On January 23rd, 2022, a sacred casket ceremony took place at Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế, Vietnam—the birthplace monastery of the beloved teacher who ordained there at age 16. Hundreds of monastics from multiple Buddhist traditions across Vietnam, along with lay disciples and practitioners worldwide, gathered to participate in and witness the ritual of placing the teacher's body in the casket. The ceremony centered on mindful presence, collective chanting of sacred mantras and prayers for the teacher's continuation, the movement of the body with respect and care, and the creation of intentional sacred space through sandalwood and calligraphy. Rather than a moment of grief alone, the event exemplified how Buddhist communities transform death into a teaching on impermanence, interconnection, and the living presence of a teacher within the sangha (spiritual community).
What Does It Mean to Place a Body in a Casket With Mindfulness?
In Buddhist tradition, the casket ceremony is not merely a practical step toward burial or cremation—it is a formal spiritual act in which the community consciously invokes and honors the teacher's life and continued spiritual presence. As Sister True Dedication explains in her commentary, the placement of the body in the casket marks "the completion of the ceremony" and initiates a period in which "people from around Vietnam will also have an opportunity to come and pay their respects" (around 1:40 in the ceremony). The body is moved with ceremonial care: held high as "a kind of prostration," with the head kept at the most sacred position, because "the head is always the most sacred part of our body" (21:00).
The ceremonial movement itself is a form of practice. High monks and the teacher's senior disciples—visible in the footage as monastics in brown robes representing the Plum Village tradition—surround the body and move it from the Deep Listening Hut (where the teacher had been residing) to the Full Moon Meditation Hall. This procession is accompanied throughout by chanting, particularly the invocation of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion. The chanting serves as "a prayer for thầy's beautiful continuation"—a Buddhist understanding that death does not end a teacher's presence but transforms it. Rather than speaking of loss in Western terms, the ritual language emphasizes the teacher's ongoing journey and spiritual evolution.
How Do Multiple Buddhist Traditions Come Together in This Ritual?
One striking aspect of the ceremony is the visible diversity of Buddhist lineages present. Sister True Dedication notes that "there are many schools of Buddhism in Vietnam, and many of them are represented here in today's ceremony." She points out monastics in different colored robes—golden robes worn by visiting venerables from other traditions, brown robes of the Plum Village lineage—all gathered in and outside the Full Moon Meditation Hall at Từ Hiếu Temple. This temple holds particular significance: it is the root monastery where the teacher first became a monk at age 16 (around 0:55), making it a place of spiritual origin and deep continuity.
The fact that these diverse traditions came together despite COVID restrictions underscores the teacher's bridge-building role across sectarian boundaries. Sister True Dedication expresses gratitude: "We are very grateful that despite all the covid restrictions, the government is allowing our community to gather, to pay our respects to our teacher in such an intimate way" (around 23:00). The venerables from other traditions are shown actively participating—guiding movements, leading chanting, and offering formal respects at the casket. The teacher's influence transcended a single lineage; his students and peers represented the Vietnamese Buddhist sangha as a whole.
What Is the Spiritual Purpose of Chanting During a Casket Ceremony?
Throughout the ceremony, chanting functions as both a prayer and a form of collective meditation. The mantras and dharanis (sacred utterances or protective formulas) that fill the ceremony are described as "a very sacred kind of prayer." The chanting of the Heart Sutra in Vietnamese, the repeated invocation of Avalokiteshvara, and other dharanis create what Sister True Dedication calls "the collective energy of mindfulness and concentration." She invites those participating from home to "join your palms if we feel comfortable to do so. To share in this collective energy of mindfulness and concentration" (around 1:30).
This collective chanting serves multiple functions. On one level, it honors the teacher and generates positive energy for his "continuation"—a Buddhist concept that does not limit life to the physical body but acknowledges ongoing spiritual presence and influence. On another level, chanting anchors the community in present-moment awareness and shared grief-turned-into-devotion. The atmosphere, Sister True Dedication explains, is "really the energy of mindfulness" (around 1:19:20)—not suppressed emotion but mindful presence with what is arising. The extended periods of chanting allow both monastics and lay practitioners to process the teacher's passing through a form of sacred sound and collective breath.
Why Is Sandalwood Central to the Casket Ceremony?
As the body is prepared for final rest in the casket, sandalwood plays a visible and symbolic role. Sister True Dedication observes: "This is sandalwood being placed on top of the body sandalwood always the most sacred fragrance and the symbol of incense in buddhist monasteries" (around 31:30). The coffin itself is filled with "fragrant sandalwood earth," transforming the casket into a scented sanctuary. This choice reflects Buddhist cosmology in which fragrance represents the intangible, the spiritual, the transcendent.
Sandalwood has been used in Buddhist and Hindu rituals for millennia—its fragrance was believed to carry prayers to divine realms and to purify sacred spaces. By surrounding the teacher's body with sandalwood, the community honors not just the person who has died but the spiritual teachings and presence that person embodied. The fragrance lingers, just as a teacher's influence persists even after the body is gone. This sensory choice transforms a moment that could feel final and heavy into one of beauty and continuation.
What Role Do Calligraphy and Sacred Space Play in the Ceremony?
The Full Moon Meditation Hall where the casket rests has been deliberately prepared with objects that carry the teacher's presence and teaching. "We can see thầy's calligraphy on the wall, that calligraphy read: 'Strolling in the Ultimate,'" Sister True Dedication points out (around 24:30). This phrase—"a beautiful phrase, poetic phrase"—evokes "enjoying space outside of space, time outside of time." The selection of this particular calligraphy for the ceremony is intentional; it speaks to the teacher's understanding of freedom and transcendence even while embodied.
The hall itself has been recently renovated and includes "an ancestors altar and shrine hall." Simple chrysanthemum flowers adorn the space. These visual elements create a sacred container—neither austere nor ornate, but purposeful. The room becomes a threshold space where the community can sit in what Sister True Dedication calls "peace and silence around thầy's coffin." This aesthetic restraint allows practitioners to direct their attention inward rather than being distracted by elaborate decoration. The teacher's own words, rendered in calligraphy, serve as a teaching that remains present in the room.
Who Are the Senior Disciples and Why Does Their Presence Matter?
Throughout the ceremony, several senior monastic disciples are visibly featured, and Sister True Dedication names them with reverence: "Thầy Pháp Ứng our monastic here at the front from Plum Village and Holland. One of our most senior monastic disciples of thầy" (around 18:30). Other frequently mentioned attendants include Thầy Pháp Lâm, Thầy Pháp Hương, and Thầy Trung Hải, along with many younger monastic disciples who have "been his attendants over the last years, caring for thầy, day and night."
Sister True Dedication also highlights Sư cô Chân Không, "our beloved elder sister, Ni Trưởng the eldest sister in our community, who has supported our beloved teacher for so many decades." She notes it is "wonderful that she can be here, until thầy took his last breath" (around 25:00)—acknowledging that this close disciple had companioned the teacher through his final days. These named individuals represent the living continuity of the teaching lineage. They are not abstract figures but real practitioners who have devoted their lives to learning from and supporting the teacher. Their visible grief and devotion give permission to others present to honor their own feelings.
How Do Lay Disciples Participate in the Ceremony?
The casket ceremony was not limited to monastics. Sister True Dedication notes: "Many of thầy's lay disciples from provinces all over Vietnam, have been traveling through the night to be able to arrive in time to witness the ceremony, to pay their respects" (around 30:00). These lay practitioners represent the teacher's influence beyond monastic communities—"business people in the corporate world from Vietnam, who are wonderful sangha builders practicing thầy's Dharma doors and mindfulness in Vietnam."
The inclusion of lay disciples in this formal ceremony reflects a fundamental teaching: that spiritual practice and the teacher's influence are not confined to robed monastics. Lay practitioners touch the earth in prostration, join their palms in reverence, participate in silent meditation, and later have the opportunity to pass a tray of pins—a ritual gesture of offering and connection. This democratization of the ritual honors the breadth of the teacher's reach and the reality that students in every walk of life carry forward the teachings.
What Does "Touching the Earth" Mean in This Context?
Several times during the ceremony, both monastics and lay practitioners are shown "touching the earth"—a prostration practice in which the forehead, hands, and knees touch the ground. Sister True Dedication invites those at home: "You may like to join your palms and to follow your breathing" as the community practices this gesture (around 34:00). Touching the earth in Buddhist practice represents humility, gratitude, and a profound reconnection with the ground of being—literally and symbolically.
In the context of a casket ceremony, touching the earth becomes a gesture that acknowledges both loss and continuation. The practitioner bows to the ground—to impermanence, to the teacher's returning to the earth—while simultaneously connecting with the steadiness and support that the earth provides. It is a physical prayer that says: "I accept what is; I trust in what remains; I am not alone." The practice turns abstract grief into a bodily, sensory engagement with reality.
How Does the Ceremony Transition Into the Days of Lying in Wake?
The casket ceremony itself is not the end of the ritual process but a formal beginning. Once the body is placed in the coffin and the initial ceremonies conclude, there is "a short break" and then the community gathers "in due course for further chanting." Sister True Dedication explains: "the venerables they will take a short break, and then they will come back to, do chanting" (around 35:30). The coffin will remain in the Full Moon Meditation Hall for the days following, allowing "people from around Vietnam will also have an opportunity to come and pay their respects."
This extended period of lying in wake is not a vigil of sorrow but a continuation of practice. The atmosphere is one of "mindfulness and concentration"—communities returning to sit in meditation near the casket, continuing to chant, maintaining presence. Those who cannot travel to Vietnam are invited to practice at home, creating a distributed sangha connected by intention and breath. Sister True Dedication at the close of the initial ceremony says: "So thank you for joining us" (around 37:00), acknowledging that viewers around the world have become part of this sacred gathering through their participation.
Where to Go From Here
For those moved by this ceremony, Plum Village offers multiple pathways to deepen engagement. The Plum Village website provides memorial practice resources to create intimate ceremonies at home—guidance on chanting, meditation, and honoring teachers in your own practice. The livestreamed ceremonies continued over the following days, allowing those unable to attend in person to participate in collective practice. For those seeking a sangha, local meditation groups and Plum Village centers worldwide offer continuing practice in the teacher's lineage. The invitation embedded in this ceremony is clear: the teacher's influence does not end at death but invites ongoing practice, community, and the cultivation of mindfulness in daily life.
