GENERAL INFORMATION OF THE BUDDHIST MONASTERY TAM BAO SON:

690 chemin de la Rouge, Harrington, Que J8G 2S7.  Tel (819) 687- 2183

 

The whole land of this monastery, 337 acres, has located in the Township Harrington since September 1988. This land has a plenty fresh air to allow Buddhist religion contribute its traditional culture into the Canadian culture; so all Buddhist adherents have feeling of their Buddhist homeland in Canada. It is a natural convention between religion and social culture as well. Here, there are four Holy places of the historic Gotama Buddha:

1) The Lumbini garden where Buddha was born

2) The Boddhigaya where Buddha achieved enlightenment

3) The Deer Park where Buddha start to teach His five disciples about the four Noble truths

4) The Kusinara where Buddha achieved Parinirvana.

Among these four important places of the Historic Buddha there are one main temple with 1000 Buddhas, the big statue of Sakyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of the past AMITABHA BUDDHA, the statue of the Buddha of Compassion AVALOKITESVRA, the Future Buddha MATREIYA, the statue of Buddha begging for alms, the statue of protection Buddha ( Vajanapani Bodhisattva ) and the Rahula garden with the statue of Avalokitesvra. Besides these statues, there are one dormitory for Buddhist monks/nuns, and one kitchen with the rest place for Buddhists as well.

All these construction were administered by the Most venerable THICH THIEN NGHI, his disciples (monks, nuns) and his Buddhist members in Canada who contributed their charity to develop Buddhism in Canada.

 

A) THE MAIN TEMPLE

The main temple was started to build in June 26, 1995 and was completed in Oct 16, 1995. The opening ceremony was held on June 29, 1996. In this Temple, there is one principal Buddha 3 meters high, one Amitabha Buddha (Buddha of the past) at 2 meters in height and 1000 small Buddha statues, each of whom is 30cm. These 1000 small statues with the five different positions of the Buddha represent five ways of the Buddha’s teaching. There are one big bell 3 meters high and one long drum 2 meters in height as well.

 

B) THE FOUR HOLY PLACES OF THE BHODI GOTAMA

 

1) THE GOTAMA ENLIGHTEN BUDDHA: BODDHIGAYA

This deliberated place was opened on August 3, 1991. The statue was made of bronze in Thailand, stands in 2.50 meters in height and is located under the special tree with six trunks represent the six paramitas or the six methods of all Buddhas and Boddhisattvas to help people. ( Boddhisattvas means Buddhahood). According to the historical events, the Gotama Buddha sat under this similar tree ( Boddhi tree) to meditate, and after 49 days he achieved enlightenment. He realized that the Buddha mind is in everybody and recognized that all have capacities to become Buddha like him. Besides this place, there is a creek whose name NI LIEN to show a purification of everyone.

 

2) THE LUMBINI GARDEN

This holy place is the place of birth of the Gotama Buddha. The opening ceremony was held on July 28, 1993. The statue of the baby Buddha is 1m.50 high with the seven lotus flowers, and the statue of the Buddha’s mother Queen Maya is 2 meter high.

According to the Buddha legend, Queen Maya dreamt about a white elephant with six trunks going into her hip, after which she became pregnant. Later, she gave birth to the  Buddha in this special garden stepped over seven lotuses. On the day of his birth, the Buddha gave his first message that: “in this world, human beings are noble possessed of a Buddha nature; however, human beings suffer from a lot of difficulties in their lives because of  their stubborn attachment to their egos (self).

The seven flowers show us the seven directions: North, South, East, West, the top, the bottom and the middle. The number seven also represents seven the basic rhythms of music that everybody understands and uses to communicate with each other to express their ideas.

 

3)  THE HOLY PLACE OF THE BUDDHA GIVING THE FIRST SERMON: THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS ( ISIPATANAGAYA  or THE DEER PARK)

The inauguration was held in August, 1994. The Buddha statue in the teaching position sits 2m.70 high, while the other five statues of his first five disciples are  2m each . These five monks were designated as the first Sangha (the community of monks) in the philosophy of the Triple GEM ( Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) according to the Buddhist tradition.  

 

4)  THE HOLY PLACE OF THE BUDDHA ATTAINING PARINIRVANA

This place was opened on July 22, 1998. The length of the Buddha statue is 7 meters, is 2.50 meters high, and 3 meters in width. The Buddha lies down with his head to the North, his legs to the South, his back to the East and his face to the West. This position is called peaceful sleeping.

 

C) THE WELL-KNOWN STATUE

 

1)  THE BUDDHA OF COMPASSION’S HOLY PLACE:

The gaya of Avalokitesvara Buddha was established in May, 1995 and its opening ceremony was held on October 21, 1995. This statue was made of bronze in Thailand, stands 9 meters height and was donated by 120 Buddhists. This Buddha is in the female form to erase discrimination of gender and social classes among people; moreover, this Buddha always gives full peace and safety to everybody. This statue was repainted in August 16, 2000.

 

2)  THE FUTURE BUDDHA’S HOLY PLACE

The gaya of Matreiya Buddha was inaugurated in August 3,1991. The statue was made of bronze and is 2.50 meter in height. This Buddha symbolizes the philosophy of peace, tolerance, and patience necessary to overcome the difficulties of this world. According to some Buddhist scriptures, this Buddha will reincarnate in this world after 9 million years. He will sit under the special tree whose name is Dragon to meditate only one day, then he will achieve enlightenment and become a Buddha.

 

3)  THE STATUE OF THE GOTAMA BUDDHA BEGGING FOR ALMS

This bronze statue is 7m tall and was inaugurated on July 2, 2000. It represents the idea of receiving blessings from charity. According to the Mahavagga Vinaya III.81A.IV.406, monks and nuns beg for alms as did the Buddha to represent the worthy of offerings, of hospitality, of gifts, and of respect for these are the greatest fields of merit for lay people in the Buddhist tradition.

 

4) THE BUDDHA OF PROTECTION or GUARDIAN BODDHISATTVA

This statue is 4 meter high and is like warrior who protects his nation. This Buddha vows standing in this position to take care of all Buddhist activities and to protect safety all monks and nuns who live in the monastery. This place was opened in July, 2000. This bronze statue is from Thailand.

 

5) THE RAHULA GARDEN

            In this garden, stands the statue of the compassionate Buddha  at 1.50 m. It was built in May 1996. It is here that people often come on special occasions for help.

 

This general information about the TAM BAO SON Monastery is our small cultural contribution to Buddhism made possible by the Societe Bouddhique CHANH PHAP and the UNION OF VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST CHURCHES IN CANADA. We hope we can contribute into the Canadian culture by getting people into the fresh air of these sacred sites where cultural, religious and social differences melt away to reveal truths about human nature.

Written by Reverend PHO TINH

Conception and realisation this Website by Reverend PHAP TANH and Minh Ha

Edited by Minh Huan