About 120 Vietnamese friends led by Venerable, the Abbott of Minh Hanh temple, accompanied by other three venerables visited our library on January 31 (the sixth day of the Chinese New Year). All of a sudden, the Library became very lively!

Many Vietnamese customs are very similar to those of the Chinese. Vietnamese also celebrate Chinese New Year. The Buddhists are used to being led by the Abbott to visit temples during New Years to pray for and bless the New Year with peace.

When they arrived at the library, they entered the chanting room first and paid homage to the Buddha. Li-Su and Bert, the Director and Codirector, told them the background of the establishment of the library as well as the library’s regular practice and Dharma activities. This was the second time the Dharma friends of the Quan Minh temple have visited us. Because Abbott Minh Hanh notified us well in advance, the library volunteers had prepared many Dharma items such as Buddha’s pictures, chanting beads, bookmarks with Buddha’s pictures, chanting machines, and Buddhist texts for them. All the prepared items were graciously accepted and everyone felt very happy with visit.