Although I spent many years as a practitioner within the framework of the Vietnamese Zen tradition—specifically, Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh’s ‘Order of Interbeing’—my knowledge of and experience in Vietnamese Zen monasteries has long been limited-to-nonexistent. It’s only in the last year (well after I left the simple beauty of Vietnamese Zen to enter the simple austerity of the Thai Forest Tradition) that I began to gather experience amongst the monastics of Vietnam. Indeed, in the last year I’ve had the excellent fortune to enjoy several meditation retreats at Vietnamese Zen monasteries, including Chua Linh Phong.
Very much under-the-radar, this small, single-monk monastery had apparently been in my hometown of Sarasota, Florida for maybe 20 years before I heard of it. I only found out about it during one of my recent annual visits to see my father from a longtime Vietnamese friend whose father was a member of the community until he died. I paid the little temple a visit shortly thereafter and soon began embarking upon semi-routine visits and short retreats whenever I was in town.
While seemingly somewhat limited in its amenities and supports, this quiet spot in a residential area of this southwest Florida beach town is a nice and suitable location for short meditation retreats.
