Vietnamese people in Laos paid homage to Most Venerable Thich Trung Quan, one of the greatest overseas Vietnamese monks, at a ceremony at Bang Long Pagoda in Vientiane on March 26.
Monks at Bang Long Pagoda present gifts to students at the ceremony (Photo: VNA)
Vientiane (VNA) – Vietnamese people in Laos paidhomage to Most Venerable Thich Trung Quan, one of the greatest overseasVietnamese monks, at a ceremony at Bang Long Pagoda in Vientiane on March 26.
The memorial service at Bang Long Pagoda – thecentre of Vietnamese Buddhism in Laos – was attended by Most Venerable ThichThanh Dam and Thich Quang Tung from the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, VietnameseAmbassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung, Lao monks, and Vietnamese expatriates.
Addressing the event, Most Venerable Thich ThoLac, the fifth leader of Bang Long, said the pagoda was built in 1942 byVietnamese people. Thich Trung Quang was the fourth leader of the pagoda andalso the first person to disseminate the Mahayana Buddhism in Laos. He also hadgreat influence on Vietnamese Buddhists in Europe.
Thich Trung Quan (real name Vu Thanh Quat) wasborn on June 9, 1918, in Nam Dinh province. From 1969 to 1978, he opened manytraining courses on Buddhism at Bang Long while building and being thespiritual leader of about 10 pagodas across Laos. The pagoda became adestination for a number of people during that time, thus becoming the centreof Vietnamese Buddhism in Laos
In mid-1978, Most Venerable Thich Trung Quanleft for Europe to popularise the Mahayana Buddhism and establish Hoa NghiemPagoda in Paris, France. He also set up many other Buddhist temples in otherEuropean countries.
He also spent time on translating and writingbooks on Buddhism with more than 20 publications in total. He passed away onApril 1, 2003.
Also at the ceremony, representatives of BangLong Pagoda presented gifts to disadvantaged Vietnamese and Lao students whohad good academic results in Laos.-VNA
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Monks at Bang Long Pagoda present gifts to students at the ceremony (Photo: VNA) 
