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KTMX luoc su su ba the thanh
Elder Nun Tam Ngoc, Dharma name The Thanh, born around 1920 (real name Nguyen Phuoc Thi Kim Cuc, of royal lineage), passed away at 12 noon on May 23, 1988 at Dieu Duc Temple, at the age of 65. She deeply cherished the Plum Village Dharma door, once expressing in a letter that it was a “wondrous” Dharma door, and instructed her disciple Minh Bao to take a photo of her face after her passing to send to Thay as evidence of the marvelous transmission. Her smiling photo is now worshipped at Phuong Khe. She once asked Sister Chan Khong to be her guiding teacher when she ordained on Mount Thu. Among the eulogies, there is a poem from Huyen Khong Temple praising her 65-year literary path and the blending of emptiness and form, nothingness and myriad words.
Through the war and after, the Elder Nun was steadfast:
- providing relief to orphans and the poor in Cam Ranh with 1 kg care packages (rare Western medicine) which recipients would exchange for rice and food
- sending lists of those in need through the Vietnamese Buddhist Delegation in Paris when local authorities obstructed her
- moving to Phuong Van Am (Southwest Paris), continuing to nurture hungry children and support families of artists sent to re-education camps
- maintaining relief efforts when Plum Village was established, with everyone joining hands to pack and tie parcels.
In a series of letters from 1987–1988 to Sister Chan Khong, she shared the joy and peace she found thanks to practice materials (the gatha “Each Step is a Lotus Blooming,” the Sutra on Mindful Breathing, the Lotus Sutra, the Water Repentance Sutra), advising to collect and print them as a complete book, relying on the “nectar of compassion” of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva and calligraphy of gathas to help maintain mindfulness. Upon learning she had leukemia, she remained serene and smiling, practicing 23 days of fasting, taking only tea, oranges, ginseng, and yogurt, then passed away in her final peace, instructing that her appearance be photographed and sent to Thay, to show the wondrous power of the Dharma door.
