Namo Shakyamuni Buddha.

 

First, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Lord Buddha and Dharma Patriarch Minh Dang Quang for giving us the patience and fortitude to follow the Middle Path and Buddhayana. Furthermore, there are many people to whom we would like to express our gratitude. Our renunciation of the world, pursuit of enlightenment, and the building of Thong Tri II Temple results largely from the generous support that many individuals extended to us, including mentors, advisors, colleagues, friends, and family members.

 

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Most Highest Rank Venerable Thich Giac Luong, residing abbot at Phap Duyen Temple, The World Itinerant Monk Congregation (Đoàn Du Tăng Thế Giới), who blessed and supported the Grand Opening Blessing of the Buddha, and Ni Co Lien Hanh and Ni Co Lien Ngoc’s renunciation and novice ordination ceremonies. We are particularly grateful for the assistance, guidance, and supervision given by Venerable Thich Minh Thong and Venerable Thich Minh Tan for arranging the ceremonial programs. We wish to acknowledge the help provided by Venerable Thich Minh Tan for being the emcee at the novice ordination ceremony and the Highest Bhikshuni Thich Tien Lien for being the emcee at the renunciation ceremony. Our special thanks are extended to Venerable Thich Giac Dien for reciting sutras and adorning the temple for the ceremony day. Appreciation is given to Bhikshuni Thich Trung Thao for helping with the preparation for the ceremony day with her flower arrangement expertise.

 

Reverend Attendees for Renunciation Ceremony in Santa Clara, Ca. (8/15/2019).

 

Most Highest Rank Venerable Thich Giac Luong, Venerable Thich Minh Thong,  Venerable Thich Minh Tan, Venerable Thich Giac Dien, VenerableThich Giac Chon, Highest Bhikshuni Thich Tri Lien, Bhikshuni Thich Tien Lien, Bhikshuni Thich Lien Tram, Bhikshuni Thich Lien Thien, Bhikshuni Thich Lien Hieu, Bhikshuni Thich Chon Duyen, Bhikshuni Thich Trung Thao, Bhikshuni Thich Nguyen Minh.

 

Reverend Attendees for Robing Ceremony in Fresno, Ca. (11/11/2019).

 

Most Highest Rank Venerable Thich Giac Luong, Venerable Thich Minh Thong, Venerable Thich Minh Tan, Venerable Thich Giac Chon, Highest Bhikshuni Thich Hanh Lien, Highest Bhikshuni Thich Tri Lien, Highest Bhikshuni Thich Hieu Lien, Bhikshuni Thich Hop Lien, Bhikshuni Thich Phuong Lien, Bhikshuni Thich Tan Lien

 

Supporters

 

Our journey to renounce the world, to become disciples of Buddha, and to build Thong Tri II Temple would not have been possible without generous financial support, volunteers, and laborers. 

 

Deepest gratitude to Lay friend Trong Hieu for being the English emcee for the renunciation ceremony, for donating the house to be converted into a temple, for his generous financial support for remodeling expenses, for his preparation of the house to be converted into a temple, and for his love and moral support. Likewise, our heartfelt thanks go to Lay friends Felix Tran and Christopher Tran for their love, understanding, and mental and emotional support, which helped strengthen our mind and encouraged us to cope with many difficulties during the period of our transition from disciples to Bhikshuni. We really appreciate Lay friend Kim Pham's family for their love, moral, and emotional support, financial donation, time, and long-distance travel to attend the renunciation ceremony. We also want to extend appreciation for the love and support from Anthony and Dung Pham. 

 

Our deepest gratitude goes to Lay friend Minh Thuc (Tri Pham) for his unending labor over the design of the temple, preparation of the house, spring cleaning, minor remodeling, and moving possessions between the two temples (Thong Tri I and Thong Tri II Temples) and hauling items to storage. This project could not have been possible without Lay friend Minh Thuc’s dedication and support. Also, we are grateful to Lay friend Thien Nhan for helping build the altar, assistance in hauling items to and fro, lining the floor and his transportation services.

 

We thank Lay friend Kim Vinh’s family and friends for the financial support they provided for Dharma publications and purchases of some tables, and the labor for the awning. Special thanks go to Lay friends husband and wife Dan for their assistance in building the awning. Likewise, we are grateful for lay friend Nhat Truyen (Vinh) for his food catering at the renunciation and novice ordination ceremony and for donating his time at both ceremonies. We are blessed to have had lay friend Loc Le provide his professional skills as a videographer and faithfully document these precious memories. Moreover, we owe a debt to lay friend Nga Tran for her mental and emotional support and generous financial donation. 

 

We owe a debt to Lay friend Thien Giac for his generous donation to acquire the Female Compassion Buddha (Quan Yin) statue and fans, for being a great help on ceremony day, and for his time and travel. Appreciation is given to Lay friends Tam Ngoc Quang and Thien Hanh for their great help on ceremony day. Many thanks go to Lay friend Bon, whom we paid for his great panoramic painting.

 

Attendees for Renunciation Ceremony in Santa Clara, Ca. (8/15/2019).

 

We wish to express our appreciation to all whom attended for their love and support.

 

Lay friends Kim Pham, Brent Tran, Aaron Tran, Mary Pham, Lay friends of Kim Vinh’s family and friends, Lay friend from Santa Ana, Nga Phung, Lay friend My Hang and her mother, Lay and meditation friend Aparna Vijay, and all the Lay friends from Ngoc Hoa Temple (Tịnh Xá Ngọc Hòa, Đạo Tràng).

 

Director of Success Services Dept. at UCSC Silicon Valley Extension in Santa Clara Dave Van Unen and Assistant Dean Therese Ammiro.

 

Co-workers Manasee Bhandekar, Monica Gandhi, Miko Garcia, Kathy Harrington, Cynthia Hernandez, Soo Ji Kim and Jennifer Pittman. 

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Great appreciation to the Multimedia Artist's Eli Africa for his creative talent, time and generosity to help, to teach and to team up to build the Thong Tri Temple's website!

 

Thong Tri II Temple could not have been completed without help and support from many people who are gratefully acknowledged here. As the two ceremonies were bustling with activities and attendees were coming and going at various times, we apologize if we did not mention all whom attended.  

 

May you all be free from suffering and all the causes of suffering, achieve happiness and peace. 

 

Namo Shakyamuni Buddha.