Bodhi Stand

      Dong H. Cao, was born in 2/8/1913 in the Hue, Central Vietnam in a traditional confucianist family. After completing the French Baccalaureate, he chose administrative studies and obtained a Public Administration diploma in 1935.

      Upasaka Dong served the Government of Vietnam as chief of district from 1936 to 1945, then became a teacher from 1945 to 1952, and a chief or service in various departments of the Central Administration. The last position he held was that of a lecturer at the National Institute of Administration in Saigon, Vietnam.

      Upasika Dong retired from public service in 1967 and devoted his time to study and cultivate Buddhism, especially Ch’an Buddhism. While still in Vietnam, he was trained in Ch’an

under two masters, Rev. Hua Hung and Rev. Thanh Tu. Upasaka Dong came to the United States in 1975 and is living in Berkeley, Calif. He has taken refuge with the Triple Jewel at Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco and bows to the Venerable Abbot as his teacher.

Upasaka Dong attends services and lectures at Gold Mountain regularly and spends time there chanting sutras, and praises in the Vietnamese tongue. He has participated in several intensive meditation sessions held at Gold Mountain Monastery and at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. His primary practice is in the area of Ch’an.