BY ANJANA Gamage

OVERCOME by distress by the suffering witnessed in countries hit by the tsunami, a Vietnamese Bhikkhu has sold his temple in Vancouver, Canada to utilise the proceeds to rebuild the victims' lives.

Ven. Thich Nguyen Thao, who was the chief priest of the Chua Hoa Nghiem temple in Vancouver said: "I was depressed when I came to know about the tsunami tragedy in Asia and as a Buddhist monk who follows the path of Lord Buddha and his teachings on compassion, I decided to sell my temple in Vancouver, Canada for 500,000 Canadian Dollars and spend it on the tsunami victims."

Ven. Thich Nguyen Thao and Ven. Chon Tri Saccapanno Bhikkhu, Abbot of Chua Phap Van, Theravada Buddhist Corporation in California in USA visited Sri Lanka along with a 15 member delegation comprising Theravada and Mahayana Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis.

The delegation paid a courtesy call on Tourism, Industries and Investment Promotion Minister Anura Bandaranaike at his official residence in Visumpaya yesterday.

The visit was co-ordinated by Ven. Dr. Pannila Ananda Thera, Chief incumbent of Attanagalla Raja Maha Viharaya in Attanagalla.

Ven. Thich Nguyen Thao, after the sale of his temple, has donated the proceeds to be used on behalf of tsunami victims in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and India.

According to Dr. Ananda Thera, the donations will be used to construct more than 250 houses in Galle, Ampara, Hikkaduwa, Telwatte, Peraliya and Kalmunai.

"I wanted to use the money raised by the sale of the temple to meet four needs of the tsunami victims. They are to construct houses, set up a social centre, build a temple and school. Once the project is complete, each family will get a new house and the young ones will benefit from the school," he said.

Ven. Thich Nguyen Thao is also expected to construct a special monument in Telwatte in memory of the train tragedy victims.

"In Washington too there is a monument like this. Therefore I would like to set up a monument including the names of the victims of the tsunami tragedy. A Buddha statue should also be constructed at the same place where merit could be invoked on the victims".

Dr. Ananda Thera pointed out that in the Buddha's teachings it has been mentioned that providing shelter to the homeless is an act of merit.