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比丘尼祥蓮師是從越南來的。孩提時期，她就很喜歡去寺裡拜佛，黃的顏色和齋菜都非常吸引她。由于祖母和母親都是出家人，她也想將來自己能出家。祖母為了鼓勵她背經，總會獎賞她一些巧克力糖，而她就會將糖果轉而供養比丘尼。如果她抄經，母親會獎賞她一點零用金，而她就把這些錢捐給寺廟。她以近事女的身份住在母親的寺廟中，並在越南擔任過十年的中學教師。
1993年她前來美國，不久就在 Thich Giac Nhien 法師座下剃度出家。1995 年於澳洲受具足戒，目前她管理德州加維斯頓市的一座小寺廟，那是市裡第一座佛教寺院，也是德州唯一的尼眾寺院。大部份住在加維斯頓的越南人都是以捕魚為業，在祥蓮師的影響下，多數人都換了職業，半數以上的人改為素食。
五年前，祥蓮師從一些越南難民那兒聽到有關宣公上人曾在萬佛城辦佛教難民接待中心，幫助許多中南半島的難民，因此她發願要到萬佛城向上人致敬。身為寺廟負責人，她自覺本身應在佛法中有多一些的訓練，她得知萬佛城歡迎來自各地的修行人，在得到她的師父許可後，她便於1997年9月份到聖城。
她覺得聖城就如同阿彌陀經裡所描述的極樂淨土一樣。這兒有翻譯成不同語言的經典；有積極精進的修行功課；有中小學、大學；有護持三寶的在家居士；有來自不同國家的修行者：她覺得聖城就像一個「佛教大家族」。她希望將來她所負責的寺廟也能有像聖城一般的功課及法會，而以越南文念誦。她也盼望有更多的修行人能有機會來聖城學習。雖然她很遺憾沒能見到上人，然而上人所留下的正法寶藏，令她覺得上人仍活在世上一樣。
四月時，聖城曾派三位比丘尼前往德州訪問，祥蓮師即邀請她們至加維斯頓她寺上講法，受到熱烈歡迎，結下良好法緣。 |
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Bhikshuni Syang Lian (‘Auspicious Lotus’) Shi is from Vietnam. As a child, she dreamed of becoming a nun, because her grandmother and her mother were both nuns. Her grandmother would encourage her to recite Sutras and then give her some chocolate, which she would give as alms to the nuns. Her mother would give her a little money for copying out Sutras, and she would donate it to the temple. She lived in her mother's temple as a laywoman, and was a high school teacher for ten years in Vietnam.
In 1993, she came to the United States and left the home life under Venerable Master Thich Giac Nhien. She was ordained in Australia in 1995. She is currently manager of a small temple in Galveston, Texas. It is the first Buddhist temple there, and also the only temple for nuns in Texas. Most of the Vietnamese in Galveston were fishermen. Under her influence, most of them changed their jobs and more than half became vegetarian.
Five years ago, Syang Lian Shi heard from some refugees about how the Venerable Master Hua had sponsored and helped many Vietnamese through the Buddhist Council for Refugee Rescue and Resettlement at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB). She vowed to come to CTTB some day to pay respect to the Venerable Master.As a temple manager, she felt she needed more training in the Buddhadharma. Hearing that CTTB welcomed Sangha members of all nationalities and traditions, she asked her Master if she could come study here. Her Master encouraged her, and she came in September 1997.
To her, CTTB is like the Pure Land described in the Amitabha Sutra. With the translation of Sutras, the active schedule of cultivation, the schools and university, the supportive lay community, and the presence of cultivators from many countries, she feels CTTB is like“a big family of Buddhists.”In the future, she hopes her temple can have the same schedule and ceremonies as CTTB, except in Vietnamese. Although she is sad that she never met the Venerable Master Hua, she feels that with the Proper Dharma and the advice on cultivation that the Master left behind, it is just as if the Master were still alive.
In April, the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas sent three Bhikshunis to visit Texas. Syang Lian Shi invited them to speak Dharma at her temple in Galveston, where they were warmly welcomed and established new affinities in the Dharma. |
