A visit & lunch at the Chieu Kien Buddhist Temple
Last Sunday Social Medicine Rounds took place at the Chieu Kien Buddhist Temple located at 2011 Clinton Avenue, a few blocks southwest of the Bronx Zoo. For those who do not know the neighborhood, the Temple was easy to miss, particularly given the fierce rainstorm outside. It occupies a nondescript building across from a big apartment complex. The front door is almost completely obscured by an iron gate. Indeed the only visible sign that this a temple is a yellow circle above the door with a pink lotus flower in the center.
Coming in from the storm we were greeted by Dr. Thoai Lien who had been expecting us and would be our host. Dr. Lien informed us that he was an organic chemist and had worked for several years at a pharmaceutical company investigating medical plants. We learned from him that there were two Vietnamese Buddhist Temples in the Bronx, the Chieu Kien Temple and the Chua Thap Phuong temple located at 2222 Andrews Ave. [There is also a Cambodian Buddhist Temple run by the Khmer Buddhist Society at 2738 Marion Avenue.]
The temple was buzzing with activity as people came and out from the storm. At the other end of the entrance hall the monk was giving a sermon in Vietnamese in the main shrine; this was broadcast throughout the building. Dr. Lien noted that during the Lunar New Year the Temple had hosted three days of celebrations and over 800 people had visited. As soon as our group had assembled, Dr. Lien took us down to the basement where a dozen women were busy preparing food in a tiny kitchen. Half of the basement had been covered into a dining room and we sat down at one of dozen or so plastic tables. It was time for lunch.
As hot tea and food began to arrive at our table, Dr. Lien explained to us that the Temple had been founded in 2002 by members of the community. They combined donations for a down payment on the property, not entirely sure how they would pay the mortgage. But they had found a monk, the Reverend Thich Thien Chi, to live in the Temple and had faith things would work out. Their faith was justified and the Temple had become so popular that they had already paid off the mortgage. “The Temple belongs to all of us,” he said with evident pride.
The secret to the Temple’s success may lie – in some measure – in Reverend Thien Chi’s unusual talents as a cook. During the week he prepares food for the weekend. On Saturdays and Sundays the parishioners warm and serve the food while he gives his sermon and then leads meditation and chants. Dr. Lien emphasized that all the food is given away. Reverend Thien Chi’s philosophy is that by serving vegetarian food, he is keeping people from killing animals and thus spreads good in the world.
The result of all the cooking was a dining room filled with children running about, teenagers with iPods plugged in their ears, and adults of all ages. There is certainly no denying that the food was excellent. Over healthy portion of rice we had spring rolls, roasted bean curd, mixed vegetables, and finally no less than three deserts. The desserts apparently were brought by the parishioners and included one custard created from coconut and mung bean. There is no doubt that feeding people and eating together creates a sense of community.
While we ate, Dr. Lien shared a bit of his personal story. He had stayed in Vietnam for three years after the collapse of the Saigon government in April 1975, while he was in his final year in High School. In 1978 he arrived in the US sponsored by someone in Arkansas. He wanted to go to the University but knew that his English was not that good. He got a job and enrolled part time at a local community college. He managed to accumulate 68 credits and an excellent academic record. He also benefitted from generous educational benefits for refugees so that he was able to enroll at Columbia University in 1981, graduating with a Ph.D. in organic chemistry. He subsequently went to work for a large pharmaceutical company in Boston but continued to commute back and forth to the Bronx regularly, serving voluntarily as a substitute teacher in the Temple’s Vietnamese language school.
After eating we had a brief tour of the rest of the temple. Services were over so we took off our shoes and entered the main shrine dominated by a large golden Buddha. Behind it was a small room where members of the temple could come and leave the ashes of their relatives. People were praying here and leaving offerings of fruit and incense. The wall was covered with photographs of the departed, people of all ages. Down the hall was a private space for the monk and a room where people were praying to “the Goddess.” Upstairs was a happy pandemonium of children just let out from Vietnamese class. Finally we visited the small garden next to the temple where a smaller shrine was dedicated to storing the ashes of the deceased. Despite the grey weather this was a lovely spot.
Dr. Lien & Dr. Vanessa Pratomo (DFSM)
As we said good-bye, Dr. Lien told us his dream of creating a nursing home for the community. He did not want the elderly to be alone at home. He also shared with us that he was a writer; he had, in fact, written a poem about the monk. He shared a story he had written (in English) in the Nguoi Dep Magazine entitled “A Poor Scholar named Hai-Thoai.” It recounts a tale told to Dr. Lien by his grandfather in which a poor scholar is rewarded for his chastity by aquiring the ability to exorcise spirits; he also marries a princess! The story ends: “In this terrestrial life, if you do things justly, your good deeds will be properly credited. Don’t ever think God is too far away to do you some justice. He can be by your side if you deserve His help.” This seemed an appropriate thought for a Temple that seems to give so much to so many.
[The original version of this posting contained several inaccuracies. This is a corrected version.]
posted by Matt Anderson
Our colleague Minh Ha, a Vietnamese social worker, passed on this information about the New York premiere of “Don’t Burn it – It’s already on fire” a Vietnamese film based on the war diary of Dang Thuy Tram, a Vietnamese physician. Dr. Tram’s diary has been published in English under the title: 
