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First
Meeting:
Sunday November 1984
at 4:00PM at Sam Sacha residence, 1895 Cape Horn Dr., San Jose,
CA 95133. 45 Upasaks and Upasikas and one Monk, Venerable Ly Da
Aun were present.
The meeting decided
to have a temple in San Jose with Monk (s) to accommodate the
needs of those who practice Buddhism. After long hours discussion,
Venerable Ly Da Aun volunteered his service to help out because
he had some knowledge on the process.
Second
Meeting:
Sunday November 17,
2:00PM at Hang Serey residence, 1372 Carnelian Dr. # 3, San Jose,
CA 15122. 15 members were present. Mr. Hang Serey reported that
Mr. Sam Sacha transferred the responsibility in leading the establishment
of the temple to the Elders because he was too young and did not
have enough knowledge of Buddhism. After the discussion of the
details of the process, the meeting had appointed a temporary
group leader to explore the information on the total number of
the Buddhists in the area, number of those who were willing to
be involved, the number needed to achieve the goal. Mr. Sat Hin
has mentioned in both meetings that we need a minimum of 300 members
who were willing to contribute a minimum of $2 to $3 per month
to support the temple. Then, the meeting elected Mr. Thong Rom,
Tep Mean, Hang Serey, Sat Hin, Ouk Em, Sam Chhuon, and Phang Phat
as group leaders for publicity and members recruitment activities.
Third
Meeting:
Sunday November 24,
1985 at Nav Chheng residence, 1375 Carnelian Dr., San Jose, CA
95122. 26 members were present. There was no report on the estimated
number of the Buddhist in the area. The meeting added more group
leaders to speed up the task. Those were: Tep Chim, Suy Horn,
Len Phuon, Suy Chhum, Sek Sean, and Sem Chhuot.
Fourth
Meeting:
Sunday, December
1st., 1985 at Mr. Chea Seng residence, 1855 Luby Dr. # 7, San
Jose, CA 95133. 12 members were present. Mr. Sam Sacha reported
that the previous Monk was not able to lead the temple due to
his youth and lack of seniority. Mr. Lor Layso requested follow
up on the drafted letter for publicity and to form the ad hoc
committee. The meeting also suggested the group leaders to assist
in the process and to write a survey letter a make at least 400
copies to send out across the community. The letter should include
the goals and the process. Finally, the meeting had solved the
process of the formation of the active committee.
Fifth
Meeting:
Saturday December
7, 1985, 4:00PM at Mr. Sam Sacha residence, same address as above
mentioned. 11 members were present. At the end of the meeting,
the survey letter were distributed to the group leaders for broader
distribution. The letter included the registration form at the
bottom. However, it seemed that they were stuck. The meeting decided
to invite those with high education to help out.
Sixth
Meeting:
Sunday, December
15, 1985, 2:00Pmat Hang Serey residence, address as above mentioned.
6 members were present. They talked about the survey, clarified
some misunderstandings and solved some problems that had arisen
through the process.
Seventh
Meeting:
Sunday December 22,
1:00PM, at Sam Sacha residence, address, above mentioned. 16 members
were present. The group leaders presented the results of the survey.
There were 275 members registered. It was a long meeting, though.
Eighth
Meeting:
Sunday, January
7, 1986, 3:00PM, at Mr. Khiev Sem, 1579 Denali Wy, San Jose, CA
95122. 16 members were present. The meeting decided to send the
survey letter around again as an information letter because 275
members seemed short. They needed more. The meeting also discussed
about the legal process and location for the temple.
Ninth
Meeting:
Sunday January 16
1986, 7:PM at Lam Chheang Leng residence, 2961 Manson Wood St.,
San Jose, CA 95148. 5 members were present. The discussion covered
the process of how to run a religious institution in this country.
Mr. Lam Chheang took the example of the Christian churches operation.
There were staff members, Pastor and others for different components
such as art, education, and culture. At the end, they discussed
on the name of the organization.
Tenth
Meeting:
Sunday, February
9, 1986, 2:00PM, at Sam Sacha residence, address as the above.
22 members were present. The was the last meeting. The board of
directors were elected by secret ballot. First they elected the
election committee. The name of the elected board of directors
were in the minutes and were also announced at the alms giving
ceremony on March 2, 1986.
The newly elected
board worked very hard. They held the meetings weekly. They worked
on the name of the organization, writing the by-laws, and rules
and regulations. They raced against the deadline to accommodate
the needs of the members such as having a place for the Monk(s)
and to hold the ceremonies. Finally, they rented a house at 1835
Luby Dr., San Jose, CA 95133 and invited the Ven. Ly Da Aun to
temporarily reside in on April 6 1986.
During the month
of April 1986, the Monk as well as the board of directors had
a big concern over the residency. We did not have the license
to establish the Temple and our by-laws was not legally adopted.
The board of directors whose constituents were Kieu Sem, Sam Sacha,
Hang Serey, Sat Hin, Khuon Yan, and Kiet Bunrith, under the leadership
of venerable Ly Da Aun went to Sacramento to proceed for the temple
license. Then, Mr Kieu Sem, president of the organization sought
a lawyer to follow up the process for the establishment of the
temple including by-laws and other required documents. Everything
was completed on November 1986.
In the process of
establishing the Cambodian Buddhist Organization on San Jose,
we encountered many difficulties, even we were not discriminating
against any particular group or entity. According to the Buddhist
philosophy, there is only one avenue that the Buddhist disciples
follow to pursue our goals to unite the human being to work together
to build merits and purify our mind. We commit ourselves to respect
the laws of the country, follow Buddhist practice and to trust
each other.
Due to the great
effort of the board directors and the supports from members, and
all the Buddhists, we have successfully achieved goals. Now, we
were facing another difficulty, obtaining a monk to reside at
the temple.
Since the start,
Ven. Ly Da Aun had tried in vain to make contact nation wide.
On April 6 1986, after two months service at the new temple the
Ven. Ly Da Aun requested his resignation and leaving the monkshood.
The real dilemma finally arrived. The board of directors as well
as the temple members desperately needed a monk. After one full
month of hopelessness, they received a letter from Moha Thera
Nanda Isvara, whom we had express intention for having a temple
and our difficulties in finding resident Monk . His letter informed
us that if we still in need for a monk, he was pleased to fulfil
our wish. It was a big release for all of us. However, the board
of directors still went ahead with their plan. They sent their
delegation, Mr. Hang Serey to Long Beach to invite the Venerable
Prak Than. Unfortunately, the latter was sick, unable to accept
their invitation. The Board of director held the meeting to draft
the invitation letter to Venerable Moha Thera Nanda Isvara immediately
because there was only one week to enter the "Lent"
(Chaul Preah Vossa.) The venerable arrived on June 15 1986 and
reside for good at the temple, 1835 Luby Dr.
We, the Buddhists
of San Jose, were very fortunate. We had the Venerable Moha Thera
Nanda Isvara who arrived 6 days before the Lent. Then, due to
the power of the triple Gems, the Venerable Moha Prasoeut, whom
we have invited since the beginning of our process, decided to
leave for good the Buddha Rangsey Temple in Houston Texas to settle
at our temple on Monday June 21st, 1986, right in time for the
"Lent" ceremony.
Our temple had two
highly respected Monks, Moha Theras. The board of directors and
members were very happy to practice Buddhism with serene smile.
They took turn to bring them meals with pleasure. Later on, the
members wanted to have a larger space and to have an asset for
the temple. They started to look for new place. They looked at
many houses. Some had a very high cost, others did not fit our
purposes. Since mid 1987, our board of directors spent all their
weekend finding the right one. Close to the end of the year they
found the right one at 840 Mervyn's way, San Jose, CA 95127. We
moved in on December 26, 1987. We performed the inauguration ceremony
on January 1st., 1988. The Board of directors had chosen the inauguration
day as the anniversary day. The Monks had resided in the old place
for one year seven months and 20 days. Starting from April 6,
1986 through December 26, 1987, counting the day they moved to
our current address.
To date June 15 1989,
the San Jose temple is three years two months and 19 days old
by counting from the day that we have had Monks in our Temple
since April 6, 1986.
San Jose Temple, June 25, 1989
Translated by : Mala Ieng
Edited by: Perom Uch
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