tiny temples crammed onto a single country laneway. I have no idea why this is, but there is obviously some historic reason for it.

Details:

Van Duc Temple (Chua Van Duc)
502 Tinh Lo 43
Khu Pho 5
P. Tam Phu
Q. Thu Duc
Ho Chi Minh City

The temple is about a 20 minute taxi ride from downtown Saigon.
It might be best to get the taxi to wait for you while you explore, as there aren't many taxis in this area.

Orchid Farm in Cu Chi

2011-11-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't really tell you how I ended up at an orchid farm in Cu Chi, about 50 kilometres outside of Saigon. I just say yes to any old invitation, and this is where it lands me.
Quite a beautiful place, though, filled with sweet teenagers from Hue who have never quite made it to the city.

And all around it, picturesque farms with women in conical hats, and tethered buffalo. It felt like an ad from Vietnam Airlines.
I'm quite an afficionado of Vietnamese rural architecture, and keep an eye out for trends. At Cu Chi, richer farmers seem to be favouring a big porcelain lion at the tops of their gateposts, unlike in Binh Chanh, where concrete dobermanns are de rigeur.

Do you think that noticing and liking flowers is a sign of getting old?

I suspect so, because increasingly I find myself spending time looking at them, smelling them and photographing them. And I was in the perfect place for that!

Learn More About Ireland With Rosamund Burton

2011-10-31T20:36:00.000-07:00

Acclaimed travel writer Rosamund Burton will be speaking about her wonderful book Castles, Follies & Four-Leaf Clovers at Balmain Library in November.

Illustrated with some of the most evocative photographs from her journey along St. Declan's Way, this is a unique opportunity to learn more about the deep spirituality of Ireland and see the beauty of its mystical landscape.

Details:

Author Talk: Rosamund Burton @ Balmain Library

30 Nov 2011

6.30pm - 8pm

Adventures along Ireland’s ancient highway and pilgrim route St Declan's Way

Come and hear travel writer and journalist Rosamund Burton tell of her adventures along Ireland’s ancient highway and pilgrim route St Declan's Way. Rosamund's adventures begin when she is lent a map of the ancient route. Stories of goddesses, ghosts and fairies are intertwined with the eccentricities and daily lives of everyday people—this is a journey full of surprises.

Bookings essential: ring Balmain Library 9367 9211

Walter Mason Talks About Angkor Wat

2011-10-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that I will be giving a talk about the wonderful Angkor Wat next week on the 24th of October. Details:

Angkor Wat: The Beauty and Spiritual Significance of Cambodia's Great Forgotten City

At the Southern Cross Academy of Light
Monday, 24th October 2011
St John’s Uniting Church Hall, cnr of Yeo Street and Barry Street, Neutral Bay. Enter off Barry Street. Session starts 7:30pm. Entry Fee: $15, concession $10.

Forgotten for centuries in the jungles of Cambodia, Angkor Wat was once the world's greatest and most sophisticated city. Re-discovered by French explorers in the nineteenth century, this massive stone structure was both a political and a religious centre, built to illustrate the creation myths of Hinduism, and later accommodating many of the schools of Buddhism. In this fascinating talk Walter will take us through the stories, history and meanings of the great temple of Angkor Wat.

Walter Mason is a travel writer whose book on Vietnam, Destination Saigon, was named by the Sydney Morning Herald as one of the 10 best travel books of 2010.
Walter is currently at work on his next book, a spiritual journey through Cambodia. He is also in the final stages of writing his doctoral dissertation at the University of Western Sydney's Writing & Society Research Group, where he is writing a history of self-help literature in Australia."

Nui Ba Den - Vietnamese Travel Spots

2011-10-16T15:34:00.000-07:00

This is the shrine atop Nui Ba Den, the Black lady Mountain that rises up out of the plains of Tay Ninh that stretch from Saigon to Cambodia. Vietnamese tour groups always visit the mountain, but it is relatively unknown to foreigners. It is a place of immense mystical significance, said to house a Black Goddess whose power is so great that all around the Mountain is a vibrant Holy Land that was and is something of a spiritual powerhouse in Vietnam.

Mr. Buddha!

2011-10-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

Sister Truth is one of the thousands of Buddhist nuns throughout Vietnam who do unpaid and unsung charity work, caring for the orphaned, the disabled and the destitute.

Here is an excerpt from my book Destination Saigon, telling a little bit of the story behind this picture:

Sister’s main problem is orphans. Hers is a small temple and a small community, with very limited space and resources. But, being in a poor area, orphans and unwanted children are plentiful, and every month she finds a baby dumped on her doorstep, or a desperate mother appears at her quarters begging her to take her children. Almost the entire community of nuns in Binh Chanh is made up of orphan girls who have decided to embrace the religious life (and there is no compulsion to take the robe). The littlest nun is only five, and is adored by Sisters and disciples alike. She is very fat and very forward, with two top knots poking from her forehead, the rest of her head shaved.

In spite of herself – for she likes to cultivate something of a hard-hearted exterior – Sister Truth dotes on the child, and spoils her terribly. She had been left by her mother at the temple some years ago, and no-one had ever been back to claim her or see her since.

“When she first asked me who her mother was, I told her it was me,” said Sister Truth. “Lately she has been going to infant school, and after mixing with the other children there she came home one day and asked me who her father was. I told her it was the Buddha. I told her I loved the Buddha so much that he gave me a special child, and that was her.” She called the little novice over and, stroking her topknots she absently asked her, “Who is your mother, child?”

“The Abbess!” cried the little girl, throwing her arms around the Sister.

“And your father?”

“Mr. Buddha!” she cried, pointing towards the prayer hall.

Quan The Am

2011-09-30T00:24:00.000-07:00

"The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara practiced wonderful wisdom and attained Enlightenment completely free of attachment. He entered emptiness, unobstructed, through the gate of liberation. Since there is nothing but Emptiness, (including the body, mind and all that exists), a Bodhisattva is never moved by eulogy or ridicule, slander or fame. Even war, famine or the bubonic plague are dismissed by him or her as illusions taking hold through karma. Letting go of all that seemingly exists on its own, independently of the mind, sets forth brightness; and the one experiencing it will not be intimidated."

From Dharma Master Lok To's Introduction to his translation of The Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra.

Statue of Quan The Am Bo Tat in the courtyard of Long Khanh Temple, Quy Nhon City. Any tour of Vietnam should include this beautiful and little-visited place.

The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is, of course, the deity more commonly known as Kwan Yin, or, in Vietnamese, Quan The Am.
Notice that Master Lok To refers to the Bodhisattva as "him." This causes much confusion, because in popular imagery Kwan Yin is almost always shown in a feminine aspect, and most people believe Kwan Yin to be a woman. Technically, Kwan Yin is without gender, though in the earliest representations (as in the scriptures) she is normally a he.

Keeping Yourself Inspired - What You Need to Do

2011-09-25T03:57:00.000-07:00

I went to hear Robert Adamson, one of Australia's great poets, talk about himself, his craft and his recent Blake Prize-winning poem.

Robert Adamson and Judith Beveridge at the National Art School

It was a fascinating talk, and wonderful to hear an Australian writer talking about spirituality. All too few writers of any description are willing to open themselves up to matters metaphysical, so it was refreshing to hear some of the big themes being discussed in the enchanting dialogue between Adamson and Judith Beveridge, herself an acclaimed poet.
But what really struck me as the afternoon progressed was the idea of inspiration - it was a theme that Beveridge kept leading Adamson back to, and it was an incredibly helpful theme to an audience of willing listeners - many of them writers themselves. So here are some lessons about inspiration that I learned from Robert Adamson:

1. Just Keep Doing It
So often we feel really inspired, but when things get dull or difficult, when we encounter a discouraging word or an outright rejection, we can simply give up on our writing. I know this was a pattern I followed for about 20 years! Robert Adamson spoke of his first rejection, and how much it smarted, until he confided in an older and more experienced poet who told him to keep writing and keep submitting, and when you have exhausted all avenues, go back and start again from the top of the list!

2. Writing is an Adventure
It's not a job, it is something wholly more spiritual than that - it is a vocation. So when things get tough, when we don't want to open that file or take up that pen, remember that what you are embarked upon is not a task or a chore - it is a fulfilment of divine purpose, and a rare and privileged pleasure. Approach every writing task as an adventure in the human spirit. Embrace and love what you do, and never allow it to become mundane.

3. Keep a Journal
From the age of 11 Robert Adamson kept curious journals about birds. He loved birds and he bred pigeons, and so he recorded everything about them in his journals. Most people would think that was all mundane or childish material, but Adamson says that when he went back and looked at these journals he realised they were pure poetry. In his journals he was totally free. No-one to read or criticise or censor, he could write exactly what he wanted, and this freed him both as a writer and as a human. So keep journals and record whatever you want in them, no matter how mundane or silly you might think them.

4. Read the Classics
Just by reading Shelley and Blake, and later Yeats and Dickinson, Adamson realised what it was to be a poet, and realised his own potential for creation. It's easy to get lazy in our reading, especially, I think, in this distracted age where we demand instant gratification. But reading some of the literary greats serves as a discipline, an education and an almost-religious instruction in what it is to be exceptional, and to be an artist. Allow yourself to be lost in the words of the great writers of the past, and see what you might be able to discover in their creative worlds.

5. Have Mentors
Knowing that someone is older and wiser than you and has been through many of your torments is extraordinarily valuable, and perhaps people in this world don't realise the value of sitting at the feet of masters. I have had some wonderful mentors in my life, and continue to. I love learning from them, and offering them help, support and enthusiasm as much as I can. Adamson spoke about the guidance and influence of people like John Tranter and the wonderful Dorothy Hewett in his own life. They picked him up when he was at his lowest and encouraged him to remember who he was and what he wanted to do. He said that often all it takes is one person's faith in you to be able to change your whole life. So identify some people you admire, get to know them, and do all you can for them. It's a process as old as civilisation, and history proves that it works to make us become better writers and better people.

7 Most Influential Buddhist Nuns

2011-09-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

1 Sister Chan Khong - Born in 1938, she is a lifelong friend and devotee of Thich Nhat Hanh. Sister Chan Khong wrote a fascinating spiritual biography called Learning True Love. She lives in Plum Village, Thich Nhat Hanh's famous retreat in France.

2 Sister Annabel Laity - A quiet and scholarly presence, Sister Annabel was born in England and was ordained a nun at Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village. She is an accomplished translator and Buddhist scholar.

3 Pema Chodron - Prolific author and Buddhist superstar, Pema Chodron is an American woman ordained in the Tibetan tradition. Resident teacher at Gampo Abbey, a Tibetan Buddhist institute in Nova Scotia intended to train Westerners in the Tibetan monastic tradition.

4 Dhammananda Bhikkhuni - Probably the woman facing the most serious hurdles on this list, Dhammananda is a Thai academic who agitates for the recognition of full monastic vows for women in the Theravadin Buddhist tradition. She runs a centre for women monastics (Wat Songdhammakalyani) in Thailand, though their ordinations are not recognised legally, socially or by the male Buddhist hierarchy.

5 Tenzin Palmo - Became famous after the publication of Cave in the Snow, which detailed her long solitary retreat in the Himalayas. Tenzin Palmo has been charged by the Dalai Lama with establishing full monastic ordination for women in the Tibetan tradition. She was born in London, and is ordained in the Drukpa lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

6 Robina Courtin - An Australian, Courtin was the subject of a popular documentary which brought her to great prominence in the Buddhist world. Laid-back and forthright, Courtin is a popular teacher whose special work is with prisoners. She has been a Buddhist nun for 30 years, but was raised a Catholic in Queensland.

7 Thubten Chodron - Another reasonably prolific author, her popular teachings embrace themes of ecology and social justice. Born in 1950, she is Abbess of Sravasti Abbey in Washington.

8 Dharma Master Cheng Yen - A slight and quiet Buddhist nun who only speaks Taiwanese dialect and is frequently in ill health, Cheng Yen is one of the most powerful and influential Buddhist leaders in the sinosphere, and is the spiritual head of the Tzu Chi welfare organisation that has a presence in diasporic Chinese communities across the world.

This list is incomplete and arbitrary - the world is full of incredible ordained women running institutions and working to spread their religion.
I am aware that there are gaps, and would be interested in suggestions for extending the list. The women on this list are all here because they are prominent in the anglosphere. I know there must be women in other traditions who are well known to, for example, Chinese or Korean speakers, that I have not included. Please tell us about them in the comments!
I also want you to know that the list is of ordained, celibate religious, which is why it doesn't include many of the prominent Zen and Insight Meditation teachers.

DESTINATION SAIGON hits the bestsellers list at Shearer's Bookshop

2011-09-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

Excuse me for a brief moment of boasting, but I am so excited to discover that my book Destination Saigon, one of the most lighthearted and affectionate books on Vietnam you will ever read, has slipped quietly this week into the bestseller's list at Shearer's Bookshop on Norton St., Leichhardt.
How wonderful! I know that the good people at Shearer's have always been great believers in the book, and their enthusiasm has obviously paid off.
Many thanks Barbara, Tony and gang!

Walter Mason Takes Us on a Spiritual Journey Through Vietnam - Adyar Bookshop Sept. 29

2011-08-31T04:39:00.000-07:00

A Spiritual Journey Through Vietnam
Adyar Booksop
99 Bathurst St (Upstairs)
Sydney
6.30pm Free Entry
Thursday 29th September

Join Walter Mason, author of Destination Saigon, on an incredible illustrated journey through the rich spiritual life of Vietnam.
Walter will be talking about the diverse mystical traditions of the Vietnamese people, from the stark discipline of Zen Buddhist monasteries to the wild colour and controlled chaos of Cao Dai, the indigenous religion of southern Vietnam.
This is a rare opportunity to see unknown and hidden parts of this beautiful country and discover aspects of Vietnam's culture and history that you'll never discover in a travel guide.

Private shrine inside a senior Buddhist monk's room, Vietnam.

Outdoor shrine to Maitreya, the Buddha of the future, Central Vietnam.

Statue of the Earth Mother, a folk religious figure, Ho Chi Minh City.

Shrine to Kwan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, Hoai Nhon.

Entrance, Benedictine Monastery, Thu Duc

2011-08-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

A place I spend a lot of my time in Vietnam is the Benedictine monastery in Thu Duc, just outside of Ho Chi Minh City.
It is hidden down a quiet, sandy laneway, and taxis can almost never find it.
It's the perfect place to spend a day, though it can get a little busy - people seem to come from everywhere to visit this place.
I mention the monastry a couple of times in my book, Destination Saigon. It's the place where the monks drag out the big mahogany chairs whenever I come to lunch.

A Di Da Phat

2011-08-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

This is a pic of the Amitabha Tower that my friend designed and built at his temple in Quy Nhon City after he had a prophetic dream.
Amitabha Buddha is the central focus of worship in Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhism. The worship of Amitabha is a characteristic of the Pure Land School of Buddhism, though in reality it is very rare for any particular school to be practiced exclusively in Vietnam. Most teach a combination of various schools, which is the prevalent mode throughout East Asia, including in Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

Best-Ever Booklist for People Who Want to get Serious About Their Writing

2011-07-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

Writers need to read. Full stop - there is no way out of it. And what do you need to read? Well, I always tell people to sit down and read the current top 10 bestsellers in the genre they hope to master. Next they need to read the top 10 great classics in the same genre. Finished? Well here is the next part of your curriculum:

Building a Platform

The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson - "acting as if" is immensely important, and a lot of the excellent advice in this book can be put to work before you have a book

101 Ways to Promote Yourself by Raleigh Pinskey - could be seen as corny and a bit old, it has, nonetheless, given me some excellent ideas

Guerrilla Networking by Jay Conrad Levinson and Monroe Mann - quite remarkably useful

Facebook Marketing for Dummies by Paul Dunay

Celebritize Yourself by Marsha Friedman

How to Work a Room by Susan RoAne

How to Sell Yourself by Joe Girard

Inspiring Yourself as a Writer and Learning Your Craft

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

On Writing by Stephen King

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

On Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande

Writing the Sacred Journey by Elizabeth J. Andrew

Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose

Rip the Page by Karen Benke

Is There a Book Inside You? by Dan Poynter - particularly helpful early on in the process
The Way In by Rita D. Jacobs
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

More General, but Perfect for Inspiration:

The Success Principles by Jack Canfield

Getting Things Done by David Allen

Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky

Experience Your Good Now by Louise L. Hay

The Creative Life by Julia Cameron

Excuses Begone by Wayne Dyer

This Year I Will by M. J. Ryan

The Young Spiritual Explorer

2011-07-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

This photo harks back to 1996, when I was an earnest young (ish - I was 26) Buddhist on a quest for enlightenment. I had quit my job and travelled to Vietnam in the hope of ordaining temporarily as a Buddhist monk, though this proved to be impossible for various reasons. In retrospect it was also probably very fortunate, as I was a particularly immature 26yo, and any foray into monasticism would almost certainly have been disastrous.
Ever since my first visit two years previously, Vietnam had been calling me back, and on this trip I has also thought about writing a book. What would I have said if I'd known the book in question wouldn't eventuate for another 14 years or so! I probably would have been cutting and contemptuous of the future me - I was that kind of guy at the time.
I was still labouring under an idealised vision of Buddhism, formed by my exposure to the Western Buddhist scene and to the literature of Buddhism in English, both of which emphasised the meditative, transcendent aspects of Buddhism. Once I was immersed in Buddhist culture in Vietnam I quickly realised that I'd learned and read about Buddhism was so divorced from the lived reality as to be basically the stuff of fantasy - something that Buddhist scholars are beginning to realise and write about now.
What I discovered instead was practicality, chaos, a great deal of gossip and communities focused on prayer, ritual, celebration and social welfare. All of this was an enormous disappointment to teh young me, who had hoped to spend the rest of his days meditating.
Before I'd left on my quixotic journey I had travelled out to Canley Vale in suburban Sydney to consult with a monk who had just set up a house temple there. I had demanded to know where I could find a temple in Ho Chi Minh City where meditation was emphasised. The monk, who is now a friend, looked at me rather worriedly, changed the subject and made me eat some mandarins. But after some more small talk I pressed on: Where could I meditate in Vietnam?
In desperation he shuffled off into his room and came out witha big red book which would subsequently become my greatest resource: Vietnam's Famous Pagodas.

I now own two copies of this book - one for reference in Australia and one in my room in Vietnam. Unfortunately I think it is now out of print, as I haven't seen it in a shop in Vietnam for years. The venerable monk photocopied several pages out of this book, perhaps at random, and assured me that I would find what I was looking for here.
And so I found my way to this outdoor shrine to Amitabha at the Quang Huong Gia Lam monastery in Go Vap District. It is nestled in next to Tinh Xa Ngoc Phuong, a massive nunnery belonging to Vietnam's indigenous Buddhist order, the Tang Gia Khat Si.

I had almost no Vietnamese at the time, and no-one there spoke any English, and so my regular visits would cause quite a panic. And though I hope I am not slandering the monks, I never did catch any of them at meditation, at any hour of the day or night. So instead I would loiter in the gardens or in the monastery library, reading or writing in my journal. And there I made friends, the kind of wordless, communication-less friends you make when you don't share a common language - sometimes these are the most wonderfully romantic friends. The monks shared their meals with me, saved treats for me and peppered me with questions I couldn't understand.
And I began to see that maybe, just maybe, meditation was not the be-all and end-all of Buddhist life - that perhaps there were other ways of practice, ways that involved living respectfully in community, of studying and working. And caring for odd, dumb strangers who stumble into your midst.

5 Reasons Why Authors Should Speak at Service Clubs

2011-06-17T22:53:00.001-07:00

Last week I went to speak to the women's Probus Club at Mona Vale, and I had the most fabulous time. The ladies were friendly and interested, they asked intelligent questions, they bought the book and they treated me to lunch afterwards. Now how many author gigs are as satisfying as that?
Some first-time authors have questioned whether such events are worth their while, wondering out loud if the time and effort (and yes, it takes both) pay off.
I am of the opinion that they do, well and truly, so here are my Top 5 Reasons Why Authors Should Speak at Service Clubs:

Book Sales - Out of all the events I do, I find that I sell most copies at service club talks. The people that belong to these clubs tend to be readers, and the kind of reader that is interested in expanding their horizon. If you have spoken engagingly and interestingly, they can easily be persuaded to buy your book. I make sure I have a nice display of my book placed prominently; with a notice saying how much it is (some people are too shy to ask). I also use gorgeous fabrics to make the table look a little more interesting and exotic, and bring in one of my Vietnamese statues to be a talking point, and to bring people's eyes to the books for sale. I normally mention subtly during the talk that the book is for sale, but I also try to get whoever is introducing and thanking me to mention it as well. There is an excellent article by Stephanie Chandler on how to sell the book at the back of the room that I always consult - have a read. Once the talk is over I plonk myself down next to the display, pen in hand, and wait for the line to form.
Brand Building - No matter where the club is situated, the people who belong tend to be the movers and shakers in their community. I find they buy books not only for themselves, but to give to family and friends who they think might be interested. And remember, particularly if you are speaking to a group of retirees, you are not just talking to them. Indirectly you are talking to their children and their grandchildren, and they could well become your advocate to the younger members of their family. If they liked you they will talk about you, and keep an eye out for you in the future.
Getting More Speaking Engagements - Once you have wowed one group you will find yourself suddenly getting invites from other groups all around the city. Speaker organisers tend to know one another, and will phone around if they "discover" someone new. This provides a publicity-hungry author with an amazing network, and a whole host of new opportunities to hone their skill as a speaker. Probus keeps an official list of available speakers, and you can ask to be put on that. I'm not sure if other clubs do the same - would like to find out.
Testing New Stories and New Material - Club talks tend to be far longer than most author presentations (normally around 40 minutes to an hour), and so offer an opportunity to try out some new stories in addition to your tried and tested, guaranteed fabulous, shtick. If people react well to a new story, you know you are on a winner. I also find that the questions I get are actually quite stimulating, and give me clues as to what I might need to develop in my future work, or what I could turn into a blog article or eBook.
Contributing to the Community and Giving Authors a Good Name - OK, I know altruism is not normally a consideration when it comes to self-promotion, but it is worth remembering that the clubs are service clubs, and contribute a tremendous amount of money and energy to good causes. Through entertaining their members you help encourage more people to join and to become actively involved, and that is no small feat. By giving your time and talent freely you are contributing further to the club's good work, and helping members realise that writers are also a magnanimous, humanity-loving bunch.

Vegetarian Fundraiser, Vinh Nghiem Vietnamese Buddhist Temple, Cabramatta, Sydney

2011-06-05T03:51:00.000-07:00

A major form of fundraising for the multitudinous Vietnamese Buddhist temples in the suburbs of Sydney is the big vegetarian banquet.

These are immensely popular community events, with singers, raffles and legions of bored looking husbands standing out the front of the temple, smoking.
The noise is almost deafening, and you have to shout at everyone you meet, including normally quiet monks and nuns.

These crowded, noisy events are usually not for me. I prefer the temple when it is quiet and when there are fewer people around.
But for those who have less time to visit the temple at irregular hours, these special days provide a welcome opportunity to cultivate some good karma, have some lovely traditional food and kick back with friends while listening to some old tunes.

Vinh Nghiem Temple, Cabramatta

2011-05-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

Mr. Noodlies and I recently hosted a food tour of Cabramatta (Sydney's own "little Vietnam") which started out at Vinh Nghiem Temple.

Now anyone who knows Vinh Nghiem Temple in Vietnam might feel a little let down by the distinctly more humble aspect of Sydney's branch.

Vinh Nghiem in Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam's largest and most vibrant Buddhist institution, a constant on any tourist itinerary. In Sydney it is a humble fibro cottage with an add-on out the back.

But rest assured it is the real McCoy - the Abbot, Ven. Thich Vien Chon, hails from Vinh Nghiem TPHCM, and was in his day a famous teacher at the Vinh Nghiem Buddhist High School (now closed).
We had a lovely time making our own fresh spring rolls (goi cuon) under the tutelage of Vinh Nghiem Temple's resident nuns.

ABC Radio 702's Simon Marnie was most amused when he saw the pics and noticed that the good Sisters were serving up Coke along with the more traditional fare.

Details:

Vinh Nghiem Temple
177 John Street, CABRAMATTA, NSW 2166

Open every day - all welcome - enter through the carport on the left side of the house.

Progoff Journal Workshop in Sydney

2011-05-26T15:37:00.001-07:00

One of the things that has really inspired me over the years and encouraged me in my quest to become a writer is the Progoff Journal method. I have done the workshop several times, and have found the results to be incredibly inspiring and profoundly moving. Unfortunately this year I cannot make the workshop, conducted by the extraordinary Kate Scholl, but if you are interested in self-development and deepening your awareness, I don't think there is a better way you could spend your weekend:

Intensive Journal Workshops (Sydney) return

Intensive Journal® Life Context Workshop
4-5 June, 2011 Sat 9:30am - 5pm; Sun 9:30am - 4pm

Venue: The Centre for Ministry ‘Garden Room’, 16 Masons Drive, North Parramatta

Begin the winter months by treating yourself to a weekend of engaging with your life in its many dimensions: personal relationships, career decisions, spiritual longings and social concerns. In a quiet and relaxed setting overlooking the bush, you will be introduced to a process of writing that enables greater awareness of inner strengths and resources and offers a dynamic method for dealing with issues and concerns.

In the Life Context workshop you work through carefully designed exercises of the Intensive Journal workbook, which becomes a means of drawing forth your potential and deepening your spirituality.

Kate Scholl has been leading Intensive Journal® workshops for 30 years and is passionate about their potential for enabling one to live more creatively and genuinely.

For more information about the Intensive Journal®, visit their website: www.intensivejournal.org

Cost $140 or $120 for Eremos members; $20 less for concession. All workshop materials and morning and afternoon tea provided. Please bring your own lunch and a 3 ring binder. Full details are on the attached PDF (link at bottom of page).

Places are limited, so please register by 30th May to avoid disappointment. To register please use the online booking form. If you would like to know more about the workshop, please contact Kate Scholl at the email address below or tel 0425 211 065.

Email: kscholl@optusnet.com.au

Saigon in the 1930s

2011-05-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

From Osbert Sitwell's 1939 travelogue Escape With Me! An Oriental Sketchboo k, describing his arrival in Saigon harbour:

"There were, even, little crocodiles of piously-dressed, slant-eyed, yellow-faced pupils to greet the nuns, and of lay-workers to greet the monks...Only the two French-Canadians, genial but suspect as ever, were left to themselves, wildly photographing gendarmes, customs-house officials and departing passengers alike.
But as we drove into the town, it became plain that Saigon was, in fact, an achievement, unique, a French city flowering alone out of a tropical swamp in the farthest corner of Asia. Once there, within its narrow confines, it is as though, in the manner of the polite fiction adopted by embassies the world over, you stood upon the actual soil of France."

Religion and Reconciliation

2011-03-28T17:39:00.001-07:00

Religion and Reconciliation-301, a photo by Religions for Peace on Flickr.

My dear friend the Ven. Bhikkhuni Thich Nu Tinh Van pictured at a recent conference in Singapore.
Ve. Tinh Van is one of Vietnam's leading Buddhist monastics, and an inspiration to women religious everywhere. She is also an accomplished Buddhist scholar. having earned her PhD in Pali studies and being a lecturer at the Van Hanh Buddhist Monastic University in Ho Chi Minh City.

7 Ways to Pursue Your Writing More Seriously

2011-03-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

As a published writer I frequently get contacted by friends, acquaintances and total strangers asking me for advice on how to pursue a career in writing more seriously. While I love answering these people in-depth and giving them all kinds of tips and leads, I also thought it might be helpful if I distilled this advice for anyone to read and act on. So here are my 7 Ways to Pursue Your Writing More Seriously:

Enrol in a University writing course - This is controversial advice, as there are many people out there who will tell you that there is no need to do such a thing, that writing can't be taught etc. etc. Bunkum. Many of the most successful writers working today are the products of University-based creative writing courses. Even I, in my own modest way, can trace the trajectory of my professional writing career back to a University writing course. Ther are many reasons why such courses work: You are encouraged to think realistically about your writing and your market; you are placed in a competitive milieu which ratchets up your productivity, output and daring; and you have a lot of the really rough corners of your writing beaten out of you because of the constant criticism your writing is subjected to.
Join a Writers' Centre - Such centres exist in most states in Australia, and in some regional areas. Again, they build a sense of milieu, and they offer great courses which will help you to refine your craft. They also tend to produce excellent newsletters filled with good practical advice for all writers.
Sign up for a private writing course or workshop - These can be expensive, but they are so worth it. Just save your pennys and think of it as a holiday. The people who run these courses (and I think instantly of my great friend and mentor Jan Cornall) are dedicated, professional and in love with writing. They are also invariably interested in you and what you are writing - which can put them in a minority right at the beginning of your career.
Go away and write - If you are on a budget, then go off to a cabin or a monastery and spend some time with you and your paper. No internet connection is a plus. Spend time with yourself and your ideas about writing. This is not meant to be where you really get started on your masterpiece (though it might well turn into that). It's more of a time for you to think and write and get every single idea, hope and goal down on paper. Take a half dozen self-help books with you and do all the exercises. Re-imagine yourself as an interesting, creative being. If you have the money and the time, think about doing an organised writing retreat in somewhere like Bali or Phuket - these can often be cheaper than you would imagine. Often quite successful and accomplished writers run such retreats (Stephanie Dowrick, for example, is doing one later this year in Japan), so watch their websites and keep an eye out.
Do The Artist's Way - Yeah, I know a lot of people will poo-pooh this suggestion, but the fact is that this amazing course in creativity has helped many very successful people to re-launch thier careers. Many places offer an organised Artist's Way Course (Phoenix Rising in Sydney does one) and this would be even more of a plus.
Join a local writing group - This is separate to joining the bigger and better organised state writers' centres. Local groups can be chaotic, filled with every kind of eccentric. But I found my involvement to be immensely valuable in helping me to conceive of myself as a writer once more. And they can provide plenty of material for later stories.
Read, read, read - I am always bothered when people who don't read want to start writing. I'm gonna put my neck out here and say that there has never been a really good writer who wasn't also a voracious reader. I once went to hear British novelist Jeanette Winterson speak, and she said that universities should be offering creative reading workshops as well as creative writing workshops. If you are just launching yourself back into writing I would suggest you push your laptop aside for a month and do some solid reading. Read half a dozen or so books on writing; a few self-help and inspirational books; a few biographies of great writers; and at least the current Top 10 bestsellers in whatever genre you want to write in.

So there it is - my Top 7.
These tips are intended for people who have maybe put their writing aside for many years as they attended to a more sensible career.
I would love to hear from people with other tips, or more detailed information on the suggestions I have listed here.

Tet at My Neighbourhood Temple

2011-01-30T22:17:00.000-08:00

I live in the heart of Vietnamese Sydney, and am surrounded by at least a dozen Buddhist temples. If you hop in the car and venture further afield there are probably closer to 20.

But one of my favourites is the little house temple closest to me - Chua Minh Giac.

I visited on the weekend, when they were getting ready for the Lunar New Year.
Here is a little video of the surrounds, and some lovely pics of the main shrine taken by Thang.

"Destination Saigon" at Phuket Airport!

2011-01-20T02:16:00.000-08:00

My gorgeous friend Sandy Weir is just about the most brilliant woman in Australian publishing, and pretty glam to boot. And dammit, she knows a good book when she sees one.
Recently she was on holiday in Phuket - cue global shortage of pina colada mix - and, on her way home, spotted Destination Saigon at the bookstore at Phuket airport and took this great shot for me. Right near Paul Theroux, no less!
I always get very excited when my book is sighted overseas. So far I've heard it's being sold in pirate editions in the backpacker districts of Ho Chi Minh City, at Bangkok International Airport, bookshops all around Hong Kong, Monument books in Phnom Penh and at Siem Reap airport.
And now at Phuket!

Destination Saigon in Khmer!

2011-01-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

Now don't get excited - no-one is translating Destination Saigon just yet (though note to my Cambodian friends - please feel free to!). When I was in Cambodia recently I met some really wonderful young writers, and my dear friend there, author and songwriter Sok Chanphal, has done a blog entry about me and my book. Of course, I can't yet read a word of it, but for all of you Khmer speakers out there, here it is!

"កាលពីខែធ្នូ ២០១០ ខ្ញុំបានទទួលសៀវភៅមួយក្បាលពីបងប្រុស Walter Mason គាត់បានមកស្រុកខ្មែរដើម្បីចាប់ផ្ដើមសរសេរសៀវភៅមួយក្បាល ហើយត្រូវបាននែនាំឱ្យស្គាល់ខ្ញុំតាមមិត្តខ្ញុំ សួង មាក់ ដែលកំពុងរៀននៅប្រទេសឡាវ។ Walter Mason ជាអ្នកនិពន្ធជាតិអូស្ត្រាលី ដែលបានជោគជ័យក្នុងការសរសេរសៀវភៅមួយក្បាលពីប្រទេសវៀតណាម Destination Saigon ។ ពេលដែលគាត់មកភ្នំពេញ ខ្ញុំក៏បាននែនាំមិត្តអ្នកនិពន្ធក្មេងៗរបស់ខ្ញុំឱ្យគាត់ស្គាល់ និងបានជូនសៀវភៅដែលខ្ញុំនិពន្ធទៅគាត់ ហើយគាត់ក៏សន្យាថានឹងរៀនភាសាខ្មែរ ដើម្បីអានសៀវភៅទាំងនោះ។ នេះគឺអ្វីដែលគាត់បានសរសេរពីខ្ញុំ និងការបោះពុម្ពសៀវភៅរបស់ខ្ញុំ នៅគេហទំព័រសៀវភៅរបស់គាត់៖ Destination Saigon in Cambodia

ហើយនេះគឺជាសៀវភៅដែលគាត់បានជូនខ្ញុំ "

Meditation

2010-11-23T15:20:00.000-08:00

In the West it is a normal assumption that the primary spiritual practice of Buddhism is meditation. The two words go hand in hand, and it is imagined that the average Buddhist spends many hours a day in full lotus on the floor.
But anyone who has spent any time in a predominantly Buddhist country will tell you that this is not really true. In my experience the vast majority of Buddhist lay people in Asia do not practice meditation, though many will claim it is a good thing to do. Even more surprising, most Buddhist monastics have no regular meditation practice to speak of.
This is especially true in Vietnam, where monks and nuns are quite intergrated into the community, and lead busy lives of social and religious organisation. Apart from counselling, the provision of charity and other pastoral work, the main work of monastics in Vietnam seems to be the administration of temples (especially overseeing extensions, repairs and other building work), the care of younger monastics in their charge, conducting daily prayer sessions, making themselves available for memorial ceremonies, planning festivities for religious holidays and the study of religious and other topics - probably in that order. I can honestly say that, in the course of 16+ years study and travel in Vietnam and having dozens of monastic friends, I have never met a single monk or nun in Vietnam who practices meditation in any consistent way. I have visited three temples there where meditation is the primary focus, but these tend to be isolated retreat centres, and viewed by the locals (and almost especially by other monastics) as exotic sites quite alien ot the general thrust of Vietnamese Buddhism.
Of course, starting out as a young Buddhist this all came as a terrible blow to me. Almost from the beginning of my interest in Buddhism I had carefully and conscientously attended meditation classes and pursued my own meditation practice at home. I was (I am) a great fan of the writing of Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, and had assumed that he was describing the standard of Vietnamese Buddhism.
Staying in Vietnamese monasteries I became increasingly frustrated at the absence of what I then considered "proper" practice. I would ask the monks when they meditated and they would look at me in a confused and apologetic manner. I looked down on them - this wasn't the way things were meant to be. I was the original religious imperialist.
But when I came back to Australia I made the acquaintance of a very senior Vietnamese monk, and he explained that this obsession with meditation as the singular and superior form of Buddhist practice was a recent Western phenomenon. He convinced me that a life well-lived, engaged with the lay-people, trying to meet their all-too-worldly expectations and alleviate their existential anxieties was work enough for most monks. Their meditation was in an active form, either in chanting the sutras or reciting the Buddha's name while using the rosary.
The last time I was in Vietnam I spent a lot of time at one of the big temples in Ho Chi Minh City. My friend, a young monk who excelled in administrative matters and also spent a lot of time blessing the statues for people's home shrines, pointed out a large new building that had been added to the temple complex.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Oh, a zen hall - for the monks to practice meditation. An overseas Vietnamese paid for its construction."
I was shocked because I had never witnessed this community in meditation. Indeed, I'd never even heard the word mentioned before. The look on my face must have been obvious, because my friend smiled and patted me on the arm reassuringly.
"Never once been used for the purpose," he said with a laugh. "But it's an excellent spot for visiting monks to sleep in when they are here."

The Teo Chiew

2010-11-15T00:11:00.000-08:00

Vietnam has had a conflicted history with its great suffocating neighbour to the North, China. While much of Vietnamese culture and religion is identifiably sinific, the Vietnamese have been staunchly nationalistic and adamant about their ethnic difference since the beginning of recorded history. The unfortunate tendency of the Middle Kingdom to drift towards thecolonisation and oppression of its neighbours is still remembered bitterly in Vietnam, and with occasional vehemence. I can't find the quote anywhere (and do, please, someone let me know!), but Ho Chi Minh famously said something along the lines of "I'd rather be America's dog for a hundred years than China's whore forever."
The presence of the Chinese in Vietnam has also been notable for its occasional conflicts. Undoubtedly living there for as long as Vietnam itself has existed, the Chinese minority was consistently and almost universally despised, though these days that kind of vehement racism seems to have faded. The Chinese in the South had, of course, their famous city-within-a-city, Cholon. A vast Chinese ghetto on the outskirts of Saigon, Cholon was (and still is) home to immense wealth, enterprise and, invariably, vice. Cholon, with its craziness, over-population, filth and romantic propensity to wickedness has always enchanted European writers, who were much more bewitched by that city's obvious glamour and squalour. Graham Greene smoked opium there, Marguerite Duras was kept there as a lover of an idle young Chinese merchant, and my very favourite, the French Count Gontran de Poncins, lived there for a year with a sullen mistress while he wrote his travel masterpiece From a Chinese City.
The Chinese seemed always to drift toward the south of Vietnam, as far away from the Chinese border as possible. They settled in large numbers in the Mekong Delta towns, and driving through these areas now you still see Chinese family temples that have been there for centuries. In many cases they are quite new-looking, having been re-built and expanded with Chinese money from abroad.
The dominant ethnic group among the Chinese in Vietnam was (and is) the Teo Chiew. Indeed, the Teo Chiew seem to have been inveterate travellers, for they are also the dominant merchant caste in Bangkok, Phnom Penh and much of South East Asia. Where I live in South West Sydney, in the Indo-Chinese ghetto of Cabramatta, the Teo Chiew remain strongly represented, maintaining special temples, welfare associations and community centres. And this was the great genius of the Chinese diaspora: banding together in kinship groups based for the most part on ethnic and regional origin, and using these bonds to establish strong networks of community welfare, business and education.
These days the great commuity temples of the Chinese are still much in evidence in Cholon, despite a period of time when the ethnic Chinese were victimised and hounded out of Vietnam, immediately following 1975. Fortunately not all of them left, and it was the people who remained who have emerged as the great initiators of the modern Vietnamese economic miracle, particularly in the South. Anyone who has driven down Nguyen Trai on a Sunday night will be able to vouch for the continued energy, wealth and just plain fun of Cholon. It is a wonderful place, and somewhere I'd like to spend more time one day. Indeed, I've thought of re-creating de Poncins' book - minus the sullen mistress, of course - in 21st Century Vietnam. We'll see.
Teo Chiew dialect (Chao Zhou Hua) is commonly heard in Cholon, and among disaporic communities of Indo-Chinese in the West. These incredibly strong and universal tribes of Chinese fascinate me, and very little study has been done of them. But the Teo Chiew (cue a thousand different spellings - I'm sticking to this one), the Cantonese, the Hakka and the Fujianese are among the most widely-scattered and successful peoples on the earth. And most overseas Chinese can quickly identify to which of the groupings they and their ancestors belong.

Water Dispenser Outside Church, Le Van Sy St.

2010-11-10T20:37:00.000-08:00

One of the most touching sights in Ho Chi Minh City is the humble water dispenser many Catholic churches leave on the footpath outside. In a city where clean, drinkable water is hard to get, this is a small act of charity that is immensely useful, and, to my mind at least, quite admirable.
These dispensers are filled up with clean water throughout the day, and the thousands of people who work, travel or live on the streets of this enormous city know they can walk by and grap a cupful whenever they want it. The sign on the side says "No Charge."
This particular photograph was taken on Le Van Sy St. in Phu Nhuan, outside the beautiful Ba Chuong church.

Amitabha Buddha

2010-11-06T03:10:00.000-07:00

The name you will hear most consistently if you spend any time in Vietnamese Buddhist temples is that of Amitabha Buddha - or A Di Da Phat in Vietnamese. In his fascinating book Buddhism in America, Richard Hughes Seager calls Amitabha "among the greatest of the cosmic buddhas of the Mahayana tradition."
The vast bulk of Vietnamese Buddhists practise a basic form of Pure Land Buddhism, and for the most part the monks advocate recitation of Amitabha's name as the most effective form of religious practice for lay-people. This is what all of those wrist malas and long prayer beads are for.
Within the temple, Amitabha's name is also a kind of shorthand replacement for everything. When you say hello, you say A Di Da Phat, when you say goodbye, when you want to attract someone's attention and when you express surprise. Once I was at temple when one of the large vases that are found in the main prayer hall tumbled over and smashed, and a number of monks looked up and exclaimed, as one, A Di Da Phat!
The true form of Buddha recitation is, of course, Nam Mo A Di Da Phat. This is enunciated clearly during communal temple worship, but at other times it is shortened to Mo Phat, and this is in fact the standard greeting amongst Buddhists, both monastics and laity.
Despite his name being constantly on everyone's lips, statues of Amitabha Buddha are not normally very prominent at temples. It is rare to have him as the main object of devotion in the prayer hall, and he is rarely seen on other shrines. Normally there is a printed image of him on the wall in the monks' offices, or a small statue on a shelf somewhere. People seem to set much greater store on statues of Kwan Yin and Sakyamuni Buddha.
One place where an image of Amitabha does become important is at people's death beds, which is why monks always have a small-ish statue of him to hand to take to hospitals and houses of the faithful, should the need arise. It is thought that if the dying person lays eyes upon an image of Amitabha, they will be reborn in his paradise. In Tibetan Buddhism there are much more elaborate forms of Amitabha worship involving initiations and various other practices. But in Vietnamese Buddhism the devotion to Amitabha is restricted to the recitation of his name while using the rosary and, in a very few temples, the chanting of the Amitabha Sutra.
The image with this post is from the large Buddhist nunnery that stands atop the mountain overlooking Phan Thiet. It is part of a massive reproduction of the Pure Land Trinity that stands on a sunny terrace carved into the side of the mountain.

Walter Mason to appear in the Writers' Tent at the Newtown Festival Sunday 14th November

2010-11-03T23:32:00.000-07:00

I'm very honoured to be appearing in the Writers' Tent at this year's Newtown Festival.
The Tent, sponsored by King St literary institution Better Read Than Dead, is THE hotspot of the Festival, featuring a really fascinating range of authors (including my good friend Geesche Jacobsen) talking about their books and their craft.
I'll be In Conversation with the terrific Maggie Hamilton, and I'm sure she'll drag insights, profundities and epiphanies aplenty out of me.

Please come along and hear me!

Newtown Festival - Writers' Tent
Sunday 14th November
3.15pm

Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam with Walter Mason

From the crazy heat and colour of Saigon to the quieter splendour of Hanoi, Walter Mason gives us a rare, joyous, at times hilarious insight into contemporary Vietnam.
Seduced by the beauty and charm of its people, the rich variety of foods, travel off the beaten track to far-flung villages in overcrowded buses or perched perilously on motorbikes.

In conversation with publisher Maggie Hamilton.

Crowded Buddhist Shrine - Long Khanh Temple - Quy Nhon, Vietnam

2010-11-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

People often have a romanticised idea of the Buddhist aesthetic. Actually, people hold all kinds of unrealistic notions about many aspects of Buddhism, but the great cliche is that of the clutter-free, ultra-simple, zen-like atmosphere.
I'm here to tell you that Buddhist temples and monasteries are not like that. Especially not in Vietnam.
This is a shrine in a senior monk's room at the largest temple in Quy Nhon City. Actually, as these things go, it's quite restrained - I've certainly seen far more crowded shrines in my time.
But you can see, there's a certain dedication to colour, and plenty to catch the eye.
I actually like my Buddhism like this: colourful, chaotic, unpretentious and appealing directly to common ideas. I love that life in Vietnamese Buddhist monasteries can be chaotic and crowded, the shrines dusty and filled with tat.

Bonsai in Buddhist Temples in Vietnam

2010-11-01T00:44:00.001-07:00

Monks are, naturally, somewhat restricted in the pastimes they can pursue.
Though they may play sports on temple grounds, hidden from the eyes of lay-people, and they may get enthusiastic about watching soccer on TV, generally they are forbidden from really indulging in sport as a hobby. That said, I once knew a monk in Saigon who was a keen body-builder. He eventually gave it away after a few years - he had come to the realisation that body-building was not quite in the spirit of his monastic vows.
Literature is, of course, an admirable pursuit for monks, and those who are talented enough spend their time writing or translating.
If they are wealthy, monks can turn their hand to collecting - Buddhist art, old manuscripts and antique vases are popular. I even know a monk who breeds pekingese dogs in his leisure time, though for some reason this makes me uneasy.
Monks can work on becoming artists and calligraphers, and sometimes flower arrangers - all are admirable skills in a monastery. Some turn their hand to the occult, and work on becoming expert at the I Ching, Chinese astrology and palm reading - this is all, of course, technically forbidden, but plenty of monks do it.
But there are three hobbies that monks in Vietnam excel at, and all are, in my book, exquisite and approrpiate. They are: tea connoisseurship, the growing of orchids and the cultivation of bonsai.

Bonsai are ubiquitous in the temple courtyards of Vietnam, and monks deal and trade in them.

They can be quite expensive, and sometimes a monk is appointed as temple gardener in order to attend to the bonsai.
If a monk or abbott is really keen on them common areas can become somewhat over-crowded with these potted plants.

Some are also allowed to grow to enormous size - I'm not quite sure if, in this case, they are still considered bonsai (perhaps an expert can enlighten us?), but they are still cared for and cultivated in the same manner.

Popular mythology would have it that the roots (no pun intended) of bonsai lie in the patient care and eccentric eye of the Buddhist monks of antiquity. Certainly it is a stately, gentle pursuit, and one worthy of monastic attention.

Catholics and Christmas in Vietnam

2010-10-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

The vast Catholic churches that serve the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City are also home to eclectic book and gift shops tucked discreetly into side buildings. Around Christmas time they pack up the usual assortment of plastic rosary beads and plaster of paris statues of the Vietnamese martyrs and turn themselves into dazzling winter wonderlands, selling cards, nativity sets and all other kinds of Christmas paraphernalia to the people of Saigon, Christian and Buddhist alike. Christmas is big business in Vietnam, and the Catholic gift shops see themselves as the rightful source of festive tawdriness in all its manifestations. Courting couples hit the Catholic churches to browse the immense stands of cards, and maybe pick up a purple plastic Christmas tree or two. If its Christmas cheer you’re after, your local church will have it in spades.
Tan Dinh church, a pastel pink masterpiece of French provincial frippery at the best of times, is transformed by late November into a riotous Noel-themed fun park. Vast plastic pine trees, their limbs heavy with snow, are hot sellers, and outside the church individual entrepreneurs set up racks and racks of Santa suits in every size – except in sizes that Santa himself would actually fit. It is not unusual to pass someone driving his motorcycle dressed in full Santa regalia – indeed, I have driven past entire families all dressed as Santa balancing on a motorbike. The laws requiring adults to wear safety helmets probably put a dampener on things a little, but the merest suggestion of a red cap and white pom pom poking coquettishly from underneath a helmet is enough to offer a tantalising suggestion of Father Christmas. The only other modification is that Santa is invariably wearing flip-flops.

Quan Am Pagoda, Phu Nhuan

2010-10-11T04:11:00.001-07:00

One of the places I find myself constantly recommending people visit is the little-known Quan Am Pagoda in Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City.

This temple is also mentioned in my book, Destination Saigon, and I have been visiting there for almost 15 years now.

It is a pretty basic suburban temple, but it was the Saigon residence of Thich Quang Duc, and as I mentioned in a previous post, it has become something of a shrine to him.
Downstairs is a large shrine to Thich Quang Duc Bodhisattva and the other Buddhist martyrs that followed him - most people don't realise that many people, both monastic and lay, followed his example and set fire to themselves in protest to the war.

There is also a large and very kitsch grotto housing a quite unique shrine to Quan Am (Kwan Yin). This particular shrine is very popular with locals, and the statue of Quan Am is quite unique, in a form rarely seen.

To get to the grotto you need to walk through the gift shop to the left of the temple, and then climb up through the fake cave. Offerings are made from behind the statue. This grotto is exceedingly cramped, and should you meet someone on your way up or down one of you is going have to re-trace your steps - it is almost impossible to pass another person.

Details: Chua Quan Am - Phu Nhuan, 90 Thích Quảng Đức St, Phu Nhuan, Ho Chi Minh City

Thich Quang Duc

2010-10-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

Though these days people in the West view him as a figure of bizarre fascination and even horror, Thich Quang Duc remains a hero to Vietnamese Buddhists, and is even called Thich Quang Duc Bo Tat - the Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc.

He is the monk famous for burning himself alive in protest at the continued Vietnam-American war, and the image of his burning body sitting upright in lotus position became a worldwide symbol of the anti-war protest movement.
Though he hailed from Hue, Thich Quang Duc was normally resident at Saigon, at the Quan Am Pagoda in Phu Nhuan District.

This temple is still there, on the re-named Thich Quang Duc street, and upstairs in there is a small and rarely visited museum to the Bodhisattva. It is normally closed to visitors, but it contains various relics of Thich Quang Duc - his pillows, his clothes, his books and other everyday items. The temple also has his most sacred relic, the small charred heart that was left after his body had been consumed by petrol-fuelled flames. This heart will be housed in a large tower being constructed at the top of the temple. It may well be finished by now (I'd love to hear from anyone in Saigon who is aware of its progress), and it is already a striking landmark in that part of the district. At the very top of the tower is a large sculpture of two hands clasped together in prayer. It is really quite beautiful.
Though Thich Quang Duc was the first of the Buddhist martyrs, many were to follow, both monastic and lay people.

For many years a small monmument to Thich Quang Duc stood at the corner of Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street and Cach Mang Thang Tam Street in Saigon, but recently a brand new one has been opened by the City authorities just across the road, as part of a memorial park.

Destination Saigon in Siem Reap!

2010-09-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful email from my old friends Beth and Peter at the Bay Bookshop in gorgeous Batemans Bay.
They have just come back from Cambodia (where, incidentally, I'm headed at the end of this year to write my second book), and they were overjoyed to discover my book, Destination Saigon, at Monument Books in Siem Reap International Airport!

How wonderful.
Last week I heard from a friend who has just come back from Bangkok, and he says that Destination Saigon is prominently displayed in the airport bookshop there, as well.
And of course, it continues to be a fixture at airport bookshops across Australia.
It's so woderful to hear that my little book has struck a chord with travellers to Asia, and a great big thanks to all of those shops that continue to support it!

Van Mieu - The Temple of Literature - Hanoi

2010-08-25T04:15:00.000-07:00

My favourite place in all of Hanoi is Van Mieu, the medieval Confucian University.

Yes, I know it is something of a tourist hell-hole these days (in fact, I write about it in Destination Saigon), but despite the crowds of tourists and the ever more obnoxious guides, I still love just slouching about the grounds of this exquisite building.

The first time I ever went there, back in 1994, Hanoi was still largely unvisited, and the Temple of Literature was absolutely decrepit. Even then, though, it had incredible charm. The morning we first visited there was no-one else at all in the place, apart from a few sad-faced souvenir sales-girls and a man cleaning the toilets. It seems hard to believe now, when hundreds must stream through every day.

Still, I think there's no better place to go on a grey, rainy Hanoi morning. The last time I went the gardens were filled with schoolgirls reading Chicken Soup for the Soul in Vietnamese. Which is exactly what I'd be doing if I was in their shoes.

5 Interesting Books by Thich Nhat Hanh

2010-07-30T01:38:00.000-07:00

Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most fascinating and compelling people alive - a real living spiritual treasure. I first came upon his work when I was a very young man, and I was delighted by the simplicty, clarity and lack of pretension in his message. I wanted to find out more about Buddhism, and he was the first writer to really bring it alive for me. It is because of Thich Nhat Hanh that I have spent the last 20 years exploring Buddhism and exploring Vietnam. It is no wonder, then, that my book Destination Saigon carries a thank-you note to him in the acknowledgements.
As well as being a meditation master and the second most famous Buddhist monk in the world (the Dalai Lama beats him), he is also a scholar and linguist, with a great love for literature and a real gift for expression. He has been a prolfic writer over the years, so I thought I would humbly present my own list of his books that have helped and inspired me over the years:

Savor - This is his newest book, and is co-authored with Dr. Lilian Cheung. It is a fascinating exercise - a kind combination Buddhist manual and diet book. Thich Nhat Hanh has always talked a lot about food in his writings: the need to eat mindfully, the need to be thankful for our meals, how to eat ethically etc. So I guess devoting a whole book to it is a natural progression. Interestingly, this is also the book that finally got him noticed by Oprah - so he at last carries the imprimatur of the queen of popular culture!

The Energy of Prayer - This little book is probably the one I turn to most. My copy is battered and dog-eared, filled with highlighting and comments. I have used it a lot in my meditation teaching, because I find it uses language that is quite familiar to Western, non-Buddhist minds. Master Nhat Hanh has been interested in the meeting of Eastern and Western spiritualities since he was a young man, and this book is the best melding of those traditions. Its final section is a series of prayers and meditations that would be helpful to anyone's spiritual life.

The Miracle of Mindfulness - Probably his best-known book, The Miracle of Mindfulness was something of a Bible for me in the 90s. I read it over and over as I traveled through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, and my filthy copy was perused at some of the most beautiful and amazing locations! It is a beautifully written and belletristic exploration of meditation and mindfulness, and I promise it will be a constant inspiration.

Master Tang Hoi - One for the history buffs. Master Tang Hoi was the first Zen teacher in Vietnam, and this is the most intriguing book about him and his teachings. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Vietnamese history and culture, and for Zen enthusiasts it represents a meditation teaching that pre-dates Bodhidharma by 300 years!

Joyfully Together - If you are interested in building community and making the world a nicer place to be, this is a really wonderful place to start. It is one of Thich Nhat Hanh's more obscure titles, but I have found it to be tremendously useful and inspiring, and have drawn on its wisdom and advice many times. Master Nhat Hanh has himself established a global community of gigantic proportions, so why not learn from a master?

Gate Gate Paragate...

2010-07-23T03:37:00.001-07:00

If you attend evening prayer sessions at a Vietnamese Buddhist temple, one of the scriptures that you will hear chanted is the Heart Sutra.
This is the most concise sutra in the Mahayana canon, and is particularly prized in the Zen school of Buddhism. Though short, it is densely and enigmatically phrased, and a practitioner could easily spend a lifetime devoted to its study. Some do.
One of the moments I love during chanting is when we reach the end of the sutra and the mantra is chanted. This is the famous mantra Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha. As the lay people sit cross-legged on the floor the mantra is chanted over and over at quite a dizzying pace, the fish drum beating the pace. It really is a transcendent moment.

Monastery Gardens - Thu Duc - Phap Vien Minh Dang Quang

2010-07-20T01:26:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite monasteries - and one which is almost completely unknown - is Phap Vien Minh Dang Quang on Hanoi Road in Thu Duc.
It's quite difficult to find because over the years the monastery has sold off its land that faces the road and is now obscured behind a range of genuinely hideous factories and light-industry. Once you enter the monastery gates, however, you are instantly in another world - a world of almost complete quiet, with monks dotted about the park-like gardens in individual huts, dressed in the bright-yellow robes of the Khat Si, Vietnam's indigenous Buddhist order.
There's nothing fancy about the place - the main hall is little more than a rickety tin shed on stilts that actually shakes when I walk about in it.

But it's a semi-rural monastery in the oldest style, the way I imagine many places would have been in a quieter, less overpopulated Vietnam.
These days the gardens are populated with some massive statuary.

There is also a large and surprisingly beautiful statue of the Order's founder, Minh Dang Quang.

Monastery Gardens - Ho Chi Minh City - Vanh Hanh Buddhist University

2010-07-16T21:41:00.001-07:00

Van Hanh Buddhist University was once a dusty collection of ramshackle shacks and 60s-era concrete buildings. A few years ago a wealthy Taiwanese Buddhist group came to the rescue and developed it into one of the most beautiful small universities I have seen.
It is also home to a resident monastic community (it is the residence of Vietnam's Buddhist Patriarch), and operates a neighbourhood temple.

Monastery Gardens - Ho Chi Minh City - Chua Giac Lam

2010-07-16T02:56:00.000-07:00

One of the suburban temples in Ho Chi Minh City that is well and truly on the tourist beat is Chua Giac Lam.
It is said to be one of the area's earliest extant Mahayana temples (there are, naturally, some much older Theravada temples in the vicinity, including Wat Bodhiwong, a Khmer temple), and there are graves in the temple cemetery dating back 300 years. Despite the occasional crowd of tourists, I quite like Giac Lam. It is spread out, and in the afternoons it is a hangout for students from the neighbourhood who come here to study in the quiet - and do quite a bit of flirting with each other. When I spent a lot of time in Vietnam in 1999 I used to come here quite often to conduct an informal English class with a young monk I knew, and we were allowed special access to a closed-off garden at the side of the temple which grows special medicinal herbs for the monks' use. Unfortunately I have no pics from that time.
The front courtyard boasts a very big and very healthy Bodhi tree.
As it is situated on quite a large parcel of land, the temple has, over the years, established a number of different outdoor shrines on a grand scale.

This shrine to Kwan Yin is a great favourite of elderly Chinese men, who sit in front of it all morning shouting to each other in Teo Chew dialect, smoking and scratching their bare bellies.

Monastery Gardens - Ho Chi Minh City - Chua Pho Quang

2010-07-15T01:47:00.000-07:00

Pho Quang is a large-ish suburban temple in Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Binh district. When I first started coming to Vietnam it was situated in a semi-industrial area, surrounded by army and air-force camps. Now it is a densely populated urban zone, and the temple is actually quite hard to find, hidden away down several sub-streets.
It has one of the most fantastic Buddhist supply shops in Vietnam, and is well worth visiting for that reason alone. The products are very reasonably priced, and clearly ticketed, so it makes shopping a breeze.
The grounds are still quite spacious, and there are plenty of seats in the monastery courtyards, so it is a great place to spend an afternoon relaxing and people watching.

There are any number of shrines and grottoes in the temple complex, and on sabbath days the place becomes quite crowded.
The common areas were all paved long ago, so the garden, such as it is, is composed of potted trees, shrubs and bonsai.

In the roots of the big trees that surround the outdoor shrines you can see a range of fascinating cast-off ritual objects.

Buddhists believe that you cannot throw away a statue or picture that you used in worship, so when such things break or get too tatty, the faithful bring them to temples like this one and put the unwanted items at the base of the temple trees, this being seen as a sufficiently respectful way of getting rid of them. I assume that a couple of times a year the temple just rounds all this junk up and throws it out - I have never enquired about the actual ritual requirements of it all. It would be fascinating to know.

Monastery Gardens - Thu Duc - Benedictine Monastery

2010-07-13T05:07:00.001-07:00

For something a little different, I thought I would show you the gardens at the Benedictine Monastery in Thu Duc, a satellite city of Ho Chi Minh City.

Once upon a time the monastery would have been in a rural area, but these days it is really just a suburb of the enormous, amorphous metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City. It's about a 30 minute drive from my house in Tan Binh, and the taxi ride comes to about $15. Taxi drivers can NEVER find it.
There are several gardens in the monastery, all serving very different purposes.
These are the front gardens, which are packed for most of the day with Catholic lay-people waiting for confession and to receive the blessings of a monk. The monastery has a reputation for helping women to conceive, so it is quite a popular pilgrimage spot - even for people of other faiths.

There is a large working garden - which includes this fish farm. The monks grow their own food, and they also propagate cash crops - most particularly marigolds for sale during the Lunar New Year.

Out of sight of the public lie the monastery gardens proper. These are spaces for the monks to enjoy, and are normally based around a piece of statuary. These gardens are quite beautiful, and are meant to inspire meditation and prayer.

Monastery Gardens - Ho Chi Minh City - Chua Vien Giac

2010-07-07T00:41:00.000-07:00

Right near my house in Ho Chi Minh City is a small suburban temple that was once dusty, decrepit and nondescript.

About ten years ago the new Abbott began to rebuild it, and these days it is one of the most beautiful temples in the City.

It is one of the few temples to have a dedicated full-time gardener (who also happens to be a monk), and the grounds are kept in pristine condition.

Chua Vien Giac is well worth a visit, not just for its lovely garden, but for its unique architecture, based on traditional Hue styles.

Details: Chua Vien Giac, 193 Bùi Thị Xuân – Phường 1 – Quận Tân Bình – TP. Hồ Chí Minh

Monastery Gardens - Quy Nhon - Chua An Long

2010-07-06T03:05:00.000-07:00

This was a beautiful little temple in a village outside Quy Nhon City.

Monastery Gardens - Hoai Nhon - Beachside Temple

2010-07-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

This is the smaller temple that sits right on the beach.
The courtyard garden is paved, so only has potted plants and bonsai.

Monastery Gardens - Hoai Nhon - Chua Huong Mai

2010-07-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hoai Nhon is a delightful fishing village situated in a cove about 40km from Quy Nhon City. It is hidden away and extremely difficult to get to, but is really one of the most exquisite spots in Vietnam.
The village is small, and sits right on the beach. There are only two temples there, and this one, Chua Huong Mai, is the largest.
It is situated on a hillside tumbling down to the beach, so the monastery complex is terraced, each building situated on its own separate cliff and accessed by steep stone steps.

The Abbott is an enthusiastic cultivator of bonsai.

The Kwan Yin terrace also doubles as an outdoor vegetarian restaurant on sabbath days. Because it is a small village, where fish is the stable diet, there is no vegetarian restaurant in town. So on the sabbath (ram) the monks and dedicated lay-people make vegetarian noodles for the villagers.

These wonderful aqua-coloured dragons tumble down many of the stairs - this colour seems to be unique to central Vietnam.

Monastery Gardens - Quy Nhon - Chua Hien Nam

2010-06-29T04:37:00.000-07:00

Chua Hien Nam is a 300 year-old temple in Quy Nhon City, Binh Dinh province.
Like many temples in Vietnam, it is hemmed in all around by houses and shops, so the only way to reach the temple is by going down an alley. This has happened because over the years the temple has subdivided and sold off its lands, leaving itself stranded in the middle of urban density.
The grounds are still reasonably spacious, and the forecourt garden contains a large shrine to Kwan Yin.

This outdoor shrine is above a water garden, growing some rather fine lotuses.

The area is paved so that it can be used as an extension of worship or other congregational space. It is used all day by people from the surrounding neighbourhood - in this case to release a cage full of birds as an act of good karma.

Looking out from the Abbott's room you can see his prize collection of bonsai in pots. The cultivation of bonsai - along with the cultivation of orchids - is seen as a monkish pasttime in Vietnam.

And though they provide an interesting focal point in front of the main prayer hall, they hardly provide any shade, which is much needed in Quy Nhon's hot climate.

Monastery Gardens - Hue - Tinh Xa Ngoc Huong

2010-06-28T01:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some views of the monastery gardens at Tinh Xa Ngoc Huong on Le Van Huu street in the old part of Hue.

The monastery is rather idylically located on one of the old imperial islands, and I believe that it was once the site of the Empress' library.

The Tinh Xa is a temple of the Tang Gia Khat Si, the indigenous order of Vietnamese Buddhism. It is quite small and run-down, and only houses a handful of monks.

On the next street up is another Tinh Xa belonging to the nun's order, and this is much larger, more modern and well-kept.
But I love the down-at-heel charm of Tinh Xa Ngoc Huong, which is frequently closed, and can only be accessed via a long and somewhat perilous concrete footbridge.

Sakyamuni Buddha

2010-06-08T23:58:00.000-07:00

Sakyamuni (Thich Ca Mau Ni Phat vn.) is the historical Buddha, and the central figure of worship that unites all of the schools and sects of Buddhism.

All agree on his life and teaching, though there are some minor disagreements on points of his teaching (did he advocate vegetarianism or not?) and his biography (when exactly did he live and die?).

Sakyamuni is normally the central image in the main prayer halls in Vietnamese temples - on very rare occasions the central image might be of Amitabha, and even more rarely Vairocana.

But almost all Buddhist temples in Vietnam feature a statue of Sakyamuni as their main object of worship.

Destination Saigon at Cabramatta Library

2010-06-07T06:13:00.001-07:00

The really lovely people at the Whitlam Library in Cabramatta are holding a very special meet-the-author evening on Wednesday night the 9th of June at 6.30pm.
I will be talking about Vietnam, writing, and some of the special and funny stories that form the backbone of "Destination Saigon."
I am so privileged to be speaking at my own local library, so please come along if you can to hear an author on his home turf.

Details:

Whitlam Library
Wednesday, 9th June, 6.30pm
9725 0360 to RSVP

Everyone is welcome to this free event.

Thank you to Anne and Andrew at the library for their wonderful support, the posters look fantastic!!

Top 5 Day-Glo Lotuses in Vietnam

2010-05-26T01:22:00.000-07:00

I have a thing for the popular Buddhist art of Vietnam.
I am a fan of the school of maximilism that informs most of the temple decoration that you see in Vietnam. Indeed, the working title for my book Destination Saigon was 'Day-Glo Lotus and Neon Halo', which I thought captured perfectly the kind of Vietnamese groove I wanted to describe. Sadly, my publishers didn't agree.
So I wanted to present you with a less-than-comprehensive overview of some of Vietnam's finest day-glo lotuses.

An Long Temple, near Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh Province: This is the classic in contemporaray day-glo lotus sculpture. Supporting a colourful statue of Di Lac, the fat, laughing Buddha of the future, this lotus is the hottest of pinks, with the acidest of green contrasts. These kinds of statues are still produced by hand at little workshops all over Vietnam. Made of plaster, they are quite fragile but still remarkably heavy. They are also quite cheap.

2. Hien Nam Temple, Quy Nhon City, Binh Dinh Province: Right near Quy Nhon's massive supermarket sits this more subtle example of an outdoor lotus. Rendered in a faded orange, these outdoor lotuses have to be touched up yearly, and so can undergo quite radical changes in colour from one year to the next. This one is supporting Quan The Am, the Bodhisattva of Mercy.

3. Khanh Hoa Temple, Pham Van Hai St., Tan Binh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City: This is vintage lotus, pre-1975. Much more beautifully and carefully rendered, I'd say constructed on the spot from reinforced cement. This is the largest of the lotuses featured. It is an indoor setting, and the colours are slightly more muted.

4. Giac Vien Temple, Dist. 11, Ho Chi Minh City: This temple is filled with antique wooden statues of great beauty, but these are a couple of the newer additions. The statue in green is quite a unique rendering - I've never seen a deity dressed in quite that shade in any other Vietnamese temple. Her position next to Amitabha makes me think it is a statue of Dai The Chi (Mahasthamaprapta) but I can't be sure, because the iconography is stangely noncommittal.

5. Huong Mai Temple, Hoai Nhon village, Binh Dinh: This is a detail from quite an amazing outdoor statue of Quan The Am at a remote fishing village. The red lotus column emerges from the belly of a dragon painted a quite distinct shade of aqua. This colour is new in temple statues, but I noticed it being used a lot in Central Vietnam last time I was there. I love how even these things are influenced by fashion!

Plastic Chairs

2010-05-04T04:37:00.001-07:00

One of the simple, easily missed but distinctive elements of life in Vietnam is the ubiquity of fragile plastic furniture.
I’m a great breaker of these flimsy plastic stools designed to hold the weight of the slender Vietnamese. At restaurants where I am known the owners make a great charade of stacking 3 or 4 stools one on top of the other in order to take my weight. I frequent a Benedictine monastery on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, and when I share the monks’ lunch in the refectory, they go to hunt down a truly massive mahogany chair, intended for the hallowed buttocks of visiting Bishops, and drag it into the communal eating hall for my benefit. Once, having suffered the indignity of breaking a chair at a bbq rabbit restaurant, a mother pointed me out to her child and said, “See that fat foreigner over there, the one who broke the chair? If you’re not good he’ll eat you up.”

Dia Tang Vuong Bo Tat

2010-05-02T04:14:00.001-07:00

Dia Tang is the Vietnamese name for Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva (Di Zhang Ch., Jizo Jp.).
He is the protector of the dead, and is the deity that is revered during memorial services for deceased relatives.
As such, he is a very important part of Vietnamese Buddhist ritual life.
His special celebration is during the festival of Vu Lan, where his legend has become enmeshed with that of Mahamoggallāna, who is said to have seen his mother in the realms of hell and to have petitioned the Buddha to take pity on the dead.

Walter Mason Speaking at the Cafe Church, Chapel by the Sea, Bondi Beach,

2010-04-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

7pm Sunday APRIL 11
@Chapel by the Sea, Bondi Beach

Address: 95 Roscoe Street, Bondi Beach NSW

Phone: 02 9130 3445

Walter will be talking about spiritual life in contemporary Vietnam, and will lead an exercise in prayer and meditation on the prayer bells.

Walter is an academic and writer with a long-standing interest in meditation, prayer and other contemplative practices.

Walter has travelled extensively throughout Asia, and has spent long periods studying Buddhism and meditation in Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and Cambodia.

These days Walter is firmly committed to the idea of Interfaith spirituality, and is convinced of the possibility of meaningful exploration of plural spiritual paths. At present Walter's spiritual journey could be defined as Buddhist-Christian, with input from the ideas of Christian mystic Emanuel Swedenborg and inspired by the example of the Hindu mystic Ramakrishna.

Committed to the practice of meditation as an effective tool for spiritual exploration, Walter's approach is gentle and focused on individual needs. Rejecting the idea that 3 hours a day squatting on the floor is essential, Walter teaches that even 5 minutes a day of mindful sitting or movement can have a positive effect on people's lives.

Walter is the author of a spiritual travel book called Destination Saigon, recently released by Allen & Unwin. www.destination-saigon.com

One Pillar Pagoda

2010-04-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

Along with the Dong Son drums and the conical hat, the One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi (Chua Mot Cot) is one of the most common symbols of the Vietnamese nation.
These days it occupies prime nationalist real-estate, occupying as it does a corner of the massive Ho Chi Minh mausoleum park. Indeed on special commemorative days (and there is at least one a week) the Pagoda is closed to the public because it sits so close to the mausoleum.
And while the site and probably the general shape of the Pagoda are ancient, the structure itself is relatively recent, having been bombed by the French in an act of singular nastiness in 1954.
These days it's quite a nice place to hang out and do some people watching. Though the coconut-juice sellers and other touts are particularly avaricious here, they'll normally leave you alone if you ignore them for a minute or two.
The attached temple is quite an oddity. It seems to be staffed by a single monk, and it keeps extremely eccentric opening hours. If you can get in there, it is well worth visiting. I have no idea if the Temple was destroyed in the bombing, but the design and structure seem to me to be authentic, so the re-construction must have been exactly along the lines of an older temple structure. The statues inside seem quite authentically antique, and are beautiful examples of Northern Vietnamese Buddhist art - well worth spending some time with.

Monday Night Meditation

2010-04-05T01:23:00.001-07:00

Once a month I lead a laid-back meditation evening at the Swedenborg Centre in North Ryde.
It is meant for everyone, and both experienced and beginner meditators are welcome.
In the evenings I explore a range of meditative practices inspired by things I have seen and done in Vietnam, the work and methods of Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhath Hanh, and various other influences.
It is fun and it is free, and I invite anyone interested to attend.

Details:

When? Second Monday of each month
from 6.30 – 7.30 pm

Where? Swedenborg Centre, 1 Avon Road,
North Ryde (1st Floor)

Cost? Free

Explore your own interior spiritual world!
Meditation does not have to be a gruelling exercise, with long periods of sitting on the floor!
Come to the Swedenborg Centre and experience a range of gentle meditation methods perfectly suited to contemporary living.
Explore with like-minded souls the possibilities of meditation, and discover a method that works for you.

Old Warehouses - Cholon

2010-03-31T20:25:00.000-07:00

One of my dreams was always to buy one of the old French-era warehouses that ran along the river from Cholon all the way into Saigon. They were the places in which much of the action in Graham Greene's The Quiet American took place.
These buildings were just exquisite - spacious and derelict, they were ripe for renovation, and would have made spectacular houses - even boutique hotels.
Unfortunately, in recent years most have them have been destroyed, in one of the most criminal efforts at "beautification" ever undertaken by an inept local government.
These picture was taken approx. 2003 - just before the bulldozers went through to create wider streets and a "more beautiful" riverside district.
Sigh...

Meditating on Bells

2010-03-27T01:07:00.000-07:00

Bells are a big part of Buddhist culture in all countries, and in Vietnam the temples pride themselves on both the big bronze bells that call the faithful to prayer from the bell tower and the smaller but more finely tuned bowl-bells that are used during chanting in the prayer hall itself.
For the past few months I have been using bells a lot in my meditation teaching, and I am going to be really exploring this theme when I do the Cafe Church at The Chapel by the Sea in Bondi on April 11 at 7pm. Do come along and share the experience/experiment with me.
Speaking of bells, I have recently heard a really fascinating documentary on the BBC World Service on the significance of temple bells in Japan, and I can't recommend it enough - a really fascinating radio documentary.

Liao Fan's Four Lessons

2010-02-03T22:52:00.000-08:00

When I was in Vietnam last time I made the acquaintance of a really lovely (and impossibly handsome) young monk from Hanoi called Thay Nguyen. He had come to Saigon to study at the Buddhist University, and I would go to visit him in his suburban temple, hidden down an incredible maze of back streets and alleys. It was a busy temple, a real community hub, as such temples tend to be. In the afternoons we would sit out on the monks' terrace garden and discuss some of the finer points of Buddhist philosophy, in a wonderfully effective mix of English and Vietnamese.
He always had gifts for me - CDs of Kwan Yin chants, colourful plastic prayer beads and, once, a book by the Dalai Lama in Vietnamese. That was rather too ambitious a gift, I'm afraid.
One of the texts that Thay Nguyen enthusisatically endorsed was Liao Fan's Four Lessons, a book which I had in fact read several times before.
In recent days I have been listening to a very old series of cassettes on which the book is read - something I picked up at a temple in Sydney 10 or more years ago - and I am struck by what a good guide to life it really is.
It is a kind of Chinese self-help book, advocating that wholesome mix of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism that has sustained the spiritual life of the Chinese for a thousand years, and has in turn had such a great influence on Vietnamese culture. It tells the story of a Mr. Liao Fan, a man who set great store by the predictions of psychics and soothsayers. After a chance meeting with a Zen master, he learnes that in fact destiny can change at any point, and that all people should be involved in re-shaping their destiny for the better. Then follows a long list of different methods for acquiring good karma, all illustrated with stories from Chinese mythology and antiquity.
In terms of Vietnamese culture it is probably quite a salient text. The people living in 21st Century Vietnam still set great store on the teachings of psychics, mediums and feng-shui masters, though all occupations are officially banned by the Communist government. Thay Nguyen was constantly coming up against parishioners who were distraught because of some bad forecast for the future, or overly-casual about spiritual cultivation because they were completely convinced that their destiny was pre-ordained.
As a popular cultural text, Liao Fan's Four Lessons is absolutely intriguing. Indeed, it is so much admired by people of all religious stripes that in Hong Kong and Taiwan there are societies established specifically to distribute the book and propagate its teachings.
The Vietnamese translation is becoming more readily available too, though the ones I saw in Vietnam were always donated by a Buddhist group in Taiwan, or were printed for commercial sale and distribution.

Dong Nhi

2010-01-31T18:10:00.001-08:00

Wonderful docco on Vietnamese pop star Dong Nhi - what a cutie!

Chanting

2010-01-21T16:51:00.000-08:00

I have read a really fascinating and enlightening new academic article by Mark W. McLeod called 'The Way of the Mendicants'. If you can get it at all (it might be available on-line through your library) it is well worth reading, as it as an absolutely unique contribution to Vietnamese and Buddhist studies, and the first thing of its kind to appear in the English language. Mr. McLeod humbles me with his erudition and excellent knowledge of the Vietnamese language, religion and culture.
The article is about the Tang Gia Khat Si, an indigenous Vietnamese Buddhist Order that I was involved with for many years, and who are referred to in passing in Destination Saigon. Reading it, I was reminded of the many hours I have spent chanting with a Buddhist congregation, either in Vietnam or here in Australia.
In popular Vietnamese Buddhist practice, chanting is seen to be the premier obligation of the committed lay-Buddhist, along with the observation of vegetarianism and the recitation of the Buddha's name. Chanting sessions take place each night in Buddhist pagodas, and in Vietnam they can be quite heavily attended. The lay people (invariably women, middle-aged or older) wear loose grey robes to signify their status as serious practitioners, and they manage to remain fit and nimble well into old age through the physical rigours involved with regular chanting.
You see, and average chanting session lasts for over an hour, during which devotees are seated directly on hard tiled floors, reading from the sutras kept open on special little wooden stands. It's not one long sit, however - there are also long periods of kneeling, and sections where you have to stand up and prostrate yourself on the floor over and over again. It's a regular work out.
Even more difficult are the days of sam hoi, or repentance. These days - preceding the sabbath days of the full and new moons - are when Buddhists should recall their faults and sins and renounce them. The accompanying ceremony is exhausting, involving a whopping 108 prostrations whle chanting the names of the various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. By the end everyone is in a lather of sweat, particularly on hot Saigon nights.
Chanting as a spiritual discipline is interesting, because it relies on the power of sound and the hypnotic effects of group recitation and repetition. In general the scriptures being chanted (invariably a chapter of the Lotus Sutra, plus extras) are a combination of meaningless mantra and difficult-to-understand Sino-Vietnamese, so the act of chanting is not really an intellectual process.