Temples become the schools for students
At 8 am of every Saturday, young people gather at the Nhan My Pagoda in Tu Liem district in Hanoi to attend the Han script class, learn to write calligraphy and listen to preaching. The important thing of the class is that students can learn free of charge.
Le Trung Kien, a specialist of the Buddhism Department, who has been teaching here for four years, said that the students attending the class will be listening to the lecturers about the lessons in Confucius book, which says that it is necessary to better one’s virtue for other people to follow.
The classes have been attracting the attention of a lot of young people, 70 percent of whom are university students. Nguyen Dinh Hung, a second year student of the Vietnamese studies faculty of the Hanoi University of Education, is one of the students.
Hung began learning Han script when he was a ninth grader, which means that he has been familiar to the calligraphy art for five years. As for Hung and many other young people, it is very difficult to understand the meaning of every character, and it is even more difficult to write the character. He said that it took him one week to try to write a simple character with just two features.
“You need to have patience and the faith. If you do not have the two factors, you will feel discouraged one day,” said Pham Thi Thanh Tam, a student of the Chinese faculty of the Hanoi University.
The young people here said that they come to pagoda not only to learn and listen to preaching, but also to find a peaceful place for their souls.
Hung said that he has to travel a long distance to reach the temple. He catches bus in Hoang Mai district to go to the My Dinh national stadium, from which he walks one kilometer more to the class. Tran Hoai Thu, a beautiful girl, said that she ignored the criticism by her friends to attend the calligraphy class – the art which people think is reserved only for old people.
In fact, Han scrip and calligraphy classes have become more and more popular. If someone visits the Nhan My, Tao Sach or Cot temples, he would see a lot of learners who are young people.
Staying at pagodas as boarders
Nguyen Anh Nam, a fourth year student of the Hanoi University of Education, is one of the three young people who have been chosen to board at the Nhan My temple.
Nam has been chosen after he “passed” at the interview round, “defeating” 10 other young people. Nam and the other two friends can stay free at the pagoda and receive food (rice, vegetable and fruits). In order to express their gratitude for the food and free accommodations, they clean and take care for the vegetable garden.
When asked why Nam decided to stay at the pagoda, he said that he feels comfortable living here, where the monks create most favorable conditions for his life and study.
Nam goes to school every day, and then returns to the pagoda to live in the nature with plants and think about the value of the life.
However, Nam said not everyone has suitable character to live at the pagoda. Nguyen Cong Tuan, a student of the Dong Do University, said that the discipline here is too strict for him, like the army discipline.
Source: VTC
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