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Establishing Clan Ancestral Halls For Pure Cultivation – Nurturing Noble Beings For The Lineage - True Dharma 10 | Pure Road .

Namo Phổ Kiến Buddha.
Namo Vairocana Buddha.
Dear virtuous friends,
Today we will learn a Dharma teaching with the topic:
ESTABLISHING CLAN ANCESTRAL HALLS FOR PURE CULTIVATION – NURTURING NOBLE BEINGS FOR THE LINEAGE
This Dharma talk helps us gain an overall understanding and learn how to support the descent of many noble beings when Bodhisattvas are born into this world. It is to create affinities between family lineages and the noble ones, to prepare transcendent talents for our lineage and our nation. It is so that we do not lack great merit, nor fall behind other lineages on the path of merit and virtue. So that when a Bodhisattva renounces the household life, our descendants will also be ready to renounce, quickly attain noble fruits, bring honor to the lineage, and greatly benefit the country.
If we wish for such beautiful results, we must prepare from now. In this Dharma talk, we share a very noble idea: to create the best environments for Bodhisattvas to descend and be born. Just as we prepare the best house to welcome honored guests, we prepare places worthy of welcoming Bodhisattvas into our lineage.
That means establishing ancestral halls (clan temples), not establishing orphanages or religious organizations to raise children.
Why?
Because an ancestral hall — also known as a clan temple or ancestral house — is a place dedicated to honoring the ancestors of a lineage. It preserves genealogy records and relics, hosts memorial ceremonies and clan gatherings, expresses the moral principle of “remembering the source when drinking water,” and connects many generations of a family. Beyond its spiritual meaning, the ancestral hall is also a place for preserving traditions, encouraging learning, and fostering talent among descendants.
Many people in a lineage wish for their lineage to give birth to many descendants in sacred lands, near Bodhisattvas, so they can draw near to learn the Dharma. Later, when a Bodhisattva renounces the world, they hope their children can also renounce and become great noble disciples of that Bodhisattva.
However, they do not know where such a large number of descendants should live. Thanks to these conditions, a wholesome affinity now arises: raising and educating descendants in the ancestral hall of their own lineage is the most suitable solution.
People everywhere, both within and outside the country, can establish ancestral halls for their lineage. They may design them in various architectural styles and organize activities in different ways — all of this is fine. This is easy to do and suitable for every country. If a country does not have the custom of ancestor worship, they may simply enshrine the Buddha. Or they may flexibly transform the ancestral hall into a place to preserve the heritage of the lineage, with rooms recording the names of ancestors and family branches.
If one establishes a temple, one must strictly follow religious institutional rules. But if one establishes an ancestral hall, it is not bound by rigid structures. The ancestral hall is a place of worship that increases merit for the lineage, gathers descendants together, and allows members of the lineage to connect with one another and with other lineages. It can also be a place of cultivation for descendants, whether lay or monastic. If monastics cultivate in an ancestral hall, it is very good, because lay Buddhists will not come there demanding offerings or rituals that contradict the Buddha’s discipline. Though it is still a place of practice, the ancestral hall has fewer activities than a temple, so it is less burdensome. Yet it is a place descendants visit more often than temples, because it is centered on the lineage.
We can establish villages of ancestral halls in the mountains or in the plains — places where lineages gather, where merit for lineages grows, and where noble beings are nurtured for lineages across the world.
Establishing temples is very difficult, but establishing ancestral halls is something anyone can do.
Opening orphanages is very difficult, but establishing ancestral halls is something anyone can do.
Temples and orphanages may be subject to criticism and social scrutiny, but ancestral halls are not. Why? Because ancestral halls are private property of individuals or lineages. They belong to the descendants of that lineage and are not the concern of outsiders.
Children from various countries and lineages who grow up in ancestral halls will not feel inferior, ashamed, or sorrowful thinking they are orphans without roots. Why? Because they grow up in their ancestral hall. They have a proper lineage. Their parents and clan have entrusted them here to cultivate. Their ancestral hall is grand and dignified, showing their family background is honorable. Thus, children feel no inferiority but instead feel joyful and secure in practice,