Former Buddhist monk Lan Huynh concludes a recent worship ceremony with the sounding of a bell, forged in Vietnam. The bell notes the locations of the temple Manchester, New Hampshire.(MARK HAYWARD\/UNION LEADER) <\/p>\n
IMAGINE THAT FIERCE, religion-hating communists take over the Vatican. <\/p>\n
They plunder, purge and create their utopia, but after about 25 years, they loosen up. (After all, the internal energy of any revolution has the half-life of a Russian winter.) <\/p>\n
Eventually, the Red Vatican offers to send priests to Catholic parishes around the world. <\/p>\n
What would a priest-less church do? <\/p>\n
Thats the predicament of Phuoc Dien, the 25-year-old Vietnamese Buddhist temple squirreled away in the Hollow neighborhood of Manchester. Vietnam which went entirely communist in 1975 with the fall of Saigon initially repressed religion. <\/p>\n
But about five years ago, the Vietnamese government offered to replace Phuoc Diens monk, said Dung Hale, the president of the temple. <\/p>\n
No thanks, said the temple. They could be spies, said Hale, 72, who has lived in Manchester for 18 years. <\/p>\n
Now they (the communist government) say they cant destroy religion, so they use religion to make people like them, said Hale, who spent 10 years in a communist prison camp. <\/p>\n
So the temple turned to Lanh Huynh, also 72, who also spent 10 years in a prison camp. Now a retired carpet installer, Huynh was a Buddhist monk in the former South Vietnam. When the communists took over, they forced him to marry, ending his career as a monk, he said. <\/p>\n
He holds services in a converted factory. The worship space includes plush rugs comfortable to shoe-less feet, bright reds and yellows, and statues of multi-armed figurines and other deities. A massive bell cast in Vietnam with the words Manchester, New Hampshire, evident among Asian symbols calls people to prayer. <\/p>\n
The temples Cedar Street parking lot features a statue of the quintessential Buddha happy, fat and seated. A bowl of oranges and apples is at his feet, as well as a few sticks of burning incense. On the Auburn Street side, a patio features Quan Tse Am, a Buddha with a female figurine who is under a canopy and surrounded by palms, incense, fruit and benches where people gather to converse. <\/p>\n
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that about 916 Manchester residents are Vietnamese, a little less than 1 percent of the city population. Hale estimates that about half are Buddhists and the other half Catholic. <\/p>\n
They gather at times for community events, such as 6 p.m. tonight at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, when a fundraiser will be held to raise money for Vietnamese war veterans who remain in Vietnam. <\/p>\n
The temple also serves as a gathering place for the Vietnamese community. Older people said it reminds them of their home country. Middle-aged Vietnamese put their children in the language classes, hoping they do not lose all connections to their heritage. <\/p>\n
The classes include three American-born adults. <\/p>\n
I think Im in third grade. They tell me that once you learn the alphabet its a simple language, said Kevin Georgantas, 41. The owner of a Goffstown automobile sales and service company, Georgantas is learning Vietnamese to prepare for the arrival of his fiancee. <\/p>\n
He sits next to his future cousin, a 5-year-old Vietnamese boy. <\/p>\n
Georgantas said he was drawn into the Vietnamese culture when he picked up his mother from a Vietnamese-run nail salon. The manicurists peppered her with questions: Is her son single? Would he like to meet an Asian woman? <\/p>\n
He has visited Vietnam twice and is awaiting a visa for his 25-year-old wife. The Vietnamese approach family the way his parents did, he said. <\/p>\n
The traditional roles that my parents and grandparents had that seemed to be lost to the millennials, are very strong, he said, in the Vietnamese culture. <\/p>\n
Mark Haywards City Matters appears Saturdays in the New Hampshire Union Leader and UnionLeader.com. He can be reached at mhayward@unionleader.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n View post: <\/p>\n Mark Hayward's City Matters: Vietnamese community finds comfort in Manchester temple - The Union Leader<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former Buddhist monk Lan Huynh concludes a recent worship ceremony with the sounding of a bell, forged in Vietnam. Continue reading