Young monk sows good seeds for 10 years

Compassion of a Monk

Venerable Thich An Nhat was born in 1995 and became a monk at Ton Thanh Pagoda (in My Loc Commune, Tay Ninh Province). "Since I was young, I have had a connection with Buddhism through going to the temple with my grandmother. Through the lectures of the temple, I felt the peace and tranquility of being in the Zen monastery. After a few years of research, I found that the path of practice was the right path for me to find the meaning of life and serve the community, so I decided to become a monk at the age of 15," shared young monk An Nhat.

Nhà sư trẻ 10 năm gieo mầm thiện - Ảnh 1. — Master An Nhat gives gifts to students

In 2015, Monk An Nhat founded the Four-leaf Clover Volunteer Club with the desire to gather young people with a volunteer spirit to help those in difficult circumstances in the locality. Since its establishment, the Club has coordinated with philanthropists to provide monthly support to those in especially difficult circumstances such as the elderly, the disabled, orphans, etc.

In particular, the Club has established the Khai Tam Kitchen and the 1,000 VND Noodle Shop model to support meals for poor workers. Khai Tam Kitchen organizes cooking meals twice a month for poor workers and disadvantaged people. The 1,000 VND Noodle Shop organizes every Saturday afternoon, each time cooking hundreds of noodles for poor workers. Khai Tam Kitchen is lit at around 3am on the 19th day (lunar calendar) of every month and the last Sunday of the lunar month in Tan Phu Trung commune ( Dong Thap ), the meals are delivered to those in need at 6am while still hot.

In the March Border Month 2024 program, the Four-leaf Clover Club visited and presented gifts to the border guards at Binh Hiep International Border Gate (Tay Ninh), and schools in the border area with a total cost of nearly 40 million VND. In the Fairy Tale Moonlight Night event, season 10 - 2024, the Club presented thousands of gifts to children in remote areas with a cost of nearly 100 million VND... In particular, in 2020, the Club mobilized 120 million VND to build a social security bridge in Long Thanh commune (Thu Thua district, Long An ).

In the series of charity trips of Spring Compassion season 9, in February 2024, the Club visited, encouraged and gave 99 gifts to people in difficult circumstances, elderly people living alone, families with meritorious services, and disadvantaged people in the Southeast region; awarded 10 scholarships to children whose relatives died after the Covid-19 epidemic, and awarded 50 flags to make a border flag line... with a total cost of nearly 56 million VND.

Nhà sư trẻ 10 năm gieo mầm thiện - Ảnh 2. — Khai Tam Vegetarian Kitchen has been organized by the Club for many years.

Do good deeds according to Buddha's teachings

Venerable Thich An Nhat said that Buddhist teachings always guide people towards goodness. Practitioners not only focus on studying and cultivating virtue, but can also directly participate in sowing good seeds and supporting the community.

Over the years, the club has organized the Warm Sun class, creating learning conditions for children from difficult family circumstances, tutoring them in math, English, drawing, martial arts, life skills, etc. The teachers are mainly students and retired teachers, they come here to join hands to nurture each green shoot to grow. "There are many industrial parks in the area, so there are many workers from the provinces. Their children lack the conditions to study, so they often drop out of school to go to work early, selling lottery tickets to help their parents, that is the reason the class was born," said monk An Nhat.

In environmental protection activities, the Club accompanies the Vietnam Green Community in response to Earth Day and World Environment Day, joining hands to clean up many long-standing residential landfills.

Nhà sư trẻ 10 năm gieo mầm thiện - Ảnh 3. — Four-leaf Clover Club in the event to support clean water for people in 2024

Nhà sư trẻ 10 năm gieo mầm thiện - Ảnh 4. — Monk and young people clean up the environment

In addition, the Club established the model of Exchanging books for green shoots and the Loving wardrobe to spread the message of raising environmental awareness, reusing items, and turning trash into flowers in a sustainable way; at the same time, collecting comics and moral books to spread the school moral bookshelf and reading culture for children in the highlands.

In particular, during the water shortage in the Southeast provinces in 2024, the Club organized the activity "Every drop of water - Millions of affections" to support people with 173 cubic meters of fresh water for daily use, 3 water tanks of 1,000 liters, 9 trips to transport water to people suffering from drought and salinity in Long An, Ben Tre, Tien Giang (before the merger) and presented 10 gifts of necessities to special circumstances in heavily salinized areas with a total cost of 540 million VND. In total, in 10 years of operation, the Club has mobilized and given billions of VND to thousands of people in difficult circumstances.

"I remember most the time I went to help with the flood in Central Vietnam in 2020. The image of lonely old people, even though their houses were all swept away, still tried to share each package of instant noodles and each bottle of clean water with the people around them. At that time, we had to travel by boat through deeply flooded roads, witnessing many families losing all their possessions but still shining with hope when receiving help. Human love in times of trouble has overcome everything, that is the most sacred and meaningful thing I have witnessed and experienced," Venerable An Nhat shared.

Nhà sư trẻ 10 năm gieo mầm thiện - Ảnh 5. — Master An Nhat (far left cover) received a certificate of merit from the Vietnam Youth Union in 2023.

Sustainable charity

To manage a volunteer club of nearly 100 members, the role of the leader is very important in maintaining unity and "fire" over the past 10 years. Master An Nhat always decentralizes power at each level, encourages members to contribute opinions and make decisions; at the same time, he creates community activities to connect, listen and share, inspiring the club's common mission - towards noble ideals. In addition, to proactively finance, the club also raises funds by raising piggy banks, selling keychains, selling soft drinks...

Nhieu Chi Dung, a member of the Four-leaf Clover Club, shared: "The club members all have their own jobs, but whenever there is a program, they arrange it to focus on the charity work. Master An Nhat not only manages the whole thing but also directly does the detailed work. He is always the first person to initiate and the last person to summarize the event. It is his dedication that creates consensus and is the motivation for the club members."

Currently, Venerable An Nhat is also a member of the Standing Committee of the National Volunteer Network in the Southern region. In particular, as a monk, he always promotes volunteer activities among religious youth, connecting youth within and outside religions.

Master An Nhat said that in the future, he will expand the club's activities, connect more benefactors and maintain sustainable projects, not only providing material support but also spreading the spirit of love, sharing and humane values to the community, especially the young generation.