Building with Stories
By Michael Fuhrman
Photos by Russell Cothren and Margaret Woodruff
“Integrating what I learned from these communities into my own spiritual life, I was challenged academically and personally.”
Lotus Flower Cookie
You’re met immediately by something familiar: beige-colored brick, arched windows, stained glass. Up close, the colored flags, impressive statues and topiary garden challenge that Sunday school familiarity. The community at Pho Minh Buddhist Temple in Fort Smith, Ark., has taken a Christian church and transformed it inside and out to create a spectacular space for Buddhist worship.
Once inside we were met with kind words, beautiful lotus flower cookies, and an introduction to meditation class. The head monk, Thich Vien Quang, and translator Chris Ha took us around the temple patiently explaining walls full of iconography. As they played the temple’s drums and served special foods, we were fully immersed into the experience of temple life and what being a member of this community looked, sounded and tasted like. Barefoot and in the presence of inviting people eager to share their stories, I knew there was potential for an honors thesis in this place.
The trip to Pho Minh was one of many I participated in with the Honors College’s Arkansas Religious Pluralism forum. As a history major minoring in religious studies, enrolling in Dean Lynda Coon and Professor John Treat’s class only made sense. I already had an interest in Arkansas religions and was certainly on the search for a thesis project as I watched my senior peers began to finish research, wrap up their projects and defend their theses to their committees. This class gave us a chance to meet one on one with leaders from the Islamic Center of Northwest Arkansas, the Chabad of Northwest Arkansas, leaders in Paganism and the Buddhist Temple among many others.
Buddhist monk Thich Vien Quang and translator Chris Ha led the tour of Pho Minh Buddhist Temple.
Students attempt the Crane stance, part of the traditional Lion Dance.
Ha discusses the pagoda bell, struck at large ceremonies.
Growing up in a Christian household, I of course had some knowledge of various faith groups across the globe but didn’t have a strong grasp of their life and growth here at home. The Arkansas Religious Pluralism forum gave me the opportunity to speak directly to leaders of these faith groups — including leaders from my own background — to ask questions about misunderstandings, stereotypes, and gain insight into these paradigms. Integrating what I learned from these communities into my own spiritual life, I was challenged academically and personally.
Our field trip to Pho Minh Buddhist Temple in Fort Smith, Arkansas, stood out as my favorite portion of the class. Meeting with leaders and monks in the temple, I learned more about how this community came to be. Many of these individuals felt the need to leave Vietnam based on their involvement in the war, which resulted in a large wave of immigration after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Fort Chaffee, not far from downtown Fort Smith, served as one of the largest resettlement camps in the United States, holding up to 24,000 individuals at one time. While not every community member at Pho Minh went through Fort Chaffee or this initial wave of migration, these experiences bind the community together in a more nuanced way than mere religious affiliation.
Each student received a bao li xi, a Lunar New Year envelope with a crisp bill tucked inside
Michael Fuhrman interviewed Tibetan refugee Ama Tsekyi in Mondgod, India
Hearing these stories of refugees seeking a new start and establishing a strong faith community in a foreign place inspired me to reflect on my past experiences with the University of Arkansas TEXT Program, which takes students across the Indian subcontinent into Tibetan refugee settlements. The purpose of this study abroad experience is to interview individuals who fled Tibet, documenting the changes they have faced throughout their lives and preserving their memories.
The TEXT Program taught me how powerful a story can be. While in Fort Smith, I heard echoes from many of the stories shared in New Delhi, Dharamshala and Mundgod. Defining what is home, navigating foreign cultures, and seeking to build community are common stories for refugees across the globe. While different in many ways, the experiences of the Tibetans and the Vietnamese community at Pho Minh certainly share similarities. The only difference was the Pho Minh temple is practically in my backyard.
Now as I enter my senior year, I have a thesis topic. Past courses and current mentors have helped me define my interests in religion and oral history; I am thankful and excited by the community at Pho Minh’s willingness to let me hear and share their stories.
Sitting down with community members whose roles range from resident monks to children who participate in their prized Lion Dance, I will document the experience of Buddhists at Pho Minh. With the help of the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Oral and Visual History, I will be able to record these interviews just like we did in India, and house them on a digital platform for full public access.