Ba Vang Pagoda announces the postponement of its summer retreat.

Specifically, the announcement on the Ba Vang Pagoda website is as follows:

Dear parents and students!

The first summer retreat at Ba Vang Pagoda in 2024 concluded successfully, contributing to the spread of Buddhist cultural and ethical values ​​and the development of life skills for over 6,000 participants with the best spiritual and material care that the pagoda provided for them.

Due to important Buddhist activities during the summer retreat season, the temple would like to announce the temporary postponement of summer retreats that parents and students have registered for, until further notice.

Until an official announcement is made, parents and students can participate in the regular retreats at Ba Vang Pagoda and summer retreats at other pagodas and monasteries belonging to the Vietnam Buddhist Association.

Photos of participants attending the first summer retreat in 2024 at Ba Vang Pagoda.

Previously, on June 19th, the People's Committee of Uong Bi city announced that in recent days, some social media sites had posted videos allegedly showing a summer retreat at Ba Vang Pagoda. These videos contained many images and details that were widely shared and commented on, with many expressing disagreement and deeming them superstitious activities.

Speaking to the media, Mr. Nguyen Khanh Toan – Head of the Internal Affairs Department of Uong Bi City – said that according to the results of working with the city's functional departments on June 18, the abbot of Ba Vang Pagoda, Thich Truc Thai Minh, confirmed that this is an old video filmed in 2018-2019, not from the summer retreat (course 1) in 2024, and that Ba Vang Pagoda did not post the video as reported on social media.

On May 23rd, Venerable Thich Truc Thai Minh – abbot of Ba Vang Pagoda – submitted a document outlining the plan to organize a summer retreat at the pagoda in 2024, seeking feedback from the Vietnam Buddhist Association of Quang Ninh province, the People's Committee of Uong Bi city, and other relevant agencies.

The content and plan of the retreat were developed in accordance with the official announcement of the Vietnam Buddhist Association.

After two inspections and comments, on June 12th, the Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Association of Quang Ninh province issued a document approving Ba Vang Pagoda to organize three meditation retreats as planned.

According to Mr. Toan, following the controversial video incident, Uong Bi city requested the abbot of Ba Vang Pagoda to provide a written response to the information published on various websites recently.

At the same time, after the first retreat concludes, a report on the relevant content should be submitted to the People's Committee of Uong Bi City and the Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Association of Uong Bi City, along with videos recording the lectures given at the summer retreat (course 1) in 2024.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/chua-ba-vang-thong-bao-tam-hoan-khoa-tu-mua-he-post300308.html