On Easter Monday (6 April), the Kim Cang Temple held its first fundraiser at the Springvale Town Hall. The funds raised will be used to build a Vietnamese Mahayana-style temple at the temple’s Narre Warren North location (one hour from Melbourne).
Venerable Thich Nhuan Chon in Kim Cang Temple's garden. From From Andrew J. Williams
Currently, the Kim Cang Temple is already fully operational after a residential house on a one-acre block of land was converted into a small temple with a main shrine room and a monks’ living quarters with amenities. The grounds have also been cultivated to include a Zen garden complete with an Amitabha Buddha statue, as well as statues of various bodhisattvas.
Phase one’s building plans will include the construction of an elaborate kitchen and a dining area for up to one hundred people, as well as bathrooms and toilets for its members and guests. The next phase will include an upgrade of the carpark and driveway, eventually culminating in the completion of a new main shrine room and meditation hall.
Kim Cang Temple was established by the temple’s current abbot, Venerable Thich Nhuan Chon, when his students and supporters purchased the land in 2011. It began to operate as a temple in 2012 after the initial renovations were completed. The local council approved the temple's building permit application in August 2014.
Students at Kim Cang Temple's Saturday Dharma class. From Andrew J. Williams
Venerable Thich Nhuan Chon was born in South Vietnam in 1974 and ordained at the Thien Duc Temple under the late Most Venerable Thich Thien Nhon in 1994. He moved to Australia in 2004, residing initially at the Lieu Quan Buddhist Center in Sydney before moving to Melbourne in 2009.
“We need to make our temple larger to accommodate our growing number of members and visitors, which consist of both Vietnamese and Australian people. Our long term goal is to service as many people as possible and the whole community,” said Venerable Nhuan Chon, adding, “We are one of the only two Vietnamese Mahayana temples in this area.”
The free entry fundraiser ran from 3pm to 9pm and included delicious Vietnamese vegetarian food and drinks, as well as an auction of beautiful Vietnamese style paintings and other works of art. The main attraction for the event was the performance of two Vietnamese singers from the USA, who had come to Australia for two temple performances in Melbourne and one in Queensland. They each performed two twenty-minute sets of traditional Vietnamese Buddhist songs. They were well supported by a few local acts.
Andrew teaching Kim Cang Temple's Saturday Dharma class. From Andrew J. Williams
The Springvale Town Hall was the venue for the event and also the venue for the inaugural Victorian Commemoration of the United Nations Day Vesak celebration in 2008 (before the latter was moved to the larger and more central Melbourne Town Hall). Springvale Town Hall has a capacity of over six hundred and was a wonderful location for this fundraiser. It is situated in the center of Springvale, which is home to a large number of Buddhist temples and centers from the three traditions of Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana.
Regular activities at the temple include chanting and meditation sessions on Tuesday and Friday evenings as well as on Sunday mornings, Q&A sessions in Vietnamese on Sundays, an English-language Dharma class on the Six Paramitas on Saturday afternoons, and bi-monthly repentance ceremonies.
“We plan to increase the number of regular activities upon demand. Our abbot is extremely pleased with Andrew's English-language Dharma class, which began in January 2014,” said temple member Tammy Nguyen, adding “We look forward to being of more and more benefit to our members and the wider community.”
Along with the fundraising, construction, and increasing the number of regular activities, Kim Cang Temple’s immediate plans include an upgrade to its website, which will involve adding an English-language section to make the Buddha's teaching more accessible to everyone.
As Venerable Nhuan Chon says, “Everyone is welcome to Buddhism and our temple. The door is always open. Open door equals open mind and open heart.”