I registered with Dharma Wheel message board -- https://www.dharmawheel.net/
. This is Dharma with an 'r', instead of double 'm'. I have been a
Dhamma Wheel message board member for a while now, but just on Thursday,
April 26, 2018, or so, I registered with this separate Dharma Wheel
message board.
The copy & paste of my
introduction-of-myself post below, has had some editing done to it, and
additional information added to it, so what you see below is not the
original found at Dharma Wheel (that original post had finally been
approved by a moderator or someone for showing already, as I have seen
from a later checking of the site):
Hi, I'm also
samsarictravelling at Dhamma Wheel. I never told the public this before,
but I'm going to tell this for this first time to the public:
I
am the nephew of the man -- Mr. Lap Le, who is known by his Buddhist
name Minh Thanh -- who was, I think, the head, or one of the leaders, of
the Sutra Translation Committee, which helped translate, or translated,
many Pure Land books. Mr. Lap Le has been deceased many years now. If
not the head, or one of the leaders of the Sutra Translation Committee,
Mr. Lap Le, I assume, from asking my dad yesterday, was the creator of
the Van Hien Study Group, which may have been part of the Sutra
Translation Committee (I assume).
P.D. Leigh is the
full name of -- I think, but not sure (I'd have to ask a relative to see
if I'm correct) -- the girlfriend/wife of Mr. Lap Le, because the first
initial 'P' is the first letter -- if I recall correctly -- of the
first name of the girlfriend/wife of my Uncle Lap. She would be called
my aunt. She is still alive, I guess (since last Christmas or the
Christmas before that, where she sent an e-card, as usual).
I
met both my Uncle Lap and 'P' (I assume to be P.D. Leigh) in New York,
USA, when I was growing up. I lived in Canada then, and still live in
Canada now.
My uncle or someone would send the books
(by the Sutra Translation Committee) to our home -- I assume -- in
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I read through them. I live elsewhere in
Canada now.
My grandma Dieu Phung (my dad confirmed
just yesterday that it was his mother) -- Mr Lap Le's and my dad's
mother -- was part, or a friend of, this Sutra Translation Committee
and/or Van Hien Study Group, also. As well as the late husband of one of
my other aunts, was also part, or a friend, of this Sutra Translation
Committee and/or Van Hien Study Group.
Here's a link to prove my grandmother, my Uncle Lap, and P.D. Leigh (maybe is my aunt 'P') are all part of this:
https://www.ymba.org/books/buddhism-wisdom-faith-pure-land-principles-and-practice/about-author
I have seen these books in my public library, also. :D
Here is an example of one book, which I think (correct me if I am wrong) is from the Sutra Translation Committee:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/buddhism-of-wisdom-faith-pure-land-principles-and-practice
My real name is Ai Le. I am a Theravada Buddhist now (many years now), though.
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Today is Friday, May 11, 2018:
I just posted a reply post to that same 'Dharma Wheel Message Board' introduction post of mine ( https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=28424 ), but it is not shown at present because it needs to be approved for posting (like usual). But it is seen here already, because I made a copy of it:
Correcting a mistake:
I maybe said in my original post that my Uncle Lap was maybe the creator of the 'Sutra Translation Committee'. I have evidence my uncle was not the creator of it. According to the article below from one website, as well as information from another website ( https://www.ymba.org/about-us ), it was the Venerable Master Lok To who created the 'Sutra Translation Committee'. I boldfaced the sentence:
Venerable Master Lok To's origin is the Xiao County in Anhui Province. He was born in 1923. He became a novice at the age of ten and his tonsuring Master was Venerable Master Xue Feng of the Long Quan Temple. At the age of sixteen, he was ordained at Xinghua Temple in Mount Yunlong of Xuzhou. At eighteen, he arrived at Cham Shan Temple in Qingdao and began his Tiantai education at the Cham Shan Temple School of Buddhism, under the guidance of 65-years-old Elder Master Tan Xu.
In 1947, Venerable Master Lok To came to Hong Kong to further his studies. He encountered the Dao Feng Shan Religious Studies Research Institute and discovered their intention of weakening the faith in the Buddhist Sangha community. He then published a pamphlet to expose this. In 1948, Venerable Master Tan Xu arrived in Hong Kong and founded the South China (Huanan) School of Buddhism, where Master Lok To furthered his studies at the age of 26. He was determined to learn English then, planting his seed for translation work in years to come. This marked the milestone where Cham Shan's lineage was established in Hong Kong.
In 1962, Master Lok To decided to go to the U.S.A. and landed in San Francisco. He was the third member of the Chinese Sangha community who pioneered in propagating Buddhist Dharma in the United States. The next year, Elder Master Tan Xu passed away. Master Lok To then returned to Hong Kong for the funeral service and further prepared to establish a monastery in the U.S.A.
Master Lok To finally set foot in New York on March 15, 1964. He was warmly received by many devotees like Upasika Jiang Huang Neng Jin and Upasaka Shen Jia Zhen. In October 1964, The Buddhist Association of The United States (BAUS) was established with Master Lok To as the Chairman. Two years later, he founded the Da Jue Temple of Enlightenment, and became the first Abbot of the temple.
During the World Expo held in Montreal in 1967, Master Lok To invited Master Sing Hung and Master Shing Cheung to immigrate to Canada. In 1968, with their effort and help from devotees, The Buddhist Association of Canada (BAC) was founded, thus began their Canadian lineage.
In 1972, Master Lok To returned to the west coast to establish The Buddhist Association of San Francisco. In September 1974, Venerable Master Lok To resigned from his positions in The Buddhist Association of United States and the Da Jue Temple of Enlightenment. He then founded the Young Men's Buddhist Association of America in the Bronx district of New York. He also founded the Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada. Together with devotees who had exemplary ability in the English language, Venerable Master Lok To focused his effort on translating Buddhist texts into English. For over forty years, Venerable Master Lok To had published a lot of English Buddhist texts in the United States and Canada for free distribution. His translation has been widely accepted and welcomed by English-speaking communities, and his work is still delivering merits to truth-seekers today.
Source: http://en.chamshantemple.org/messages/aboutus/index.php?channelId=8§ionId=116&langCd=EN&itemId=88
Back to my Uncle Lap now: my Uncle Lap, I assume, was the creator of the Van Hien Study Group which did translate (from Vietnamese?) one or more Pure Land (and other Buddhist?) materials into English, and which was connected to the 'Sutra Translation Committee'. Evidence is from this second website, where my Uncle Lap is known by his name 'Minh Thanh':
The translators and editors are members and friends of the Van Hien Buddhist Study Group.
Dieu Phung
Minh Thanh
P. D. Leigh
Source: https://www.ymba.org/books/buddhism-wisdom-faith-pure-land-principles-and-practice/about-author
One more thing: a connection between Bhikkhu Bodhi and Venerable Master Lok To:
Master Lok To was the First President of The Buddhist Association of The United States (BAUS) from 1964-1974. Bhikkhu Bodhi is the Current President from 2013.
Source: https://www.baus.org/en/about-us/our-team/
From,
Samsarictravelling
