“Already in High School I thought about Buddhism, not because I questioned the validity of my faith, because I grew up Catholic, I just didn’t believe there was anything wrong with other religions. When I was growing up, my parents separated and got a divorce. It wasn’t an easy divorce,…
“In our culture, when a young boy is ordained, it means the family is losing the child. My mother would not be able to call me son anymore, she would have to call me Banthe. I still remember that during the ordination ceremony, one of my sisters was holding my…
“I was 12 years old, and I didn’t know anything. I just followed my dad. He said I should become a monk. At that time I didn’t know what a monk does, but when I became a monk, I studied and I practiced – now I understand. I am happy…
“When I turned 2 years old, my father left Vietnam. He was a boat person. So I grew up without a father, and the traditional thinking is that children growing up without their father will get into trouble. When I was 13, my mother worried about me and sent me…
“One day, when I was a child in Vietnam, I was walking with my grandmother to the temple. A monk was coming downhill as we were walking uphill. He held his reed hat sideways to cover his face from the sun, and he looked very relaxed, very beautiful. It is…
