Vietnamese Buddhist temple

A Vietnamese Buddhist temple (chùa) of the community that came after 1975: East Asian Mahayana Buddhism that blends Pure Land devotion (chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha) with Zen (Thiền) lineages, with one or a few resident monks or nuns, who are celibate and vegetarian. Sunday is the week: chanting led by the monk or nun with the lay ritual team in grey robes on the wooden fish and the gong, a dharma talk if the teacher gives one, then the memorial service in the ancestor hall for the recently dead, whose names and photos hang on its wall and whose families come every week through the forty-nine days, and then a free vegetarian lunch for everyone. People sit on the floor, women on the left and men on the right, elders on chairs along the walls, shoes off. The residents keep their own daily services, which lay people rarely join in America; the 1st and 15th of the lunar month, days of repentance and vegetarian meals, stay on their dates, and every holiday but Tết moves to the nearest Sunday. Tết and Vu Lan are the year's peaks, and the Buddha's birthday draws five or six times an ordinary Sunday. Monastics are scarce, and temples may wait years for one; giving follows trust in the monk or nun. The temple as written is an abbot's temple, founded and led from the top by its monk or nun, with no formal membership; its variant is a temple of a lay association, whose elected board under bylaws invites a resident monk and runs the money, and where monk and board often clash. Federations hold ordinations and retreats but leave money and property to each temple. Many temples began in converted houses, with neighbours' complaints and zoning hearings. Services are in Vietnamese; the community is culturally traditional and keeps its refugee politics.

All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it and what sets its faith apart; How people feel, what every factor is.

At a glance

Faith	Buddhism
Its words	temple, temple, main hall; the abbot leads the Sunday service; the dharma talk; Sunday; the sutras
Worship	image focus, chanted, moderate formality (0.67 of 1); seated on floor; men and women on either side
Music	organ discouraged; gospel organ discouraged; piano discouraged; choir discouraged; band discouraged; brass discouraged; handbells discouraged; chant expected; song leader discouraged
The room's sound	no strong preference
Its year	vietnamese; full observance; fasts none
Leans	conservative on moral questions, conservative on economic ones
Polity	independent; leaders come by call; property local
Leaders	one leader, unpaid (monastics the temple keeps, leading full-time), trained by in house; marriage any
Belonging	moderate commitment, none discipline, admitted by clergy
Giving	tithing not emphasised; collected by private, boxes
Way of life	alcohol abstinence, dress modest, sabbath relaxed, meat vegetarian

The week's services

Day	Time	Service	Led by	People look for it
Sunday	10:00 am	Sunday chanting service (in Vietnamese)	the abbot	expected

Leader: an abbot. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the temple holds a Lay-led practice in place of its own, led by the laity, which costs everyone at it 0.04; on sabbatical a supply abbot stands in ($800 a month).
Its table: vegetarian: meals cost 0.85× as much.

Rites

Memorial service for the dead (weekly, +0.015 to those there): Chanting for someone who has died: on the seventh days after a death through the forty-ninth, and on the anniversaries after, the family comes before the altar, the names are read, incense, tea, and food are offered, and the merit is dedicated to the one who died. The family gives the temple an offering.
Taking Refuge (per joining, +0.02 to those there): Someone becomes a Buddhist before the abbot: kneeling before the image, they take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, receive the Five Precepts, and are given a dharma name by the teacher who becomes their own.
Phật Đản (yearly, +0.03 to those there): The Buddha's birthday, on the full moon of the fourth lunar month, kept on the nearest Sunday: a procession, the bathing of the infant Buddha with scented water, lanterns, and the year's biggest crowd, five or six times an ordinary Sunday.
Vu Lan rose ceremony (yearly, +0.035 to those there): Vu Lan, the festival of filial piety on the full moon of the seventh lunar month, after a month of evening chanting of the Ullambana Sutra: everyone is given a rose for their mother, red if she is living and white if she has died, and the temple prays for the dead and the wandering spirits.
Giao Thừa (yearly, +0.03 to those there): New Year's Eve of Tết: chanting at midnight as the lunar year turns, a dharma talk for the new year before Maitreya, and a flower or fruit from the altar for each family to take home as a blessing.
Buddhist wedding (on request, +0.02 to those there): A couple marries before the Buddha: they offer incense together, exchange vows and rings (and, in Japanese temples, the beads of the onenju) before the abbot, who chants and gives them a short talk.

Joining

No formal membership: a content regular of three months belongs, without a vote.
Joining age: 16.
Kinds of belonging: Buddhist disciples (may hold office); received by the abbot.
What it means: being received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home at each of its great days (at most once a month) for ten years.

Giving, and what goes up

How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.

How it's given: the offering, by private envelopes, and boxes. With no plate passed, members give a tenth less at the boxes than they would into one, and visitors give nothing at the service. Gifts by post or in envelopes come in at the month's start.
Tithing isn't emphasised: people give 10% less.
Fundraisers: any it allows (below).
Owed above: nothing.

The abbot, the staff, and who decides

How the abbot comes: advertised and called: the abbot decides, advised by the temple committee.
Paid: a monastic the temple keeps: unpaid, but a full leader caring for 150; housed by the congregation.
Candidates: scarce: two apply, and a search takes four months longer; trained in-house (they ask 90%); women among them (about a third); never married (celibacy is required).
Tenure: for life (retiring after 35 years); the associate succeeds at once.
Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Abbot (unpaid (a monastic the temple keeps); cares for 150)
- Resident monk or nun (up to $2,400; cares for 40 more)
- Tanto (head of practice) ($6,000–$20,000; cares for 40 more)
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Temple secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
Its boards: the temple committee (advising, over the money).
Renovations: The abbot decides, advised by the temple committee.
New construction: The abbot decides, advised by the temple committee.
Calling a leader: The abbot decides, advised by the temple committee.
Who votes: no kind of belonging votes, so what would go to the members goes to the board.

Life together

What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.

Ministries of its own: Dharma school, Hospital and prison chaplaincy, Meditation for beginners, Sesshin.
Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
Fundraisers of its own: Tết festival.
Shared fundraisers it may hold: Auction, Bake sale, Bingo night, Car wash, Raffle, Rummage sale.
Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, A twelve-step group, Dance classes, Parties and receptions, Polling place and forums.
Outreach: invitation Sunday (Community → Evangelism).
Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): Through the fence.
Dilemmas its code of life brings: A candidates' forum, A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.

What the building needs

required Buddha imageThe Buddha's image sits at the front of the hall, with offerings of light, flowers, and incense.
required kitchenThe Vietnamese Buddhist temple asks every temple for one.
required monks' quartersThe Vietnamese Buddhist temple asks every temple for one.
expected Incense burnerIncense is offered before the altar at every service.
expected Shoe rackShoes come off at the door of the hall, onto racks.
discouraged Drum kitA band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
discouraged Hammond organA gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Upright pianoA piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Pipe organAn organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.

What people here feel

Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.028; Modern synagogue +0.046; Gurdwara +0.052; Japanese temple +0.056; Islamic +0.05; Shinto shrine +0.05; Chinese temple +0.044; Dravidian temple +0.038; Nagara temple +0.038; Thai temple +0.038; Jain marble +0.032; Gothic +0.026.
Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
Acoustics: it wants a room between ringing and dry, about 2.2 seconds of reverberation: neither bare stone nor a carpeted low room. Up to ±0.05.
Seasonal decor: in their seasons, the bon lanterns and new year couplets and vesak lanterns are worth up to ±0.027 (missing them, the minus); out of season, nothing is called for.
The dharma talk lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the abbot's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.

How each dharma talk lands

The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.

Sanctity of Life+0.06
Faith & Family+0.04
Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
Resisting Temptation+0.04
The Five Precepts+0.04
Amida's Primal Vow+0.015
Compassion for All Beings+0.015
Gratitude+0.015
Hope & Comfort+0.015
Impermanence+0.015
Interdependence+0.015
Mindfulness in Daily Life+0.015
Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
Suffering and Its End+0.015
The Noble Eightfold Path+0.015
Care for Creation-0.05
Healing for All-0.05
Interfaith Understanding-0.05
Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
Welcome the Stranger-0.05
Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
Radical Inclusion-0.075
Social Justice Call-0.075

Every item, for this tradition

Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.

Item	Fit	Rule
Seating
Box pew	+0.333
Meditation cushions	0
Meeting bench	no fit
Oak pew	no fit
Row of chairs	0
Liturgical furniture
Alms bowls	no fit
Buddha image	+0.5	required The Buddha's image sits at the front of the hall, with offerings of light, flowers, and incense.
Butsudan with the Gohonzon	0
Columbarium niches	+0.333
Incense burner	+0.5	expected Incense is offered before the altar at every service.
Lectern	no fit
Onaijin altar	0
Pulpit	no fit
Three Buddhas	0
Music
Drum kit	-1	discouraged A band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
Electronic organ	-1
Grand piano	-1
Hammond organ	-1	discouraged A gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Handbell table	-1
Kansho	0
Mokugyo	+1
Pipe organ	-0.333	discouraged An organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Sound system	-1
Taiko	0
Temple bell	0
Upright piano	-1	discouraged A piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Decor
Ancestor tablets	0
Banner	0
Bon lanterns	0
Eternal flame	no fit
Great dome	+0.333
Guanyin statue	0
Lamps of brightness	0
Memorial plaque	no fit
National flag	0
New Year couplets	0
Pagoda	0
Red lanterns	0
Small dome	no fit
Stained glass window	+0.333
Stupa	0
Thangka	0
Vesak lanterns	0
Furnishings
Alms box	no fit
Amulet counter	0
Coffee pot	no fit
Commercial coffee pot	no fit
Computer	no fit
Crib	no fit
Desk	no fit
Desk chair	no fit
Folding table	no fit
Full-length mirror	no fit
Pillar	+0.333
Projection screen	0
Shoe rack	+0.5	expected Shoes come off at the door of the hall, onto racks.
Vestment cabinet	+0.333
Wooden table	no fit
Utility
A/V rack	no fit
Camera	no fit
Cast-iron boiler	no fit
Central air conditioner	no fit
Commercial HVAC plant	no fit
Commercial stove	no fit
Congregation van	no fit
Ductless heat pump	no fit
Electric wall heater	no fit
Gas furnace	no fit
Hearing loop	no fit
Lift	no fit
Packaged heat pump	no fit
Plumbing stack	no fit
Ramp	no fit
Shuttle bus	no fit
Sink	no fit
Solar panels	no fit
Stairs	no fit
Toilet	no fit
Used school bus	no fit
Wall camera	no fit
Window air conditioner	no fit
Grounds
Evergreen tree	no fit
Flower bed	no fit
Fountain	no fit
Garden bench	no fit
Guardian lions	0
Hedge	no fit
Paifang	0
Playground	no fit
Prayer wheels	0
Shade tree	no fit
Temple censer	0

Variants

Chosen when you found the temple:

Temple of a lay association: its own leaders

Sources

Thích Minh Quang, Vietnamese Buddhism in America, PhD dissertation, Florida State University (2007) (link)
Chùa Phật Ân Temple, Religions in Minnesota exhibit, Carleton College (link)
Benjamin Bruce, Chùa Thuyền Tôn, Montreal Religious Site Project, McGill University (2004) (link)
A House Divided (Nhu Lai temple, Denver), Westword, 2016 (link)
Vietnamese Buddhism, Wikipedia (link)
Chùa Hồng Ân, Drake University Comparison Project (link)
Vietnamese calendar, Wikipedia (link)
Ghost Festival, Wikipedia (link)